Introducing the Indian Infantry

Latest Edit: Added Expeditionary Force Sets

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India, a British colony during WWII contributed a substantial amount of manpower to the Allied cause. Between 2 and 2.5 million men volunteered to serve. They fought in places like North Africa, Burma, and up the Italian boot. I actually started looking into Indian troops after I read a book on Monte Cassino, where they also fought. A less known part of history is that Indian troops also fought on the Axis side. Both Japan and Germany formed several divisions mainly from prisoners of war whose motivation was to seek independence from the British. The guys in these pictures represent the men who fought on the Allied side. Indian troops are sometimes also referred as Sikh Infantry because of many of the men's religion. However, not all of them were Sikhs, many were Muslim. Apparently, the way to tell them apart is by the head dress. The Muslim head dress has two parts. The Khulla is a conical cover for the head, which is then wrapped many times with a Pagri. The Sikh troops on the other hand wear a turban that does not have the conical Khulla in the middle.

Atlantic Indian Brigade - Part 1

These are really the only WWII Indian troops that I have come across. They are nicely done, however their uniform seems better suited for the jungles of Burma or the North African desert, than for the cold and damp mountainous terrain of Italy at the time of the Monte Cassino campaign which is what I originally wanted them for. But I guess they will have to do. Note that these figures have been manufactured in several different shades of brown. But don't worry, each set only includes figures in one color. The machine gun in this set is a nice touch that provides the unit with a good dose of fire power.

Atlantic Indian Brigade - Part 2

The most interesting part about these figures is that three of them offer the possibility of inserting swords and large knives into their hands. Depending on what weapon you use and whether it points forward or backwards, the figure can be stabbing with a knife or striking a blow with his sword. You can also give them other types of accessories (if you have spare weapons from other manufacturers), for instance, the guy in the middle can also be carrying a bazooka across his back and holding the handle in his hand.

Charbens Punjabs - Part I

These guys are supposed to be from around the turn of last century (1900), but given the scarcity of manufacturers tackling these figures I have decided to recruit them into this unit. The main thing is that they are wearing a similar head dress -albeit Sikh- and the rifles and swords don't look that different from what the Atlantic guys are carrying.

Charbens Punjabs - Part II

Here is the original, vintage officer. Still in decent shape, with most of the original colors on him. And he is a bit larger than the clones pictured above, which is no surprise, as there's often shrinkage when the figures are cloned. 

Cherilea 60mm Sikh Infantry

Here are a few other guys that I recently found. Being 60mm, they are indeed on the larger side, but I think they will still blend in once they are painted. The poses are well sculpted and dynamic, plus they provide the only prone guy that I have come across. Too bad I could not get a hold of the whole set (usually 6 from Cherilea).

Cherilea 60mm Sikh Infantry - Part II

Here is another guy from the same set. I got it after the initial post. Unfortunately the tip of the gun is missing, but overall it is a nice pose. Will need to give it a good scrub before painting it.

Cherilea 60mm Sikh Infantry - Part III

Here is another guy from the set. I've had to get the missing figures individually.

Cherilea 54mm Sikh Infantry?

This guy came with the other 3 above, but I suspect he is from a different set as he is a bit smaller, plus the shape of the base is slightly different, not to mention the slightly different material. I have to say however that I don't know for sure if Cherilea also released a set in 54 mm, so maybe they are from an entirely different manufacturer. If you know, let me know!

Crescent Sikh Infantry - Part I

These are some guys that I have been trying to get for a while. They are 54mm figures. I believe the set contained 6 of them, but I have only been able to find 3. They are also pre-WWII figures, but as you can see, they should blend in.

Crescent Sikh Infantry - Part II

One more from the set. I actually had to get a batch of 20+ mixed figures just to get this one extra pose. I find the figure a bit puzzling. On the one hand he appears to be leading a charge, but in that case, you would expect his expression to be more lively. Perhaps he jut got hit? But then he would be losing his balance, wouldn't he?

Crescent Sikh Infantry - Part III

And one more, with a good deal of original paint left on him.

Crescent Sikh Infantry - Part IV

This is the last one. An action pose, rallying his comrades to move forward. This guy's paint has been touched up by the previous owner, which actually makes his beard look pretty good.

Armies in Plastic WWI Indian Army - Part I

I had been looking for Indian troops for a Monte Cassino scenario and was pleased to run into these guys which were recently released. The poses are nicer than some of the previous AIP figures. Less bulky and with some good movement in them. The level of detail is good and the turbans and beards make them unequivocally Indian. The uniforms and weaponry are close enough to make them pass for WWII figures. 

