With a steel helmet under the Christmas tree (1938)

With a steel helmet under the Christmas tree (1938)

Once upon time in Normandy (Part 2)

Once upon time in Normandy (Part 2)

War Games in the Great Military Orphanage in Potsdam (Germany 1930s).

War Games: In the educational institutions of the National Socialists, the offspring should be brought early on line. The picture shows children in the 1930s in the Great Military Orphanage in Potsdam (Germany).

Night attack on the Hook hill (War in Korea 1952)

In Korea on the night of 18 November 1952 the Chinese launched a massed night attack on an important hill called the Hook.

Inniskilling Lieutenant Michael Anstice moved his Centurion tank up to support the infantry. In the middle of a fierce battle his tank was hit by a Chinese rocket which wounded the driver and started a fire.

Lance-Corporal Pete Williamson got out and put out the fire. They got the driver to safety and continued the battle for nine hours, eventually driving off the Chinese. Michael Anstice was awarded the Military Cross. 

The figure to your right represents the Lieutenant Michael Anstice in 1952. 

King & Country's: Romans and Barbarians

King & Country's: Romans and Barbarians. The Roman Army and enemies of Rome.

 Please use the link below to download the pdf catalog (12 pages):

Toy soldiers at war

At first glance, these images look like model soldiers in a manufactured landscape, lined up and ready for battle. Yet, look again, these are the real thing. Photographer Simon Brann Thorpe's pictures from Western Sahara explore a conflict that has been forgotten, yet has lasted for 40 years, with no sign of a resolution. Although under the de facto administrative control of Morocco, the status and sovereignty of Western Sahara remains unresolved, with the Polisario Front fighting for independence. Here Brann Thorpe talks about the work, produced in collaboration with a military commander. Toy Soldiers by Simon Brann Thorpe is published by Dewi Lewis. Produced and recorded by Phil Coomes.

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King and Country's: Victor Charlie & the Ontos

King and Country's: Victor Charlie & the Ontos. 

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Gescha Panzer I Tank in North Africa

Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production began in 1934. Intended only as a training tank to introduce the concept of armored warfare to the German Army, the Panzer I saw combat in North Africa during the Second World War. This Gescha tank from my collection and Elastolin panzer officers were produced in 30s

German war toys in a window display case in Bucharest (July 1941)

 The German toy industry was already able to generate high turnover with glorifying toys since the National Socialists seized power in 1933. Here, in July 1941, passers-by look at German war toys in a window display case in Bucharest. Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz/Hanns Hubmann Militärspielzeug nach 1945: Der Krieg unterm Bett : Spiegel Online 26.06.2013

Photographs and toy soldiers of the Colour Party presentation of New Colours to 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers , Kenya 1963

Photographs and toy soldiers  of the Colour Party, presentation of New Colours to 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers , Kenya 1963 (Enniskillen Castle Museums).

The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th Regiment of Foot. It saw service in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War. In 1968 it was amalgamated with the other regiments in the North Irish Brigade, the Royal Ulster Rifles, and the Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria's) into the Royal Irish Rangers. 

HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Colonel-in-Chief, presented the 1st Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers with New Colours at a parade held in Templer Barracks, Kahawa outside Nairobi, Kenya on 20 February 1962. The Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers presents the new Regimental Colour to Lieutenant P V Kendal-Jones having previously presented the new Queen's Colour to Lieutenant D J C Stewart (right). These Colours are now laid up in the Regimental Chapel in St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast.

Once upon a time in Normandy...

Tonight I made these photos of US Army WW2 G.I.s produced by Leyla (Germany) in 60s/70s. 

This US Army Jeep was bought at AliExpress and its maker is unknown. It looks slightly bigger than the stated 1/32 scale.

The cavemen diorama at the Enniskillen Castle Museums (Northern Ireland)

The cavemen diorama at the Enniskillen Castle Museums (Northern Ireland)

King and Country's: In Days of Old

King and Country's: In Days of Old:

-Crusaders,

-Saracens,

-Knights of the Round Table

Please use the link below to download the pdf catalog (8 pages):

Toy hospital at the Museum of the Great War in Meaux (France)

I found this toy hospital in the Museum of the Great War in Meaux (France).

Fokker D.VII and German pilots

King & Country's : Imperial Japanese Forces

King & Country's : Imperial Japanese Forces.🎌🇯🇵
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Strange Inheritance: Toy soldier fortune

A Wall Street broker leaves his kids hundreds of thousands of dollars in antique toy soldiers and a difficult mission.

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WW1 Russian Tsarist Army soldiers from the Les Drapeaux de France tin soldiers shop (Paris, France)

WW1 Russian Tsarist Army 🇷🇺soldiers from the Les Drapeaux de France shop (Paris, France).

Model Soldiers Auction in London (1968)

Auction of lead model figures and toy soldiers. London filmed by British Pathe. W.Britain ?

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The Lochnagar crater in Flanders Fields...(Part 2)

The Lochnagar mine south of the village of La Boisselle in the Somme département was an underground explosive charge, secretly planted by the British during the First World War, ready for 1 July 1916, the first day on the Somme. The mine was dug by the Tunnelling Companies of the Royal Engineers under a German field fortification known as Schwabenhöhe (Swabian Height). The British named the mine after Lochnagar Street, the British trench from which the gallery was driven. The charge at Lochnagar was one of 19 mines that were placed beneath the German lines on the British section of the Somme front, to assist the infantry advance at the start of the battle. The mine was sprung at 7:28 a.m. on 1 July 1916 and left a crater 98 ft (30 m) deep and 330 ft (100 m) wide, which was captured and held by British troops. The attack on either flank was defeated by German small-arms and artillery fire, except on the extreme right flank and just south of La Boisselle, north of the Lochnagar Crater. The crater has been preserved as a memorial and a religious service is held each 1 July.

Contemporary British aerial photograph showing the crater and trenches