Dear
Partners,
Welcome to
the New Year of 2024 and let’s
begin with a loud bang! Or perhaps a series of loud bangs to announce
three sets of great reinforcements for three of K&C’s most popular action
series…
The first bang
takes us down to the South
Atlantic and the short, sharp campaign that British forces
took to recapture the Falkland
Islands after Argentina invaded this small distant, wind-swept
group of British islands off the southern coast of South America.
The conflict
began on April 2nd, 1982 when Argentine troops stormed ashore and
occupied the main East Falkland Island, followed a day later by the attack on
South Georgia.
On April 5th,
just three days after the initial assault, Britain dispatched a Naval Task Force to
engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious landing on
the islands.
The conflict
was to last just 74 days
and ended with the complete surrender of the entire Argentine ground forces on
June 14th 1982, returning the islands
once more to British control.
In total,
about 650 Argentinean
military lost their lives along with 255 British servicemen and 3 Falkland
Islanders.
Back in 2022
to celebrate and honour the 40th Anniversary of
this very unique British victory and the thousands of men and women who made it
possible K&C released a number of special figures and one very special light reconnaissance vehicle that,
against all odds, defeated the much larger Argentine forces fighting against
them.
When the
Argentine ‘Junta’, the military
dictatorship that then ruled Argentina, decided to invade and take the Islands
by force they were under the false delusion that Britain would not fight for
this faraway territory peopled with just 1800 islanders
virtually all of whom were of British ‘stock’.
They also
falsely believed that Britain’s first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, would
not have the stomach for any kind of military action.
How fatally wrong they were!
After
seeking the advice of Admiral
Sir Henry Leach, the First Sea Lord who
asserted that ‘Britain
could and should send a task force’ the Prime Minister confirmed
her senior naval advisor’s opinion.
The
British ground forces that were then dispatched down south with the Naval Task
Force were many of the best and most professional soldiers Britain could
produce among them the following:
3
Commando Brigade Royal Marines including: 40
Commando, 42 Commando and 45 Commando plus… 29
(Commando) Regiment Royal Artillery
In
addition, among the British Army units deployed were the 2nd and
3rd Battalions
of The Parachute Regiment as
well as two whole squadrons, ‘D’ AND ‘G’ of
the Special Air Service.
This
month’s King & Country ‘Falklands’ release focuses
on the amazing exploits of the men of ‘2
PARA’ and their hard-won victory at ‘Goose
Green’ on May 28, 1982.
‘The
Battle of Goose Green’
A week
after the successful British landings on East Falkland it was decided that ‘2
PARA’ should attack the Argentine position nearest to the British
beachhead: Goose Green and
the civilian settlement at nearby Darwin.
Originally
it was thought that the number of enemy was about 500
strong including infantry and some artillery (both ground and anti aircraft).
This
original assessment of enemy troop strength was a gross underestimate.
At dusk
on May 26th, ‘2 PARA’ began their move
forward and by the morning of the following day their commander, Lt. Col ‘H’ Jones had planned his
attack on the enemy positions while his men remained undetected for most of
that day.
In the
early hours of May 28th ‘A’ Company of 2 PARA advanced on the left
flank and soon made contact with the first Argentinean
troops in that sector driving them backwards.
Soon
afterwards ‘B’
Company moved forward on the right flank encountering strong
opposition but swiftly overcoming it.
‘D’ Company held the centre
between ‘A’
and ‘B’
Companies. All of this took several hours however and by
first light all three assaulting companies were encountering heavy resistance
from machine gun and mortar fire and the advance ground to a halt.
At this
point, the Battalion Commander, Lt.
Col. ‘H’ Jones and his Tactical HQ moved up to
determine the cause of the delay and, frustrated by the slow progress, ran
forward and attacked an enemy machine gun position. Alas he was fatally
wounded but his attack inspired ‘A’ Company to
follow his assault and take the opposite enemy trenches and bunkers.
2 PARA’s
second-in-command, Major Chris
Keeble now took over as ‘B’ and ‘D’
Companies continued to press their attacks while ‘C’
Company took over ‘A’ Company’s position
in the centre as fighting continued.
