View source for England expects that every man will do his duty

{{Short description|Inspirational phrase sent before the Battle of Trafalgar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2018}}
[[File:J M W Turner-La bataile de Trafalgar (English).JPG|thumb|300px|''[[The Battle of Trafalgar (Turner)|The Battle of Trafalgar]]'' by [[J. M. W. Turner]] shows the last three letters of the signal flying from the {{HMS|Victory||2}}.]]

"'''England expects that every man will do his duty'''" was a [[International maritime signal flags|signal]] sent by [[Vice admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]] of the [[Royal Navy]] [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson]], from his [[flagship]] {{HMS|Victory}} as the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] was about to commence on 21 October 1805.

During the battle, as Nelson's fleet closed in on the allied fleet, he ordered Lieutenant John Pasco to signal the British fleet as soon as possible. After Pasco suggested some changes, and Nelson agreeing to them, the signal was sent at around 11:45&nbsp;a.m. on 21 October 1805 and relayed using a numeric flag code known as the ''[[Maritime flag signalling#Popham's flag code, Telegraphic signals; or Marine vocabulary|Telegraphic signals; or Marine vocabulary]]''.

Although there was much confusion surrounding the precise wording of the signal in the aftermath of the battle, the significance of the victory and Nelson's death during the battle led to the phrase becoming a standard representation of a militant English spirit of courage and virtue in the face of conflict.  It has been regularly quoted, paraphrased and referenced up to the modern day.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ipa.org.au/files/57-4-secrethistoryoftheanglosphere.pdf#search=%22%22england%20expects%22%20english%20psyche%22| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203104005/http://www.ipa.org.au/files/57-4-secrethistoryoftheanglosphere.pdf#search=%22%22england%20expects%22%20english%20psyche%22| archive-date=2007-12-03 | title=The "secret" history of the Anglosphere|author=Daniel Mandel|publisher=IPA Review|date=December 2005|access-date=17 September 2006 }}</ref>

==Background==
{{unref|section|date=October 2021}}
During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], [[Napoleon]] planned to invade Britain. To do so, he ordered both the French and Spanish navies to take control of the [[English Channel]] to ensure a safe passage for the [[Grande Armée]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Trafalgar-European-history|title=Battle of Trafalgar |website=Britannica |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=31 July 2023}}</ref> Commanded by Admiral [[Pierre-Charles Villeneuve]], the allied navy went down to [[Cape Trafalgar]], where they encountered a British Fleet commanded by Horatio Nelson.

On 21 October 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar began, with Nelson's fleet of 27 ships pitted against the combined Spanish and French fleet of 33. To secure victory, Nelson sailed his fleet toward the flank of the Allied fleet to break it into pieces. The naval battle resulted in 18 Allied ships being lost, while the British lost none. During the engagement, the French lost 14,000 troops, with at least 7,000 prisoners of war, including French Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve. Moreover, 1,500 British died, including Admiral Horatio Nelson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle of Trafalgar |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Trafalgar-European-history|publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=31 July 2023}}</ref> As a result, the British were victorious, ensuring their control of the sea and removing the possibility of a French invasion of Britain.

==Signals during the battle ==
As the British fleet closed with the opposing combined fleets of France and Spain, Nelson [[international maritime signal flags|signalled]] all the necessary battle instructions to his ships. Aware of the momentousness of events to come, Nelson felt that something extra was required. He instructed his signal officer, Lieutenant [[John Pasco]], to signal to the fleet, as quickly as possible, the message "England confides [i.e. is confident] that every man will do his duty." Pasco suggested to Nelson that ''expects'' be substituted for ''confides'', since the former word was in the signal book, whereas ''confides'' would have to be spelt out letter-by-letter. Nelson agreed to the change (even though it produced a less trusting impression):<ref name="HMS">{{cite web|title=Nelson and His Navy — England or Nelson?|url= http://www.hms.org.uk/nelsonsnavyee.htm|publisher=Historical Maritime Society|access-date= 2006-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928143122/http://www.hms.org.uk/nelsonsnavyee.htm |archive-date=2006-09-28}}; reprinted and abridged from {{cite book|author=White, Colin|editor=Harris, David J.|year=1998|title=The Trafalgar Chronicle 1998: Year Book of the 1805 Club|isbn=978-1-902392-01-1|contribution=Nelson and His Navy — England or Nelson?}}</ref><ref name="NS">{{cite web|url=http://www.nelson-society.org.uk/html/body_england_expects.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324080325/http://www.nelson-society.org.uk/html/body_england_expects.htm|archive-date=2005-03-24|title=England Expects|publisher=The Nelson Society|access-date=16 September 2006 }}</ref>

