Waterloo 2010
The sky was grey and the sun half up when we left for Ramsgate on Thursday morning. In our group were Anthony, Tony, Sacha, Brian, Kat, Dom and yours truly. The trip to Waterloo was relaxed, if a bit choppy on the ferry (for me and Dom at least). Once the first brave pioneers hath arrived onsite and gasped at the wonder of so many little white tents in the Prussian and Allied camps, there was much milling about as we decided where to put the tents. As luck would have it, we were given one of the best spots in the Allied camp; slap bang in the middle, easy access to toilets, standpipes and, most critically, the beer tent.
After getting the first set of tentage up, there was further milling about, accompanied by light merriment. Eventually the second group arrived, Liz, Pam and James turned up, trailer and second set of tentage in tow. Even more milling about ensued, BUT! This milling had a purpose! And it came to pass that the placement of tentage was decided upon (by committee). And lo, it was there placed, although there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The rest of the night was filled with genteel merry-making (which ended in the early hours).
Breakfast, bit of drill, bit of chill.
There was not much to do until the Allied Army formed up for the remembrance
service. Services in the past have been small affairs, held in or around the
farm of Hougoumont; however this year, due to the huge number of re-enactors
present, the service was held in the field behind the camp, in a huge
square-like arrangement. Only when the 79th formed up alongside the
rest of our “C” Company compatriots did we realise just how many of us there
were; “C” Company made up one of three sides of the square-like arrangement
(official term, I’ll have you know), with a total of four Highland societies
representing three regiments. Not a bad turnout, I thought. The service itself
was... nice, for the lack of a better word. With the entire army at Present Arms
and Sasha playing the pipes, you could feel the respect in the air.
On the Saturday a group of children from
the Necker
Hospital in Paris who are severely ill, some incurable, were shown
around the camp by Marshal Alain Hablis and a guard of honour. When they came to our camp we made them all "Honouree" members of the 79th and a certificate was presented to them.
The two battles Saturday and Sunday (bit
confused as they merged together in hindsight).
Afterwards, there wasn’t much to do until the battle except company drill. When it came though, we all formed up and marched down to the coaches and headed off to the battlefield, which this year was a large arena, with bandstand seating, megaphones, the works.
Oh yeah, and some one and a half thousand French, hiding behind the public bandstands.
As the enemy marched on, the battle
started with the largest cannonade I have ever witnessed; nineteen Allied
cannon.
Shame
they didn’t all fire one huge volley. We also had the infamous Congreve rockets,
showering flaming sticks down on the 95th and our own good Major
(whose name escapes me). With piles of straw set alight, cannons firing
constantly and smoke filling the air, this is this year has to be the most
breathtaking Napoleonic re-enactment I have ever seen. And it got better.
Cavalry, so many cavalry. Three or four times, they charged us, well over one
hundred and fifty of them. We formed square, reformed line, formed square,
reformed line...
They
even gathered themselves up for one of the largest charges in re-enactment
history, though it wasn’t that impressive from where I was standing (behind
three tall 92nd guys). Our chance to earn glory didn’t last all that
long; we must have gotten ourselves into deadly crossfire's or gotten surrounded
two or three times. On the flipside, we did get one good Highland charge, in
which I got mugged by two officers at the same time. Got one, and the other ran
away.
Our last day in Belgium was so laid back;
we may just have been lying down. We packed up at our leisure, said our goodbyes
and made our way back to the port of Oostende. The ferry trip home was
considerably more relaxed, although I think Dom and I may have lost a few
friends when we changed the DVD (twice). We watched Hancock in the end, so it
was all good. We also had the 1st Foot Guards on the ferry with us,
but I think everyone was a bit tired after three days on the trot; most of us
crashed out in front of the TV and dozed off.
Well, what else can I say? Hell of an event can’t wait till next year or for the 200th Anniversary in 2015 for that matter. Hope to see all of you and more for Waterloo 2011!
Pictures courtesy of Roulleau Melanie, Mirjam Bons, Thomas Ristvall, Pam Coothern and Archie Cameron
By Lance Corporal Christopher Bartolo