But by week's end the Laotian cry of invasion was read as an exaggeration ( see foreign news ), and the U.S. was agreeing with its cautious British and French allies that a neutralist -- rather than a pro-Western -- government might be best for Laos.

Not only was his Belgian nationality interesting because of Belgium's occupation by Germany ( which provided a valid explanation of why such a skilled detective would be out of work and available to solve mysteries at an English country house ), but also at the time of Christie's writing, it was considered patriotic to express sympathy with the Belgians, since the invasion of their country had constituted Britain's casus belli for entering World War I, and British wartime propaganda emphasized the " Rape of Belgium ".

* 1943 – World War II: Operation Mincemeat: The submarine surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer.

* 1940 – World War II: Italian forces begin the invasion of British Somaliland.

* 1806 – Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires re-takes the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina after the first British invasion.

* 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Ridgefield: A British invasion force engages and defeats Continental Army regulars and militia irregulars at Ridgefield, Connecticut.

To one who had been a man of war from his youth, who had won and lost many fights, the rout of a detachment and the forcible seizure of some debatable frontier lands was an untoward incident ; but it was not a sufficient reason for calling upon the British, although they had guaranteed his territory's integrity, to vindicate his rights by hostilities which would certainly bring upon him a Russian invasion from the north, and would compel his British allies to throw an army into Afghanistan from the southeast.

* 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins — The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian, British, French and New Zealand troops begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.

This allowed Bonaparte to propose an invasion of Egypt as an alternative to confronting Britain directly, believing that the British would be too distracted by an imminent Irish uprising to intervene in the Mediterranean.

Later, however, the British would have spectacular success defeating the Italians and Germans at the Battle of El Alamein in North Africa, and in the D-Day invasion of Normandy with the help of American, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand forces.

A large force of British troops also remained in Germany, facing the threat of Soviet invasion.

The most serious breach in the relationship was the War of 1812, which saw an American invasion of then British North America and counter-invasions from British-Canadian forces.

The immense debt resulting from Isma ' il's projects provided a pretext for increasing European control, which culminated with the British invasion in 1882.

The British group A Flock of Seagulls, released their self-titled concept album based on an alien invasion.

Due to his two periods of exile in 1904 – 1909, to escape the British invasion of 1904, and from 1910 – 1912 to escape a Chinese invasion, he became well aware of the complexities of international politics and was the first Dalai Lama to become aware of the importance of foreign relations.

In November 1956, Eisenhower forced an end to the combined British, French and Israeli invasion of Egypt in response to the Suez Crisis.

The débâcle of the Afghan civil war left a vacuum in the Hindu Kush area that concerned the British, who were well aware of the many times in history it had been employed as the invasion route to South Asia.

With British forces occupying much of the country, Sher Ali's son and successor, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, signed the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879 to prevent a British invasion of the rest of the country.

The British subsequently made a pre-emptive ( but friendly ) invasion and occupation of the Faroes to prevent a German invasion.

Additionally Britain's use of radar and the advantages of fighting above Britain's home territory allowed the RAF to deny Germany air superiority, saving the British Isles from German invasion and dealing the Axis their first major defeat of the Second World War.

In the late summer of 1777, the British under John Burgoyne sent a major invasion army south from Quebec, with the intention of splitting off rebellious New England.

The pro-French Governor General of Java Jan Willem Janssens, resisted a British invasion force in 1811 until forced to surrender.

* Avian Java, a British hang glider

* HMS Java, three ships of the British Royal Navy

* SS Java, a British and French ocean liner built in 1865

* December 29 – War of 1812: The USS Constitution defeats the British frigate Java off the coast of Brazil.

It was discovered even earlier by Louis Deschamps in Java between 1791 and 1794, but his notes and illustrations, seized by the British in 1803, were not available to western science until 1861.

The British were charged with restoring order and civilian government in Java.

British Commonwealth troops did not, however, land on Java to accept the Japanese surrender until late September 1945.

The first British troops reached Jakarta in late September 1945, and arrived in the cities of Medan ( North Sumatra ), Padang ( West Sumatra ), Palembang ( South Sumatra ), Semarang ( Central Java ) and Surabaya ( East Java ) in October.

Japanese military police killed Republican pemuda in Pekalongan ( Central Java ) on 3 October, and Japanese troops drove Republican pemuda out of Bandung in West Java and handed the city to the British, but the fiercest fighting involving the Japanese was in Semarang.

