Armed conflict, and thus language brokering in conflict zones, is pervasive throughout human history. Conflict arises in response to a threat, whether as a result of clashes between peoples and nations, or in the midst of a community. When one of the parties does not speak the language of the other, some type of language mediation is necessary. Despite the frequent invisibility of interpreters in the historical record, the need for and importance of interpreters in armed conflicts is without question. However, although conference interpreting became highly professionalised in the second half of the twentieth century, interpreting in this context is still an unregulated occupation mainly pursued by ad hoc interpreters. These interpreters face very specific circumstances that define their activity and that differentiate this form of interpreting from the better delimited forms of community interpreting and conference interpreting.