WATERLOO-ANNIVERSARY/DIORAMA Belgian finishes 40m2 Waterloo battlefield diorama after 40 years

Record ID: 151657

  • Title: WATERLOO-ANNIVERSARY/DIORAMA Belgian finishes 40m2 Waterloo battlefield diorama after 40 years
  • Date: 16th June 2015
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) BELGIAN ENGINEER WILLY SMOUT, CREATOR OF WATERLOO BATTLEFIELD DIORAMA, SAYING: "I started and continued to work on it all the time, and at a certain moment I asked myself: "Where am I heading (with this project)?" And so the 200 year anniversary seemed to me like the perfect opportunity to aim for. During the last couple of years I pushed myself really
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3I1TY7XQ8ZT6NSX2N67UAB4YY
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS STORY REPEATS STORY PREVIOUSLY SENT ON MAY 5, 2015 AS 2204-WATERLOO-ANNIVERSARY/DIORAMA
    A Belgian Waterloo enthusiast has completed a 40m2 diorama of the battlefield in the cellar of his home.
    The project is the culmination of 40 years of work by 55-year-old Willy Smout, who started the mammoth task in 1975, aged 16.
    3,000 model soldiers were used in Smout's scaled-down version of the battlefield, which depicts his interpretation of Waterloo at 1300 on Sunday June 18, 1815, when Napoleon Bonaparte's French army was defeated by British forces commanded by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard von Bluecher's Prussian army.
    Smout was determined to finish the project in time for the bicentenary of the great battle.
    "I started and continued to work on it all the time, and at a certain moment I asked myself: "Where am I heading (with this project)?" And so the 200 year anniversary seemed to me like the perfect opportunity to aim for. During the last couple of years I pushed myself really hard to finish it, and I succeeded last week," he told Reuters Television in May.
    The chemical engineer built his home so that the diorama could fit in his cellar, where he calculated he has spent 33,000 hours working on the project. He's also spent around 150,000 euros in materials, but Smout said the personal value of the model is immeasurable.
    Keeping the project largely between family members, Smout has started to share his work with neighbours and friends.
    "When people come in and I open the door, everybody's reaction is the same, like your reaction: "Wow! We wouldn't have expected it to be so big," he said.
    Smout is confident the scene reflects a historical representation of the battlefield, as well as surrounding areas. His research has spanned six countries, including visits to libraries, army museums and barracks, as well as studies of paintings, drawings, photos and visits to the site. The hills have even been mapped using topography.
    The final figurine he placed on the diorama was that of the Prussian army's Doctor Bieske.
    Having completed his life's work, Smout's next big wish would be to one day welcome the descendants of the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon to see the model.
    "Well, I still have one dream here, with this magnificent diorama, and that is that the actual Duke of Wellington, whose forefather is here on the diorama, and the actual Prince (Jerome) Napoleon, whose forefather, Prince Jerome's, is also on this diorama, that they come after 200 years here together and that they shake hands. That's my wish," he said.
    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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