UPDATE.

 I was repeatedly told that when I retired early, at only 50, I would struggle to keep myself occupied. Well that has proven to be very wide of the truth. In fact I have always been very busy. I have no idea how I ever found time to go to work especially in the summer. The past couple of weeks has once again proven this to be the case. 

I have now finished the installation etc of the new window cill. It looks great and the joints have disappeared under the paint. However I have now been informed that there is a lot of work to be done in the garden especially now that the wet weather seems to be passing, ( we hope anyway !!!) In addition I have a number of other jobs to do including repainting the other window cills, all of which must be done before I can get on with building the new bookcase. 

When I start on a construction project like building a new piece of furniture etc I like to have a clear run without having to think about other jobs still outstanding. This means the construction of the new bookcase will not start till this coming weekend at best. In addition our social life seems to be picking up again as the country reopens. I am not sure this is a good thing with the virus still rampant but as we are double jabbed and will still wear masks in all crowded settings and be careful generally I guess we should go with the flow.

This means a bit of shopping today with a nice lunch out so another day lost to work , what a shame !!!! I find that the only thing I can settle to when I have an odd couple of hours or less is a bit of modelling and in fact it has only been a few odd hours here and there that I have been able to devote to modelling these past couple of weeks. With this in mind I have completed upgrades 22, 23, and 24 which have added another 360 soldiers to the colours. I am now half way through the planned upgrades.

Speaking of colours reminds me to report on my visit to a new model shop that has opened in our county town market hall. It is now the only outlet within 35 miles that sells Humbrol paints. I bought a number of tins and had a chat with the owner. I am pleased he has been able to open the shop only a month or so ago when model shops seem to be disappearing everywhere. He is now the only such shop I know of between Wolverhampton and Chester. Although a very small shop he is well stocked and says he can get anything within a couple of days. I will put that to the test !!!

Well guess I need to get ready to go to lunch, its a hard life !!!!!

BOOK REVIEW: A GREAT FEAT OF IMPROVISATION.

Logistics And The British Expeditionary Force In France 1939-1940.

The publication by Helion of this book in the past month was brought to my attention by Mark at the Man of Tin blog as he knows of my great interest in logistics. I immediately ordered a copy and am now on their mailing list, thanks Mark.

The book is by Clem Maginniss who, as a ex-British Army logistician,  is fast becoming the premiere military logistics author of today. The book tells the story of the BEF from the declaration of war until the evacuation at Dunkirk from the logistics perspective.

There is no doubt that logistics is given short shrift in most military histories yet it is so true that "amateurs study tactics and professionals study logistics". This book seeks to redress the balance and  for this campaign certainly does exactly that. It tells the full story of the build up of the BEF during the phoney war, reminds us that at the time the BEF was the only fully motorised army in the world and outlines the extraordinary work needed to support what had became a force of over 400,000 by May 1940.

The research that has gone into this book is fantastic, there is so much detail that, just like the authors previous work, "An Unappreciated Field Of Endeavour", which covers British Army logistics in the First World War, this book will surely become the standard text on the subject.  However, great as this book is, it suffers from the same flaw as the previous work. That is the sheer amount of footnotes. These are so huge they often consume half of each page in the book and occasionally the whole page !!!!! While it is great to have so much information, it makes reading the book hard work. One is constantly loosing the thread because before turning the page you tend to read the lengthy notes and forget the main story !!!!!. 

There must be a better way of delivering these valuable footnotes without making the book so hard to read. Having said all that , this is a great book and highly recommended to anyone who wants to be a "professional".

BOOK REVIEW: MORTAR GUNNER ON THE EASTERN FRONT.

The original of this book was published in 2008 with the English version coming in 2019. This is volume 1,  volume 2 is also available. I purchased this book in The Works at £7 a few weeks ago. On looking at Amazon for volume 2, I found both volumes available at over £20 each. Today on Amazon, volume 1 is now only £7 but volume 2 is still £18 !!!!!!!

This is the war memoir of a German mortar gunner who served with Grossdeutschland from his enlistment at 18 in 1941 through to the end of the war. His survival is almost a miracle given the bitter fighting and numerous ordeals he went through during those years. After the war he became a veterinarian and lived till 2017.

The book is well illustrated with many of the authors own photographs not previously published and offers a very good insight to life as a German soldier both in combat but also out of the line. In fact there is just a bit more about that side of things than the fighting which probably speaks to his strongest memories. There is much to interest everyone from details of the Opel Blitz truck, the weapons, rations etc as well as a soldiers view of the battles he  endured. For example it is hard to grasp from this book that Operation Citadel was a defeat for the Germans. Of course this is due to the very limited view the author, or indeed any ordinary soldier, would have of a large battle.

