The 100,000th Volunteer

I started painting this chap when I realised that the milestone of 100,000 pageviews was lurking on the horizon. I intended to post him to mark this event. Unfortunately, the hits moved faster than my painting and the number clocked up before this miniature was finished.

In August 1914, Lord Kitchener called for 100,000 volunteers to swell the ranks of the British army at the start of the Great War. He got more than initially asked for.

This figure from Great War Miniatures is great because it is one of the very few that show Tommy as he would have looked when Kitchener's "New Armies" first took the field in late 1915 and 1916.... P1914 leather equipment and the PH gas hood.

He is painted up as a private of the 6th (Service) Bn, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. His helmet bears the badge of 20th (Light) Division and the black Brigade patches of 60th Bde. can be seen on the arms of the greatcoat. The other five figures in this lovely pack from GWM are prepped and ready to go, but I am about to enter the painting void that is June where real life work takes over and the brushes get a rest for a while, so I have no idea when the blog will see the other five complete. Enjoy this one for the time being.