{{quote|His Lordship came to me on the [[poop deck|poop]], and after ordering certain signals to be made, about a quarter to noon, he said, 'Mr. Pasco, I wish to say to the fleet, ENGLAND CONFIDES THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY' and he added 'You must be quick, for I have one more to make which is for close action.' I replied, 'If your Lordship will permit me to substitute the ''confides'' for ''expects'' the signal will soon be completed, because the word ''expects'' is in the vocabulary, and ''confides'' must be spelt,' His Lordship replied, in haste, and with seeming satisfaction, 'That will do, Pasco, make it directly.'|John Pasco}}

Thus, at around 11:45&nbsp;a.m. on 21 October 1805, the signal was sent.<ref name="aboutnelson">{{cite web|url= http://www.aboutnelson.co.uk/england%20expcts.htm|title=England Expects|publisher=aboutnelson.co.uk| access-date=16 September 2006 }}</ref><ref name="trafsignals">{{cite web|url=http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/traf-signals.html|title=Trafalgar signals|publisher=Broadside|access-date=16 September 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919112358/http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/traf-signals.html|archive-date=19 September 2006}}</ref> The exact time the signal was sent is not known (one account puts it as early as 10:30),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/Trafalgar.html |title=Battle of Trafalgar |author=Paul Harris Nicholas |date=1805-10-12 |access-date=7 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905003837/http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/Trafalgar.html |archive-date=5 September 2009 }}</ref> as the message was repeated throughout the fleet, but Pasco puts it at "about a quarter to noon" and logs from other ships of the line also put it close to this time.<ref name="NS" />

[[File:England Expects Signal.svg|thumb|right|480px|Nelson's signal, relayed using Popham's "Telegraphic Signals of Marine Vocabulary"<ref name="aandc">{{cite web|url=http://www.aandc.org/research/england_expects_signalflags.html|title=England expects that every man will do his duty|publisher=Archives & Collections Society|access-date=September 14, 2011}}</ref>]]

The signal was relayed using the numeric flag code known as the "Telegraphic Signals of Marine Vocabulary", devised in 1800 by Rear Admiral [[Home Riggs Popham|Sir Home Popham]], and based on the signal books created earlier by [[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Admiral Lord Howe]].<ref name="popham">{{cite web|url=http://www.atlasgeo.net/fotw/flags/xf~psf.html |title=Popham's Signal flags |publisher=Flags of the World |date=2006-04-29 |access-date=16 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301155941/http://www.atlasgeo.net/fotw/flags/xf~psf.html |archive-date=1 March 2006 }}</ref> This code assigned the digits 0 to 9 to ten signal flags, which were used in combination. Code numbers 1–25 represented letters of the alphabet (omitting J and with V=20 before U=21);<ref name="aandc"/> higher numbers were assigned meanings by a code book.<ref name="signals">{{cite web|url= http://website.lineone.net/~d.bolton/Misc/signals.htm|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060427064732/http://website.lineone.net/~d.bolton/Misc/signals.htm|archive-date= 2006-04-27 |title=Signals|date=2002-06-14|author=D.Bolton| access-date=16 September 2006 }}</ref> 

