The end of the month…

My copy of Paul Freyberg’s biography of his father arrived earlier this week. It’s a little battered, but still very serviceable. I’ve managed to get through to the first stage of the Crete battles and it’s reminded me that there is still so much to look at. Crete is one of those WW2 battles that I feel can only be really looked at with a line drawn through much of the scholarship of the pre-Ultra release era. So much was unable to be said, so much commentary without a core understanding of the realities.

What did strike a chord, and is still occasionally discernable in certain operations today, was  the total lack of understanding of British Higher command towards the commonwealth troops. The treatment of Freyberg and Blamey in Greece was not just poor, it was criminally reprehensible and Wavell and Wilson’s handling of the matters should have seen them sacked with the full weight of prosecution.

Wavell certainly comes across as a complete noserag.  I’m looking forward to reading more of Freyberg’s Italian Campaign recollections. Yes, the aurtthor is somehwat too close to the subject, but then again, having the source on tap and most importantly willing to talk about matters helps. Paul Freyberg himself being a soldier brings a degree of polish and understanding to the prose, yet he doesn’t fall into the trap of talking down to his audience.

Glad I finally got hold of a copy. Now to pick up a few more recent books on Crete and Greece.

In other news, the Tiger Abteilung arrived as well. Given it worked out at $15 per tiger , I’m well pleased.I had a quick glance through the little FOW handbook that came with it and I don’t think that much of the actual historical pieces. There’s something definitely offputting about the section on Wittman. Not overtly Nazi Fan-boy, but the hagiography reeks of Agte and phrases such as  “he died a soldier’s death”  make my skin crawl.

The models are ver’ pretty indeed.Definitely staying in the can until Australia though. I want to be much better with the airbrush by the time I tackle them.

More Feline Goodness Part II

the last lot of photos of the Germans until Derek sends me more…

 

I’ve got so many crew figures to play with I might take my time selecting the right figures for the commanders.

 

The dark yellow is actually a mix of Tamiya Dark yellow and Desert Yellow with a little bit of white added. It’s not quite as pronounced as this picture might have you believe, and nothing that a light dusting of buff or yellow grey can’t tone down. It’ll be interesting how the magic wash works on the overall tone, I’m thinking even if it darkens the overall scheme, I’ll not be too worried. What does thrill me is that I’ll have a nice consistent look across the platoons. Makes for a nice homogenous looking force (a tad dichotomous for a bunch of camo schemes but it’s the aesthete in me that cares).

 

I’m not sure when I’ll next get the chance to post a lot of pictures – but hopefully I’ll sort something out soonish. In the meantime I  really should set out my late war brits for a mass photo shoot before I pack them away for the move.

P-J