Armies in Plastic WWI Indian Army - Part II

The first picture shows some of the more active poses. This other five guys are in a more static or defensive stance. Both are needed to depict a good battle scene. All in all, a nice and useful set from AIP. Will paint up well next to the Atlantic, Cherilea, Charbens and Crescent guys. 

Expeditionary Force Indian Assault Section - Pacific War

This is a very welcome set, as there haven't been any recent WW2 Indian Army sets. Considering that they are assembled using the same bodies as the Expeditionary Force British Infantry figures, I had some concerns about the ability to make them look like their own set just by giving them a different head, but once they are assembled, they look just fine. I only have two bits of criticism. The first one is that you only get two different types of heads, and they are very similar to each other. The only difference is that one of them has the mouth slightly open. The end result is that all your men look like clones of each other. The second observation is that the body build of these guys is a bit robust and Indian men tend to be slimmer. But I am totally happy with this trade off. Much better to have these strong Indian guys than none at all. Lastly, you do have to get a bit creative to pose them in ways that are slightly different from the other Expeditionary Force Commonwealth sets, although that's probably not a big deal anyhow unless you plan to deploy them on a scene side by side. 

Expeditionary Force Indian Defense Section - Pacific War

And here we have the Indian Defense section. In this case the man behind the stump is firing a Bren gun, which sets him nicely apart from the other two Defense Section sets. Other than this difference and the head gear, the rest of the men are equipped very similarly as the British and Australian sets. A couple of sub machine guns, although one of them is a Sten gun, and the rest are regular riflemen, and one officer. And there's also the grenade thrower. You can play with the positioning of the heads, and arms to provide a bit of variation. 

Expeditionary Force Indian Machine Gun Section - Pacific War

The third MG set is for the Indian Army. Again, a nice degree of differentiation is achieved simply through the headgear. One thing that you do have to pay attention to when gluing the MG teams together is that the cooling box may easily end up being pulled upwards when you glue it to the side of the Vickers gun. You need to hold it down so that the base does not end up lifted up in the air. And you also want to make sure that when you set the arms of the loader, the back leg of the MG's tripod is resting on the base of the gunner. Else, the ammo belt will not line up properly with the slot where it is supposed to fit in. Lastly, the bodies of the ammo loader and the gunner looks similar, but they are actually different so make sure you glue the correct set of arms to each, or else the bases will get in the way of each other and the ammo belt will not reach the MG. Yes, I had to redo my first set because I did not pay attention to these small details the first time. 

Expeditionary Force Indian HQ Section - Pacific War - Part I

In the case of the Indian HQ section, I also gave them a kneeling sniper and a kneeling man with the sub mg at the ready at the waist. The other 3 poses are the standard ones, but if you pay attention you may notice that for some reason the sun decided to highlight the radio man. It only happened in this picture. Maybe he has some critical message to relay in his upcoming battles? 

Expeditionary Force Indian HQ Section - Pacific War - Part II

The rest of the HQ section is ready to move forward and complete its mission. The officer and the NCO are issue instructions and the other two guys are ready to neutralize anything that moves. What's nice about these Expeditionary Force figures is that the headgear really makes them look different from the other sets.  

Expeditionary Force Indian Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part I

These guys are setup the way they were originally meant to be assembled, with the standing guy dropping the shell, and the kneeling one handing over the next one. In this case, the targets are being relayed to them by radio.

Expeditionary Force Indian Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part II

This one is a slight variation on the previous one, with the standing guy reaching out with his left hand to perform some adjustment on the mortar before dropping the shell. And they also got the NCO to direct their fire.

Expeditionary Force Indian Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part III

I had to get a bit more creative with this last crew. I made the man on the left stand ready drop the shell with two hands, and in this case the kneeling man is performing some adjustments, while holding another shell on his right hand. The officer is in charge here.

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

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Click here to see more British Commonwealth Troops

Click here to see a description of the Gurkhas, who fought next to the Indian troops at Monte Cassino.

Introducing the ANZAC Infantry

Latest Edit: Added Expeditionary Force Sets

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The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps fought in many theaters during the War, starting in the Greek mainland, then the defense of Crete, and moving on to North Africa from where they helped expel the Axis forces after their victory at El Alamein. From there they fought multiple campaigns in the Pacific, much of it around New Guinea. The New Zealanders also fought in Italy, and took part in the bloody battles around Monte Cassino. In terms of ANZAC figures, there aren't that many manufacturers that have tackled these them. The only ones that I am aware of are Airfix and Lone Star. Take a closer look below.

