TGW-004 – $ 90.00
Over There
Four 1:32 Scale (54mm) Pewter Figures and free Scenic Base.
Figures can be displayed on or off base.

American Army, 1917-18
After profiting from their experience in the Spanish-American War, the U.S. had put their whole army into the khaki, cotton webbing and cotton webbing introduced by Capt. Anson Mills in his inventions of 30 years before. The first Doughboy, advancing around a demolished garden wall, wears on his back the M1910 haversack. It is arranged in attack order, minus the awkward and cumbersome pack carrier that would have been attached to the haversack extending the whole rig uncomfortably beyond the soldiers tailbone. The haversack was supported by suspenders that clipped to the equipment belt (cartridge or pistol) on each side of the front buckle and in the middle of the back so that the pack and straps could take the place of the suspenders. He wears the M1910 rifle belt (dismounted cartridge belt) with ten pouches containing two, five-round stripper clips giving him a total of 100 rounds. Upon his head is the M1917 steel helmet copied from the British M1916 helmet. It was made of manganese steel and painted in a khaki-brown with a “sanded” finish, literally sand applied to the paint before it had time to dry.

This seasoned NCO also wears the M1910 haversack along with the M1910 shovel in its carrier and M1905 Springfield bayonet attached to the left side. On his belt is M1910 first aid pouch, M1910 water bottle with its cup fitted underneath the “canteen” inside a fabric carrier and a M1917 trench knife on his side. This particularly nasty weapon had a wooden grip with a hand guard forming a set of “knuckle-dusters” and a strong triangular blade that made a deep. piercing irregular shaped wound. He is armed with his trusty, old Springfield M1903/05 rifle in calibre .30-06, with M1907 sling. This excellent bolt-action rifle, generally based on the Mauser action, served well into World War II.

The kneeling soldier is firing his M1917 Enfield, the "American Enfield" a modification of the British .303 caliber P14 rifle the U.S. manufactured for England 1914-18. The rifle has a characteristic "belly" due to a deeper magazine, allowing rifle to hold six rounds of the US .30-'06 cartridge. Over his shoulder is the M1917 gasmask, copied from the British small box respirator, comprising a heavy face mask of rubberized cloth with an accordian-style tube conecting it to a filter cartridge carried permanently in its bag. Across his other shoulder is the French M1877 two-liter water bottle in covered in the old horizon blue cloth and the usual mug slung from one side of the cork string. Many a Doughboy used French equipment to supplement his kit.

This last Doughboy is also firing the M1917. This fine rifle weighed 9 lb. 3 oz. and was produced is such wast numbers that it outstripped its venerable counterpart the ’03 Springfield. By November 11, 1918 about 75% of the AEF were armed with M1917s. He also has his gasmask slung around his shoulder and over his other shoulder is a supplementary cartridge bandolier in light khaki cotton. Each of the five pouches held two of the five-round stripper clips. Attached to his belt is the M1910 bolo, with its 10 1/4 inch blade with a double-edged spear point. Bolos were not issued to every soldier but a few were distributed to each unit according to the type of unit deployed and their mission. Because of its shortness, weight, and guard, the Army's bolo was an inefficient brush knife.

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