Queens Own Dorset Yeomanry. A Musketeer Miniatures conversion project.

A package was delivered yesterday. It contained some WW1 Cavalry figures from the small but perfectly formed range from Musketeer Miniatures, sculpted by Paul Hicks. The package also contained some VBCW BUF/Yeomanry figures (mounted and dismounted) and a smattering of “Black and Tans”, again by Musketeer Miniatures.

I await some heads from Woodbine.

The plan is to do some conversion work on all these figures to produce both mounted and dismounted Yeomanry for Egypt, Palestine and Syria. I’ve been mulling this over for quite some time and have finally got round to doing something about it. These figures, I hope, will give a unit of mounted troops that have a bit of movement about them, the Great War Miniatures cavalry being rather static.

The current picture at the top of the blog is Lady Butler’s painting of the charge of the Queen’s Own Dorset Yeomanry at Agagia, February 26^th, 1916. These new figures will represent the QODY.

I’ve been trawling the books and the interweb for images, particularly photographs, of the QODY from this particular period of their time in Egypt and Palestine. I like to do this for inspiration. The Western Front Association website has an excellent account of the charge at Agagia written by 2Lt J H Blakesley of “B” Squadron. It also has some interesting photographs of QODY in the Western Desert.

I also found an illustration from a book plate showing the charge where the QODY troopers are depicted wearing slouch hats! How can I resist having one or two figures wearing this?

 QODY went on to charge the Turkish positions at El Mughar on 13 November, 1917. I was lucky enough to see James Beadle's painting of the action there (below) at the Staff College, Shrivenham, some time ago. It was then that I decided that I had to paint the QODY.



 

 So watch this space as this will be a slow burner as I do bits and pieces in amongst commissioned work.

 

 Officer of the QODY 1916, The Keep Museum, Dorchester.