Castle Aching

[ChrisN]

Almost WIP for CA!

 

Not quite.  These chaps are in fact destined for donation to a military figure exhibition in Arnhem in June.  Due to the sort of bumbling ineptitude in which Yours Truly excels, I managed to join a group-build by accident and, so, had quickly to think of something to donate.

 

These are they.

 

I include them because they are an entirely appropriate choice of troops for a turn of the century pre-Grouping layout, and, if they turn out well enough, it might inspire me to try something similar for my 1905 Yeomanry.    

 

So who are these fellows and who makes them? 

[Edwardian]

So who are these fellows and who makes them? 

 

The figures are the trusty HaT Industrie Zulu War infantry sets.

 

They are being converted to represent Volunteer Rifles in the late 1890s, inspired by pictures of the Inns of Court (below), though the uniform was pretty representative of Volunteers Rifles throughout the country at this date, so they are a great thing to include on a model railway.

 

By this time they often had bicycle sections, and, so, an attempt to reflect this is included.

 

Given that the Germans didn't attack Dorking and the Martians didn't invade Woking, these boys never had to deploy in their intended role of defence of Queen & Country, though a contingent of 30 mounted infantry, 19 cyclists and 1 signaller from the Inns of Court joined the City Imperial Volunteers for service in South Africa during the Boer War.

 

The Inns of Court were an interesting bunch. The "Golden Thread" stretches back some considerable way, including the Bloomsbury & Inns of Court Volunteers, raised to thwart invasion by Revolutionary France.  King George III admired them at a review and asked who they were.  On being told, he muttered that lawyers were "the Devil's Own".  The continuous history of the unit dates from the raising of Inns of Court Rifle Volunteers in 1859, again, as a result of fears of French invasion.  To this day the Inns of Court is known as the Devil's Own, and contains some utter barristers. 

 

On formation in 1859 the Inns of Court were the 23rd Middlesex (Inns of Court) Rifle Volunteer Corps, and became the 14th Middlesex in 1889. 

Edited March 7, 2017 by Edwardian

[ChrisN]

So that explains why they look like HaT figures, but you have modified, them, stuck little needles on their hats or taken off their hats and given them pillbox hats

[Nearholmer]

Permission to ask a military history question, sah?

 

All these various plastic bods are opening my eyes to the fact that a fair proportion of Englishmen must have received at least basic military training, as part of one of the various volunteer regiments, yeomanry, Territorials etc. That being the case, how come we had something of a church bazaar army at the outbreak of WW1, by comparison with Germany?

 

Did they have full conscription in peace time? Typically, I only really know about their field railway regiments, and they were exceedingly well-equipped, and trained at huge and lavishly-provided summer camps, whereas ours ........ oh, we didn't have any to speak of until 1916.

 

K

[Andy Hayter]

From what I remember Germany had a 2/3 year compulsory conscription - and back then it meant army or Navy.  None of the arty f@rty social service jobs like today.

I think that gave them instant access to over 2 million trained troops in 1914.

[DonB]

I think the main feature of spline trackbase is the use of several thin layers of thin material on edge. The materials can be bent to follow the line of track glued and clamped together once sets the clamp can be removed and the spline will hold the shape.

Don

 

A tried and tested method used in the production of Morgan Sports Cars !  (One of my great regrets is never having owned a Morgan!) Nothing sophisticated about the equipment to produce the shapes for the car bodywork, just lots of glue and brute force to get the wood to shape and hold it there. Simples!

 

'tother Don.

[phil_sutters]

The figures are the trusty HaT Industrie Zulu War infantry sets.

 

They are being converted to represent Volunteer Rifles in the late 1890s, inspired by pictures of the Inns of Court (below), though the uniform was pretty representative of Volunteers Rifles throughout the country at this date, so they are a great thing to include on a model railway.

 

By this time they often had bicycle sections, and, so, an attempt to reflect this is included.

