Conversations with the General Category
Serjeant Charles Ewart
May 21, 2015 - The Chairman
Serjeant Gibson and I spotted this memorial to another Serjeant, Serjeant Charles Ewart of the 2nd North British Dragoons, whilst in Edinburgh yesterday – although later he was promoted to Ensign in the 5th Royal Veteran Battalion. This magnificent stone lies on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle and remembers the great man who seized the eagle […]
1st of Foot’s Waterloo Colours
May 17, 2015 - The Chairman
Serjeant Gibson and I were in Edinburgh over the weekend and whilst in the castle we saw this stand of Waterloo Colours. They are of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st of Foot and both King’s and Regimental Colours survive despite the years. They are 6 foot by 6 foot. Illustrated is the King’s Colour […]
The Old Duke’s Memorial Service
May 16, 2015 - The Chairman
Serjeant Gibson and I were pleased to attend the Memorial Service on Tuesday last for the 8th Duke of Wellington at the Guards Chapel in Wellington Barracks. It was an excellent service attended by almost the entire Royal Family including the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. This is a reflection of the esteem he Duke […]
Excellent Programme on the Duke
May 10, 2015 - The Chairman
An excellent programme was broadcast on BBC2 this evening. Well worth watching on BBC iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05vlz90/wellington-the-iron-duke-unmasked. Has some excellent comments from historians and the Wellesley family.
Does Hougoumont Float?
May 10, 2015 - The Chairman
Well, I bloody well hope not. I know it rained on the 16/17th June but not so much to float the chateau! However, did you know Hougoumont was the last convict ship to transport convicts to Australia? I and Serjeant Gibson will be surprised if you did! She was a three-masted full rigged ship of the type […]
Napoleon Boilerparts
May 8, 2015 - The Chairman
One of Serjeant Gibson’s correspondents told him there was a firm recently gone into liquidation called Napoleon Boilerparts. I thought he was joking but on looking on the web there it is with two branches, one in Sussex and the other in Hampshire. However the correspondent also told us they had gone into liquidation and I […]
Hougoumont Sitrep
May 7, 2015 - The Chairman
Over the weekend Serjeant Gibson and I visited the battlefield and saw how the Hougoumont Farm is getting on. I must say it is beginning to look magnificent and will be marvellous to visit. The walls have been painted as you can see and the interiors are in pretty good shape too. There is still much […]
Macabre Find
April 9, 2015 - The Chairman
Archaeologists have made an interesting find in 2012. A skeleton was found during the excavation on the battlefield when building a new Car Park adjacent to the Mound. There was much speculation as to the identity of the man whose right rib cage was still holding a musket ball, see the attached photo. In the […]
Greenjackets to the Fore
March 25, 2015 - The Chairman
The general and I attended an excellent re-opening of the Waterloo Exhibition at Winchester. The Duke of Wellington declared the exhibition open and stated what a good show it was. Notable was the renewed Waterloo Diorama, all 35,500 figures cleaned by hand and now accompanied by a commentary by the lovely Kate Aidie. Also of […]
Hungry for History
March 22, 2015 - The Chairman
It’s been a busy week with a trip down to Canterbury where Hungry for History supremo Victoria Neilson organised a gang of about 100 school children to receive an “Audience” with Peter Snow. They heard from him with a blow by blow account how the battle unfolded. We had a number of then dressed up in […]
