BRITISH RED BERETS IN WW2

Lone Star was a soldier company I avoided, they were based in Southgate paid bad wages Im told and produced cynically made soldiers for kids. So I never bought them.
Impressed by the success of German airborne operations, during the Battle of France, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5,000 parachute troops. On 22 June 1940, No. 2 Commando was turned over to parachute duties and on 21 November, re-designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, with a parachute and glider wing.It was these men who took part in the first British airborne operation, Operation Colossus, on 10 February 1941. In September, the battalion was re-designated the 1st Parachute Battalion and assigned to the 1st Parachute Brigade.To fill out the brigade, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Parachute Battalions were raised by asking for volunteers from all units in the British Army.
The first operation by the Parachute Regiment was Operation Biting in February 1942. The objective was to capture a Würzburg radar on the coast of France. The raid was carried out by 'C' Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion, under the command of Major John Frost.
The success of the raid prompted the War Office to expand the existing airborne force, setting up the Airborne Forces Depot and Battle School in Derbyshire in April 1942, and creating the Parachute Regiment as well as converting a number of infantry battalions into airborne battalions in August 1942.The 2nd Parachute Brigade was then formed from the 4th Battalion, and two of the converted infantry battalions.^[ The Army Air Corps was created as the command formation of the Parachute Regiment and the Glider Pilot Regiment.With two parachute brigades now in the order of battle, the 1st Airborne Division commanded by Major-General Frederick Browning was formed. By the end of the war, the regiment had raised 17 battalions.Most of them served in the 1st Airborne Division, 6th Airborne Division and the independent 2nd Parachute Brigade in Africa and Europe. In India, the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade and the 77th Indian Parachute Brigade also contained British parachute battalions.

 

The Parachute Regiment had their own distinctive uniform: the maroon beret at first with the Army Air Corps cap badge and from May 1943 the Parachute Regiment cap badge which is still in use today.Parachute wings were worn on the right shoulder above the airborne forces patch of Bellerophon riding the flying horse Pegasus.On operations, Paras wore the airborne forces pattern steel helmet instead of the normal British Brodie helmet. Initially they wore a 'jump jacket' modelled on the German Fallschirmjäger jacket. After 1942, the Denison smock was issued as the first camouflaged uniform for the British Army. In 1943, a green sleeveless jacket was designed to wear over the Denison smock when parachuting.British Paras did not use a reserve parachute, as the War Office considered the £60 cost a waste of money.
The Parachute Regiment were not issued any special weapons. Their small arms were the same as the rest of the army's: the bolt action Lee-Enfield rifle and the Enfield or Webley revolver or the M1911 pistol. For a submachine gun, they used the British Sten, which was issued in higher numbers than to a normal infantry battalion.Each section had a Bren light machine gun and a 2-inch mortar. The only battalion heavy weapons were eight 3-inch mortars, four Vickers machine guns and after 1943, ten PIAT anti tank weapons.

getting a matt finish on plastic soldiers

Remove all flash and seam lines with a new sharp knife blade and sanding stick Remove all flash and seam lines with a new sharp knife blade and sanding stick Remove all flash and seam lines with a new sharp knife blade and sanding stick

2/ Wash in Fairy liquid and allow to dry

3/ Shake a rattle can of Halfords grey primer for about 5 minutes then spray from about a foot away. Turn over and spray other side

4/ Go over main areas of colour in a darker shade of the intended top coat

5/ Load brush with intended top coat, wipe most off on a bit of kitchen roll and apply to same area again, leaving the darker base visible in creases and alongside belts, webbing and kit

6/ Repeat using a lighter shade of the base coat and less paint

7/ Hold figure so head is towards you and feet pointing away, and repeat 6 with a much lighter shade and hardly any paint on the brush at all

8/ Starting at the feet, apply dust and work up to the knees so boots are caked in it, shins and knees less so

9/ Try not to use the same colour anywhere twice, it looks like VGA 16-colour graphics

9/ Try not to use pure black or pure white anywhere either, these don't exist in these scales

10/ Uniforms faded like mad on campaign and weren't all the same colour anyway, and in fact a lot of DAK uniform items weren't even originally German, they were Italian or captured Commonwealth

11/ Shake can of Humbrol Matt Varnish for 10 minutes. Accept no substitute. Nothing else dries matt like Humbrol dries matt.

12/ Spray the figures as per 3 but be prepared to do this several times, as you will not get a complete solid coat in one go. Think of how long it took to get the primer colour solid - this will take as long, and as many coats.



