Roc
A Fixture
TIME MACHINE MINIATURES
BRITISH COLONIAL SERIES
THE LAST STAND AT GANDAMACK
BCS 1 RETREAT FROM KABUL
DESIGHED AND SCULPTED BY CHRIS TUBB.
DESCRIPTION
The origins of The First Afghan War were essentially a direct result of British fear....fear that Russia would control Afghanistan and thus encroach upon Britain's vital interests in India. Certainly these were not unfounded fears...Russia had established its presence there as well as extending its political influence over several Afghan tribes. Afghan intrigue and political instability appealed to the British if for only one reason, the opportunity to use it to strike a stunning blow against future Russian interest and to gain a buffer zone to protect its precious India in the shifting sands of Central Asian politics.
In February of 1839 a British Invasion force of some 21,000 Troops and thousands of camp followers left India bounds for Kabul, Afghanistan. Successfully capturing Kabul the British occupied it until 1841 when the situation began to unravel. By November 1841 all of Afghanistan was in revolt against British rule. Forced to abandon Kabul they were left with no choice but to attempt to reach the safety of India. Unfortunately winter had already set in. On January 6, 1842, 5,000 British troops, their wives, children, and over 12,000 camp followers left their cantonment in Kabul and marched out into the bitter Afghan Winter bound for Jalalabad and the promise of safety.....100 miles away. Harassed and assaulted from the moment they left Kabul by Ghilzai Tribesmen firing their deadly accurate long-barreled jezails, freezing temperatures, and harsh terrain they were reduced in the course of eight days to only a few survivors. Daybreak 13 January 1842-all that remained were some officers of various regiments, one or two survivors of a Bengal Horse Artillery battery and soldiers from Her Majesty's 44th Regiment of Foot.
Realizing their end was near they clambered up the icy slopes of a rocky hillock near the village of Gandamack there to withstand whatever fate awaited them. Few survived this......"Last Stand at Gandamack
HISTORICAL NOTES
In November 1840 during a raid into Kohistan two squadrons of Bengal cavalry failed to follow their officers in a charge against a small force of Afghans led by Dost Mohammed himself. Soon afterwards, despairing of his life in the mountains, Dost Mohammed surrendered to Macnaghten and went into exile in India, escorted by a division of British and Indian troops no longer required in Afghanistan and accompanied by the commander in chief Sir Willoughby Cotton.
In December 1840 Shah Shujah and Macnaghten withdrew to Jellalabad for the ferocious Afghan winter, returning to Kabul in the spring of 1841.
In the assumption that the establishment of Shah Shujah as Ameer was complete, the British and Indian troops were required to move out of the Balla Hissar, a fortified palace of considerable strength outside Kabul, and build for themselves conventional cantonments. A further complete brigade of the force was withdrawn, leaving the remaining regiments to settle into garrison life as if in India, summoning families to join them, building a race course and disporting themselves under the increasingly menacing Afghan gaze.
There were plenty of signs of trouble. The Ghilzai tribes in the Khyber repeatedly attacked British supply columns from India. Tribal revolt made Northern Baluchistan virtually ungovernable. Shah Shujah’s writ did not run outside the main cities, particularly in the South Western areas around the Helmond River.
Sir William Cotton was replaced as commander in chief of the British and Indian forces by General Elphinstone, an elderly invalid now incapable of directing an army in the field, but with sufficient spirit to prevent any other officer from exercising proper command in his place.
The fate of the British and Indian forces in Afghanistan in the winter of 1840 to 1841 provides a striking illustration of the collapse of morale and military efficiency where the officers in command are indecisive and wholly lacking in initiative and self-confidence. The only senior officer left in Afghanistan with any ability was Brigadier Nott, the garrison commander at Kandahar.
Crisis struck in October 1841. In that month Brigadier Sale took his brigade out of Kabul as part of the force reductions and began the march through the mountain passes to Peshawar and India. Throughout the journey his column was subjected to continuing attack by Ghilzai tribesmen and the armed retainers of the Kabul Ameers. Sale’s brigade, which included the 13th Foot, fought through to Gandamak, where a message was received summoning the force back to Kabul, Sale did not comply with the order and continued to Jellalabad.
In Kabul serious trouble had broken out. On 2nd November 1841 an Afghan mob stormed the house of Sir Alexander Burnes, one of the senior British political officers, and murdered him and several of his staff. It is the authoritative assessment that if the British had reacted with vigour and severity the Kabul rising could have been controlled. But such a reaction was beyond Elphinstone’s abilities. All he could do was refuse to give his deputy, Brigadier Shelton, the discretion to take such measures.
Until the end of the year the situation of the Kabul force deteriorated as the Afghans harried them and deprived them of supplies and pressed them more closely.
On 23rd December 1841 Macnaghten was lured to a meeting with several Afghan Ameers and murdered. While the Kabulis awaited a swift retribution the British and Indian regiments cowered fearful in their cantonments.
Attempts to clear the high ground that enabled the Afghans to dominate the cantonments failed miserably, because the troops were too cowed to be capable of aggressive action.
The beginning of the end came on 6th January 1842 when the British and Indian garrison, 4,500 soldiers, including 690 Europeans, and 12,000 wives, children and civilian servants, following a purported agreement with the Ameers guaranteeing safe conduct to India, marched out of the cantonments and began the terrible journey to the Khyber Pass and on to India. As part of the agreement with the Ameers all the guns had to be left to the Afghans except for one horse artillery battery and 3 mountain guns and a number of British officers and their families were required to surrender as hostages, taking them from the nightmare slaughter of the march into relative security.
In spite of the binding undertaking to protect the retreating army, the column was attacked from the moment it left the Kabul cantonments.
The army managed to march 6 miles on the first day. The night was spent without tents or cover, many troops and camp followers dying of cold.
The next day the march continued, Brigadier Shelton, after his ineffectiveness as Elphinstone’s deputy, showing his worth leading the counter attacks of the rearguard to cover the main body.
At Bootkhak the Kabul Ameer, Akbar Khan, arrived claiming he had been deputed to ensure the army completed its journey without further harassment. He insisted that the column halt and camp, extorting a large sum of money and insisting that further officers be given up as hostages. One of the conditions negotiated with the Ameers was that the British abandon Kandahar and Jellalabad. Akbar Khan required the hostages to ensure Brigadier Sale left Jellalabad and withdrew to India.
The next day found the force so debilitated by the freezing night that few of the soldiers were fit for duty. The column struggled into the narrow five mile long Khoord Cabul pass to be fired on for its whole length by the tribesmen posted on the heights on each side. The rearguard was found by the 44th Regiment who fought to keep the tribesmen at bay. 3,000 casualties were left in the gorge.
On 9th January 1841 Akbar Khan required further hostages in the form of the remaining married officers with their families. For the next two days the column pushed through the passes and fought off the incessant attacks of the tribesmen.
On the evening of 11th January 1841 Akbar Khan compelled General Elphinstone and Brigadier Shelton to surrender as hostages, leaving the command to Brigadier Anquetil. The troops reached the Jugdulluk crest to find the road blocked by a thorn abattis manned by Ghilzai tribesmen. A desperate attack was mounted, the horse artillery driving their remaining guns at the abattis, but few managed to pass this fatal obstruction.
CONTENTS
Base and three 54 mm. resin figures with white metal parts secured in zip lock bags. Included in the kit is a three page informative booklet with beautiful color photos of each e of the British soldiers , depicting the heroic last stand at Gandamack.
REVIEW
Time Machine's 54 mm. vignette "The Last Stand at Gandamak" is a beautifully sculpted and cast vignette. Chris Tubb, the sculptor has truly captured the desperation, drama and pain of this horrific event in British Colonial History. The kit is comprised of 13 parts cast in good quality resin and white metal.
The vignette is composed of two 44th Regiment of Foot Soldiers, one Bengal Horse Artillery Officer and a very nice base.
To facilitate the assembly and painting, the figures are supplied with seperate individual bases.
The kit is flash free and the assembly is straight forward with no filling required.
This vignette is sculpted with much realism, artistry and flair. The faces are very convincing and will paint up nicely.
This kit has to be seen in the flesh to be truly appreciated.
I highly reccomend this kit, it will give you many hours of enjoyment.
Cheers
Roc.
Reference
A Journal of the First Afghan War by Florentia Sale.
Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier 1839-1947 by Michael Barthorp.
