German marine uniforms?

[gimzod]

Hello chaps.

Going through my lead pile i've come across some copplestone casting german marines. Does anyone now what colour there uniform was?

Thanks for your time.

[Mason]

An off white colour, mostly, I do believe....

http://pulpfigures.com/products/view/122

Some Officers from the hands of Murch.....

http://pulpfigures.com/products/view/117

[former user]

this one
http://www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk/

[H.M.Stanley]

Funny enough, my German East African force also appears to be expanding.

I picked up some Copplestone See-Batallion troops and Officers recently to add to my Askari/Police

Thanks for the link

[Plynkes]

I picked up some Copplestone See-Batallion troops and Officers recently to add to my Askari/Police

Unfortunately for East Africa fans, I'm fairly certain that the only time they went to East Africa was during the Maji-Maji in 1905, and I'm not even sure they saw any action then.  Mine have sat unpainted for years, mostly due to the fact that I have never figured out quite what to do with them. China doesn't appeal to me, and that only really leaves Namibia. But coming up with anyone for them to fight in that theatre would be something of a conversion project, I'm thinking, as nobody covers the African side of those conflicts, and the Germans are barely touched on in a couple of ranges. All in all they are handsome, but rather useless figures to my mind.

[H.M.Stanley]

Unfortunately for East Africa fans, I'm fairly certain that the only time they went to East Africa was during the Maji-Maji in 1905, and I'm not even sure they saw any action then.  Mine have sat unpainted for years, mostly due to the fact that I have never figured out quite what to do with them. China doesn't appeal to me, and that only really leaves Namibia. But coming up with anyone for them to fight in that theatre would be something of a conversion project, I'm thinking, as nobody covers the African side of those conflicts, and the Germans are barely touched on in a couple of ranges. All in all they are handsome, but rather useless figures to my mind.

Not according to Foundry's East Africa (Armies of the 19th Century) which i've been working through and recently finished ...  

I have the book on Kindle so will try to give you some examples later.

Best,

James

[H.M.Stanley]

E.g. ... The Bagamoyo Expedition 1889 ... 200 German Marines [and sailors] from the Cruisers Leipzig, Schwalbe, Serber, Carola and Pfeil ...

" ... the German right wing halting their advance for a while until the Marines rushed forward and climbed over the palisade, followed by a company of Sudanese. The first Officer to enter the boma, Lieutenant Schelle, was shot dead ..."

There may be more but not easy to find quickly on a Kindle

There are other instances of the Marines being a Reserve though.

J

[Plynkes]

The Seebataillon weren't deployed in East Africa in 1889. The "marines" referred to in those passages are naval landing parties from warships. Totally different animal.

[H.M.Stanley]

The Seebataillon weren't deployed in East Africa in 1889. The "marines" referred to in those passages are naval landing parties from warships. Totally different animal.

I bow to your greater experience then mate but now i'm lost  

The Seebataillon ie the Copplestone figures, are not Marines?? B*gger!!

[Edit] Ok, i've read up on the link (above)

Lovely, useless figures ... 

[former user]

I believe we had this discussion before, as to how certain miniatures can be used for which kind of units....

[H.M.Stanley]

I believe we had this discussion before, as to how certain miniatures can be used for which kind of units....

Have no fear chap, they'll be used as a Naval Landing Party/Marines .. 

They'll also make it into pre-WW1 disputes with my British using BoB

[Plynkes]

The Seebataillon ie the Copplestone figures, are not Marines?? B*gger!!

Not Marines in the sense of Napoleonic-style soldiers who fight on ships. They were Naval Infantry battalions, along the lines of the Royal Marine Light Infantry of the time.

During this period the Germans didn't have any shipboard marines as such. The constant use of that term in those passages somewhat muddies the waters. If you notice Chris Peers uses the word "marines" in inverted commas, and has a little passage explaining that they were actually sailors, but contemporary sources generally didn't make a distinction when writing about them, and used the words marine and sailor pretty much interchangeably.

The guys who fought on Wissmann's expeditions would have probably looked something like this:





This might well be one of those situations where you say "Hell, that's close enough for me."  



Edit: By the way, that picture of the chap being hit over the head with a drum makes me laugh every time I see it. I don't think those sailors are taking this war seriously enough. 

[H.M.Stanley]

Top man!

Thank you Sir.

So, i could do paint my "marines" in white [iffy, i know]

Or, just paint them up properly and think the hell with it. Perhaps, lighter coloured helmets as a nod to the marines?

I might have also found a use for my spare Copplestone British Maxim guns and crew. As you can see, i'm a purist  

Best,

James

[H.M.Stanley]

[drum roll] 

[former user]

from what I understand, the development of the Seebattailon and the troupes de la marine was similar, only later.
Both emerged from the fact that the navy was tasked with defending the colonies and needed infantry forces. Both versions left the actual navy with the necessity of filling the gaps with naval landing parties/fusilier marins