18th Regiment of Foot (1 Viewer)

[Naps...just Naps]

I hope someone can help me with this identification question.
I just purchased a few new W.Britains Naps and was trying to rearrange one of my display shelves to fit them in when I noticed two wounded pre-First Gear W.Britains British infantry soldiers that I had forgotten about.
I can't even remember where I got them and I couldn't find a box for them anywhere.
They are 18th Regiment of Foot Royal Irish. I know this much because they have 18 written on their packs so I looked it up on Wikipedia.
I also Googled W.Britains 18th of foot and got nothing.
They are wearing uniforms typical of the Napoleonic era. Red tunic, blue facings, grey trousers and black shako but I can't find any record of them engaged in any Napoleonic battles other than the siege of Toulon in 1893.
Does anyone know when W.Britains released these soldiers, what the WB reference number is, if they released any other sets of this regiment and why did they release the 18th? Was it a mistake?
Thanks
Paul

 

[Naps...just Naps]

I I can't find any record of them engaged in any Napoleonic battles other than the siege of Toulon in 1893.

Make that "siege of Toulon 1793"

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Paul:

A photo here would be very helpful.

Thanks.

 

[theBaron]

I second that! Paul, can you take a pic and post it for us?

A quick browse through a couple of the catalog pages at the William Britain website did not turn up any 18th Foot (later the Royal Irish), for any time period. I looked through the Napoleonic, Napoleonic-archived, ARW, ARW-archived, Redcoats, and Redcoats-Bluecoats pages, so far. Could be that they're modified to represent a regiment that Britain did not do.

The other possibility is that you have a figure produced by Sam Watson's Irish Toy Soldier Museum. He uses Tommy Atkins castings, among other makers, and the 18th is naturally central to his catalog. I have a couple of Sam's sets of the 18th from the Seven Years War.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Scott]

http://www.fifedrum.org/crfd/images/D18.htm

"The 18th was first raised in 1684, from independent garrison companies
in Ireland, under the Earl of Granard and was known as Granard's
Regiment of Foot. Granard's Regiment was placed on the English
Establishment in 1689. The regiment saw action under King William III
at the battle of the Boyne, and all throughout the Irish campaigns,
including the fall of Limerick. Serving with the fleet as marines, the
regiment received its first battle honor at Flanders, during the assault
on the Castle of Namur on August 20, 1695. Having won the admiration
of both King and Country, the regiment was designated the Royal Regiment
of Ireland. During the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), the
Royal Regiment of Ireland served with distinction at Schellenburg and
Blenheim in 1704, Ramilies in 1706, Oudenarde and Lisle in 1708,
Malplaquet and Tournay in 1709 and at Bouchain in 1711.
In 1747, the regiment was ranked as the 18th Foot and became
the 18th Regiment of Foot, or Royal Irish, in July of 1751.

The 18th Regiment of Foot arrived in Philadelphia in July of 1767.
In May of 1768, the regiment was sent west to replace the 34th Foot
in garrison at Fort Pitt. The 18th Foot continued to garrison the frontier
of the 'Illinois Country' until the outbreak of the American Revolution.
The regiment took part in the fighting at Lexington and Concord on
April 19, 1775, and at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.
In July of 1776, the men of the 18th Foot were drafted into
other regiments while the officers returned to England.
The 18th Regiment of Foot was reformed at Dover Castle in 1777.

In 1782, the regiment was granted the title of The Royal Irish Regiment."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Irish_Regiment_(1684-1922)


"Battle honours

Namur 1695, Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Egypt, China, Pegu, Sevastopol, New Zealand, Afghanistan (1879–80), Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882, Nile (1884–85), South Africa (1900–02)
The Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, La Bassée 1914, Ypres 1915 '17 '18, Gravenstafel, St Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Albert 1916 '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Guillemont, Ginchy, Messines 1917, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, St. Quentin, Rosières, Arras 1918, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Canal du Nord, St Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Cambrai 1918, Courtrai, France and Flanders 1914-18, Struma, Macedonia 1915-17, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Gallipoli 1915, Gaza, Jerusalem, Tell 'Asur, Megiddo, Nablus, Palestine 1917-18"

 

[theBaron]

Thanks, Scott!

Paul, if you can post a pic of the figure your have, it'll really help us ID it.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Scott]

Thanks, Scott!

Paul, if you can post a pic of the figure your have, it'll really help us ID it.