I will certainly buy volume 2 although I may just wait to see if The Works get it in later in the year before using Amazon !!!!  Overall a very good book and well recommended.

UPDATE.

 It has been a while since I updated readers on my modelling progress hence this post. The fact is that I have actually done comparatively little modelling this past couple of weeks. Most of my time has been spent on socialising, chores and working on the replacement of the window cill in our bedroom. This object seems to have suffered from a water leak and, being made of MDF, had swollen somewhat in the corner. I have had to remove it, reseal under the window frame and cut, prepare and fit a new three part cill. The installation actually took place this morning. I now have to wait for the expanding foam and glued joints to go off before I can move onto filling all the gaps and holes caused when removing the old cill. After that I can started repainting. I have also been instructed to repaint ALL other window cills in the house at the same time !!!!!

I now have the timber to construct the new free standing bookcase previously mentioned. Just as soon as I finish with the window cill, I will start that project. I will post on this subject, with pictures, as I progress.

On the modelling front I have done a little work. I have completed upgrades 19, 20, and 21 which have added another 500 or so soldiers to the ranks although most of the work had been done at the time of my last update.

As some may recall, I have always used Humbrol paints in my modelling. I usually buy these either direct from Humbrol or if I only need a few I will buy at our local Hobby Craft. I needed a few tins recently so called at Hobby Craft. They have stopped stocking these paints. I did a quick interweb search and cannot find a single outlet closer than 35 miles away other than a new model shop that has recently opened apparently in our county town's Market Hall. I will visit said new shop ASAP and provided they are suitably stocked and at the right price it will become my new go to place even if it is some distance away.

BOOK REVIEW. GUNS UP!

 I have an extensive collection of Vietnam war books in my library but have not read any for a while now. As often happens I needed a change of subject so choose this book, published in 1984, one of my favorites.

The author was an 18 year old machine gunner with the USMC in Vietnam. Like all Marines throughout the Vietnam era, he was a volunteer. The average life expectancy of Marine Corps machine gunners was about  7 to 10 seconds once a fire fight started and very few actually completed their tour of duty without being killed or injured. The author was no exception and after being twice lightly wounded, was then seriously wounded and evacuated to Japan and then home after only ten months service.

The book offers possibly the most realistic descriptions of life as a combat Marine in Vietnam. As such it is required reading at the Basic School for officers and was widely circulated among Marines during the first Gulf War. 

The Marines did not spare their men any hardship with the result that combat infantry Marines often spent their full tour in the jungle with literally only 24 hour rests at base camps between patrols. Those stops were also more for ammunition resupply and changes of uniforms than actual rest. Added to that was a serious lack of promotion opportunities and a 13 month tour of duty rather than the army's 12 month tour. This has led many to believe the USMC almost abused their men during the war. Despite such treatment however,  survivors remain dedicated to the Corps.

Overall an excellent book and well worth reading.

IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 42.

 THE GERMAN RETREAT.

On the morning of 15th December 1888 General Stuart led three brigades of UNION cavalry south towards the southern bridge over the river Rhine in German Rhineland. At the same time another brigade moved north to secure the smallest Rhine bridge leaving just one brigade to hold the eastern end of the now destroyed central bridge.

In the German high command a state of near panic ensued. Their front line had been burst wide open and UNION forces were seeking to roll up the two German flanks. The main supply line over the Rhine had been destroyed and UNION cavalry were clearly now seeking to complete the encirclement of the German army. All available Militia units, some 25,000 men, were ordered to the southern bridge to secure it. the main German regular reserves stationed around Cologne were ordered forward to counter attack the UNION army and seek to reestablish a coherent front line.

The German counter attack was launched on 18th December but soon faltered under heavy UNION artillery fire. It quickly became clear to the German command that a general retreat was essential.  The order was given for all German forces to fall back towards the west. As the retreat gathered momentum, UNION forces found themselves fighting bitter battles with German rearguards. On 19th December the UNION cavalry forces under General Stuart launched an assault on the German militia defending the southern bridge. It soon became clear that the German defenses were too strong for the cavalry. Stuart fell back and opened a long range bombardment of the German positions with his horse artillery. In the north, UNION cavalry found the northern bridge undefended. They quickly demolished the bridge and , following their orders, fell back south towards the central bridge to rejoin the forces there.

