gandhi

INDIA AND MAHATMA GANDHI Saviour or Sinner?





Gandhi became the leader of the India congress party determined to rid the sub-continent of British rule.Previously he had studied law in South Africa and had been a stretcher bearer in the Boer war but his return to india was marked by a non-violent resistance to Brituish rule he had embarked upon.

































One example iof this was the march he organised to the sea; this venture was in defiance of the salt tax, many joined with him until with the sea reached they were then able to obtain salt from the drying out pools of water.



Relations betweeen the Indians and the British had greatly improved since the Indian mutiny (this was only a small confined mutiny of some soldiers) in which native soldiers had turned on their rulers by massacres in various places. In fact many Anglo-Indians now held positions in the Civil Service even in the courts of law where the ordinary indian could obtain justiice. Another important factor had been the ending of the practice within which the wife of an Indian nobleman was expected to join her dead husband on his funeral pyre (fire). Also the "Thuggies" had been beaten so that now a traveller could go safe in the knowledge he would not be strangled.



The Second World War gave Gandhi the opportunity he needed, a British army had been defeated in Malaya. It had been a disater for Great Britain, possibly the biggest military defeat in British history. Now Gandhi could and did demand independence,some indians joined those who had defeated that British army the Japanese and set up an independent fascist-like army under Japanese control. A member of the war time cabinet in Britain went to india to inform Gandhi that his ideas of an independent state would be granted by the end of the war; still Gandhi wasn't satisfied, he wanted nothing less than the immediate end of the Raj.



When told that this would mean chaos and massacres by the Japs who were massing on the Indian/Burma frontier he replied ."I prefer chaos".



The problem was that the British army was now retreating from the Japs in Burma trying and attempting to stop the Japs entering India and doing what they had done in China=millions of Chinese massacred young and old. But they (the British) were also fighting to free thousands of soldiers from the inhuman prison camps of the Japs.

bayonet practice in china by japs

The British prime minister Winston Churchill despised Gandhi; he once said."It is alarming and nauseating to see Mr Gandhi a seditous middle class middle temple lawyer now posing as a Fakir of a type well kinown in India and the East.Striding halòf naked up the steps of the vice regal palace to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King.



If Churchill's policy of being against Indian independence had been adopted India would not have been given independence after the war; he remained against it there were never enough supporters in the Uk for his policy.India had been made into a modern country by British rule, an efficent civil service, a greatv rail system and a canal system with irrigation that were once arrid land; crops could be grown on what were deserts before; education up to university standard for all Indians had been introduced and theb health system vastly improved but the day of the Raj was coming to its end with possible trouble for the Indiand from the extremists of both Hindu and Muslim factions.



Lord Louis Mountbatten was the last viceroy of India.He had been the supreme allied commander in South east Asia during the Second World War; before he leftt India he appeared with Gandhi on a platform. From the crowd someone fired a shot at Gandhi and killed him With great prescence of mind Mountbatten shouted to the crowd that it hadn't been a Muslim who had killed Gandhi although at the time Mountbatten couldn't be sure but it prevented an immediate massacre.



Later Churchill could tell all of those who were against his indian policy tghat they were responsible for the thousands of deaths that took place once the Beritish army had departed and Hindu and Muslim were at each others throats.



It has to be wondered what would have hapopened had Britain been able to grant independence tyo Gandhi during the war and the Japanese had marched in as they would have done.



The Japanese army had gained a reputation for extremme inhuman cruelty wherever it went (this was on a par with the Axis troops in Europe but sometimes even worse; at Corregidor they had buried brave Americans who had fought to the last alive) and Gandhi's wish for chaos might have been something he hadn't reckoned on. It never took place because the Englisn were much wiser than Gandhi in the end.They stopped the Japs from committing mass slaughter at the battle of Impala; the British commander Bill "Slim" said"my men know that all our Indian possessions will revert to the Indians once the war is over but they fight like devils to keep the Japs from killing the Indian population".



The battle of Impala on the frontier between India and Burma was a glorious day for British commonwealth troops; white and black fought together to bring an end to the Japanese.



Lord Louis Mountbatten was like Gandhi the victim of assassins; in his case Irish ones many years later in Ireland. A disgraceful moment in Irish history for Mountbatten had been a man who always tried to use pacification insrtead of force, words instead of violence.



After the partition of the Indian sub-continent when Pakistan and India became seperate states Mrs Gandhi became the leader of the hindu state; she had to resign accused of corruption.



Gandhi based his idea on non-violent action as regards the principles of Henry Thoreau the Ameerican writer who refused to pay taxation during the American war against the Mexicans in 1845/46. The difference was that Thoreau had no following, he was alone in his protest and went to prison.



Gandhi was extremely lucky that it was the British army in India for as Ben-Gurion in Israel said "If during our time of terrorism it had been any other army except the British they would have wiped us out".



