Centaur Mk IV ‘Hunter’ of ‘H’ Troop, 2 Battery, 1 Royal Marine Armoured Support Regiment
As it’s VE Day (or at least it was when I started writing this), I thought I’d better do a WW2 post… 🙂
The Royal Marines Armoured Support Group was a short-lived organisation created for the Normandy Landings of 1944 and disbanded two weeks after D-Day (being resurrected in Afghanistan in 2007). The initial plan was for a number of Landing Craft Tank (LCT) to be armoured (thus creating the LCT(A) variant) and armed with redundant and de-engined Centaur Mk IV Close Support Tanks, which would simply act as gun-turrets from the deck of the LCT(A). These would provide close gunfire support with their 95mm Close Support Howitzers for the landing craft flotilla during the run-in to the beach and would then continue to provide support from the beach after grounding. The Centaurs would be crewed by Royal Marines, whose traditional role included manning the gun turrets of Royal Navy warships.
However, during a demonstration of this concept during a landing exercise, Field Marshal Montgomery demanded to know why these tanks were not advancing from their beached landing craft. Incensed by the reply, he demanded that the Centaurs be re-engined with immediate effect. This order was successfully carried out, although the Centaur’s underpowered and unreliable Liberty engine arguably didn’t provide them with much more mobility…
Centaur Mk IV ‘Achilles’ of ‘A’ Troop, 1 Battery, 1 Royal Marines Armoured Support Regiment. This is an original coloured photo – not colourised.
Having been given the ability to fight on dry land, strict orders were now put in place for the RMASG to advance no further than one mile inland from the beaches. However, as an illustration of how rigorously this order was applied, on 11th June RMASG Centaurs were to be found fighting at Cristot and Rots; some eight or nine miles south of the coast!
Five RM Armoured Support Batteries were created, each consisting of four Troops. A Troop consisted of four Centaur Mk IV 95mm Close Support Tanks and a single Sherman Mk V (M4A4) Medium Tank for the Troop Commander. Battery HQs had at least one Sherman Mk V (I’ve got no exact figures, but the history of 1 RMASR mentions a Battery Commander’s tank. The Regt CO and 2IC had Jeeps). Although officially classed as ‘OP Tanks’ the Troop Commanders’ Shermans had 75mm guns and would join in with shoots. The Battery Commanders’ tanks may have had dummy guns in the same manner as Royal Artillery Battery Commanders, but I’ve no exact information.
The Batteries were numbered 1 to 5, with each Battery having a sequentially-lettered Troop. No.1 Battery had A-D Troops, No.2 Battery had E-H, No.3 Battery had J-M, No.4 Battery had N-Q and No.5 Battery had R-V Troops. The letter I was skipped, which was common practice at the time, to avoid it being confused with the number 1. Nos. 1 & 2 Batteries were grouped into 1 RM Armoured Support Regiment, which would support 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division on GOLD Beach. Nos. 3 & 4 Batteries were grouped into 2 RM Armoured Support Regiment and would support 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on JUNO Beach. No.5 (Independent) Battery was assigned to 3rd Infantry Division on SWORD Beach.
Sherman Mk V ‘Fox’ belonging to the Troop Commander of ‘F’ Troop, 2 Battery, 1 RM Armoured Support Regt.
All tanks were distinctively marked with compass-graduations around the turret, with the front of the tank being 180 degrees. This was to enable the Troop Commander to ‘easily’ calculate the bearing from gun to target by calculating the difference between the landing craft’s heading and the bearing that the gun was laid on to… You probably had to be there to understand it… The only other significant marking was the Battery tactical marking, which in all cases was the colours of the Royal Marines: namely a royal blue square, with a horizontal stripe of yellow, green and red. This was then superimposed with the battery number in white.
A Centaur of 4 Battery, 2 RM Armoured Support Regiment on JUNO Beach
The majority of tanks also seem to have had an individual name painted in white across the circular blanking-plate where the MG port would normally be situated (or on the transmission-housing in the case of Shermans). The tank’s name always started with the Troop letter. For some reason I didn’t paint mine with names and I also missed the red/white/red national recognition flash. This was a marking that pre-dated the Allied Star as a recognition marking and was still carried by a few vehicles on the lower hull front (and hull sides in the case of Shermans). In black and white photos, the red part tends to become invisible, but the central white square of the marking is very clear. There may also have been the standard Allied Star on the turret roof or engine deck, but no photos show it.
