Tsingtao/Tsingtau...

... or what else can the RJW Japanese be used for besides the actual RJW? (A question which is frequently asked.)

One interesting piece of history for which they can be pressed into service (with or without some minor modifications) is the siege of Tsingtao (or Tsingtau in German): The battle for the German foothold in China during WWI in late 1914. With the Germans on one side and the Japanese on the other with support from Austro-Hungary and Great Britain respectively.

Here are two pages from an old book/magazine showing Japanese soldiers preparing for the encounter with the Germans. As one can see, our Japanese miniatures would fit the bill nicely. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a date for these photos.

The following photo is meant to be taken during the actual siege in 1914. Most noticable the lack of gaiters. A lot of soldiers seem to have replaced them with wrappings around their lower leg (the correct Englisch term escapes my right now, sorry!). These wrappings can be seen sporadically also on RJW photos but by the time of WWI these seem to have become the norm (maybe due to British influence?).

Another photo from the siege, cleary showing that the gaiters were also still in use:

I hope to have some photos of new greens for the next releases soon.