World War I (4 Viewers)

That may the best idea you ever came up with. Could you imagine a Zeppelin floating overhead?
 
Oooh a Zeppelin!,being hunted down by a Sopwith C.

Like all the WW1 Figs,can't wait to lay my hands on them.Especially like the Kaiser and Hitler(never thought i'd say that)

Rob
 
jazzeum said:
That may the best idea you ever came up with. Could you imagine a Zeppelin floating overhead?
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In the otherwise terrible movie "Flyboys" there is a scene in which a Zeppelin is attacked in flight. The interesting part is that a couple of guys were stationed on top of the Zeppelin to fire back at the planes. That must have been really hazardous duty! This is an account of one going down over London:

Michael MacDonagh was a reporter for a London newspaper. He witnessed the destruction of one the giant airships as it took part in a raid on the city during the night of October 1, 1916:

"I saw last night what is probably the most appalling spectacle associated with the war which London is likely to provide - the bringing down in flames of a raiding Zeppelin.

I was late at the office, and leaving it just before midnight was crossing to Blackfriars Bridge to get a tramcar home, when my attention was attracted by frenzied cries of 'Oh! Oh! She's hit!' from some wayfarers who were standing in the middle of the road gazing at the sky in a northern direction. Looking up the clear run of New Bridge Street and Farringdon Road I saw high in the sky a concentrated blaze of searchlights, and in its centre a ruddy glow which rapidly spread into the outline of a blazing airship. Then the searchlights were turned off and the Zeppelin drifted perpendicularly in the darkened sky, a gigantic pyramid of flames, red and orange, like a ruined star falling slowly to earth. Its glare lit up the streets and gave a ruddy tint even to the waters of the Thames.

The spectacle lasted two or three minutes. It was so horribly fascinating that I felt spellbound - almost suffocated with emotion, ready hysterically to laugh or cry. When at last the doomed airship vanished from sight there arose a shout the like of which I never heard in London before - a hoarse shout of mingled execration, triumph and joy; a swelling shout that appeared to be rising from all parts of the metropolis, ever increasing in force and intensity. It was London's Te Deum for another crowning deliverance. Four Zeppelins destroyed in a month!...

I got from a member of the Potter's Bar anti-aircraft battery an account of the bringing down of the Zeppelin. He said the airship was caught in the beams of three searchlights from stations miles apart, and was being fired at by three batteries also from distances widely separated. She turned and twisted, rose and fell, in vain attempts to escape to the shelter of the outer darkness. None of the shells reached her. Then an aeroplane appeared and dropped three flares - the signal to the ground batteries to cease firing as he was about to attack. The airman, flying about the Zeppelin, let go rounds of machine-gun fire at her without effect, until one round fired into her from beneath set her on fire, and down she came a blazing mass, roaring like a furnace, breaking as she fell into two parts which were held together by internal cables until they reached the ground.

The framework of the Zeppelin lay in the field in two enormous heaps, separated from each other by about a hundred yards. Most of the forepart hung suspended from a tree. . .

The crew numbered nineteen. One body was found in the field some distance from the wreckage. He must have jumped from the doomed
Zeppelin crew airship from a considerable height. So great was the force with which he struck the ground that I saw the imprint of his body clearly defined in the stubbly grass. There was a round hole for the head, then deep impressions of the trunk, with outstretched arms, and finally the widely separated legs. Life was in him when he was picked up, but the spark soon went out. He was, in fact, the Commander, who had been in one of the gondolas hanging from the airship. . .

With another journalist I went to the barn where the bodies lay. As we approached we heard a woman say to the sergeant of the party of soldiers in charge, 'May I go in? I would like to see a dead German.' 'No, madam, we cannot admit ladies,' was the reply.

Introducing myself as a newspaper reporter, I made the same request. The sergeant said to me, 'If you particularly wish to go in you may. I would, however, advise you not to do so. If you do you will regret your curiosity.' I persisted in my request. . .

Explaining to the sergeant that I particularly wanted to see the body of the Commander, I was allowed to go in. The sergeant removed the covering from one of the bodies which lay apart from the others. The only disfigurement was a slight distortion of the face. It was that of a young man, clean-shaven. He was heavily clad in a dark uniform and overcoat, with a thick muffler round his neck.

I knew who he was. At the office we had had official information of the identity of the Commander and the airship (though publication of both particulars was prohibited), and it was this knowledge that had determined me to see the body. The dead man was Heinrich Mathy, the most renowned of the German airship commanders, and the perished airship was his redoubtable L31.

Yes, there he lay in death at my feet, the bugaboo of the Zeppelin raids, the first and most ruthless of these Pirates of the Air bent on our destruction."
 
Great old newspaper story, Combat. Really evocative stuff, right down to the description of what the commander was wearing when he lept to his death.
 
Yeah a full size one we can all play in!!!!

Who'll be captain?.

Rob
 
Just go to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and you can play all day long in the U-505. What a great place that, and the Field, museum is, on the scale of the Smithsonian.
 
Corp. Hitler is very cool - the whole General Officer Corps looks great.

How many Staff Cars do you think Andy is going to make?
 
Capitolron said:
Corp. Hitler is very cool - the whole General Officer Corps looks great.

How many Staff Cars do you think Andy is going to make?
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There are not that many WWI vehicles to choose from but I doubt there are many more staff cars. I'm guessing motorcycle, truck, ambulances, artillery are next. Down the road some tanks and airplanes.
 
ARMORED CARS

Combat said:
There are not that many WWI vehicles to choose from but I doubt there are many more staff cars. I'm guessing motorcycle, truck, ambulances, artillery are next. Down the road some tanks and airplanes.
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sceic2 said:
Just go to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and you can play all day long in the U-505. What a great place that, and the Field, museum is, on the scale of the Smithsonian.
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Will have to go one day,sounds cool.

Rob
 
What about my main man LAWRENCE ? He needs to come to the scene - along with some more camels and men on horseback - don't you think??

Along with some Turks too...................Now that would be great. :D
 
That would be so cool Ron.Would love a Lawrence figure.If you come over in Decmber you will see his motorbike we have in the museum.A real mean machine(specially made for him i believe).Some Camels would be really good too.Although thinking about it maybe the rights to produce a Lawrence figure would be prohibitive as stated before with other personalities.

Rob
 
I don't know when he will get there, but I would be shocked if he didn't get to Lawrence sooner or later. And based on the fact that I saw Andy on the lookout for WWI era armored cars, you know one of those will be on the way in the foreseeable future.
 
Several years ago there was an exhibition in DC of German WWII items captured by the Russians. They included a number of nazi flags that were used in the victory parade in Moscow, a large bronze bullet damaged eagle from the Reich Chancellery and several other items. Most interesting, however, were a number of personal items belonging to Hitler that were recovered from the bunker and/or chancellery. They included a set of WWI toy soldiers! It was somewhat startling to see that Hitler was a collector. I had never seen any reference to it.
 
We have a large bullet damaged Eagle at the museum,must be the same one?.

Rob
 
Does anybody have a list of German WWI Medals ? What the prices are going for them on todays market?

I think I am going to incorporate them into my new WWI figures as a backdrop display.
 
maddadicus said:
ARMORED CARS
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A Rolls Royce armoured car would be cool. Used in both world wars. Great picture in the Osprey book about the axis provoked uprising in Iraq in WWII (funny how history repeats it self maybe we history buffs see that better than our leaders).
 
Capitolron said:
Does anybody have a list of German WWI Medals ? What the prices are going for them on todays market?

I think I am going to incorporate them into my new WWI figures as a backdrop display.
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That would be cool. Make sure to take some pics. Also be careful of fakes. I understand the WWII market is full of them.
 
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