We did not like either of the ‘fighting’ poses. The rest of the poses have no weapon drawn. The magazine itself seems rather far back down the barrel, but is otherwise a fairly accurate model. In any case he holds it with the left hand gripping the magazine, which is certainly not the way he was taught to use it, and not recommended. Some tanks had this weapon stowed, although it was not usually expected to be used to engage an enemy. ![]() While the detail on this revolver is accurate, it is considerably larger than it should be, and certainly would not fit into the holster all these men have! Another man is apparently using a Sten gun. One man (top row) has drawn his revolver and is presumably using it in action. Length apart however, the holster is correctly done with the cartridge loops and the restraining strip over the grip of the gun. Those here are mostly a sort of mid-point between the two, and none have the extra leg strap, so it looks like a cross between the two, but about the right length for the version with the covered top, so something of a mess. It is of the open-topped model, which was common and so fine here (even though it was less common by this late stage of the war), but this came in either a long holster, which had the muzzle of the gun close to the knee and a leg strap to restrain the holster, or a short version where the gun was just below the belt. This is held in a holster on the right thigh, but as with the similar set of summer tankers, the sculptor seems to have taken liberties over how this looked. Since kit could snag inside the cramped confines of a tank, and was little needed anyway, these men have only one item on them – a revolver. Most here are pulled down to the right, which is as per regulation, but often they were pulled down equally on both sides, as seen here on the two poses wearing headphones. Helmets of various kinds would have been acceptable here, but the beret was a popular option, often worn in preference to a helmet even when in action. The only other item of visible clothing is the beret all are wearing. All have the detachable hood, which one man has over his head as he eats. ![]() This is what every figure in this set is wearing, and it has been nicely done here. It was meant to fit over the battledress in cold weather, and was an excellent design that was warmly welcomed by the crews. It was a one-piece overall with numerous pockets and zips running the full length of the body, from neck to each ankle, to make it easy to remove and even to convert it into a sleeping bag. However in early 1944 a new garment made its appearance – the M1943 Tank Suit, which was commonly known as the ‘pixie suit’. This was far from ideal, and in 1942 special ’tank suits’ were issued, but these too failed to gain many admirers. In particularly cold weather they had the same choices as the infantry – namely a greatcoat or the leather jerkin. By the war’s end however matters were much improved, but whether they had an effective, reliable and well-armoured vehicle or not, Britain’s Royal Armoured Corps had to deal with some excellent German tanks and guns in North Africa and latterly in Europe, as well as with all the usual maintenance and resupply needs of their tank in often very difficult conditions.įor much of the war tank crew wore the normal battledress, which had been designed for use by all arms. The history of British tanks during World War II is not an impressive one, with some quite poor models making their way into production, and sometimes into combat.
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