Twenty nineteen.

Crisis!  This blog has somewhat fallen aside this year, I was writing up every event because I liked to keep a record, a diary, of every event for future recollection.
But it does feel like repeating oneself sometimes. I missed three events due to having my appendix out, then cracking a rib, so a recap of those I managed to get to..

Horsham Bastille Day!

A big French market of cakes and pastries and saucion and, er, vegetables..  and gallic attractions such as a band, vintage cars, our comrades in the children of the revolution with their guillotine display and ourselves made up this festival in small town England.

It was surprisingly civil and full of genuine interest, with only one awful bloke who seemed to channel the spirit of top gear repleat with making offensive jokes then saying 'only joking!'. I volunteer this man for the guillotine.

The unit had been here years ago for similar events at the behest of a French cafe/restaurant, and we had been at the museum for their Waterloo 200 event.

Cheriton multiperiod!

Hosted by the Sealed knot (English civil war) with added medieval, Napoleonic and some American civil war shenanigans it was the first large multiperiod event I'd been to for a while, not far from Winchester, and apparently not easy to find if driving around the country roads.

It was a tightly packed schedule with us waiting at one point whilst the medieval  display over ran with us clearly twiddling our thumbs and coughing. As one battle ended the next lot were ready to march in. Unless British of course.

The Sunday battle really was like this.

The parliamentarians, or possibly the Royalists, push forward. I never can tell unless Prince Rupert is involved.

Grössbeeren!

To Berlin.. the battle of Grössbeeren took place in August 1813 when Napoleon sent Oudinot to capture Berlin and hopefully knock Prussia out of the war. It failed. Terrible rainy weather and the geography of lakes and sandy soil turned the advance into a crawl and a Prussian and Swedish army met the French and Saxons here, who wavered and turned back. Berlin was saved! And every year this event is on, including a big fun fair, craft stalls, the camp, a torchlit parade, a battle, and fireworks.

Napoleon's hat from Waterloo, now in the German history museum.

Anyone for medicine? Good for what ails ye. You can always trust a man in a top hat and bare feet. I should have asked if he had anything for mosquito bites.

The King's Thaler!  Given to all by the Bürgemeister at the commemoration on Sunday morning. After which things pretty much wrapped up for the weekend, giving me most of a surprise day before my flight.

The great Silesian Landwehr before the Bülow monument.

'Our bones will bleach outside Berlin, before we take a step backwards!'

2019 is not done with quite yet, we have a small contingent going to Wuustwezel (in Belgium, although it sounds like it should be in Holland) in a couple of weeks for what promises to be a grand event from the organisers of Hoogstraaten 2014. Once more into the low countries...