The task of The Border Regiment during Operation Market Garden, alongside The South Staffordshire regiment and the Kings Own Scottish Borders, was to help secure the many landing zones, while the various parachute battalions were to seize the Arnhem bridge. All three regiments arrived by glider in the first wave, and were not expected to do much in the way of fighting. But by day 2, the situation had become so bleak that the other two regiments were sent into town to help the parachutists bash through to the bridge. During the fight at St. Elizabeth's hospital, both air landing regiments were heavily engaged, and the South Staffs were nearly wiped out, sustaining a nearly 80% casualty rate. This left The Border Regiment stretched thin, trying to protect all the landing/ and resupply zones by themselves. The regiment stayed to the west of Oosterbeek during the entire battle, and fought many different German units, including a fanatical battalion of young volunteer Dutch Waffen SS troopers, backed by captured French tanks. Stretched far too thin, The Border Regiment was eventually forced to give up the landing zones, one by one, but put up valiant defenses for so few in number. It was the Border's tenacious defense of the western approaches that allowed the defeated division to retreat, regroup and by Day 9, evacuate across the river.
My inspiration for this figure was a series of color photos of the regiment training in 1942. In them can be seen a skilled corporal wearing a battledress but no smock. While most airborne troopers fought in their Denison smocks, a small number chose not to, especially toward the end of the battle. This is good for it allows me to show off his insignia, otherwise not seen. This project sat on hold for a while due to the lack of available 1/6th scale paratroopers helmets. But DID's Roys helmet, pre netted and scrimmed, works just fine, although it maybe looks a trifle large compared to the BBI and Dragon versions? The web gear is Dragon's painted in Vallejo's middle stone. Here are the real color photos:
0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
The backgrounds of all the photos in my photoshoot are actual structures that were in The Border Regiments area of deployment, as they are seen today, alongside a couple actual photos taken during the siege:
0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-9 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-8 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-7 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-5 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-8 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-7 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
The end has come:
0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-3 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
My inspiration for this figure was a series of color photos of the regiment training in 1942. In them can be seen a skilled corporal wearing a battledress but no smock. While most airborne troopers fought in their Denison smocks, a small number chose not to, especially toward the end of the battle. This is good for it allows me to show off his insignia, otherwise not seen. This project sat on hold for a while due to the lack of available 1/6th scale paratroopers helmets. But DID's Roys helmet, pre netted and scrimmed, works just fine, although it maybe looks a trifle large compared to the BBI and Dragon versions? The web gear is Dragon's painted in Vallejo's middle stone. Here are the real color photos:
0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on FlickrThe backgrounds of all the photos in my photoshoot are actual structures that were in The Border Regiments area of deployment, as they are seen today, alongside a couple actual photos taken during the siege:
0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-9 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-8 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-7 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-5 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-8 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-7 by Stephen Duffy, on FlickrThe end has come:
0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-3 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr
