Heliograph team, Egypt and Palestine c1915 - Eureka 15mm British in Sinai conversion

In the BEF signals were dealt with by the Royal Engineers:

In 1914 each infantry Division included a Signals Company with a total strength of 162 men. It was organised into a Company HQ and 4 Sections, of which No 1 Section was responsible for communications with Divisional HQ and Nos 2-4 with the Brigades of the Division.
Source: http://www.1914-1918.net/whatfieldcoy.htm

Among the equipment available to the signallers, was the heliograph which employed a mirror (often mounted on a tripod) that was used to 'flash' Morse Code.

You can see some original footage of a heliograph in action here:

The heliograph was valued for its mobility, being quick to set up. It was a cheap signalling system with an impressive communication range in the right terrain. A 5 inch reflector had a signalling distance of some 50 miles (80 km), whilst the 9 or 12 inch models had a range of up to 80 miles (130 km). Best of all, in the Middle East theatre, there was plenty of sun!

Signals posts play an important role in the command system of If the Lord Spares us (ITLSU) rules by increasing the distance over which Battalion COs can operate effectively from the Brigade Commander-in-Chief.

There are no signals figures among the Eureka 15mm range so some conversion was necessary to obtain some signal posts. I have always liked the iconic images of heliograph teams operating in Egypt and Palestine, so wanted to put together some for my British.

The figures that provided the best conversion opportunity were the British in Sinai Artillery Crew (300HBC84). Here's a few pictures of how I approached the conversion.

The tripod is made of brass wire with a thin section of PVC tube for the mirror frame (white) and a circle of foil for the mirror itself (added after painting). Each 'leg' of the tripod was about 12mm / 0.5 inch.

I made some holes for the tripod using a heated nail. This is a 30mm base (~ 1 1/4 ") and the holes are 6mm (1/4") apart.

The tripod legs are glued in place.

The heliograph operator is made from the Eureka artillery crewman holding a shell. With the shell cut out it leaves his hands in quite a good position - looking like they are operating the Morse key behind the mirror.

The crewman with the coincidence-type range finder is adapted to a signaller holding binoculars. Most heliograph pictures show the spotter using a telescope - in this case I use some poetic license for convenience. It would be possible to scratch build a nice telescope on a tripod and cut away the second binocular lens.

The standing signaller has his base trimmed so the front foot will fit between the tripod legs.
Then, the signallers are ready to go!

For the first team I mounted the upright mirror frame strait on the apex of the tripod which was fiddly. This time I mounted a second piece of tube over the end as a base for the upright mirror. The made it easier, to mount the mirror frame but had the effect of raising the height of the heliograph a little. 

The mirror 'frame' is then glued in place.

The crew are mounted in place.

Heliograph completed. I painted the figures (in this case just the main colours blocked in) before I added the foil 'mirror'
on the front of the PVC tube frame.

Note that this was the first one I made - the above 'how to' pictures are of the second attempt where I used the second piece of PVC tube on top of the apex - you can see this earlier attempt sits a bit lower - I think this original team looks better, but it's quite fiddly getting the mirror frame to stick on the apex of the tripod.

I'm sure there are improvements that can be made to this approach - but this provides a quick and easy heliograph post.

As these teams will be supporting units of the 42nd Division (East Lancashire), I'm designating these as signallers from the 427th Field Company - identified thanks to the excellent resource on the Field Companies of the Royal Engineers on The Long, Long Trail.

A group of men of 527 (2nd Durham) Field Company, a Territorial unit that served under command of 5th Division. 

If the Lord Spares Us - Eureka Miniatures 'British in Sinai' 15mm

It seems the blogging hiatus is over! I'm back at the painting table and have started on a new project based on the Too Fat Lardies rules - If the Lord Spares Us - WW1 in the Middle East!

"Away from the quagmire of the Western Front ITLSU proves that brigade level games the Great War in the Middle East have components of everything; camels, arab war bands, sweeping cavalry attacks, opposed beach landings, massed machine guns, gas attacks, tanks, armoued cars, fighting in the mirage, water shortages, trench assaults, river gunboats - and enough command and control dilemmas to test the most cunning Pasha."

