Hello fellow modellers ,
Always on the lookout for something unusual to add to the collection I was very pleased to see that Dolman Miniatures had released this piece ......yes thats right they have "given me the hump"
...well not literally as we have actual camel but what we do have is a Camel Trooper bust :
It is good to see the unusual being chosen as a release and this is very unusual and very welcomed .
Lets have a bit of background on these troops :
On May 25, 1887, the German East African Company (DOAG), under the leadership of Carl Peters took control of Dar Es Salaam, on the road to colonise German East Africa. The company had Imperial mandate from the Chancellor (Bismark) and gained full control of the coastline of what would later be known as Tanganyika by April 1888. Conquest was not easy, however and resistance began in August of 1887.
However, by 1898 , Germany under DOAG controlled all of Tanganyika’s major population area's and lines of communication. At first, the extension of control was mainly in local area's, with military leaders making bargains with individual tribal units. Early German rule was reliant on bands of warriors who created a culture of fear to control compliant tribal leaders ,often carrying out tribal warfare and assisting those they controlled to defeat other tribes in return for a share of the profits.
Germany continued in East Africa into the 1st world War using locally raised troops who fought hard and were loyal but they eventually lost the area as a result of Imperial Germany's defeat by the Allies .
Perhaps what was most distinctive about these troops called Schutztruppe (Protective Force) in East Africa was the headwear often seen worn.
Books are available and do make interesting reading , not only as a uniform reference but as a background to the situation in Africa at the time ......these are some of the one's that I have in my library :
Continued in next post:
Nap
Always on the lookout for something unusual to add to the collection I was very pleased to see that Dolman Miniatures had released this piece ......yes thats right they have "given me the hump"
...well not literally as we have actual camel but what we do have is a Camel Trooper bust :
It is good to see the unusual being chosen as a release and this is very unusual and very welcomed .
Lets have a bit of background on these troops :
On May 25, 1887, the German East African Company (DOAG), under the leadership of Carl Peters took control of Dar Es Salaam, on the road to colonise German East Africa. The company had Imperial mandate from the Chancellor (Bismark) and gained full control of the coastline of what would later be known as Tanganyika by April 1888. Conquest was not easy, however and resistance began in August of 1887.
However, by 1898 , Germany under DOAG controlled all of Tanganyika’s major population area's and lines of communication. At first, the extension of control was mainly in local area's, with military leaders making bargains with individual tribal units. Early German rule was reliant on bands of warriors who created a culture of fear to control compliant tribal leaders ,often carrying out tribal warfare and assisting those they controlled to defeat other tribes in return for a share of the profits.
Germany continued in East Africa into the 1st world War using locally raised troops who fought hard and were loyal but they eventually lost the area as a result of Imperial Germany's defeat by the Allies .
Perhaps what was most distinctive about these troops called Schutztruppe (Protective Force) in East Africa was the headwear often seen worn.
Books are available and do make interesting reading , not only as a uniform reference but as a background to the situation in Africa at the time ......these are some of the one's that I have in my library :
Continued in next post:
Nap
