JJ's on Tour, France 2026 - Le Touquet Paris Plage, and the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.

This year, due to a big family wedding in May and a few home improvements that needed doing, Carolyn and I decided to take a few shorter breaks instead of our more normal longer excursion away, which saw us traveling to Tenerife in March and my exploration of the town of Santa Cruz, followed later in late July, nearer to home with a week exploring glorious Dorset, and then in September with a nine day trip to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, for which this is the third and final post in a series looking at the town and three specific sites close by, Montreuil, Crecy and in this post, Agincourt.

Our base for the week was at Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, with some key sites at Montreuil-sur-Mer, Crecy and Agincourt included in our list of places to visit during our break.

If you missed the previous posts you can read them through in sequence using the links below.

JJ's Wargames: JJ's on Tour, France 2026 - Le Touquet Paris Plage, and Montreuil-sur-Mer.

JJ's Wargames: JJ's on Tour, France 2026 - Le Touquet Paris Plage and its WWII History, and the Battle of Crecy 1346.

One of my other pleasures when traveling, apart from anything to do with my history interests is to enjoy some natural history which more often than not will include a bit of bird spotting and any other interesting wildlife that can be seen whilst also ticking another box, to include walking in the great outdoors.

On our first visit to the area a couple of years ago we stayed nearer to Berck or Burque, see the map above, where we first saw the local seal colony on the beach at low tide.

These grey seals are highly entertaining to watch and whilst exploring the dunes and checking out old WWII German bunker complexes we noticed the seals hunting off shore, this time at high tide, and soon drawing a crowd of other folks previously promenading the front whilst enjoying the sunny weather.

As well as the grey seals this part of the French coast is home to a lot of bird life very familiar to those of us from the other side of the Channel.

Common Terns flock the beach, squabbling with the odd black-headed gull, and the imperious great black backed gull on the waters edge

However one of the more entertaining species to watch were the Common Terns that populate the sandy beaches and provided a spectacular display of flying skills as each morning high tide they could be observed plummeting into the briny no doubt in pursuit of sand eels.

Cormorants were also well represented among the sea bird population.

The next set of shots took a bit of getting, but I wanted to catch the Turns doing their stuff, and trust me this is the original and peerless dive-bomber.

Flying straight and level, on the lookout below for a suitable target.

Target identified, the dive has commenced, no dive breaks here.

Contact! That poor old sand eel never new what hit it!

One other seal colony we discovered, this time at low tide, was those that hang out in the mouth and estuary of the River Canche, again on another big walk and bunker hunt.

The mouth of the River Canche. The seal colony is just visible on the extreme end of the sand spit jutting out into the mouth of the river.

The camera was doing its stuff, these seals were seen from the top of the dunes at maximum telephoto.

Care has to be taken on the beaches around here as quick-sand is a hazard at low tide, that and the need not to disturb these creatures, somewhat ignored by a few folks, striding down the beach, mobile phone in hand, only to drive the seals from the beach into the water to avoid the intruders and they failing to get any meaningful pictures - 'hey-ho, forgive them Lord for they know not what they do'.

I however, with a decent camera, managed to edge a little closer without disturbance beforehand and was rewarded with some nice pictures.

Just as we were getting ready to go, we were rewarded with a finale to our day of nature spotting, as Carolyn spotted a fast moving critter shooting across the beach investigating the clumps of weed, and like a pro, the camera was up and I pressed the shutter button, and just managed a few shots of a stoat at full tilt.

I wasn't that surprised to see this little chap foraging on the beach, as he probably feasts on the odd Turns egg during nesting season.

As well as enjoying the natural history of this part of France, the military history and particularly those of us interested in the Hundred Years' War as a period in history is well catered for with the area forming the cockpit of the action as first King Edward III, and then the Lancastrian King Henry V, scorched their way along this part of the French coast leaving a trail of destruction and spoiling for the fight their actions were intended to provoke.

Henry the V on film with Laurence Olivier's version of Henry from 1944 and a later incarnation portrayed of course by Kenneth Branagh in the 1989 translation of the Shakespearean classic.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Back in the 'good-old days' when English kids in English schools got taught English history, I can well remember at about the tender age of seven being enthralled by the tale of Henry and his archers cornered and outnumbered but determined to give a good account of themselves, and pouring over a Ladybird illustrated history book in the school library displaying the scenes of battle as the story was recounted with each turn of the page.

