John Jenkins Designs: November Releases

John Jenkins Collectors Club

JJ DESIGNS COLLECTORS' CLUB SET#18 - Lieutenant General Marquis de Montcalm

Montcalm began his military career at the age of nine when he was commissioned an ensign in the army. He gained significant military experience in the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and was wounded several times.

In May 1756 Montcalm was appointed major general and commander of French forces in New France. Over the next three years, the forces under Montcalm's leadership enjoyed considerable success in North America forcing the English at Oswego to surrender on August 14, 1756 and capturing Fort William Henry after a six-day siege ending on August 9, 1757.

In the summer of 1758 General Montcalm commanded a force of 3,700 French soldiers at Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga). On July 7, as a British force of 17,000 troops were preparing to attack the Fort, Montcalm set his army to work constructing a thick log defensive wall about a half mile to the west of the Fort. On the morning of July 8th, his defensive works were attacked. At the end of the day, his army held strong repelling the British and securing for France its greatest victory of the French & Indian War

• JJCLUB-SET#18 -- Battle of Fort Carillon, Ticonderoga 8th July 1758, Lieutenant General Marquis de Montcalm

This will be the Second Special Collectors' club set for 2014.
Please note that there will be a 30 day PREVIEW period, when the Special Collectors' Club set will be shown as an unpainted prototype.
There will be a further 30 day PREORDER period when a picture of the painted figure will be released.
The number of PREORDERS received at this time will be the LIMITED EDITION of that special Collectors' Club set.
Production of the figure will then take approximately 30-90 days.
Deadline for placing your order October 31th 2014!

JJ DESIGNS COLLECTORS' CLUB SET#19 - Jacobite Rebellion 1745, Regiment Royal Ecossois, Officer with Colonel's Colours.

The Royal Ecossais was raised by John Drummond in 1744 and disbanded 1763.

Their organisation was to be based on that of the Irish regiments ,to be made up of 11 companies of fusiliers and 1 of grenadiers each of 50 men plus officers for a total of 660 effectives. The officers and men used to form the regiment came from several different sources, firstly from Scotsmen serving in the Irish regiments, Scottish exiles living in France together with recruits smuggled out of Scotland. With an effective of 500 men and officers assembled at St.Omer, with John Lord Drummond as lieutenant colonel, (as for all Royal Regiments, the King of France was always the colonel ) although Lord Drummond wrote on the 29th December 1744 that he was missing only 10 men to complete the regiment.

This regiment, as many other foreign regiments in tjhe French Army were not mercenaries as is often claimed, they were more often than not political or religious refugees who could not safely return to their homeland for fear of persecution.

The regiment had a strength of 350 men at the Battle of Culloden on the16th of April 1746 were they were in the second line and later they helped to cover the retreat of the Highlanders right wing, an attempt by Argyll Militia to interfere was pushed aside but in the skirmish the two battalions became separated and one , probably the 2nd battalion, was caught and surrounded by British Dragoons and forced to surrender in Inverness, the other one, together with their colours continued its retreat towards Ruthven Barracks and did not surrender until the 19th of April.

An Officer with the Regimental Colours will be a general release in January 2015.

• JJCLUB-SET#19 -- Jacobite Rebellion 1745, Regiment Royal Ecossois, Officer with Colonel's Colours.

This will be the Third Special Collectors' club set for 2014.
Please note that there will be a 30 day PREVIEW period, when the Special Collectors' Club set will be shown as an unpainted prototype.
There will be a further 30 day PREORDER period when a picture of the painted figure will be released.
The number of PREORDERS received at this time will be the LIMITED EDITION of that special Collectors' Club set.
Production of the figure will then take approximately 30-90 days.
Deadline for placing your order November 30th 2014!

John Jenkins Collectors Club

New Releases Expected November 2014!
Battle of the Plains of Abraham

• QB-046 -- Woodland Indian With Scalp!
• QBLG-005 -- Louisbourg Grenadiers, 22nd Regiment of Foot, Grenadiers - The Louisbourg Grenadiers was a temporary unit of grenadiers formed by General James Wolfe in 1759 to serve with British Army forces in the Quebec campaign of the Seven Years' War. Grenadiers from the 22nd, 40th, and 45th regiments were brought together by Wolfe at the Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia in preparation for action along the St. Lawrence River. The unit was involved in numerous battles during the months-long prelude to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, including the ill-fated Battle of Beauport on July 31, 1759. After Quebec City's capture, the Grenadiers went on to be involved in the fall of Montreal the next year. After the end of the Seven Years' War, the unit was disbanded and its members returned to their original regiments.
• QBLG-005N -- Louisbourg Grenadiers, 22nd Regiment of Foot, Grenadiers, SET#1
• QF-030 -- Regiment de Bearn, Officer and Drummer. - The Drummer from the Regiment de Bearn wears the uniform common to all musicians of all the Regular regiments which served in Canada, with the exception of the Regiment La Reine. The drummers of La Reine wore the "Queen's Livery", which was basically a red coat trimmed with blue and white lace.
• QF-031 -- Regiment de Bearn, Officer.
• QF-032 -- Regiment de Bearn, Drummer

Battle of the Plains of Abraham

Raid on Saint Francis

• RR-034A -- Stockbridge Indians, Woodland Indians Skirmishing A
• RR-034B -- Stockbridge Indians, Woodland Indians Skirmishing B

Raid on Saint Francis, 1759 

Knights Of The Skies

Werner Steinhauser was born in Konigsburg 20th June 1893.
After downing a balloon with FA(A) 261, Steinhäuser joined Jasta 11 at the end of 1917. He was wounded in action and forced to land on 17 March 1918. Having scored ten victories, he was killed in action when his Fokker DR.I was shot down over Neuilly, 26th June 1918
There are many photos of German pilots and crews with stuffed teddy bears and other stuffed animals affixed to their struts. Fritz Hoehn of Jasta 21 had a teddy bear on his Pfalz D.IIIa, mounted just behind his cockpit looking aft - as if it were guarding his 'six'.

• ACE-021P -- Lt. Werner Steinhauser

Knights Of The Skies - WWI 

THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 - British

Pigeons played an exceptional role in WWI and WWII. Pigeons were able to fly over enemy lines to send messages to allies all over the continent without the risk of having planes shot down or vehicles destroyed trying to relay that same message. Although many pigeons were killed in the process of transferring these messages, their success was great enough to merit the establishment of the Pigeon Corps in 1915. This group started with 15 mobile pigeon stations, or pigeon wagons, each with 4 birds and a handler and grew in size to over 400 men and 22,000 pigeons by the end of the war.

Pigeons had a small canister attached to their legs that allowed for a message to be inserted and transported back to command posts. This system proved to be the most effective means of transporting important messages as pigeons are incredibly fast fliers and the telegraph system that existed during the war was still not very efficient. Many of these pigeons carried messages that saved the lives of many soldiers, and as a result, were awarded medals for heroism and service to their respective countries. One pigeon named 'Red Cock' carried a message that contained the coordinates of a sinking boat that had been torpedoed back to its loft at the command post which allowed a rescue team to be dispatched in time to save the crew. For his services, 'Red Cock' was awarded the Dickin Medal for his bravery. This medal is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross which is awarded to individuals "for most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy."

• GWB-015 -- Mobile Pigeon Loft

The Dickin Medal

The Dickin Medal is the highest honor that an animal can be awarded for military service, and of the 55 Dickin Medals awarded to animals, 32 of them were awarded to pigeons. Another pigeon named 'Cher Ami' had an even more fascinating story. In 1918, 500 allied soldiers were trapped with no food or ammunition in France and were being bombarded by friendly fire. Many men were being killed and there seemed to be no hope of surviving the attack. As a last ditch effort a message was attached to a pigeon which was released and immediately shot down by the enemy. A second pigeon was released with a message and a suffered a similar fate. The final pigeon, 'Cher Ami' was then called for. As with the first two birds, a message was attached to its leg and it was released into the sky. 'Cher Ami' was instantly shot through the breast and fell to the ground; however, unlike his predecessors, 'Cher Ami' got back up and continued to fly another 25 miles, amidst a sky of bullets and the chaos of war, all the way back to headquarters. He delivered the message and was able to save the 194 remaining soldiers from certain death; however, his wounds consisted of a shot through the breast, a blinded eye and a nearly unattached leg. Miraculously, medics were able to save the bird and replaced his wounded leg with a wooden one. For his services, 'Cher Ami' was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal, inducted into the racing pigeon hall of fame, and became the mascot of the Department of Service.

The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was an arm of the Royal Artillery that was originally tasked with manning the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division, and the guns of the siege artillery.

In the quagmire of trench warfare, it was finally realised that it was not the place for the artillery to be in the infantry line.

Henceforth the artillery would be positioned well behind the infantry battle line, firing at unseen targets, at co-ordinates on a map calculated with geometry and mathematics. As the war developed, the heavy artillery and the techniques of long-range artillery were massively developed. The RGA was often supported by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) who had devised a system where pilots could use wireless telegraphy to help the artillery hit specific targets.

From 1914 the RGA grew into a very large component of the British forces on the battlefield, being armed with heavy, large-calibre guns and howitzers that were positioned some way behind the front line and had immense destructive power. The corps name was discontinued in 1924, when the RGA was re-amalgamated into the Royal Artillery

Ammunition supply to the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and other field artillery units was normally the role of the Royal Artillery: that part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery which retained the Royal Artillery (RA) shoulder badges. However during the war the RGA, which had large numbers of men idling in fortified batteries around the World with little chance of seeing action, provided a draft of sub-units to the Western Front to assist with ammunition supply in the field, and the operation of supply dumps

Several of these Artillery crew sets, can also be used with the Supply tank and Trucks.

• GWB-031 -- Battle of Amiens, 6th August 1918, The Royal Garrison Artillery, 2 Crew Resting

British Forces

THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 - French

World War I cost France 1,357,800 dead, 4,266,000 wounded (of whom 1.5 million were permanently maimed) and 537,000 made prisoner or missing - exactly 73% of the 8,410,000 men mobilized. France had 40 million citizens at the start of the war; six in ten men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight died or were permanently maimed.

• GWF-025 -- French Infantry 1917-1918, 123e Regiment of Infantry, 2 Wounded PCDF

French Army 

Happy Hunting!