2/ Wash in Fairy liquid and allow to dry

3/ Shake a rattle can of Halfords grey primer for about 5 minutes then spray from about a foot away. Turn over and spray other side

4/ Go over main areas of colour in a darker shade of the intended top coat

5/ Load brush with intended top coat, wipe most off on a bit of kitchen roll and apply to same area again, leaving the darker base visible in creases and alongside belts, webbing and kit

6/ Repeat using a lighter shade of the base coat and less paint

7/ Hold figure so head is towards you and feet pointing away, and repeat 6 with a much lighter shade and hardly any paint on the brush at all

8/ Starting at the feet, apply dust and work up to the knees so boots are caked in it, shins and knees less so

9/ Try not to use the same colour anywhere twice, it looks like VGA 16-colour graphics

9/ Try not to use pure black or pure white anywhere either, these don't exist in these scales

10/ Uniforms faded like mad on campaign and weren't all the same colour anyway, and in fact a lot of DAK uniform items weren't even originally German, they were Italian or captured Commonwealth

11/ Shake can of Humbrol Matt Varnish for 10 minutes. Accept no substitute. Nothing else dries matt like Humbrol dries matt.

12/ Spray the figures as per 3 but be prepared to do this several times, as you will not get a complete solid coat in one go. Think of how long it took to get the primer colour solid - this will take as long, and as many coats.



2/ Wash in Fairy liquid and allow to dry

3/ Shake a rattle can of Halfords grey primer for about 5 minutes then spray from about a foot away. Turn over and spray other side

4/ Go over main areas of colour in a darker shade of the intended top coat

5/ Load brush with intended top coat, wipe most off on a bit of kitchen roll and apply to same area again, leaving the darker base visible in creases and alongside belts, webbing and kit

6/ Repeat using a lighter shade of the base coat and less paint

7/ Hold figure so head is towards you and feet pointing away, and repeat 6 with a much lighter shade and hardly any paint on the brush at all

8/ Starting at the feet, apply dust and work up to the knees so boots are caked in it, shins and knees less so

9/ Try not to use the same colour anywhere twice, it looks like VGA 16-colour graphics

9/ Try not to use pure black or pure white anywhere either, these don't exist in these scales

10/ Uniforms faded like mad on campaign and weren't all the same colour anyway, and in fact a lot of DAK uniform items weren't even originally German, they were Italian or captured Commonwealth

11/ Shake can of Humbrol Matt Varnish for 10 minutes. Accept no substitute. Nothing else dries matt like Humbrol dries matt.

12/ Spray the figures as per 3 but be prepared to do this several times, as you will not get a complete solid coat in one go. Think of how long it took to get the primer colour solid - this will take as long, and as many coats.

Remove all flash and seam lines with a new sharp knife blade and sanding stick

2/ Wash in Fairy liquid and allow to dry

3/ Shake a rattle can of Halfords grey primer for about 5 minutes then spray from about a foot away. Turn over and spray other side

4/ Go over main areas of colour in a darker shade of the intended top coat

5/ Load brush with intended top coat, wipe most off on a bit of kitchen roll and apply to same area again, leaving the darker base visible in creases and alongside belts, webbing and kit

6/ Repeat using a lighter shade of the base coat and less paint

7/ Hold figure so head is towards you and feet pointing away, and repeat 6 with a much lighter shade and hardly any paint on the brush at all

8/ Starting at the feet, apply dust and work up to the knees so boots are caked in it, shins and knees less so

9/ Try not to use the same colour anywhere twice, it looks like VGA 16-colour graphics

9/ Try not to use pure black or pure white anywhere either, these don't exist in these scales

10/ Uniforms faded like mad on campaign and weren't all the same colour anyway, and in fact a lot of DAK uniform items weren't even originally German, they were Italian or captured Commonwealth

11/ Shake can of Humbrol Matt Varnish for 10 minutes. Accept no substitute. Nothing else dries matt like Humbrol dries matt.

12/ Spray the figures as per 3 but be prepared to do this several times, as you will not get a complete solid coat in one go. Think of how long it took to get the primer colour solid - this will take as long, and as many coats.