The German command were encouraged by the success of the Militia in holding the southern bride and ordered all German forces to fall back towards that bridge. All hope of holding the UNION attack was abandoned. The emphasis was now on ensuring the escape of as many German troops as possible. Over the following weeks as German troops marched west it became increasingly clear that the troops in the northern sector who had been facing Seattle would not be able to reach the escape bridge before the advancing UNION army. They were ordered towards Cologne to defend that town.  In the southern area German rearguards were able to hold off UNION assaults giving the main body of troops time to reach the still intact southern bridge. General Stuart  realised that, with regular German troops now arriving in large numbers, he needed to move further north to ensure his cavalry did not become trapped between the Militia around the bridge and the retreating regular army. He therefore withdrew back to the central bridge and rejoined his brigades already there.

By the end of January 1889 the German army was concentrated around the southern bridge in huge numbers and under increasingly heavy UNION artillery bombardment. Due to the limited capacity of the bridge the Germans were forced to bring supplies and ammunition over at night with retreating troops using the bridge in daylight. Vehicles and heavy equipment was abandoned as most were too heavy for the bridge. In the centre of the Rhineland a large German force was now besieged around Cologne . 

By mid February UNION infantry reached the whole length of the river Rhine except for the part around the southern bridge. German forces there were still seeking to maintain a bridgehead on the eastern end of the bridge but under massive UNION artillery bombardment this was finally abandoned on 21st February. UNION artillery soon moved up and destroyed the bridge next day. Meanwhile around Cologne the German forces were almost out of both supplies and ammunition. The UNION had refrained from bombarding the town due the the number of civilians thought to still be in the town. On 22nd February the German forces surrendered. Some 37,000 German troops marched out of Cologne into UNION prison camps that had been established a few miles east of Cologne.

The German invasion of the UNION had been defeated, the whole of the German Rhineland had been occupied and around 50,000 German civilians were now under UNION control. The German army had lost most of its heavy equipment and vehicles while suffering huge losses in killed, wounded and prisoners. The five UNION armies now in the Rhineland had also suffered heavy casualties and looked forward to rest and recovery.

UPDATE.

I have no idea of the origins of this photo which my daughter found on the interweb. However close examination will show it is made up of thousands of red, white and blue plastic soldiers. I can only imagine the time it took to set this up. Very impressive indeed.

Update on the origins of this photo courtesy of my daughter. It was made about 4 years ago by Greg Smith to honour his father, grandfather and great grandfather who all served in the military. There are 10,000 soldiers and it measures 5 foot by 3 foot and it took him a year to build. Very impressive.

UPDATE.

 With the advent of summer, so far at least, my modelling activities have been somewhat impacted by other things like gardening etc. However I am making progress on a number of fronts.

I now have 55,288 soldiers with the colours and have completed 18 of the 48 upgrades previously mentioned. The photo below shows the support troops for six Infantry battalions in upgrade number 19 almost complete and just waiting for the final coat of varnish.

The next photo shows the infantry of upgrade number 19 in the same condition.

The next picture shows  upgrade number 20 which covers six command battalions. These only have the first coat of uniform green, the bottom half of the figures will be next for painting.

Finally this is upgrade number 21 for three cavalry regiments. As is clearly to be seen the horses are being painted brown onto the gray primer after which they will be finished.

The other area of progress is that I have designed a new freestanding bookcase. This will replace an existing bookcase, the removal of which will provide the space to build another display unit for my new fourth army. I will be ordering the timber this week. I will log progress on these woodworking projects and publish updates with photos as work proceeds.

BOOK REVIEW. A HISTORY OF THE ROMAN WORLD FROM 753 TO 146 BC.

This book has probably influenced me more than any other book I have ever read. It was originally published in 1935 and my copy is a second edition from 1951.  It has been in my possession for over 50 years and was found by me in my school library in about 1968 or early 1969. Prior to my "borrowing" the book it had been loaned out only once in 1960. I am bound to admit the book left school with me in early 1970.

As the title suggests the book covers the period from the founding of Rome until the destruction of Carthage, the high point of the Republic. Many may not realise that the vast bulk of the final Roman Empire was actually conquered under the Republic, in fact the only major territorial acquisition during the Empire era was Britain.

I have not read this book for the best part of 20 years so it came as a bit of a revelation that the story of Rome's early years, it's endless wars, political activities and even the way the book is written made me appreciate that my own Imagi-Nations stories owe a great deal to this history of Republican Rome.  Clearly I have absorbed  more than I realised. The similarities really are quite remarkable.

