Introducing the British 8th Army

 Latest edit: Expeditionary Force Scottish Mortars Set

_______________________

To complement the post on the German Afrika Korps, today I would like to introduce the British Eighth Army, who fought both the Germans and the Italians in the deserts of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. In addition to its British core, the 8th Army was actually a collection of commonwealth troops from many nations, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Canada, as well as many men from several occupied countries in Europe. They were engaged in a highly mobile war for approximately two years in North Africa. Initially the Italians pushed the British back into Egypt, then the British counterattacked pushing the Italians back into Libya, which made the Germans join the fight under Rommel in February of '41 with the resulting counteroffensive which pushed the British back into Egypt. After a while the British regrouped and mounted their own offensive which pushed the Afrika Korps all the way back into Tunisia and eventually with the help of the US landings in Morocco and Algeria, they managed to defeat the Axis forces and eliminate them from the African continent by May of '43. Among the most pivotal moments of the North African campaign stands the siege of Tobruk in which a surrounded garrison composed primarily of the Australian 9th division held for 8 months preventing the Panzer Army from attacking further into Egypt until it was relieved by the Eighth Army in Nov '41, which is actually when the 8th Army was officially formed. The Eighth Army was led by a few generals, but the most notable one was Bernard Montgomery (as of Aug '42), whose success in Africa propelled him to fame and greater responsibility during the rest of the War. After the North African campaign was won, the British Eighth Army went on to fight in Italy where they again played an important role in tough and bloody battles such as Monte Cassino. In terms of coverage from toy soldier manufacturers, there has been no lack of attention. However as you will see from the pictures below, manufacturers have favored the North African campaign over Italy when depicting the 8th Army.

Airfix British 8th Army - Part 1

Every now and then you come across a pose that you know you have seen somewhere. Such is the case with the guy on the left. There is a black and white photograph of British 8th Army troops approaching a disabled tank in the desert and one of them looks very much like this guy.

Airfix British 8th Army - Part 2

Usually most Airfix poses are fighting, action poses, so the guy on the right who is standing as if on watch, is a bit of a disappointment, specially when there are only 7 poses total. Even with that, these Airfix guys definitely belong at the core of any B8th Army.

BMC British Infantry - Part 1

When BMC produced these guys they were described as British Infantry, however I think they are better suited as British 8th Army guys. If you look at some of the other manufacturers' figures you will also find bagpipes &  berets...

BMC British Infantry - Part 2

 ...and those shovels and picks look like they could come in handy in the rocky, craggy expanses of the North African landscape. 

Charbens British 8th Army - Part 1

These guys are vintage figures, from around the 60's. As far as I know they came factory-painted. I will probably have to paint them over when I paint the rest of these guys. That's when I go through those dilemmas that I described in this other post.

Charbens British 8th Army - Part 2

I have to say that the sculpting is actually fairly decent for figures made around that timeframe. A couple of the guys in the previous pictures can be criticized, but these three guys are pretty good looking.

Cherilea British 8th Army

These guys are 60mm figures. The guy in the middle looks like he could be Monty. The rest of the guys are a decent addition to the unit, a bit upright in some cases, but still acceptable.

Crescent British 8th Army

These guys are fairly well sculpted for the time when they were made and come factory painted. I am not sure exactly how many there were in the original set, but this sample gives an idea of what they looked like.

Crescent British 8th Army clones

These guys are 40mm clones made in Hong Kong. I made the mistake of buying them on eBay without checking that they were the right scale. The only bright spot is that it let me realize that there is at least one more pose that I do not have in 54mm - the guy with the sub MG.

DSG British 8th Army

These are new production figures using the old Britains Deetail molds by a new firm in Argentina. The bases are made out of plastic which I found a bit disappointing as it gives the figures a whole different feeling when you hold them. Other than that, the poses are kind of similar to the Airfix guys, aren't they? 

