King & Country
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
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PRESS RELEASE
AUSTRALIANS CHARGE TO THE FRONT
“There have been many great cavalry charges in history”, says Andy C. Neilson, King & Country’s co-founder and creative director, “however some are definitely more famous than others!”
Already the Hong Kong headquarter toy soldier company has designed and produced two of the most notable… “The Charge of The Light Brigade” during the Crimean War and “The Charge of The Scots Greys” at the Battle of Waterloo.
Now, they are adding a third… “The Charge of The Australian Light Horse” at Beersheba in Palestine in 1917. This extraordinary charge took place on 31 October 1917, as part of the Middle Eastern campaign during World War One. The hilight of the battle was the now famous charge of the Australian, 4th. Light Horse Brigade, which covered some 6 kilometres of open ground to overrun and capture the Turkish trenches defending the town and the water wells of Beersheba.
Andy explains the reason behind this new series…
“For quite some time now Australia has been an expanding market for King & Country. We’ re very fortunate in having some excellent dealers there who have done a lot to promote K&C and our figures and fighting vehicles”. At the same time, Andy continues, “I wanted to produce something that would have a unique Aussie flavour to it… yet still appeal to K&C’s worldwide audience of collectors.”
K&C considered several military options that involved Australian forces in action… Gallipoli in 1915… Western Desert 1941/42… South West Pacific 1943-45 before decisively settling on “The Charge at Beersheba”.
“Although other campaigns and battles offered multiple choices there was something about Beersheba that was very special”, Andy says.
“It also helped that there had been an excellent movie about the charge made some years ago”. The movie “The Lighthorsemen” provided a treasure trove of important uniform and equipment details that Andy and his sculpting team could consult frequently whenever they needed some special information or visual clarification.
Simultaneously, Andy also relied heavily on Brett Williams, of Military Workshop in Brisbane for extra background on the Light Horse.
It was originally Brett, a former Hong Kong policeman (as was Andy) who invited Andy to do a mini tour of Australia to promote K&C down under which is happening right now.
“Brett and Peter Nathan of Sydney (another of K&C’s principal Aussie dealers) have wanted us to produce something Australian for quite a few years. I’m delighted we now have!”
ABOUT THE FIGURES
Andy has initially designed 7 Light Horse figures… 6 mounted charging and one dismounted trooper standing over his dead mount in an action pose.
“Opposition-wise we have 6 different Turkish riflemen in various dramatic positions plus one sitting Maxim machine-gunner”, Andy says.
Among the Australians are… an officer… a bugler… a guidon bearer plus… two different troopers with drawn bayonets and… one more carrying his rifle.
“If, as we believe, the response to this first batch is enthusiastic”, Andy says, “there will be more. Actually, we’ve already got a few add-ons in the pipe line at the sculpting stage”.
SNEAK PREVIEW
On the Australian trip… Brisbane, Canberra and Sydney… K&C will be displaying unpainted samples of some of the first release.
“We’re hoping to meet many K&C collectors on this visit and look forward to their comments on these new Light Horse pieces”.
DESERT VILLAGE BACKGROUND
Providing a colourful backdrop to the charge will be K&C’s upcoming “Desert Village”… 6 different Middle Eastern structures that can be used in a multitude of ways to create dozens of different scenes that can suit historical eras and series as far apart as Ancient Egypt to the Crusades… from Napoleonic times up through the Desert War of 1940-43 and even into present-day Iraq and Afghanistan.
Even just a few of these structures can create your very own mini Beersheba.
So, now with the “Charge of The Australian Light Horse” K&C makes another bold foray into the always exciting world of toy soldiers and military miniatures.
