|
North Manchester Battlefield Society
Waterloo 2003
|
|
HomeKevin HuntGerry O'MearaStuart ErskineLance KeeleySteve HoarThe Somme 2001Normandy 2001Scotland 2002Verdun 2003The Ardennes 2003Waterloo 2003Normandy 2004Operation Market Garden 2005The Battle of BritainVarusschlacht 2005Gibraltar 2005Ypres 2006Operation Dragoon 2007The Somme 2007Hadrian's Wall 2007The Ardennes 2008Mons & Cambrai 2009Verdun & St. Mihiel 2010 - Part OneVerdun & St. Mihiel 2010 - Part TwoThe Russian / Arctic ConvoysNormandy 2011 - Part OneNormandy 2011 - Part TwoNormandy 2011 - Part ThreeNormandy 2011 - Part FourNormandy 2011 - Part FiveNormandy 2011 - The Last DayNMBS Group ShotsUK War MemorialsManchester's MemorialsSalford's MemorialsHerbert W. PreenThe NMBS cookbookBeer ReviewSupermarketsReview PagePublicityLinks
|
February 2003
When the NMBS visited Waterloo, it was a treat for one of our members for he is a chosen
man ! That means he is a member of the Sharpe Appreciation Society - Sharpe being Richard Sharpe, the Cult TV series
set during the Napoleonic and Raj wars and the books by Bernard Cornwell. The Chosen Man of the NMBS is Gerry O'Meara. Gerry
loves Sharpe and getting to Waterloo was one of his lifetimes ambitions. Getting up the Butte du Lion without having
a heart attack was mine!
Waterloo was amazing in many ways and a bit of a let
down in others. The whole historical setting is fantastic, some of the buildings are still there, monuments are and
the views from the Butte du Lion are wonderful. The museum next to the site is very low brow, my only gripe. The Inn next to the battlefield is a godsend for the weary traveller. The Bivouac
de l'empereur Inn does fine beers, good coffee, has a hearty warming firem (the owner did say to us that Napoleon himself
stood in that fireplace, but the NMBS wasn't too sure!) and the French Onion Soup was "Tres Bon et Merveilleux !"
but the fact that we were so cold may have made the soup tatse better ! The Butte
du Lion (Hill of the Lion) is the main feature at the battlefield today and is a huge artificial mound that is 43 metres high
(141ft) and the 226 that lead to the top are steep. We would recommend that anyone with a heart condition, COPD or bad
Asthma should consider sitting it out or doing the steps slowly. Yes the NMBS are hardly Tri-athalon competitors, but
we have a bit of fitness and the steps killed us. Obviously none of us would admit this. It was funny, as we were trudging up the steps, I am sure we all wanted to stop half way and take a breather. But none of us dared, as it showed weakness to the others, and within the NMBS its the survival of the fittest or Kill or be Killed. So when some Japanese tourist came past us coming down the steps, we stopped all at once, obviously to let them past and nothing what so ever with being unfit and our legs burning. There is a charge of several Euros to get to the top, but as mentioned
the views are worth it. The who monument is dedicated to William II of the Netherlands (the Prince of Orange) - and
the site that the Butte is located is the site where he fell from his horse having been hit by a musket round. It is
ironic that he got such a memorial, as he committed three massive strategic blunders during the Battle of Waterloo (being
the Kings son has perks!)
Waterloo is a number of battles and small skirmishes
in one. The Battle of Ligny is important, also the fight at Quatre Bras and Wavre are important.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Waterloo 2003