Showing posts with label NZ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NZ. Show all posts

25 March 2015

Gallipoli: Simpson and his donkey

Gallipoli: Sgt Simpson and his Donkey: 

Painting of a legend sells for $220 000

On Donkeys in WW1 and the truth behind the legend

SOLD: Simpson and his donkey was auctioned in Auckland.

The son of the medic (Erroneously named as Simpson in the above painting) depicted in an iconic Gallipoli painting was present when it sold at auction for $220,000. International Art Centre director Richard Thomson said it was a rare offering that represented the heart of the Anzac tradition.

"When you look at this painting, you really do get some understanding of the absolute hell the Anzac soldiers went through at Gallipoli," he said.

Ross Henderson, whose father Richard Henderson was depicted in Simpson and his Donkey, said it was his first time "coming to one of these events" and he was not placing a bid. The buyer's identity was not revealed.

In 1917, Horace Moore-Jones was thought to have painted six versions of Simpson and his Donkey and the one sold on Wednesday night was the last to be in private hands.

Although the painting is named after Simpson it actually depicts Henderson's father, a Waihi-born New Zealander who took over as a medic after Simpson was killed. The painting was based on a photograph of Henderson taken by another New Zealander at Gallipoli, James Jackson.

Ross Henderson said he preferred the daylight version of the painting. "This one is very sombre."
(see below)

The painting captures the bravery of Simpson who used donkeys to ferry wounded soldiers, under heavy fire, back to medical posts on the beach at Anzac Cove in 1915. It is rumoured that he saved between 150 to 300 wounded soldiers. This has been difficult to substantiate from contemporary records. Never the less, he showed incredible bravery under fire.
Source: Stuff.co.nz


Another version

From Wiki: The Real Simpson:

John "Jack" Simpson Kirkpatrick (6 July 1892 – 19 May 1915),

Served under the name John Simpson, a stretcher bearer with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) during the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I. After landing at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, he obtained a donkey and began carrying wounded British Empire soldiers from the front line to the beach, for evacuation. He continued this work for three and a half weeks, often under fire, until he was killed, during the Third attack on Anzac Cove. Simpson and his Donkey are a part of the "Anzac legend".

Simpson was born on 6 July 1892 in South Shields, Tyneside, in the United Kingdom,] the son of Robert Kirkpatrick and Sarah Kirkpatrick (née Simpson). He was one of eight children, and worked with donkeys as a youth, during summer holidays.

At 16 he volunteered to train as a gunner in the Territorial Force, and in early 1909 he joined the British merchant navy. In May 1910 Simpson deserted at Newcastle, New South Wales, and then travelled widely in Australia, taking on various jobs, such as cane-cutting in Queensland and coalmining in the Illawarra district of New South Wales. In the three or so years leading up to the outbreak of World War I, he worked as a steward, stoker and greaser on Australian coastal ships.

Simpson enlisted in the Australian Army after the outbreak of war apparently as a means of returning to England, probably dropping "Kirkpatrick" from his name, and enlisting as "John Simpson", to avoid being identified as a deserter. He was accepted into the army as a field ambulance stretcher bearer on 23 August 1914 in Perth. This role was only given to physically strong men.


Simpson landed on the shores of the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25 April 1915 as part of the ANZAC forces. In the early hours of the following day, as he was bearing a wounded comrade on his shoulders, he spotted a donkey and quickly began making use of it to carry his fellow soldiers.He would sing and whistle, seeming to ignore the bullets flying through the air, while he tended to his comrades. The donkey is usually remembered as being called 'Duffy', although it has also been known as 'Abdul' or 'Murphy'.

Simpson and the donkey.jpg

Simpson and his donkey

Colonel (later General) John Monash wrote: "Private Simpson and his little beast earned the admiration of everyone at the upper end of the valley. They worked all day and night throughout the whole period since the landing, and the help rendered to the wounded was invaluable. Simpson knew no fear and moved unconcernedly amid shrapnel and rifle fire, steadily carrying out his self-imposed task day by day, and he frequently earned the applause of the personnel for his many fearless rescues of wounded men from areas subject to rifle and shrapnel fire."



