Introducing the Soviet SMERSH

The Soviet SMERSH was the organization within the Soviet Union responsible for military counterintelligence. Their main objective was to prevent foreign spies from infiltrating the Red Army, although their role also included hunting anti-Soviet elements within the Red Army. As such, their motto was 'Death to Spies'. This responsibility was originally handled by the NKVD, but in April of 1943 the NKVD was reorganized and SMERSH was spun off into an independent organization. They existed as such until May 1946. Some of the duties of SMERSH resemble those of the NKVD, when it comes to clearing the liberated territories from collaborators and Nazi sympathizers and evaluating the loyalty of Soviet Partisans and Soviet Army men who had fallen behind enemy lines. They were also responsible for helping to coordinate the activities of partisans behind enemy lines. To fulfill its mission, SMERSH created a large network of spies and informants, up to 3.5 million by some estimates, many of them within the Red Army. SMERSH also turned many German agents and used them to feed misinformation into German operations. Perhaps the best way to think about SMERSH in contrast to the NKVD is that they were much more focused on foreign spies and the Red Army, whereas the NKVD was policing all of Soviet society, and was also operating the Gulags and POW camps. By all accounts, SMERSH was just as ruthless and quite effective. In terms of toy soldiers, this is another one of those topics that had not been covered until recently, when Hanomak released a set on this subject. Let's take a look.

Hanomak Soviet SMERSH - Liquidation Set

Another niche topic SMERSH was the military intelligence unit of the Soviet Army. In this set they are supposed to be hunting German sympathizers in liberated territories. Given that the three sympathizers are shown in more active fighting poses, I think it would have made sense to have the SMERSH guys display a little more intensity. The officer firing two pistols is OK, but the other two seem too relaxed. I am actually planning to fold the three civilian figures into my unit of partisans, and maybe use the SMERSH guys to enhance the ranks of my Soviet Infantry. I would not have enough of them to create a meaningful unit of SMERSH men. The three civilians are much more interesting. These guys may actually be former Soviet soldiers who aligned themselves with the Germans (notice the uniform under the coat, or the padded jacket and hat, and the German sub machine gun), or they could also be  Germans who ended up behind enemy lines (notice the boots and the field cap). All nicely detailed and sculpted. And nothing to glue with this set.

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Introducing the Japanese Fukuryu Divers

The Japanese Suicide Divers (a.k.a Fukuryu in Japanese or Kamikaze frogmen in western works) were a unit within the Japanese Special Attack Units charged with the defense of the Japanese homeland in the case of an Allied invasion. The term Fukuryu means crouching dragon, which will make more sense as we describe their mode of operation. The idea was to have these men defend the landing beaches, by hiding in waiting for up to 10 hours under water at a depth of about 20 feet. They were aided by 20 lb of lead which would keep them submerged, and they were also supplied with liquid food to keep their energy levels up. They were equipped with a 16-foot bamboo pole, which had a 33 lb mine attached to it. The men were expected to jam the mine against the bottom of passing landing craft, with the understanding that the resulting explosion would kill them. An interesting tactical doctrine was developed. The divers were supposed to be deployed in a stagged formation, 20 meters apart. Additionally, in order to have protection against countermeasures, special concrete bunkers were going to be sunk into the beaches so that 6 to 18 divers could enjoy some protection while waiting. The divers were actually the middle ring of  a 3-layer system of defenses. The outer-most ring was a set of mines release by trip wires as the landing craft passed through. The inner-most ring was a more conventional set of mines closer to the beach. The divers however provided a better aimed alternative. The plan was to outfit and deploy 6000 divers, however by the time of Japan surrendered, only 1200 were ready. It will never be known how effective they would have been. My feeling is after some initial successes, the marines on the landing craft would have simply sprayed the water ahead of them with MG fire or some other countermeasure and they would have neutralized the divers. I also wonder about the visibility under water, perhaps without full daylight to help outline the silhouette the ships above them, and with a potentially fogged up helmet. And then of course, the required courage to carry out the mission when nobody else is watching underwater. Anyhow, this is such a little-known topic that until Plastic Platoon did it, nobody had ever made such a Toy Soldier, and I wonder if it will happen again any time soon. Let's take a look.

Plastic Platoon Japanese Fukuryu Diver

This figure was released at the same time as the Japanese Naval Infantry set. I am not sure if it was meant to be part of the set or it it was just similar timing. I got him separately due to a shipping mix up. He is definitely a 'character' figure. Not the kind of which we will be trying to build a whole unit.  The challenge is also to find the right setting to pose him. The best scene would be to place him under water poking a passing landing craft, or approaching the hull of a ship in a harbor. But that's a tricky scene to setup. Anyhow, the amount of equipment and detail on this diver is really intricate. Lots of hoses and straps, which make him a figure worth studying and taking a look at every now and then just to enjoy the detail. 

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Introducing the US Paramarines

The US Paramarines (a.k.a. Marine Paratroopers) were a unit within the US Marine Corps that existed between 1940 and 1944. The idea, as with other airborne troops, was to use them for raids behind enemy lines. Three battalions were formed, and while they did see combat, none of them was ever used for an airborne operation. Nonetheless, they were still an elite unit, in the sense that it was a volunteer-only force, made up exclusively of single (unmarred) men, which was granted extra pay, and the training was hard enough that only 60% of them completed it. Initially each of the 3 battalions were attached to separate Marine Divisions, and they participated as regular amphibious/ground troops in the campaigns of Guadalcanal and Bougainville in 1942 and 1943 respectively. Eventually they were combined into the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment. Unfortunately, the lack of sufficient air transport made airborne operations within the Marine Corps a challenge and by February of 1944, the unit was disbanded. The remaining Paramarines who were in training were incorporated into the 5th Marine Division which fought at Iwo Jima, and several of the former Paramarines participated in the raising of the flag on top of Mount Suribachi. Four former Paramarines went on to earn a Medal of Honor for their actions at Iwo Jima. The number and role of the Paramarines was so minor that this was a subject that not been covered in the Plastic Toy Soldier hobby. However it was recently addressed by Plastic Platoon. Let's take a look. 

Plastic Platoon US Paramarines

These guys are a nice complement to the first set of Marines. Initially I thought that other than the fact that there's a 7th man with them who clearly is a pilot -maybe he crashed or had to bail out on the same mission that dropped the Paramarines- there wasn't much to indicate that these guys were paratroopers, but then it hit me that they are clearly wearing jump boots. I wonder if after the jump that was still a good type of footwear for tropical islands. Maybe it was better at keeping the sand out, but if it did get in, I would have hated having to undo the shoe laces every so often to empty the sand. Anyhow, great poses as usual -love the guy firing the MG off the hip-, with good variety of weaponry. The machete guy is a nice touch. And in terms of detail, look at the ding on the helmet of the second guy from the left. Looks like he literally dodged a bullet! The pilot is one guy that I probably won't have a lot of use for. I might have preferred another Paramarine, but I won't complain. Another great set by Plastic Platoon.

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