Airfix Australian Infantry - Part 1

As usual, a well sculpted set with dynamic poses from Airfix. These guys are wearing the tropical uniform so they would most likely be limited to the Pacific theater. Even though they are supposed to be Australians, I was hoping that they might pass for New Zealanders although I recently learned that might be a bit of a stretch, particularly if you are from either nation ;-) Seriously, according to Peter Darman's Uniforms of World War II, the Kiwi hat was smaller, the crown was pointed, and indented on four sides. Plus the brim was never officially folded up. It also had a cap badge worn in front and a puggaree with the regimental colors was worn around the base of the hat. On formal occasions, Australians wore their slouch with the brim folded up and fastened with a metal badge.

Airfix Australian Infantry - Part 2

I really like the crouching Bren gunner, as well as the grenade throwing guy in the middle. The marching guy is nicely done, but if you've read some of my other posts you might know that I have a bias for action poses.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part 1

The sculpting on these figures is a bit coarse, but it's nice that they provide a bit more variety and poses. Luckily they are also wearing a tropical uniform. I am sure that once they are painted they will blend in acceptably with the Airfix guys. This set includes an officer with a cap, which looks a bit more official than the Airfix commander.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part 2

This other set contains a bazooka guy, which is a welcome heavy weapon addition, as well as a radio man, which is also not present in the Airfix set. These Lone Star guys are sold in a blister pack which is branded as both Lone Star and Timpo, so if you look for them you might find them under either brand, however my understanding is that they were originally released by Lone Star.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part 1

I got lucky and found some original figures in a large batch that I bought. I only got 5 of the poses, but I think they give a good idea of how the set used to look. Several of the guys still retain their original paint. It looks like the commander got a bit of a 'touch up'. Also, note how they were issued in tan uniforms. Compared to the green, new production figures, I think I like the originals better, even with some of the paint missing.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part 2

Here is one more pose in the original color scheme. Again, much better than the recasts.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part 3

Two more down. Unfortunately, with the weapon tips broken off. 

Trojan ANZAC Infantry - Part 1

These guys are hard to come by. A nice figure which adds variety to the ANZAC troops of which there are not that many options. I think I will have to touch up the paint, but once that's taken care of, he will be a fine looking trooper.

Trojan ANZAC Infantry - Part 2

Another lucky find. I seem to be getting them a drop at a time. I just wished it had been an action pose, instead of a wounded guy, but well, it is still good to gradually assemble the set, and this guy is in better condition than his mate.

Trojan ANZAC Infantry - Part 3

Here are three more guys that I was able to get a hold of. They came in a mixed bag of figures, so initially I did not realize that I had bought something special. I like these mostly because of their collectible value. The sculpting is OK, but you can tell that the manufacturing techniques of the time imposed certain constraints, like the man on the right holding his knife against his body. Not a very likely pose in reality. But still happy to have found them and enhanced the collection!

In terms of ANZAC troops dressed up for North Africa, I think that British 8th Army troops would fit better than these guys. And for Italy, I would probably use regular British Infantry. However if you want to be unambiguous about the origin of these troops, then going with these guys with their distinctive ANZAC head gear will let everyone know without a doubt who they are!

Expeditionary Force Australian Assault Section - Pacific War

It's nice to see a new set of Australian figures being released. It's been decades since we've had a new set of Australian troops. At first I was a bit skeptical about the extent that different headgear could make them feel really like their own set, and I must say that they do pass the test. In addition to the hats, the set also comes with a couple of machete knives and an ammo bandolier for one of the shooting figures that also make them look more authentic. And I am sure that once they are painted, it will be even better. In terms of the poses, you do have to try to make them a bit different by gluing the arms at slightly different angles, and making the heads face different directions. All in all, very exciting to see a new set of ANZAC troops arrive on the jungle scene!

Expeditionary Force Australian Defense Section - Pacific War

These guys would go well providing support to the MG team, as they all come in poses suitable to be firing behind cover. One of the most interesting figures in this set is the man firing the Lewis machine gun on top of the tree stump. Two other men are firing sub machine guns and the rest, aside from the officer, are riflemen. One of them throwing a grenade. I do have to say that the Expeditionary Force grenade throwers are some of the least exciting. Perhaps it is because they are assembled on top of a base body that is also used for firing/advancing poses, but they lack sufficient momentum in their body movement. But I don't think the body is the limiting factor. I think that by stretching the arms a bit, some of this could be addressed. 

