Benefiting from the vastly enjoyable three-day expedition made to the battlefield of Waterloo in September 1970, eight members of the Wessex Military Society again visited this historic spot for five days in the first week of September 1971. Staying at the Wellington Hotel which is right on the crossroads and is just about where the King's German Legion stood, the party tramped right round the battlefield, went out to Quatre Bras and astounded the inhabitants of Plancenoit by having a hilarious lunch of French bread, cheese, apples and wine on the village green by the side of the church, the scene of much fighting between the Prussians and the French in June 1815. The party also spent a very stimulating day in Brussels and thoroughly recommend the Belgium Army Museum. This is a vast place, so big that in some galleries real aircraft hang from the ceiling and look like Airfix models! It is possible to buy lots of photographs, etc., at this Museum. A breathless chase around the department stores of Brussels revealed little of interest to the wargamer but the following three shops (together with one in an arcade not far from the Hotel de Ville) all sold figures and kits etc., although the majority of them are available in this country. Thieleman "Dethiel", 127 Chausee de Haecht, Schaerbeek, (Eglise Ste Marie) 1030 Brussels 3; La Calade, Galerie Porte Louise 234-1050, Brussels and Historia, Rue General Gratry 19, 1040 Brussels. Now, all that remains is for the Wessex Military Society to decide where they are going next year -- there is talk of Paris but wives are frowning on that, then an ambitious idea of going to Portugal to see the Peninsular battlefields! The one certain thing is that a party from the Wessex Military Society will be invading Europe sometime next Autumn and will have a great deal of fun! Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 117 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com