The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-16
ENGLAND's BATTLES

While the sons of England have fought and died on many bloody bat tlefelds in various parts of the world, England itself has been practically l free from f1rst-hand Knowledge of | warfare for two and a half centuries. This is the anniversary of what has | been described as 'the last great bat | tie on English soif'-the conflict at Stoke, in Nottinghamshire, fought on June Is, 14S7, between the armies of the rival houses of York and Lancas- l ter This description is scarcely ac- curate, since some of the cornbats be- tween Cavaliers and Roundheads in the civil war of the seventeenth cen tury might properly be called great battles
 Since the end of the Cronwellian con- test English soldiers have played a. big part in wars on all the continents, | but they have never been called upon to do any fighting on an important scale within the confines of the tight little island.'' For generation after generation the masses of the English people have gained their only knoWl- edge of warfare from books and news papers and the tales of returned war riors. Early in the nineteenth cen tury England was profoundly stirred by the preparations for invading Eng land made by Napoleon, but the Cor sican's ambitious scheme came to nothing.
 That England has not had her soil stained with the blood of wars vic tin1s is due, of course, to her power full navy. To carry the war to Eng land has always been the ambition of her ontinentaI enemies, but in spite of the fact that only a narrow strip of water separates the island from ''the l cockpit of Europe the navy has giv- en England complete immunity from the worst horrors of war.
 l The battle of Stoke, where the for tunes of the Red Rose finally pre- vailed, cost 5000 lives, and was one of the most destructive conflicts ever fought on the soil of England. Henry VII, aided by the flower of the Eng fish nobility, led his own army, while the Earl of Lincoln, Martin Swartz Viscount Lovel and Lord Thomas Fftzgerald commanded the Yorkist forces. The battle waged desperately for three hours. Fitzgerald's Irish, armed only with knives and darts, fought with obstinate vaIor, and the Germans under Swartz also gave a, good account of themselves, but in the lend the insurgents were slaughtered and completely routed. l Of the insurgent leaders, all were found dead on the field with their fISwords in their hands, save Lord Lo- lvel, regarding whom there was a tra- tditfon that he escaped, fled to the
 
 life as a humble peasant. Lambert
 Simne1, the puppet whto had been set up by the Earl of Lincoln to serve as
 a hgurehead until he himself should be ready to claim the crown, was talk en prisoner. His life was spared by the rnagnanimous monarch, who made Sirnnel a turnspit in his royal kit chen!
 To carry the war to England, the great ambition of Napoleon, is also that of Emperor William in the pres ent war, but, aside from cruiser and Zeppelin raids, Englands old imnlu- nity still holds. So long as England maintains a great and efficient navy, 1t is unlikely that a great battle will ever be fought on her soil. Better than any military defenses that hl-
 man ingenuity could devise is the fleet of warships which patrols England S
 coast. Sir John Jellicoe, like a cross ing policeman, holds up his hand and says to Mars, f'Thus far and no far ther.''