Source: http://toofatlardies.co.uk 

I'd been working on a 6mm (Irregular Miniatures) project for Gallipoli and the Middle East using Great War Spearhead II (and it's not abandoned), but I've wanted an excuse to buy some of Eureka Miniatures very nice WW1 15mm range – who can resist the Imperial Camel Corps, after all?          

To give me a little inspiration, I'm reading The Palestine Campaign by Field Marshal Earl Wavell P.C, G.C.B, G.C.S.I, G.C.I.E, M.C. (3rd Edn. by Constable, London, 1954). 

My intention is to begin with the defence of the Suez and work on slowly from there. 

Actions around the Suez, 1915-1916, from Wavell (1954).

Terrain is something I'll have to get working on, but the main effort will be on painting up a few infantry battalions for the British (and her dominions) and Ottomans, then onto some mounted, artillery, and armoured cars!

I must also thank Mark Hargreaves of the Over Open Sights for his generous provision of painting guides covering the Middle East campaigns - I strayed away from his recommendations (painting with what I had), but the inspiration was very well received. Thanks Mark!

Well, I am unashamedly a 'middle of the road' painter of miniatures - nevertheless, I enjoy it. Here's a few snaps of my first attempt. Two companies (4 bases per company in ITLSU) of the 42nd (East Lancashire) Territorial Division. These stout fellows did it all - defence of the Suez (1915), Cape Helles (May 1915 to January 1916), Egypt and the Sinai Campaign (1916 to 1917), and Western Front (1917 to the Armistice in 1918).

Their battle honours include:

• Battle of Gallipoli: Second Battle of Krithia; Third Battle of Krithia; Battle of Krithia Vineyard
• Battle of Romani
• Third Battle of Ypres
• First Battle of the Somme (1918): First Battle of Bapaume
• Second Battle of the Somme (1918): Battle of Albert (1918); Second Battle of Bapaume
• Battle of the Canal du Nord
• Battle of the Selle

But, as they say, 'Pictures! Or it didn't happen!'

2mm ACW – rebasing

Well, after a flying start on the Confederates, I spent a few days mulling over the issue of using the scale of 1 base = brigade. While this was the scale for the rules I were planning on using – Polemos Crisis of Allegiance (CoA) – I felt like that method of basing had some issues particularly with historical scenarios.

I was struggling with the need to amalgamate smaller brigades / demi bridges / reserves into roughy equal strength groups in CoA. I would find myself having to amalgamate smaller formations that were not deployed anywhere hear each other.

So, I have rebased to 40mmx 20mm which fits two regiments on it nicely allowing 2–3 base brigades. and is a fairly adaptable format in terms of use with a variety of rulesets. CoA is being set aside for this project and I'm going to trial Polemos On They Come and DBACW (which I've played before and quite like).

With a flurry of activity over the past day, the Union have the best part of a Corps nearly ready for the field as well and the CSA are rebased as well. One of the great joys of 2mm is the relative speed in which you can paint them.

Here's the days effort:

Re-based Confederates

The Federalists finally make an appearance!

All together with a few command and artillery stands in half size.

2mm ACW and terrain

Needing a break from the Great War project this weekend, I returned to my 2mm ACW figures that have been gathering dust for some months. My intention is to put together a brigade per base scenario of First Manassas (July 21, 1861) using Polemos Crisis of Allegiance (CoA) rules.

I found some motivation afetr picking up some of Irregular Miniatures (IM) 2mm scenics at Eureka Miniatures on Friday which I've had a hankering to have a go at for some time now.

Here's the best pictures I can put together with an iPhone from the weekend's efforts.

P. G. T. Beauregard's Army of the Potomac (represented by 7 brigades in CoA):

 Irregular Miniatures 2mm scenics:

2mm IM Small Mannor House (BG106)

2mm IM Bridge with Riverbanks (BG108)

2mm IM Village and River Crossing (BG115)

Māori skirmish

My Evil Gong Māori took to the field last night in a late night gaming session while the Christmas pudding was steaming away on the hob! Here's a couple of snaps of the early stage of the game.

The warriors entering the clearing from the south (bottom) see their opponents forming up on the far side.

