sorry for the lack of posts

Hi

Yep, I'm still here, and have done some big Gyros Teller games this year - at Salute and at Bovingdon, in 6mm.

They will be put on the blog, lots of pics, more of some of my modern 20mm and some of the other stuff that has been done - WW2 US 20mm and some german stuff.

Personally speaking, I've been doing a lot of Sci Fi gaming - Firestorm Armada, and Planetfall from Spartan Games. If only because it's the only game in town with my shift patterns.

Also, a little bit more has been found on Colour Sergeant Major William Smith

Thanks for your patience

Richard

Colour Sergeant Major William Smith - a portrait of a Soldier

News of my enquiries into CSM William Smith started to percolate to his descendants - Peter and Elaine , and a couple of very important photographs made their way over to me via the internet. Also, the set of medals were made available to see, so confirmation with examination of the medals confirmed what I had found from records. I am very grateful for their generosity and trust with such precious items.

I also had a look at the Welsh National Archive, specifically the Newspaper microfilm's, and this added further information to what was now known.

The Medals are shown below, with the number of 1156, William's regimental number. Medals can be cast by the thousand, but each is individualised with the soldiers regimental number stamped on the rim of the medal.

 Front view

Rear view

I was able to find the medal roll of the 3rd Battalion, Welch Regiment which had the same regimental number - as stamped on the rim, for the South African Campaign.

And after looking at the archive newspaper records found a photo of the Welch Regiment, parading after their return to Wales. This is almost certainly the 1st Battalion, and not the 3rd Battalion.

Whilst digging into the archives I also came across the following article. This is the Victorian equivalent of a Twitter feed, literally everything would be put through the newspaper, or sought from it, being a vital part of society. 

Evening Express, 5th August 1903

I knew that CSM William Smith had been given the GCM, after all he had it in his medal clasp, and wore it as part of his uniform. This was a significant and valued award to a soldier in Victorian/Edwardian Britain, a capable and trusted soldier who could be depended upon to maintain the ethos of the Army, but specifically and more importantly, that of the Regiment.

Finally, we have the most enigmatic of all the things so far discovered about CSM William Smith. These are 2 photo's of him with a large black crow. Also, the inscription on the back of a postcard, which I believe is a photocard of one of the photo's but can't confirm. Anyway, it identifies the photographer and the subject of the photo's. However, it also makes a clear distinction with reference to William. He had recently died. 

At the moment I have yet to look into identifying the buildings behind William, the photographer, or the other people in the photo with him, the date of the photo, the possible newspaper article reporting his death, or the significance of the crow. Now that is a real mystery, better than any book you could buy or read.

Regimental records are held at Kew - the National Archives, but not all, and a  lot of stuff was blown up by the Germans during WW2, in an effort to frustrate genealogical research, er, not really, but that is the effect. The records need to be tied to WO record series, and not all are in existance. 

When I found out about my fathers lookings, and frustrations with Kew, I had an idea that the Victorians being great colonial administrators, would be excellent record keepers. In fact, they would be positively anal regarding medals and entitlements. The key to finding out about him would be through the medal rolls, once his regimental number was confirmed, and not through the service records, which were missing. So it proved.

Thanks again to Peter and Elaine Harries, and to Mike Smith - you know who you are!

Mythical Earth - Miniature Figurines and Middle Earth

Mythical Earth was an unofficial range of Lord of the Rings figures that helped kickstart fantasy wargaming and fantasy role playing. JRR Tolkien and his estate were always very jealous of minding the interests of Middle Earth. Rights to produce figures as well as the rights to produce media such as films were firmly under lock and key, away from grubby commercialism and the misrepresentation of Tolkien's intellectual property. Well, eventually they gave in, and the rest is history.

Pauline Baynes' cover art for the combined volume of Lord of the Rings

eq5.net/tolkien/tbkcovers

Miniature Figurines, a go getting company of industry bad boys, in 1972  just went off and did their own thing. Everyone knew what the range was all about, surprisingly the lawyers never appeared knocking on the door. For a range of figures, it's fairly comprehensive, covering nearly everything except Gollum and Galadriel for instance.

   

                                                  Elf on a horse, dndlead.com/minifigs      

The figures are classic Minifigs, detail is implied rather than gouged out, and the poses are a little stiff, bearing in mind the moulding process. The design process for the figures draws heavily on the artwork of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, specifically the illustrator Pauline Baynes. The horses are indicative of this period of Minifigs, graceful and delicate, just like Baynes pictures.

Illustration taken from Once Upon a Time Blogspot

Pauline Baynes also illustrated the Chronicles of Narnia. Both writers were at Oxford, Baynes worked with Tolkien and then with Lewis, becoming friendly with both authors. Her work with Tolkien was felt by some to have captured the essence of what Middle Earth was all about, the words descriptors for her artwork. Tolkien did not consider her for an illustrated Lord of the Rings edition though, writing that she would have been unable to rise up to his noble and awe inspiring work. What an self improtant arse.

The Narnian Army, Giant Bombrdom and Centaurs, Illustration from paulinebaynes.com

         

               dndlead.com/minifigs                   Painted models from bluemule.co.uk

The Minifigs giant bears a remarkable resemblance to the Baynes representation of a giant, as do many of the figures, such as the Centaur and Pan. I have to think it is more than reasonable to look at the artwork and see parallels in the figures, but I believe there is more connection than that. The Mythical Earth range goes up to 60, then next goes to 100 and 101, for the Centaur and Pan. I think this was an unfinished project, and that the last 2 figures were seen to be outside the Middle Earth canon, and which were I feel, the start of a range of Narnian figures. The Giant can also be considered to be crossing between both genres. Giants feature heavily in Narnia. The only instance of Giants featuring in Lord of the Rings, is when the Fellowship are forced off the mountain to take the route through Moria. I hope I have not put a target on my back for this remark!

from The Silver Chair, narnia.wikia.com

Where are the figures now? Two of the figures have turned up on the Minifigs site care of Caliver Books, along with the beautiful and exotic range of figures in Valley of the Four Winds. The ranges were sold for licence by Minifigs to the USA for strictly sale in the US. The original moulds did not go, but masters for production did. However, the moulds were made using silicone, instead of vulcanised rubber, and consequently, the figures produced are between slightly and noticeably smaller than the original UK figures!! Some of the metal used is different as well, as it has a high pewter/tin content for a slightly lighter figure. With the advance of e-commerce, restrictions on sale to specific geographic regions were effectively unenforceable. There are relatively a lot of US produced figures around as generally, Minifigs tanked and US traders baled out of them, disposing of stock.

Original advert  October 1974, from deartonyblair.blogspot

Minifigs advert, not dated, from deartonyblair.blogspot

The original master moulds are somewhere in the Minifigs stash, held by Caliver, and indications are that Valley of the Four Winds UK produced figures are being collected to produce fresh masters for new production, leading some people to dispose of collections before they are made worthless. No such moves have been noted for the Mythical Earth range, but the figures are generally available over time, as collections surface and are traded out. 

Useful and interesting sites

http://www.dndlead.com/minifigs/Minifigs-Mythical-Earth.htm

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/?title=Mystical_Earth

http://www.bluemule.co.uk/bluemule2_000007.htm

interesting analogue history of miniature figures in the uk

http://deartonyblair.blogspot.co.uk/