I do recall that when I first "discovered" the potential use of woodscrews as soldiers, my first thought was to re-create the army of Republican Rome. Indeed some of my very first vehicle constructions were two wheeled carts such as used by the Roman soldiers. I recall that the problem of how to attach a single horse to such a vehicle made me move towards four wheeled vehicles and from there ultimately to an army of the 19th century instead. The two wheeled carts subsequently became the basis of the many two wheeled trailers now in service with my armies.

This book and I are great friends, it shaped my thinking on many issues and has influenced me in respect of my wargaming activities for most of my adult life.

BOOK REVIEW : IN THE NAME OF ROME.

THE MEN WHO WON THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

Another book from my library but a little different from the usual offerings.  This book details the life and military exploits of a number of Roman generals from the Republic to the Empire. Most of the names are not well known today but others, mostly from the Republican period and possibly the most successful, are and include Scipio Africanus, Pompey and Caesar.

Until the last few hundred years of the Roman Empire, generals were not professional soldiers but were first and foremost, politicians and usually members of the Senate. Positions as generals were given  in much the same way as other governmental appointments. The ruling elite were expected to be successful in any position, military or civilian. With that in mind they had no formal training in generalship, indeed there was no formal training available of any sort other than to the rank and file.

There is a view that Roman armies were successful because of their training, equipment and sheer professionalism  and that any fool could be a general. Of course this is false, there were unsuccessful Roman generals and  Roman armies were  often beaten if insufficient attention was given to strategy and battlefield tactics as well as the issue of logistics. As an aside it is very interesting to me to read just how important logistics were to the Roman army. I expect there is a view that Roman soldiers carried everything on their backs or foraged for supplies along the way with no need for supply lines. That is very much not the case. Ensuring adequate food supplies and constant replacement of arms from the base was a very significant issue.

The simple fact is that some generals were more successful than others because of their natural ability as commanders. Possibly at no other time in history  has success or failure in war been so dependent on a general's natural ability as during the Roman era. Of course in subsequent centuries generals with little or no training were also successful but with much smaller forces and usually after many years service and experience. Few Roman generals served more than a few years before returning to civilian positions or even just resuming their service as Senators, a position held for life.

Many wargamers would like to think they are a new Napoleon but assume that without suitable training that is hardly likely. Reading this book illustrates that in fact you CAN be a successful general provided you have some natural talent. Some of you, maybe even me, could in fact be really good armchair generals, we just need the opportunity.

IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 41.

THE ATTACK ON GERMANY.

At 3am on the morning of 7th December 1888 UNION artillery fired a heavy barrage on the whole  German front line in the western part of the old Federation. Heavy artillery pounded the roads leading to the German lines and all areas thought to contain German troop reserves or supplies. At 9am the bombardment on the central German front moved a little further west and UNION infantry began to advance . German artillery fired defensive barrages but these were limited in effect as the Germans had long since learned that batteries that did not move after a few salvos would be destroyed by UNION counter battery fire. After bitter fighting in the German lines UNION infantry gained the upper hand and secured the German positions in the centre of their lines. The Germans fell back mostly to the flanks as UNION infantry pressed forward. By noon the centre of the German line had been peeled apart.

Around 1pm the UNION cavalry commander, General Stuart, ordered his five brigades forward into the gap in the German lines. The Cavalry and Horse Artillery regiments poured through the German positions and began a rapid advance west. Stuart's orders were to advance as quickly as possible towards the German frontier, cross the border and move through The Rhineland and seize the three bridges over the River Rhine into the heart of Germany thus cutting off the German troops to the east. He was to destroy the main central bridge, but hold intact if possible the two smaller  northern and southern bridges and await the arrival of the rest of the UNION army.

Stuart's rapid advance through the German rear positions involved a running battle with German supply trains and other rear area services. Never stopping to take prisoners or reduce firmly held positions, Stuart galloped forward. By the afternoon of 9th December Stuart's forces reached the German border and plunged across. The Rhineland was a sparsely populated area of farms and ranches with only one small town called Cologne through which the main road led to the large central bridge over the river. This large bridge not only had a roadway but also carried the railway from central Germany to Cologne which served as the German railhead. Cologne had always been used by the Germans as a staging post and supply centre for their settlements in the old Federation and served the German army in the same way during the current conflict. Stuart knew the town would be full of German troops so elected to bypass it to the south which he did on 11th December. 