One of the paintings by Horace Moore depicting a man and a donkey, formerly thought to be a portrait of Simpson, now known to portray Henderson.



On 19 May 1915, during the Third attack on Anzac Cove, Simpson was struck by machine gun fire and died. At the time of his death, Simpson's father was already dead, but his mother and sister Annie were still living in South Shields. He was buried at the Beach Cemetery.

The painting of Simpson and his donkey, sometimes titled The Man with the Donkey, has immortalised his deeds at Gallipoli and been widely reproduced as sculptures and memorials. It was painted from a photograph by Horace Jones, a New Zealand artist who took part in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force's Landing at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. He made at least six versions of the painting.However, the photograph he worked from is not of Simpson but of a New Zealand school teacher, Dick Henderson, who was a stretcher bearer in the New Zealand Medical Corps at Gallipoli.

It is commonly reported that following the death of Simpson, Henderson took over his role and used the donkey Murphy to repeatedly rescue wounded soldiers from the battlefield (he was later awarded the Military Medal).The photograph that Moore used, of Henderson with the donkey wearing a Red Cross band around its muzzle, was taken by Sergeant James G. Jackson of the NZMC on 12 May 1915, a week before Simpson's death.


In descriptions of the paintings and derivatives over the years, there has been confusion over the name of the donkey which has been mainly called Murphy, but occasionally Duffy or Abdul as well. Even Simpson himself was sometimes called Murphy. Interviewed in 1950 by the Melbourne Argus, Dick Henderson said the legend that Simpson was called Murphy was incorrect and he wanted to clear up the matter. He said Simpson found the donkey wandering on a shell-torn beach and had named it Murphy.


Henderson and the donkey - the photograph used as source for the painting

The theme of the paintings has appeared widely down the years and a variation of it (drawn from a sculpture) was included on three postage stamps issued in Australia in 1965 to mark the 50th anniversary of Gallipoli – on the five penny, eight penny and two shillings and three pence stamps.


Murphy the donkey has been widely recognised also, and in 1977 a donkey joined the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, being allocated the regimental number MA 0090 and assigned the name Private Jeremy Jeremiah Simpson. In 1986 the donkey was permanently adopted as the official mascot of the corps.

In May 1997 the Australian RSPCA posthumously awarded its Purple Cross to the donkey Murphy for performing outstanding acts of bravery towards humans.

The "Simpson" legend grew largely from an account of his actions published in a 1916 book, Glorious Deeds of Australasians in the Great War. This was a wartime propaganda effort, and many of its stories of Simpson, supposedly rescuing 300 men and making dashes into no man's land to carry wounded out on his back, are demonstrably untrue. In fact, transporting that many men down to the beach in the three weeks that he was at Gallipoli would have been a physical impossibility, given the time the journey took. However, the stories presented in the book were widely and uncritically accepted by many people, including the authors of some subsequent books on Simpson.

The few contemporary accounts of Simpson at Gallipoli speak of his bravery and invaluable service in bringing wounded down from the heights above Anzac Cove through Shrapnel and Monash Gullies. However, his donkey service spared him the even more dangerous and arduous work of hauling seriously wounded men back from the front lines on a stretcher.

A popular silent film was made of his exploits, Murphy of Anzac (1916). The story was also an episode of the anthology television show Michael Willessee's Australians (1988). There is a song about him, "John Simpson Kirkpatrick", on the album Legends and Lovers by Issy and David Emeney with Kate Riaz (Wild Goose Records WGS344). There is another song about him, called "Jackie and Murphy" on the album "Vagrant Stanzas" by Martin Simpson.

There have been several petitions over the decades to have Simpson awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) or a Victoria Cross for Australia. There is a persistent myth that he was recommended for a VC, but that this was either refused or mishandled by the military bureaucracy. However, there is no documentary evidence that such a recommendation was ever made. The case for Simpson being awarded a VC is based on diary entries by his Commanding Officer that express the hope he would receive either a Distinguished Conduct Medal or VC. However, the officer in question never made a formal recommendation for either of these medals. Simpson's Mention in Despatches was consistent with the recognition given to other men who performed the same role at Gallipoli.