Vehicles were mostly painted SCC 15 Olive Drab, though a few were still painted in SCC 2 Service Drab (i.e. brown), which was the standard colour for all vehicles in the UK from 1941-1944, when it was replaced by SCC 15. The short timeframe between the switch to SCC 15 and the Normandy Landings meant that a lot of British and Canadian vehicles were still painted SCC 2 in Normandy. I must confess that I painted mine about 30 years ago, and foolishly believed someone when he told me that ‘all British tanks were painted Bronze Green’, hence the slightly dark and bluish shade of green used here (which is Humbrol 75 (Bronze Green)… 🙁 I’m absolutely not going to repaint these in the correct shade of green… Nowadays I use Humbrol 75 as the base colour, with Humbrol 159 Khaki Drab to represent SCC 15. For SCC 2 I used Humbrol 29 Dark Earth.
The RMASG crews wore the badge of the Combined Forces on their Battledress sleeves, with the red-on-blue ROYAL MARINES shoulder-title above. In most cases they were not Commando-trained, so wore a navy-blue beret, with Royal Marines badge on a red ‘tombstone’ cloth backing. Commando-trained personnel would wear a green beret.
A US Navy LCT(A) off Omaha Beach, loaded with Shermans instead of Centaurs. Note the raised firing platform and shockingly low freeboard.
Severe problems were caused by the RMASG’s LCT(A) transports, which apparently caused more casualties to the RMASG than enemy action. The armour-plating and raised fighting-platform for the tanks had added a considerable amount of weight and had offset the vessel’s centre of gravity to a dangerous degree. The low freeboard and top-heavy nature of loaded LCT(A)s resulted in the capsizing of several vessels during exercises and further losses were suffered in heavy seas during the actual landings (though I’ve been unable to determine exactly how many were lost).
Each LCT(A) could carry three tanks – two tanks on the fighting platform and a third (command) tank to the rear. Each Troop was carried by two LCT(A)s – two Centaurs in one and two Centaurs with the Troop Commander’s Sherman in the other. The Battery Commanders’ Shermans would occupy spare command tank slots.
I play Battlefront: WWII, which represents tanks at a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3. So in game terms a full battery would have 2x or 3x Sherman and 8x Centaur. My battery is therefore understrength, with 2x Sherman and 6x Centaur (in any case I’m not aware of any batteries fighting unified and at full strength).
As mentioned above, the RMASG was disbanded just two weeks into the campaign. However, twelve of the Centaurs and some of the Shermans were passed to 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment RA, 6th Airborne Division, which until that point was equipped with 75mm Pack Howitzers. The Centaurs were initially split between two of the regiment’s existing batteries but were eventually grouped as a new battery, designated ‘X’ Battery.
In August 1944 the Centaurs were taken over by Royal Canadian Artillery personnel, being now designated 1st Canadian Composite (Centaur) Battery RCA. This unit continued in the same vein as ‘X’ Battery, beefing up the strength of 53rd (WY) Airlanding Light Regiment, 6th Airborne Division. During Operation PADDLE (the breakout to the River Seine), the battery was attached directly to 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment. The Centaurs were finally retired at the end of the Normandy Campaign, though some remained as training vehicles for Free French forces.
The models are all rather ancient pre-Flames of War 15mm resin and metal models by Battlefront Miniatures, painted by me about 20 years ago. The Centaur models actually had hull MGs, so those had to be cut off and the plate filed flat before painting. I never want to have to paint these again…
I’m in trouble with Mrs Fawr… The lockdown means that I’ve been painting 
Above: I painted the Duke of Brunswick for my 1815 collection a few years ago, when AB brought him out for the 1815 Bicentennial. However, as he was killed at the Battle of Quatre-Bras, command of the Brunswick Corps passed to Oberst von Olfermann and so you need another Brunswick command figure for Waterloo. I had been using a spare Brunswick Hussar officer figure for Olfermann, but AB Figures brought out a set of three new Brunswick staff officers last year, so I had to buy them…
Above: The ‘Black Duke’ of Brunswick is the one wearing the kaftan and floppy hat. The uniform of the Duke and his staff was very similar to that of the Brunswick Hussar Regiment; namely a plain black hussar uniform, with black braid, black buttons, sky-blue collar and trouser-stripes and silver death’s-head motifs (the whole ensemble was chosen to symbolise mourning for the death of the Duke’s father at the Battle of Auerstädt in 1806 and for the occupation of his country by the French). Brunswick staff officers apparently had gold lace edging to the collar and cuffs; that of the Hussar Regiment was black.