Once past Cologne,  Stuart's troops were able to move faster as road traffic gave way to rail born travel for the Germans. He stopped only to shoot up German trains and replenish his food and fodder reserves from ranches and farms along the way. By morning of the 14th Stuart arrived at the main bridge only to find German troops digging in on his side of the bridge. As his primary mission was to destroy the bridge to prevent German reinforcements crossing he decided to launch a full scale attack immediately. The ten regiments of Horse Artillery opened fire on the bridge and German troop positions  while the dismounted cavalry moved forward. After several hours hard fighting Stuarts troops secured the eastern end of the bridge and he ordered the artillery to fire at the bridge to destroy it. The massive structure finally collapsed late in the evening of the same day. 

Stuarts troops were exhausted by their rapid advance and the long days fighting and made camp around their end of the bridge under sporadic German artillery fire from the other side. Stuart knew he now had to reach the other two bridges. The northern one was a light weight suspension bridge suitable only for foot traffic or very light wagons not heavy military vehicles. The southern bridge was somewhat more substantial but still had a limited capacity so that only a single heavy vehicle could cross at any one time. He decided to send just one brigade to the northern bridge and three brigades to the south leaving one to ensure the Germans could not repair the fallen central bridge.

During Stuarts advance the German command had struggled to fully understand UNION strategy.  They knew Stuart's cavalry were heading west but there were few sightings until German trains were shot up west of Cologne. They then realised Stuart was heading for the bridge. With most  regular troops already deployed at the front or in reserve  in Cologne,  a unit of militia were immediately sent to defend the bridge. It was this unit that Stuart defeated on 14th. Knowing the northern bridge to be unsuitable for troops in any numbers, other militia units were sent to the southern bridge to secure it. Once the central bridge was destroyed the movement of militia to the south became a flood.

Back on the front line the German positions had been split wide open. All available reserves were moved forward to seal the gap. The militia would have to deal with Stuart.

BOOK REVIEW : THE WORKERS' WAR : BRITISH INDUSTRY AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR.

 

This book, published in 2014, is another from my library. It covers, by chapter, all the important industries in Britain and how they contributed to the war effort. Although much of the content is fairly well known, there are some interesting new bits of information. However the most valuable aspect of the book is that it brings together in one book a large part of the story of how the British economy supported the war effort.

Of course there is only a comparatively limited amount on each industry but other sources are available if you need greater detail on anything in particular. That said it does really focus the mind on the enormous volume of materials and goods produced during the war, in many cases from a zero baseline. Britain was still, at the time, the workshop of the world and out produced all other countries even the US in terms of military hardware.

Overall a good introduction into the impressive feats of British industry and workers during the war.

BOOK REVIEW : THE ROSES OF NO MAN'S LAND.

This book from my library is by the preeminent WW1 historian Lyn MacDonald.  I have all of Lyn's books which in my opinion are among the very best WW1 histories.  Generally all her books cover one particular year of the war. This one alone is subject based. I believe that reflects the huge amount of data Lyn collected from women who served in the medical system during the war.  As is well known Lyn spent several years interviewing survivors of the war and amassed a huge collection of voice recordings. All her books are based on those recordings.

The book details how women came to play a massive roll in the medical system despite great reluctance from that system, and the military medical department in particular, to accept the employment of women especially unqualified women, which although it eased as the war progressed, never quite went away.

This book is exceptionally well written, full of personal recollections and quite atmospheric in transporting the reader back in time. The enormous level of casualties is really brought home as are the day to day trials and sufferings of the vast number of both professional and amateur nurses employed on all fronts of the war as well as at home.

Like all of Lyn MacDonald's books, highly recommended.

IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 40.

 THE UNION COUNTERATTACKS.

The situation by the middle of October 1888 was that the UNION had halted both the German and Russian assaults. However on both fronts the UNION forces urgently needed reinforcement. The 10th Reserve army was therefore deployed with one infantry brigade to Mexico and another to the border with China. In addition the cavalry brigade was also sent to China to maintain patrols in the south of that country. The other two infantry brigades were to be held in strategic reserve. With this deployment 3rd and 5th armies were now available and it was decided to use them to counter attack. The question was where. As German forces were better equipped than the Russians and were already on UNION territory threatening Boston and Chicago while the Russians were still in Ukraine 1000 miles from the UNION it was decided to attack the Germans.

In order to ensure the Russians would find it difficult to assist their allies by increasing pressure on the UNION lines, the four UNION cavalry brigades already in Ukraine were formed into an ad hoc army and ordered to launch long range attacks on the Russian supply railway far behind the front lines. At this time the Russian and UNION armies were concentrated in the north of Ukraine leaving the central and southern regions totally unoccupied for hundreds of square miles. Having already been offered support by the Ukrainian government, it was decided the cavalry force would be based a few hundred miles north of Kiev and supplied by the Ukrainians direct with food and fodder. That would enable UNION Quartermaster transport companies to concentrate on shipping only ammunition and other military hardware  to support the Cavalry operations. The expectation was that if the Cavalry could exert sufficient pressure on the Russian supply lines, the Russians would have to use large numbers of troops to defend those lines thus making them unable to muster the strength to launch another assault on the main UNION lines.

