DISPATCHES
May 2017
Hi Guys,
Welcome to one, I
believe, of the most diverse and exciting “DISPATCHES” of recent years.
The selection of ‘subject
matter’ and historic events and eras covered is truly broad and inclusive.
So, without further ado... Let’s get rolling!
1.
BEING RELEASED
THIS MONTH ...
A.
“From Gallipoli to
Beersheba”
For some time now many collectors (and a
few dealers) especially ‘down-under’ in Australia have requested
additional, single Turkish Field Guns... So for dioramas and displays
here they are...
AL088 “Turkish
77mm Field Gun”
This Krupp-manufactured
artillery piece was supplied by the Germans to their Turkish allies who
employed it as mobile artillery during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.
It was also much in
evidence throughout the Ottoman Empire and several guns were captured by
the Australian Light Horse after their epic charge at Beersheba in
1917.
AL089 “Broken & Abandoned”
A second Turkish
77mm Gun is also available... This one has had one of its wooden wheels
shattered by a ‘near miss’
while its crew has fled.
You may also be
interested in...
GA019
“Turkish Casualties”
Three unfortunate “Johnny
Turks” who will not fight again!
GA027 “Defending
the Line”
Out of ammo this
particular “Johnny Turk” uses his rifle butt to ward off one of the Aussies.
GA026 “Turkish Grenadier”
A Turkish rifleman
about to throw his German-made grenade at the enemy.
GA024 “The Deadly Shovel”
A fighting 2-man
set.
GA023 “Fighting Fists”
A Turkish soldier
struggles for his life as this enraged Australian uses his bare hands to win
the fight.
Note: All of
the above work well with the ‘empty’ 77mm guns.
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
B.
“GRUB’S UP!!!”
“An army marches on its stomach!” As Napoleon once said... It also drives
on its stomach too... Especially since the advent of mechanised
warfare.
DD301 “British Dismounted AFV (Armoured
Fighting Vehicle) Crew Set #1
Two “tankies”
get down from their vehicle and take a lunch break... As one bloke ‘peels
the spuds’ the other tucks into a mess tin full of something or other...
DD302 “British Dismounted AFV (Armoured
Fighting Vehicle) Crew Set #2
Two more “tankies”
about to enjoy their grub. The kneeling trooper is heating up his ‘grub’
over a little portable cooking stove. The standing ‘Tankie’
drinks a ‘cuppa char’ (tea) while
waiting.
Uniform Note: All four crewmen are wearing the standard
British Armoured Corps “Pixie” suit/overalls
used by the British Army up until the late 1960’s!!!
You may also be
interested in...
BBB001 “The
British Comet Tank”
The best British tank of WW2 and armed with
a powerful 77m High Velocity main gun in
a low-profile turret.
“Comets” appeared in Late 1944
and fought their way over the Rhine and into Germany until the eventual
surrender in May 1945. They continued in service until the late 1950’s
and also saw action in Korea.
It was the successor to the “Cromwell”
and the forerunner of the “Centurion”.
DD304 “Daimler MK. II Armoured
Car”
DD223 “M3A3
Stuart Light Tank”
DD189 “Valentine
MK. III Tank”
DD163 “Dingo Armoured Car”
DD136 “Dismounted
British Tank Crewmen”
AVAILABLE: Early
May
C. “AMERICAN CAESAR”
General
Douglas MacArthur was
one of America’s most famous and controversial military leaders of WW2.
Already a 5-star General he had been Chief
of Staff of the U.S. Army in the 1930’s before being appointed ‘Field
Marshal’ of the Philippine Army in 1937 upon his official retirement from
the U.S. Army.
MacArthur was recalled to duty as Commander of all U.S. Army Forces in the Far
East following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December
1941. Following the successful Japanese invasion of the Philippines he
was extradited to Australia in March 1942 vowing “I shall return”
to the Philippine people.
In Australia he was appointed Supreme
Commander Allied Forces, Southwest Pacific Area and led the fightback
campaign of ‘Island Hopping’ which eventually led to Japan’s ultimate
defeat in August 1945. He oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 until
1951.
He also led the UN forces during the initial
part of the Korean War (1950-53) before being removed from
command for disobeying President Harry S. Truman.
By nature autocratic... he inspired great
respect and admiration as well as great dislike and loathing by all who knew
and worked with him.
An Australian WW2 General once said of
MacArthur, “You will hear the best and worst of him... and both are true!”
