accommodation is as basic as it comes no sleeping bags all modern comforts here most people are making do with a bed of straw on a horse blanket. but conditions are no excuse for untidiness and the soldiers have to be ready for inspection at any time especially when the commander of the russian army is in the vicinity. is playing general could resolve plenty and his fellow officers have plenty to think about mature than rupert soon we will begin shaping the italians and squadrons we will determine the number of the participants and elect the commanders then there's going to be a meeting of the commanders where they will break down the cost make people familiar with the scenario to determine the tasks of every commander so that everyone knows their roles on the battlefield which would. at least nobody is actually going to kill each other this time and that means a friendly atmosphere throughout the camps where the russians and the french live side by side and there's plenty have traditional food on offer. there's still

a great deal of preparation going on in the camp and that means hungry soldiers so i have made an executive decision to join the french troops for a little polio nick breakfast. it's no frills fair but there's plenty of it and quantity was always much more important than quality of three or four with the green one could say that there was no cuisine at all of that time soldiers ate what they could get hold of or sometimes even steal soup it was quite common in bread were very popular for breakfast and if they could get hold of onions and sour cream they ate that too and soldiers were extremely low maintenance and they managed to conquer the whole of europe eating just bread and drinking coffee. now and if it's good enough for the ground our may try some of the best french food they see in twelve. inch.

tuna salad. topped off with a ruler onion. i could see how the breasts of the old soldiers might have been an effective weapon by itself. but there were also plenty of traditional omes it was time to bring out the big guns but. tillery played a vital role that brought in with the french guns in particular taking a heavy toll on the russian infantry but of course imitating an experience cannon crew with just a couple of days of training is another thing entirely. ok well. but that's where experts like patrick come in like. a veteran of several re-enactments he's traveled all the way from from to lick the role recruits into shape. and i was sure we could be

a moment. only under torture only and most excellent well i'm hoping that you will give us a few moments of your time to show us the marvels of the french military if that's what up yes accept to talk in english. were the biggest challenges that you can face well. it's what you need to know is it's very important to respect the drill as we used to do with commander sas and because although here of course we don't shoot a real cannon ball it's just politics but it's as dangerous so it's very important for safety to respect all the different steps because otherwise you might have. a little be considerably less than the six hundred cannon that were on display at the road you know patrick's determined that his crews will be a credit to their predecessors this is the interest of reenactments some think we are just young kids playing some all it's true we have never grown up but the other interesting side of it is we try to make it as accurate as possible so we

understand much better all the used to do it in the past because you could really look at it and say you may be but when you do it for real you understand the reasons why and how you feeling about. napoleon's arrival if you have no i'm very excited. with patrick visiting from france and the most the general himself just again from the us this is an event with a truly international flavor and back among the russians i met a cavalry man with a very familiar accent. said rumors are true the lithuanians have attached to britain to their residence. so for phil we need to hear a bit about your story and how you come to take boston baroda come from cambridge cambridge in the u.k. . and why did you decide to take both in this. we're very

fortunate in the u.k. i mean in my group the fifteenth and one of our guys is russian and he reenacts with just the way me and they got us the invite to borrow dado and how could you refuse absolutely but it's not been an easy journey the regiment made. supply bill with a new mount but everything else has made the trip from england with him so what you have to bring with you everything everything. this. twenty three kilos we bring all of the horse equipment some of which is useful for sleeping as well. we have a lot of. it's so much that we had to wear it to get in under the baggage allowance . yes a great advantage because the customs security it's no problem people are really happy to see us so did you get any of the questions like what is your purpose

coming into russia well i'm going to i'm going to be fighting for you against the for exactly that's all we said and that's perfect. that's no problem no guns ok just. you know it's in the whole. alongside the foreign visitors to board you know there are plenty of homegrown participants getting into the swing of things and this is very much an equal opportunities reenactment. the russians tried to keep women away from their troops but the french weren't so restrictive and the polian zomi as always had a bevy of wives followers. rather more official count work is like nasty here. on the campus as a french continue yeah nasty would have sold refreshments to the troops and looked after the wounded and the women in this camp also take on a number of different roles. there are many different kinds of roles there are

