First things first – what is a re-enactor?

A re-enactor is someone who recreates things. It’s mainly used for battles/living history. There are viking re-enactors, medieval re-enactors, first world war, second world war, American civil war, English civil war, saxon… Pretty much any period in history you can think of. We’re those weird people in period costumes you see on the news or walking down your local high street.

Fair enough. What do you do?

Well, we all have normal jobs and normal lives, but on the weekends, we put on costumes and become someone else. The local banker becomes a line infantry Captain. Your local lawyer becomes a cavalry Sergeant. That security guard from the building site down the road becomes an artillery camp follower. We put on the outfits and are instantly transported to the Napoleonic Era. We recreate famous battles (Waterloo is one of the biggest in the Napoleonic Association’s calendar). We make the skirmishes end the way we want. We fire cannons, rifles, muskets and rockets. We fight people on horseback. We take the enemy’s cannons. In the most basic terms, we go out onto a battlefield and we act exactly like soldiers would have in the Napoleonic times.

You say ‘Napoleonic times’. I’m a complete novice and have no idea what you’re talking about. What time do you mean?

The Napoleonic Wars are the time period between 1793 and 1815, when the UK was at war with France. Napoleon Boneparte decided he wanted to be Emperor Of All He Surveyed. Of course, King George III didn’t like that, and so he sent his armies to fight back in a coalition between the UK, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Sciliy, the Papal States, the Ottoman Empire, Sardinia, Sweden, Netherlands, Brunswick, the French Royalists, Hanover, and Nassau. The Ottoman Empire turned on us in 1803, though, and joined Boney. And then collapsed like a flan in a cupboard, if you listen to the comedian Eddie Izzard. All the information on our time period can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars, or, if you’re like me and find all of that confusing, try here http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars. Basically, what we do is remind everyone of the history of our country – because it’s only knowing where we’ve been that we can know what humans are capable of and what we might do in the future.

Right… That all sounds like fun – if you’re into that sort of thing – but most of what you’ve described is for men and soldiers. What is there for women to do?

Plenty! In the 4th RFA, we don’t discriminate based on gender. You want to be a gunner? Fine! You go onto the field with the men! You want to be a camp follower? Brilliant! You stay in the camp and help clean, cook, fix the uniforms and answer questions from the general public if there is any public.  Unfortunately, English Heritage DO have rules about cross-dressing, so we’re sorry guys, you can’t wear that lovely dress, and sorry girls, you won’t be allowed to wear that uniform at English Heritage events. 

OI! That’s a little sexist, isn’t it? When you said you don’t discriminate based on gender?

Sorry! It’s not our rule, and yes, we hate it too, but we have to obey if we want to attend their events. We have loads of other events where you can dress how you want, within reason - Bombardier Jopson’s eyes are very sensitive! The NA, which most of us belong to and do a lot of events for, have no rules like that. You can join Gunner Wells and Gunner Malcolmson in being gunners, or you can join most of the guys in the Miss NA competitions! We have lots of events through the year. So, yeah, right now, you can’t cross-dress at EH events. Forget them! We have other events! And sometimes, it can be a nice break from the norm for the ladies not being gunners.

Righto… So what does living history entail?

Living history is what we do. Rather than reading from a boring book or bland webpage, we bring history to life. We portray the Napoleonic Era, from about 1806 to about 1815. Ish. We show you what a real soldier’s tent would have looked like. We show you what the wounds would have looked like. We show you what they’d have cooked. We show you what they’d have done on the battlefields.

I’ve got kids. What about them, can I bring them too?

Course! Re-enacting with the 4th RFA is a family thing. If you’re on the field, then the camp followers will look after the kids. By ‘look after’ we mean put them to work helping in the camp.

What if they want to go on the field and fight? Are they allowed to?

Now, that’s a tricky question. By NA rules, it’s only over sixteen-year-olds who are allowed onto the field, and even then only with accreditation. However, it says nothing about training with the adults off the field, so long as they’re not handling explosives or firearms. So when they’re sixteen, they’ll have all the training to be able to go straight onto the field once they have their accreditation.

OK, you have me sufficiently interested. What are the rules of the 4th RFA?

We don’t have many rules. In addition to the rules of the Napoleonic Association, all we ask is that you have and be fun, that you’re happy, and that you have or are willing to get a black powder license, even if you don’t plan to go onto the field. If you only plan to be a camp follower, you can still help with making cartridges and rounds and look after any powder left in camp. Black powder licenses are free and available from your local police department. A shotgun license is also handy, and a firearms license even more so!

How many events do you do a year?

It depends on how many are booked. This month (April 2010) we have three events booked. Over the course of the year (April to December) we have a total of eleven events booked with space for more to be added. You don’t have to come to every event – but re-enacting gets into the blood and pretty soon, you’ll want to go to as many events as possible. We also have our training days every month.

How much does it cost to join you?

I’m not going to lie to you – re-enacting is not a cheap hobby. Ask any re-enactor and they’ll tell you the same, from any period. There’s costumes to pay for: if you want a gun, there’s that; tent; eating equipment; Napoleonic Association membership; and unit subs which help pay for the insurance. There’s a lot to pay for, but not everything has to cost the earth.

I’m hearing a lot about this Napoleonic Association. What is it?

The NA is an organisation that brings all the units who re-enact the Napoleonic Wars together. Their website is http://napoleonicassociation.org/ and you can find all the information about them there. In short, we’d recommend joining, as if you’re not a member of the NA, you can’t do events with them – as Kitchen Queen Warne almost found out this year when she forgot to pay and had to go and grovel to the Membership Secretary (who is a very very lovely woman and accepted it was just a mistake)!

OK. I want to join. Who do I talk to? How do I contact you?

In the menu you’ll find the contact us button to send an email directly to the administrator. Go there and there’s a wonderful little form to fill in.

When will I get a reply?

As soon as the webmaster is available to reply to you. He’s online pretty often, so it should be soon!

Thank you for all your help!

Happy to be of service. Hope to see you at an event soon!

Many thanks to Josephine Warne for writing these FAQs.