16th Luftwaffe Felddivision - Part Three

16th Luftwaffe Felddivision. 

Completed my luftwaffe field division  infantry regiment using SHQ figures which are closer to 1/76 rather than 1/72 but are lovely figures never the less. I have a regimental HQ stab coy, two Stab HQ for the two battalions, 6 rifle companys and support coy of MMG and Mortar, plus anti tank battalion assets. I need to add a motorcycle Feld Gendarmerie platoon, a regimental Kitchen platoon, Sanits platoon, sniper and supply wagons to the Regiment HQ. 

For the remainder of the division I am currently working on the supply, medical, anti armor regiment, Anti aircraft regiment, artillery regiment and support vehicles and wagons at the moment, hopefully complete them over the coming two weeks. 

1st Battalion Luftwaffe Felddivision

2nd Battalion Luftwaffe Felddivision 

Really happy how the luftwaffe camo smocks have come up and the anti tank gun colours also.  I have built the division so they can be used in Normandy, Russian Front and Holland. 

Regimental Stab (still requires medic, kitchen wagon and field police) 

1st battalion Stab HQ

1st Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

2nd Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

3rd Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

2nd Battalion  Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

6th Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

7th Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

8th Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

9th Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

10th Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

10th Company Luftwaffe Felddivision 16

Cheers

Matt

 British Parachute Brigade additions

Another project this winter analogue painting challenge is to complete my Dday/Arnhem British parachute brigade kit. I want add all of the ancillary bits, supply, proper foldable airborne AT guns, motorbikes,  tractor towed AT guns, tractor  towed artillery, Ops command centre. Plus complete all my British gliders. 

1. Airborne supply dump, a small dio I have in mind. 
2. Replace my 6pdrs with foldable airborne AT guns (replace the airfix plastic 6pdrs )
3. Airborne motorbikes, just need to paint them!
4. Morris cut down gun tractors with towed 17 per AT guns and mounted crews
5. Morris cut down truck deployed
6. Jeeps more jeeps and crews!
7. Ops command centre
8. Three horsa gliders especially marked for Pegasus bridge with the landed versions as close as I can get them to the pictures. 
9. Another 3 Horsa for Dday/Arnhem
10. Build and complete my Hamilcar
11. Paint my Light Tank Mk VII (A17), also known as the Tetrarch

This will give me a total of 10 gliders I can put on my table.

Cheers

Matt

50th Infantry Division Tyne Tees Project Part 2

 50th Infantry Division Tyne Tees 

This years big ww2 project is the 50th Infantry Division for D-Day to Holland. I have chosen my favourite 20mm figs for my Brits from my stash of Britannia miniatures. Painting has commenced and is more than halfway complete of the infantry figures after three days.

I will break this into the 69th division first, plus support elements, then perhaps another infantry Division later on. Rapid Fire rules so Battalions are around 40 figures.

69th Infantry Brigade Brigadier F.Y.C Knox

• 6th Battalion, Green Howards lt Col R.H.W.S Hastings
• red flash behind cap badge

• 7th Battalion, Green Howards lt Col P.H Richardson

• 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment lt Colonel G.W White

1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers (D-Day)
6th Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers

81 SQN 

Churchill AVRE fascine Built not painted
Churchill Avre Bobbin Built not painted

Churchill bridgelayer Built not painted

Royal Armoured Corps (D-Day)

Westminster Dragoons

HQ 

dingo built

M14 AA (not Purchased)

2 x trucks complete

M32 Sherman Armoured Recovery Vehicle (not built)

A sqn 2 x sherman crab flail tanks (not built)

C sqn 2 x sherman crab flail tanks  (not built)

141st Royal Tank Regiment (all of the regiments churchills names began with S)
I will model 

C Squadron commanded by lt Shearman 13 troop small turret number 13

Three crocodiles from 13 Troop landed at La Riviere where one floundered in a deep underwater crater and the other two crocodiles were able to get ashore.

1 x churchill crocodiles ("Sandgate" T173174H commanded by lt John Shearman MC) Built not painted

1 x Churchill crocodile ("Sandling "T173174  commanded by Sgt Reg Webb) (not purchased)

The two crocodiles supported the 7th Green Howards (69th Brigade, 50th Infantry Division) assault on the La Marefontaine gun battery (WN32) which contained four Czech 100mm guns located in fields outside the hamlet of La Marefontaine south of Ver-Sur-Mer.