Above: Oberst Olfermann here wears an undress cap that was worn as a more comfortable alternative to the shako (or cocked hat, in the case of senior officers). As a senior field officer, his collar and cuffs are edged with silver lace. I’ve also given his shabraque silver lace edging, though this is conjectural. The green leather gloves were apparently a fashionable affectation adopted by some Brunswick officers.
Above: As I play 
Above: I’ve shown 
Above: As mentioned a few weeks ago, it suddenly occurred to me that the Prussian Hussar ADC figure, with its falling feather plume, would make an excellent Hungarian general in campaign dress, so I painted him up as such.
Above: I then got a little bit carried away and decided to get all my Austrian hussars out of the box…
Above: While we’re at it, here’s the other Hungarian general, which was done with a standard Austrian Hussar officer figure.
Above: And so to the Cossacks… These are absolutely magnificent figures! I’ve lost count of how many pose and dress variations there are within the range; there are eleven different figures here (plus officer) and that’s by no means all of the variants! However, the posing (and the softer metal used by Eureka compared to the harder metal formerly used when production was here in Wales) means that the cast lances wouldn’t last five minutes in my clumsy hands. So for the first time ever, I decided to replace all the lances in the unit with steel spears. These are 50mm spears from North Star, cut down to 35mm (however, North Star have now stopped selling these).
Above: After much drilling, gluing and swearing, I finally re-speared the Cossacks. Only another 48 to do… 🙁
Above: The Cossacks mounted on their ponies and awaiting paint.
Above: The finished Cossack Pulk, plus Hetman Platov (on the white horse, waving a mace).
Above: I decided to do these as Don Cossacks; like most Cossack hosts, the Don Cossacks wore a fairly bright blue uniform (with varying degrees of uniformity).
Above: I could also have painted them in various shades of ‘civvy’, but decided to go with a fairly uniform look.
Above: The distinguishing facing colour of the Don Cossacks was red (with red lances), though period prints and paintings show this to be worn fairly sporadically. Trouser-stripes seem to have been fairly universal and busby-bags and cap-bands were generally in the facing colour. I’ve given the tunics of this mob a random selection of red collars and/or cuffs, or just piping or nothing at all.
Above: Some figures have full shabraques, so I’ve given those a red edging – silver for the officer (Cossack shabraques also had red diagonal stripes across the corners). There is a very nice selection of random headgear on these chaps; from full-dress busbies with cords and bags (plumed in the case of the officer), plain busbies, tall floppy cloth caps and a sort of ‘false busby’ (i.e. a stovepipe shako with cords and ‘bag’ – seen on the left-hand figure above).
Above: I found some Don Cossack flags on line and printed them off (I’m lucky enough to have my own laser-printer). However, I’m not really happy with the quality of this one, so I’ll have a search for some higher-resolution flags and replace this at some stage.
Notes on Tank Brigade Organisation
The Foot Guards had various unique, quirky and non-standard designations for companies and squadrons. The 4th Grenadiers and 4th Coldstreamers each numbered their squadrons 1, 2 & 3, while the 3rd Scots opted for the rather bizarre ‘Right Flank’, ‘Left Flank’ and ‘S’ Squadrons. This led to some strange conversations with officers from other regiments, who were easily (and understandably) baffled by statements such as “Right Flank Squadron is over there, on the left flank.”
Sometime shortly after the end of the Normandy Campaign, all independent Armoured Brigades and Tank Brigades were ordered to adopt the standard marking scheme shown here, which was already in use by the Armoured Brigades of Armoured Divisions. However, this order was only sporadically obeyed. There is photographic evidence to show that 6th Guards Tank Brigade obeyed the order, though kept the white ‘Army Troops’ bar beneath the sign. I don’t know if 34th Tank Brigade ever obeyed the order.
The Churchill Mk IV had exactly the same armament and the same hull as the Mk III, though had a cheaper, cast turret with a distinctive rounded profile. This turret would also go on to be used in the Mk V and Mk VI (as well as Mks IX-XI, which were up-armoured Mks IV-VI but never saw active service during WW2).
The Churchill Mk V was essentially the same tank as the Mk IV, though had a 95mm Close Support Howitzer as its main armament. Each Tank Squadron HQ had a pair of these and this remained essentially unchanged throughout the campaign.
The Churchill Mk VI, as mentioned above, was the 75mm-armed variant of the Churchill Mk IV. Many Mk IVs were upgraded with 75mm guns and are commonly referred to as ‘Mk VI’, but proper Churchill Mk VI tanks were factory-built as such. Factory-built Mk VI tanks eventually became the majority Churchill type in NW Europe as they replaced Mk III* and Mk IV (75mm) combat-losses.
