WATERLOO-ANNIVERSARY/NAPOLEON CAMP Excitement is building up as Belgium prepares to celebrate the Battle of Waterloo's bicentenary

Record ID: 151322

  • Title: WATERLOO-ANNIVERSARY/NAPOLEON CAMP Excitement is building up as Belgium prepares to celebrate the Battle of Waterloo's bicentenary
  • Date: 16th June 2015
  • Summary: LIGNY, BELGIUM (RECENT - JUNE 13, 2015) (REUTERS) FRENCH SOLDIERS SETTING UP TENT FRENCH SOLDIER HAMMERING THE TENT POLE INTO THE GROUND FRENCH SOLDIER TIGHTENING TENT ROPE FRENCH SOLDIER CARRYING FIREWOOD VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS SITTING AND DRINKING KETTLE HEATING OVER FIRE PRUSSIAN TROOPS STANDING AT EASE PRUSSIAN TROOPS POINTING BAYONETTE MAN WHO WILL IMPERSONATE NAPOLEON D
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABHDV5QTBYUD2A63VU2F71IJ16
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Belgium is preparing to celebrate the Battle of Waterloo with a week of festivities and re-enactments of one of the most decisive combats in Europe's history.
    On Saturday (June 13), volunteers and actors gathered in Ligny to establish a camp they want to look like the one Napoleon created 200 years ago.
    Napoleon Bonaparte won his last victory in Ligny, some 25 kilometres away from Waterloo, by beating the Prussian army on June 16, 1815. Two days later, he lost the Battle of Waterloo, defeated by British forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Bluecher's Prussian army.
    In Waterloo, Napoleon's reign and dreams of expanding his already vast empire came to an abrupt end.
    Dressed in historical costumes, about 1,600 volunteers and actors set up camp. They pitched tents, cleaned weapons and cooked over campfires, but the re-enactments took a great deal of preparation. Volunteers began planning the bicentennial events three years ago.
    Frank Samson, a French lawyer in real life, will personify Napoleon during the commemorations. Samson said Napoleon, in a way, still won the battle.
    "The battle of Napoleon, uh, the Battle of Waterloo, plays a role in the fame of Napoleon. It is part of the history. There is a kind of culmination of a martyr, so it's not necessarily a bad memory. In a way, on a point of view of communication and History, with capital H, Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo," Samson said.
    The Battle of Ligny was re-enacted on Sunday June 14, before the Waterloo commemorations start on June 17. Samson warned the enemy the French would still try to win the Waterloo battle.
    "My message to our English friends 200 years later, because we are friends now, but even so, defend yourself because we are going to try to win the battle (Waterloo), " Samson said.
    Mark Koens, an Australian teacher impersonating a Prussian soldier, had a few words for the French before the Ligny re-enactment battle began.
    "Do I have a message to send to the French? Um, well, it's a very simple message. It will not be easy to take this town. Try," Koens said.
    Napoleon ruled France between 1799 and 1814.
    The Battle of Waterloo saw British and Prussian forces defeat Napoleon dealing the final blow to the empire he had established, at a cost of almost 50,000 dead and wounded on both sides.
    In the country that saw the Emperor's last stand, the anniversary is marked by a stray of exhibitions and the release of commemorating stamps and medals.
    Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are due to take part in the official ceremony opening the commemorations on June 17 in Waterloo.
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