This was the greatest praise that an army and a people could have for it came from an enemy.They soldiered on to the end protecting Gandhi and the Indian people and got very little praise for it. 55,000 Japanese were killed att the battle of Imphal in India and although its name has not gone down in the annals of military valor there is no greater honour than to have been at Imphal. It was the battle, a fair battle, that ended in the truest sense the Jap army.What came after was tidying up. Violence was carried out by these soldiers so the likes of Gandhi could be non violent. Lets not forget them.



SOME WORDS



Bungalow, pyjamas, char (tea), curry , buckshee,tiffin (not breakfast but mid morning snack)thug (thuggie) Khaki, puttees,verandha, Madras cotton, dum dum(a place in India that a bu8llet was named after)











MODEL SOLDIERS FROM FIXED BAYONET Unpainted £5 each plus free painted model. Non-Dinpinti / 7 Euro + soldatino gratis con ogni ordine. This applies only to the FIXED BAYONET SOLDIERS which are of our unique manufacture or made for us.SEE list of what is available .All other soldiers listed here are just those we like and want to feature.We do not sell anything thats not on our list.

dutch and german riflemen

In 1799 Baron Francis de Rottenberg wrote the British Army’s first manual for the Riflemen entitled Regulations for the Exercise of Riflemen and Light Infantry and the Instructions for their Conduct in the Field.

Born in Poland , de Rottenberg served in nine years in the French army and in 1791 returned to his native Poland to fight in the unsuccessful struggle to turn back foreign encroachments into his country. After being wounded in 1794 at the Battle of Praga, De Rottenberg left Poland again and joined the British Army the following year. As a lieutenant colonel, De Rottenberg was instrumental in the forming of Hompesch’s Light Infantry. Three years later in 1798 this corps was combined with the 60th Regiment and became that regiment’s 5th Battalion. That same year de Rottenberg’s Battalion was called into service in the Irish Rebellion. It was after the rebellion that de Rottenberg found time to pen his manual for Riflemen. Shortly after it went to print, de Rottenberg and 60th Riflemen were off to serve in the capture of Surinam ( Dutch Guiana in South America ) in August 1799. De Rottenberg eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier General and served in Canada during the War of 1812.







The manual itself was universally adopted by the Army and saw numerous reprints. The following are orders and explanations for the loading and firing of the Baker Rifle, commonly referred to at the time as the Platoon Exercise.







“PLATOON EXERCISE FOR THE RIFLE







The words of command for firing and loading are as follows:







Caution – Prime and Load







At which the flugelman steps in front.







I. Prepare to Load







1st. Is the same as the first motion in the present. [The rifle is to be raised about two inches by the right hand, and brought forward a little from the shoulder, at the same time the left hand is brought briskly across the body, and seizes the rifle with a full grasp even with the shoulder.]







2d. The soldier half faces to the right, and in the motion brings down the rifle to an horizontal position just above the right hip, the left hand supports it at the swell of the stock, the elbow resting against the side, the right thumb against the hammer, the knuckles upwards, and elbow pressing against the butt, the lock inclining a little to the body to prevent the powder form falling out.







II. Load







1st. The pan is pushed open by the right thumb; 2d. the right hand then seizes the cartridge with the three first fingers and draws it from the pouch; 3d. the cartridge is brought to the mouth, and placed between the two first right double teeth, the end twisted off and brought close to the pan.







III. Prime.







1st. The priming is shaken into the pan; in doing which, to see that the powder is properly lodged, the head must be bent; 2d. the pan is sut by the third and little finger, the right hand then slides behind the cock, and holds the small part of the stock between the third and little finger and ball of the hand.







IV. (Cast about) for brevity “’Bout.”







1st. The soldier half faces to the left; the rifle is brought to the ground with the barrel outwards, by sliding it with care through the left hand, which then seizes it near the muzzle, the thumb stretched along the stock, the butt is placed between the heels, the barrel between the knees, which must be bent for that purpose; the cartridge is put into the barrel, and the ramrod seized with the fore finger and thumb of the right hand.







V. Rod.







The ramrod is drawn quite out by the right hand, the left quits the rifle and grasps the ramrod the breadth of a hand from the bottom, which is sunk one inch into the barrel.







VI. Home.







The cartridge will be forced down with both hands, the left then seizes the rifle about six inches from the muzzle, the soldier stands upright again, draws out the ramrod with the right hand, and puts the end into the pipe.







VII. Return.







1st. The right hand brings the rifle to the right shoulder; turning the guard outwards; 2d. the left seizes it above the hammer-spring till the right has its proper hold round the small of the stock; 3d. the left is drawn quickly to the left thigh…..







To fire on the spot with closed ranks, the following words of command will be given:







Caution – The Company will Fire.







I. Company.







At this word, the right hand file of each platoon takes three quick paces to the front, the rear rank man steps to the right of his file leader.







II. Ready.







At this word, the rifle is brought by the right hand before the centre of the body, the left seizes it, so that the little finger rests upon the hammer spring, and the thumb stretched along the stock raising it to the height of the mouth, the right thumb on the cock, and four fingers under the guard; when cocked, which must be done gently, the right hand grasps the small of the stock.