The code numbers are believed to have been hoisted on the [[mizzenmast]], one after another, with the "telegraphic flag" (a red-over-white diagonally-split flag)<ref name = CSA>[https://mymodelsailingships.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/a-brief-interlude-2-signal-flags.html A Brief Interlude 2: Signal Flags (showing the "telegraphic flag" and "end of code" flag) at mymodelsailingships.blogspot.co.uk] Accessed 22 October 2017</ref> also being flown to show that the signals employed Popham's code.<ref name="gordon">{{cite book |last=Gordon |first=W.J. |title = Flags of the World. Past and Present: Their Story and Associations |year=1930 |publisher=Frederick Warne and Co.: London and New York|pages=147}}</ref> As well as digit flags, the code used "repeat" flags so that only one set of digits was needed; thus the word ''do'', coded as "220", used a "2" flag, a "first repeat" flag here serving as a second 2, and a "0" flag. The word ''duty'' was not in the codebook (and was not replaced as ''confides'' had been), so had to be spelt out, and the whole message required twelve "lifts".<ref name="signal">{{cite book |last=Barrie |first=Kent |title=Signal! A History of Signalling in the Royal Navy |year=1993 |publisher=Hyden House Ltd|pages=7,100}}</ref> It is believed that it would have taken about four minutes, with the end of the message indicated by an "end of code" flag (blue over yellow diagonally split).<ref name = CSA/><ref name="signal" /> A team of four to six men, led by Lt. Pasco, would have prepared and hoisted the flags onboard Nelson's [[flagship]] {{HMS|Victory}}. The message shows one of the shortcomings of Popham's code—even the two-letter "do" required three flags hoisted for the signal. It is reported that a great cheer went up as the signal was hoisted and repeated throughout the fleet.<ref name="NMM1">{{cite web|url= http://www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?exhibit=it1390z&axis=1158450364&flash=true&dev=|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930032429/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?exhibit=it1390z&axis=1158450364&flash=true&dev=|archive-date= 2007-09-30 |title= Signal Flags|publisher=National Maritime Museum|access-date=16 September 2006 }}</ref>

According to the historian [[John Knox Laughton]]:
<blockquote>It is said that, as he saw the flags going up, [[Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood|Collingwood]] remarked half-peevishly to his flag-lieutenant, "I wish Nelson would make no more signals; we all understand what we have to do." When, however, the signal was reported, he was delighted, and ordered it to be announced to the ship's company, by whom it was received with the greatest enthusiasm.<ref>John Knox Laughton, ''Nelson'' (Macmillan and Co, London, 1909), at pages [https://archive.org/details/nelsonaction00lauguoft/page/220 221-222]</ref></blockquote>

The message "engage the enemy more closely" was Nelson's final signal to the fleet, sent at 12:15&nbsp;p.m.,<ref name="trafsignals" /> before a single British cannon had been fired at the enemy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Andidora |first=Ronald W. |title=Iron Admirals: Naval Leadership in the Twentieth Century |year=2000 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=0-313-31266-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ironadmiralsnava00andi/page/5 5] |url=https://archive.org/details/ironadmiralsnava00andi/page/5 |url-access=registration }}</ref> This message was signalled using the telegraphic flag and flags 1 and 6. Nelson ordered this signal hauled up and kept aloft.<ref name="trafsignals"/>
It remained up until shot away during the battle.<ref name="NS"/><!--no source for this, apocryphal? : In honour of Nelson, this specific signal is retained as a code in the [[NATO]] Allied Tactical signals publication, though it has no relevance in modern naval warfare.-->

==After the battle==
[[Image:England expects...retouched.jpg|thumb|300px|Nelson's signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty", flying from ''Victory'' on the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005]]

Almost immediately, the signal began to be misquoted. A number of ships in the fleet recorded the signal as "England expects every man ''to'' do his duty" (omitting ''that'' and replacing ''will'' with ''to''). This version became so prevalent that it is recorded on Nelson's tomb in [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<!--no direct reference found for this:, and on the [[Nelson Memorial, Swarland|memorial]] built in 1807 by his friend and agent, Alexander Davison--><ref name="HMS" /> The word ''that'' is also omitted on the version around the base of [[Nelson's Column]]. However, the ''Victory''{{'}}s log and the accounts of signal officer John Pasco and [[Henry Blackwood]] (captain of the frigate ''Euryalus''), both present at the preparation of the signal, agree on the form given here.<ref name="HMS" /> On 26 December 1805, ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper in London reported the signal as; "England expects every officer and man to do his duty this day".<ref>Shapiro, Fred R (ed.) 2006, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ck6bXqt5shkC&dq=%22England+expects+every+officer+and+man+to+do+his+duty+this+day.%22&pg=PA548 ''The Yale Book of Quotations''], [[Yale University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0300-10798-2}} (p. 548)</ref> In 1811, the tenor [[John Braham (tenor)|John Braham]] composed a song, "The Death of Nelson", including the words of the signal. The song became popular almost immediately and was performed throughout the [[British Empire]] during the 19th century. To make the words fit the metre, they were altered to "England expects that every man this day will do his duty". This version of the wording is also persistent.<ref name="SB">{{cite web|url=http://www.seabritain2005.com/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.351|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927051227/http://www.seabritain2005.com/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.351|archive-date=2007-09-27|title=An A to Z of Nelson:E – England Expects... Vice-Admiral Horatio, Lord Nelson|publisher=SeaBritain 2005|year=2005|access-date=17 September 2006 }}</ref><ref>Disprose, John (1856), [https://books.google.com/books?id=ejVYAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22England+expects+that+every+man+this+day+will+do+his+duty%22&pg=PT12 ''Diprose's Naval and Military Song-Book''], David Bryce, London (p. 32)</ref>

