Was Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson a very brave man or a fool? He certainly seemed to have a death wish because at the Battle of Trafalgar when his force took on the combined French and Spanish fleets he stood in his full dress uniform complete with medals and decorations, in full view of snipers from the opposing vessels. It wasn't as if he didn't realise his danger since before he was hit himself he was showered with the brains of another seaman nearby. Despite this he strolled the deck with Hardy until finally being shot down by a musket ball which entered his shoulder and smashed down into his spine. Nelson knew that death was near, as no doubt did the sniper who shot him when he was captured later; his fate, perhaps mercifully, went unrecorded.

A man like Nelson could not have existed in Today's politically-correct Britain and he would probably have turned in his grave if he had seen the re-enactment of his body's reception and burial on 16th September, 2005. Incredibly, even the name of the battle wasn't mentioned in the official literature, and the "Battle of Trafalgar" became "An early 19th Century Sea Battle". Some sea battle it was too, because it paved the way for the dominance of the world's oceans by the British Navy which lasted for a century. Even more unbelievable was the fact that the opposing sides were not labelled "British" and "French/Spanish" but "Red Fleet" and "Blue Fleet" but this is understandable since it would not do to offend our French European partners that Nelson's 28 ships took on 33 "Blue Fleet" ships and sank or captured 22 of them without losing a single "Red Fleet" ship. But then that's history, and history is easily changed.

The display itself was magnificent with a mock-up of his funeral barge sailing up the Thames accompanied by a flotilla including a number of tall ships and a spectacular "Son et Lumiere" show in Trafalgar Square. Rumours that the square is about to be renamed "An Early 19th Century Sea Battle Square" were denied last night by a government spokesman.