 

Sgts Mess does a set of a bobby in a helmet and a postman in a peaked hat, both riding bicycles. http://www.sgtsmess.co.uk/nc16-policeman-and-postman-on-bicycles.html - Find them rifles and file the peaked hat into a pillbox and you have the sort of headgear in your photo. That's assuming your plastic figure companies don't do them. My Kitchener's Army book has a number of WW1 training scenarios with bicycle-mounted troops, should you need them.

As a matter of interest how are images, like your Bryan Fosten print, which I would think are in copyright - published in the 1980s I think, so prevalent on the net. I am not knocking your use, but I have always avoided using photos, which are within copyright, in posts, but it seems that little notice is taken of that nowadays. Sellers on the net put endless images of Osprey and similar plates on their sites, many of which don't have watermarks or aren't reproduced as low definition images. Just wondering?!

Edited March 7, 2017 by phil_sutters

[Donw]

A tried and tested method used in the production of Morgan Sports Cars !  (One of my great regrets is never having owned a Morgan!) Nothing sophisticated about the equipment to produce the shapes for the car bodywork, just lots of glue and brute force to get the wood to shape and hold it there. Simples!

 

'tother Don.

 

My mate's girlfried had a 4+4 Morgan brand new my girl (now my wife) and I would go out in it with them. She also had a red setter which would dive in any bit of water it could find and then lay across my lap to dry off. She took in in for its first service and some stupid mechanic left a rag on the engine. It caught fire coming back up the A303 which was terrifying as she was on her own with the dog in the back. The Moggie was a write off very sad end. Nice Car but what a waste.

Don

[Edwardian]

Thrilling Wheel Work Under Fire!

 

It seems that the cycle sections of the Volunteer Rifles eventually blossomed into whole battalions of bicycle-borne Territorials, and they are listed on this splendid website: https://bsamuseum.wordpress.com/cyclists-your-king-country-need-you/

 

I cherish the poster below for the priceless bathos of the last line:

 

 

[Edwardian]

Permission to ask a military history question, sah?

 

All these various plastic bods are opening my eyes to the fact that a fair proportion of Englishmen must have received at least basic military training, as part of one of the various volunteer regiments, yeomanry, Territorials etc. That being the case, how come we had something of a church bazaar army at the outbreak of WW1, by comparison with Germany?

 

Did they have full conscription in peace time? Typically, I only really know about their field railway regiments, and they were exceedingly well-equipped, and trained at huge and lavishly-provided summer camps, whereas ours ........ oh, we didn't have any to speak of until 1916.

 

K

 

Yes, I think Andy has it.  From what I recall of O Level history, Germany had conscription and, after your stint, you were placed on the reserve list, so Germany could expand her army greatly upon mobilisation from a vast pool of trained men.

 

We, on the other hand, retained a small professional army (no conscription even in WW1 until 1916, if I recall), stretched across Empire, and various part-time volunteer corps that made up the Territorial Army from 1908, a tradition of citizen soldiers to which I was proud to belong. 

 

One only has to consider that on occasions when foreign (well, French) invasion was considered a threat, 1793 and 1859, volunteer movements were necessary as the Regular army garrisoned at home was never sufficient to guarantee our safety in addition to garrisoning Ireland and defending our various Imperial possessions.

 

Given that, we could never hope to match the numbers available to Continental armies when it came to a general conflict in Europe.

 

Much of this ultimately stems from our very different traditions.  The dominant and unifying force in the German Empire was Prussia, once described as an Army with a State rather than a State with an Army.  In contrast we have always been very chary of Standing Armies, seen as a threat to our liberties.  As a consequence, save in time of war, the British Army has traditionally not been that close to the hearts of the population.  Adoration for the Navy was relatively common, because the Navy never represented an historical tool of a tyrannical Monarch.  

 

As a consequence, the Regulars and Territorials who went to war in 1914 were few, too few, but, very good.  The Germans during our Retreat from Mons believed themselves to be under machine gun fire, such was the rapidity and accuracy of British Infantry rifle-fire.

Edited March 8, 2017 by Edwardian

[The Stationmaster]

Yes, I think Andy has it.  From what I recall of O Level history, Germany had conscription and, after your stint, you were placed on the reserve list, so Germany could expand her army greatly upon mobilisation from a vast pool of trained men.