Between 1885 and 1908 it was believed that the signal had been sent using the 1799 code book, as in 1885 it was pointed out that this had not been replaced until 1808. In 1908 it was discovered that the Admiralty had, in fact, changed the signal code in November 1803, after the 1799 version had been captured by the French,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=160&Itemid=582 |title=Popham's code |publisher=HMS Victory |access-date=18 August 2012 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203022742/http://www.hms-victory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=160&Itemid=582 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and new code books had been issued to Nelson's fleet at Cadiz in September 1805. As a result, books published between these two dates show the signal using the wrong flags.

The signal is still hoisted on the ''Victory'' at her [[dry dock]] in [[Portsmouth]] on [[Trafalgar Day]] (21 October) every year,<ref name="NMM2">{{cite web|url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?exhibit=it1338z&axis=1091607648&flash=true&dev=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930040813/http://www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?exhibit=it1338z&axis=1091607648&flash=true&dev=|archive-date=2007-09-30 |title=England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty|publisher=National Maritime Museum|access-date=16 September 2006 }}</ref> although the signal flags are displayed all at once, running from fore to aft, rather than hoisted sequentially from the mizzenmast.

===Similar signals===
The signal has been imitated in other navies of the world. [[Napoleon]] ordered the French equivalent, "{{lang|fr|La France compte que chacun fera son devoir}}", to be displayed on French vessels.<ref name="SB" /> At the opening of the [[Battle of Plattsburgh]] in September 1814, Commodore [[Thomas MacDonough]] of the [[United States Navy]] flew the signal "Impressed seamen call on every man to do his duty", referring to the fact that [[impressment]] of sailors had been a U.S. [[casus belli]] of the War of 1812. During the 1865 [[Battle of Riachuelo]], a turning point of the [[Paraguayan War]], Brazilian Admiral [[Francisco Manuel Barroso, Baron of Amazonas|Manuel Barroso, Baron of Amazonas]], rallied his fleet by signalling the Portuguese equivalent, ''"O Brasil espera que cada um cumpra o seu dever".''<ref>{{Cite web |last=de Souza Aguiar Jr. |first=Douglas |date= |title=A BATALHA NAVAL DO RIACHUELO |url=http://hmmb.com.br/artigo0407.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316231541/http://hmmb.com.br/artigo0407.html |archive-date=2010-03-16 |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Ordens e Medalhas Militares do Brasil}}</ref>

A [[Z flag#Military uses|similar signal]] was used by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] during the [[Russo-Japanese War]]. At the [[Battle of Tsushima]] on 27 May 1905, Admiral [[Tōgō Heihachirō]] – who had studied naval tactics in Britain from 1871 to 1878, and was known as the "Nelson of the East"– signalled to his fleet: "The fate of the Empire depends upon today's battle: let every man do his utmost".<ref name="telegraph">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/1480558/Japan-proudly-flies-battleflag-again.html|title= Japan proudly flies battleflag again|date=2005-01-06|author=Colin Joyce|publisher=Telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

==Connection with Mission Command==

The implied reliance on shared intent, individual duty, and initiative has made "England Expects" an early symbol of what would evolve into [[Mission Command]], a decentralized style of [[Command and Control]] applied with considerable success since the nineteenth century. Nelson trusted the experience, skill, and initiative of his individual captains and sailors, as a way of managing the uncertainty inherent in war. <ref>{{cite book 
|last1=Vassiliou|first1=Marius
|last2=Alberts|first2=David
|last3=Agre|first3=Jonathan
|title=C2 Re-Envisioned: the Future ofd the Enterprise
|date=2015 
|publisher=CRC Press
|location=Boca Raton, Florida
|page=2-7, 105-122
|ISBN=978-1-4665-9581-1 
}}</ref>