In April 2011 the Australian Government announced that Simpson would be one of thirteen servicemen examined in an inquiry into "Unresolved Recognition for Past Acts of Naval and Military Gallantry and Valour".

 The tribunal for this inquiry was directed to make recommendations on the awarding of decorations, including the Victoria Cross. Concluding its investigations in February 2013, the tribunal recommended that no further award be made to Simpson, since his "initiative and bravery were representative of all other stretcher-bearers of 3rd Field Ambulance, and that bravery was appropriately recognised as such by the award of an MID

Mules and Donkeys in WW1:


Donkeys and Mules laden with water on a Gallipoli beach

The often overlooked but never forgotten story of the Donkey and Mule in the Great War. 
Information from Jill Mather Gallipoli’s War Horses, Waler Book Trust 2014

Stories about mules and donkeys are hard to come by.  They are the forgotten ones, simply a means to an end.  However without them a soldier’s life in the trenches, help for the injured, and travelling the desert and battlefield would have been impossible.

The Army Mule

Mules required less food than horses.  They were more tolerant of extreme heat and cold, and they could go for longer periods without water, critical in battle where clean water was so scarce.  Mules were proven to be more resistant to diseases and disease-bearing insects, very low maintenance and seldom needed shoes.  Less than half the mules died from infected bullet holes compared to the percentage of horses killed. 

 The first ship of animals departed in November 1914, and in the four half years of war 287,533 mules and 175 jacks were purchased.  Mules were branded on their near hindquarter with a 2 inch broad arrow and a letter or symbol denoting their origin.  13,000 Spanish mules were considered especially fine.

War Correspondent Charles Bean on a Mule, Gallipoli

An astounding mule story tells of the mule travelling down the soft steep hillside when the earth began to give way.  He tossed his handler to safety, freed his load of mail (a highly prized reminder of home), and was then swept away to his death.  Nobody knew how he managed to save the mail and his handler, but all agreed he deserved a medal.

Mule trains were hitched in threes, 15 to 20 long, always travelling at a trot and under fire.  When a mule was hit he was unhitched, the ammunition boxes rolled off him, and the mule train just carried on, often 14 to 16 hours a day.  The Missouri mule was recorded with 64 mules being loaded with 100 kilograms EACH in just 14 minutes!  Because of this very high prices were paid for quality mules. Mules died alongside the horses and soldiers.  There was no way of digging a hole for dead mules so many were thrown into the sea washing up like submarine periscopes and reportedly panicking the Navy. 56,000 surplus mules were sold after the war.

The Army Donkey


Moses, the donkey mascot of the New Zealand Army Service Company. (Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association: New Zealand official negatives, World War 1914-1918. Ref: 1/2-013143-G. Alexander Turnbull Library

Gallipoli History: Donkeys were routinely loaded with at least 3 times their own body weight.  Pictures and stories show donkeys carried food supplies, clothing, pots and pans, and of course water while all around them guns still fired, usually under the cover of darkness.  Summer was harsh and hot.  Water, always rationed, came from Malta red with rust, tasted terrible, and was often laced with chemicals designed to kill the enemy.  Wells on Gallipoli were often polluted or dry, so any interruption of the donkeys was considered a crisis.  The Gallipoli winter climate was especially hard on donkeys that do not do well in wet muddy conditions.


Donkeys were used to convey the wounded, so large groups of donkeys sporting Red Cross headbands were held in readiness.   Grazing was poor and donkeys scavenged for whatever was available.  Plant poisoning was common.  Most donkeys were the large Egyptian breed, known for its gentle nature.  Donkey trains sometimes up to 200 animals, in lines of four, were led by an Egyptian handler.  


Donkeys were invaluable pulling the sick and injured up the steep hills and gullies, as an accidental slip by the heavy horse ambulances led to man and horse tumbling down the steep slopes.

