"French Foreign Legion Desert Patrol" Topic

"Some sets make life easy for their customers (by saying what subject and date they are), and some don't. This is one that doesn't, so we have to start by fixing a date to these figures. The kepi with the havelock (cover and sunscreen) tell us that these are late 19th century to early 20th, and the pack and three-pouch equipment date them to after 1882. Unfortunately the men all wear half-gaiters, tied up at the side, which were discontinued in 1881, and none have the splatterdashes (used until 1897) or anklets (used until 1914), so we have a conflict there. The capote (greatcoat) that all here wear has a single button on the cuff and no rear vent, so is the 1897 model, which firmly sets the starting date for these uniforms, ignoring the incorrect half-gaiters. As for an end date, well the Havelock fell out of use in the infantry by 1914, and by 1918 a completely different pack was used, as were puttees around the lower legs, so given the gradual introduction of the new colonial uniform from c.1910 we can say these figures are dressed for the period 1897 to about 1912, the classic period for the French Foreign Legion as far as many are concerned…"

Full review here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Another time warp – the Lewis Gun (which appears to be carried by the middle figure, second row) was introduced in 1913.

Dog, PSR are already there

"When it comes to weapons this set contains a feature which initially confused us greatly. Most have a rifle of indeterminate model, but looks reasonable, but the middle figure in our second row carries a Lewis gun. To begin with, the Lewis gun was a British weapon that first began production in 1913, and only really got going during the War, so completely conflicts with the dating of the rest of the set. The French did buy some Lewis guns, but these were without the barrel jacket and were fitted to aircraft. Lewis guns were not issued to French infantry, nor the Foreign Legion, at any time either during or after the War, so as well as being for the wrong period, this is the wrong weapon for these men. Again, you can find the Legion using this weapon in films, but not in reality, so throw this useless figure away if you want accuracy."

Not much gets past their eagle eyes :-)

(smile)

Imho… is a good set!.

Amicalement
Armand

I think "you can find the Legion using this weapon in films" is the critical point. I'm sure there is, somewhere, a wargamer with a Foreign Legion force more inspired by the history of the French in North Africa than by Beau Geste and March or Die, but are there enough of them to be a viable market?