Dear Partners,
Welcome to this month’s DISPATCHES and by the time you read this
edition many of you will, I hope, have received your/ our brand-new, special
edition ‘Winter Tigers’!
Since I last wrote I’ve been up to China twice to visit one
of our main factories and to meet up with our leading sculptor. Finally, I
believe we’re beginning to get back to a level of normality and a more regular
release schedule.
Talking of which, let’s take a closer look at what’s on
offer this month…
The Yeomen
of The Guard form the personal bodyguard of the British
sovereign and have been in continuous existence since their formation by King Henry Ⅵ
in 1485.
Originally, they were responsible for the King’s (or sometimes Queen’s) safety
on journeys at home or abroad and on the battlefield. In addition, they guarded
his palaces, patrolled their precincts and perimeters as well as guarding all
entrances and exits. They even, in times gone by, tasted the sovereign’s own
food!
Today’s Yeomen
of the Guard still wear uniforms that harken back to their
formation during the reign of the Tudors and carry weapons that are distinctly similar to the same historical period.
For everyday duties the Yeoman’s uniform is black with red
detailing. For the great ceremonies of state the more
classic and much more colourful ceremonial uniform is
red with golden yellow and black design details.
Among the most important state events where the ceremonial
uniforms can be worn and seen are:
∙The
State Opening of Parliament
∙Receptions
for Foreign Heads of State
∙All
Royal Weddings, Funerals and other Celebrations.
STRENGTH,
NUMBERS & RECRUITMENT
Originally, The Guard numbered just 50 and were all male.
Presently, that number has grown to become 79 and also
includes a few women.
To be selected for the Guard, an applicant must be at least 50 years of age and have
served in a branch of the British Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force and / or Royal Marines)
for 20 years or more.
They should also have reached the minimum rank of Sergeant to be even
considered and must have been awarded the
Good Conduct and Long Service medal.
Retirement is mandatory at 70 for all members of the Guard.
Visitors to London wishing to see the Yeomen of The Guard going
about their duties can best view them on duty at the Tower of London where the Crown Jewels are
stored and protected.
CE090
“Yeoman of The Guard w/Partisan” (Marching)
Wearing his
State Ceremonial uniform this man steps out with his ‘Partisan’, which is a
kind of decorated halberd dating back to medieval times. In addition, like the
other three, he also carries a short sword on the left side of his waist belt.
CE091
“Yeoman of The Guard, Messenger Sergeant Major”
One of several, very senior Non Commissioned Officers
who can be easily recognized by the four, broad golden yellow chevrons on his
right arm.
In addition, this man carries a long, black baton to
emphasize his rank and position in the hierarchy.
CE092
“Yeoman of The Guard w/Long Axe”
Just a few of the Yeomen are ever seen with this long and
wicked-looking axe of the kind that was once used to execute the sovereign’s
enemies.
CE095
“Yeoman of The Guard w Partisan” (Standing At Attention)
This Yeoman is attention holding his ‘Partisan’ (halberd) by his side.
Special Uniform Note:
All four Yeoman carry the late Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ
‘Royal Cypher’ EⅡR on the front bodice of
their uniform alongwith the four floral symbols of Great
Britain; the rose of England,
the thistle of Scotland, the leek of Wales and the shamrock representing Northern
Ireland.
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
Anyone lucky enough to visit Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen will usually
visit the Amalienborg
Palace right in the heart of that beautiful city.
It is both a home to the Danish Royal Family and a museum of
the Danish monarchy.
One of the unforgettable sights of such a visit is to see
the “Changing of The Guard”
which takes place on most days throughout the year.
Each noon the ‘new’
guard leave their barracks at nearby Rosenborg Castle and march through
Copenhagen’s streets to Amalienborg where they
replace the ‘old’
guard which has been on duty for the previous 24 hours.
What makes this changeover ceremony so colourful
is that these Danish Royal Life Guards have two dress
uniforms… Their ceremonial ‘Red’
tunics are only worn on grand State occasions while their parade ‘Blue’ tunics are much
more commonly seen on daily guard duty outside the palace.
Other notable aspects of the Guard’s unique appearance are
their tall, black bearskins
which date back to 1805 and their short infantry
sabers carried by all ranks which came from similar weapons
captured from the Prussians during their
First Schleswig War of 1848
– 1851.
In addition to their ceremonial duties all
of these soldiers belong to a modern mechanized infantry unit that saw
action in more recent years in Afghanistan.