The Churchill Mk VII was a significant improvement on earlier Churchill marks, with a completely redesigned composite (part-cast, part-welded) turret and an improved hull. The turret looked somewhat similar to that of the Mk III, but had a thick ‘rim’ around the bottom edge and ‘cheeks’ either side of the gun-mantlet. The hull’s rectangular side-hatches and MG port were now replaced by circular versions. The biggest improvement was in terms of armour-protection, which exceeded that of the Tiger I. However, the main gun was still the standard 75mm, which meant that if two Churchill Mk VIIs squared off against one-another, they would struggle to knock the other out…
The Churchill Mk VII Crocodile was a further development of the Mk VII to create a formidable flamethrower tank. The most obvious difference between a standard Mk VII and a Crocodile was that the Crocodile was equipped with an articulated armoured trailer to keep the flamethrower-fuel and propellant gas safely OUTSIDE the tank… The other difference was that the hull machine gun was replaced by the superlative flame-projector. This meant that the Crocodile, unlike most other flamethrower tanks, retained a turreted main gun that could be used for long-ranged engagements.
One regiment of 31st Tank Brigade (141st Royal Armoured Corps or ‘141 RAC’) was equipped with Crocodile in time for the D-Day Landings, though only two Crocodile Troops were landed on 6th June and they only fired some 75mm and MG ammunition – no flames! 141 RAC spent the entire Normandy Campaign largely divorced from their parent brigade, being split up into Squadron, Half-Squadron and Troop-sized detachments, supporting various units. On one occasion they even supported the Americans in assaulting a Napoleonic fortress at Brest. This meant that 31st Tank Brigade had to soldier on with only two Tank Regiments (7 RTR and 9 RTR). Note that 141 RAC was NOT a part of 79th Armoured Division at this time, although it would often work alongside the ‘Funnies’.
However, in September 1944 the 31st Tank Brigade was formally absorbed into 79th Armoured Division as an ‘All-Crocodile’ Brigade. 7 RTR was also now converted to a Crocodile regiment and both they and 141 RAC now wore the triangular yellow badge with the bull’s head of ‘Hobart’s Funnies’. 9 RTR had transferred out to 34th Tank Brigade, but 31st Tank Brigade was finally brought up to strength in November 1944 with the addition of 1st Fife & Forfar Yeomanry as its third Crocodile regiment.
As discussed 
Again, I’m starting with something of an oddball unit, as the Gendarmes d’Élite were more of a military police unit than a cavalry regiment and for the first half of their existence included an infantry element. They were nicknamed ‘The Immortals’ by the rest of the Guard, as they would very rarely be committed to battle. However, they did occasionally fight en masse, particularly from 1812 onward, and did well in battle.
I must admit that these figures, like the Mamelukes, are fairly redundant for me as the Gendarmes were rarely present in sufficient strength to be fielded on table as a separate unit and they’re NEVER going to appear as a 12-figure unit! The highest battlefield strength I can find for them is in September 1813, when they had 536 men present and on-strength. That equates to around 7 figures for 
Shabraque and square valise were dark blue, edged with a double row of white lace and an Imperial Crown badge at the rear corners. Like the Empress’ Dragoons, the Gendarmes d’Élite had three holster-covers on each side of the saffle, again heavily decorated with lace. Like other heavy cavalry regiments, the (dark blue) cloak was normally stowed on top of the valise with the (scarlet) lining exposed. Horses were (ideally) very dark bays.
Trumpeters wore ‘reversed colours’ of a scarlet habit with dark blue lapels, cuffs, tail-turnbacks and scarlet collar, all edged in white lace and with white buttonhole-lace on the lapels. Some sources show a blue collar. The aiguillette, contre-epaulette and trumpet-cord were of mixed crimson & white threads. Some sources show the positions of aiguillette and contre-epaulette as being the same as the rank-and-file, while others show them reversed, as for officers (the figure has them reversed, with the aiguillette on the right shoulder). Plume was scarlet with a white tip. Equipment and horse-furniture was the same as for the rank-and-file. On campaign a surtout could again be worn in lieu of the habit. This seems to have initially been sky-blue with crimson facings and white lace, but changed to match the habit colour of scarlet with blue facings and white lace.
The trumpeter’s uniform changed during Royal service in 1814/15 to a sky-blue habit with crimson facings, laced as before. This was worn with a bicorne hat that was edged in white lace and a fringe of alternating crimson & white ostrich-feathers. This was topped off with a tall white plume. Horse furniture was now sky-blue with white lace as before. This uniform was worn during the 1815 Campaign.
