"Topical British in topees" Topic

I've been putting together a British/Commonwealth force for the early part of the war in the Far East and as the tropical uniforms were basically the same as that worn in the desert I've been using 20mm 8th army and western desert figures from various ranges. One of the things that I've found impossible to find are Lewis Gun teams in tropical dress with tin helmets. Many British units in the Far East were the poor cousins when it came to modern equipment and several had Lewis guns instead of Brens or in some cases a mix of both.

While searching I came across the Early War Miniatures range of British in topee helmets as they have Lewis gun teams. It didn't give me figures with helmets but I was aware there were British units in Malaya and Burma still equipped this way and with topees and 1908 webbing. Of course the figures would also work for East Africa and Syria/Lebanon.

There's more information and pictures about the project on my blog which you can see here More for the Far East

Here is the platoon (all figures from Early War Miniatures):

Very nice, though I would have painted the steel helmets green. Any chance you'd do a step by step guide of them?

Great brushwork! Thanks for sharing

I believe the helmets are all tropical pith helmets.
They look fine to me.

link

If you are still looking for tropical kit, Lewis guns and steel helmets, you can find such a figure in the Warlord Games Australian Militia pack.

Very nice, though I would have painted the steel helmets green. Any chance you'd do a step by step guide of them?

As someone has noted these are not steel helmets they are pith helmets. They are made of cork and covered with fabric the same colour as the uniforms.

Here are some pictures of units training in Malaya in November 1941 just prior to the Japanese invasion:

The headgear was standard issue for tropical climates and was also worn in the Syria/Lebanon campaign.

The thing that is uncertain is how often they were worn in combat (if at all). The photo below shows French troops wearing them in what looks like a combat situation. While this says nothing about British practice it does indicate European troops would wear them under those circumstances.

If you are still looking for tropical kit, Lewis guns and steel helmets, you can find such a figure in the Warlord Games Australian Militia pack.

Thanks but these are 20mm (I posted on the 20mm board but then cross posted without realising I hadn't mentioned these are 20mm figures).

Sorry mate. They look great. I assumed they were 28's.