 

We, on the other hand, retained a small professional army (no conscription even in WW1 until 1916, if I recall), stretched across Empire, and various part-time volunteer corps that made up the Territorial Army from 1908, a tradition of citizen soldiers to which I was proud to belong. 

 

One only has to consider that on occasions when foreign (well, French) invasion was considered a threat, 1793 and 1859, volunteer movements were necessary as the Regular army garrisoned at home was never sufficient to guarantee our safety in addition to garrisoning Ireland and defending our various Imperial possessions.

 

Given that, we could never hope to match the numbers available to Continental armies when it came to a general conflict in Europe.

 

Much of this ultimately stems from our very different traditions.  The dominant and unifying force in the German Empire was Prussia, once described as an Army with a State rather than a State with an Army.  In contrast we have always been very chary of Standing Armies, seen as a threat to our liberties.  As a consequence, save in time of war, the British Army has traditionally not been that close to the hearts of the population.  Adoration for the Navy was relatively common, because the Navy never represented an historical tool of a tyrannical Monarch.  

 

As a consequence, the Regulars and Territorials who went to war in 1914 were few, too few, but, very good.  The Germans during our Retreat from Mons believed themselves to be under machine gun fire, such was the rapidity and accuracy of British Infantry rifle-fire.

 

Don't forget also that the Territorials of 1914 were not obliged to serve overseas.  There were reservists who could be called/recalled to the colours and mobilised for overseas service (as many were of course) but nothing like the German (or French?) system,  In fact at the time of the outbreak of war British naval reservists were already mobilised as the admiralty had prudently decided not to demobilise after summertime fleet manoeuvres and I believe some Army reservists were also still at camp at that time (Pratt definitely infers that to be the case in his work which includes reference the role of railways in mobilisation and movement of the BEF to Southampton).

[Donw]

Might not there be some difference between a willing volunteer and a conscript in their attitude and determination. My Grandfather volunteered in WW1 seeing it as his duty.

 

Don

[Poggy1165]

Of course the UK had the advantage (from its rulers' POV) of a nice moat around it. Unlike our continental cousins we were not likely to wake up to find the neighbours' army trampling our lawns. So all that was needed (prior to air power) was a large Navy and a small army capable of overawing the natives in the colonies and suppressing any dissent in the UK of GB&I (as it was.)

Edited March 8, 2017 by Poggy1165

[phil_sutters]

A selection of two-wheeled military photos from 'Kitchener's Army'

 

 

By the way, my current modelling project had a slightly premature airing yesterday, in support of a talk on the work of The Missions to Seafarers. A selection of slightly fuzzy photos can be seen in my album at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/gallery/album/4186-the-highbridge-wharf-project/

[Edwardian]

Phil - photographed from a set of postcards issued of the Inns of Court. The Sergeant's Mess figures look good, though I note they come with gas mask cases and the copper with a tin hat.  Your Old Brue Quay project looks superb.

 

All this volunteer citizen soldiery business has set me thinking ... I don't recall anyone modelling a Victorian Drill Hall.

 

I have found a site devoted to them: http://www.drillhalls.org/index.htm

 

It would be a great excuse for Yeomanry and Volunteer Rifle figures.

 

There is a barking one at Chapel Field Road, Norwich, but it is too big and too grand.

 

But this one, in Great Yarmouth (c.1868, I believe), is an absolutely wonderful building.   Like the planned CA station and the school, I'd have to master Photoshop in order to create this, but it is a wonderful subject for a model, don't you think? 

Edited March 8, 2017 by Edwardian

[Andy Hayter]

Might not there be some difference between a willing volunteer and a conscript in their attitude and determination. My Grandfather volunteered in WW1 seeing it as his duty.

 

Don

 

It might be tempting to think that, but in the event of war I suspect that the conscript was just as committed to His Country as the highly trained volunteer was to ours. 

The inability to turn back the conscript rabble even when the numbers involved were matched would strongly support that patriotism overpowered any background as to how you ended up in your respective trench. 