custer by atlantic and chief flying hawks account

"The Indians were camped along the west side of the Big Horn in a flat valley. We saw a dust but did not know what caused it. Some Indians said it was the soldiers coming. The chief saw a flag on a pole on the hill. "The soldiers made a long line and fired into our tepees among our women and children. That was the first we knew of any trouble. The women got their children by the hand and caught up their babies and ran in every direction. "The Indian men got their horses and guns as quick as they could and went after the soldiers. Kicking Bear and Crazy Horse were in the lead. There was thick timber and when they got out of the timber there was where the first of the fight was. "The dust was thick and we could hardly see. We got right among the soldiers and killed a lot with our bows and arrows and tomahawks. Crazy Horse was ahead of all, and he killed a lot of them with his war-club; he pulled them off their horses when they tried to get across the river where the bank was steep. Kicking Bear was right beside him and he killed many too in the water. "This fight was in the upper part of the valley where most of the Indians were camped. It was some of the Reno soldiers that came after us there. It was in 'the day just before dinner when the soldiers attacked us. When we went after them they tried to run into the timber and get over the water where they had left their wagons. The bank was about this high (12 ft. indicated) and steep, and they got off their horses and tried to climb out of the water on their hands and knees, but we killed nearly all of them when they were running through the woods and in the water. The ones that got across the river and up the hill dug holes and stayed in them. "The soldiers that were on the hill with the pack-horses began to fire on us. About this time all the Indians had got their horses and guns and bows and arrows and war-clubs, and they charged the soldiers in the east and north on top of the hill.
Custer was farther north than these soldiers were then. He was going to attack the lower end of the village. We drove nearly all that got away from us down the hill along the ridge where another lot of soldiers were trying to make a stand. "Crazy Horse and I left the crowd and rode down along the river. We came to a ravine; then we followed up the gulch to a place in the rear of the soldiers that were making the stand on the hill. Crazy Horse gave his horse to me to hold along with my 'horse. He crawled up the ravine to where he could see the soldiers. He shot them as fast as he could load his gun. They fell off their horses as fast as he could shoot. (Here the chief swayed rapidly back and forth to show how fast they fell). When they found they were being killed so fast, the ones that were left broke and ran as fast as their horses could go to some other soldiers that were further along the ridge toward Custer.
Here they tried to make another stand and fired some shots, but we rushed them on along the ridge to where Custer was. Then they made another stand (the third) and rallied a few minutes. Then they went on along the ridge and got with Custer's men. "Other Indians came to us after we got most of the men at the ravine. We all kept after them until they got to where Custer was. There was only a few of them left then.
 "By that time all the Indians in the village had got their horses and guns and watched Custer. When Custer got nearly to the lower end of the camp, he started to go down a gulch, but the Indians were surrounding him, and he tried to fight.
They got off their horses and made a stand but it was no use. Their horses ran down the ravine right into the village. The squaws caught them as fast as they came. One of them was a sorrel with white stocking. Long time after some of our relatives told us they had seen Custer on that kind of a horse when he was on .the way to the Big Horn.
"When we got them surrounded the fight was over in one hour. There was so much dust we could not see much, but the Indians rode around and yelled the war-whoop and shot into the soldiers as fast as they could until they were all dead.
 One soldier was running away to the east but Crazy Horse saw him and jumped on his pony and went after him. He got him about half a mile from the place where the others were lying dead. The smoke was lifted so we could see a little. We got off our horses and went and took the rings and money and watches from the soldiers. We took some clothes off too, and all the guns and pistols. We got seven hundred guns and pistols. Then we went back to the women and children and got them together that were not killed or hurt. "

RED CLOUD Fights Against Fearful Odds The government rushed to the protection of its settlers. Red Cloud now found himself opposed to trained soldiers instead of lawless frontiersmen. But he fought on as fearlessly as ever againt these greater odds. A body of regulars was sent to garrison Fort Phil Kearny in Wyoming. On December 22, 1866, Red Could, with a band of Sioux, attacked a foraging party from the fort. Captain Fetterman, with one hundred soldiers and citizens, was sent out to the party's rescue. Red Cloud's savages, in a terrific battle, killed Fetterman and every one of his men. Encouraged by this feat, Red Cloud next attacked a detachment of soldiers under Major Powell, who were crossing the prairies with a consignment of metal wagon bodies. Using these wagon bodies for bullet-proof fortification, the troops defended themselves so gallantly that Red Cloud could make no headway against them. Againand again he led his warriors across the open ground in a wild charge against the wagon fort. And every time the sodiers' quick, unerring vollies emptied dozens of saddles and sent the Indians reeling back. Red Cloud lost more than 300 men in this fight before he would consent to withdraw out of reach of the deadly hail of bullets. Some of the older Sioux chiefs wanted to yield to the government and to sign a peace treaty. Red Cloud was asked to join them. He replied furiously: "No! I want war!" The more valiant young warriors echoed his defiant shout. And war they had for years thereafter. Red Cloud kept the frontier ablaze with excitement. Among the famous soldiers who fought against him from time to time were Gnerals Miles, Sheridan, Crook, Terry and Custer. More than once he proved too wily for the best of them. But one leader, be he ever so inspired, cannot with 6000 savages defy a whole country forever. So, in course of time, Red Cloud and his braves were cooped up on a reservation. But again and again they broke out, committing fearful ravages among the settlements, and were brought back to the agency only to burst forth again at the first chance.

