Introducing the British Infantry

Latest edit: Speira British Support Troops at the bottom of the post

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The British infantry of World War II formed a crucial component of the British Army, seeing action in diverse theaters ranging from the beaches of Dunkirk to the sands of North Africa and the jungles of Burma and back to the beaches of Normandy and the plains of Northwest Europe. At the outset of the war in September 1939, the British Army was comparatively small, a professional force with a core of regular infantry divisions and the expanding Territorial Army divisions, numbering around 880,000 men, including reserves. As the war progressed, the number of infantry divisions fluctuated, with new formations raised and others disbanded or converted. The army reached its peak strength in 1945 with approximately 2.9 million personnel. Over the course of the entire war, more than 3.5 million men and women served in the British Army, with the infantry remaining the cornerstone of its fighting strength.

The standard uniform of the British infantryman consisted of a battledress jacket and trousers in khaki serge fabric, ankle boots with gaiters, and a steel helmet. Personal equipment included a webbing belt with ammunition pouches, a water bottle, a mess tin, and a gas mask. Early in the war, the iconic Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk III rifle was the standard infantry weapon, later supplemented and largely replaced by the more modern Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I. The Bren light machine gun provided squad-level firepower, while submachine guns like the Thompson and later the Sten were issued to officers, NCOs, and specialist troops. Support weapons included mortars and anti-tank rifles, which were gradually superseded by more effective anti-tank projectors like the PIAT (Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank).   

Training for the British infantry emphasized marksmanship, fieldcraft, and teamwork. British infantry doctrine stressed fire and movement, relying on well-aimed rifle fire and the mobile firepower of the Bren gun. Leadership at the section and platoon level was crucial, encouraging initiative within the given objectives. The character of the British infantryman was often marked by a stoic resilience, a strong sense of duty, and a dry sense of humor, qualities that sustained them through prolonged periods of hardship and intense combat. They developed a reputation for stubborn defense and a methodical approach to offensive operations, often relying on careful planning and artillery support.

The British Army suffered significant casualties throughout World War II, with infantry units bearing a substantial portion of these losses due to their frontline role. While precise figures for infantry-specific casualties are difficult to isolate, the total number of British infantry personnel killed, wounded, and missing may have reached approximately 350k to 420k by the end of the war. In terms of toy soldiers, this is a country and service branch which has been covered quite generously through the years. Let's take a look. 

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This post is a consolidation of several British Infantry posts I had previously made. It started out as a post about the British troops I painted. Then I added more recent production figures, as well as other less common or 'vintage' figures, which I'd like to be able to paint some day. 

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Matchbox British Infantry - Part I

This is a really nice set. A total of 11 poses and all of them useful action poses and with a good variety of weapons, including some heavier armament like the bazooka and the MG in this picture and the flamethrower in the next. Perhaps my favorite pose in this set is the prone Bren gunner. A nice touch is the officer with the sheepskin coat. These are the British infantry guys that I had growing up, so that maybe that's also why I like them.

Matchbox British Infantry - Part II

The standing Bren gunner is also pretty cool and the flamethrower is a rare heavy weapon among British infantry figures. The crawling guy apparently came in two slight variations, with and without a fixed bayonet, but I never really noticed the difference. Rounding up the set are the charging man and the firing rifleman who are also good solid poses. 

Airfix British Infantry

One of my favorite sets due to the level of action that they convey. Except for the guy who is standing firing, these poses are very dynamic. Take the men firing the Bren gun and the Sten gun from the waist, or the officer really leaning in while firing his side arm, probably trying to dodge some bullets flying at him. The grenade thrower is also quite good. I also like that the mortar man does not need a second guy to operate it, as that allowed the sculptor to give us an additional pose. All in all, a very nice set which is why it remains one of the classic ones for British infantry.

Airfix British Infantry Support Group - Part I

Airfix gave us 10 poses of heavy weapons guys to complement the first set of regular infantry. They are good, but I find the sculpting a bit thicker and less dynamic compared to their earlier peers. In this first picture we see an officer, and observer, a bazooka man, and a Vickers machine gunner. One thing I like about a few of the poses in this set is that you can combine them in many ways. For instance, the observer or the officer could be place next to any of the other guys operating a heavy weapon. Speaking of weapons, the set also comes with all sorts of accessories, including mortars, the Vickers guns, shovels, pick axes, jerry cans, etc. 