MRDG006 ‘Royal
Life Guards Standard Bearer’
This marching Non Commissioned Officer carries the
Regimental Banner with the Danish Queen’s cypher in the centre.
MRDG007 ‘Royal
Life Guards Sergeant’
Another marching NCO holding the short infantry sabre in his
right hand.
MRDG008 ‘Royal
Life Guards Fifer’
In addition to a regular regimental band the Life Guards also have a ‘Fife
& Drum’ Corps. Previously K&C released a drummer now we’re adding the
Fifer.
Normally a ‘Fife
& Drum’ Corps comprises 16-20 musicians… Eight Side Drummers
plus 8-12 Fifers.
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
In recent years K&C has seen a growing interest in
Ancient Rome among our collectors, especially in Asia.
Now, I can’t pretend to know the reason for this but when I
have spoken to some of these collectors they have said
they just love the colours of the uniforms and how
good the figures look when presented in large formations.
So, who am I to argue otherwise!
ROM060 ‘Kneeling
Roman Legionary’
Classic figure in a classic defensive pose. Crouching behind
his shield with his ‘Pilum’
firmly anchored by his foot and angled at 45∘ to receive the enemy’s attack.
ROM061 ‘Standing
Roman Legionary Throwing
Pilum’
A brand-new version of an old favourite.
Using his shield to protect his kneeling comrade this Legionary prepares to
throw his Pilum at the approaching enemy.
ROM064 ‘Rome
At War’ (set
of 6)
Three of
each of the previous 2
figures grouped together for added protection in a fighting formation.
This 6 figure set comes in its own
specially-designed box with a full-colour cover.
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
Two little ‘vignette’
sets showing different aspects of life for the ordinary Roman Legionary on
campaign.
ROM062 ‘Roman
Soldiers At Ease’
A pair of Legionaries in a more relaxed pose discussing the
events of the day or perhaps…grumbling about their Centurion or some other
senior officer.
ROM063 ‘Inspection!’
The idea for this pair of figures came from one of my
reference books that featured several great illustrations about the camp life
of ordinary Roman soldiers while on campaign.
Here we see a very irate Centurion ‘making a very firm point’
with his wooden staff on the chest of a luckless Legionary who has obviously
upset him.
AVAILABLE: Early
May
During the Vietnam conflict nearly all Military Police
duties and operations came under the direct control of the 18th Military Police Brigade
headquartered at Vung Tau, southeast of Saigon and situated at the
tip of a small peninsula.
Members of the Brigade deployed to Vung
Tau in September 1966 and soon established major sub groups
at Nha
Trang and Long Binh.
Smaller units were then stationed throughout every tactical
zone ranging from Da Nang
in the north to Soc Trang
in the south.
In all of these and hundreds of other smaller locations MPs
performed a wide and expanding range of missions including handling and
processing prisoners-of-war,
security of vessels and
port facilities as well as vital
installations and
VIP protection.
At the same time, with the rapid expansion of U.S Ground
Forces in South Vietnam, maintenance of discipline and law and order in the
military were very high on the Brigade’s priorities list… both on and around
U.S. bases and also on the streets and highways of South Vietnam.
TOTAL
STRENGTH
Even at the height of American involvement in Vietnam with
over 500,000
U.S. troops deployed ‘in-country’
the Brigade strength was just 6,000
strong.
Our three new releases provide some welcome additions to
this dynamic series…
VN175 U.S.M.P.
‘On-Duty’
This particular Military Policeman is a member
of the 716th Military Police
Battalion who provided security and law enforcement in the Saigon/Cholon/Tan
Son Nhut metropolitan area.
Included in their responsibilities were the U.S. Embassy in the centre of Saigon and the massive Military Assistance Command Vietnam
headquarters next to Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
K&C’s smartly-dressed MP is
wearing his fully-buttoned-up ‘Flak
Jacket’, polished helmet and carrying his M16 rifle and, of course,
his Colt 1911 .45 Automatic
Pistol on his right hip.
This figure works perfectly with our earlier-released M151 “Mutt”
U.S. Military Police
version (VN142).
VN176 South
Vietnamese National Police “The White Mice”
A familiar sight on many South Vietnamese city, town and
occasionally village streets were these members of the National Police.
Clad in white cotton shirts and light grey trousers many of
these policemen joined the police to avoid military conscription while
enriching themselves at the same time with all kinds of corruption and
intimidation.
It was often said by many South Vietnamese that the ‘White Mice’ committed many
more crimes than they actually ever solved!