Probably one of the earliest influences on the young JJ 
developing a passion for military history - Ladybird Primary School books.

These school lessons were reinforced, when occasionally the 1944 film would appear on the television, in black and white back in those days, but despite the rather stilted Shakespearean dialogue, only further capturing the imagination.

Henry V of England, c16th Century - Artist Unknown

That interest in Agincourt was further stimulated in my teens when studying Henry IV Part One for my English Literature 'O' Level, which whetted the appetite to find out more about the young 'Prince Hal' who fought the rebel Harry Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury, earning his spurs the hard way with an arrow to the right side of his face, and rather belying the film star looks portrayed by Olivier and Branagh, considering the ugly scar that left him with and thus the portrait above portraying him in profile.

JJ's Wargames: Offa's Dyke Walk - Part Two (Battles of Shrewsbury 1403 & Mortimer's Cross 1461)

Mr Steve and I visited the battlefield of Shrewsbury back in 2019, link above, so a visit to Agincourt seemed a very appropriate way to honour the history of this very famous English warrior king.

The 1415 Azincourt Interpretation Centre

So it was that I found myself eagerly looking forward to making another hour's drive out into the fields of Picardy to pick up where we left off at the Battle of Crecy only a few days earlier, that was the opening shot in the disastrous Hundred Years' War, with the concluding one at the Battle of Agincourt, with it seems the nobility of France having learned nothing in the intervening years other that to prove the age old truism, 

'keeping on doing the same thing and expecting different results is the first sign of madness!'

The inability of the French nobility to find a way to overcome English tactics in the Hundred Years' War probably explains why I have never been interested in wargaming it, despite the colour and glamour of mounted knights, preferring instead the more popular medieval period that was the following era of the Wars of the Roses, the resulting civil war that followed the loss of French possessions in the wake of the Battle of Castillon on 17th July 1453 and the herald of the new age of warfare with gunpowder.

 

The typical look of some of the infantry in the Agincourt campaign, with an English archer front and centre whilst behind a French crossbowman and well equipped French spearman carrying a glaive, a spear like weapon with a cutting edge.
The Armies of Agincourt - Christopher Rothero (Osprey Men-at-Arms).

On his accession to the throne of England in April 1413 Henry V resolved to revive the war against France if the French failed to acknowledge his claim to the French throne through his great-grandfather Edward III of England.

In the ensuing negotiations Henry said that he would give up his claim to the French throne if the French would pay the 1.6 million crowns outstanding from the ransom of John II (who had been captured at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356), and concede English ownership of the lands of Anjou, Brittany, Flanders, Normandy, and Touraine, as well as Aquitaine, and in addition Henry would marry Catherine, Charles VI's young daughter, and receive a dowry of 2 million crowns.

The French responded with what they considered the generous terms of marriage with Catherine, a dowry of 600,000 crowns, and an enlarged Aquitaine, with Shakespeare imaginatively incorporating into his portrayal of these negotiations a gift from the French Dauphin of a barrel of tennis balls that Henry threatened to turn into cannon shot.

The Agincourt Campaign of 1415.

By 1415, negotiations had ground to a halt, and the English felt that the French had mocked their claims and ridiculed Henry himself, and so on 19th April 1415, Henry again asked the Great Council to sanction war with France, and this time they agreed, and on the 13th August 1415 Henry's army landed in northern France with an army of about 12,000 men and up to 20,000 horses, proceeding to besiege the port of Harfleur.

The siege took longer than expected, with the town surrendering on the 22nd September, and the English army not leaving until the 8th of October having suffered many casualties through disease and leaving Henry facing a dilemma, following the late departure of the army from England and the unexpectedly stubborn resistance of the Harfleur garrison that left little of the campaigning season ahead, whilst large French forces were assembling round him.