Airfix British Infantry Support Group - Part II

Here are the other 6 guys. The radio man on the left looks very similar to the one that comes with the paratroopers, but if you pay close attention there are a few subtle differences in the radio, the antenna, and the beret for example. The right-most guy could be used next to a mortar or as a ammo loader for a field gun. The prone guy is supposed to be feeding ammo to the Vickers MG above. The second guy from the left is truly a support group guy, who can place his hand on the shoulder of one of his mates. The last two poses are a bit underwhelming. A guy carrying an ammo case with PIAT shells (but there's no PIAT man!), and a guy standing around just watching the action. A missed opportunity in my opinion as one of those could easily have been made into a PIAT man. 

Atlantic British Infantry - Part I

Atlantic gets points for their range of figures, but frankly, these are not the best sculpted figures around. They are all standing too upright and their arms and legs are in odd positions. Most Atlantic sets have 10 figures, but we got 11 poses in this set. These first 4 are some of the basic ones in any squad.  

Atlantic British Infantry - Part II

I have very mixed feelings about these guys. The man carrying his mate is a very good pose. Similar to a Marx 'Battleground' GI. But the other two really miss the mark. The one on the right seems to be picking an apple from a tree, when in reality he is supposed to be throwing a grenade - if you can believe that. The one on the left seems to be waving at his friends... not a battlefield pose. BTW, about the man carrying the wounded guy, if you count these two as a single pose, then this set has the usual 10 poses as other Atlantic sets.

Atlantic British Infantry - Part III

Again, a mixed lot. The commander is actually pretty good. Maybe the best pose in the set. The other two prone guys miss the mark. The one on the left seems to be doing push ups, and the other one comes with a detached Bren gun which you would actually expect him to be holding with both hands.

BMC British Infantry - Part I

These guys look more like  British 8th Army Infantry, but I think that they can pass as regular British infantry. The set contains 8 poses. Their sculpting is not the best, although this set may be slightly better than that of the other BMC sets. The kneeling man is probably the best guy from the set. The guy next to him with the Bren gun could have been better but there's something very odd about how far forward the the butt stock sits relative to his right arm.

BMC British Infantry - Part II

These other 6 poses are a notch below the first 2. The prone man could be OK if they had just given him a rifle that is the right size. The running guy on the right is also carrying an undersized gun. The other 2 running poses have properly sized weapons, although the shovel that one of them is carrying looks more like a big spoon and the guy with the pick axe, why does he have such a skinny right leg? Then we have the guy in the middle who is standing with his arms wide open as if he is trying to herd cats, or calm someone down. Not the most useful battle pose. The bag piper is probably the best pose out of these 6, but I would rather have combat poses.

Marx British Infantry

A classic set, although on the smaller side with only 6 poses. These guys are a bit slim and stylized for my taste. What do I mean by stylized? For instance, take a look at the grenade thrower. He looks more as if he were posing for a picture (please ignore the fact that he actually is!). But the firing rifleman, the radio man for instance are really solid guys. Another small thing to criticize is that they are also fairly light on equipment. But otherwise a decent set of action poses.

Steve Weston British Infantry

This is this firm's first WWII set. Overall a decently sculpted set with useful poses for combat scenes. I like how the figures are standing with their weight shifted off-center as the poses look more realistic that way. They also come with a good amount of equipment on them, which shows that they pay attention to detail. Note that some of the men are wearing the Brodie style helmet while others are wearing the Turtle helmet (first used in combat on D-Day). The main thing to criticize is how wide the turtle helmets are. They remind me of the helmets worn by some of the Empire troops in Star Wars. Another slight criticism is that two of the poses -the guys walking with the subMG held at the waist- are very similar. With only 6 poses in the set, they could have easily come up with some other useful pose.

Britains Herald British Infantry - Part I

Based on the weapons they are carrying these guys seem to be post-WWII figures, but their poses are nice enough that I couldn't resist drafting them into my WWII Army. The poses are nicely detailed and with lots of fluid movement as you can see in the grenade thrower and the charging man for example.

Britains Herald British Infantry - Part II

The officer and the charging man are also very dynamic and the casualty guy is quite dramatic. I am not a big fan of casualty figures, but this one is well done and given the number of poses in the set, I suppose they could afford to dedicate one to this subject. The radio man and the man firing while kneeling are also pretty solid. 

Britains Herald British Infantry - Part III

Here are a couple more poses that I got later. A mine sweeper and a marching guy. The marching guy looks slightly different so I am not sure if it was part of the same set. Britain's Herald figures were produced from the 1950's to the 1980's, some of the later ones made in Hong Kong. You can tell some of the newer ones from the base which is not part of the figure but attached to it. 

Britains Herald British Infantry - Part IV

This guy is more like a 50mm figure than 1/32. From what I understand he was designed and manufactured as a test product -and just this single pose- when Britains was evaluating getting into the plastic market. In case of a failed experiment, they were going to be sold to the tourist market, hence the ceremonial stance. 