Britains Deetail Vickers Machine Gun Team

This is a nice set. Hard to find and a bit on the expensive side. The MG actually works. It comes with about 9 little ammo balls which you can fire using its spring mechanism, visible on the side of the gun. It rounds up the collection nicely.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part 1

Matchbox gave us 13 poses in this set. Almost twice as generous as most of the other manufacturers. Their figures are mostly in good action poses. Casualty figures are not my favorite, but the guy in this set actually looks pretty authentic.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part 2

Even though the bagpipe guy is not an action pose, I have to admit that he will probably look really nice once he's painted.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part 3

It looks like this batch contains another Monty. I am going to have to chose who is the boss as there is at least one more candidate to pick from further below.

DGN British 8th Army - Part I

As you can see, this set is heavily influenced by the British 8th Army Matchbox figures. However, when you compare them side by side, you realize that they are originally sculpted, but there is not mistaking that the sculptor tried to replicate the original. 

DGN British 8th Army - Part II

The weapons are definitely different. Some of them are larger, and some of them are missing the bayonet at the tip of the rifle, which several of the Matchbox guys have. 

DGN British 8th Army - Part III

Overall, this is a pretty solid set. Not very original, but fairly decent if you were not aware of the Matchbox figures. Good poses and good level of detail.

Revell British 8th Army - Part 1

These guys are 1/35 scale. I painted several of them along with the Airfix guys a few years back. As you can see, the guys I left out were the ones that are standing a bit funny.

Revell British 8th Army - Part 2

I suppose with the berets and bagpipes these guys could belong to the Black Watch, the famous Scottish regiment which fought in North Africa.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 1

These guys remind me a bit of the Cherilea guys, particularly the machine gunner. They are also on the taller side of 54mm figures. This set contains what appears to be the third Monty guy in my collection.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 2

These Timpo guys are not my favorite figures. There are two things that I don't quite like. They are standing too upright and their facial expressions could have used a bit more work. Some of their faces look more like skulls.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 3

Here are a few vintage figures with some original paint still on them. Notice how they were also cast on a darker plastic color, which I actually like better than that of the newer recasts. 

21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry - Part I

This set was sold as British Infantry, but from the short trousers, it seems to me like they are 8th Army troopers. This set was produced after the Germans and the Americans, and you can see the new bases and slightly better sculpting, although not as good with the later sets. 

21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry - Part II

The guy running is a good action pose. A bit off balance, but nice enough. The guy on the right does not really grab me. There is something about how he is holding his weapon and how he is standing... The man in the center is a nice middle ground.

21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry Series 2 - Part I

This is a set that I had totally missed. I wasn't even aware it existed. Chronologically, it seems to be one of their middle sets, with the sculpting being fairly decent at this stage -take a look at the facial expressions-, the bases not yet so bulky, and already integrated into the figures instead of glued to them. 

 21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry Series 2 - Part II

As you can see, the set is comprised of all fighting poses with a good degree of action put into the sculpting. The more a guy is leaning the more I like him. Note also how they have given us figures with both short and long trousers. All in all a nice set from 21C.

Forces of Valor British 7th Armored Division - El-Alamein 1942 - Part I

This is a set that I originally passed on buying. I did not like the bulkiness of the upper bodies. Of course, later on I felt that I should plug the hole in the collection, but by that time, they were no longer being produced and were much harder to find and pricier to get. Anyhow, I am happy I finally got a hold of them. I am still not a big fan of the sculpting and I still don't like the detachable bases, but it felt good to be able to check them off the list.

Forces of Valor British 7th Division - Part II

Here are a few more poses. They came in a different set, Two of them appear to be repeats of guys in the previous set. One of them, the man firing while kneeling, might be slightly different - note the knee is slightly off the ground - or it could also be that the one on top is missing the base and they are actually the same pose. Either way, there's really only two new poses. The wounded man and the man calling his men forward. Sculpted in the same bulky style, so not much new to say about them. 

Airfix British Infantry and Support Troop

Lastly, these two guys are not officially British Eighth Army, but I've decided to incorporate them into the unit to give them a bit more firepower as none of the sets above contain a mortar or an antitank weapon, which given the nature of the combat in North Africa, would certainly come in handy.

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.

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 German Afrika Korps.

Click here to see regular British Infantry.

Introducing the Indian Infantry

Latest Edit: Added Expeditionary Force Sets

___________________________________________

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

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 Indian troops at Monte Cassino.