The slacker returns - Crusade 's - a-coming

SAGA Crescent and Cross

Just before Xmas my SAGA Crescent and Cross Arab/Saracen/Muslim faction and dice arrived.
Been slacking on blogging ( but not painting, converting or modelling)

I had already been converting my long unpainted (read base-coated only)  LOTR figures to represent Crusade age warriors. Humming Chris de Burg's "Crusader" I thus set to work...

"What do I do next?" said the bishop to the priest,

"I have spent my whole life waiting, preparing for the feast,

And now you say Jerusalem has fallen and is lost,

The king of heathen Saracen has seized the holy cross;"

Then the priest said:

"Oh my bishop, we must put them to the sword,

For God in all His mercy will find a just reward,

For the noblemen and sinners, and knights of ready hand,

Who will be the Lord's Crusader, send word through all the land, 

Jerusalem is lost,Jerusalem is lost,Jerusalem is lost ..." 

"Tell me what to do", said the king upon his throne,

"but speak to me in whispers for we are not alone,

They tell me that Jerusalem has fallen to the hand,

Of some bedeviled eastern Heathen who has seized the Holy Land;"

Then the chamberlain said "Lord, we must call upon our foes

In Spain and France and Germany to end our bitter wars,

All Christian men must be as one and gather for the fight,

You will be their leader, begin the battle cry, 

Jerusalem is lost,Jerusalem is lost,Jerusalem is lost"

So therefore: Spain came first. 

(Any resemblance to LOTR characters living or dead; is non-intentional and completely incidental)

The Spanish Forces of El Cid (The Reconquistada)

Command on foot

Mounted (Standard bearer still on the desk top)

Archers. Found it an interesting challenge to paint the amrour as leather rather than metal, and  I am quite happy with the result

Spearmen /Levy, possibly a bit heavy armoured to be levy, but with the numbers they can double for anything on the battlefield

Warriors/Hearth guard

Another command group (or simply more warriors).

Seems to be a bit of a waste of Aragorn though

And a shield wall of warriors

Thundering hooves

I already had the Spanish Cavalry, ready painted, only needed basing and minimal touch-up. Bought these off Jon Bettin. Will be put to good use, thanks Jon!

All Fall down. ANZACs going over the top and taking casualties

Last of the WW100 Diorama ANZACs (Mostly) Painted

Like most painters in this project I couldn't resist having a bit of a play with the figures before they join their brothers at Chanuk Bair.

As this batch does not have any charging figures I could not make a gallant charge diorama, so I opted for a "Waiting to go over the top" theme instead.

Regrettably my photographic skills lag behind my painting skills, and the result does not really do the mini's justice. I would like to share it though.

It has been an unique honour to have been part of this project. Kudos to Peter Jackson and his vision, Weta workshop and Rhys Jones for pulling it all together. I am lucky enough to live in Wellington, and may be able to assist with the final assembly of this project (if my schedule allows)

They Died
So we may live
Let their memory live forever.

Sound the attack!

OK boys, this is it. When the shelling stops and the whistle blows,  we go over the top !

But we all fall down...

 

B company ! Get ready !

 A Company got a bit of a pasting, but we'll be all right! 

Fix bayonets!

Chaaaaarge!

 

C Company ! Form up !  

Water! Bring water! Water for the wounded!

Alright chaps! B company didn't do that well either. So it's up to C company to finish the job !

Tell my wife that I love her...

Waiting to go over the parapet...Waiting...

Song for You

Hello darling, this is the army,
I've just got the time to write,
Today we attack, there's no turning back,
The boys they're all ready for the fight.

Yes, I'm well but this place is like hell,
They call it Passchendaele, (We could probably substitute Gallipoli here - Ed)
In nineteen seventeen the war must be ending,
The general said this attack will not fail;

So I'm writing down this simple little melody
When you play it my love, think for me...
We'll be together in this song for you,
And it goes la la la, sing it darling, la la la

They got old Bill, and the sergeant is still out there
Wounded in some shell hole,
They say this war will end all wars,
Oh God I really hope it will,

Oh how's old England, are they still singing
Those songs that we loved to sing,
When all this is over, we'll go sailing in Dover,
Catching fish like we used to with a string,

Oh I miss you, I miss you, I miss you,
If they get me my love you will know
We'll always be together in this song for you

And it goes la la la, I have to go now
Take care of yourself my love.