cooking doing laundry any kind of help that might be needed like sewing a button or cleaning something but i really don't think anyone would give his weapon to a woman however some ammunition items could be entrusted to us. cooking was the main thing hungry soldier is a lousy it made. more. color and pageantry are part of what makes this event so appealing and it's important to have the right look impressive facial hair can be found the around the camp as you've also got to be a snappy dresser. as you can imagine napoleonic uniforms aren't exactly ten a penny which means that today's reconstruct is have to be as handy with a needle as they are with a musket plus. you have a uniform could you fix it for me please. has been tailoring period costumes for over a decade. we're going to need to the reason why i do this is that it's an interesting

job and more importantly i might say i prefer to study history by making things with my own instead of reading the books from history in this way i get a better insight into events that took place a long time ago and i also run a club aiming to reconstruct. the for you to never lay life as well as universal. so gay has made uniforms for almost his entire regiment and they're all intricately detailed from camp clothes to full battle regalia. the company to which any soldier belonged could be identified by the red sword not this singled out the bad as a great idea the soldiers were uniforms made of dog green cloth they also wore pants with leg i have a sack a ten flaws. which is to cross belts.

thanks. good luck some splendid uniforms coming to a battlefield near us i just hope they manage to keep themselves clean. much as it would have been back in may seem twelve as the sun goes down the day's work draws to an end dozens of campfires a lit and the smell of evening meals quickly fills the air. it won't be long before reactors have a chance to put the training into action and it promises to be a very special occasion. courageous and creative. elegant

and full and both public speaking. to. a few european bodybuilders against millions of weak immigrants. these may not seem so serious now. but this could be a real threat to. european extremists. on policies. won't come to the place fish for swimming birds you can catch both of the premier maritime aviation show of the summer check out a whole family of russian engineering feats that have let ships truly fly or just go with the flow and take in the view of the bay below but hold on there could be turbulence on board the plane it's only jet powered insidious plane that marks a. paired up of the world's most colorful chopper and you've got

a team bring to douse the flames technology i'm doing here on a launch we used on the future of covering. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then something else you hear sees some other part of it and realize everything you thought. i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

i talked with a frenchman one plenty of russians but i knew one was making a transatlantic trip to come and play the most famous role of.

only rule would you please spare is couple of moments of your time and take us around you'll still count it would be my pleasure. mark works for a historical museum that has played the role of napoleon in reenactments across europe and his acquaintance with the master general began as an early age i have the french cousin that gave me a small toy soldier of napoleon fifty four millimeter and i still have it and many say that that's when it began at two years old a fascination with napoleon his times with the the uniforms the strategy and tactics of the different locations the the great things that napoleon did and he takes his portrayal extremely seriously there's also responsibility that comes with the responsibility of paying honor to the soldiers who have fought who have died whether they be from france from russia from all over europe for the

grand army was composed of many european nations so as a result of that i have to really take my time to prepare myself to get it right to pay honor not only to napoleon but again as i've mentioned to these soldiers who have fought and died but with an audience of up to two hundred thousand people expected i wondered if he was feeling nervous before the big day i think rather than nerves it will be that of excitement adrenaline looking forward to participating in such a grand spectacle such a great event that's going to do something to see that special i look forward to the front row seat even if it's on a horse. thank you. with time getting short everyone was already hard at work across the camp and my friend bill was shaping up for an important inspection. we have to prove we can ride prove that we're. and historically accurate. and if we don't pass the right.

but at least he won't be facing the officers alone. we have here sergeant williams so that williams from. you and what do you think what role are you hoping to have historically we should be on the staff. but that wouldn't be any fun at all because the staff sit at the back and watch. colleagues from the list. and we're going to tag along with them and they should be right in the middle of fighting so we should get cross swords with some frenchmen. three zero. one bill in the so we're putting the finishing touches to their uniforms i headed out to the main field to watch the procession. pass and spec you

need to change it for. this point of pivotal moment because the cavalry in all this being presented not only to the general staff but also to the real safety inspectors who make sure that everything is in its place this is being treated properly and the safety aspects are all ok. shoulder arms. and it looks like our two cavalrymen of might be in a spot of bother. such blades are very dangerous we try to take care of our uniforms we don't hit hard. on. some of our foreign friends to blunt their blades because of fears that they might injure someone. very much like a song it kind of cuts somebody's uniform. fortunately for bill and

