Stretcher-Bearer, 1st London Scottish, 56th ( London) Division, Monte Camino Dec 1943 .
This figure sort of started as an RAMC orderly , but since my refs were not very detailed , I decided to change him into one of the Stretcher Bearers from the London Scottish tramping up and down Monte Camino in the winter of 43/44 ( part of the advance to the Cassino position ). This figure features in a Mike Chappell plate, itself based on a very moving photograph .
The weather in" Sunny Italy" was absolutely appalling that winter , and the pic on which this figure is based show the men completely wet through . Some of them are wearing jerkins , and others trying to keep the rain out with their gas capes.
These men did an absolutely heroic job , involving a long steep climb of up to three hours , frequently under fire, then the heart-rending business of finding and collecting severely wounded men and carrying them down the bloody mountain again.
They worked with RMC medics , whose training allowed them to treat the wounded effectively , but inevitably there were occasions when the SBs had to try to do that job themselves , as well as doing the carrying.
I blanched slightly at doing the permanent drenched look , which would involve varnish , and compromised by literally soaking him with a spray before taking the pics. The only problem with that was the overscale drips on his face !
So we have to imagine him in a break in the weather and slightly dried out.
His kit is conventional , except that as an SB he carries no weapons , only what he absolutely needs .
The jerkin is home-made from fine furnishing sheepskin from Little Trimmings, lined with some khaki cotton.
Shell-dressing haversack : remade from a DiD haversack with a new flap and straps. It contained shell dressings , bandages , and on occasions morphine syringes.
He has his own waterbottle , and a large RMC waterbottle with an aluminium cup…. the wounded were always thirsty.
I made it from a block of Sculpey covered in felt , and turned the cup from aluminium.
The stretcher : wooden beams fashioned out of pine stock from the model shop , the canvas from a piece of cotton , painted , and nailed to the beams with the tiniest of ship-modellers brass nails… took some time !
The metal feet and locking struts were cut and beaten out from sheet aluminium. The stretcher opens :
The uniform and helmet are all DML , slightly improved .
The scarf is from a khaki sock , and the insignia printed or hand painted.
The SB brassard is old-fashioned , and probably WW1 stock : most medics and many SBs wore the more conspicuous Red Cross white brassard , but I've followed the original photos.
It is to their credit that the Germans , whenever they could identify them always treated medical personnel with the utmost respect and humanity during this long campaign : in fact there were frequent local ceasefires to attend to the wounded , the medics from both sides often working together .
Unfortunately the chaos of war often meant that they were unintentionally fired on by both sides during the frequent barrages, and suffered heavy casualties themselves .
The head is No 57 in my collection .
Having found a casualty , patched and loaded him up , the M.O.appears, quickly assesses that he has a chance , then orders him taken down…
The M.O. , Dr McKay , has been called up in hurry , and is wearing his best BD .
( from DiD Monty , somewhat eccentrically adorned with RAMC collar dogs…. which help to cover the glue stains from removing the gorget patches from that uniform ) .. He's laid his mac across the patient , to try and prevent him getting any wetter.
Once he's as stable as can be managed in the appalling conditions, the casualty is sent down.
The assault on Monte Camino by the 46th and 56th Divisions was extremely costly , and not only in lives : the weight of artillery rained on it was such that someone quipped that it was costing $25,000 to kill each German : might not it be easier to offer them the money to surrender instead ?
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This figure sort of started as an RAMC orderly , but since my refs were not very detailed , I decided to change him into one of the Stretcher Bearers from the London Scottish tramping up and down Monte Camino in the winter of 43/44 ( part of the advance to the Cassino position ). This figure features in a Mike Chappell plate, itself based on a very moving photograph .
The weather in" Sunny Italy" was absolutely appalling that winter , and the pic on which this figure is based show the men completely wet through . Some of them are wearing jerkins , and others trying to keep the rain out with their gas capes.
These men did an absolutely heroic job , involving a long steep climb of up to three hours , frequently under fire, then the heart-rending business of finding and collecting severely wounded men and carrying them down the bloody mountain again.
They worked with RMC medics , whose training allowed them to treat the wounded effectively , but inevitably there were occasions when the SBs had to try to do that job themselves , as well as doing the carrying.
I blanched slightly at doing the permanent drenched look , which would involve varnish , and compromised by literally soaking him with a spray before taking the pics. The only problem with that was the overscale drips on his face !
So we have to imagine him in a break in the weather and slightly dried out.
His kit is conventional , except that as an SB he carries no weapons , only what he absolutely needs .
The jerkin is home-made from fine furnishing sheepskin from Little Trimmings, lined with some khaki cotton.
Shell-dressing haversack : remade from a DiD haversack with a new flap and straps. It contained shell dressings , bandages , and on occasions morphine syringes.
He has his own waterbottle , and a large RMC waterbottle with an aluminium cup…. the wounded were always thirsty.
I made it from a block of Sculpey covered in felt , and turned the cup from aluminium.
The stretcher : wooden beams fashioned out of pine stock from the model shop , the canvas from a piece of cotton , painted , and nailed to the beams with the tiniest of ship-modellers brass nails… took some time !
The metal feet and locking struts were cut and beaten out from sheet aluminium. The stretcher opens :
The uniform and helmet are all DML , slightly improved .
The scarf is from a khaki sock , and the insignia printed or hand painted.
The SB brassard is old-fashioned , and probably WW1 stock : most medics and many SBs wore the more conspicuous Red Cross white brassard , but I've followed the original photos.
It is to their credit that the Germans , whenever they could identify them always treated medical personnel with the utmost respect and humanity during this long campaign : in fact there were frequent local ceasefires to attend to the wounded , the medics from both sides often working together .
Unfortunately the chaos of war often meant that they were unintentionally fired on by both sides during the frequent barrages, and suffered heavy casualties themselves .
The head is No 57 in my collection .
Having found a casualty , patched and loaded him up , the M.O.appears, quickly assesses that he has a chance , then orders him taken down…
The M.O. , Dr McKay , has been called up in hurry , and is wearing his best BD .
( from DiD Monty , somewhat eccentrically adorned with RAMC collar dogs…. which help to cover the glue stains from removing the gorget patches from that uniform ) .. He's laid his mac across the patient , to try and prevent him getting any wetter.
Once he's as stable as can be managed in the appalling conditions, the casualty is sent down.
The assault on Monte Camino by the 46th and 56th Divisions was extremely costly , and not only in lives : the weight of artillery rained on it was such that someone quipped that it was costing $25,000 to kill each German : might not it be easier to offer them the money to surrender instead ?
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