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I
had the great pleasure and honour to join the German KGL – Napoleonic re-enactment unit for the Waterloo
event 2009. Not being a seasoned re-enactor myself I was very curious and a bit cautious-minded about my participation in the event. I had had a very promising correspondence with Anne-Marie Liethen during the spring but I did not feel sure for myself whether I really could be able to actually travel to Waterloo, I had never been there before but of course I had read much about it – a cornerstone in military history – but would I really be able to go there and see it, or even better – EXPERIENCE IT!
For
many years I have been managing a small military history association in my home country Sweden, we focus mostly on periods 1850 and 1780 respectively and do not really re- enact, we merely display historical
uniforms and stage small scenes from military history on celebrational events at the Royal Life Guard Cavalry Regiment in Stockholm, a Regiment which our small group is formally associated to. We have the desire to
broaden our mind in order to better understand the foreign military influences that may have affected the military regulations of our ancestors. We also have understood that there is a large assembly of enthusiastic
people all over Europe, Napoleonic re-enactors, who we very much would like to associate with and learn from. The King’s German Legion re-enactment unit that I was privileged to join showed to correspond to the best
expectations I could ever have had!
A
warm and heartly welcome, instantly providing me with a uniform and a Baker-rifle, a whistle blow and an Achtung! and I was in. The routine and seriousness that hallmarked the unit is only surpassed by their
friendliness, they also provided the meals for me together with them! The accurate interaction between the officer and the sergeant leading the unit gave a true historical sense. The drill and preparations for
battle re enactment were very thorough. During the battle re enactments at Plancenoit and the next day at Waterloo I truly experienced the feeling of being an enlisted man in a professional military unit in the
Napoleonic era as close as it could be with my own limitations, something which was well compensated for by the skill of my German- and British – comrades in arms. Altogether a very rewarding experience and
something that we here in Sweden now together with our German friends will further develop in a co-operation as we are forming a part of the King’s German Legion.
Es lebe der König!
Enthusiastically
Göran Wengelin
Officer of the Royal Life Guard Cavalry Regiment
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