It’s also an unfortunate truth that these policemen were
seen to be ‘walking targets’
for the Viet Cong. And so, even if you made a lot of money… you might not live long enough to spend
it!
AVAILABLE: Mid
May
One of the great success stories of the Falklands War was the
great contribution made by a miniscule number of light
tracked vehicles operating in a cold, wet, windswept landscape many thousand of miles away from their home base and backup
support.
What I am referring to are the two troops of Scorpion and Scimitar Light Reconnaissance Vehicles
send down to the South Atlantic with the British Task Force to help recapture
the Falklands.
What is astonishing is the fact that the authorities back in
the U.K. decided that only
4 Scimitars, 4
Scorpions and just 1
Samson armoured recovery vehicle
would be enough to achieve their desired result!
However, somehow they did help
achieve a spectacular land victory in just over 23 days.
Belatedly, following on from the successful launch of our
first Falklands range figures in 2022, here is K&C’s tribute to one of that
very small band of armoured reconnaissance ‘bunker busters’…
The FV101 ‘Scorpion’ Light Tank.
TF006
‘Falklands War Scorpion’
The FV101 ‘Scorpion’ is
a British armoured reconnaissance vehicle, sometimes
referred to as a ‘light tank’.
It was designed to meet the British Army’s requirement for a
light Combat Vehicle
that could be air-portable and operate in both extremes of hot and cold weather.
Another requirement was that it be able to move across
difficult terrain that had low ground pressure, similar to
that of a soldier on foot. This would prove extremely fortunate in the wet,
boggy conditions found on the Falkland Islands.
COMBAT
USE
The first regular British Army unit to be equipped with ‘Scorpions’ and its
stablemate, the ‘Scimitar’,
was The Blues and Royals,
the famous household cavalry regiment.
Two troops from ‘B’
Squadron of that same regiment were sent south to the
Falklands. One troop was equipped with just 4 Scorpions while the other received 4 Scimitars.
THE
K&C ‘SCORPION’
Our King & Country ‘Scorpion’ is hand-painted in the two-colour (Olive
drab and black) camouflage typical of most British Army vehicles of
the 1980s.
This great-looking model includes a 3/4 figure tank commander and
a head ‘n’ shoulders tank
driver sitting in the hull.
Together, they definitely add a
powerful punch to any Falklands War Collection.
AVAILABLE: Mid-Late
May
In a scene that must have been replicated many times during
the Normandy Campaign a small group of German infantryman
make their way stealthily through the Norman countryside to take up a new ‘ambush’ position while they
await the next Allied advance…
Six
more 12th SS ‘Hitlerjugerd’ boys in three 2-figure action
sets provide some useful reinforcements for any late war battlefield display or
diorama.
WS382 ‘Advancing
Under Fire’
As bullets fly overhead these two young infantrymen move
forward toward a new position.
WS383 ‘Covering
Fire’
As one more infantryman dashes
forward his comrade kneels down to provide a little fire support.
WS384 ‘Open
Fire’
As only one rifleman opens up on
the enemy these two SS troopers add their combined firepower to help keep the
opposition’s heads down while their comrades move ahead.
SPECIAL UNIFORM NOTE:
These 6 new variations provide alternative combinations of
the ‘mixed-rig’
look of the 12th SS troopers at this time of the war.
A special thankyou to those collectors and dealers who
suggested this idea.
AVAILABLE: Early
May
|
DD285-2 |
US Paratroopers Covering Fire (101st Airborne) |
|
DD286-2 |
US Paratroopers Crouching Tommy Gunner (101st) |
|
DD288-2 |
US Paratroopers Moving Forward ... Cautiously! (101st) |
|
IC042 |
Imperial Match Lock Gun Team B |
|
IF011 |
Il Duce Saluting |
|
LAH226 |
Leni Riefenstahl film-maker Set |
|
LAH229 |
Standing Cameraman & Tripod |
|
LAH256 |
The NSKK Motorcyclist |
|
RTA061 |
Cazadores
Loading Rifle |
|
RTA062 |
Cazadores
Standing Firing |
|
RTA063 |
Cazadores
w/ Ramrod |
|
RTA064 |
Cazadores
Officer w/ Pistol |
|
TRW158 |
Dog Wolf |
Not too many, but some great figures
anyway.
And that, my friends, is the story
so far. Later this month K&C will be in Japan to make some business
contacts, meet some of our collectors and visit an amazing hobby show!
More on that later…
Andy C. Neilson
Co-founder & Creative
Director
King & Country