By sunset
on May 28th the
Paras had taken Darwin and surrounded ‘Goose
Green’ but remained exposed to freezing conditions throughout the
night. Fortunately British helicopters continued
to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield and by dawn of the 29th, Major Keeble sent two Argentine prisoners into Goose Green
with an ultimatum and terms for the garrison’s surrender.
At 1450
hours the Argentinean commander decided to capitulate. It was a
remarkable achievement with ‘2 PARA’
triumphant against odds of over two-to-one!
Not one
of the 112 civilian prisoners
had been harmed, though 2 PARA lost 16 men killed and 36 severely
wounded plus another 30 suffering
minor injuries. A Royal Engineer and a Royal
Marine pilot were also killed in the action.
Argentina
lost 45 killed, 90 wounded and almost 1,000 captured.
A
hard-won victory but a great example of British military professionalism and
determination against a much more numerous opposition.
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TF007 ‘Lieut. Colonel ‘H’ Jones’ Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones, V.C.,
O.B.E. (1940-1982) known
as ‘H’ Jones, was the
commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, The
Parachute Regiment and the posthumous recipient of the Victoria
Cross, Britain’s highest military award for his leadership and
gallantry during the Battle of Goose Green. Our
K&C tribute to this brave soldier shows him leading the assault on an
enemy machine gun position still wearing his ‘Para’
red beret and firing his Sterling submachine
gun from the hip as he advances. His and
‘2 PARA’s’ achievement at Goose
Green set the tone for the subsequent land victory of the
British forces in the Falklands campaign. The
British achieved such a moral superiority over the much-larger enemy in this
first battle that despite the overall advantages of greater numbers and
strong defensive positions the Argentinean troops never threatened the far
superior fighting qualities of the British. |
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TF008 ‘Lying Prone Para Sniper Team’ A
sniper and his ‘number2’ lay down accurate, well-aimed rifle
fire on the enemy… A 2-man set. |
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TF009 ‘Charging Para’ Following
his C.O. in the assault on the enemy machine gun position this ‘2 Para’ soldier rapidly
moves forward with his L1A1 rifle. |
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TF010 ‘Kneeling Firing Para’ Taking the
knee and taking careful aim on one of the enemy with
his L1A1, at the time, the standard rifle of the British Armed Forces and… a
great infantry rifle. |
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TF011 ‘Standing Firing Para’ Another
obvious firing position with the L1A1. At that time, all British rifles
were semi automatic because British military
doctrine was… ‘every round is an aimed-round’. No
spraying the enemy with fully automatic… you are only wasting ammunition!’ |
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TF012 ‘Para Firing Bren Gun’ Although
technically retired from active service (by 1982) many British units
kept large numbers of these venerable and much respected Bren Guns in their
Regimental and Battalion armouries. As units
deployed down south and required additional firepower substantial numbers of L4A1 Bren Guns were
taken down to the Falklands and were used by both Parachute Battalions as
well as all Royal
Marine Commando units and Royal Navy ships. |
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TF013 ‘Kneeling Para w/M16A2 and M203’ This
kneeling Para is armed with the American-made M16A2 assault
rifle combined with the M203 Grenade
Launcher… a very useful weapon in any battlefield situation. |
AVAILABILITY: All of these single figures and the 2-figure set will be available in Early
January.
From the freezing
cold, windswept Falklands we move across the world to the warm waters of the
Pacific and the Island-hopping campaign in WW2 that took the U.S. Marines from
the dense jungles of Guadalcanal to
the black, volcanic sand of Iwo
Jima and beyond…
These nine new
Marines are assembling and then moving forward to their next objective.
All nine are ‘locked
and loaded’ and come with full backpacks and folded camouflaged
tent halves on top of their packs.
As well
as fitting into any WW2
Pacific war scene these same Marines could also be
used for a Korean War display.
After all the vast majority of their equipment,
weapons and uniforms were still of WW2 vintage!