FOB157 “General Douglas MacArthur”
Standing in a typical “MacArthurian”
pose the General wears his distinctive gold encrusted peak cap and holds
his corncob pipe. A US Army Air Corps A2 Leather jerkin is worn
over his tropical Khakis.
AVAILABLE: Early
May
You may also be
interested in...
DD300 “Master Sergeant Joe Gunn”.
DD295 “General Omar Bradley”
DD294 “Texas Toy Soldier Show IKE”
DD291 “D.Day IKE”
DD284 “Eisenhower
wearing IKE”
D.
“INNOCENT
CIVILIANS”
Among the most innocent and blameless people
caught in the horrors of war are the women and children.
FOB135 “The Nun & The Toddler”
A very traditional
French or Belgian Nun carries a young child in her arms... “Where are the
child’s parents...?” Perhaps, only God knows... but for the moment
the child is in the safe hands of the Sister.
FOB156 “Little Brother and Big Sister”
These two small ‘Orphans
of War’ can hardly comprehend what is going on all around them ...
Hopefully they will find a safe refuge.
FOB-S01 “Where have all the flowers gone...?”
The Nun now has
three young children to look after... A special ‘Combined Set’ at a
special price.
You may also be
interested in...
Particularly
well with any of the following :
Civilian
figures.
FOB101 “One Old Man & His Dog”
FOB099 “Refugee Mother & Son”
FOB089 “Oskar Schindler & Itzak
Stern”
FOB068 “Old Man & Wheel Barrow”
AVAILABLE: Mid-Late
May
E.
“BRITISH
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FRANCE 1940”
FOB151 “Morris CS9 Armoured Car”
An alternative
camouflage scheme to FOB118... Goes very well with our K&C
long-retired Vickers MK VI tank.
Perfect for any “Dunkirk”
or “Fall of France 1940” scenario.
You may also be
interested in...
ALL British and
French soldiers and vehicles of May, June 1940 can be seen and found under the
K&C’s “Fields of Battle” series.
AVAILABLE: Mid-Late
May
F.
“THE THREE
KINGDOMS”
Another of the
major ‘personalities” of the “Three Kingdoms” period...
IC073 “General
Zhao Yun”
Zhao Yun was a military leader who lived and
fought in the late “Eastern Han Dynasty” and early ‘Three Kingdoms’
era. His life and exploits have been portrayed in books, TV series
and movies... In the great Chinese historical novel, Romance of the
“Three Kingdoms” he was praised as one on the ‘Five Tiger Generals’.
You may also be
interested in...
IC072 “General Sun Qnan”
IC071 “The Mighty Zhang Fei”
IC045 “Lord Guan Yu”
IC044 “Liu Bei”
IC043 “General Cao Cao”
IC037 “Zhuge Liang”
IC036 “Zhou Yu”
AVAILABLE: Early
May
G.
“The SIX-DAY
WAR”
June 1967 saw a war erupt in the Middle East that
still has a far-reaching influence on the world we live in today.
Since Israel’s founding in 1948 it has been
surrounded by a sea of Arab and Muslim hostility. During its relatively
short existence the Jewish state has had to fight a number of wars and
countless counter-insurgency operations with many of its neighbors in the area
and terrorist groups determined to wipe it off the face of the map.
The SIX-Day War, sometimes known as
the June War, the 1967 Arab-Israeli War or even the
Third Arab-Israeli War was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967
by Israel against Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
After heightening tensions between primarily
Egypt (whose military forces were already mobilizing) in the first half
of 1967 and increasing hostility from Syria in particular, the Israelis decided
to act.
Outnumbered in men, tanks, artillery and
aircraft Israel decided to ‘strike first’ and launched a series
of early morning raids on Egyptian airfields (their most numerous opponent
with the biggest and most modern Arab airforce).
On June 5, 1967 almost the entire fleet of Israeli
fighter / bomber aircraft flew under the radar towards Egypt’s military
airfields and virtually wiped out their entire airforce...
on the ground.
Simultaneously, Israeli armour
poured into the Sinai and sowed death and destruction on the Egyptian Ground
Forces there... Destroying hundreds of tanks, capturing thousands of prisoners
and driving the whole Egyptian Army back in disarray.
After destroying the Egyptian Air Force the
Israelis now did the same to the air arms of Syria and Jordan.
At the same time elite Israeli
paratroopers and tanks fought their way into the divided city of Jerusalem
fighting a series of hard-fought battles against Jordanian defenders.