 To escape the bitterness of slaughter donkeys were often used in games, races and wrestling matches for light relief.  Pets on the battlefield gave men a link with home.  They were something to care for and a welcome change from guns, bombs, lice and dirt.  Even officers were known to have them despite rules to the contrary.  


Donkey races on the Western Front

After Egypt donkeys and mules classified unfit or over 12 years old were destroyed and their manes and tails shaved and sold. Many were even skinned to produce more leather for supplies. Some numbers say of the 34,000 or so donkeys used only 1,042 survived.  This was greeted with disdain and sadness by the soldiers who had sought solace with their donkey friends.


Despite the burden placed on mules and donkeys their participation was taken for granted and sometimes even contempt. Many soldiers told tales of the donkey and mule having a “sixth sense”.  Whilst may lives and loads were saved stories abounded of how mule and donkey handlers became frustrated.  It was widely known that they simply do not respond to harsh treatment, and in fact file the grievance away for future reference.   


A kick by a donkey or mule was considered as deliberate as it was accurate. It is still known by some of the best horse people that you SHOULD train a horse the way you MUST train a mule or donkey.  The donkey and mule remain under appreciated beasts of burden in many parts of the world, but have been thankfully replaced by machinery in most war zones.  Their importance in the war was largely unsung, but certainly never unimportant.


23 March 2015

Chunuk Bair: My Turks go over the Top and the ANZACs arrive

WW100: My Turks go off to war, and the first ANZAC troops line up on my workbench

Sam rings me today: "Are you ready for some more Gallipoli models? 
A few guys have pulled out, and we have a deadline looming"


 "How many have you done ?"
" Ten."

"How many more can you do ?"
" Another Ten."

 Silence,
 "...or twenty."

More silence

" Maybe thirty... "




Bewildered Turks fleeing a spectre of an ANZAC soldier


"I'll bring them to you tonight..."

 So a few quick snaps before these Turks that have been languishing on my workbench go off to Gallipoli and the tender ministrations of Mustapha Khamal.

"How many has Scott done?"
"Fifty ! "

"Fifty ? "

Ok, some ANZACs this time. 

Sam realises I am pushed for time, with a friends wedding and stag do to organise (best man at my ripe old age) , family birthdays and on call commitments. 

So: Wounded and kneeling ANZACs, and sundry lost or discarded equipment now on my workbench. 



Quick flash removal job. Yay! Slice my finger with a scalpel blade. 
...That's when you get for being lazy. Get out the dremel. 
... Buzzz...flash begone!

Mix Araldite (Yeugh!) 
Heads on, leave overnight to cure.
Arrange in sorry looking pile of wounded and kneeling soldiers.
Paint case happens to have bright red splatters of ink from a previous job on it, 

Or was it my blood? 
Or was it theirs?


Lead soldiers tumbling off balsa blocks...


I think back to this afternoon:  

Saw an 88 year old lady in my surgery. Have known her for 15 years. Used to be a keen painter, but she no longer has the energy. Buys the paint and the canvas, but just can't get started. 

We always end up talking art or painting. Told her about the WW100 project, showed her a few bits from blogs on my desktop PC. 

She gets all choked up. "Such waste, such waste. Thousands of them... Such waste..."

So raw is the wounds of Gallipoli still in the psyche of New Zealanders. 
This event has defined our lives, her life, 



Such waste. Such waste.


14 February 2015

Progress on the Turks

Gallipoli and The Turks: Diorama Progress report

I finally got a bit of time to progress the Turks I've built for the WW1 display in Wellington. Diorama to commemorate the Battle of Chunuk Bair.



Applied the first coats, and washes to the trousers and helmets helmets- starting to look like them Ottoman Gentlemen warriors now 






Have applied washes to uniform jackets now, pics to follow...

:

14 July 2014

Haka Farewell from the CO of the disbanded UK 3rd Mercier (Staffordshire) Sappers

Another Strange Turn: Kiwi Commander does Haka as UK Sapper Unit disbands

Just last night I was reading from D'Ami's World Uniforms, two volumes of colour plates of Military  ceremonial dress, written back  in the 1960s. Quite a bit dated now, but still a great reference work.


