Toy soldiers and real battles: January 2023

Saturday, January 28, 2023

Durso Red Army Composition Figures - The Medical Scene

Michel Klimov, 1905 (Latvia) - 2004 (Liege, Belgium), founder and owner of the Durso Company 1938 - 1988).He was engaged in entrepreneurship in Riga. In 1925, on the recommendation of the Riga Chamber of Commerce, he came to Belgium to carry out a trade deal. He entered the University of Liege, but due to the financial difficulties of his father, he completed only three courses. He worked at the industrial enterprises of Liege. In 1927‒1928 he studied at the Liege Academy of Arts. In 1938 he opened a workshop for the production of miniature historical sculptures - "composition soldiers", created his own trademark and logo: "Durso" (duratum as solidum). Posters, labels and catalogs of Durso were designed by his wife Valentina (Lomagina) Klimova, 1912 (Stavropol) - 1983 (Liege). During the occupation of Belgium by Nazi troops, the Gestapo was repeatedly interrogated for the production of a number of plots (red banner, figures of Russian soldiers), and in 1944 the enterprise was temporary closed. Michel Klimov continued his activity until 1988. He was awarded the Order of Leopold II. Michel Klimov went to great lengths in the design of his figures to create, as accurately as possible, the “real life” subjects he was portraying. Attention to even the most minute detail, was the “standard” of this extraordinary man, and his company. It was a natural evolution from the figures of “soldiers in combat”, for the Durso Company to create the images of wounded, and sometimes dead, “casualties of war”, and those who tended to their fallen Comrades in Arms, (Doctors, Nurses, Fellow Soldiers, etc.). All countries represented by Durso production had “medical” figures, in one form or another, depicted in the Series.(Vincent J. Russo and Patrice Servais "Durso Composition Figures “The Medical Scene”", The Old Toy Soldier Volume 28 Number 1, Spring 2004).

Elastolin : Second Italo-Abyssinian War 🇮🇹⚔️🇪🇹

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War (the Second Italo-Abyssinian War) was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In 1936/37 Elastolin produced barefoot Ethiopian soldiers in khaki uniform worn by regular troops of Haille Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. Only Nazi Germany sent arms and munitions to Ethiopia because it was frustrated over Italian objections to its attempts to integrate Austria.This prolonged the war and sapped Italian resources. It would soon lead to Italy's greater economic dependence of Germany and less interventionist policy on Austria, clearing the path for Hitler's Anschluss.

Elastolin chasseurs alpins 🇫🇷🏔️🗻⛰️⛏️

The French forces produced by Elastolin included the French Army (marching and combat figures), marching French sailors, marching French colonial forces ("French" and "native"), and a short line of the elite chasseurs alpins (mountain troops- Chasseurs Alpins). The chasseurs are easily recognised by their wide beret, adopted as a hunter's headdress in 1891 and named the tarte des Alpes ("pie of the Alps", after a type traditional alpine hat). Chasseurs Alpins were assigned with their equipment an alpenstock. The alpenstock's heel was ironed.

Models of German tanks

Models of German WW2 tanks presented at Museo Histórico Militar de Canarias (Tenerife, Spain): Tiger Panzerkampfwagen VI, Elefant and Puma.

Nardi musketeers 🐎⚔️🐎⚔️🐎

These composition musketeers were produced by Nardi (Italy) in 40s.

Tenerife 1797 🇪🇸⚔️🇫🇷💥⚓️🌊

The Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was an amphibious assault by the Royal Navy on the Spanish port city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Launched by Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson on 22 July 1797, the assault was defeated, and on 25 July the remains of the landing party withdrew under a truce, having lost several hundred men. Museo Histórico Militar de Canarias.

Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (July 1797) 🇪🇸⚔️🇬🇧🌊⚓️

The Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was an amphibious assault by the Royal Navy on the Spanish port city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Every year in July, the Recreation Gesta July 25 takes place in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in which soldiers, wearing faithful reproductions of uniforms and weapons of the time, recall the victory of Santa Cruz de Tenerife over British troops. This interesting small diorama is presented at Museo Histórico Militar de Canarias (Tenerife, Spain).

German composition figures of paramilitary units 🔥🔥🔥

German composition figures of 30s include a wide range of paramilitary units of the Schutzstaffel (SS)forces of Nazi Germany. During the Nuremberg Trials, the Waffen-SS was declared a criminal organisation for its major involvement in war crimes and for being an "integral part" of the SS. These 7cm composition SS soldiers were produced by Lineol (a figure holding a torch), Elastolin, Kienel and Elastolin.