The rains this summer have been a thorough misery, but rain has come to the rescue of the English at some decisive moments in history.
Downpours played a vital role in the battle of Agincourt, in October, 1415. Having invaded France, Henry V met a formidable army at Agincourt, a village in the north east. The odds against him seemed hopeless his troops were exhausted, hungry, suffering from dysentery and hopelessly outnumbered by the enemy. Their plight grew even worse the night before battle, when rain pelted down and, with very little shelter, the English were left soaking wet.
However, the downpour also turned the battlefield into a quagmire. With no cavalry of his own, Henry V was unconcerned with horses trying to move through the thick mud. Instead, he stationed his archers, equipped with longbows, close to woods on either side of the narrow battlefield and launched an attack.
The French retaliated with a cavalry charge but, weighed down with heavy armour, the horses lost their footing in the mud and fell or ran into each other. Under salvos of arrows and with little room to manoeuvre, the cavalry were left in utter disarray and ran into their advancing infantry. The English tore into the French ranks and within a few hours they had won a stunning victory.