III. Present.







The soldier half faces to the right, the butt is placed in the hollow of the right shoulder, the right foot steps back about eighteen inches behind the left, the left knee is bent, the body brought well forward, the left hand, without having quitted its hold, supports the rifle close before the lock, the right elbow raised even with the shoulder, the fore finger on the trigger, the head bent, and cheek resting on that of the rifle, the left eye shut, the right taking aim through the sight: as soon as the rifleman has fixed upon his object, he fires without waiting for any command. When he has fired, the right hand quits its hold in facing to the right about, the left swings the rifle round into an horizontal position with the barrel downwards; the rifleman resumes his post in the platoon, in fronting to the left about, brings his rifle into the position to prime and load, half cocks, and proceeds to load, going through the motins as above without further words of command.”

soldiers on sale

all the above are 5.95 unpainted

these are 5 pounds painted , if you order a set of five you get a wooden box

our latest ones are riflemen

this one is going to be ready soon

REAL MAN REAL SOLDIER

El Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, military theorist, and major figure of the Cuban Revolution. Since his death, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol and global insignia within popular culture.He became a socialist after he saw the dreadful living conditions of the Latins in South america. He recounts this in the "Motorcycvle Diaries"

Before Wicki-leaks ever came out with the truth on our Western governments (and quite right as well cos we pay the wages of these arseholes) Che had the "low  down " on the lies and rubbish that came and comes out of socalled democratic government.

As a medical student, Guevara traveled throughout Latin America and was transformed by the endemic poverty he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of capitalism, monopolism, neocolonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution.

 This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's radical ideology.The American government wanted starving Latin americans.

 Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement, and travelled to Cuba aboard the yacht, Granma, with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the successful two year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.

El Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, military theorist, and major figure of the Cuban Revolution. Since his death, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol and global insignia within popular culture.



Andrea







Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included instituting agrarian reform as minister of industries, serving as both national bank president and instructional director for Cuba’s armed forces, reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals,and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions allowed him to play a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing to Cuba the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis., Additionally, he was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful motorcycle journey across South America. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by American CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed without a trial or that which a prisoner of war is entitled to but hey guys thats America!!!!!!.







Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico (shown), was declared "the most famous photograph in









Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included instituting agrarian reform as minister of industries, serving as both national bank president and instructional director for Cuba’s armed forces, reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals, and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions allowed him to play a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing to Cuba the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Additionally, he was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful motorcycle journey across South America. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.[







Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century,[15] while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico (shown), was declared "the most famous photograph in

NEW PRODUCTS OF A.T.K.M

Great paint jobs on these but pity about the silly pose of the firing figure and forty dollars for a figure thats painted. This company started off really well but has never resolved the poise and position of the firing figures.

How to fire a rifle?

MELAS ON SALE £5.95

We have very few of these left. You can buy also unpainted on a normal base but theres nmo difference in price

Melas entered an infantry regiment in 1746. He took part as aide-de-camp to field marshal Leopold Joseph von Daun in the seven years ' war, he rose to the rank of Colonel in 1781 and major General in 1789. In 1793 he commanded a brigade on the Sambre. He served as Lieutenant field marshal in 1794 on the lower Rhine and in 1795 the Middle Rhine, where, after the withdrawal of Beaulieu, was for a long time Supreme Commander.

At the end of 1798 was intended to head of the headquarters of Prince Frederick of Orange-Nassau, Commander of the army of Italy, in preparation for the campaign that you announced for the coming year. The sudden death of the Prince, the 6 January 1799 in Padua, for an infection, forced Archduke Charles, Commander in Chief of the imperial armies, to pass the command at Melas.



These debuted well, beating, together with the Russian General Suvorov, the French  of Macdonald on the Trebbia and those of Joubert (who died in battle) in Novi Ligure.



After Suvorov was dismissed in Switzerland to tackle  Massena, Melas, in command of 40,000 troops  beat on the 4th of November  at Genola General  Championnet and took possession of Cuneo.



In 1800 he was preparing the invasion in Provence, when General Bonaparte, returned from the Egypt campaign, he arrived at his back while crossing the Western Alps and interrupted his lines of communication. Melas tried to react by confronting the enemy at the battle of Marengo and missed by little that he nearly succeeded: , the sudden arrival of French troops of General Desaix (who died in battle) overthrew the fortunes of the clash and Melas was defeated.



Totally discouraged, he signed the Convention of Alexandria, which made him  retreat to the East of the river Mincio. Was transferred to commanding general of Bohemia, until, in 1803, he retired to private life. He died three years later.

NEW PIECE IN 54mm

A 54mm Napoleon for a fiver plus post or pick up free when Im in London plus the fiver of course. Will be there at Christmas starting on Christmas Eve day.Thi9s is a great paper holder downer for the next. I have ten left then thats that,