Royal Marines (D-Day)

1st Royal Marine Armoured Support Regiment

A troop
1 x centaur (completed) 

No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando

HQ coy (partial complete)
4 companies (partial complete)

Royal Artillery

74th (Northumbrian) Field Regiment

296th (4th) Durham M7 105 preists 

298th (1st) Durham (towed 25 pounders)

90th (City of London) Field Regiment 

357th (1st city of London) sexton 25 pounders Sherman V observation tanks 

358th (2nd city of London) sexton 25 pounders, Sherman V observation tanks 

102nd (Northumberland Hussars) Anti-Tank Regiment

99th battery

2 6pdrs Guns and bren carrier

1 M10

288th battery

2 x 6pdrs and bren carriers

1 M10

The 102nd had their own tac plate of blue and light blue 

198th battery (attached from 73rd AT regiment)

2 x M10

234th battery (attached from 73rd AT regiment)

2 x M10

25th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment

Polston AA 20mm gun and tow

1 x crusader AA

82nd LAA battery

Bofors AA battery

2024 project will be the DLI

151st Infantry Brigade Brigadier R.H Senior

6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry lt Col A. E Green
8th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry lt Col R. P Lidwell

9th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry lt Col H.R Woods 
(The 9th DLI left 30 November 1944, joined 131st Brigade, 7th Armoured Division)

231st Infantry Brigade Brigadier A.B.G Stainer

1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment lt Col H.D.N Smith

1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment lt Col E.M Norrie

2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment lt Col C.A.R Neville

56th Brigade Brigadier E.C Pepper

2nd Battalion The Essex regiment lt Col J.F Higson

2nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment lt Col D.W Biddle

2nd battalion South Wales Borderers  lt Col R.W Craddock

Corps Elements 

61st Reconnaissance Regiment, Reconnaissance Corps

plus assorted trucks, medical and bits

cheers

Matt

50th Infantry Division Tyne Tees Work in Progress Part 1 ww2 British

50th Northumbrian Infantry Division 

Tyne Tees

This month I have started on my 20mm Collection to complete some half completed projects in my project drawers. 

On the work desk this month are 100 plus 20mm British Infantry for the 50th Infantry Tyne Tees Division. I hope to have these completed by the end of this week. I have decided to build several elements of the division,  first up will be the

69th Infantry Brigade 

• Brigade Head Quarters 
• 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment
• 6th Battalion, Green Howards
• 7th Battalion, Green Howards
• support elements

I also plan to build the DLI, No.47 commando and the crab flails of the Westminster dragoons, plus RMASG, and other support elements, engineers, artillery etc for Dday and inland.  

I also have a lot of support elements and drivers to complete, plus vehicles. Infantry Figures are all Britannia miniatures which I like to paint, some of the crewed vehicles will have some AB and SHQ bits too. 

East Yorkshire flashes

The unofficial Green Flashes, not approved until after the war, I have found no solid proof that were worn in France

The official Flash which I will use

Cheers

Matt

D-Day and Arnhem, supplies from the sky! Airborne CLE canisters and Baskets

Modeling British Airborne CLE supply canisters

Coming up to D-Day this year I have started to revamp and add some bits to my 20mm British Airborne units, gliders and paratroops. As an ex Para, I have a lot of these chaps, I have already built two regiments of paras (120 odd figures) and a battalion of Glider borne troops for Arnhem, plus I have the Canadians and Poles not painted yet sitting in the unpainted pile, but my goal this year is really to add the fluff to the collection and mini dioramas to my British Parachute division collection.

First up will be some Central Landing Establishment or C.L.E supply canisters (postwar called container light equipment) plus a few larger wicker panniers along with the coloured parachutes for my supplies. With the advent of the British Parachute units supply was seen to be an issue so they simply copied the german idea of supply canisters, this is primarily for my reference but happy to share. I will also do an American supply article to coincide with my US airborne revamp.

C.L.E container

The delivery of the containers was in a variety of ways. The C-47 Douglas Dakotas were fitted with 6 attachment hard-points for canisters to be dropped with the parachutists, often missed by modellers who build a C-47 with parachutists deploying under canopy. Any bombers or fighters could use the hard bomb points to deliver supply canisters also. The American C47 had a protective front for the canister as there parachute supply canisters were fabric.

C-47 Dakota with CLE containers attached 

Duxford Museum 

Loading CLE containers onto hardpoints

parachute inspection before loading 

note the red cross on the container 

Lysander resupply type H container 

Basket drop Arnhem 

supply drop Stirling Bombers 

The C.L.E. Containers were all very similar, basically a hinged tube, one end had a hollow fitting for the parachute, and the other end had a percussion crash dome attached. The metal percussion head was a primitive shock absorber with rubber inserts; with a rounded end it was designed to roll with the fall direction or even collapse upon impact with the ground if there was no wind (common because of the British parachute design), this reduced the amount of force on the container’s contents. The percussion head also could house a flashing light for night drops, it was also detachable so it could be replaced, and the container could be reused.

