The Blue Puttees

 

I recently started to play WWI skirmish games, and like most wargamers I like to bring my own troops to the table. Luckily the game Scouts Out requires few figures so it was going to be pretty easy to accomplish. Wargames Atlantic has put out a very nice plastic set so I went ahead and purchased the British Army box. 

After some thought, I decided to bring them on the table as the Blue Puttees, about whom I will say more after the photos. 

I followed the Sonic Sledgehammer Studio Painting Scheme, which was useful for not only painting but also assembly. I am quite pleased how they came out.

The Blue Puttees

The Royal Newfoundland Regiment trace their origins to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Foot formed in 1795 during the War of the First Coalition from several militias that had existed in the colony from about 1704.During the War of the 2nd Coalition there was a name change to Royal Newfoundland Regiment of Foot, they were deployed to the Citadel in Quebec City in 1808. At the outbreak of the War of 1812 they were deployed in multiple detachments to the Great Lakes where they were engaged in many important battles. The unit was disbanded in 1816. 

At the start of the Great War, a new regiment was formed in the Dominion of Newfoundland, an independent country at the time. By 1915 over 1000 men had joined the battalion. A lack of khaki cloth at the time resulted in the first battalion going overseas with puttees of blue cloth, thus the name. 

They first fought in the Gallipoli campaign before being sent to the Western Front in 1916 where they fought in the Battle of the Somme. On July 1st of that year the whole battalion was sent over the top to cross No Mans Land. Seven hundred and eighty men and officers crested the hill and within 15 minutes the battalion was essentially decimated with a 90% loss of men, only 68 making roll call the next day. 

Men of Newfoundland responded to the call of their King and by October of that year they were back at full strength. For their service to King and Country the Regiment was given the honorific Royal, the only regiment given this honour in WWI. 

The Newfoundland Regiment continued to serve King and Country in WWII as an Artillery Regiment and when Newfoundland ceased to become an independent country in 1949 and joined Canada the Royal Newfoundland Regiment became a reserve unit in the Canadian Army. Elements of both battalions have since served overseas most recently in Afghanistan and are now serving in the Canadian Artic as part of the Artic Response Company Group.