BRITISH COLONIAL SERIES
THE LAST STAND AT GANDAMACK
BCS 1 RETREAT FROM KABUL
DESIGHED AND SCULPTED BY CHRIS TUBB.
DESCRIPTION
The origins of The First Afghan War were essentially a direct result of British fear....fear that Russia would control Afghanistan and thus encroach upon Britain's vital interests in India. Certainly these were not unfounded fears...Russia had established its presence there as well as extending its political influence over several Afghan tribes. Afghan intrigue and political instability appealed to the British if for only one reason, the opportunity to use it to strike a stunning blow against future Russian interest and to gain a buffer zone to protect its precious India in the shifting sands of Central Asian politics.
In February of 1839 a British Invasion force of some 21,000 Troops and thousands of camp followers left India bounds for Kabul, Afghanistan. Successfully capturing Kabul the British occupied it until 1841 when the situation began to unravel. By November 1841 all of Afghanistan was in revolt against British rule. Forced to abandon Kabul they were left with no choice but to attempt to reach the safety of India. Unfortunately winter had already set in. On January 6, 1842, 5,000 British troops, their wives, children, and over 12,000 camp followers left their cantonment in Kabul and marched out into the bitter Afghan Winter bound for Jalalabad and the promise of safety.....100 miles away. Harassed and assaulted from the moment they left Kabul by Ghilzai Tribesmen firing their deadly accurate long-barreled jezails, freezing temperatures, and harsh terrain they were reduced in the course of eight days to only a few survivors. Daybreak 13 January 1842-all that remained were some officers of various regiments, one or two survivors of a Bengal Horse Artillery battery and soldiers from Her Majesty's 44th Regiment of Foot.
Realizing their end was near they clambered up the icy slopes of a rocky hillock near the village of Gandamack there to withstand whatever fate awaited them. Few survived this......"Last Stand at Gandamack
HISTORICAL NOTES
In November 1840 during a raid into Kohistan two squadrons of Bengal cavalry failed to follow their officers in a charge against a small force of Afghans led by Dost Mohammed himself. Soon afterwards, despairing of his life in the mountains, Dost Mohammed surrendered to Macnaghten and went into exile in India, escorted by a division of British and Indian troops no longer required in Afghanistan and accompanied by the commander in chief Sir Willoughby Cotton.
In December 1840 Shah Shujah and Macnaghten withdrew to Jellalabad for the ferocious Afghan winter, returning to Kabul in the spring of 1841.
In the assumption that the establishment of Shah Shujah as Ameer was complete, the British and Indian troops were required to move out of the Balla Hissar, a fortified palace of considerable strength outside Kabul, and build for themselves conventional cantonments. A further complete brigade of the force was withdrawn, leaving the remaining regiments to settle into garrison life as if in India, summoning families to join them, building a race course and disporting themselves under the increasingly menacing Afghan gaze.
There were plenty of signs of trouble. The Ghilzai tribes in the Khyber repeatedly attacked British supply columns from India. Tribal revolt made Northern Baluchistan virtually ungovernable. Shah Shujah’s writ did not run outside the main cities, particularly in the South Western areas around the Helmond River.
Sir William Cotton was replaced as commander in chief of the British and Indian forces by General Elphinstone, an elderly invalid now incapable of directing an army in the field, but with sufficient spirit to prevent any other officer from exercising proper command in his place.
The fate of the British and Indian forces in Afghanistan in the winter of 1840 to 1841 provides a striking illustration of the collapse of morale and military efficiency where the officers in command are indecisive and wholly lacking in initiative and self-confidence. The only senior officer left in Afghanistan with any ability was Brigadier Nott, the garrison commander at Kandahar.
Crisis struck in October 1841. In that month Brigadier Sale took his brigade out of Kabul as part of the force reductions and began the march through the mountain passes to Peshawar and India. Throughout the journey his column was subjected to continuing attack by Ghilzai tribesmen and the armed retainers of the Kabul Ameers. Sale’s brigade, which included the 13th Foot, fought through to Gandamak, where a message was received summoning the force back to Kabul, Sale did not comply with the order and continued to Jellalabad.
