Hessian Commander and Artillery

The command group for the 25th Infantry Division (Grand Ducal Hessian) of the IX Korps has joined the German forces in France.  Commanded by Prince Louis von Hesse, the heir to the Grand Ducal throne, it consisted of two infantry brigades (49th and 50th), a cavalry brigade, and an artillery force of six batteries, divided into two abteilungen (or battalions).

Click on the images for a larger view.

Organized for Larry Brom's "Chassepot and Needlegun" rules, a division command group has three figures.  The two foot figures are Foundry Miniatures but I'm not sure which manufacturer made the impressive mounted officer.  He was a single figure labeled "EXT-15 Baron von Gruber."  Any assistance in identifying the manufacturer would be appreciated.

And the Hessian artillery force received the 2nd Light Battery as a reinforcement.  It consists of three light 4-lb guns, each with two gunners, per Brom's organization.

The guns are substitutes using Ral Partha Colonial Krupp guns.  They are close enough to what the Prussian guns looked like.  The gunners are from Castaway Arts run by my friend from Down-Under Gerry Webb.

I'm now working on the command group from the French 2nd Loire Division and the 8th Heavy Artillery Battery.  I'm hoping to get them completed before the end of the month.

Memorial Day, 2020

On this Memorial Day during the 75th anniversary year of the ending of WW2, I'd like memorialize two WW2 veterans who are dear to my heart -- my father and my father-in-law.

My father, Leslie Pelham Pitts (1922-1976), served in the US Army Air Corps/Force as a top turret gunner and flight engineer of a B-17 heavy bomber in the 731st Bomb Squadron, 452nd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, based at Deopham Green, England.  You've read about his exploits in previous blog posts ("What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?").  This picture was taken in the fall of 1945 at Deming Air Base, New Mexico as he was being demobilized.  He's wearing his self-decorated leather flight jacket.

My father-in-law, James Curtis Triplett (1918-2003), served in the US Army Air Corps/Force in a medium bomber squadron assigned to the China-Burma-India Theater.  I don't know which one, but I do know that they transited across North Africa after the German/Italian surrender in Tunisia because he found an M1911A1 pistol in the desert outside the air field which my wife and I still have.  Once he got to India, his primary task was training Chinese aerial gunners for the Chinese Air Force.

And although not a WW2 veteran, I would be remiss if I didn't memorialize my brother, Patrick Arthur Pelham Pitts (1952-2010), who served in the US Army during the early 1970s as a personnel clerk with the US Army Security Agency in Augsburg, Germany and at Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo, Texas.

You are all missed dearly!  Requiesce in pace, comrades.

Victory in Europe (VE) Day 75th Anniversary

On this, the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe, I was going to fly the flag in front of my house.  But due to inclement weather, primarily strong winds, I could not.  So I'll do it virtually.

US Flag flying at our embassy in Warsaw Poland, Sep. 1939, during a German air raid.

Buzz Aldrin saluting the US Flag on the Moon, July 1969

US Flag flying at my house, Nov. 11, 2014

To all our veterans, past, present, and future, may this day be remembered in honor for the sacrifice we have made.

Jim Pitts, US Army, retired

Turcos Are Completed!!

Finally this past weekend I completed my Regiment Tirailleurs Algerien (or Turcos) for my 1870-1871 Republican French army.  The Turcos were North African native troops (primarily Algerian) recruited into the French Army of Africa during the middle part of the 19th century.  They were very tough fighters.

There were three regiments in the Imperial French Army during the early part of the war but most of them were killed or captured at either Sedan or Metz.  During the Republican phase a 'regiment de marche' of Turcos was established from the various depot companies and survivors of the earlier fighting.  This regiment is what I'm representing.  The figures are Askari Miniatures from Al's 'French Army of Africa' line.  They are very well sculpted figures and were fairly easy to paint.  They are based for Larry Brom's "Chassepot and Needlegun" Franco-German War rules.

The 3rd Battalion, Tirailleurs Algerien (minus a battalion guidon)

They joined their previously painted 1st and 2nd Battalions to form the complete regiment.

From left - 2nd Battalion, regimental commander, 1st Battalion, and 3rd Battalion

The regiment forms the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Corps, Army of the Loire (my Republican French corps) along with the Regiment Legion Entrangere (French Foreign legion) and a composite chasseur battalion.

As a note, the French African forces also included Tirailleurs Senegalais but they weren't involved in the Franco-German War, staying in west Africa.

"Angels' Wings" on a Southern Sunday Afternoon

I took this picture while driving back from Kroger in Byram (and yes, I stopped in a parking lot first).  When I showed these mare's wings (as this type of cloud formation is called) to my wife, she said they looked like angels' wings, which I guess in appropriate for a Sunday during the times in which we are now living.

I hope that everyone is staying safe!

Jim

6mm Franco-German War Figures - 1st Try

Some time ago, I purchased a sample pack of Baccus 6mm Franco-German War figures when I bought the "Bloody Big Battles" rules.  I painted up the infantry and artillery but not the cavalry.  Finally during this "stay at home" period, I completed the cavalry.

The painting job is very basic which is about as good as I can get with 6mm figures at my age.  So here they are.  They are temporarily based on thin cardboard (pasteboard) stands and are without flags for the infantry.  Please click on the pictures for a larger image.

First, the French - from left:  cavalry (dragoons and hussars), chasseurs a pied, Turcos, line infantry, and artillery.

Then the Prussians - from left: uhlans, dragoons and hussars, line infantry with jager skirmishers, line infantry, line infantry skirmishers, and artillery.

I was (and still am) hoping to put together forces for the Franco-German War but will have to wait until Baccus resumes taking orders.  I may also expand into other 19th Century periods, but will have to wait and see on that.  I'm also waiting on Litko to reopen so I can order bases from them.  Ah, the times in which we're currently living.

Stay safe, comrades!

Wings of War/Glory Storage (continued)

Last night I completed all of the lattices for the five boxes in which I will be storing almost all of my WW1 biplanes.  If you'll recall, I reported on the start of this project several days ago.

Here are the five boxes:

Box 1 -- Fifteen Allied Powers single-seat fighters

Box 2 -- Fifteen Central Powers single-seat fighters

Box 3 -- Mixed Allied and Central Power single- and two-seat fighters and bomber/recce planes

Box 4 -- Eight Allied Powers two-seat bomber/recce planes

And Box 5 -- One Allied two-seat fighter and four Central Powers two-seat bomber/recce planes

The planes that are not in these boxes are my four heavy bombers (two Gothas and two Capronis, still in their original boxes) and the four single-seat fighters (two Allied and two German) in the Revised Deluxe Set box, as well as my Snoopy in his trusted Camel doghouse, although he will probably ed up in Box 5.

These will fit in two one-cubic foot cardboard storage boxes with room left over for a box holding the control panels and rule books.

Now all I have to do is get busy printing and folding the maneuver deck and damage deck boxes.