In 1513 Europe was in turmoil. The King of England, Henry VIII had crossed the Channel and invaded France. The French were Scotland's historic ally and James the IV, the Scottish king, felt duty bound to come to their assistance. He did this by invading England, leading one of the best equipped armies Scotland was ever to send across the border. Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, brought the English army north to repel them. The two huge armies met at Flodden, and after just three bloody hours of battle, 12,000 men and the King of Scotland lay dead. Neil and Tony start their archaeological expedition by trying to locate the Scottish defences and gun emplacements on the Hill of Flodden.