This regiment was formed in 1806 from selected cavalry troopers of the Line and officers from the Chasseurs & Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde. Initially comprising three squadrons, with a total strength of just over 800 men, the regiment was presented by Napoleon to his wife and titled La Régiment de Dragons de l’Impératrice (The Empress’ Dragoon Regiment). Following its baptism of fire during the Battles of Eylau and Friedland in 1807, the regiment was expanded to five squadrons, with a little over 1,250 men. The regiment was rapidly reformed in 1813 following massive losses in Russia and was increased to six squadrons, though the 5th and 6th Squadrons were designated as Young Guard. Following Napoleon’s abdication in 1814, the regiment was incorporated into the restored Royal Guard. In 1815 they returned to the Eagles and fought at Ligny and Waterloo.
The uniform consisted of a dark green habit, with white lapels, green collar, scarlet tail-turnbacks and scarlet cuffs, white cuff-flaps and brass buttons. An aurore aiguillette was worn on the right shoulder and an aurore contre-epaulette was worn on the left shoulder. The tail-turnbacks were decorated with aurore grenade badges, outlined in white. The habit could be replaced on campaign with a simpler single-breasted surtout, which was coloured the same as the habit, except that it lacked lapels and cuffs.
And so to the last one: Although originally raised as light cavalry in 1799, the Grenadiers à Cheval ‘properly’ started life in 1800 as the junior regiment of the Consular Guard, with the Chasseurs à Cheval being the senior regiment. Within few months, the regiment distinguished itself at the Battle of Marengo. In 1804 the Grenadiers à Cheval, along with the Chasseurs à Cheval and the Mamelukes, became the cavalry arm of the Imperial Guard. By 1812 the regiment had expanded to five squadrons and over 1,000 men, but the terrible Russian Campaign reduced that number to fewer than 200. Rapidly reconstituted in 1813, the regiment took to the field again with four Old Guard squadrons and two Young Guard Squadrons. With the abdication of Napoleon in 1814, they became part of the restored Royal Guard, but returned to Napoleon’s side in 1815 for their final campaign in Belgium.
The Grenadiers à Cheval were uniformed and equipped very similarly to the Empress’ Dragoons described above, except that the habits, surtouts and shabraques were dark blue instead of green. Details of facing colours, lace, aiguillettes, epaulettes, equipment and officers’ distinctions were all exactly the same as the Empress’ Dragoons. The obvious difference is the headgear: the Grenadiers à Cheval wore a tall black bearskin cap, which was fitted with brass chinscales. On the back of the cap was a red patch, decorated with a cross of aurore lace (gold for officers) and on the left was the national cockade. In full dress a scarlet plume was fitted just above the cockade and aurore flounders were suspended on the right. Aurore cap-lines were also sometimes worn in full dress. Unlike the Empress’ Dragoons, the saddle had only two holster-covers on each side and horses were blacks or very dark bays.
The two Young Guard Squadrons formed in 1813 seem to have worn the ‘undress’ version of the standard Grenadiers à Cheval uniform, namely the plain blue campaign surtout, which had plain collar and cuffs, no lapels and scarlet tail-turnbacks. They didn’t wear the Old Guard aiguillette, but they did have an aurore contre-epaulette on each shoulder. All other aspects of uniform and equipment seem to have been the same as the Old Guard squadrons.
At long last, with the completion of the Mameluke Squadron of the Guard, I’ve finally ‘finished’ my French Imperial Guard… OK, perhaps I might eventually get some greatcoated Old Guard infantry for 1815… and I should probably spruce up those Berg Lancers I’ve got here somewhere… and perhaps add some Young Guard cavalry for 1813… and perhaps some Eclaireurs for 1814… and perhaps the 3rd ‘ex-Hollandais’ Grenadiers for the hell of it… oh and the Neapolitan Guard Horse Artillery were in the Guard for a while… and… oh bugger…
Anyway, until I start adding more, here are the cavalry of my ‘completed’ Imperial Guard. As usual, all models are by 
I’ll start with an oddball unit: the 2ème Gardes d’Honneur. Following the disastrous Russian Campaign of 1812, Napoleon wanted to rapidly expand the cavalry arm, so placed a levy on the nobility and wealthy bourgeoisie of the Empire (including the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy) requiring them to send one of their sons, equipped and mounted, to become a member of his personal bodyguard (a cash levy was imposed on those without sons to send). As an incentive, these new recruits would form part of the Emperor’s ‘personal bodyguard’, would be paid the same as Chasseurs à Cheval of the Guard and after a year would be commissioned as Sous-Lieutenants.