Meanwhile other Israeli soldiers and armour were attacking the Syrians on the Golan Heights on
the northern Israel / Syrian border.
This dramatic new postwar military
series of figures and fighting vehicles will tell, in miniature, just why
Israel had to do what it did and how with a relatively small regular and
part-time army it fought and defeated some of its most
numerous, best equipped and belligerent neighbors.
IDF001 “General Moshe Dayan”
Moshe Dayan (1915-1981) was Defense Minister
of Israel during the SIX-DAY WAR. As a former soldier with many years of
practical experience he was the right man in the right place at the right
time in June 1967.
Our K&C figure shows the one-eyed
general on a tour of inspection just after the capture of Old Jerusalem on
7 June ’67. He wears simple, olive drab fatigues, his pistol belt and an
old British Paratrooper helmet as he makes his way forward.
IDF002 “M51
‘Super Sherman’ Israeli Tank”
Sometimes nicknamed the “Isherman”
the M51 was a much modified version of the classic WW2 American M4 Sherman.
It served the Israeli Defense Forces from the mid 1950’s up until the early
1980’s... a remarkable military achievement!
Israel received almost 300 of these models
from France in the mid 1950’s... Sometime in the early 1960’s these M51’s
were ‘upgunned’ with a powerful 105mm main
gun and were also reengined with the ‘Cummins
Diesel Engine’.
M51’s and their Sherman stablemates the M50 saw combat over a wide
area of battle during the short SIX-DAY WAR. They fought in the Sinai...
helped retake Jerusalem and the West Bank and helped capture the
Golan Heights.
Our K&C model mounts the big 105mm
main gun together with the secondary armament of a hull-mounted .30 cal.
machine gun and a turret-mounted .50 cal. heavy machine gun.
Two Israeli tankers come with the vehicle and the tank also ‘sports’
a broad, black-bordered white aircraft recognition stripe on top of the turret
and over the rear engine compartment. And now for the infantry support...
A squad of elite Israeli paratroopers in action...
IDF003 “Israeli
Machine Gunner”
At this time, 1967, Israeli Forces were
equipped with a number of weapons including the FN FAL series of Assault
Rifles and Light Machine Guns.
Using a 7.62mm round Israel order 2 x
different versions... One standard rifle for the regular infantryman and
the heavy-barrel version complete with bipod as a squad support machine
gun.
Our advancing Para Machine Gunner carries his
weapon with the bipod folded underneath.
IDF004 “Officer
w/UZI”
Our fast-moving Para officer is
carrying the world-famous ‘UZI’ submachine gun. Israeli designed
and built the UZI was used as a personal defense weapon by officers, artillery
and armour troops as well as elite light infantry
assault forces.
The UZI has also been a great military
export success... delivered in large quantities to over 90 countries.
From the 1960’s up through the 1980’s the UZI was THE most popular
submachine gun for military, law enforcement and security forces around the
world.
IDF005 “Para
Rifleman Advancing”
Cautiously moving forward this Israeli
Para keeps his FN FAL rifle to the fore.
IDF006 “Radio Operator”
Our crouching Radio Operator is also carrying
an UZI as he listens in to all radio traffic on his American-made field radio AN/PRC25
commonly referred to as the “Prick 25”!
IDF007 “Israeli
Female Soldier”
The Israeli Defense Forces are one of the
few international militaries that have a mandatory military requirement
for women.
Since the country’s foundation women have
played a vital role in Israel’s Armed Forces. Generally speaking
Israeli female soldiers operated in the support role during the ’67 war
however many were fully trained to use and carry the UZI especially in or near
combat and rear areas where terrorists might operate.
IDF008 “Para Kneeling Ready”
This Israeli Para is scanning nearby
rooftops for snipers or any other hostile activity.
IDF009 “Lying
Prone Para”
Adopting the horizontal firing position this
‘trooper covers his buddies as they move forward towards another area.
SPECIAL UNIFORM NOTE:
All our Israeli Paras are wearing the
locally-designed and made olive drab combat uniforms. Some photos show
Paras wearing a mix of French-made “Lizard” pattern combat suits but
these were beginning to be phased out at this time.
The fighting order worn by Israeli troops in
’67 still shows a ‘mix’ of American, British, French and
Israeli items. Para helmets too were a combination of American and
British steel helmets usually covered with netting.
IDF-S01 “THE
SIX-DAY WAR COMBO SET”
Purchase ALL SIX IDF Paratroopers AND
Gen. Moshe Dayan and we will provide you the Israeli Female
Soldier with our compliments!