Britains Deetail British Infantry

These are vintage figures from the 70's and 80's. A nice set all around. All small arms are represented. It's nice how they all have bits of cammo attached to their helmets.

First Gear British Infantry

These are recasts of the original Britains Deetail figures produced in the last few years. I find the color scheme better than the original, but I don't like how they paint the eyes that much. Note also that the bases have rounded corners, not that it makes a big difference.

Britains Deetail British Mortar Set

A really nice heavy mortar team. The mortar can actually fire shells enabled by a spring mechanism inside the tube. There is a small lever in the back of the mortar which can be pulled and released to eject the shells. A pretty fun set.

Britains Deetail British Assault Boat

An officer and a Bren gunner on a raft. A tricky set to find a realistic setting for, but like the saying goes, 'that's a good problem to have' when it comes to the coolness factor of this set.

Britains Deetail British Land Rover

This is a nice little set from Britains Deetail. The Rover comes with a driver and a Bren gunner in the back. I would have rather had it in a tan color scheme to use it for some long range patrols in the desert, but hey, we can still send this guy to scout the French countryside.

Britains Deetail British Land Rover - other side

From this angle you can see the Bren gunner better. Notice how his knee is resting on a little ledge behind the cabin so that he can lean forward and rest the gun on the top of the vehicle while he fires away. I find that a nice touch of realism. 

Crescent British Infantry

Based on the weapons, these guys seem to be modern British Infantry. They are a bit on the smaller side of the scale, but I think that once they are painted they will fight just fin. I particularly like the two guys on the right. Their forward lean makes them good action poses.

Crescent 60mm British Infantry - Part I

Crescent also produced 60mm British Infantry figures. Naturally they look a bit large next to the rest of the guys, but if you spread them out, they could just be a big guy among the rest of the normal size crowd.

Crescent 60 mm British Infantry - Part II

The officer. A nice action pose. Running into the heat of battle.

Britains Swoppets British Infantry

I only have a handful of these guys, but this sample is quite nice. The mortar team is very well put together. Unfortunately the man dropping the shell into the tube is missing the shell, but if you assume that he just dropped it, then it works just fine. The stretcher guys unfortunately are also missing the stretcher, so I had to place the wounded man on the ground. I guess that's the downside of the swoppet approach. Those detachable pieces go missing. Note that the wounded guy comes with a blanket, which gives it an additional nice touch.

Britains Swoppets British Infantry - Part II

A couple more guys. The marching guy is nothing out of the ordinary. The other guy is showing quite a bit more action. Definitely more into the heat of the moment. 

Britains Swoppets British Infantry - Part III

This guy came to me already in a pretty beaten up shape. Looks like the previous owner wanted some casualties in his army and even painted some blood stains on this poor fellow. I wish they had kept him in his original shape...

Britains Swoppets British Infantry - Part IV

This guy seems to have the same lower body as the previous guy. although he seems to have lost his base, but that's OK. He does not really need it. The upper body is very much to my liking and his weapon is in great shape. I think he is one of my favorite swoppet figures across all swoppet manufacturers. 

Timpo Swoppets British Infantry - Part I

Here are a couple of the figures in the regular British infantry set. They seem more dynamic and better posed than their German or US counterparts. I particularly like the man charging with the bayonet. The officer is also nicely done, including his revolver. Hopefully I can get my hands on the rest of the set at some point. 

Timpo Swoppets British Infantry - Part II

Here is another guy from the Timpo Swoppets set. The top combines nicely with the legs giving it a very dynamic stance. He is holding a revolver on one hand and a grenade on the other. Note also that the base if a different color than the two in the previous picture.

Timpo Swoppets British Infantry with raft

Here is a rather nice and interesting set from Timpo. It is a set of British Infantry advancing on a raft. Sometimes such rafts feel quite a bit underscale, but in this case, both the figures and the raft are well proportioned. Two of the poses seem to be repeated, and I don't know if that was the case with the original set, but I am still quite happy having found it in this good condition.

Hilco British (or US?) Infantry - Part I

These are only three poses from the set. I've seen another 4 or 5 guys. I am not sure how many there are in all. The figures are a bit on the slim side, and the sculpting is OK, but not extraordinary. Even so, they seem to be a bit hard to get. And for some reason, that piece behind them with the tree stumps seems to be something special as I saw it go for 20+ dollars on eBay. Also, The shape of the helmets makes me doubt whether they are really British Infantry.

