Hidalgo Miniaturas released new kit:
Battle of Abu Klea
Scale: 54 mm
Material: metal + resin
Figurines are also available separetly.
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Ah, the battle of Abu Klea; one of the few times that the famous British square “broke”. Acknowledged in two very good poems by Henry Newbolt (“Vitai Lampada”) and Kipling (“Fuzzy Wuzzy”.
Of the two, both worth a read even if one is not given much to poetry; but I love Newbolt’s lines - probably the SITREP one wouldn’t ever wish to hear over the radio (I know radios weren’t; around then!), “The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel’s dead”. I mean, Newbolt got the weaponry wrong, it was a Gardner MG not a Gatling, but what a brilliant line. Just read it out loud!
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There’s a breathless hush in the Close to-night—
Ten to make and the match to win—
A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
An hour to play and the last man in.
And it’s not for the sake of a ribboned coat,
Or the selfish hope of a season’s fame,
But his captain’s hand on his shoulder smote
'Play up! play up! and play the game! ’
The sand of the desert is sodden red,—
Red with the wreck of a square that broke; —
The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England’s far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
'Play up! play up! and play the game! ’
This is the word that year by year,
While in her place the school is set,
Every one of her sons must hear,
And none that hears it dare forget.
This they all with a joyful mind
Bear through life like a torch in flame,
And falling fling to the host behind—
'Play up! play up! and play the game!
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I went to a historic English boarding school in the 70s/80s and once I left and had time to reflect on my experiences I came to the conclusion that one of the school’s goals was still to train boys to become army officers, much as it had for the preceding 300 years.
Reading Siegfried Sassoon as I occasionally do only reinforces this realisation.
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Well, when there’s an empire to be run, it all makes sense.
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Just to clarify: I was referring to the 1970s/1980s 
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