The British subsequently decided to evacuate the 10, 000 Indo-Europeans and European internees in the volatile Central Java interior.

The last British troops left Indonesia in November 1946, but by this time 55, 000 Dutch troops had landed in Java.

The Linggadjati Agreement, brokered by the British and concluded in November 1946, saw the Netherlands recognise the Republic as the de-facto authority over Java, Madura, and Sumatra.

A total of 1, 200 British soldiers were killed or went missing in Java and Sumatra in 1945 and 1946, most of them Indian soldiers.

The road span from Anyer in Western Java to Panarukan in East Java served as a military supply route to defend Java from incoming British invasion.

In 1811, Java was captured by the British, becoming a possession of the British Empire, and Sir Stamford Raffles was appointed as the island's Governor.

Meanwhile, also in the 19th century, the plant's seeds and cuttings were smuggled out for new cultivation at cinchona plantations in colonial regions of tropical Asia, notably by the British to the British Raj and Ceylon ( present day India and Sri Lanka ), and by the Dutch to Java in the Dutch East Indies ( present day Indonesia ).

He was also heavily involved in the conquest of the Indonesian island of Java from Dutch and French military forces during the Napoleonic Wars and contributed to the expansion of the British Empire.

It took a long time before the British tipped the balance.

Fleming finally abandoned penicillin, and not long after he did, Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford took up researching and mass-producing it, with funds from the U. S. and British governments.

The Irish Free State, whose consent to the Abdication Act was also required, neither gave it nor allowed the British legislation to take effect in the Free State's jurisdiction ; instead, the Irish parliament passed its own Act — the Executive Authority ( External Relations ) Act — the day after the Declaration of Abdication Act took force elsewhere, meaning Edward VIII, for one day, remained King of Ireland while George VI was king of all the other realms.

The first tank versus tank action took place on 24 April 1918 at Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, when three British Mark IVs met an advance of three German A7Vs, supported by infantry.

The British Government took the decision to found the Botany Bay colony in mid 1786.

During the 17th century, English emigration to the British colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took the English language with them.

A wait of fourteen years would ensue until another British Isles team tour took place, again in South Africa.

On the far right, towards Foulz, the British battalions and squadrons took up their posts in a double line near the Jeuche stream.

Bombardier was one of the companies that took over British Rail's Research and Development facilities after privatisation ( the remainder largely being absorbed into AEA Technology and Alstom ).

Dorman Long, South Durham and Stewarts and Lloyds had merged as British Steel and Tube Ltd before vesting took place.

During the strike the " Battle of Orgreave " took place at British Steel's coking plant.

* The British Empire, although officially a staunch supporter of the Ottoman Empire's integrity, took secret diplomatic steps encouraging Greek entry into the League in order to counteract Russian influence.

IRA members openly mounted roadblocks in front of the media, and daily clashes took place between nationalist youths and the British Army at a spot known as " aggro corner ".

After the failed rebellion against the British in 1857, the British Parliament took over the reign of India from the British East India Company, and British India came under the direct rule of the Crown.

When Havana surrendered, the admiral of the British fleet, George Keppel, the 3rd Earl of Albemarle, entered the city as a conquering new governor and took control of the whole western part of the island.

Baddeck would be the site of his experiments with hydrofoil technologies as well as the Aerial Experiment Association, financed by his wife, which saw the first powered flight in the British Empire when the AEA Silver Dart took off from the ice-covered waters of Bras d ' Or Lake.

The British government also took direct steps to counter the influence of CND, Secretary of State for Defence Michael Heseltine setting up Defence Secretariat 19 " to explain to the public the facts about the Government's policy on deterrence and multilateral disarmament ".

The British infantry, having formed infantry squares, took heavy losses from the French guns, while their own cannon fired at the cuirassiers and lancers, when they fell back to regroup.

Growing French interest in the area took place against a backdrop of British activity in Egypt and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.

He briefly took private lessons from the great British phonetician Henry Sweet.

Over 80 British destroyers and 60 German torpedo-boats took part in the Battle of Jutland, which involved pitched small-boat actions between the main fleets, and several foolhardy attacks by unsupported destroyers on capital ships.

He was discharged from the field hospital after a few days, and took command of the British contingent of a relief force sent out to help Seymour.