I painted these chaps about 20 years ago and used French Hussar figures, which fit the bill perfectly except for the very minor detail of the shako-badge. These figures have the lozenge-shaped badge of the Hussars, while the Gardes d’Honneur had an eagle & crescent badge. All four regiments wore the same uniform of green dolman with scarlet facings, green pelisse with black fur edging, scarlet breeches and scarlet shako, with all lace and cords white and metalwork silver. Green overall trousers with a red (or white) stripe were worn on campaign. Shako-plumes were green, with pompoms coloured by company (there was no élite company). Shabraques were simple white sheepskins with green vandycked edging, with a green valise, laced white. Belts were white and sabretaches were plain black leather with a silver eagle badge.
The Chevaulégers Polonais de la Garde were initially raised in 1807, though at that time were not equipped with lances. Then in 1809, at the Battle of Wagram, the Chevaulégers Polonais distinguished themselves while in combat against the Austrian 2nd (Schwarzenberg) Regiment of Uhlans, using captured Austrian lances against their former owners with great effect (the lance being the traditional weapon of Polish light horse). Consequently, Napoleon ordered that the regiment be equipped with lances and re-named as the Chevauléger-Lanciers Polonais de la Garde.
In 1810 the creation of the 2nd Regiment of Guard Lancers (see below) meant that the Polish Lancers of the Guard were now designated as the 1er Chevauléger-Lanciers (Polonais) de la Garde. A 3rd Regiment of (Lithuanian) Guard Lancers was briefly raised in 1812, but ceased to exist at the end of the Russian Campaign.
As mentioned above, the 2ème Chevauléger-Lanciers de la Garde were created in 1810, being raised from the Dutch Royal Guard Hussar Regiment. Additional officers were drawn from other Dutch cavalry regiments and further drafts of men were drawn from Dutch hussars serving in Spain. Consequently, this regiment was often known as the ‘Dutch Lancers’. By the time they went into Russia in 1812 the regiment had grown to a colossal 1,400 men.
The uniform of the 2ème Chevauléger-Lanciers de la Garde was arguably one of the most spectacular uniforms of the period, being a scarlet kurtka jacket with dark blue facings, yellow epaulette with blue crescent, yellow aiguillette and yellow metalwork, worn with scarlet trousers with a double blue stripe. This was topped off with a scarlet czapka cap, adorned with yellow lace and the same ‘sunburst’ plate as the Polish Lancers. White plumes and yellow cords were worn in full dress. Lance-pennants were white-over-scarlet and shabraques were dark blue, edged yellow with a scarlet valise, also edged in yellow lace. Dark blue overall trousers with a red stripe were worn on campaign and a simplified ‘undress’ jacket in sky-blue cloth could also be worn as campaign dress. Trumpeters again had a white version of the uniform, but would often wear a simple sky-blue jacket on campaign.
The Chasseurs à Cheval were the oldest regiment of the Imperial Guard, having originally started life in 1796 as General Buonaparte’s Squadron of Guides de l’Armée d’Italie. After becoming part of Napoleon’s Consular Guard in 1800, the Chasseurs were expanded to a regiment of two squadrons in 1801, then to four squadrons in 1802. In 1804 the Consular Guard became the Imperial Guard and the regiment was expanded again t0 five squadrons.
The uniform of the Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde was of hussar style. The dolman was dark green, with green collar, scarlet cuffs and aurore lace. The pelisse was scarlet with aurore lace and black fur edging. All buttons were brass. Breeches were pale yellow buckskin, but green cloth breeches, laced in aurore could also be worn in some orders of dress. Dark green overall trousers with a red stripe could also be worn on campaign. The black fur colpack had a red bag, piped aurore and had a cockade on the left-side, from which sprouted a green plume with a red tip and a pair of aurore ‘flounders’. Belts were white and the sabre-scabbard was steel and worn with a heavily-embroidered sabretache (which could be replaced on campaign with a black leather version, decorated with a brass eagle badge). Shabraque and valise were dark green and edged in strips of aurore and scarlet lace.
The AB Figures Chasseurs shown at the top are modelled on the appearance of the Chasseurs at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 (as shown in the painting above), where the order of dress was to wear their pelisse as a jacket, with the green cloak rolled and worn en bandolier, to provide partial protection from sword-cuts.
