Dear Ladies and Gentlemen. I have many friends in this game on these boards. And now I need your help.
On June 16th 1815, a large scale battle was fought between the Arthur Wellesly, the Duke of Wellington and Marchal Michel Nay of the French Empire. It has a hard fought battle with the French breaking through the british lines with the cavelry at one point, but unable to consolodate their breakthrough. This battle was fought at a small crossroads called Quatre Bras. Unfortunatly the battle was overshadowed by a much greater event, the Battle of Waterloo.
Here we stand in 2011, only 4 years away fomr the 200th Anniversery of the battle and again Quatre Bras is the site of a battle. I enclose an email I have recieved. The farmhouse, which is the only building ledt that that saw the battle has been proposed for demolishing. This will be a disgrace to the men who fought and died there of all nationalities, British, French and Belgian if this goes ahead. I ask for your help now friends in stopping this. This is the email.
Dear Friends of military History
"Already in September 2008, we appealed to many of you in order to save the historic Quatre-Bras farm, maybe the last witness of the famous battle of 16 June 1815 (two day before Waterloo), from destruction. It is located at the crossroads of the roads from Namur to Nivelles and from Brussels to Charleroi, and also served as a hospital after the battle.
Our appeal met a great success and thanks to your massive response, the project was rejected and the authorization to destroy the historic farm turned down.
Now, two years later, the owner, a property developer, has introduced a new request to destroy the farm buildings in order to build new houses and offices.
Again, we have to stand up against this project and express our disapproval of it. We already had some important support from the French side, but we desperately need British and Dutch (and other) support too! If some British and Dutch (Napoleonic or military) associations and museums would care to send a letter to the " Administration Communale " of both towns, we are sure this could have some impact!
The farm being located at the border of two districts, the e-mails and/or letters of rejection have to be addressed to both municipalities:
- at Genappe: by e-mail at: info@genappe.be
and/or by mail at:
Au Collège Communal,
Espace 2000, 3,
B-1470 Genappe
Belgium
- at Villers-la-Ville: by e-mail at olivier.vantielen@publilink.be and valerie.damanet@publilink.be , the two local officials in charge of the town planning at Villers-la-Ville. (If one of these addresses gives an error message, please try again, their mailbox has already been saturated once.)
BEFORE 22 FEBRUARY 2011 (after that date, it's too late).
You can write in English or get some inspiration here, from our press release in French:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSE ... e-Bras.doc
Only a few weeks after the theft of the Christ at the Hougoumont farm (
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/Napoleon1e ... ont_EN.htm) and of the commemorative stone on the south wall of the Quatre-Bras farm (
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSE ... .htm#Stone), we can not allow the new act of - what some of you very eloquently called – historical barbarism to happen!
Thank you to inform us of any action or letter at dominique.timmermans@skynet.be, so that I can keep you informed of any development.
Many thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely.
Dominique Timmermans
Maj (R)
In French:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/In English:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/Napoleon1er/index_EN.htmLatest developments here:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSE ... ras_EN.htm
(Coverage in the Belgian press on our page in French:
http://napoleon-monuments.eu/MONUMENTSE ... lgique.htm)"