On 3rd November 1888 the UNION cavalry army moved quickly south east towards Kiev. By 27th November they were at their new base camp and were ready to launch four separate raids on the Russian supply lines.  On 7th December the cavalry raids took place at various points on the railway. Trains were destroyed by horse artillery fire, tracks ripped up and several Russian patrols and working parties wiped out. The effect was immediate in that the Russians were both surprised that UNION forces could reach so far behind their lines and dismayed at the level of damage caused. By the time Russian relief trains could get to the most eastern and western raid sites the UNION troops had long disappeared. 

Over the following months the Russians were forced to deploy more and more troops from their reserves in Russia and even some from their front line to patrol the railway while constructing block houses at various points as patrol bases. However the UNION cavalry raids continued and by years end , despite having allocated over 50,000 troops to protect the railway, the Russian front line was suffering increasing shortages of food, ammunition and other essential supplies.

Meantime back in the west, two infantry brigades of the UNION 3rd army together with that armies heavy artillery and heavy weapons battalions had been placed under command of 4th army covering Chicago and the other two brigades had been given to 9th army covering Seattle. The  5th army had joined up with 8th army in the centre of the front and both armies were now prepared to attack the weakly held German centre. The command battalion of 3rd army was allocated control of all five cavalry brigades on the front and this force was massed behind 5th and 8th armies.

On 7th December the German army came under heavy artillery bombardment all along the front while the UNION army launched a massive attack on the centre of the German positions.

UPDATE.

Further to my last update I have some important news to share. That post mentioned that I was undertaking the treatment of some new zinc plated screws with vinegar to remove the zinc to enable painting.

As I have done for some years I soaked two batches of screws in vinegar. However even after 7 hours soaking including a change of vinegar midway through, the results were not acceptable. I found only 75% of the zinc plating had gone.

Seeking an answer I referred to the interweb.  It seems that the thickness of zinc plating and therefore the time it takes to dissolve can vary considerably. However although during my original research some 7 or 8 years ago the method of choice was vinegar for removing zinc plating I now found that opinion has moved to the use of citric acid granules. These are available in small quantities from Wilkinson specifically to remove limescale from kettles, or in larger quantities from Amazon for use in baking. The data on the various references on YouTube etc suggested these crystals had less smell than vinegar, were quicker to use and were more effective because the acidity level is higher.

Therefore I purchased a small box of crystals from Wilkinson to experiment with. The results are spectacular. The original batch was completely cleaned of zinc in less than 20 minutes. The smell, although still not good, was much less cough inducing than with vinegar. I have since used the rest of the crystals to clean another five boxes of fresh screws, one of which is shown below.

My "recipe" is to half fill an ice cream plastic box with warm water, mix in two heaped table spoons of the crystals,  add three boxes (600) screws and leave for a good hour, just stirring every fifteen minutes or so. Then I wash the screws in a sieve under the garden hose and dry with a hot air gun. The results are great and so much better than using vinegar.

The photo below illustrates this clearly. The box on the left contains zinc plated screws. The centre box is after treatment with citric acid and the box on the right contains "self coloured" screws.  

Following treatment the screws are an exact match to "self coloured" but on drying take on a yellowish hue due to flash rusting. This is perfectly acceptable to me as it helps provide a key for the paint.  This will be my go to method of treatment from now on. As mentioned before, woodworkers use this method to age modern fittings. If the dark gray look of self colour is required, after rinsing, just spray the screws or whatever, with WD40. This drives off the water and stops the items going yellow with rust. 

UPDATE.

 I thought it about time I gave an update on progress with my armies rather than yet more information about my head long decent into a gun obsessed  second boyhood !!!!!!!

I have just completed the 15th of the original 46 upgrades, a batch of Cavalry corporals.

As mentioned some time ago, I identified an opportunity to increase the foot soldier elements in my Cavalry and Horse Artillery regiments. I have now quantified those changes in the sum of 270 new soldiers. That has added another 2 upgrades so there are now 48 upgrades.  The changes involve additional medical, signals and staff troops together with an increase in the Horse Artillery gun teams to bring them into line with the Field and Heavy Artillery battalion compliment of six men per gun. Overall this will bring the strength of each army to 20,128. 