Expeditionary Force Australian Machine Gun Section - Pacific War

In this other MG set, I chose to have all the men in the MG teams kneeling, and the three support troops standing. Note also that you can glue the ammo box to the base of the ammo handles in a slightly different way, with the lid opening forwards or backwards. This gives them just enough variation to avoid making them feel like clones. Note also that the weapons on two of the three support men are different in each of the sets (Australian, Indian, and British). The third guy is either holding a set of binoculars, or pointing, depending on which arms you use for the machine gun team lead.

Expeditionary Force Australian HQ Section - Pacific War - Part I

The HQ sections are probably my favorite ones. I really like the mix of poses and weaponry. All of them come with a radio man, a piat anti-tank gun, and a light mortar. From there, there the other 6 poses are pretty versatile, as you can attach a variety of upper arms and weapons to the base bodies of which you get a good mix of standing and kneeling poses. Note also that the radio man comes with a listening headset or you can also attach a head with regular headgear. 

Expeditionary Force Australian HQ Section - Pacific War - Part II

These are the rest of the set. Sometimes I like to attach the heads at a bit of an angle to show that need to communicate with the rest of the unit, and also to show that the men need to be watchful of what's happening all around them. Note also that the headgear for these Aussie troops comes in a couple of variations, with the folded brim (slouch hat) or without it. BTW, the way that these guys turned out, I feel that they could very well be the assault section.

Expeditionary Force Australian Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part I

The mortar set is composed of 9 figures. It comes with 3 mortars, 3 loaders and 3 ammo handlers. The other 3 figures can be either officers/NCOs coordinating the firing, or some other free standing figure as you will see throughout the rest of these pictures. The set comes with 3 kneeling figures for the ammo handlers and 3 standing figures for the loaders, but I tried to mix it up a bit so that not all the crews would look the same. For example, here the loader is kneeling and the ammo handler is standing. 

Expeditionary Force Australian Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part II

Here the loader is standing and the ammo handler is kneeling. These guys also got the officer to coordinate the action. You can tell that he is the officer because he has a side arm and he's also not wearing a backpack as the NCO in the previous picture. 

Expeditionary Force Australian Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part III

This third crew got a radio man as the free standing figure. I also switched it up a bit by having the loader hold the shell at the waist, and use his other arm to adjust the mortar. This also allows him to stand on the right side of the mortar. 

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 a description of the Gurkhas, who fought next to the New Zealanders at Monte Cassino.

Introducing the Canadian Infantry

The Canadian army leading up to WW2 was very small and ill equipped. The standing army numbered only a little over four thousand men, and the reserves just over fifty thousand. As the War broke out in Europe, Canada intended to supply one division to help in the ETO and one division to defend the homeland. As the war evolved, so did Canada's commitment. Out of a population of a little over 11 million, close to 10% of the population ended up serving across all branches of the military. Canada's ground troops initially took on small roles. During the battle of France one brigade was attached to the BEF, and another battalion was sent to help, however the collapse of France happened so rapidly that it arrived too late and it was also withdrawn. Canada also sent a couple of battalions to help defend Hong Kong 1941. Most of these men were captured, with as many dying in captivity as had died during the battle. The Canadian army also supplied 5,000 men for the disastrous Dieppe raid in 1942. They went in along with 1,000 British commandos, suffering 60% losses. Their next contribution, of increasing significance, came when they helped with the invasion of Sicily in the summer of 1943 and the subsequent campaign up the Italian boot. This cost them an additional 25k casualties. The next major engagement happened when fifty thousand Canadians participated in D-Day, landing at Juno beach. The Canadian troops made the greatest gains that day despite the Juno area being only second to Omaha Beach in German defenses. These troops continued to fight in the Normandy campaign, eventually helping to encircle and destroy the German army in the Falaise pocket. In the fall of 1944, Canadian troops helped liberate the heavily fortified Sheldt estuary, which was key in order for the allies to be able to ship goods through the port of Antwerp. There is a recent movie from 2020 called 'The Forgotten Battle' that shows the challenging circumstances of the Canadian attack. Canadian troops then helped liberate the rest of the Netherlands during the winter of 1944/45, which was badly needed as the Dutch were starving at the time. Throughout the course of the war, 730,000 Canadians served as ground troops, with 42,000 of them paying the ultimate price. In terms of toy soldiers, there have not been any manufacturers that have released sets explicitly meant to represent Canadian troops. Most recently Mars released a set representing Commonwealth troops, which many of us would like to think of as Canadians. Let's take a look. 

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. Other than that, it is a pretty nice set, and a welcome representation of a unique nation/service branch.

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