General Gudin

[John Cook]

An interesting item, for Napoleonic buffs anyway, on the repatriation of General Gudin's remains from Russia.  Why do they seem always to  employ overweight re-enactors for these event rather than proper soldiers?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57810139

[fsn]

Interesting stuff.

[paulr]

Cos the re-enactors have the kit

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Probably !

[John Cook]

Cos the re-enactors have the kit :-

Do not proper soldiers have their own kit too?  I seem to remember having kit for all occasions.  The use of fat re-enactors in ill-fitting replica 1st Empire uniforms reduces it, in my opinion, to the level of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera.  Just a view.

[Ben Waterhouse]

Agree with you John.

[DHautpol]

Providing military honours probably doesn't fit with the government's current narrative, you get the feel that the Napoleonic era, with all that conquest etc., isn't fashionable anymore.  So it was down to the re-enactors.

[Ithoriel]

Given the current political climate, too much pomp and circumstance around  the repatriation of someone involved in one of the invasions of Russia might be seen as insensitive at the very least.

As to the re-enactors, I guess inflation hits everything over time

[steve_holmes_11]

Cos the re-enactors have the kit :-

And the kit's only made in XXL.

[paulr]

FTFY

And the kit's only made in XXXXL.