In this three part series we look at the eight recipients of the Victoria Cross who forfeited the award due to their later actions as well as other recipients who fell on hard times, and with particular reference to the case of modern Victoria Cross for Australian recipient Ben-Roberts Smith, accused of murder and war crimes in Afghanistan. Dur: 27mins File: .mp3

Yet another war believed to be over by Christmas. The Second Boer War was fought between the greatest empire the world had ever seen and a nation of farmers with a population fewer than that of Brighton, England. It took the might of the British Empire three years to subdue these farmers who were known as Boers. Dur: 37mins File: .mp3

Modern historical scholarship has little lenience for hyperbole and any event that appears exaggerated is heavily scrutinized. The Spanish Conquest of Mexico provides ample folklores for historians to examine. One tale depicts renowned conquistador Pedro de Alvarado vaulting across a canal to escape certain doom. An episode since identified as the Salto de Alvarado (Alvarado's Leap). Historians are now in broad agreement that Alvarado's Leap is but a legend. Alvarado's alleged narrow escape occurred during the Castilian's withdrawal known as the Noche Triste (Night of Sorrows) a crucial, indeed pivotal event in the Conquest of Mexico. However, what happened to the rear guard on that rainy dark night on Calzada de Tlacopan (Tacuba Causeway) remains a mystery. Dur: 28mins File: .mp3