Dutch bunker 1940

Another shelf queen off the desk, a 20mm Vacuform Beldona Dutch bunker. I prepared and filled the interior with two part putty. I elected to paint this one as a House which was common on the Greeb line. Most of the bunkers were manned by reservists with LMG and MMG.

Liveries of the War of the Roses

 Compiled Liveries of the War of the Roses

I have been putting together liveries of knights and lords that I have come across while researching WOTR, all I have compiled so far.

Edward Neville, Lord Abergavenny [d.1476] – green and white

William Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel [d.1487] – red and white

John Touchet, Lord Audley [d.1490] – yellow and red

John, Viscount Beaumont [d.1460] – white

William, 7th Lord Berkeley [active until at least 1483] – red

John Bouchier, Lord Berners [d.1474] – yellow and green

Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham [d.1460] – black and red

(also Henry Stafford d. of Buckingham, d.1483).

Sir Thomas Burgh/Borough of Gainsborough [d.1496] – blue

George, Duke of Clarence [d.1478] – murrey and blue

Thomas, Lord Clifford [d.1455] – white

Brooke, Lord Cobham [Edward d. 1464, John d. 1515] – black and red

Sir Marmaduke Constable [d. 1518] – red

Sir John Conyers [d.1490?] – white

Sir Richard Croft [d.1509] – white and blue

Randolf/Ranulph Lord Dacre of Gilsland [d.1461] – four stripes barry yellow and blue

Sir Richard Fiennes, Lord Dacre of the South [d.1483] – white

Thomas Courtney, Earl of Devon [1st, d.1458, 2nd d.1461] – red

Digby family – blue

Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset [d.1501] – white and dark red [murrey]

(also known as 3rd Lord Grey, 8th Lord Ferrers, Earl of Huntingdon in 1471, Marquis of Dorset in 1475)

Edward, Earl of March/Edward IV [d.1483] – Blue and Murrey

Edward, Prince of Wales [d.1471] – red and black

Henry Bouchier, Earl of Essex [1st d.1483, 2nd d.1529] – black and green

Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter [d.1475] – white and red

William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, Earl of Kent [d.1463] – white and blue

Walter Devereaux, 7th Baron Ferrers [d.1485] – white and red

Sir Edward Grey, 2nd Lord Grey, 7th Lord Ferrers of Groby [d.1461] – green

Sir John Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter [d.1461] – blue

William Bourchier, Lord Fitzwaurin or Fitz-Warine [still active 1469] – white and red [?]

Henry Lord Grey of Codnor [d.1496] – red and green

Edmund, Lord Grey of Ruthin and Earl of Kent in 1465 [d.1490] – red

Sir James Harrington [d.after 1497] – black [?]

William, Lord Hastings [d.1483] – dark red [or purple] and blue

Henry VI [d.1471] – white and blue

Henry VII – white and green

William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke [d.1469] – blue and red

John Howard, Duke of Norfolk [d.1485] – red

Thomas Howard [d.1524] – red and white

Thomas Talbot, Viscount Lisle or L'Isle [d.1470] – blue

Robert, 3rd Lord Hungerford and Lord Molynes [d.1464] – red and green

Francis, Viscount Lovell [died after 1487?] – blue and yellow

Thomas Fitzalan, Lord Maltravers, 12th Earl of Arundel in 1487 [d.1524] – black

John Neville, Lord Montague, earl of Northumberland 1464-1470 [d.1471] – red and black

Walter Blount, Lord Mountjoy – blue

John Neville 2nd Earl of Westmoreland [d.1461] – black and red

John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk [Ist d.1461, 2nd d.1476] – blue and red

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland [2nd earl d.1455, 3rd earl d.1461, 4th earl d.1489] – red and black

John De Vere, Earl of Oxford [Ist d. 1462, 2nd d. 1512] – orange or orange tawney

John Paston [d.1479] – red

Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke [d.1495] – white and green

Edward Poynings [active in 1485] – red

Richard of Gloucester/Richard III [d.1485] – murrey and blue

Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers and Lord Scales [d.1483] – green [but noted as blue and tawney at a tournament of 1478]

Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers [d.1491] – green

Thomas, Lord Roos [d.1464] – blue and yellow

Edmund, Earl of Rutland [d.1460] – murrey and blue

Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, 2nd Earl of Westmoreland, [d.1460] – red and black

John, Lord Scrope of Bolton [d. 1498] – white

John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury [1st d. 1460, 2nd d. 1473] – red and black

Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset [d.1464] – white and blue

Thomas, Lord Stanley later Earl of Derby [d.1504] – orange tawney and green

William Stanley [d.1495] – red

John De La Pole, Duke of Suffolk [d.1491] – blue and yellow

Humphrey Talbot [active until at least 1483] – black and white

Rhys Ap Thomas 'The Raven' [active until at least 1485] – white

Richard Tunstall [d.1491] – black and white [?]

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick [d.1471] – red

Lionel, 6th Lord Welles [d.1461] – black and red?