C.L.E. Mark I Container 

It was made from a metal framework faced with plywood; constructed in two halves that were then hinged together to form a hemispherical cylinder with four carry handles. Internally it had structural ribs and could be divided up into one large, or alternately two or three compartments with plywood dividers, allowing either smaller containers or smaller items to be packed separately. It was closed with two external latches. The Mark I was 6 feet 2 ½ inches in length, with a diameter of 1 foot 2 inches; it weighed 103 ½ pounds empty, with a maximum loaded weight of 350 pounds. Typically 12 rifles, or eight rifles and either a Bren or vickers MG with 1000 rounds of 303 cartridges. I have seen them RAF blue-grey, white and OD green.

C.L.E. Mark I.T. Container 

It made entirely of metal, it was 6 feet 2 ½ inches, it however it was a flat-bottomed cylinder. It was heavier ,135 pounds, but had the same maximum loaded weight of 350 pounds. Like the Mark I, it closed with two external latches. More commonly used for ammunition, Piat and mortar ammunition, petrol in specially designed round tins, and the welbike. After World War II, the Mark I.T. was referenced as the Mk. 1 (T) and was used up until the 1960s, with the last operational use in the 1956 Suez crisis. I have seen them painted OD Green and Raf blue-grey, white and black for resistance drops (with a shovel attached for burying)

The famous Wellbike folding motorbike

Webley pistol ammunition

packing small items and felt padding 

C.L.E. Mark III Container 

The mark III was 5 feet 6 ½ inches, completely cylindrical, with a diameter of 1 foot 2 inches. The Mark III was made of either all-metal or metal-framed plywood construction. The Mark III weighed 113 ½ pounds empty; the original maximum loaded weight was 350 pounds, but after extensive use the maximum weight was revised to 400 pounds. The Mark III had a twin internal locking mechanism; a rectangular cutout at the parachute end of the container gave access to the locking handle. It also had four lamps in the cone. By 1943, the Mark III was intended to replace the earlier containers, unless a specific load required the greater length. Post-war manuals reference the Mark III as the Mk. 3. After World War II it was used up until the 1960s, with the last operational use in the 1956 Suez crisis. I have also seen them painted Green, RAF Blue-grey and white.

centre of gravity check, really important to prevent canister oscillation 

Pegasus museum Bénouville have two examples of canisters 

C.L.E Mark III Type C Container 

It was 5 feet 1 inches and exclusively used by the SAS, it was the same as the C.L.E mark III however, three external latches, it was painted black and had no cone, but rubber dampening pad only. The CLE mark III weighed 350lBs loaded, with a 205lb payload. The parachute deployment also differed it had a spring ejected auxiliary parachute that deployed the main chute, rather than a static line deployment, so it could be dropped under 400 feet.

A rare survivor in the resistance museum in Brittany. 

CLE Mark III type C SAS rubber tip vs round metal 

The Type E Container 

The type E was rectangular in shape with a hinged lid, and was designed specifically for dropping the Number 18 wireless/telegraphy set. The sets were packed in felt pads and rubber absorbers. The 1943 manual does not list the size of the Type E, it does give the weight as 89 pounds empty, or 190 pounds when loaded with the No. 18 W/T set; the 1960 manual does not reference the Type E. Only seen these in OD green.

Duxford Airborne Museum Type E

The Type F Container 

The type F was also rectangular, but longer than the Type E; it was 5 feet 8 ½ inches long, and 1 foot 2 inches tall by 1 foot 2 inches wide. The Type F could carry several different wireless/telegraphy sets, specifically the No. 11, 19, 21 or 22 sets. the sets were packed in felt pads and rubber absorbers. The container weighed 92 pounds empty; the loaded weight varied depending on the type of W/T set carried, but the maximum weight was 340 pounds. Only seen these OD green.

Type F container 

Type H container

Especially designed for the for SAS, SOE and resistance, based on the CLE mark III. The type H container was much lighter than the other types, as the casing was not reinforced because of the cell nature of the container and the rubber bumper nose cone, a gross weight of 330 pounds (149 kg) loaded with a 235lb (106.5 kg) payload.
The container was held together with a rods that threaded through the body, as each shell separated, the cell sections could easily be carried by one man by its carry handle or two cells could be connected with a webbing carry strap and slung over the body. The cell components were lettered for easy identification of the contents (see markings below), and easily passed out to the different resistance sections in a matter of moments at the reception area. The original H 1942 model was 5ft 6 inches, but as the war progressed they could be adapted to any length of sections. Only the parachute and the rubber nose cone had to be buried on site with a spade strapped to the outside to aid in its burial. The parachute deployment was the same as the CLE mk III and had a spring ejected auxiliary parachute that deployed the main chute, rather than a static line deployment, so it could be dropped under 400 feet.

The English and Australian army were still using the H type containers in the 1990s when I served in the Australian airborne and special operations.