Readers may recall I mentioned some time ago that I had bought a fresh supply of screws after a long search for the out of production items I use. For the past few years I have been working through a box of about 25,000 loose, old and slightly rusty screws that a contact in the trade had secured for me just before he retired. That box is now empty and it is time to start using the new stock.

These came from a business specialising in the supply of old imperial sized woodworking hardware like screws, bolts and suchlike.  (Yes there is a market for such things !!!! )  I am pretty sure I have got most of the UK's remaining stock of these screws having bought 36,000. Although I had to pay double what I used to pay it was worthwhile to ensure my hobby can continue for the foreseeable future. 

About half the new stock, all of which are boxed and in brand new perfect condition, are "self coloured" that is raw steel. The rest are zinc plated. As related in old posts, (see posts under "screws" label )  zinc plated screws cannot be painted without removing the zinc plating. This I do by soaking the screws in pickling vinegar for a couple of hours. I have decided to use the zinc plated screws first so today bought a couple of bottles of vinegar to start the process.

Those who follow my Imagi-Nations posts may realise that when I started to publish these articles I said the current year in TIAN was 1891 eg 130 years ago. That being so the latest posting related  events in 1888 so it is clear that the "present" day will soon be reached. At this time I think I will be revisiting previous posts to add extra detail to battles etc rather than just stopping the posts altogether when I run out of history to relate. This idea came from Archduke Piccolo, thanks Ion.

Well that's my update for now.......time to go shoot some targets !!!!!!!!

UPDATE.

Back in March I published an update about my then recent purchase of a new air rifle in the form of a replica Winchester 73. The last line of that update questioned whether I also needed a new air pistol in the form of the legendary Colt 45 to complete the set. 

YES I DID  !!!!!!!

After much consideration I decided my regression to boyhood would not be complete without a "cowboy" pistol to go with my new rifle.  So, having raided the piggy bank again, off I went to my gunshop of choice to look at the various versions available. The new gun is a perfect replica of the famous Peacemaker. I chose the "blued" version. Again it is powered by a Co2 gas capsule fitted in the grip.

The "shells" are loaded in the same way as the original but each is charged with a .177 pellet. Cocking the hammer prepares a charge of gas and rotates the cylinder and once the six "shells" are fired they can be reloaded with pellets.

Once again the gun is a joy to fire. Obviously neither as powerful or accurate as the rifle it is nevertheless great fun and very addictive. Once again there are plenty of videos on YouTube if you want to see the gun in action.

Now, do I need a quick-draw holster rig ???????????

BOOK REVIEW. SAFARI : A CHRONICLE OF ADVENTURE.

Although I have many other hunting books in my library, this is the last one I am going to review before getting back to more usual subjects. This book is from 1988 and is basically a history of African hunting from the first organised hunting safari in 1837 until the authors last hunt ( with a camera ) in 1987.

The book details how the early hunters rampaged through southern Africa shooting literally everything that moved on to the elephant hunters who, prior to the First World War, provided the world with vast quantities of ivory  on through the "golden age " of the hunting safari from the 1920's to the 1960's and the move towards the photographic safari that started in the 1980's.

This is a fascinating and well researched book describing a world and way of life now long gone.  That said it also regularly refers to the "magic" of Africa that captured the hearts of those fortunate enough to visit that continent. It is clear that the huge open spaces, vast quantities of game and a vigorous outdoor life attracted a certain type of person who often then used hunting more as a means of remaining in Africa rather than trying to make their fortune.

Overall an excellent reference book on the history of the big game hunting African safari.

BOOK REVIEW... DEATH IN THE LONG GRASS.

I bought this book in 1977 just after publication. Prior to that I had only read a few American hunting magazines. This book was a revelation in that it excitingly described the various adventures of an American professional hunter in Africa. The author was a hard driving, heavy drinking ,chain smoking larger than life character. No real surprise to me to find out some years later he had died of heart failure at the age of 56.

That said the book is very interesting if you wish to have an insight in big game hunting in Africa in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At that time big game hunting with paying clients was still a big industry. It started to collapse later in the 1970s when various countries stopped hunting altogether. No doubt many readers will think that a long over due move however the simple fact is that when regulated hunting stopped, poaching went out of control and huge amounts of cash from hunting fees were lost for conservation.

Professional hunters provided a substantial deterrent to poaching because they rented hunting blocks and patrolled them regularly. It was always in their interests to maintain the game populations and the huge license fees mostly also went into conservation. The big declines in animal populations can all be traced to the late 1970s when hunting safaris largely stopped.

