Found a 1/48th American Generals kit....now to find a sitting down bottom end for Gen Patton.....Maybe I'll do it like Hogan's Heroes....Gen Patton, his driver and Orderly facing down a JagdTiger 128 BIG GUN in a Peerless Dodge Scout car.....now which ones will have brown spots in their pants.....hehehe
I'm wondering ifn yall ever heard of this guy..... William Henry "Bill" Mauldin (October 29, 1921 January 22, 2003) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist of the United States. Bill Mauldin entered the U.S. Army in 1940 to fight in World War II. While in the U.S. 45th Infantry Division, he began drawing cartoons about regular soldiers, called dogfaces. Eventually he created two cartoon infantrymen, Willie and Joe, who became synonymous with the average American GI. Mauldin began working for Stars and Stripes, the American soldiers' newspaper, and his cartoons were viewed by soldiers all over Europe during World War II, and also published in the United States. Willie was on the cover of Time Magazine in 1943 and Mauldin was there in 1958.
Army officers who were raised in the peacetime army of spit and polish and obedience to orders without question were offended. General George Patton once summoned Mauldin to his office and threatened to "throw his ass in jail" for "spreading dissent". This after one of Mauldin's cartoons made fun of Patton's demand that all soldiers must be clean-shaven and wear ties at all times, even in combat. But Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander, told Patton to leave Mauldin alone, because he felt that Mauldin's cartoons gave the soldiers an outlet for their frustrations. Mauldin told an interviewer later, "I always admired Patton. Oh, sure, the stupid bastard was crazy. He was insane. He thought he was living in the Dark Ages. Soldiers were peasants to him. I didn't like that attitude, but I certainly respected his theories and the techniques he used to get his men out of their foxholes."
Mauldin's cartoons made him a hero to the common soldier. They often credited him with helping them to get through the rigors of the war. Mauldin himself served on the front lines, landing at Anzio, and receiving a Purple Heart for being wounded. He attained the rank of sergeant and was awarded the Army's Legion of Merit for his cartoons.
I have a book of Mauldin's Cartoons...they could make for very interesting dioramas...Bill Mauldin got into very serious trouble over one of his cartoons....I'll try to describe it to you:
Cartoon shows a Cavalry Officer giving the "Coup de grace" to a Willys Jeep with a broken axle on one of the front wheels. The Officer had his .45 Cal automatic pointed at the Jeep's hood. Quite a few "old time Cavalry Officers", including Gen. George Patton got quite upset about that cartoon. LOL Hmmmm, could be an interesting diorama.....
Another cartoon..... Willie and Joe in a foxhole, artillery spotters.."Got a Target for you guys, but your gonna have to be patient."....There's a Tiger Tank parked right on top/over their foxhole......that could be a neat diorama too.
Another cartoon...at Anzio..they are climbing up a shear wall of a mountain....Willie says to Joe..."I can't get any lower, me buttons are in the way!" Cartoon shows bullets whizzing by their ears......
Really neat cartoons.....which is why I'm doing this "Gunfight at High Noon" diorama, too many serious dioramas....need some humor from time to time.
Where ol' Col. Potters Jeep in Korea breaks down on him and being an old cavalry officer he gets out, makes a quip about it being done and takes out his .45 and puts a bullet through the hood. I wonder if they got the idea from the cartoon...
Well, ya know, according to the stories they tell around
November 17 2009, 11:10 PM
the old campfire, Ernst Barkmann of 2.SS PzDiv "Das Reich" had a similar tussle during the Battle of the Bulge. He supposedly blundered into an encampment of the 2nd AD at night, not realizing he was surrounded by Shermans. When the jig was up, he took off with Shermans in pursuit, with his gunner firing over the engine deck. They met a US jeep in the road, and the Panther chased the jeep (now driving in reverse) until they caught up with it. The jeep crew bailed and Barkmann's tank finished off the jeep. See, you could do something historical.....