First contact - individual combats dominate the game while the larger warrior groups close on each other.

I took advantage of a sunny morning the next day to get some close up shots.

Evil Gong Māori

While WWI in 6mm has been the main focus of my attention for the past few months, with the Christmas Truce approaching, I thought I'd pop my head out of the trench for a small distraction.

I've had a box of Evil Gong Māori in 15mm sitting primed for a couple of years. The promise of some skirmish action in the near future has prompted me to take them the next step. Some of the sculpts are really quite nice and paint up well (and I've just slapped a quick paint job on these). There's a lot more work to do on the textiles for many of the figures - but here's a couple of in-progress teasers!

Coronel, 1 November 1914

'I shall not see you again, Allardyce ...'
Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock to Sir William Allardyce, Govoner of the Falkland Islands, On his departure to search for von Spee, October 1914.

After sailing from the Falklands, Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock rounded the Horn with HMS Good Hope (flag), HMS Monmouth, HMS Glasgow and the Armed Merchant Cruiser Otranto. Cradock had cabled the Admiralty on 22nd October 1914 that he was going to round Cape Horn in search of Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee's German East Asia Squadron.

The East Asia Squadron (and Chilean cruisers in the foreground) leaving Valparaiso harbour in Chile,  

In the hunt for von Spee, Cradock had been lured north along the Chilean coast after HMS Glasgow picked up signals from SMS Leipzig indicating she was operating nearby. Von Spee capitalised on this by ordering all signals from his squadron to be prefixed with the Leipzig's call sign. Cradock was keen for a fight and, as night fell on 31 October, ordered Glasgow to meet him 80 km west of the port of Coronel at noon the next day.

On the morning of  1st November, Cradock's squadron was steaming north. The dawn had seen rising seas, scudding clouds and a strengthening breeze from the south-east. HMS Canopus had signalled that she was was 500 km to the south and steaming to meet them. As the day wore on, the seas grew heavier with 3 to 5 metre waved and nearly gale force winds of 30 knots.

HMS Canopus (in her heyday) off Gibraltar by Charles Dixon (1901)

Leipzig and Glasgow spotted each other at almost simultaneously at 16:17. Both called their crews to action stations and moved to engage. It was only a matter of minutes before the masthead lookout on the Glasgow spotted more smoke and realised they had found the entire East Asia Squadron!

The Glasgow signalled the news to Cradock and turned back to the south-west to join the rest of the squadron. Craddock ordered his ships to form up in line astern behind him and set a southerly course almost parallel to von Spee. As the sun sunk in the west, Cradock gambled on the dazzling effect of the sunset behind him to give him some advantage over the German gun layers.

SMS Scharnhorst at Coronel

Sunset was at 19:00. At 19:05, von Spee's ships opened fire with deadly effect. The fate of Cradock's South Atlantic Squadron was soon sealed. Good Hope and Monmouth were sunk with all hands – 1,600 British officers and men were dead with Cradock among them – Glasgow and Otranto both escaped.

HMS Good Hope (Cradock's flagship) on fire at the action at Coronel, 1 November 1914, by W.L. Wyllie

Of Cradock's circumstances, Sir Julian S Corbett wrote:

It is not without emotion that one contemplates the feelings of so fine an officer when suddenly he found himself face to face with the hopeless situation into which, against all his protests and better judgment, he clearly believed himself to have been forced. A cloud that can never be lifted has fallen on one of the most tragic moments in our Naval history. All we can ever know is the silver lining.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR - NAVAL OPERATIONS, Volume 1, to the Battle of the Falklands, December 1914 (1920) by Sir Julian S Corbett, Accessible at:  http://www.naval-history.net/WW1Book-RN1b.htm#25

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of this tragic encounter in the south-west Pacific in the opening months of the Great War, I dusted off my 1:2400 Panzerschiffe ships and played the Battle of Coronel scenario provided with Grand Fleets II naval rules.

Purnell's History of the First World War (c. 1970) - possibly the first place I read of the action at Coronel! 

