When I was a wee man (long, long ago) I used to
read books by Leo Kessler about the adventures of the
troops of the German Leibstandarte SS (LSSAH) unit under Col. Gier (the
Vulture) and his charges Major Von-Dodenberg and his non-coms Shultz and Matzi
– they were great romps and introduced me to this German elite unit whom which
I didn’t know existed before then (or that most of the stories were repeated or
made up) Anyway every time I see models of this unit in action I think of
Shultz, Matzi and the men in the unit – and I am always interested in these
figures – we thought therefore we’d show you Dragon’s new kit
in our preview..
48 Pieces in each kit – this kit makes up five figures and
will be available in July 2012
The not so well-known Battle of Kleisoura Pass occurred on
13-14 April 1941 when the German Leibstandarte SS (LSSAH) unit attacked Greek
infantry. This narrow pass between Mt. Vitsi and Mt. Siniatsiko in West
Macedonia was important as it was on the defensive line protecting Greek
withdrawal routes from Albania. In fact, the Greeks had earlier captured this
strategically useful pass from the Italians in January of that year.
Greek
casualties were heavy in the mid-April battle, and the LSSAH took 1,000
prisoners. The capture of the pass helped break the main line of resistance and
allowed German troops to cut off troops in the town of Kastoria. The German
LSSAH unit, which began as the Fuhrer’s personal bodyguard, was a brigade-sized
formation at the time of Operation Marita, the invasion of Greece and the
Balkans.
Dragon’s newest 1/35 scale figure set depicts four German
soldiers from the elite LSSAH regiment as they fight in the rugged terrain near
Kleisoura Pass. The quartet includes a commander – a depiction of none other
than Kurt Meyer – and three of his soldiers. At that time, Major Meyer was
commander of the reconnaissance battalion, and he personally led one of the
attacks at dawn on 14 April. For this and subsequent actions, Meyer was awarded
the Knight’s Cross. It’s said at one stage he threw a grenade into the midst of
his troops to ensure the attack kept rolling.
The four plastic figures are
brand new and they come with a variety of weapons such as the Czech-built ZB
vz. 26 (ZB-26) machine gun and Erma EMP-35 sub-machine gun. The troops are
wearing camouflage smocks.as they conduct their assault. They’re sharply
sculpted in realistic poses, and modellers are certain to find a great many
uses for them in dioramas.
This figure set will
be available from your local hobby shop in July.