Trumpeters had sky-blue dolmans, faced in a pinkish-crimson shade and laced in mixed crimson and gold. These colours were repeated on the bag of the colpack, overall campaign trousers, sabretache and shabraque. The pelisse was pinkish-crimson with black fur edging and mixed crimson & gold lace. Plume was sky blue with a pinkish-crimson tip and flounders were mixed crimson & gold. Some sources have suggested white fur colpacks, but that seems to have been a red-herring, traced back to one Victorian artist (of course, I didn’t find this out before I painted mine…).
the rank and file, except all lace was gold and the fur edging to the pelisse was white. Scarlet breeches could be worn in some orders of dress. Leopard-skin shabraques were also de rigeur among the beau sabreurs of the Chasseurs á Cheval de la Garde! Senior officers might also have white egret plumes.
The Young Guard Squadrons wore the same dolman jacket as the Old Guard Chasseurs, though they were not issued with a pelisse. Dark green cloaks were again commonly worn en bandolier, as shown here. Trousers were dark green with a double aurore stripe. Instead of the fur colpack, the headgear was a scarlet shako, decorated with a brass eagle badge, edged in aurore lace and topped off with an aurore pompom. The tall rouleau style of shako was also worn. Equipment was the same as the Old Guard Squadrons, though the sabretache was of the plain black campaign style. The shabraque and valise were scarlet, edged dark green and the saddle was covered by a white sheepskin, edged in dark green cloth.
This last unit of light cavalry is something of an indulgence on my part and will never see action in a game, other than as an additional stand or two of figures to beef up the strength of the Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde in some scenarios. Even at their absolute maximum strength, the Mamelukes in game terms would only be represented by 3 figures at the 1:80 ratio I normally game in (using Napoleon’s Battles rules)! In most scenarios, the Mamelukes would only add a single figure (maybe two) to the strength of the Guard Cavalry! However, once I saw these figures, I just HAD to paint them…
The Mamelukes originally started life in 1799 as a company (i.e. half-squadron) of mounted Syrian Janissaries attached to the headquarters of General Kléber. By 1800 they had been reinforced by Mamelukes and increased to a squadron of three companies, totalling 300 men, now titled the Mamluks de la République. Many of these men were then brought back to France a new squadron of Mamelukes was created at Marseille. However, difficulties in obtaining recruits meant that this unit was soon downgraded to a single company. In 1803 the Mamelukes were permanently attached to the Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde; an association that would last throughout the Napoleonic Wars. In 1813 a second (Young Guard) company was formed from Frenchmen and the Mamelukes were once again designated as a full squadron.
With Napoleon’s abdication in 1814, seven Mamelukes accompanied the Emperor into exile, while the remainder (now reduced to a company again) joined the Royal Guard. By this date, only eighteen ‘true’ Mamelukes were still with the unit and these men were massacred by the population of Marseilles! However, the squadron was formed again in 1815 and 94 former Mamelukes rejoined the unit, which was once again attached to the Chasseurs.
Anyway, that’s it for now. The Guard Heavies are next and that should finally finish off my Guard.
Just a short post this time, covering the Foot and Horse Artillery of the French Imperial Guard. I’ve finally finished the Guard Cavalry, so will save them for the next post!
I painted the Imperial Guard Foot Artillery a very long time ago, right back when 
The Guard Horse Artillery were painted much more recently, in 2015, for our Waterloo Bicentennial games. Again, these are by AB Figures and at the time they replaced some 1980s-vintage Battle Honours Guard Horse Artillery, which were also sculpted by Tony Barton and were very nice in their day, but had been battered to hell and back during the intervening 30 years…
I’m pleased to say that the painting on these is MUCH better than that on the Foot Artillery! 🙂
As part of the Waterloo Bicentennial project I painted the AB Figures Guard Horse Artillery mounted officer figure to represent 
That’s it for the Artillery of the Guard. It’s the Cavalry of the Guard next time…
Here’s the last of my Burma stuff for the time being; namely some elements of the Royal Artillery.
You might be wondering why I need to have model artillery, as the artillery will ordinarily be flippin’ miles away and only represented on table by Forward Observation Officers (FOOs) and by the effects of fire (unless you’re playing the frankly odd Flames of War, of course). That’s certainly the case with my usual rules, 
Above: A Field Battery of 
Units with a full scale of motor transport would typically use Universal Carriers as Observation Post (OP) vehicles for the FOOs, but units on a light scale of transport might use Jeeps or even mules to carry the necessary radios, batteries, field-telephones and cable-spools. Many Field Regiments became ‘Jungle Field’ Regiments (consisting of 3.7-inch Mountain Howitzers and 3-inch Mortars) while the campaign was fought in the dense, mountainous jungle of the Burma-India border. However, they transitioned back to a heavier scale of motor transport following the defeat of the Japanese offensive at the Battle of Imphal in 1944, in anticipation for the Operation CAPITAL counter-offensive into central Burma, where the road network was far more extensive and where the terrain was far more suited to mechanised warfare.