Hilco British (or US?) Infantry - Part II

Here are a few more Hilco guys that I recently found. As you can see they are mostly recasts of Britains Herald (grenade thrower, officer), Timpo (minesweeper, radio man), and Crescent (flamethrower) figures. The one sure thing that confirms that they are Hilco figures is that the base is stamped as such. About the country that they represent, I am now wondering if they actually come from two different sets: American and British.

Hilco British (or US?) Infantry - Part III

Another guys based on the Timpo figures. Note how the plastic that this guy is made of also shows those unusual color variations. 

Hilco British Infantry - Part IV

And here is one more guy. This one also seems to be a copy of the Herald British Infantry. The plastic and original paint scheme are different from the figures in the previous pictures, so there must have been several releases of these figures. 

Hilco British Infantry - Part V

And they keep coming in one at a time. From a large lot of mixed figures... Although similar to the Timpo guy, I know it is Hilco due to the stamp on the bottom of the base, and also due to the strange and unique plastic that many of them are cast in. The other sign that this is a Hilco guy is the fact that the base is split into two sections, just as it is for the kneeling radio man. A good heavy weapon to add to the team.

UNA British Infantry

This is a figure from new company that I just discovered. I purchased a lot of mixed soldiers and this one came with it. At first glance it looks like a Lone Star kind of guy, but the bottom part of the base is marked 'UNA' and a few google searches revealed that is an actual toy soldier company. His uniform and Vickers MG lead me to believe that he is a British guy, but I have not confirmed it or found any other UNA Tommies yet. Based on the helmet he might also be a GI as UNA did make a GI set.

Brenbros British Infantry

These are reproductions of the Herald British Infantry. Not much special about them, since they don't even come factory painted as the Herald guys did. 

Blue Box Elite Command British Infantry

This is a set of 4 metal figures representing General Bernard Montgomery and some of his infantrymen. Compared to other metal figures, like King and Country and so on, they are not as nice. In fact, I bought them thinking that they were plastic figures as that is the focus of my collection. As far as the resemblance with Monty, I think it requires a bit of imagination to get there. 

Cherilea Modern British Infantry

I really like the level of action and intensity depicted by these guys. And by that, I don't just mean that they have for instance, a guy who is charging, because some other manufacturers also have such a pose, but still, the movements of those other figures are sometimes not as fluid. They really captured well all the subtle angles of the joints and leaning of the body to give them a very genuine look. There is at least one more guy in the set, as I've seen a picture with 4 poses (a grenade thrower is missing).

Plastic Platoon British Infantry

This set is meant to represent the British defenders of Crete who fought against the German Paras. Again, characteristically well made by Plastic Platoon, with lots of action and intensity. You can tell that these guys were involved in close quarters fighting. Worth highlighting is who I think might the Sarge, holding a pistol on one hand, and brass knuckles on the other. A feisty bunch to come up against, although as we know, they were eventually subdued, although at no small cost, which is one of the reasons why German Fallschirmjaeger were no longer used in drops after that. 

Expeditionary Force British Assault Section - Pacific War

This is the first of what will be 5 sets of British Infantry for the Pacific War. They are mostly wearing MKIII helmets, aka 'turtle helmets' -although one of them is also wearing a beret- and are equipped with a variety of weapons, including their beloved Bren gun, a Sten gun and a couple of Thompson submachineguns. All the figures also come with a standard backpack. Being an assault section, they are all on the move or firing, and as an acknowledgement to the tropical weather, they have all rolled up their sleeves. In fact I am a bit surprised that none of them are wearing short pants, but maybe it was better this way to fend of the mosquitos. 

Expeditionary Force British Defense Section - Pacific War

These guys represent a defense section, and therefore, their poses are better suited for a static position, with a nice mix of kneeling and standing men. You even get a grenade thrower. They are equipped with MkII 'Brodie' Helmets with netting added to them, which smooths their shape a bit. As with the previous set, you also get a man with a beret, and another one with an officer cap. The standout figure of the lot is the kneeling Bren gunner firing behind the tree stump. One thing to be aware of with this set is that they all come with backpacks as well, except for the officer. This means however that you want to make sure that you glue the officer's head on the body without the hole in the back. Just in case you were contemplating gluing the officer's head on a different pose. I suppose you could always fill the hole in the back with putty if you really wanted to mix and match the heads and bodies.

Expeditionary Force British Machine Gun Section - Pacific War

This is the third set of British Infantry for the Pacific Theater of Operations. They are wearing the Bridie style helmet, but as opposed to the Defense Section, they are doing so without the netting, which gives these helmets a flatter appearance. The set consists to 2 MG teams firing a water cooled Vickers heavy Machine Gun. Each team consists of a gunner, an ammo loader and a third man directing fire. Additionally, there are three support troops. As is the case with all Expeditionary Force sets, you can swap bodies and arms, so if you wanted to, every man on the MG teams could be kneeling, and all the support troops can be made to stand. I chose to mix it up a bit.