[Shadow]

If you go to the Great Yarmouth planning page, there are some scale drawin

 

http://planning.great-yarmouth.gov.uk/OcellaWeb/planningDetails?reference=06/15/0310/F&from=planningSearch

 

Select view documents, then "DC revised plans", sheet 3 of pdf.

Edited March 8, 2017 by Shadow

[Shadow]

According to the comment on the geograph page

 

http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/WW1-Great-War-Centenary---Drill-Halls/8

 

It was used by the "5th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment (G and H Companies)

6th (Cyclist) Battalion, Norfolk Regiment (B and H Companies)"

[phil_sutters]

Phil - photographed from a set of postcards issued of the Inns of Court. The Sergeant's Mess figures look good, though I note they come with gas mask cases and the copper with a tin hat.  Your Old Brue Quay project looks superb.

 

All this volunteer citizen soldiery business has set me thinking ... I don't recall anyone modelling a Victorian Drill Hall.

 

But this one, in Great Yarmouth (c.1868, I believe), is an absolutely wonderful building.   Like the planned CA station and the school, I'd have to master Photoshop in order to create this, but it is a wonderful subject for a model, don't you think? 

Thanks for the compliments, James. I have tried to create an impression of the Wharf, without committing too many resources to it but I don't have your precision, judging by your houses.

Your drill house photo is too low definition to do a very good job, but it could be used as a basis for drawing your own plans. I have done some cloning and copied and reversed sections of it to get a symmetrical and fairly square front elevation. (Edit - the central section should be higher , but I didn't want to get into fabricating the unseen portions.)The downside to that approach, if you wanted to use it as a coloured image to paste onto a 3D carcass, is that you get the wrong shadows on one side of the building, on top of the pixels that are very evident as soon as you look at it with any degree of enlargement.

Edit - Having the plans is a great help. I am sure that there will be better photos around. I expect that the architects have some good quality ones.

Edited March 10, 2017 by phil_sutters

[Nearholmer]

Mr Sutters - I take my hat off to you; in fact, if I was wearing several, I would take them all off. That wharf scene as lovely.

 

Bicycle Regiment - despite being part-way through a long course of painful and very expensive dentistry, I meet all criteria (I meet the age criterion three times over!), so am off to volunteer forthwith.

 

Kevin

Edited March 9, 2017 by Nearholmer

[Edwardian]

Drill Halls - What a fascinating subject/distraction!

 

Most of the buildings I am seeing are purpose built, generally urban and intended for infantry use.  They are a product of the rifle volunteer movement, specifically, I learn, of the 1863 Volunteer Act, which gave volunteer units the right to acquire their own premises.

 

I have come across Drill Halls in a number in "Station road"-type locations.  By no means all were near railway stations, but, as they were built from 1860s-1920s, they are inherently suitable for that urban or suburban second half of the Nineteenth Century spread that is, so often, found around stations.  

 

One of the delights, for me, is that there is absolutely no standardisation.  Typically sites feature a care-taker's house and offices adjoining a large covered drill hall.  These could vary in size, but 80' x 40' was a pretty common one.  Aside from that, they came in all shapes, sizes and architectural styles.  In fact, they are rather like a station with a stationmaster's house attached and a train shed; think of the amount of variety the railway companies achieved over a similar period. In fact, can you not see the Great Yarmouth York Road Drill Hall adapted for use as a small terminus with train-shed?!?

 

If you are a pre-Grouper, there is a lot of colour in the uniforms.  Volunteers seem to have gone into khaki gradually - it did not happen overnight in 1902 - so if you model before, say the 1910-14 period, you could put on quite a colourful display, albeit one that might require some cunning figure conversions (late Victorian home service uniforms not being generally catered for by wargames manufacturers in 20mm or 1/72nd). 

 

For later periods, the TA would have worn Edwardian service dress between the Wars, so late pre-Groupers and Groupers can parade khaki figures from W D Miniatures or Langley to their hearts' content.

 

Some sub-units would have modest Drill Halls, such as a corrugated iron affair, and might not have purpose-built accommodation at all; a cycle section based at Dereham used the first floor of a public house outbuilding as its Drill Hall!

