His father, John William Waller, was a veterinary surgeon in the 1st Battalion, the Middlesex Regiment, and was captured by the Japanese at the Fall of Hong Kong in December 1941.

He had always been interested in history, and was inspired as a teenager by three Hollywood historical films: Ivanhoe (1952), Knights of the Round Table (1953) and Quentin Durward (1955), all directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor, which form an unofficial trilogy.

They had several obstacles to overcome: from the disdain of professional historians for the idea of amateur reenactment, through the difficulty of acquiring authentic clothing, armour and weapons when the only suppliers were theatrical costumiers,[a] to working out how to perform dangerous long-forgotten combat skills with low risk of serious injury.

Through that and other contacts made while working there, Waller discovered an opportunity suited to his interests and skills - fight arranger, action coordinator and historical adviser for stage and screen.

He worked on more than 10 feature films; including Anne of a Thousand Days (1969), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975),[b] and Legend (1985).

The modern acceptance of reenactment and living history, based on careful research and experiment, as valid and useful owes much to Waller's and Young's hard work, enthusiasm and skill.

The Medieval Society flourished, and in its day gave many displays of martial skills, including archery, foot combat and jousting, at historic venues in the United Kingdom and France.

[2] In 1973, Waller invented the balsawood lance, which has the advantages for show combat that it breaks easily (often spectacularly) on impact, and poses less risk to even an armoured human target than one of stouter wood.

[1] Waller assisted Hardy during the writing of his authoritative 1976 book Longbow: A Social and Military History (which was used as basis for a BBC TV documentary).

[3] In 1977, the Royal Armouries (then based only in the Tower of London) had the idea of making a short film, How a Man Schall be Armyd, which would show a knight being equipped with plate armour, mounting a horse and riding off.

[3][4] Also in 2000, he organised the first of what became an annual event - a competitive (not demonstration) jousting team tournament held over the Easter weekend in the Museum Tiltyard, for a trophy called the Sword of Honour.

[2] He acted as adviser to major archaeological investigations, including the Towton battlefield (1461) in Yorkshire and the Mary Rose, King Henry VIII's flagship, which had sunk in the Solent off the south coast of England in 1545.