Just a few quick thoughts while I'm waiting on my dinner to cook. My first awareness of the battle for Crete was through a painting that hung in my highschool library. I think that it had been donated by the RSA (Returned Services Association) and I expect that it was a print, though it may very well have been the original. The painting depicted troops from the New Zealand Division fighting off the descending Fallschirmjager. I enjoyed that painting very much; I always get a little bit moist-eyed when I think about how magnificently brave all of those who participated in the war were, but I also think that my appreciation for the painting was also because it displayed New Zealand's place in history. It's hard not to feel sometimes that we are so very far away from the important things that are going on! Not a particularly forgiveable feeling given that I am well aware of New Zealand's history, and that I have an undergraduate degree in History! I couldn't find any images of the painting online, I'll do some further digging and try and post one if I can.
Back to the basing for my Commonwealth Infantry, if I am to model them taking cover behind rock formations, then I'd also like to model a little bit of battlefield detritus along with them - perhaps some ammunition boxes, water bottles, discarded magazines, et cetera. I haven't done any research into any miniature lines for these things yet, but I expect that there will be something along those lines being sold somewhere!
Garth and I have been exchanging a wee bit of banter while we've been planning our forces for Flames of War. He thought that I should model flames onto my Churchill tanks to save time and hassle during our games. My delighted riposte was that he should probably model his Fallschirmjager hanging from trees!
In other news, my copy of Hellfire and Back has shipped, as have a few other things. I'll post an update and perhaps an unboxing when they arrive!
Cheers!
