YANKS Miniatures
9603

When the December 1944 German offensive smashed through the thin American lines in the Ardennes, they caught thousands of soldiers unawares. Most of them had been sent there for R&R and refitting, particularly the 28th Infantry Division, which had been severely mauled in the savage fighting of the Hürtgen Forest a few weeks earlier. Many of the soldiers on the line were green reinforcements, whose first taste of combat was this overwhelming juggernaut. Some broke and ran, but enough stayed and fought with little ammunition or supplies, trying to hold on until help could arrive. They managed to delay the German advance, buying time for the 101st Airborne Division to secure its hold on the pivotal town of Bastogne. In the process, however, thousands of GIs were taken prisoner in the worst rout the US experienced in WWII. 

These two figures reflect the experiences of many American soldiers in the initial days of combat. Their arms raised in surrender, they cautiously advance toward their captors. They both wear the long wool melton overcoat with brass buttons and the canvas leggings over their combat boots. They have no web gear; though the package photo shows them as medics with the Red Cross insignia on their helmets, they could be any soldier during the early fighting (there are no insignia decals with the figures). Their hands are painted a drab or leather color, to suggest gloves, though there’s no evidence of them in the casting of the hands. Their faces have an appropriate dejected look, and the one with the bandage over his left cheek looks especially pained.

The molding is clean and crisp. Typically, the torso and leg sections are joined at the waist; while the joint on the back of the figures comes below the stitched-in rear belt, it looks like they might need a bit of putty and sanding to accomplish a smooth surface for the front of the coats. The figures appear to scale 6’+, putting them in line with most Verlinden figures and many from DML, Warriors and Jaguar.

If you can find this pair and the companion set #9608 “U.S. POW’s Standing” you’ve got a good start on a diorama of some of the Allies’ darkest days.

-tss-