Harwich's Kings German Artillery reenactor Sergeant Stephen

At midday during a heatwave, dressing up in military costume for a photoshoot may seem excessive but Stephen Hirst, a reenactor from Harwich's King German Artillery, has more than enough experience ‘fighting’ in all-weather conditions.

Stephen, tying up his breaches, laced from behind, puts on his heavy overcoat, and is transformed from a normal looking man to a very distinguished-looking military gentleman.

As he adjusts his wooden cartridge patch that the infantry would have had, Stephen tells me how his uniform, by his sash, lets others on the field know he is in the artillery.

Harwich - Sergeant Stephen looking over Harwich's Bathside Bay (Image: Newsquest)

While, after a few photographs, as he changes out of his clothes, Stephen tells me how how his uniform bought and not yet replaced since 2008 was "expensive" as it has to be pure wool.

He said: “If you get sparks on it, they go out, whereas if you've got modern synthetics…

“Nylon is notorious for it really.”               

Stephen said the name of the branch of Harwich reenactors he joined is called the King’s German Artillery (KGA), named after the disgruntled Hanoverians, who came to Britain from 1803 to 1816 as they wanted to defeat Napoleon. 

Attention - Sergeant Stephen Hirst (Image: Newsquest)

More than two hundred years on, I ask Stephen about the enduring fascination, and sometimes obsession, with Napoleon, seen in this country as well as the USA and France. 

Last year, Ridley Scott's Napoleon was released in cinemas at the same time as it being announced that Steven Spielberg would develop Stanley Kubrick's 'lost' Napoleon film into a HBO mini-series.

Stephen said that he had watched Ridley Scott’s 2023 drama film, adding: “Lots of reenactors have hated it because they looked for it to be historically accurate, and they don't allow for artistic licence.

“My wife and I enjoyed it. I take it for what it is.”

Stephen also said that his wife “hit the nail on the head” with describing the film as instead a love story, between the equally infamous Napoleon and Josephine– the latter he tells me is a love-name for her real name Marie.

Heat - Reenactors such as Stephen Hirst become used to wearing heavy garments in all weather conditions (Image: Newsquest)

Stephen also recommends historian Dan Snow’s podcast series on Napoleon where he found out among other things, that an unprintable part of Napoleon was chopped off after his death – a reminder of how detested the military conqueror was.

The KGA also has protagonists for their events based on the authentic groups from the era but not on specific individuals.

These character then connect to a plot where the allied troops fight against the the opposition troops, either playing France or one of the French allies, in a small-scale battle.

I also got to see the KGA's other supplementary literature, including fictional newspaper reports with a “plucky reporter” and a fictional baron MP.

I ask Stephen about how many women are involved in the KGA and for Napoleonic era reenactors as a whole.

Stephen said: “There is a certain amount of what they call cross dressing, women dressed as men.

“We've been away last weekend to Stansted Park. There were four of us on the well and five of us on the gun, three of which were women. Sometimes what they do is they dress up as partisans.”

Stephen also said that some people frown on the cross-dressing”.

He added that the group was very inclusive, with three out of 12 members being women, and remarked: “From a distance, you'd be hard pressed to spot it.

“You’d only know they've got the full uniform on.”

Another change is that the cost of living has impacted reenactors with the price of the tightly controlled gunpowder, known within the KGA as black power, reaching "a record high" that is making firing weaponry a "challenge".

The group's cannonballs are tested and require training, with Stephen saying he hopes the public understand that to let the public fire them would cause disbarment and worse even fatal accidents. 

Stephen also tells me that compared to mainland Europe, with their centuries-spanning land wars, and the USA with their 19th century Civil War that Britain even with our Civil War, has had in comparison, far less land battles.

Stephen said: “So that's where the interest is, and that's where the funding goes."

Stephen also said that other countries have national independence days, with ceremonial dress, further creating a culture of them dressing up in historical costume.

However, Stephen did add that a very important part of enactments today is the international co-operation with reenactors from different countries coming together to fight and make friendships. 

Britain was of course very much involved, and ‘glorious’, in what is the most famous of all the Napoleonic Era battles – Waterloo.

The Waterloo 200th anniversary in 2015 was Stephen’s favourite ever event, with different countries coming together to create a battle with more than 5,000 reenactors on the battlefield and 1,000 camp followers.

He said: “That was the most fantastic re-enactment I will ever attend.

“I'll never do anything like that. Anything.”

Stephen is the secretary of the KGA and joined after his best friend Phil Merriott – the commander - persuaded him.

For Stephen, Phil and the other KGA members re-enactment is an engaging way to recreate history and create friends.

Following the interview, I received the following message: “Breaking news, on the Sunday of our event.

“A contingent of Soldiers will March to All Saints Church Dovercourt. A short service will occur at approx 1130. The soldiers will lay a wreath to commemorate the war dead of the Walcheran expedition."

The Napoleonic Military re-enactment  will take place from August 17 to August 18 at Harwich Redoubt Fort.