'Staying Warm'--three WWII American GI figures in overcoats standing around an oil drum brazier
$159.00
Item Number: BBA108
'Staying Warm'
These three ‘2nd Generation ’GIs are doing their level best to try and keep warm despite the fierce winter weather conditions that surrounds them. As one GI drinks some warm coffee, another enjoys a ‘smoke’, while the third guy just blows into his hands as all three stand around a discarded oil drum brazier that someone has turned into a ‘burn barrel’. As you can see all three GIs are still carrying their rifles, so the enemy can’t be too far away.
"Hitler’s Last-Ditch Gamble"
The German offensive into Belgium in December 1944 was a final, almost suicidal attempt by Adolf Hitler to catch the Western Allies by surprise, split them apart, and, perhaps, force them to seek a separate peace with the Nazis.
Only the stubborn willingness of some brave American units to stand and die prevented a major enemy breakthrough in what had been a quiet and peaceful stretch of the Allied line. This mighty struggle, which later became known as ‘The Battle of The Bulge’, ranks as the largest and most important battle ever fought by the U.S. Army in all of WWII in any theatre of war.
More men, vehicles, supplies, equipment, aircraft, and military effort went into this important battle than any other in American history. It was bigger than Gettysburg… more extensive than the Normandy Landings… and even larger than the 1990 Gulf War. 31 American divisions, fully one third of the entire U.S. Army during WWII, saw action in this battle.
Over two months, from December 16, 1944 until January 25, 1945, nearly 20,000 Americans were killed--almost as many as in all of the 80 days of fighting from the D.Day Invasion until the battles in the Normandy ‘bocage’ ended in August 1944. ‘The Battle of The Bulge’ is the story of men frozen and fighting in the most appalling winter conditions as the snow piled up around their foxholes while enemy artillery splintered the forests above them that provideded shelter. Their dogged determination in the face of a fanatical foe brought Hitler’s offensive finally to a grinding halt before forcing them back into the crumbling remains of the once vaunted and much-feared Third Reich.
Here are the latest reinforcements to K&C’s U.S. Army ‘Winter Warriors’…
As per our other ‘Bulge’ GI figures previously issued last year, these new reinforcements are wearing their web fighting order on top of the standard ‘Enlisted Man’s’ wool overcoat complete with brass buttons. This full-length, double-breasted overcoat was worn throughout the last winter of the war although a tad cumbersome when water-soaked or when the long skirts got caked with mud it was still generally well-liked by the troops themselves. Especially in the bitterly cold, freezing winter found in the Ardenness in December 1944.
Released in OCTOBER 2023.
