Second World War Canadians

With many of the Conscripts involved in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, there have not been many posts on our blog page lately, so here is another one of my ‘Armies in Review’ posts. When I started doing Bolt Action my first army of choice was a Canadian force, and as I had been a member of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada in my younger days, I wanted to paint up my infantry units marked for the 2^nd Canadian Division, and all the supporting units marked for those that actually supported the Camerons in Northwest Europe in 1944-45. At the moment I can currently field two 38 man infantry platoons, a company headquarters, a 6pdr anti-tank gun, 3 Vickers medium machine guns, 2 medium mortars, a carrier platoon of four Universal carriers, a few 25pdr field guns, a forward observation officer, a reconnaissance troop of scout and armoured cars, a troop of Sherman tanks, and a pair of Ram Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers.

The full force on parade.

Vickers machine gun teams, mortar teams, and 6pdr anti-tank gun

The machine gun teams are a mix of manufacturers being (from left to right) old school Bolt Action, Crusader Miniatures, and Westwind Miniatures. The team 'on the move' is also by Westwind. The 6pdr anti-tank gun and the mortar teams are by Battle Honors.

Carrier platoon to rapidly move the support weapons

The two carriers on the left are metal models by Battle Honors, with crews and extra stowage by Bolt Action. The two carriers on the right are resin casting by Bolt Action, as are the crews. The dimensions for the Battle Honors carriers are a bit off, primarily in that the part of the vehicle in front of the driver is too short. They end up being wider than the Bolt Action castings, but the same length.

Ram Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers

The Ram Kangaroos are conversions using the chassis from a 1/50 scale Solido Grant tank and a resin kit from Quarter Kit. I had purchased the Grants as something to use with my Soviets, but once I had enough T34/76 tanks, they got repurposed. The conversion kit went together very nicely, but I think they are no longer available.

Company headquarters, with supporting artillery in behind

All the figures are from the Westwind range, with the jeep being a repainted 1/50 scale Corgi diecast model with a crew from Bolt Action that was specifically marketed to go with the Corgi jeeps. At some point I have to do a conversion on the officer to replace his forage cap with a proper Highland Balmoral.

First platoon of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada

The platoon consists of a headquarters, a PIAT team, a light mortar team, and three 10 man sections, all wearing the blue divisional patch of the 2nd Canadian Division. The infantry sections are a mix of Westwind Miniatures and Crusader Miniatures. The Westwind figures are closer to true 25mm size, and I really love the animation in the sculpts. Each section consists of a section commander with a Sten gun, a Bren gun team and seven riflemen. The officer, NCO, and radio team of the platoon headquarters are Westwind castings, and the PIAT and Mortar teams are from Crusader.

Second platoon with the same composition as the first

A reconnaissance troop of two scout cars and two armoured cars

The reconnaissance regiment of the 2nd Canadian Division was the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Canadian Hussars). The Daimler 'Dingo' scout cars and the Daimler armoured cars are repainted Dinky Toy diecast models that I picked up cheaply from eBay. All had seen a lot of wear and tear, and much of the original paint had worn off, which was the main reason why I got them for the minimum bid. I didn't mind about the paint as I planned to repaint them anyway.

A troop of Sherman tanks 

The 2nd Canadiain Division regularly received armoured support from the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. Since this gave me another opportunity to represent a home town unit on the gaming table, these Shermans are marked as 'C' Squadron Fort Garry Horse. They are all Solido 1/50 diecast models. Two were originally the version of the Sherman with the 105mm howitzer. On one of these I replaced the howitzer barrel with an appropriate 76mm barrel, while the other was converted to a Sherman 'Firefly' with a 17pdr anti-tank gun using a resin kit from Quarter Kit. All have extra track sections welded to their hulls to beef up their armour, as well as plenty of gear stowed on the rear deck. The extra track and stowage are resin casting.

25pdr field gun, transport, and a forward observation officer

One of the artillery units that was part of the 2nd Canadian Division was the 4th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery. All the vehicles sport the proper tactical signs for that unit. The field gun, limbers, and crew are Battle Honors casting, while the Quad Field Artillery Tractors are again Dinky Toy diecast models acquired off of eBay and repainted. 

Me (on the right) in a Universal carrier

The above photo was taken in front of the Manitoba Legislative Building during the 100th Anniversary parade of the formation of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada in 2010. The vehicle bears the correct tactical signs for the Camerons. Thanks for reading. I wish everyone all the best in 2022, and good luck to all the Conscripts who are involved in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.