Rather than retire directly to England for the winter, after his costly expedition had captured only one town, Henry decided to march most of his army (roughly 9,000) to the port of Calais, the English stronghold in northern France, to demonstrate by his presence in the territory at the head of an army that his right to rule was more than a mere abstract legal and historical claim, whilst he also intended the manoeuvre as a deliberate provocation to battle aimed at the dauphin, who had failed to respond to Henry's personal challenge to combat at Harfleur.

English senior command in the Agincourt Campaign, with Lord Camoys, commander of the English left wing in the battle, Lord Bardolph Lieutenant of Calais, and King Henry V of England. All men wear the 'S' decorated collars showing high office under the House of Lancaster, and the insignia of the Order of the Garter, worn on the left calf.
The Armies of Agincourt - Christopher Rothero (Osprey Men-at-Arms).

Henry sent a messenger by sea to Calais ordering the Governor of the town, Sir William Bardolph, to march to the crossing point in the estuary of the Somme that Edward III had used in 1346 and hold it open for Henry’s army, however on arrival at the Somme estuary there was no sign of Bardolph and in his place a French force barred the crossing, forcing Henry to marched south east along the left bank of the river, with a French force keeping pace and opposing any attempt to cross. 

Finally the English army was able to outstrip the shadowing Frenchmen by cutting straight across a bend in the river, south of Péronne, crossing and resuming the march north east towards Calais. In the face of the gathering French armies Henry ordered his archers to cut sharpened staves to form a barrier against mounted attack. 

On the 24th October 1415 the English army, led by a screen of scouts, marched through the Picardy town of Frévent, now within 30 miles of Calais and safety, but as the army entered the valley beyond the town, the scouts came riding back at speed with the news that an immense army blocked the road. The French had managed to march past the English and cut across their route during the delay on the Somme, and beyond the village of Maisoncelles the French came into sight, a mass of knights and men-at-arms spilling across the valley from the East. 

The church in Azincourt.

The English had very little food, having marched 260 miles in two and a half weeks, were suffering from sickness such as dysentery, and were greatly outnumbered by well-equipped French men-at-arms. The French army blocked Henry's way to the safety of Calais, and delaying battle would only further weaken his tired army and allow more French troops to arrive. Seeing that he could not pass without giving battle Henry ordered his army to encamp and prepare to fight the next day.

The currently assumed position of the battlefield of Azincourt as illustrated on the battlefield tour guide in the Interpretation Centre.

The precise location of the battle is uncertain given the lack of archaeological evidence at the traditional site, specifically the narrow strip of open land formed between the woods of Tramecourt and Azincourt.

Early on the morning of October 25th (the feast day of St. Crispin), 1415, Henry positioned his army for battle on a recently ploughed field bounded by woods. His men-at-arms were stationed in the centre, flanked by wedges of archers who carried longbows that had an effective range of 250 yards. The terrain favoured Henry’s army and disadvantaged its opponent, as it reduced the numerical advantage of the French army by narrowing the front. This would prevent manoeuvres that might overwhelm the English ranks.

The supposed position of the English line at Agincourt in the field beyond the hedge, and the French position on the horizon beyond, seen from the Battlefield Viewing Tower as shown at Point 3 on the tour map above. The English camp area is thought to have been set up in the field to the left of picture. As you can see we were enjoying the kind of weather experienced at the battle, and the wet ploughed field adds to the impression of the likely conditions during the battle.

Fighting commenced at 11:00 am, as the English brought their longbows within killing range and the first line of French knights advanced, led by cavalry. The field that the French had to cross to meet their enemy was muddy after a week of rain and slowed their progress, during which time they endured casualties from English arrows. 

The mud in the battle scenes from the 1989 version of Henry V, improved somewhat on the emerald green sunny vistas seen in the 1944 version.

Recent research on the battlefield has revealed the rather unique composition of the soil at Agincourt that goes someway to explain the effect of the mud in this part of France on the knights and men at arms trying to cross this terrain clad in heavy plate, the effect of which only added to the viscosity encountered. I've attached a link to the YouTube video that revealed this story and the research done at Oxford University.

When the first French line reached the English front, the cavalry were unable to overwhelm the archers, who had driven sharpened stakes into the ground at an angle before themselves. Eventually the archers abandoned their longbows and began fighting hand-to-hand with swords and axes alongside the English nobles and men-at-arms.