Gives Up Unequal Strife When Sitting Bull, in 1876, in the campaign which cost Custer's life, went on the warpath, Red Cloud prepared to join the renowned Medicine Man; but General Crook swooped down upon his band just as they were making ready to start, took away their ponies and made Red Cloud a prisoner. Later the government offered to pay $28,000.00 for these ponies and for other confiscated weapons if Red Cloud would sign a treaty. This was in 1880. Red Cloud was 62 years old. His long, tireless years of wrfare had resulted in the thinning out of his warrior band and the loss of thousands of miles of his territory. Whereas, the white men in the West were every year more numerous. He saw the bitter hopelessness of it all and consented to sign what he called a "peace paper". The old savage had been in 200 pitched battles during his stormy career. Now---penniless, old, helpless---he laid down his weapons. Nor did he, outwardly at least, ever break the treaty he had so reluctantly made. In more than one subsequent Indian outbreak he was suspected of having stirred up the local braves to revolt; but nothing could be proven against him. And so he lived on, at government expense, without a shadow of his former greatness, becoming at last blind, deaf and almost childish.

bucktails

Pennsylvania played a key role during the Civil War.It was a state that had the most of the would be bleeding hearts of the republican dream.below is one of my early conversions, just add the bucktail. In reality they treated their free workers worse than the Southern slave. In the bucktail state you were free to die of fatique or hunger, thats what freedom was in the North.in short like the Neo Lib of present day the scum of the earth.below miniature minion bucktails
 The industrial enterprise and natural resources were essential factors in the economic strength of the northern cause. The railroad system, iron and steel industry, and agricultural wealth were vital to the war effort. 
The shipbuilders of Pennsylvania, led by the famous Cramp Yards, contributed to the strength of the navy and merchant marine, including the Civil War's first submarine, Alligator, was built at the Neafie & Levy Shipyard in 1861-1862. Thomas Scott, as Assistant Secretary of War, directed telegraph and railway services. Engineer Herman Haupt directed railroad movement of troops. Jay Cooke helped finance the Union cause, and Thaddeus Stevens was an important congressional leader.

Administration of military affairs during the war was directed by two Pennsylvanians: first by Simon Cameron, who resigned his seat in the U. S. Senate to become President Lincoln's first Secretary of War; he was succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton of Pittsburgh.

A total of 427,286 Pennsylvanians served in the Union forces, including 8,600 African-American volunteers.  This number includes enlistees responding to President Lincoln's calls for Volunteers for the Union army, recruits, drafted men, substitutes, and recruits for the regular U. S. Army for a total of 362,284 men. Adding the 25,000 Pennsylvania militia men who were called out in 1862, brings the grand total to 387,284 men, who served in 270 regiments and several detached companies of the Volunteer Army. Adding the 40,002 Pennsylvanians who enlisted in the United States Navy raises the total to 427,286.

Three days after the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling out the militia of several States. abve is a boer rider from my collection but easily convertible as a reb or union irregular, its in metal.

