WATERLOO ON A TABLE-TOP!

On one of our family days out during the summer holidays I was taken to Dover Castle and for the first time saw part of Captain William Siborne’s model of the Battle of Waterloo. Having just started painting the plastic Airfix figures, the sight was amazing. Tiny troops all made of metal, and I have since learned, individually posed and waging war across beautifully modelled countryside that we have come to know as Waterloo. To a small lad it was an immense model and well positioned steps allowed for us shorties a better view! The attention to detail was, to me, amazing and I spent a long time with my dad wandering around the perimeter trying to spot famous generals and regiments.

Jump on twenty or thirty years, I was lucky to get my hands on a book of letters sent to Captain Siborne as he researched his model and although I have since discovered that there was much controversy about the model itself, it inspired me, the teenager, to delve further into Napoleonic history.

Jump another twenty years or so and I was lucky to see a modern reconstruction at the Rifle’s Museum in Winchester. Lit with spotlights during a commentary you can get an understanding of different phases of the battle and it even has some of the plastic Airfix figures that I used to paint!

Siborne wanted to give the public an idea of the great battle of the 18th June 1815 and I have discovered that in the years following the battle, there were many shows that travelled the country as well as being based in London to exhibit different artefacts from the battlefield as well as story tellers with eye witness accounts and panoramic paintings.

I hope that the adventures that I have written Fin and Thomo into, will not only entertain the reader, but also create a desire to find out even more about this fantastic period of history. What a great day out I had with my dad, my sisters weren’t so impressed, and we often spoke about the model with very fond memories.

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