To the green fields beyond...

.. probably football fields in this case.

War is full of strange things. Maybe one of the stranger sights during the Great War would probably have been an attack on German trench lines on 1 July 1916. After eight days of constant but little effective shelling German defenders crawling out of their dugouts could see men storming across no man's land frantically kicking footballs before them.

This action took place on the Somme front and was part of a heavy blood letting exercise for the British Army, gaining little ground for massive costs in human lives. While this event seems to be widely known in Great Britain, I haven't come across it in Germany. Thus, when buying a pack of special character figures from Great War Miniatures I was a little perplexed as to what flight of fancy might have driven the sculptor. Some reading later I knew the details but still didn't know what to do with the figure. And so it sat unpainted in its drawer for what felt like an eternity. But when Curt announced the 'Sports' theme I instantly knew what to go for.

Well, I know the action was conducted by (probably only) B-Company of 8th Battailon East Surrey Regiment of the British Expeditionary Force. But I choose to paint this little fella up as being a member of 2nd C.M.R. (2nd Regiment Canadian Mounted Rifles) as a nod towards our esteemed Snow-Overlord. When I had the pleasure to meet him at Crisis in 2017 he gave me a Canadian Poppy Flower pin but alas I had nothing to give in return. To rectify this sad fact our gallant kicker will swing his way towards Canada in the near future.

As far as I know Curt has no connection with the 2nd C.M.R but I just found the Regimental Patch visually interesting and thought it would add a little colour to an otherwise rather drab figure.


So that's been my latest instalment from the trenches of the Great War. Stay safe!