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USMC061 ‘Standing Marine’ This
Marine has ‘shouldered’
his ‘M1 Garand’ and stands at
attention awaiting the order to ‘move out’. |
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USMC062 ‘Marching Marine’ This
trio of ‘Leathernecks’ are in
various marching poses as they set off on a long, long march. |
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USMC063 ‘Walking Marine’ Although
looking relaxed this Marine has unslung his M1 and
holds it read for action at a moment’s notice. |
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USMC064 ‘Standing Reading Marine’ This
Marine looks as if he is ready to present his rifle for inspection to one of
the company NCOs. |
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USMC065 ‘Standing-At-Ease Marine’ Also
awaiting inspection or perhaps ready to move out this
Marine stands at ease waiting for the command. |
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USMC066 ‘Watching Marine’ Another
standing Marine, rifle at the ‘ready’. |
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USMC067 ‘Walking Marine Sniper’ Armed
with the M1903A4 ‘Springfield’ Rifle
with the long sniper scope this walking Marine Sniper carefully scans the
countryside as he moves through it. |
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USMC068 ‘Walking Marine Officer’ All
U.S. Military officers were issued with the standard sidearm, the Colt M1911 semi-automatic Pistol.
In addition many WW2 infantry officers also carried
the M1 Carbine, a lightweight,
semi-automatic carbine that saw extensive use in the Korean and South
Vietnam conflicts. Like
all his men this officer also carries the full back pack
same as his men. |
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USMC069 ‘Walking Marine Sergeant’ This
NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) like his officer
also carries the Colt
M1911 Side Arm in addition to a M1928 ‘Thompson’ Submachine
Gun. |
AVAILABILITY: Mid January
Not so
big a jump this time… from the war in the Pacific to another war, this time in South
East Asia… VIETNAM during the infamous TET Offensive of 1968… Two of these new
2-man sets were directly inspired by the work of brave combat photographers who
went into the frontlines to see for themselves and record the true face of
battle in all its gore and glory…
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VN179 ‘Talking Care of a Buddy’ More
than a few of K&C’s ‘VIETNAM’
series have been based on actual photographs taken during or just after the
bloody firefights that erupted all over South Vietnam in the aftermath of
that 1968 TET Offensive of January and February 1968. The
photo in this case was taken by a young draftee photographer John Olson who
at the time was working for ‘Stars
and Stripes’ the Army’s own publication. Olson
carried five cameras shooting ‘black and white‘ film for Stars
and Stripes and colour film for
images he might sell elsewhere. Soon the full colour
versions appeared in LIFE magazine and that’s where I first remember seeing
it. In all of the photos John Olson took of
these figures they were all placed on top of an M48 tank however both
figures can just as easily be put on the ground or even on some of K&C’s
other ‘VIETNAM’ vehicles. |
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VN180 ‘Kneeling Grunts’ These two
Marines were actually designed to fit into K&C’s
upcoming Special Edition UH-1D
‘Huey’ Helicopter however as they are ready now,
why not, we surmised, just release them. As you can see
they can, like the above pair, fit into and onto all kinds display settings… The
choice is yours. |
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VN181 ‘What Me Worry?’ The basis
for this final pair of ‘Vietnam’
figures was another black and white image taken by the great British
photographer, Don
McCullin (now
Sir Don McCullin) during the TET
battles of 1968 in the old Imperial City of Hue. |
AVAILABILITY: Mid January
Not too many
items being retired this month but a number of
exceptional pieces among them… including quite a few Apaches and some Sioux and Cheyenne Warriors.
Grab’em while you can.
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HK248M "Master Wong" |
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HK248G "Master Wong" |
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HK249M "Master Wong’s Pupils" |
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HK249G "Master Wong’s Pupils" |
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RnB018 "Crucifixion of a Tribal Chief" |
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TRW072(P) "Crow Scout "Curly"" |
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TRW099 "Buffalo Hump" |
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TRW109 "Taza, Son of Cochise" |
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TRW111 "Watching and Waiting" |
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TRW113 "Chato" |
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TRW144 "Apache Standing Firing " |
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TRW145 "Lone Wolf" |
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TRW154 "Medicine Crow" |
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TRW155 "Black Cloud" |
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TRW173 "'The Hunter Becomes The
Hunted" |
And that, my friend, is January for you, 23 figures
in 3 different series. Let’s hope there is something for you.
Failing all of that there’s a lot more ahead for
you in this New Year of 2024 that I hope you will like. So, until we meet
again… Adios for now!
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Great
Sales! Andy C.
Neilson |