"Enemy on Island. Issue in doubt!"
The famous signal that heralded the fall of Wake Island to Japanese assault after a furious defence by U.S. Marine forces in December 1941.
Sculptor Mike Broadbent has designed a range of early Pacific War U.S. Marines, so you can refight some of those first confused clashes between Japan and the United States, in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor. These might include the amphibious operations against U.S. forces on Guam, Wake Island, or ultimately the U.S. troops that formed part of MacArthur's forces on the Philippines.
At Wake Island, a Japanese air raid (launched at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor) destroyed a number of U.S. Marine aircraft but left the atoll's meager shore defenses intact. When a Japanese invasion force arrived three days later, these shore batteries and the four surviving aircraft successfully drove the Japanese away - sinking two Japanese destroyers with great loss of life. However, the situation remained grim for the island's 450 U.S. Marine defenders. The air raids continued, vital equipment was in short supply, and a projected U.S. Navy operation to relieve them was aborted by Vice Admiral Pye when intelligence suggested the presence of two Japanese carriers and two battleships in the area. Twelve days after the original assault the Japanese force returned, this time reinforced with 1,500 marines, who managed to force a landing, despite losing two patrol boats. There was then a protracted land battle for the small atoll, during the night and most of the following morning, before the outnumbered U.S. garrison was finally forced to surrender. Although a defeat, the spirited defence remains a proud event in the annals of U.S. military history, and the success over the first Japanese invasion was the only occasion during World War Two that an amphibious assault was successfully repulsed by shore-based guns and aircraft.
Our new miniatures range depicts the U.S. Marines in their late 1941/early 1942 appearance - wearing leg gaiters and the British style (M1917 Brodie) helmet as opposed to the more familiar M1 helmet worn later in the war. They are equipped with Springfield rifles, Thompson SMG's, BAR's, and Browning HMG's, as well as some slightly more 'exotic' weapons for the U.S. Marines at this time - including a Boys Antitank Rifles and several Lewis machineguns. The latter were popular antiaircraft weapons, so Mike has added a Lewis gun on an antiaircraft mount so your troops can blaze away at those Japanese dive bombers!
To supplement this release, our future plans include a small selection of 15mm armed U.S. sailors, which we intend to release along with a complete range of 15mm 1941 Philippines Army figures - all sculpted by the talented Mr Broadbent.
Here are the catalogue details for the new miniatures:
15mm 1941 U.S. Marines
(from our 15mm World War Two range)
300WWT120 1941 U.S. Marine with Springfield rifle (8)
300WWT121 1941 U.S. Marine with BAR (2)
300WWT122 1941 U.S. Marine with Thompson SMG (3)
300WWT123 1941 U.S. Marine Browning HMG team, 2 figures (1)
300WWT124 1941 U.S. Marine with Boys anti-tank rifle (1)
300WWT125 1941 U.S. Marine officer (2)
300WWT126 1941 U.S. Marine mortar team, 3 figures (1)
300WWT127 1941 U.S. Marine artillery crew (3)
300WWT128 1941 U.S. Marine with Lewis gun (2)
300WWT129 1941 U.S. Marine with Lewis gun on anti-aircraft mount (1)
These miniatures can also be ordered in the U.K. from Fighting 15s, and in the U.S.A. from Eureka Miniatures U.S.A.