How Nelson made history due to a missing flag (From Gazette)

How Nelson made history due to a missing flag

8:00am Thursday 22nd October 2009 in

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NELSON’S famous rallying cry at Trafalgar was changed to “England expects...” at the last minute. The admiral wanted to signal “England confides that every man will do his duty”, but the Victory did not have a flag for “confide” so he went with “expects” instead – and the rest was history.

That was just one of the facts brought to life at special Trafalgar Day celebrations at Jaywick Martello Tower to mark the 204th anniversary.

Historic Maritime Society actors in period costume staged a series of free talks and demonstrations about the legendary naval battle.

Weaponry and navigational equipment were also on show.

More than 150 visitors enjoyed the event. Cindy Rowland, Tower manager, said: “It was a really fascinating day. There were talks about the lead-up to Trafalgar, the battle formations and the death of Nelson.”