I was really looking for pictures of Napoleonic dress, as I'm plotting a Waterloo army for the bicentenary next year. Anyhow, to make a long story short, quite a lot was made in these two volumes of the value of the sapper, pioneer and farrier in the military of old, and how this is (was) recognised. Many of the plates depict the sappers, wearing ceremonial leather aprons, and carrying axes over their shoulders, as an important part of the ceremonial garb of many British Military Units at the time

Strangely enough, today there's an article and video on the British 32nd Engineer (Sapper) Unit being disbanded after returning from Afganistan in today's news! The troops were mainly Fijian, and felt compelled to farewell their commanding officer with their traditional Cibi war challenge, only to find their CO, a New Zealander, answer them with "Ka Mate", Te Rauparaha's Haka, which has become the All Black Rugby Team and NZ's national haka (War challenge); in suitable fashion.


The troops performed the Cibi, an old Fijian meke war dance. The Colonel responded with Ka Mate, the haka written by Te Rauparaha, which is quite appropriate for a Sapper as the Musket Wars saw the early development of Pa fortifications ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pā_(Māori) ) which caused the Brits no end of trouble during the Land Wars.

The Haka  continues to play an important role in military life in NZ as evident today, and in both world wars:


WW1: NZ Pioneer Battalion performing a haka on the Western Front


NZ 28th (Maori) Battalion  in Egypt WW2


The Māori Battalion performs a haka – a well-known Te Arawa peruperu (war dance with weapons) – for the exiled King of Greece in Helwan, Egypt, in June 1941. 

The battalion had recently been evacuated from Greece and Crete, following fierce battles against the invading Germans. The Māori Battalion went on to serve throughout the North African campaigns of 1941 to 1943. It suffered heavy casualties but its men gained an outstanding reputation as soldiers.


Afghanistan 2005

Distilled from Stuff today and the Net (Link to report and video below): 

A British Army warrior has fare-welled his soldiers with a striking solo haka.

Delivered in perfect Te Reo (Maori), Lieutenant Colonel Steven Davies' performance came as a big surprise to many who thought he was Australian. Davies had brought his 32nd Engineer Regiment home after a grueling and tragic Afghanistan tour.

The regiment, also historically known as 3rd Mercian or Staffords, were combat engineers (sappers) supporting the famed Desert Rats, the 7th Armoured Brigade. Davies was their last commander - the regiment is being broken-up. Many of its sappers are Fijian so when it came to saying goodbye to Davies, the whole regiment lined up behind them and performed a powerful cibi or war dance, advancing on him. When it was over, Davies performed the NZ Maori " Ka Mate" haka.

The Desert Rats posted it on their Facebook page, and the hundreds of comments point to Davies being a much admired commander.

Link to the video: NZ Officer does Haka in Response to Fijian Cibi

Some of the comments:

+ "A fitting tribute to an awesome commanding officer & a man that looked after his regiment."
+ "Goes to show how far and wide our Sapper family is. Never met a bad Kiwi."
+ "That was class and shows what respect he has for the ranks under his command."
+ "Absolutely brilliant. A sure sign of fond respect for a great leader and Steve is one great leader."
+ "Great job Steve but I always thought you were Australian!"
+ "Well done Steve a great bloke who no doubt put his soldiers first every time ... One of the few."

Davies' regiment is set to be disbanded as part of British Government plans to reduce the army by 20,000 troops by 2018. Davies has promised that the battalion's traditions - such as its battle honours, regimental silver and regimental drums - will be carried forward within the reorganised regiment.


And the famous Staffordshire Knot - the cap badge worn by soldiers for hundreds of years - could be retained in future Mercian uniforms.

"We will go forward together and take the golden threads of our antecedent battalions with us.

"The regiment had a final parade this week. Davies, who led the 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment on its nine month tour of duty on the front line in Afghanistan, confessed he was 'choked up' after final parades in Stafford, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Cannock, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Tamworth, Burton-upon-Trent, and finally in Lichfield.