The battery is indicated by the smaller blue square marking, which has one quadrant (here the lower-left quadrant) coloured red. The position of the red quadrant shows the seniority of the battery within the regiment – 1st Bty top-right, 2nd Bty bottom-right, 3rd Bty bottom-left and 4th Bty top-left, so this is the regiment’s 3rd Battery. The white letter indicates the Troop (in this case ‘F’ Troop – the 3rd battery of a Field Regiment would have ‘E’ & ‘F’ Troops, so the other Troop will have the same marking with ‘E’ instead of ‘F’). The Carrier has ‘RF’, which indicates the Troop Commander’s OP Vehicle for ‘F’ Troop.
Some more Royal Artillery for Burma, but this time it’s a Troop of 
As with most things in XIVth Army, the organisation of Light AA and Anti-Tank units changed quite dramatically as the war progressed, based on the nature of the terrain, enemy tactics and the ability of XIVth Army’s strained logistical system to supply units in the field. At the start of the war, the 7th Indian Division had the standard organisation of separate LAA and AT Regiments; namely the 122nd LAA Regt RA (with three LAA Batteries) and the 6th Indian AT Regt IA (with four AT Batteries). In August 1943 these units were replaced by the combined 24th LAA/AT Regt RA, which had two batteries each of LAA and AT.
In terms of markings, note that unlike Field Artillery and AT units, LAA units tended to paint the markings on their guns. I’ve absolutely no idea what the Arm-of-Service serial was for an LAA/AT Regt, so I’ve simply given them ’47’, which was the serial for an infantry division’s LAA Regt (the AT Regt used ’46’). The Battery markings were much the same as the Field Battery markings mentioned above (note that the upper-right quadrant here is red, indicating the 1st Battery of a regiment), except that they had three Troops per battery, so the 1st Battery would have A, B & C, the 2nd Battery D, E & F and so on. AT Batteries also had three Troops (of four guns each).
The Troop is served by a pair of 
Wheeled armoured recce isn’t exactly what you might imagine as being suitable for the Burma Campaign, as in the main they were limited to the extremely sparse (bordering on non-existent) motorable road network. As a consequence, a lot of recce units, such as the 2nd Recce Regt, 11th (East African) Recce Regt, 81st & 82nd (West African) Recce Regts replaced their armoured cars and scout cars with Jeeps and just retained a few tracked Universal Carriers, while 45th Recce Regiment was completely converted to Chindits. The Indian 7th Cavalry Regt traded in its armoured cars, scout cars and Carriers in 1943 for Stuart light tanks. The 3rd Gwalior Lancers (XV Corps Recce Regt) did things a bit differently and instead had a 50/50 split of Carriers and horsed cavalry. The West African Recce Regiments even converted in late 1944 to waterborne recce, using native Arakanese small water-craft called khistis. The recce element of most infantry divisions meanwhile, was a ‘Scout Battalion’ consisting simply of light infantry with no weapons heavier than Brens.
Armoured Car Regiments typically organised with three squadrons, each with five Armoured Car Troops of 2-3 armoured cars and 2-3 scout cars, a Heavy Troop with heavy armoured cars, SP guns or mortars and a Support Troop of two motorised infantry sections, equipped to conduct limited sapper tasks such as detecting and lifting mines. However, this basic organisation was modified quite extensively due to the tactical, environmental and logistical limitations of the Burma Campaign and the number of squadrons was reduced to three. The squadron organisation for 16th Light Cavalry varies with the sources and both versions might be true at different times: one source states that each squadron had two Armoured Car Troops, three ‘Jeep Troops’ (i.e. Jeep-motorised infantry) and a Heavy (Mortar) Troop, while another source suggests three Armoured Car Troops, two lorried Rifle Troops and a Heavy Troop (both sources agree that the mortars were self-propelled).
The Daimler Armoured Car, Dingo, Jeeps and Dodge Weapons Carrier models are by Skytrex. The India Pattern Carrier and infantry are by Flames of War. The India Pattern Carrier has a spare plastic mortar added from a Team Yankee M113 APC kit.