Waterloo 2015
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The 27th were over to our left in the line.Linked from here.
So, my immediate superior in my ECW regiment was also at Waterloo as an Ensign of the 27th Enniskillen.
What's the Napoleonic scrapping like?
Wellington rode up and called out a corporal. He then berated him for stealing a pig! The Dukes adjutant went into the man's pack and brought out a small stuffed pink pig! The whole British line fell about laughing. :laugh:
That was the flavour of the weekend fighting.
This was all in front of about 60,000 spectators who were in stands that marked the ridge behind Wellington's actual line on the day in 1815. My unit, the 44th, were actually standing roughly in the position they were in on the battle. It was really strange.
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Fucking golden! :laugh:
Tell me about it. We did the 370th Anniversary of Naseby this year, on a section of the original battlefield. Was very surreal.
We were also camped in the fields where the NMA made their rendezvous before the battle.
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Our Brigade was camped in the orchard of Hougoumont. Our tents were against the right-hand corner and where the main French assault came in on the day. It was very weird knowing that thousands were injured and killed on this sacred ground.
I was worried about taking a piss at night.. it seemed like sacrilege!
Bizarrely, the other side of the wall was a service road that lead around to the front of the farm. This was where all the bogs were lined up. A Canadian re-enactor died there on the first day of a heart attack! One of our chaps was a medic and worked on him but failed. He was a wee bit pissed off after that.
The organisers had planned on a death a day! Luckily there was only one out of over 6000. However, there were lots of injuries, some very serious.
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I was worried about taking a piss at night.. it seemed like sacrilege!
Bizarrely, the other side of the wall was a service road that lead around to the front of the farm. This was where all the bogs were lined up. A Canadian re-enactor died there on the first day of a heart attack! One of our chaps was a medic and worked on him but failed. He was a wee bit pissed off after that.
The organisers had planned on a death a day! Luckily there was only one out of over 6000. However, there were lots of injuries, some very serious.
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Here is me on the corner at Hougoumont!
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Practicing 'squares!' I am 4th from right in the line at the front.
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Me and my two pards (both Sealed Knot), on the actual battlefield before the kick off!
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Can't say as I recognise them, but then the SK is a pretty big society :laugh:![]()
Me and my two pards (both Sealed Knot), on the actual battlefield before the kick off!
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Kev Pallett and Paul Lawry.. in Rawlings I think?
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YEAH, THAT WAS IT! :victory:Rawdons?
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So Day 1 was tied up doing Brigade drill on a huge field (near the beer tent). We mainly practiced marching in column and then into line. Then we tried squares which was comical. It took so long to form up and the cavalry would have made mincemeat of us! Finally,they reduced the size of the squares and we got it down to a fine art (which was very handy later on).
Marching out from Hougemont was an experiance in itself. We had to march through the Dutch/Belgium lines and they all lined up to salute us. I got all emmotional! :cray:
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Marching out from Hougemont was an experiance in itself. We had to march through the Dutch/Belgium lines and they all lined up to salute us. I got all emmotional! :cray:
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Needless to say, after an assault on the beer tent that night... we got to bed quite late!
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I too am a long in the tooth veteran of many assaults upon the beer tents. Our invasion forces are usually preceded by a small recon force consisting of myself and our musket officer going in first.
Ditching our soldiers coats at camp, we slide in there all nonchalant. Usually about half an hour after the battle whilst every fucker else is still busy so we can find a decent OP. :laugh:
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I have to say that the redcoats outnumbered our Allies in the beer tent. I had some excellent Belgium cherry beer that knocked my head off!
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What we faced!
![Marching Infantry Grenadier Military organization Troop]()
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Great time, but very tiring!La Grande Armee (or something) hasn't aged that well
Looks like you had a great time! Never realised that the Battle of Waterloo was such a joyfull event.
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