Horatio Nelson famously instructed his officers that "you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil".

By Henry Samuel, Paris7:55PM GMT 07 Feb 201317 Comments
So he may be turning in his grave to learn that the bloodstained chemise he died in after a French musket ball pierced his shoulder at the battle of Trafalgar is to return to enemy territory for the first time since his demise.

Nelson's undress uniform, which he changed into as his fleet sailed into battle almost 208 years ago, is to be lent to the Musée de l'Armée in Paris as part of its exhibition on Napoleon and Europe from March 27 until July 14.

This will be the first time the uniform Nelson was wearing when he was fatally wounded on the deck of HMS Victory has left Britain since it was brought back from the famous battle along with Nelson's body in 1805.

The musket ball hole in the left shoulder of the coat can be clearly seen, along with blood stains on the tails and sleeve.
It will return to London for October 2013, where it will be the centrepiece of the museum's new Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery which looks at how the Royal Navy shaped individual lives and the course of British history over the 18th century.
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While the uniform is out of the country Nelson's full dress uniform will be displayed in its place for the first time in over a decade.
Considered the most decisive British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy.
Although it spectacularly confirmed Britain's naval superiority, the Napoleon Wars continued for another 10 years.