Expeditionary Force British HQ Section - Pacific War - Part I

These British HQ guys came with berets as headgear. I am thinking that this allows them to be painted as commandos or even Paras. In terms of their weaponry, this set also came with a heavy MG, which I assume was meant as an alternative for the PIAT pose, but I decided to give it to one of the standing guys. This means that I will need to find some wall or something else to lean him against, but I really like how it turned out. Note also that I have him a head without any cover and I glued a helmet at his base. He must have lost it in the heat of the moment!

Expeditionary Force British HQ Section - Pacific War - Part II

The rest of the HQ section, with the 3 standard poses (mortar, radio, and piat) and a couple of supporting guys. Note that here I have turned one of the kneeling guys into the NCO which is directing the movement of the guys behind him. In the case of the Australians, I glued those arms to a standing figure. 

Expeditionary Force British Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part I

The British mortar crews come with two options for headgear. You can give them turtle helmets as I did for this first crew, or berets as you will see below - and with the NCO coordinating fire in this picture. Again, I have tried to mix up the loaders and ammo handlers so that there's some variety on who is standing vs crouching and which side of the mortar they are standing on. 

Expeditionary Force British Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part II

Here I have made the loader kneel, and instead of dropping the shell into the mortar he is performing some adjustments before firing the shell. This crew also got the officer to direct the operation. 

Expeditionary Force British Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part III

This last crew got issued berets, which means that I could use them as a crew for Paras, who don't have a lot of heavy weapons options. I also assigned them the radio man, who happens to be a bit distracted and reaching for his rifle, perhaps because he saw something threatening on his flank?

Expeditionary Force Scottish Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part I

This set is a bit different because while they are part of the Pacific series, the fact that they are Scottish troops opens up the possibility of using them as B8A guys in North Africa or the ETO. Which is a good option given the few heavy weapons available from other vendors for that service branch. 

Expeditionary Force Scottish Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part II

It is quite nice how just the bonnet makes these guys look significantly different from the other mortar crews in the series. BTW, one small mistake I made was to place the container for the PIAT's rounds next to the mortar, thinking that it was meant to contain mortar shells. 

Expeditionary Force Scottish Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part III

In this set I decided to give turn the NCO into more of a fighting figure. Not only did he get a Sten gun which he is using to cover his men, but he also got a highlander's cap instead of the bonnet, which by the way, includes some pretty cool ribbons hanging from the back. Just a little extra touch to make him stand out.

Mars British Commonwealth Troops

This release from Mars portrays British Commonwealth Troops, which I guess means that you could use them as any number of nationalities. I know many collectors would like to use them as Canadian. What's nice about them is that a couple of them are wearing a leather vest, which I gather is called a jerkin. Another nice touch is that among their poses they have a prone piat firing team. As far as I recall, only 21C had made a prone piat firing paratrooper, but it did not have a loader. The set is pretty good overall, with almost all figures in good action, fighting poses. My only disappointment is the figure on the left, which I find very poorly sculpted. Like several other Mars figures, his arms are tucked next to his body as if he were trying to hold something with his arm pits. He actually looks worse when you look at him directly from the front. I really wish by now Mars had figured out how to properly sculpt arms in more natural positions.

Speira Miniatures British Support Troops - Part I

A good set to have to enhance the Airfix British Support Troops, or to use instead of them if you don't like to mix scales, as I got these in Big 1/32. I particularly like the flamethrower guy with its round fuel tank. I don't know if I have seen this pose before among British troops. An interesting detail about the MG figures is that one you add the base to the ammo handler, his hands no longer line up with the ammo belt (not visible in the picture). And if you place the ammo box on top of the base, then the ammo belt no longer lines up with the MG. I suppose one way to fix this is to add a base to the MG figure. 

Speira Miniatures British Support Troops - Part II

The rest of the set includes a mortar team with a spotter as well as a prone sniper. In terms of the detail, I like that some of the helmets have webbing and some don't, but I still feel that the uniforms are very 'clean'. They have a few folds, but they still appear too smooth for my taste. One more thing to note about 3D printed figures is that sometimes they design the weapons to be a bit thicker to account for the brittleness of the resin used for printing. You can see that here with the mortar. That would be a heavy one to carry! These figures were also designed by Kozak Miniatures.

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

Click here to take a look at WWII Vehicles by Country

Click here to see more British Commonwealth Troops

Click here to see the British Infantry in action against the Waffen SS.

Click here to see a post about a special British guy