John, Lord Wenlock [d.1471] – white

Henry Willoughby – blue

Robert, Lord Willoughby [d.1501] – red and white

Richard, Duke of York [d.1460]- blue and white

John, Lord Zouche [d.1526] – black and murrey

Town contingents and militias:

1455 Coventry – green and red

1461 Rye – red

references

Standards, Badges and Livery colours of the wars of the Roses, Pat McGill, Freezy Water publications
Barry Slemmings, Hobilar Magazine, Lance and Longbow society

cheers

Matt

Grand duchy of Frankfurt Hussars

During the mid nineties my good friend Dean organised a Napoleonic campaign in Sydney. I had quite a large French minifig and old glory army at the time and I had just started to collect Confederation of the Rhine coalition troops. Eventually the campaign got underway and I found that I required Gendarmes to protect my rear and supply lines, so I built a number of Confederation cavalry units to meet the threat. I eventually built five hussar and light dragoon units to fulfil the role, Anhalt chasseurs, Frankfurt Hussars, Saxe-Ducal Hussars, Baden Hussars and Duchy de Berg chasseurs. This year I will be refurbishing my older miniatures bringing them up to current painting style and basing, so all of these units will be on the table at some stage.

In 1806 Frankfurt lost its status as a free imperial city with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon granted Karl Theodore Anton Maria von Dalberg, Prince Primate and Chairman of the Confederation Council, the former archbishop of Mainz;  received the titles of Prince Primate of Frankfurt, Aschaffenburg,  Regensburg, the possessions of the princes and counts of Lowenstein-Wertheim, Earl of Reineck and Count of Wetzlar. He also remained the Bishop of Worms, Konstanz and Regensburg.

  In 1810 Dalberg relinquished the Principality of Regensburg to the Kingdom of Bavaria, but gained the territories of Hanau and Fulda, raising the principality to the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. In 1813 the grand duchy temporal offices were passed onto Eugene de Beauharnais, Dalberg passed away in 1817 in Regensburg.

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt Hussars 1809
The actual unit never reached more than 60 strong and we're used as Gendarmes and messengers primarily between the cities of the Duchy. There is only one print of them in existence published in the Herzberg in Augsburg (K.K priv. Kunsthandlung) and is not noted in the Weiland Collection!

 The Frankfurt Hussars had a blue hussar styled Dolman trimmed with yellow braid and buttons. The Pelisse was blue with black lambswool and yellow lace and buttons. the Breeches were also blue, black hussar style boots laced in red. The barrel sash was red and yellow cord, white belts and black cartridge pouch. The horse harness was black with white sheepskin with yellow wolf-teeth edging. The Trumpeter is entirely fictional, but possibly should of been in red as the Ducal colours were red and white.

Duchy of Frankfurt Hussars

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt Hussars

References 

Duchy de Frankfurt

Uniform of the Duchy of Frankfurt

HERZBERG. -- True portraits of all the military costumes of the monarchs of Europe. -- Herzberg, K. K. Akademische Kunsthandlung. Augsburg, 1800-1814. -- Collection of 97 plates in-4, colored with the greatest care, and appearing in parts of 5 sheets. The single plate concerning the troops of Frankfurt is part of the 18th part (Allied troops of France). It gives the following types: Infantry Officer. -- Grenadier. -- Fusilier. -- Hussar.

Carnet de la Sabretache (novembre 1889). -- Reproduction of the plates from Herzberg, discussed above

Sarthe, août 1944 Histoire d’un Libération

Sarthe, août 1944, Histoire d’un Libération, Fabrice Avoie

 email the author to order favoieauteur@hotmail.fr

Sarthe, Août 1944, Histoire d'un Libération, Fabrice Avoie 2009

Recently researching fighting around my house and the closure of the Falaise pocket from the south in August 1944 , and reference to this book kept coming up. This book fully covers the breakout from Normandy, through Brittany and Pays de Loire and the push east through, Mayenne and Sarthe to Chartres, then north to close the Falaise pocket. The author spent 15 years attending unit reunions in Germany, France and America, to discover first hand accounts and rare never seen before photographs.

Day to day strength reports for german units in the fighting retreat and trying to hold the Mayenne then Sarthe river lines,.

German units include 

• 7th Army HQ units
• 17th SS Division
• 9th Panzer Division
• Panzer Lehr division
• 352nd infantry division
•  708th infantry division
•  91st infantry division
•  77th Infantry division
• 5th fallschirmjager division
•  Sicherungs regiment 1, 194, 195 and 196
• flak elements defending the radar stations at Domfront, Madre, oisseau, 
• Luftwaffe and Flak elements at Laval and Chartres air bases, 
• plus scratch kamfgruppes from retreating SS, Wehrmacht, Fallschirmjager and Luftwaffe units

Allied units include

• US 2nd Armoured Division
•  5th armoured Division
• 79th Infantry division
• 90th infantry division
• 80th infantry division
• 106th cavalry division
•  la 2nd division Blindés Francaise. 
• Plus air support and ground support units and air communication units.

The hardback book has 440 pages and is well worth the €38 price tag.

Recommend for those interested in the southern flank of the Falaise pocket actions, lots of photos, small unit actions and after battle reports to wade through. Probably the best I have seen in English or French on the southern flank of the German army.

Cheers

Matt