A view of the battlefield from the French side of the field, with the English line occupying the area on the horizon between the two areas of woods.

The next line of French knights that poured in found themselves so tightly packed (the field narrowed at the English end) that they were unable to use their weapons effectively, and the tide of the battle began to turn toward the English. 

The Battle of Agincourt, 1415- Graham Turner.
Henry V (raised visor) is in the thick of the fighting, surrounded by his bodyguard and with his banners flying above him, as they desperately fight off the French knights and men at arms who have struggled through the mud and barrage of English arrows to reach their antagonists.

As the English were collecting prisoners, a band of French peasants led by local noblemen began plundering Henry’s baggage behind the lines. Thinking it was an attack from the rear, Henry had the French nobles he was holding prisoner killed. The third line of the French army, recoiling at the pile of corpses before them and unable to make an effective charge, was then massacred swiftly.

Home - 1415 Agincourt - the centre and museum of the battle

As at Crecy, Agincourt boasts a modern interpretation centre, entitled Agincourt 1415 Centre, in the town of Agincourt, and is a good place to start a tour of the battlefield from. 

The Centre is the development of what originally was an exhibition presenting the battle opened to the public, in a room in the village hall in the early 1980's. Twenty years later, in June 2001, the "Medieval Historical Centre" opened its doors before being expanded in 2005 with the inauguration in August 2019, of the brand new "Centre Agincourt 1415".

Renaud or Regnault of Agincourt, a French nobleman from Artois, in Northern France, also featured in the Graham Turner picture above, bottom left, visor raised and advancing towards Henry V.

On entering the foyer one is greeted with the life size manikin of Renaud or Regnault of Agincourt, a French nobleman from Artois, in Northern France, amid spent English arrows, and alongside the Graham Turner picture of the battle as seen above.

Renaud saw action in the service of the Duke of Burgundy, before meeting his end at the Battle of Agincourt on October 25th, 1415, along with his son Valeran, with the line of the Lords of Agincourt ending at the close of the 15th century.

There is a very nice purpose built gallery that informs the visitor about the history of the Hundred Years' War and the specific events leading up to the battle.

Various other displays cover information about food and drink, dysentery, and surgical techniques for dealing with common battlefield wounds of the period.

Dysentery was the scourge of medieval armies, a serious affliction of the intestine provoked by the consumption of contaminated food or drink, that would be treated with bleeding, bathing and a special two week diet, not very available to the common soldier leading to a very high death rate among those afflicted.

Weapon wounds were prone to haemorrhaging, with the first concern by the surgeon to cauterise it with a heated rod and dress it with fabric dressings. Any foreign bodies in the wound were carefully removed before cleaning and drying with the help of warm wine or a mixture of egg white, rosehip syrup and wine, and sometimes salt water, before it was stitched, with honey and other plant based balms applied before bandaging.

Arrow wounds were a common issue for medieval surgeons to deal with, and a type of chisel was often used to push an arrowhead further away from nerves, veins and bones, after the shaft had been removed, with a cross shaped incision made at the point the arrow had entered the flesh to aid in its removal.

If too difficult to remove immediately, the surgeon might wait a few days until the wound started to suppurate which would likely make it easier to get at it, or if embedded too deeply was simply left to avoid further complication by its removal, with wounds to the stomach area particularly feared as they proved more often than not to be fatal.

For fractures, the surgeon aided by his assistants to hold the affected limb, would push any exposed bone back into place, before placing a poultice around the fracture site, made of linen impregnated with rose oil or egg white, before splints were applied to immobilise the limb covered with bandages soaked in a mixture of flour and egg yoke that created a hardening agent to keep everything in place.

Open fractures were much more problematic as the risks from haemorrhaging, gangrene and tetanus were considerable, and surgeons went to great pains to remove bone splinters to avoid infection.

All these techniques and procedures were well understood battlefield treatment protocols only further complicated by the addition of gunpowder weapon wounds, that caused more damage to flesh than arrows and other common edged and bludgeoning weapons.

Round shot and ball destroyed flesh that became infected very quickly, seeing some surgeons resorting to putting lard into the wounds left by extracting ball or splinters, or with others using linen soaked in oil made from elder bark, new techniques designed to absorb noxious poisons. However it would not be until the next century that these practices ceased and the introduction of the use of various balms increased the chances of survival.