Chris de Burg

Reference for ANZAC Diorama, Gallipoli: More historic photos of ANZAC, British and Ottoman troops

Anzac Diorama: More reference photos for Chanuk Bair project 

The realities of war. A commonwealth soldier observes the body of a compatriot.

 The caption reads that he is handling stores, which could well be so, judging from the packed provisions (? ) water barrel and ammunition/food. The roll of cable suggests a different task to me though, and that barrel appears very empty. For some reason the guy also looks like a sapper to me. 

This particular photograph was censored at the time, as it showed a dead commonwealth soldier. The Kings College collection have some really graphic photographs of casualties that were censored and embargoed at the time. Some of the pictures still turn the stomach, even in today's permissive and desensitised world and the era of the internet.

Water supplies being filtered to remove impurities. Water at Gallipoli had to be imported from friendly territory around the Med or captured local supply. 

The harshness of the terrain illustrated. Very steep incline, with hardly any beach at high tide. Notice the line of horses tethered to the start of the undergrowth

Water being filtered before it was fit for consumption. Water quality was poor, shipped from surrounding islands or obtained from captured local sources.

View from one of the ridges. The light coloured specs are bodies. Hundreds of bodies, commonwealth and Turkish, both 

Evacuating  the wounded. I suspect this series of photographs may have been staged. Never the less, it gives us a good look at the uniforms. You can even see the hobnails under the boots that the Perry Brothers have faithfully reproduced in their miniatures that I am painting at the moment.

Field dressings being applied

NZ soldiers fraternising with the locals. There are several photographs of these two soldiers with the Turkish family. Clearly for propaganda purposes.

Exhausted New Zealanders asleep in their trench (IWM)

One tends to think that the troops were dumped at Gallipoli and left untill evacuated. This was not the case. This photograph is captioned " New Zealand soldiers returning to Gallipoli after leave on Lemnos" What it does show clearly is the wide array of headgear worn.

British Officers meeting with Russian Naval allies 

Some traditions endure. British Naval Officers taking tea.

British landing at V Beach, from the sea, and the ridge above

Brits dug in

Landings at ANZAC Cove:

ANZAC Divisional Officers landing

Terrain of the cove - Equipment, supplies and men piled high

Overview of the terrain

 

Once a foothold had been established...

Grenade practice. The webbing can be seen nicely in this picture, as can the variety of trousers, shirts and tunics. There is clear colour variation, even in the B&W photo.

ANZACs in the Trenches. Good detail of footwear and leggings.

Two Australians of the ANZAC in their dugout, named Spliter Villa for good reason. It is estimated that more soldiers died from flying wood splinters than from shrapnel. This was poarticularly true in the wooded areas of Europe (see my previous post on the Dellville Wood debacle, South Africa's WW1 equivalent of Gallipoli's senseless slaughter)

Field surgeon at work on Gallipoli beach.

One tend to think of Gallipoli as hot and dusty. When winter came it was wet, cold, and miserable

Frostbitten men awaiting evacuation

Frostbite victims in makeshift shelter

ANZAC Maori warrior braving the cold in the trenches

Turkish Uniforms

 

Staff Officers (I suspect a tad retouched)

ANZAC Soldiers with a captured Turkish Sniper

Turkish captives

Tending to Turkish wounded

Interrogation of captives

Note the huge variation of dress, mostly civilian. It looks as if pants and tunics were issued, but the enlisted men were free to wear anything underneath. Looks like both sides suffered from shortage of supply

Again the variety in Turkish Uniforms

A Captured Turk who was a barber in civilian life pressed into duty by the ANZACs

 

The omnipresent draught and pack animals. 

A donkey being given coco (!) Anyway that's what the caption says.

A Gallipoli pet. Light distraction was scarce in Gallipoli. One would have to presume that the donkey was pretty tame to allow this!

Indian Mule handlers

More on Donkeys at Gallipoli, and the story of Simpson and his Donkey

 

A cricket game played on the day of the withdrawal from ANZAC cove. A ruse to fool the Turks that all was business as usual in ANZAC Cove. I bet there was no sledging from the Aussie side that day!

Infantry Dress

Mounted Infantry - Huge variation in headgear, all within the same unit.

Rear view of mounted Infantry