All that said the reality is that big game hunting in Africa is a relic of another time now long gone. As an introduction to this "sport" this book is valuable although the writer is rather too "macho" in his stories, indeed some are just a bit far fetched, killing a man eating lion with a spear while it chewed on his gun bearers arm is a bit much to swallow !!!!!! Nevertheless, a well written book if you are interested in African big game hunting.

IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 39.

THE OPENING BATTLES WITH GERMANY AND RUSSIA.

During July and August 1888 the UNION army was fully mobilised. The 1st, 6th and 7th armies were moved towards the border with Ukraine to support 2nd army which had already crossed the border to protect the railway as it advanced towards Russia. The 4th and 8th armies were moved towards Germany to join with 9th army which had already deployed. The 3rd and 5th armies were also brought to battle readiness. Due to the severity of the threat to the UNION it was also decided to mobilise, for the first time, the 10th reserve army. Personnel of this army were ordered to assemble at Fort Reno and the vehicles, guns and other equipment held in store at Rock Island Arsenal was dispatched by train to that location. Initial thinking was that the Reserve army would be deployed on the border with China with one brigade in Mexico thereby releasing both 3rd and 5th armies for use against Germany and/or Russia as needed. In addition the first tranche of reservists for all armies were ordered to report at their respective Forts for refresher training.

With the decision having been made not to launch a pre-emptive strike against Germany, the UNION army group facing Germany was ordered to take up  flexible defensive positions while maintaining the ability to launch a  strong counter attack.  The 9th army took up positions in an arc southwest of of Seattle about 50 miles from the border while 4th army deployed, again in an arc, northwest of Chicago and 8th army stood roughly equidistant but further to the east of the other armies so as to be able to support the other armies or launch a counter attack as needed.

In Ukraine the army group was instructed to follow the 2nd army advancing towards Russia being ready to deploy into combat formation as soon as the main Russian forces were encountered. On 14th September the advance guards of both armies engaged in an encounter battle in central Ukraine. To the surprise of UNION commanders the Russians did not deploy for battle but instead sought out high ground and other strong defensive positions and started to entrench themselves very deeply. Over the next few weeks  both armies sought to outflank the other with the result that a battle line of almost 70 miles soon developed. This surprised the Russians who had thought their strength of 500,000 with 250,000 reserves still in Russia, would be sufficient to stretch the UNION very thinly. The intensity of UNION artillery fire all along the battle line soon caused the Russians to understand they must be facing the best part of 300,000 UNION troops. The Russian and German strategy had been for the Russians to stand on the defensive, inflict as many casualties on the UNION as possible and draw in as many UNION troops as possible so that the Germans could launch their hopefully surprise attack against limited opposition. At this time neither Germany or Russia realised the full strength of the UNION army and were certainly not aware of the existence of the 10th reserve army. By the end of September both sides in Ukraine were deeply entrenched.

On 2nd October German forces swept across the frontier into the old Federation territory. A force of about 100,000 moved northeast towards Seattle while the main body of 200,000 headed southeast towards Chicago. About 25,000 moved in a thin skirmish line due east to cover the gap between the two forces. An additional 150,000 troops were held in eastern Rhineland as reserves. Meeting no resistance in the first few days the Germans believed they had achieved strategic surprise. This idea was unpleasantly destroyed on 5th October when both German advances came up against powerful UNION resistance. The Germans deployed for battle only to come under very heavy UNION artillery fire. Clearly the UNION had not been surprised and in fact UNION forces were on the battlefield in substantial numbers. German assaults were thrown back with heavy casualties in both the north and south. The Germans made several more attacks over the next few days with nothing to show from them but more casualties. The great gamble had failed so German forces adopted the same strategy as their Russian allies and sought out strong defensive positions along the two fronts each of almost 50 miles and started to dig in.

The UNION had successfully stopped the attacks of both their enemies for the time being at least. Although UNION artillery endlessly bombarded the Russian and German positions, it seemed that both armies had invested in substantial supplies of entrenching materials which was enabling  their positions to remain viable. In addition it seemed both armies had learned that to preserve their artillery, batteries should not remain in the same location for any length of time. Although this reduced effectiveness, at least they remained more or less intact. It was also clear that both armies, especially the Russians, were feeding more and more troops into their defenses perhaps with an eye to renewal of their attack. UNION commanders were faced with  a difficult choice; counter attack with potentially high losses or wait for the renewal of the Russian-German attack. In either case the UNION armies needed immediate and substantial reinforcement.