==Later uses==

[[File:INF3-164 Britain expects that you too, this day, will do your duty Artist Forster.jpg|thumb|upright|A World War II poster intended to increase industrial production on the home front]]

[[Charles Dickens]] quotes it in Chapter&nbsp;43 of ''[[Martin Chuzzlewit]]'':
{{quote|...as the poet informs us, England expects Every man to do his duty, England is the most sanguine country on the face of the earth, and will find itself continually disappointed.<ref>[[:wikisource:Martin Chuzzlewit|Martin Chuzzlewit]], [[:wikisource:Martin Chuzzlewit/Chapter 43|Chapter 43]].</ref>}}

In [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[The Hunting of the Snark]]'', the Bellman says:
{{quote|For England Expects&nbsp;– I forbear to proceed. Tis a maxim tremendous, but trite.<ref>[[:wikisource:The Hunting of the Snark|The Hunting of the Snark]], Fit the Fourth, 10th stanza, lines 1 and 2.</ref>}}

In [[Ogden Nash]]'s collection of poems ''I'm a Stranger Here Myself'' (1938) there is a short poem "England Expects".<ref>[[q:Ogden Nash|Ogden Nash in Wikiquote]]</ref>
During the [[Second World War]], an [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] propaganda poster intended to increase industrial production on the home front, carried the slogan; "Britain expects that you too, this day, will do your duty".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/9746 |title=Britain Expects that You Too, this Day, Will Do Your Duty |website=www.iwm.org.uk |publisher=The Imperial War Museum |access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref> Nelson's flag signal was hoisted by the Royal Navy [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] [[HMS Erebus (I02)|HMS ''Erebus'']] at the start of the bombardment for the [[Normandy landings]] on 6 June 1944.<ref>Stilwell, Paul (1994), [https://books.google.com/books?id=T-1mAAAAMAAJ&q=HMS+Erebus+%22England+expects%22 ''Assault on Normandy: First-Person Accounts from the Sea Services''] Naval Institute Press, {{ISBN|978-1557507815}} (p. 228)</ref>

It was also referenced by [[Margaret Thatcher]] during her crucial speech to the cabinet which finally persuaded them to rally behind her over the divisive issue of the [[Poll tax (Great Britain)|poll tax]].<ref name="Crick">{{cite book |last=Crick |first=M. |title = Michael Heseltine: A Biography |year=1997 |publisher=Penguin Books Ltd: London |pages=388}}</ref> Further afield, it has been adapted by [[James Joyce]] in his novel, ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'', such as "Ireland expects that every man this day will do his duty".

Today "England expects..." is often adapted for use in the media, especially in relation to the expectations for the victory of English sporting teams.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/4224130.stm |title=England expects...|date=2005-09-07|publisher=BBC|access-date=16 September 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4-1869020,00.html|title=Great Expectations|newspaper=Times Online|author=Rick Broadbent|date=2005-11-12|access-date=17 September 2006 | location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Such is the sentence's connotation with sport that a book on the history of the [[England national football team]] by James Corbett was entitled ''England Expects''. A [[BBC Scotland]] [[England Expects|television drama also bears its name]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/03_march/18/england_expects.shtml |title=England Expects |publisher=BBC |date=2004-03-18 |access-date=17 September 2006 }}</ref>
{{clear}}

==See also==
*{{format link|Z flag#Military uses}}
*"[[A Drop of Nelson's Blood]]", another tradition originating in the same battle

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Wikiquote-inline|Admiral Horatio Nelson}}
*[http://www.rmg.co.uk/national-maritime-museum National Maritime Museum]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060113115810/http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/4746.html Royal Navy]
*[https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48647 "Flag codes: another type of Hong Kong resistance writing"] at [[Language Log]]
{{Napoleonic Wars}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty}}
[[Category:1805 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Battle of Trafalgar]]
[[Category:English words and phrases]]
[[Category:Horatio Nelson]]
[[Category:Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Naval signals]]
[[Category:Signal flags]]
[[Category:1800s neologisms]]
[[Category:1800s quotations]]
[[Category:War of the Third Coalition]]
[[Category:Quotations from military]]