Later that same day, Governor Andrew G. Curtin received a telegram from the Secretary of War requesting that Pennsylvania provide 16 regiments, and 2 regiments were wanted within 3 days. A sudden dash upon the Capital was strongly threatened, and the city was entirely unprotected. Five militia companies were called up and sent immediately to Washington. These companies later became known as "The First Defenders" because they were the first military units to reach the Nation's Capitol.
President Lincoln's initial call for 16 regiments of volunteers was answered by 25 regiments. In May 1861, the Assembly, at Governor Andrew G. Curtin's suggestion, created the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps of 15 regiments enlisted for three years' service. They were mustered into the Army of the Potomac after the first Battle of Bull Run, and thousands of other Pennsylvanians followed them. Camp Curtin at Harrisburg was one of the major troop concentration centers of the war. Admiral David D. Porter opened the Mississippi and Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren made innovations in ordnance which greatly improved naval fire power. Army leaders from Pennsylvania were numerous and able, including such outstanding officers as George B. McClellan, George G. Meade, John F. Reynolds, Winfield S. Hancock, Andrew A. Humphreys, John White Geary, David McMurtrie Gregg, and John F. Hartranft.
Pennsylvania had forty-eight general officers and fourteen commanders of armies and corps, namely:  George Gordon Meade, (below another Conversion of mine)George B. McClellan, Winfield Scott Hancock, John F. Reynolds, Andrew A. Humphreys, David B. Birney, John Gibbon, John Grubb Parke, Henry Morris Naglee, Charles Franklin Smith, Goerge Cadwalader, Samuel G. Crawford, Samuel Peter Heintzelman, and William Buel Franklin. Generals David McMurtrie Gregg and Benjamin H. Grierson were distinguished cavalry commanders, Washington L. Elliott was chief of cavalry in the Army of the Cumberland, and commanded a department. Admiral David D. Porter, the heroic naval commander, was a native of Chester. Galusha Pennypacker, of Chester County, was the youngest general in either army during the war. Born June 1, 1844, he was only 20 when appointed Brevet Brigadier General U. S. Volunteers on January 15, 1865; Brigadier General U. S. Volunteers on February 18, 1865; and Brevet Major General U. S. Volunteers on March 13, 1865. He led the assault on Fort Fisher and was wounded seven times in eight months.
Private Richard Montgomery of the 155th Pennsylvania Volunteers was the last enlisted man killed in the fighting in Virginia. He was killed at Farmville, on the morning of April 9, 1865, shortly before General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant.
Oliver Wilcox Norton of the 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteers, a Brigade bugler, assisted General Daniel Butterfield modify the Infantry bugle call for Lights Out, thereby creating the hauntingly beautiful "Taps".
Pvt. William Henry Christman, Company G, 67th Pennsylvania Infantry, was the first military service man interred in Arlington National Cemetery on May 13, 1864. Pvt. William Blatt, 49th Pennsylvania Infantry, was the first battle casualty interred at Arlington on Saturday, May 14, 1864.   Pvt. William H. McKinney, age 17, of the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry was also interred on Friday, May 13, 1864. He was the first soldier to have family present at his funeral.
Seven commissioned officers of Company C of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers were killed in the line of duty---more than any other company in the Union Army.
The 6th United States Colored Troops, recruited in Pennsylvania and trained at Camp William Penn, lost 62 percent of its men during an assault on New Market Heights near Richmond in 1864. Two of its members received the Medal of Honor for gallantry.^*The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, the "Bucktail Regiment,"was recruited in the timbering counties of northwestern Pennsylvania. The Bucktails sported white-tailed deer tails on their caps as a symbol of their skilled markmanship.^{*most of the models here are my creations or my painted jobs, some conversions and some fuck ups like the starlux rider}
In the western theater, the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, was the only eastern cavalry participating in Sherman's March to the Sea.

de Lesseps

Ferdinand de Lesseps was born on 19 November 1805 into a family of French career-diplomats. He went into the same profession, and during his early career was posted to Tunisia and Egypt. In Egypt, he became friends with Said Pasha, son of the viceroy. De Lesseps became fascinated with the cultures of the Mediterranean and Middle East and the growth of western European trade. After postings to Spain and Italy, in 1849 he retired after a disagreement with the French government. In 1854, his friend Said Pasha became the new viceroy of Egypt. De Lesseps immediately returned to Egypt, where he was given a warm welcome and, soon afterwards, permission to begin work on the Suez Canal. De Lesseps had been inspired by reading about Napoleon's abandoned plans for a canal that would allow large ships wishing to sail to the east to go directly from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, thereby cutting out the long sea journey around Africa.

De Lesseps' scheme was backed by an international commission of engineers, but failed to win the support of the British government, despite de Lesseps making a number of trips to London. He persevered and eventually attracted financial backing from the French emperor Napoleon III and others. De Lesseps was no engineer - his achievement lay in organising the necessary political and financial backing, and providing the technical support necessary for such a huge project. Construction began in April 1859, and the Suez Canal was opened in November 1869. British attitudes changed when the canal was seen to be a success and de Lesseps was treated as a great celebrity on his subsequent visit to Britain. In 1875, the Egyptian government sold its shares in the canal and the British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, bought effective control of the Canal Company.

In his 74th year, de Lesseps began to plan a new canal in Panama. In 1879, an international congress was held in Paris, which chose the route for the Panama Canal and appointed de Lesseps as leader of the undertaking. Work began in 1881, but the canal proved much more complicated to build than the Suez Canal. After eight years, little progress appeared to have been made (it was eventually finished in 1914). A French court found de Lesseps and his son Charles guilty of mismanagement. Both were heavily fined and sentenced to imprisonment. In the event, de Lesseps did not go to jail, but his son paid for his elderly father's misjudgements with a year in prison. De Lesseps died on 7 December 1894.