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| auf Deutsch | po polsku |
(Click on the images to enlarge.)
Großgörschen was an intensive drill weekend of our German and Polish escouades, to make us fit for the new campaign. A short report with many photographs can be seen here. On the same weekend, our Italian escouade also met, in Porcia in Italy, with the same purpose.
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No camp fire in Italy ! No bivouac on straw ! The German and Polish grenadiers are far away ! Grenadier La Foudre seeks consolation with a beer. |
After years, finally we managed to visit a re-enactment organised by members of the francophone Charte. We formed the 2e escouade in a combined peloton with men of the 1er de ligne, 6e de ligne and 7e de ligne, reinforced by some individual soldiers.
The main focus was on duties in garrison. Unimpressed by the hot sun, we also drilled a lot. Our grenadiers Taillepierre, Bras de Fer and Michel, encouraged by Doigt de Fer, whitened and waxed all the belts and cartrige pouches of our unit. Another highlight was our extremely fruitful requisitioning tour throughh the shops and resturants of the town.
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Dicussing politics with the Réprésentant du Peuple en Mission. The local residents couldn't complain about not receiving sufficient information. All the brave soldiers who took part in the drill until the very end: Bouteille, Sans-Souci, Roussi, Blaireau, Caribou, Bardin and La Culasse. And Bras de Fer, equally brave, of course. |
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For Waterloo, the 22e demi-brigade de ligne united with Belgian and French groups in order to create a so-called "battallion" of about 120 men, formed in three pelotons, and commanded by our capitaine Schmidt.
It was great to be part of an (at least as far as re-enactment is concernd) really huge unit. During the whole Saturday, we learned some evolutions from the battalion school, which we could soon practice in the combats on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The combats themselves were very impressive by the big numbers of participants.
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A Feu de bataillon, an Inspection des armes, and our battallion attacking the Allied lines, en colonne par peloton, la droite en tête. |
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Grenadier Diverti chose an active part and joined a French infantry unit for the day. The capitaines Schmidt and Chasseur prefered the sweet and lazy life of officers off duty. All the three of us amused ourselves very well.
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Grenadier Diverti and the capitaines Schmidt und Chasseur. |
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Our complete corps of NCOs from north of the Alps united with our Italian squad in order to spend some time together and enjoy the Italian way of life. With the Maltese 19e de ligne and three Czech grenadiers we formed a peloton of two sections. The positions of chef de peloton, chef of the second section and also those of the two guides were changed several times, so that every NCO had the chance to gain experience in all these roles.
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Sergents and caporaux of our combined peloton take their positions. Grenadiers La Foudre, Le Lupin, Caporal Paul, Grenadier Jean-Luc, Sergent Sans-Souci and Caporal Rôtisseur after the nocturnal rain skirmish, and a last short drill session in the next morning. |
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Chasing the Prussians on their retreat, the God of War led our paces through a beautiful landscape. The God of Weather provided us with the ideal climatic conditions for a grenadier: dry, not too hot, not too cold. The Sun shone and created brilliant effects of light in the woods, the smoke of our skirmish combats added others.
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The happy few: Pas Perdu, Rôtisseur, Bras de Fer, Champagne. We watched the enemy, and then approached them carefully and unnoticed. |
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The right wing of our skirmishing grenadiers' line was in danger of being turned, but finally we managed to retreat unharmed into a safer position. If no bed of laurel nor rose petals can be found, a grenadier contents himself with simple lawn. |
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The sunrays broke through the autumn leaves, and our grenadiers, as usual with heavily loaded backpacks, lightly broke through the woods and underwoods. After some of the skirmish actions, the birds were heard coughing. And in the last image, a Prussian ant is hidden. Will you find it ? |
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