History books record little about the defences against French invasion on the south coast of England in the early 1800s. Yet that story is as fascinating as 1940 and the Bexhill Hanoverian Study Group is spearheading the drive to uncover it.

Bexhill is a pleasant seaside resort between Eastbourne and Hastings and from August 1804 onwards it was occupied by troops of the King's German Legion. The legion consisted of exiles from French- occupied Hanover who had escaped to England to continue the struggle against Napoleon. 'Now that I have seen the state qf the King's German Legion,' commented one general on 13 August 1804, 'I wish Buonaparte would come over tomorrow.'

At first, the inhabitants of Bexhill looked on the KGL as if they were Cossacks. But soon friendly relations blossomed and in the ten years that the KGL had a depot in Bexhill, 108 soldiers married local girls. The friendship between town and barracks survived some careless accidents unhurt: 'out for a walk today,' noted one KGL officer on I I April 1805, 'I was almost grazed by a musket-ball, which was discharged by an Englishman who was letting off a firearm for the first time in his life. On my remonstrating, he assured me that it should not occur again.'

In subsequent years, the KGL would prove itself to be one of the finest contingents of the British Army. It had a unique fighting record through the Peninsular war to the climax of Waterloo, where it defended Wellington's outpost of La Haie Sainte farm with sublime heroism. The KGL, under Major George Baring, abandoned the farm only after running out of ammunition and being all but overwhelmed by superior French numbers.

After Waterloo, the KGL was absorbed into the Hanoverian Army and subsequently into the German Army but units were allowed to retain their KGL traditions and battle honours until the First World War. The unit with the strongest KGL heritage was the Goslarer Jager which between the wars counted Erwin Rommel amongst its commanders. The Goslarer Jager made an epic last stand at Gdansk in Poland in April 1945 against the Red Army to enable many civilians to flee to the West. The 12th Panzergrenadier battalion of the post-war Bundeswehr took over the traditions of the Goslarer Jager and has now established links with Bexhill.

Study Group

The thriving Bexhill Hanoverian Study Group was formed in 1988 and ever since has researched the KGL stay in Bexhill. Amongst its findings is the cottage at Woodgate farm where the famous Colonel Christian von Ompteda convalesced in 1804; today he lies in a mass grave on the field of Waterloo beneath a monument to the KGL. KGL buttons have been recovered from the parade ground behind Barrack Hall, which was used formerly as the KGL officers' mess and today as a women's refuge. New, purpose built accommodation is planned for the residents and this would leave Barrack Hall empty. Unfortunately, its maze of corridors make it unsuitable for museum purposes.

Fortunately, the Study Group has been able to establish a small permanent display within Bexhill Museum. The display details the personalities who stayed at Bexhill before achieving immortal fame at Waterloo. Major George Baring, the commander at La Haie Sainte, and Sir Charles von Alten, who commanded Wellington's 3rd Division at Waterloo, were among those who knew Bexhill well. Private Friedrich Lindau of the 2nd Light battalion KGL, who distinguished himself at La Haie Sainte, wrote that 'the time I spent in England - some eighteen months - was the best part of my life. Never again was I to lead such a carefree and merry life as in the barracks at Bexhill.'

Now steps are being taken to commemorate eight important relics of the KGL in Bexhill with explanatory boards.

The Study Group decided that the first of these commemorative boards should be at the Barrack Road Memorial Gardens. These gardens were a cemetery until the end of the nineteenth century but all the tombstones except a few near the boundary wall have disappeared. Nevertheless, within the hallowed grounds of the Memorial Gardens lie the remains of 152 KGL soldiers and members of their families. The Memorial Gardens lie at the heart of the location of the KGL barracks. One Bexhillian showed me musket balls and a belt buckle he had found with a metal detector when the nearby bypass was built.

Major Ronald Gardner (retired) of the Green Jackets ably guided this first commemorative board to successful completion. The green board bears both an English and a German text, the latter prepared by Major Gardner with the help of his German tutor. The former reads:

'This former 19th Century burial ground was originally the cemetery of the Bexhill barracks situated in this area circa 1798-1820. In the recess adjoining Holliers Hill, rest several hundred soldiers Of the British Army including over 150 personnel of King George III's King's German Legion.'

Celebration Ceremony

The erection of this sign called for an appropriate celebration ceremony. A group of seven re-enactors arrived from Osnabruck in Germany, uniformed as members of the 2nd Light Battalion, KGL, to serve as a guard of honour. Four troopers of the English 15th Hussars came from Scotland to represent the English troops who had been based at Bexhill with the KGL.

Lady Elizabeth Longford accepted with alacrity the invitation to unveil the board and was accompanied by Labour peer, Lord Longford. No better choice could have been made. Lady Longford, who lives just thirty miles from Bexhill, is the most eminent of all Wellingtorrian scholars and has encouraged the Study Group at every possible moment.

She is also an excellent speaker as she soon showed at the unveiling on Saturday 23 April 1994. First, she mentioned the evidence from law courts and contemporary journals showing what a carefree time the KGL garrison spent at Bexhill, particularly with local girls in haystacks. She then extended a very warm welcome to the German re- enactors and hoped that they too would enjoy their visit to Bexhill, though in not quite the same way.

She then recalled that Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley himself stayed at Bexhill in 1804. She wondered what Wellington would have said if he had been told that 190 years later a woman would unveil a commemorative board to the troops at Bexhill, and suggested the Wellingtonian retort: 'if you believe that, you will believe anything.'

For Lady Longford, the story of Bexhill was a heroic one for it concerned three sets of heroes: first, the KGL garrison; second, the famous generals such as the Dukes of Cambridge and Wellington who visited the town and third, the members of the Study Group who have striven so valiantly to uncover Bexhill's history. By this stage, her audience felt it concerned not just heroes but heroines, and one heroine in particular.

Lady Longford's superb speech brought laughter from the one hundred odd onlookers who burst into applause as she unveiled the board. The KGL light infantry re-enactors fired three volleys, to the delight of the children present and to squalls of protest from the seagulls. The local Reverend Ronald Hawkes said a short prayer of dedication and then the KGL re-enactors marched to the eastern part of the memorial gardens, the area where the dead KGL troops were buried. To the mournful sound of hussar bugles, they respectfully laid a wreath with a ribbon in yellow and white Hanoverian colours. Thus a small comer of an English memorial garden is now forever Hanover.

The assembled guests drove down to the sea-front where, at the Northern Hotel, they sat down to an excellent lunch. Lady Longford had previously visited the hotel in June 1990 to name an extension of the hotel the 'Wellington Room.' A portrait of the Duke and a plaque commemorating her visit are affixed to the entrance of the room.

The day ended with the KGL re-enactors participating in the St. George's Day Parade and marching through the town their predecessors had known so well.