| "Ours is composed of the scum of the earth — the mere scum of the earth", the Duke of Wellington speaking about soldiers in the British Army, 4 November 1813 |
Benedetto Pistrucci was a master engraver at the Royal Mint who won a commission to produce a commemorative medal to immortalize the campaign.
"I have been commanded to strike two Medals at the Royal Mint in commemoration of the battles of Les Quatre Bras and Waterloo; One, in gold, of the largest size, to embrace the exploits of the allied army under the Duke of Wellington the Prince of Orange and the Duke of Brunswick, and of the Prussian Army under Field Marshal Blücher. This Medal will probably be given to each of the sovereigns in alliance with the Prince Regent, to their ministers and generals."
Unfortunately due to various factors, despite starting work in 1817, the medal was not produced until 1850 whereby all the intended recipients (except Wellington) were deceased!
The medal was massive at 140.8 mm across and weighed 677.5 g.
Pistrucci is buried at Christ Church Virginia Water, Surrey. He has a prominent gravestone which cites his title as Her Majesty's "Chief Medallist". His grave is situated at the front of the Church under a tree.
So, with that little piece of history aside, onto the puzzle...
The Waterloo campaign was the first time that combatants were awarded a medal for participation. Unfortunately, it also created a large amount of resentment amongst those that had spent many years hardship as part of the Peninsular campaign. Recipients of the medal received an additional two years recognition of service, which included pay and pension.
Britain was not the only participating nation that issued medals. Identify information from the images below to calculate the final co-ordinates.
Assume N51 29.xxx W000 45.yyy, where
xxx = 10*A + 2*B +6
yyy = (C*D)/2 -E +8
Additional Notes
Terrain: I first visited the area in April, and the ground was still quite muddy in places, however just a few weeks later, and the ground was rock hard with the nettles above waist height. I do not recommend shorts for a couple of the caches at this time of year!
Caches in the series