ONE thing that distinguishes the British from any other nation is its gift for understatement.

Perhaps it’s a way of coping with trauma but it’s definitely something the rest of the world has always admired.

We tend to forget it but a new report by Sheffield University historian Dr Tom Dowling is reminding us beautifully.

The wonderful Spike Milligan was the master of understatement. He famously had inscribed on his gravestone “I told you I was ill.”

Probably the best example, though, was the mild exchange between the Earl of Uxbridge and the Duke of Wellington. As the Earl’s leg was blown off by canon during the Battle of Waterloo, he stated: “By God, sir, I’ve lost my leg!” To which the Duke replied: “By God, sir, so you have!”

Unsurprisingly, this apparently inspired a scene from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, underlining once more our quirky national trait.