 

The Great Yarmouth Drill Hall is, almost certainly, too grand for CA.  It is really too large for Achingham, but I could get away with it there.  I might, nevertheless, include the Hall in the CA scene and then move it to Achingham if and when that town is modelled. At CA it could form a view blocker for the planned cassette yard.

 

Thank you to Shadow - there are drawings of the elevations in the planning papers as you say - and to Phil for the excellent whatever it's called you did with the photographs.  In terms of texture, detail and the dynamism of the façade, this is a stunning building, IMHO.

 

You can walk around all sides of the Great Yarmouth York Road Drill Hall via Google Street-view.  If I lived in Cambridgeshire still, I'd take the trip and try to snap elevations and parts thereof square-on, including a couple of the brick panels to the hall sides.  Not sure what can or cannot be done with a graphics package as I seem to be ignorant and hopeless (so far, at least) in that direction.  We'll see; plenty to be getting on with. 

 

On the whole, though, I suspect that I have found a rather wonderful way to combine interests in railway, architectural and military modelling in a single project!

Edited March 9, 2017 by Edwardian

[phil_sutters]

Our local drill hall has been converted into flats very recently. This is the agent's advert for the last apartment. I have no connection, except that the proprietor's brother lives next door to us!

http://www.phillipmann.com/property-details/26616669/east-sussex/seaford/flat-8?showstc=on&address_keyword_exact=1&instruction_type=Sale&keyword=seaford&minprice=&maxprice=200000&property_type=Flat%2CApartment%2CRetirement+Property%2CApartment+-+conversion%2CApartment+-+purpose+built%2CFlat+-+conversion%2CFlat+-+garden%2CFlat+-+purpose+built%2CFlat+-+retirement

If the ad has been taken down, I do have a copy of the photo for my own personal use......

Edited March 9, 2017 by phil_sutters

[Nearholmer]

Drill halls sometimes seem to be almost indistinguishable from non-conformist churches, which are also, in some cases products of "railway suburbanisation", and the resulting disruption of the social order in rural districts by importation of urban thinking. Easy to forget the depth change wrought by railways.

 

K

[phil_sutters]

Drill Halls - What a fascinating subject/distraction!

 

 

You can walk around all sides of the Great Yarmouth York Road Drill Hall via Google Street-view.  If I lived in Cambridgeshire still, I'd take the trip and try to snap elevations and parts thereof square-on, including a couple of the brick panels to the hall sides.  Not sure what can or cannot be done with a graphics package as I seem to be ignorant and hopeless (so far, at least) in that direction.  We'll see; plenty to be getting on with. 

 

On the whole, though, I suspect that I have found a rather wonderful way to combine interests in railway, architectural and military modelling in a single project!

Think that the key elements are the windows. The pattern of bricks above the two first floor windows is really eye-catching and the pattern of the woodwork adds a whole load of character. Brickwork quoins etc. can fairly easily be created or copied from other buildings and the flint infill just needs a shot of a nice stretch of wall which can be used as the base onto which the brick detailing can be applied. The trouble is that you rarely get large expanses of flint on domestic or industrial buildings, at least down this way. However many of our local churches do have quite big stretches of uninterrupted flint. I know because I made a 1/32nd (approx) model of ours - fully furnished and lit - for the benefit of our Sunday School. I haven't seen flint surfaces modelled in 3D, with all its random broken, shiny black & grey edges, but I don't get to many model railway events, so there may be skillful 4mm scale flint knappers out there..

[phil_sutters]

Mr Sutters - I take my hat off to you; in fact, if I was wearing several, I would take them all off. That wharf scene as lovely.

 

Bicycle Regiment - despite being part-way through a long course of painful and very expensive dentistry, I meet all criteria (I meet the age criterion three times over!), so am off to volunteer forthwith.

 

Kevin

Thank you, kind Sir.

I am afraid my cycling career - through four miles of London streets to work and ditto back - ceased with pain at the other end. So I shan't be volunteering for anything.

Edited March 10, 2017 by phil_sutters