IDF-S02 “THE
FIGHTING ISRAELIS SET”
Purchase ALL of the above IDF-S01
set AND our M51 “Isherman’ Tank and
we will make it even better value for you!!!
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
H.
“Pike & Musket ...
Blood & Guts”
In the mid 17th Century even a minor battlefield injury
could prove fatal!
Standards of
hygiene and professional medical skills and knowledge were to put it mildly...
few and far between.
Surgery was
often performed by barbers of all people!!!
PnM063 “The Surgeon & The Patient”
A wounded officer
is attended to by, what we hope, is a qualified doctor...? With no kind of anaestetic the probing and the pain has to be
endured. One side of the battlefield that is rarely seen...
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
You may also be
interested in...
PnM072 “The Witchfinder General”
PnM054 “The Preacher”
Providing some
spiritual comfort.
PnM048 “The Bread & Beer Seller”
Providing some other
kind of comfort.
I.
“THE ADVENTURES of
ROBIN HOOD”
On a slightly
lighter note... Let us return
to a pleasanter, more green time, when all you had to
worry about was making a safe journey through Sherwood Forest.
RH026 “The Travelling Wine Merchant”
A fiery Merchant
together with his horse and cart have met one of Robin’s Merrie Men as
they traverse the forest.
As almost everyone
knows Robin & His Merrie Men like to invite forest travelers to
their encampment for a friendly meal... Providing of course they are happy to
part with a share of their goods!
A great little
set!
RH027 “Happy
Jack”
One of Robin’s
trusty band extending a friendly welcome and the hand of friendship to
the irate Merchant.
RH028 “Mutch the Miller’s Son”
Another of Robin’s Merrie Band of Outlaws...
He’s on his way back to the forest encampment with a hefty bag of flour... Just
in time for the feast!
AVAILABLE: Mid
to Late May
J.
“Deutschland 33”
The modern state of
Israel came out of the ashes and horror of The Holocaust and the
terrible crimes committed by the Nazis... against the Jewish people... But
how did the National Socialists and their gang of misfits and malcontents
actually manage to take over one of the most cultured and civilized countries
at the very heart of Europe...? DEUTSCHLAND ’33 will explore the
almost impossible rise of the Nazis to power and their stranglehold over
Germany.
LAH213 “Oktoberfest Fraulein”
Munich’s bierkellers
saw the birth of the National Socialist movement and all that came with
it... One of the bierkeller serving wenches.
LAH214 “Oktoberfest Prost!”
Another of Munich’s
frauleins with a handful of full beersteins.
LAH215 “Bavarian Nazi”
Wearing traditional
lederhosen this local raises his beer in greeting.
LAH216 “Veteran Mountain Guide”
The Nazis in
Bavaria gathered about them a wide range of country and mountain folk who already
had very right-wing views even before the NSDAP came on the scene!
LAH217 “Brownshirt SA
Standard Bearer”
Even in
conservative, right wring Bavaria the Nazis had their violent opponents...
hence the wooden baton held in the left hand of this Standard Bearer.
LAH223 “SA MANN Brand”
“SA MANN Brand” was a German film made
around the time Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. It was released in
June 1933. This brownshirt is on the street
promoting it.
CAN ACCOMPANY...
LAH212 “Father
& Son”
LAH210 “Taking Power”
LAH209 “Lederhosen Heini”
LAH208 “Adolf in Lederhosen”
LAH196 “Tall Poster Column”
LAH191 “Vote For Hitler!” #2
LAH190 “Vote For Hitler!” #1
LAH183 “SA Chief Ernst Rohm”
LAH137 “Drunk &
Disorderly”
AVAILABLE: Early
May
K.
“A SIGN OF THE
TIMES”
WH072 “Death in Berlin”
A lone dead German Soldier lies in front of
a stone Berlin city marker... The end of the 1,000 year Reich... In just 12
years!
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
2.
BEING RETIRED...
A short list...
BBG098 The AS42 Sahariana
LAH156 Brown Shirt Hitler
1933
LAH191 ”Vote for Hitler!” #2
And that is
that almost… On 27 & 28 May, Memorial Day Weekend I will be
in San Antonio for THE TEXAS TOY SOLDIER SHOW and hope to see some of you guys there.
It’s always a terrific weekend and I am really looking forward to it.
All the best, great
sales and ... happy collecting!
Andy C. Neilson
Co-founder & Creative Director
King & Country Hong Kong