sergeant williams it's nothing that a good filing won't sort out. and as they trotted away to literally take the edge off i caught up with some passing french infantry. how are you preparing for the big day because there's a lot of people from different companies with homework to get to the first time for christmas for this month so we have to do school for soldiers to be working together and making movies together. and then moving to the radicals. up at the. so jack thomas is a member of the belgian napoleonic society and it's not long before he's giving the benefit of his experience to some of the younger soldiers. looks like you got a promotion there too sergeant or

a trainer i'm lucky the sergeant gave me the complete confidence to train the new guys so it's always difficult because they're quite nervous with weapons and things like that that's for security reasons and of course for the battle we have to to make didn't venu feel like they're important so how have you found the drilling has helped so it's helping because we really believe there is a lot of miles of course walking it's a bit rusty for your guys it's coming quite back quite fast for the new guys it's learning the skills. the artillery cavalry and infantry and finally all passed inspection and with less than twenty four hours to the reenactment it was time to respect some old traditions. every new regiment eventually faces the moment when it has to go into battle and they mark that with a formal ceremony honoring their flag. bearer no ceremony.

really is. the road you know is going to be the first fight for the moscow great ideas and everyone how ms a single nail into the new standards. in the regiment is. playing his own little tributes to the owner of the granite is here and drinking a toast to success in battle. three true. all the granite here is good. and as the new company continued to celebrate i slipped off to see if i could find a bite to eat or have a chance to try a french breakfast and after a whole day's drilling the russian troops are busy cooking this service i'm going

to see if they'll let me do it. i give you a hand. with you thank you i managed to talk my way into a fish soup dinner. ok guys food's up. and once the porters symonds everyone grabs a spoon some bread and helps themselves to give this really is every man for himself here. this is really really hard to the soup. honchos the loving the camp may only last a few days but it's clear that being here is having a real effect on these men. that leaves an impact on all of us here we are

oblivious to the course of time rather the sun is our guide we know that we need to get up and dawn and go to bed at sunset we've got no internet connection we don't know what's going on outside this place besides life in the open and the need to share food from the same part of helps bring people together. the battle is coming tomorrow but today we enjoy a meal without worrying about whether we'll live or die by the same token the soldiers that live two hundred years ago had little thought about whether they would live or die if some of them were killed we're all in god's hands others would say. all being well all reenacted should have little need for divine intervention but it wasn't long before everyone was ready to hit the hay tomorrow would be a big day for god sorry motherland.

well the soldiers of the actual battle have brought him in may have had to enjoy some hot sun but we've got some pretty different weather conditions today but a few drops of rain and black clouds certainly aren't putting the taurus off. thousands of visitors were already making their way towards brought in those fields and a memorial service. this morning is dedicated to the french soldiers that died and brought into one of the last fifty years for all napoleon here is to pay tribute to them for the. course the formalities had finished it was time for the two means to take their

places two hundred years ago napoleon and his all conquering grand army stood here against the troops of general could to solve with russia at stake it was impossible not to be nervous. everyone had met in the camp and been desperate to put on a good show and i was just hoping that all the training combined with some impressive pyrotechnics would see them through so off to five days in camp hundreds of hours of planning and the cost of thousands it comes down to this two hours to do justice to one of the most pivotal battles in the polio make history and i'm pretty excited it's. a few words from general confusing the first shots were fired and the fields were received in smoke as the cameron's. speech his. first major actions of the battle for their own prince bag rochelle's flesh works

and they would be captured and recaptured by both sides of the battle. once the french accountability brought in the russians pulled back the royals redoubt and that was where the most vicious and close will possibly take place. the figures have long been disputed but it's estimated there were around seventy thousand casualties and below to know. all of any dead bodies almost feel soon to rejoin the fray.

by the terrible pounding from the french the russians were able to hold the ridge way behind the redoubt for several hours and that will eventually gave the chance to retreat with their army still intact. even under the right the crowd was laughing everything up with the vast majority staying to see napoleon complete a little so many proved to be a very narrow victory.

for the french way of won the field but that doesn't seem to anyone spirits here it's been a fantastic show and it's a real tribute to the skill and africa of the river not two hundred years on from. brought in a tens of thousands of people have come out to watch them bring history to life.

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heat it's. easy to. see. courageous and creative. elegance and full. and the public speaking. the output from up a few european bodybuilders against millions of weak immigrants

mob. this may not seem so serious now. but this could be a real fright. tomorrow. the european extremists. on policies you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought . i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. is heat.