9:00am Monday 3rd November 2008
THE spirit of Worcester’s brave soldiers has been brought to life by history enthusiasts.
Visitors packed the Tudor House, Friar Street, during a day-long event marking The Worcestershire Regiment's famed action at the Battle of Gheluvelt.
The bloody victory during the early days of the First World War “saved the British Empire”, according to generals of the time as living history expert Paul Harding explained.
“A lot of people we saw from Worcester did not realise the city’s Gheluvelt Park was named after that battle,” he said.
“There’s a good chance we’d have been speaking German if it wasn’t for the 2nd Battalion’s actions that day.”
Mr Harding and his Discover History team were at the heritage building on Saturday showing people what serving in the Army would have been like. Dressed in uniform of the time, the enthusiasts showed both young and old the equipment soldiers would have gone to war with including rifle, bayonet and mess kit.
There were also maps showing the arrangement of The Woofers in France and Belgium before and during the battle in 1914.
“We also had plenty of adults researching their family history, wanting to know what life had been like for their ancestors,” said Mr Harding.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk