1 Section - Plough Jockeys

Here is the first infantry section for my 1st Canadian Division force for Operation Husky.  As I've been reading Farley Mowat's WWII memoir, 'And No Birds Sang', these are (in my mind, anyway) from Mowat's regiment, The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment, also known as "The Plough Jockeys" or "The Hasty Pees".

This group represents a rifle platoon section of 10 men, led by a corporal. Miniatures are Perry Miniatures' plastic Desert Rats.  The troops have the 'red patch' of the 1st Canadian Division; I decided not to attempt painting on the tiny shoulder titles.

Refer to Mike Dorosh's excellent website, canadiansoldiers.com for an explanation of the role and makeup of an infantry section in WWII.  

The section was divided into 2 sub-units, a rifle group of 6 men armed with rifles and grenades led by the corporal, with a submachine gun.

This group would maneuver into place and then assault an enemy position.  They would be supported by the Bren gun team of three men, the Bren gun operator and his number 2 and commanded by the section 2-i-c, a lance corporal.

I had a bit of fun assembling the figures.  The Bren gunner is intended to be in a prone position, but I decided to assemble one of them as if he was firing over a wall.  Then, once the glue was set, I realised I couldn't count on always having a wall available for him to fire over!  So I scrambled a bit and found these convenient sandbags that he can carry around with him.

The red dots at the back of each base are for gaming purposes.  These men are in 1 Section, so each have a single dot.  Other sections will get distinct marks as they come off the painting table as well, with the idea that this will help to prevent confusion once they move to the gaming table!