A bit of a long post so sorry for that...
Some time ago I was discussing this particular hobby with a friend and colleague, and he asked whether I had made models of specific events or actions. Whilst I do endeavour to be as accurate as I can be in terms of terrain, buildings, markings etc, I hadn't ever got around to doing something so specific, despite having many ideas both in my head and in my note pad (I make notes and doodle a lot...). I'll give a nod here to Jerry Rutman -in particular his Falaise Pak40- which gave me the push I needed to do this.
I've lived in Normandy for many years now but grew up in Norfolk. There were two Victoria Crosses awarded to men of the Royal Norfolk Regiment in Normandy (as it happens, both men were born in London, but I lived there for a bit too so it kind of "fit"), Sidney Bates and David Jamieson, from the 1st and 7th Battalions respectively. Bates' was sadly a posthumous award (and one which I hope to return to in miniature soon).
Capt David Jamieson was, as I said, in the 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment. Here he is:
His battalion was part of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division, which had fought in Operations Charnwood and Pomegranate prior to the crossing of the River Orne near Grimbosq, which is where Jamieson earned his VC.
A quick screenshot courtesy of IGN for some geographical context:
And an aerial photo form 1947 (also courtesy IGN). Grimbosq is the village just to the right of the centre of the image, the River Orne is clearly seen along with the one bridge (Pont de Brie, near the bottom of the photo) which had been, rather unhelpfully, destroyed byt the Germans:
For "visual inspiration", there's quite a nice painting by Peter Archer of Jamieson atop a Churchill (see citation below):
So, what did he do?
"Captain Jamieson was in command of a Company of The Royal Norfolk Regiment which established a bridgehead over the River Orne, south of Grimbosq in Normandy. On 7th August 1944 the enemy made three counter-attacks which were repulsed with heavy losses. The last of these took place at 18:30 hours when a German Battle Group with Tiger and Panther tanks attacked and the brunt of the fighting fell on Captain Jamieson's Company. Continuous heavy fighting ensured for more than four hours until the enemy were driven off, after suffering severe casualties and the loss of three tanks and an armoured car accounted for by this Company. Throughout these actions, Captain Jamieson displayed outstanding courage and leadership, which had a decisive influence on the course of the battle and resulted in the defeat of these determined enemy attacks.
On the morning of 8th August, the enemy attacked with a fresh Battle Group and succeeded in penetrating the defences surrounding the Company on three sides. During this attack two of the three tanks in support of the Company were destroyed and Captain Jamieson left his trench under close range fire from enemy arms of all kinds and went over to direct the fire of the remaining tank, but as he could not get in touch with the commander of the tank by the outside telephone, he climbed upon it in full view of the enemy. During this period Captain Jamieson was wounded in the right eye and left forearm but when his wounds were dressed he refused to be evacuated. By this time all the other officers had become casualties so Captain Jamieson reorganised his Company, regardless of personal safety, walking amongst his men in full view of the enemy, as there was no cover.
The enemy counter-attacked the Company three more times during that day with infantry and tanks. Captain Jamieson continued in command, arranging for artillery support over his wireless and going out into the open on each occasion to encourage his men. By the evening the Germans had withdrawn, leaving a ring of dead and burnt out tanks round his position.
Throughout this thirty-six hours of bitter and close fighting, and despite the pain of his wounds, Captain Jamieson showed superb qualities of leadership and great personal bravery. There were times when the position appeared hopeless, but on each occasion it was restored by his coolness and determination. He personally was largely responsible for the holding of this important bridgehead over the River Orne and the repulse of seven German counter-attacks with great loss to the enemy."
The "enemy", along with parts of the 271.InfDiv, was "KG Wünsche"- Panthers from 3./SS-PzRgt12, Tigers from 2./sSS-PzAbt101 and grenadiers from SS-PzGrenRgt26.
Jamieson himself always maintained he was just "doing his job", but still. As an aside, there were a couple more individuals (one from either side) who I think warrant similar representation if I can get around to it.
I'm going to include two main elemnts... Jamieson on top of a Churchill from 107th Rgt, RAC and a Bren group in a hastily dug scrape.
First off, the AFV Club Churchill IV. I have a 90% complete Mk III in the attic, and I enjoyed the build. With the Mk IV, the cast turret needed some attention as it looks a bit odd as supplied, IMHO:
Some Mr Surfacer 1000 dabbed on with a brush and followed by some smudging and sanding will hopefully do the trick.
The Bren crew are from Dragon. I've just got the basic poses down and am getting them "settled in" to their meagre cover. The area where they fought slopes upwards from the Orne towards the Foret de Grimbosq, which I hope to convey. There were a few more orchards then than now, but precious little otherwise. I need some Bren magazines... I see Ultracast do some which look nice - any comments on them or other suiggestions welcomed. This is all WIP of course...
The idea is to do these guys as almost like a seperate vignette and then blend that into to bigger picture. This will hopefully allow me to work on details like the spent mags, spare pouches, open pack etc..
As always, comments, thoughts and suggestions more than welcome.
Cheers
Sean