Historically, Cradock, on sighting von Spee's squadron, brought his ships about to cruise in line astern parallel to the enemy – the two lines of ships steaming south separated by 16,500 metres of rolling seas. Cradock's plan was to use the setting sun to his advantage – dazzling the German gun layers.

However, in this scenario, Cradock ordered his squadron to reform from line abreast to line ahead, and steered them a few points off their northerly heading towards von Spee to make a pass on the seaward side of the German line of battle.

16:45, 1 November 1914, von Spee's East Asiatic Squadron (sailing south, bottom left) is sighted by Cradock (heading north, top right) in heavy seas off the port of Coronel on the Chilean coast (off to the left of the picture).

Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee's East Asiatic Squadron - the armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau and the light cruisers SMS Dresden and SMS Leipzig (sailing backwards in this picture to taunt the British!) 

Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock's South Atlantic Squadron - at Coronel he had the armoured cruisers HMS Good Hope (Cradock's flagship), and HMS Monmouth, the light cruiser HMS Glasgow and a converted liner—HMS Otranto.

Just on sunset (below), the two squadrons in line of battle pass each other at medium range. Von Spee orders Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to direct the first salvos of the engagement towards HMS Glasgow, the lead British ship. German gunnery is intense, and accurate with three hits on Glasgow by Scharnhorst, knocking out a main 6" gun and two secondary 4" guns. HMS Glasgow's salvo causes only minor damage to Scharnhorst.

As the light begins to fade (below), von Spee orders all this ships to engage the British line - Glasgow (lead ship, bottom left of picture), Monmouth and Good Hope (at the rear). The setting sun outlined the British allowing the German fire controllers to send in several deadly salvos. 

• Dresden and Leipzig achieve two hits on the Glasgow knocking out two 4" guns. 
• Monmouth takes three hits from Gneisenau – one critical and causing a major fire – the other two knock out two 6" guns. 
• Good Hope takes two hits from Scharnhorst knocking out two guns. 
• The thin-skinned liner Otranto shelters further out to sea behind the British line of battle. 

Cradock orders his ships to return fire, but in the rolling seas, the British gunnery is mostly ineffective although a critical hit by Monmouth causes a fire on Gneisenau.

As darkness falls (below), von Spee orders his squadron to come about and pick off the battered and disordered British line. Glasgow had already limped out to sea critically damaged. As Gneisenau, Leipzig and Dresden (top right of picture, L to R) close in and train their guns on the burning British ships, Scharnhorst (bottom centre) swings in a wide arc hoping to cut off any route of escape for Good Hope (centre) and Monmouth (upper left).

• Gneisenau lands two final hits on the Monmouth – she is crippled with no armaments intact.
• In the gloom Good Hope's gunners pick out the Scharnhorst and unleash a furious salvo with five hits hammering the German Flag – the Bridge receives a direct hit, major flooding is caused but is contained with a quick reaction by the damage crews.
• Leipzig responds to the last stand of the Good Hope, knocking out the Flag's fire control and the two remaining 6" guns to starboard. 
• Dresden's gunners find the lumbering bulk of the Otranto in the darkness and four hits find their mark causing significant structural damage and knocking out two 4.7" guns to starboard.

In the darkness, Cradock's mortally wounded squadron limps out to sea as the crews attempt to douse fires and stem any flooding. Casualties are heavy, but the knowledge that von Spee's squadron still hunts in the darkness means that all available attention must be given to reforming and (hopefully) slipping away under cover of night.

Cradock's thoughts turn to how he might get past von Spee in the night and, hopefully, make harbour at Coronel in the morning. One might also pass a thought for HMS Caonopus, over 500 km (300 nautical miles) to the south of their current position, how Cradock could have used her 12" guns that evening!

Actually, this is damage to the deck of HMS Chester sustained during the battle of Jutland – one can only imagine the challenge of making repairs on ships damaged in actions far from their home port. 

For the Germans, much depended on what damage the shells of the HMS Good Hope had wreaked on the bridge of the Scharnhorst in the last minutes of the engagement – was von Spee wounded? Was he dead? Would the east Asiatic Squadron press on after Cradock or slip away south and round the Horn? Theirs was a tactical victory at the very least – but safe harbour at Wilhelmshaven was literally half a world away!