Prost!
Brad

There was a "Royal Irish" 18th Regiment Rev-War reenactment unit up here for a while. I can't see anything for the Napoleonic Wars but they were in one of the Opium Wars in the 1840s.

 

[Naps...just Naps]

Thanks, Scott!

Paul, if you can post a pic of the figure your have, it'll really help us ID it.

Prost!
Brad

Thanks for the response guys.
These two soldiers are definitely W.Britains and as I said they are pre First Gear ownership so they will not be in any recent catalogues. These were produced in 2001.
This is stamped on the underside of the base along with the W.Britains logo and the number N-52.
They look as though they would have been in a boxed set of two wounded infantrymen because they are both marked with the same reference N-52.

I believe ERTL owned W.B. in 2001

I already looked up the 18th regiment on Wikipedia and it just confirms that they didn't take any part in the Napoleonic battles apart from the siege of Toulon and they would not have been wearing this style of uniform then.
So I have no idea why W.B would have made these soldiers in these regimental colours.

Is there anyone out there with knowledge of what WB produced in their ERTL days? Does anyone know why WB produced the 18th regiment of foot in Napoleonic uniform?
Did they make any other sets of this regiment?

I'm at work at the moment but I will try to get a picture on here later.
I just found a picture on eBay of one of the soldiers so I have tried to attach it.
I have never upload a picture to Treefrog before so no promises.
Here goes........^&confuse
View attachment 18TH REGIMENT.zip

Thanks
Paul

 

[Napoleon1er]

That was the Britains wounded set that Ertle made as part of their Nap. series. It had no accompanying sets for the same regiment. I have it- it lives in a corner of shame {sm4}.
-Sandor

 

[Naps...just Naps]

That was the Britains wounded set that Ertle made as part of their Nap. series. It had no accompanying sets for the same regiment. I have it- it lives in a corner of shame {sm4}.
-Sandor

^&grin^&grin Likewise Sandor my set are right at the back of my display cabinet and I had forgotten all about them until recently.
I have been looking everywhere on the Web for information about this set but have come up with nothing. I reckon WB made a mistake with this release and I'm now convinced that the 18th did not take an active role in any major Napoleonic battles.
Oh well it looks like I'll give them a repaint and a different regiment number on their packs soon. Can't have impostors in the ranks.{sm2}
Regards
Paul

 

[thebritfarmer]

Are these the ones?

http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/BRitains/2002/slides/tn_28.html top of the page?

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

I never saw an "18" on their packs...now I have to go find them to confirm. Well, at least the facing colour is right, but that lace configuration look like Coldstream.

 

[theBaron]

Could they have been modified by a collector?

 

[Naps...just Naps]

Are these the ones?

http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/BRitains/2002/slides/tn_28.html top of the page?

Yes that's them. I didn't know that reference material was available. Thanks for the link I'm saving that.{sm3}
Cheers
Paul

 

[Naps...just Naps]

Could they have been modified by a collector?

Could be modified but if someone did they did a very good job painting the tiny 18 on the packs.

Sandor if you're reading this does your set have 18 painted on the packs?

Thanks for all your help with this guys.

Paul

 

[thebritfarmer]

Yes that's them. I didn't know that reference material was available. Thanks for the link I'm saving that.{sm3}
Cheers
Paul

No problem Paul.

This is the link to them all http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/BRitains/index.html

Regards

Scott

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Well, it took some time, but I found the little blighters. Sure enough, they have tiny little "18"s enclosed in a circle on their packs. No wonder I didn't notice, I needed a magnifier to see it. So strange...what were they thinking when they made these? Now I'll have to cast a whole company to go with them! Then again...where's my paint brush?

 

[Napoleon1er]

Well, it took some time, but I found the little blighters. Sure enough, they have tiny little "18"s enclosed in a circle on their packs. No wonder I didn't notice, I needed a magnifier to see it. So strange...what were they thinking when they made these? Now I'll have to cast a whole company to go with them! Then again...where's my paint brush?

Now Nick, just put down the brush, nice and easy, lets not go crazy here- we all know you CAN do it- you don't need to prove anything to us, so just put the brush down......{sm4}^&grin:wink2:
-Sandor


Clown Army:wink2:

 

[Naps...just Naps]

No problem Paul.

This is the link to them all http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/BRitains/index.html

Regards

Scott

Cheers Scott that is a fantastic Britains reference library.