As Commanding Officer of 3rd Battalion Irish Guards, he led the breakout of XXX Corps during Operation Market-Garden. In the movie “A bridge too far” he is played by the famous actor Michael Caine: Lt. General Horrocks:[…] “The Irish Guards, under the command of Colonel Vandeleur, will take the lead.”Lt. Colonel J.O.E. Vandeleur: [whispering to […]
britain
Meet the Heroes: British Army Lieutenant – Jock Lewes
Lieutenant John Steele “Jock” Lewes was a British Army officer during WW2 and the founding principal training officer of the Special Air Service. Its founding commander, David Stirling said of Lewes: “Jock could far more genuinely claim to be founder of the SAS than I.” To destroy Axis vehicles, the SAS used small explosive charges. […]
Meet the Heroes: British Army Lieutenant Colonel – Paddy Mayne
Lieutenant-Colonel Paddy Mayne is a legendary figure in the history of the Special Forces. A celebrated sportsman with a turbulent character, he played a vital role in the early successes of the Special Air Service (SAS), becoming one of its most important commanders. Lt. Col. Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne was a founding member of the […]
Behind the scenes at Stoessi’s Heroes: Messages from the family of Lieutenant Joseph Winston “Pat” Glover
When I started Stoessi’s Heroes, I never expected all the connections & acquaintances I would make. And I don’t only mean all the tabletop & miniature painting fans that I have met. I am talking about something different here and you will see in a bit why this blog post is about Pat Glover. I […]
Meet the Heroes: British Airborne Major – John Howard
Background: Major (Reginald) John Howard DSO (8 December 1912 – 5 May 1999) was a British Army officer who led a glider-borne assault on two bridges between Bénouville and Ranville in Normandy, France on 6 June 1944 as part of the D-Day landings during the Second World War. These bridges spanned the Caen Canal and […]
Meet the Heroes: British Army Lt. Col. – John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming “Mad Jack” Churchill
Background: Lieutenant-Colonel John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming “Jack” Churchill, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar (16 September 1906 – 8 March 1996) was a British Army officer who fought throughout the Second World War armed with a longbow, bagpipes, and a basket-hilted Scottish broadsword. Nicknamed “Fighting Jack Churchill” and “Mad Jack”, he is known for the […]
Meet the Heroes: British Navy Beach Master & Captain Colin Maud
Captain Colin Douglas Maud DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar (21 January 1903 – 1980) was a Royal Navy officer who during the Second World War commanded the destroyers Somali and Icarus and acted as beach master of Juno beach at the D-day landings. With a heavy black beard, he “possessed the outward appearance of […]
Brushes vs Demons – Support for British Army Veterans
Recently, I was contacted on Facebook by a guy called Andrew, who wanted to know when the new David Stirling figure is coming out. People asking me about release dates for new miniatures is, of course, nothing unusual. However, what was unusual was when he explained that he is a British army veteran who works with other […]
Meet The Heroes: Colonel David Stirling “Phantom Major” – Founder of the SAS
With a whole bunch of new Stoessi’s Heroes releases coming out in the next few weeks, I am getting super-excited and would like to share some of my excitement by introducing you to each of the new heroes one by one. If you are following my group on Facebook, you have already seen a sneak-preview […]
Meet the Heroes: Major Harry Carlyle and Lt. Col. John Frost
If my readership hasn’t noticed it yet, I am a huge fan of old WW2 movies. 😉 One of the funniest scenes from one of my favorite films is this one here. [an SS officer is approaching under a white flag] Major Harry Carlyle: Rather interesting development, sir. [to the German] Major Harry Carlyle: That’s […]