In the Normandy campaign of the summer of 1944 the Germans deployed a wide variety of troop types. These included regular army infantry and panzer (armoured) divisions, SS panzer and panzer grenadier divisions, Luftwaffe ground troops and paratroops (used in the ground fighting role).

The soldiers in this set are typical of those found in the regular army units and feature army pattern camouflage smocks and the famous Zeltbahn (a part of a shelter worn over the normal uniform to enhance personal camouflage). The officer and two figures wear the panzer jacket which was particularly prominent in the infantry elements of the 21st Panzer and Panzer Lehr Divisions.

The equipment is designed to complement the weapons featured in our Classic German Infantry box and many of the components and weapons are interchangeable. New items include the 120mm mortar, a widely deployed weapon and much feared by the allied troops and the MG15 machine gun. The Germans recycled many weapons to enhance the firepower of their units – the MG15 machine gun is one example. This weapon was normally used in an aircraft. Our model is supplied with the mounting used to secure it to the top of tree trunks/wooden posts.

Although these soldiers have been labelled as ‘Germans in Normandy’ they are representative of those fighting in most areas of the European war from 1943.