In Kabul serious trouble had broken out. On 2nd November 1841 an Afghan mob stormed the house of Sir Alexander Burnes, one of the senior British political officers, and murdered him and several of his staff. It is the authoritative assessment that if the British had reacted with vigour and severity the Kabul rising could have been controlled. But such a reaction was beyond Elphinstone’s abilities. All he could do was refuse to give his deputy, Brigadier Shelton, the discretion to take such measures.
Until the end of the year the situation of the Kabul force deteriorated as the Afghans harried them and deprived them of supplies and pressed them more closely.
On 23rd December 1841 Macnaghten was lured to a meeting with several Afghan Ameers and murdered. While the Kabulis awaited a swift retribution the British and Indian regiments cowered fearful in their cantonments.
Attempts to clear the high ground that enabled the Afghans to dominate the cantonments failed miserably, because the troops were too cowed to be capable of aggressive action.
The beginning of the end came on 6th January 1842 when the British and Indian garrison, 4,500 soldiers, including 690 Europeans, and 12,000 wives, children and civilian servants, following a purported agreement with the Ameers guaranteeing safe conduct to India, marched out of the cantonments and began the terrible journey to the Khyber Pass and on to India. As part of the agreement with the Ameers all the guns had to be left to the Afghans except for one horse artillery battery and 3 mountain guns and a number of British officers and their families were required to surrender as hostages, taking them from the nightmare slaughter of the march into relative security.
In spite of the binding undertaking to protect the retreating army, the column was attacked from the moment it left the Kabul cantonments.
The army managed to march 6 miles on the first day. The night was spent without tents or cover, many troops and camp followers dying of cold.
The next day the march continued, Brigadier Shelton, after his ineffectiveness as Elphinstone’s deputy, showing his worth leading the counter attacks of the rearguard to cover the main body.
At Bootkhak the Kabul Ameer, Akbar Khan, arrived claiming he had been deputed to ensure the army completed its journey without further harassment. He insisted that the column halt and camp, extorting a large sum of money and insisting that further officers be given up as hostages. One of the conditions negotiated with the Ameers was that the British abandon Kandahar and Jellalabad. Akbar Khan required the hostages to ensure Brigadier Sale left Jellalabad and withdrew to India.
The next day found the force so debilitated by the freezing night that few of the soldiers were fit for duty. The column struggled into the narrow five mile long Khoord Cabul pass to be fired on for its whole length by the tribesmen posted on the heights on each side. The rearguard was found by the 44th Regiment who fought to keep the tribesmen at bay. 3,000 casualties were left in the gorge.
On 9th January 1841 Akbar Khan required further hostages in the form of the remaining married officers with their families. For the next two days the column pushed through the passes and fought off the incessant attacks of the tribesmen.
On the evening of 11th January 1841 Akbar Khan compelled General Elphinstone and Brigadier Shelton to surrender as hostages, leaving the command to Brigadier Anquetil. The troops reached the Jugdulluk crest to find the road blocked by a thorn abattis manned by Ghilzai tribesmen. A desperate attack was mounted, the horse artillery driving their remaining guns at the abattis, but few managed to pass this fatal obstruction.
CONTENTS
Base and three 54 mm. resin figures with white metal parts secured in zip lock bags. Included in the kit is a three page informative booklet with beautiful color photos of each e of the British soldiers , depicting the heroic last stand at Gandamack.
REVIEW
Time Machine's 54 mm. vignette "The Last Stand at Gandamak" is a beautifully sculpted and cast vignette. Chris Tubb, the sculptor has truly captured the desperation, drama and pain of this horrific event in British Colonial History. The kit is comprised of 13 parts cast in good quality resin and white metal.
The vignette is composed of two 44th Regiment of Foot Soldiers, one Bengal Horse Artillery Officer and a very nice base.
To facilitate the assembly and painting, the figures are supplied with seperate individual bases.
The kit is flash free and the assembly is straight forward with no filling required.
This vignette is sculpted with much realism, artistry and flair. The faces are very convincing and will paint up nicely.
This kit has to be seen in the flesh to be truly appreciated.
I highly reccomend this kit, it will give you many hours of enjoyment.
Cheers
Roc.
Reference
A Journal of the First Afghan War by Florentia Sale.
Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier 1839-1947 by Michael Barthorp.
!!! Thanks for posting it. Cheers !