Mercian Regiment Cap badge 


"It is emotional for any CO to relinquish command. You invest so much of your hopes, fears and dreams with the battalion that it is always going to be difficult to let go. But it adds a certain poignancy to the situation to be the last Commanding Officer of 3rd Mercian. It has been an honour and a privilege although I understand why it has to go."

The Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales') (or simply "Staffords" for short) was originally an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The regiment was formed in 1959 by the amalgamation of The South Staffordshire Regiment and The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's).

In 1962 the regiment undertook a six month exercise in Kenya, followed by a year in Colchester and then a return to Kenya for a further two years. On the tour the regiment had to deal with a mutiny by the Ugandan Army. Returning home the regiment was the last unit of the British Army to serve in East Africa.

A home tour in Dover followed in 1964. Then came a two year posting to Berlin in 1968 followed by a tour in Sharjah in the Persian Gulf where the regiment again recorded a 'last unit' distinction being the last unit to serve in Sharjah.

The regiment undertook a tour in Northern Ireland during the Troubles in 1972 before moving to Quebec Barracks in Osnabruck in 1973. Further tours in Northern Ireland were undertaken in 1974 and 1976. The regiment moved to Hyderabad Barracks in Colchester later in 1976 before undertaking another tour in Northern Ireland in 1979.

The regiment moved to Gibraltar in 1981 and to Roman Barracks at Colchester in 1983 before undertaking another tour in Northern Ireland in 1984. It then moved to Fallingbostel in 1986.

In October 1990 The Staffordshire Regiment was deployed to Saudi Arabia as part of 7th Armoured Brigade (referred to as the 'Desert Rats'). The deployment was in response to the dictator Saddam Hussein's invasion of the sovereign territory of Kuwait, claiming it to rightfully belong to Iraq. The regiment moved to Dale Barracks in Chester in 1991, to Abercorn Barracks in Ballykinler in 1994 and Clive Barracks in Shropshire in 1996. The regiment moved to Mooltan Barracks in Tidworth in 2000. Following a deployment to Kosovo in 2002 and a first deployment to Iraq on Operation Telic 6 in 2005, the regiment undertook a second deployment to Iraq during Operation Telic 9 in 2006.

Past amalgamation
As part of the reorganisation of the infantry announced in 2004, it was announced that the Staffordshire Regiment would merge with the Cheshire Regiment and the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment into a new three-battalion regiment to be called the Mercian Regiment. On 1 September 2007 the Staffordshire Regiment became the 3rd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment. It seems amalgamation is on the doorstep again.

Battle honours:

Pre-WWI: Guadeloupe 1759, Martinique 1794, Hafir, South Africa 1878-79, Egypt 1882, Kirbekan, Nile 1884–85, South Africa 1900–02
World War I:
France and Flanders: Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914-18, Armentières 1914, Ypres 1914-17, Langemarck 1914-17, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915 Loos, Somme 1916-18, Albert 1916-18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Guillemont, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Ancre Heights, Ancre 1916, Bapaume 1917-18, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Arleux, Bullecourt, Hill 70, Messines 1917-18, Ypres1917-18, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcapelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917-18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Rosières, Avre, Lys, Bailleul, Kemmel, Scherpenberg, Drocourt-Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Kortrijk, Selle, Valenciennes, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18
Gallipoli: Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Sari Bair, Gallipoli 1915–16
Mesopotamia: Egypt 1916, Tigris 1916, Kut al Amara 1917, Bagdhad, Mesopotamia 1916–18
Italy: Piave, Vittorio Veneto 1918
North West Frontier India: Baku, Persia 1918, North West Frontier India 1915
Inter-War: Afghanistan 1919
World War II:
North West Europe: Dyle, Defence of the Scheldt, Ypres-Comines Canal, Caen, Orne, Noyers, Mont Picton, Brieux Bridgehead, Falaise, Arnhem 1944, North-West Europe 1940 -1944
North Africa: Sidi Barrani, Djebel Kesskiss, Medjez Plain, Gueriat el Atch Ridge, Gab Gab Gap, North Africa 1943
Italy: Landing in Sicily, Sicily 1943 Anzio, Carroceto, Rome, Advance to Tiber, Gothic Line, Marradi, Italy 1943 and Italy 1944–45,
Burma: Chindits 1944, Burma 1943–44
Post-WWII: Gulf 1991, Wadi al Batin