A breakdown of the segments 

The breakdown allowed the sections to be carried individually 

Baskets

Another item developed for dropping supplies was the wicker pannier, which was essentially a very large woven wicker basket and a plywood base. Rectangular in shape L 36.2 inches x W 21.6 inches x H 15.7 inches, they were only be dropped from C-47 that had been adapted for their use and were on transport rollers in the aircraft due to weight. They were in two halves, the top was slightly larger than the bottom so it could fit over it and had four braided rope handles. The two halves were not attached; there were no latches or hinges. Instead, the two halves were lashed together with green webbing straps. This gave the advantage that the size of the load did not have to be precise; the pannier could be expanded as needed. The wicker pannier had a maximum loaded weight of 500 pounds.

Typically, two panniers were bundled together; the dispatchers commonly referred to it as the “daisy chain” method, and naturally allowed for the panniers to be dispatched in half the time. One pannier was stacked on top of the other, and they were attached with lightweight cotton ties. Each pannier had its own parachute, but with different lengths of static line; this would cause them to open at different times, breaking the ties and separating the two panniers for landing. Alternatively they could be grouped together in groups of two, four or six with two parachutes Type R Mk1. this required four dispatches to get them out of the plane fully loaded.

C-47 despatch rollers 

despatch exercise 19th April 1944 

basket contents 

Single or double strapped baskets 

Parachutes

The standard cargo parachute could be with made of silk, rayon or cotton blend, with heavy weight cotton thread in natural colour, and was standardised in 1942.

Type R Mk1 parachute - made from Rayon for light loads

GQ Irvin type X -the most common for canisters cotton blend.

Weight of delivery Up to 40lbs - 12 Foot Canopy
Weight of delivery 41 - 80 lbs - 16 Foot Canopy
Weight of delivery 81 - 120 lbs - 20 Foot Canopy
Weight of delivery 121 - 160 lbs - 24 Foot Canopy
Weight of delivery 161- 200 lbs - 28 Foot Canopy


Heavy equipment parachute 42F - 42 foot canopy for multiple baskets, and heavy items.

Parachute colours

The cargo parachutes were made originally in OD green in a variety of colours so that supply drops could be colour-coded. Different types of supplies, such as ammunition, rations, and medical equipment, could be designated by the colour of parachute and marked on the canister in a variety of ways; There was not a set system, and the colour-coding did vary for each operation.

DDAY Parachute Colours 

Red =Ammunition and ordnance
Yellow = medical supplies
Light Blue = Food
White = general supplies
Green = Signals

Arnhem and Varsity

Red =Ammunition and ordnance
Yellow = signals
Light Blue = Fuel
White = medical
Green = Rations

SOE Parachutes 

Black = SOE/Resistance drops

Canister and Basket Markings 

The C.L.E containers carried a number of markings, from colour-code the tips of canisters and actual painted or sticker markings. More research required here!


motor cycle - motor cycle
C5 - Explosives
Medical - White red cross

SAS and SOE markings

SAS canisters were divided into sections each section of the canister was marked on the outside.

H1 explosives and accessories
H2 machine guns and ammunition
H3 various armaments
H4 incendiary equipment
H5 sabotage equipment

Manufactures of containers for Modelers and Wargamers 

15mm- 1/100
Flames of War

Frontline resin 

20mm-1/72
S and S Models CLE canisters
https://sandsmodels.com/product/gb-para-cle-container/

Grubby Tanks - Britannia Miniatures canisters
https://www.grubbytanks.com/product/defence-in-depth/accessories/parachutes-drop-canisters-x-5/
https://www.grubbytanks.com/product/britannia-miniatures/20mm-world-war-two/british-airborne-forces/para-with-3-supply-containers/

AB miniatures CLE canisters
https://eurekaminusa.com/collections/world-war-ii-20mm-british/products/inb58-airborne-drop-zone-coming-soon

Battlefield Miniatures
https://www.battlefieldminiatures.co.uk/AIRBORNE_PARACHUTES.htm

SHQ Miniatures
https://shqltd.com/product/bp45-supply-containers-2-open-1-x-closed-canisters-and-2-x-baskets/

Simons Soldiers

Airfix
container is a quite box like, and only one in a pack.


28mm
1st Corps make some lovely kit
https://1stcorps.co.uk/product-category/20th-century/20th-century-world-war-2/20th-century-ww2-ww2-great-britain/20th-century-ww2-british-airborne/20th-century-ww2-british-airborne-paratroops/page/2/


Warlord games,
https://store.warlordgames.com/products/british-airborne-drop-canisters


good painting refence from the 1/35th Black Dog selection

I will be purchasing some, scratch building baskets and making a mold for casting in resin as I need about 40 of them. the next article will have my attempts!


cheers
Matt’s