Naval Gazing 2 or When is a threat not a threat?

In 1939 HMS Sandwich, a British Bridgewater class sloop, was sailing the Tsushima strait between Korea and Japan, preying on German commerce ships in the region who were contributing goods from the far east to the Nazi war machine.

On board was my paternal Grandfather, Bill - Gunner, accordion-player, crack-shot and cross-country champion (albeit with the aid of a rickshaw, but that's another story for another time)!

On the ship's return to port (Tangku, now known as Tianjin, in North China, which was then under Japanese control), a mysterious letter was handed in on board, and copies were promptly made and pinned up in the respective ship's messes:


"27th July 1939

You Kindest Sailor of Britain,

Perhaps you don't know why you came here. And the reason why your coming here shall prevent the Tokyo Conference entirely is out of your question. Mr Chamberlain (do you know, the Prime Minister of Britain Cabinet) never order such a Navy action. In Swatow a captain and a counsellor have been changed by the reason of his neglecting his (Chamberlain) order and desire. If you have some capacity to think you must think in this living news. If you are only brutal barbarian no need of words to you Sir. We declare we derive you Anglo-Saxon from Asia. We are very sorry you belong to this category. We have warned your friend here to go back to his native village of Britain. The Same Warning Message shall be also to you. That comes from our kindness to Anglo-Saxon as a human existence (is Anglo-Saxon a human existence or a brutal Shylock or Vampire? This will be other question).

We politely teach you for first great. Do you know sacrifice Armada (fleet)? This is the name given to you Far East Fleet of Britain by your Admiral not by Foreign Authority.

Your Admiral wisely and justly named fleet you belong thus. Do you challenge us? Perhaps you can kill us as free as you want. Because we have no arms. But do you do it glory to kill unarmed people in your unjust reason as your same deed in Arabia? God never be a word.

We Advise you that you had better not forget this territory belongs to the Order of Japanese Military Orders. Do you challenge the furious 'Invincible Armada of World' of Japanese Navy Force?

Perhaps you never be such a Dung like foolish boy from any kind of view. If you challenge we will be glad to throw back your grave and we elect the Glorious way of death but you shall be known the meaning of the Sacrifice Fleet.

You had best know the fish of China Sea is thirsty to blood.

Hello."


So, even before Pearl Harbour, Japan (having invaded China two years previously) was flexing her muscles in our direction. Whilst the letter above is amusing to read, in 1941 the Japanese took out Force Z: The Battleships  HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, so perhaps the threat wasn't an empty one.

Sinking of Force Z as seen from a Japanese aircraft

(Roy - does this post qualify for Naval November?!)

Until next time........

Paint Table Saturday

Continuing my goal of completing two small armies for the AWI, I have been working on some Indians to act as skirmishers for either side - these are almost finished:

 

 

Plus some Hessian Jagers which I failed to finish, despite my best intentions:

 

 

 



Nonetheless I got quite a lot of painting done this week despite my working life being very demanding.
Yesterday my back order of Tribal Class Destroyers sailed in from Magister Militum ahead of schedule which was nice.

 

 

Looking ahead, in a few weeks time my mate Mog and I shall be visiting Normandy for the first time, walking the beaches and museums, plus a trip to Pegasus Bridge, the Falaise Gap and Hill 112, so expect this blog to suddenly go all WW2 when I get back! I shall take plenty of pictures to bore you with too!

 

Until next time.........

Naval Gazing.....

The final part of yesterday's blog (Bend Sinister's lovely little merchant ships) reminded me of a picture my granddad took of a merchantman sinking in a convoy he was on.

Firstly some background. My paternal grandfather Bill was in the Royal Navy from 1926 to 1956. He served on various famous ships - HMS' Emperor of India, Revenge and Hood to name a few.

This is him on the deck of HMS Revenge in 1931, on a windy day by the look of it:

 

And here he is on HMS Hood where he was part of the gun crew on one of the 5.5" secondary armament (back row, second from left):

 

 

 The 5.5" guns were removed between 1935 and 1940, some ending up as shore batteries as far afield as Ascencion Island (where they can still be seen) and Bognor Regis. Although he was transferred off the Hood in 1936 he was reunited with his 5.5" gun when it was fitted to the armed merchant cruiser Montclare in 1940.

 

He served in the Montclare until 1941. After various wartime postings, including HMS Resolution, he ended up on the ageing destroyer HMS Vega following her refit, and saw out the rest of the war escorting convoys in the North Sea and Atlantic. During those convoys he took this snapshot of a nearby merchantman going down with a broken back following a U-boat attack.

 

 

It was yesterday's post that reminded me I had this picture. I guess it brings home that whilst we are just gaming with miniatures, this was very real to those involved - in a way it's quite a sobering image.



 

 

Until next time............

A Mixed Bag

Just a quick update following a long weekend in Kent. We always stay in the delightful Miller's Arms when in Canterbury, and it was a great weekend as usual. On a minor note, I know that hops form a sort of currency in that neck of the woods, but why do they have to put so many in the beer?! It seemed over-hopped to the nth degree, but what do I know - I've only been drinking the stuff for decades now!

On the painting/gaming front I finally managed to finish some dead livestock that have been lying around (literally) half-completed for ages: Warlord Games' Dead Cows. Ideal for WW2 Normandy, and possibly a good name for a backing group (Pendragon Without & The Dead Cows?!). This pack comes with a dead horse too, which I have already used in my Indian Mutiny set-up.

I also completed 4Ground's excellent 15mm Militia Blockhouse. I can't fault it - it does exactly what it says on the tin. Now it needs a bit of a scenic base to complete it, and possibly a thin wash just to darken it down a bit.

And finally, I received through the post some extra naval bits for my 1/6000 games - some merchant ships from Bend Sinister (www.bendsinister.co.uk). Some are afloat, and some are sinking, but all are very nice! Ideal for convoy games as you can imagine.

 

 

Hoping to post on PTS this weekend, so until next time.............

Paint Table Saturday comes around too soon

Again a very slow week on the painting front thanks to the demands of work, Mum having her knee replaced (with barbed wire judging by the pain relief she's on), and the current wife requiring an evening meal at a local hostelry. Nonetheless, managed to start some Peter Pig Highlanders for the AWI collection:

Despite my best intentions the AWI church remains unfinished, but I will tackle it tomorrow. The week was improved on Friday by the arrival of my order from Magister Militum - the start of as new project which has been in the back of my mind for a while: WW2 naval gaming. I used to play in 1/2400 but no longer have the space (or the ships!) hence the drop in scale. It should make the gun ranges more realistic anyway. The ships are tiny but delightful, but will be a challenge to paint I suspect. I plan to acquire a sheet of blue plastic cut to size so it will just drop into the frame of my gaming table.

 

 

Just missing the Tribal class destroyers as they were out of stock, but are on back order (6-8 weeks apparently). Once all (or most of) these are painted up I'll purchase either some early war German or Italian ships as an adversary. Now I've got to find a decent set of fairly simple rules that play well solo, or write my own.......wish me luck!

 

Until next time........