Typical tents and makeshift structures used in a medieval war camp.
Left to right - Rectangular or ridge tent popular with great lords or a place where a group of soldiers could sleep. Bell or domed tent, called a 'pavilion' often found in XIIth to XVth century illustrations, and a temporary shelter also shown in medieval illustrations constructed from tree branches.

Medieval war camps were quite rare, with armies campaigning in France usually lodging in towns and villages, billeted on the inhabitants, with camps only set up when the army was on a raid or during a siege. Individual tents, called pavilions were used by the nobility, soldiers of lower ranks such as urban militias sheltered in larger tents provided by their towns, whilst the poorest had to make do with the cover of trees or makeshift awnings.

From a wargamers perspective I enjoy looking at and photographing original and replica dress and weapons, and I have a library of books covering the recreated looks of warriors by reenactors throughout the various eras I am interested in; to get a better idea of the way types of clothes and equipment appeared on the wearer, that helps me better recreate and portray my figures when I paint them.

At the Agincourt Centre, the display proved really useful with this regard, with costumes displayed for well to do civilians, men and women, through to the armour and other military dress and various weapons, alongside period examples to validate the replica ones.

The civilian cloths give a good idea of the muted colours various natural dyes could create during this period, really useful when selecting an appropriate painting palette of colours.

For the armour, I find the detail of how the various pieces were strapped to the body and how the various under garments of protective jackets and mail that added to the protection were worn with it really useful. Some of my most informative pictures come from seeing the back of the various pieces and the straps, something really handy when painting knights and men at arms, where most of the illustrations show these warriors from the front.

A French 'pig-faced' or hound-skull bascinet, late 14th century early 15th century, seen above a red textile covered (linen and silk velvet) steel cuirass based on a late 14th century German original. The pavise and English shield are constructed from wood, linen and gesso.

To the top left is a copy of an early 15th century steel kettle hat above a steel bevor
of the same period, both based on a late 14th century Italian illustration. Whilst to the right
is a reconstruction of an early 15th century great-bascinet, based on an English effigy, whilst below it 
is a copy of an Italian late 14th century globose breastplate. 

The arming doublet seen below is a reconstruction of a late 14th century early 15th century example based on French and Italian illustrations and is composed of linen and quilted cotton, combined with arms and a skirt of mail.

The reconstructed leg harness below it is based on a late 14th century early 15th century English effigy.

The gauntlets are based on late 14th century German originals, whilst the
sabatons below are based on a similarly dated English effigy. 

These vambraces are late 14th century and based on an English effigy.

Mail collar and shirt above a typical linen and quilted cotton jack, the latter 
based on a French original example.

Arming hose based on German originals

Left is a mail coif with quilted linen and cotton lining, based on a German original, and right, a copy of a bascinet and aventail, late 14th century based on an Italian original.

Alongside the cabinet of arming hose, jacks helmets and mail was an equally impressive array of medieval weaponry of the period.

A magnificent display of weaponry, from bows, handguns and polearms to various swords, axes and daggers. 

A copy of a French late 14th century wrought iron handgun, with an ash wood handle.
Alongside is the English longbow illustrating the outer sapwood and inner heartwood of the 
Yew, although other hardwoods such as ash and elm could also be used.

The battlefield of Agincourt and the 1415 Interpretation Centre are well worth a visit if you are in the area, and like Crecy, the site is very will marked and prepared for the visitor, with a similar viewing tower arranged close to the 1963 dedicated monument to the battle seen below.

There is a well laid out driveable circuit of the battlefield allowing views across the presumed site of the action from both the English and French lines.

I hope you have enjoyed this three post series of our trip to Le Touquet Paris Plage, which rounds off our trips away for 2026, and I think this and our other breaks to Tenerife and Dorset this year amply illustrate the potential for those of us interested in military history, not to mention natural history, to easily incorporate those aspects into our travel plans.

Next up, work has recommenced on The World Turned Upside Down project with the latest unit to join the collection to be featured, namely the 3rd Pennsylvania Continental Regiment of Infantry.

As always, more anon.

JJ