15 February 2014

Dark Sphere and back: Circum-navigating the globe

Dark Sphere and back: In NZ again after 30 days' circum-navigating the globe


Back to blogging: I am back at the keyboard after 30 days of travelling the world, many great experiences and addition to the ever growing pile of un-built models.

 Luc and I are now working on our lists for the NZTC Warhammer  Tournament (Team Champs) coming up in March. He plans on fielding an Ogre list, and I am working on my Dark Elves (No surprise that, eh, with the great new rules and models)

Our trip took us around the world, from NZ to the land of cheap electronics (Malaysia), beach paradise no 1 (Koh Lipe, Thailand) The land of affordable Warhammer models and Anglophile history (UK), the land of Guiness beer, whiskey in a jar, and folk music (Eire), the land of great cheese, foi gras, garlic and red wine (and things Napoleonic) - France, to Tinseltown (US), and finally to beach paradise no 2 (Moorea, Tahiti) before winging our way back to Aotearoa (NZ)

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to Dark Sphere, London's biggest gaming store, now in Lambeth, London. They recently moved, and are now situated a stone's throw from the Imperial War Museum. This shop just cannot be missed! We arrived at this gaming cornucopia after a visit to the Natural History Museum. (Trade-off with Lisa, as she didn't want to go to the IWM, and they are renovating for the 100th Anniversary of WW1 anyhow.



The bulging shelves of the right hand side of Dark Sphere's new home.

The purveyors of joy at Dark Sphere were still unpacking, having just moved into the new premises. Boxes of models were piled up to 3 metres high in places, and it took great discipline to stay within budget.


Needless to say being free of the mark-up we endure in NZ made the experience all the sweeter. We had to tear ourselves away, as it was getting late, and as usual when games meet we fell into taking about our hobby.

Looking forward to the next year of gaming the two of us had to discipline ourselves severely to stick to the agreed budget. We ended up buying a DE cauldron/medusa, warlocks/dark riders, scourge runner, Ogre fire belly and a unit of ogre bulls, an ironblaster (yes, Luc needed more ogres and another blaster!), Gor Rok, and a Carnosaur/Trogothingy, and board game that retails for $120 here, for the grand sum of 150 pounds ($300) Would have been even cheaper had we ordered it online beforehand.

I had to refrain from getting more Chaos Daemons and Empire stuff, as we still had 2 weeks of travel ahead of us, and resolutely looked past the racks and racks of Privateer Press, and almost any other model maker you could imagine. Yes, Battlefront was also there, but with price equity in NZ. Only Plastic Soldier Co was absent from the racks, and some of the more obscure brands, such as Wargods of Hyperborea (Crocodile games, which I had hoped to find there)

I have just calculated the cost of our GW haul if we had bought it here - $563NZ! (Not counting the $120+ board game, which would have brought the cost to $680+ had we bought these here)  We are talking almost a 100% mark-up. Surely this cannot be justified on transport costs alone.


Anyhow, we got the expected scolding from mommy dearest when we arrived back at our accommodation with 4 bags bulging with models and games. We swiftly de-boxed the models and posted them back to NZ for the princely cost of 15 Euros when we got to Dublin. (26-28 NZ$).



7 February 2013

Of Hobbits, Cars, Trains and Aeroplanes


Of Hobbits, Cars, Trains and Aeroplanes




Thought I'd share this with all you Aeroplane, Wargaming and Hobbit Fans out there: Some really quirky accommodation we slept in while on a road trip in January:

Link to better pictures of the hobbit holes and the plane on my aeroplane blog: