Monday, 10 January 2022

From Curt: Spanish Refugees from Malaga & Dr. Norman Bethune, 1937 (110 Points)

 

Hi All,

Today I return to my Spanish Civil War project with this group of civilian refugees. 

Sarah and I have been fortunate enough to visit both Cebere France and Malaga Spain in previous vacations. Both of these communities are set in beautiful locations, nestled along the Mediterranean coast, but both share a dark history in that they were also sites to horrible events during the Spanish Civil War. I've written about Cebere before, but I've been wanting to do something specific for Malaga as well.

In February 1937, the Mediterranean port town of Malaga found itself threatened by the rapid advance of Nationalist forces. In a state of panic, 120-150,000 people, composed of men, women and children, fled along the coastal road leading to Almeria, 200 kilometers away. In an act of barbaric cruelty, the Nationalists and their Italian allies harried the refugee column for days, submitting it to both air attacks and off-shore bombardment.  Thousands were killed and wounded during the flight, in what many regard as a war crime exceeding that of the infamous bombing of Guernica. 

At this time, a volunteer Canadian surgeon, by the name of Norman Bethune, was working in the area with is independent blood transfusion ambulance. 

Hearing what was occurring along the coastal road, Bethune and his team quickly drove to the stricken column to give what assistance he could.  For three days and three nights Bethune and his assistants helped evacuate some of the most vulnerable to Almeria, and then provided medical care to the most grievously wounded.

In 2007, the city of Malaga officially honoured Bethune's heroic and humanitarian acts with a commemorative plaque and by naming that portion of the Malaga-Almeria road, Paseo de los Canadienses (The Canadian Promenade). In order to visit the plaque and pay our respects, Sarah and I spent a nice afternoon cycling up to the promenade, situated just a few kilometers outside of Malaga.


A fine way to spend a wonderful day in sunny Spain.

Accordingly, I've done up these figures and vehicles in homage to those events in Malaga. The saloon car and most of the figures are from 1st Corps, the Phenom Granit ambulance is from Empress Miniatures and the poor fellow with the crutches is from Eureka Miniatures. 

My only criticism of the 1st Corps range is that there are not many elderly people, nor any children, in the mix. It's very sad, but it is something that I think should be represented in figures depicting a refugee column. Maybe they will add some in future releases.

Small quibbles aside, I quite like the 1st Corps figures as they are well-sculpted and very characterful. Even more so is this wounded chap on crutches from Empress Miniatures - a brilliant mini.  

The two vehicles were fun to work on, especially the saloon, with its roof haphazardly overloaded with all manner of assorted household items. You really get a sense of a harried family that just threw what they could atop their car and headed off.

I had to get a bit creative in sourcing something for Dr. Bethune. I ended up using a German officer figure from Artizan which I cut away most of his military detail and modeled some baggy civilian trousers out of greenstuff. Granted, a bit crude, but I think he does an okay job at mimicking the good doctor.


Another 'one yard squint' is the ambulance. It's definitely not a close match to Bethune's vehicle, but has the benefit of being generally the right shape. 

I really wanted to include the identifying Spanish script on the vehicle's side panel, but my decal-making skills are sorely lacking, so I simply colour printed  what I needed, carefully cut it out, and glued it into place. Again, forgive me in my somewhat clumsy homage. 


As to points, the 14 figures will give me 70 points, and the two vehicles another 40, so 110 total.

This will give me another point for our Squirrel Duel (my fourth).

This will also allow me to mark off the letter 'B' for 'Bethune' in my Alphabet Soup Challenge.


Aaand, it will check off another task for my overall Challenge project list! Four out of twelve... Yeeash, this is going to be a slog.

1. French Indochina
2. 10mm Fantasy
3. Moonstone
4. Malta
5. Italian Wars
6. Sisters of Battle
7. 28mm Napoleonics
8. Spanish Civil War
9. 28mm Modern
10. 20mm WWII
11. Retreat from Moscow
12. Dungeon Crawl

Thanks for dropping in and have a great week everyone!

- Curt

Excellent work on thee refuges amigo.    A part of every war but definitely  must for SCW.  I always enjoy a history lesson and appreciated the Bethune connection.  I especially like the battered private car loaded down with possessions. 

I believe that Bad Squiddo has some Blitz era child evacuees which might fill one gap you noted above.   

At the rate you're going you'll have hunted down more squirrels that Oscar this challenge.

37 comments:

  1. A great looking homage to a tragic event. The vehicles look really good, especially the home-made 'decals'.

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    1. Thanks Stuart. As to the 'decals', well, you know the saying, 'Necessity is the motherf*cker of Invention', or something along those lines...

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  2. These are great models and an excellent paint job, really inspiring.

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    1. Thank you Peter. Delighted you like them.

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  3. Excellent homage to a sad event, Curt. Great weathering on the vehicles. :)

    As Peter suggests, are you competing with Oscar for slaying squirrels? He hasn't found any so far, but might do soon! :)

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    1. Cheers Ms P! Having two and a half weeks off for the holidays (and, sadly, the enforced isolation due to Omicron) really helped my painting output.

      I'm always a bit fraught with working on vehicles, but they always seem to come together alright in the end. I really need to get my airbrush up and going again.

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  4. brilliant tribute. you appear to be threatening the top of the table, a sight not seen since post 1

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    1. Thank you Martin, but my 'threat', such as it is, will quickly fizzle out due to having gone back to the office. It's amazing what you can get done with 17 days at home with nothing but movies, eating and painting to occupy your time. Bliss!

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  5. Great painting Curt and that weathered down beat up and overloaded car is a cracking piece of work!

    Christopher

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  6. Great post Curt - my uncle lives near Velez-Malaga and agree this bit of history should be better known about - did you visit the fortress in Velez? Great painting as normal - wonder is it me or are you posting lots more than in previous Challenges?? Anyway very impressed with your range of posts ...

    Cheers Jez

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    1. Thanks Jez. We did not visit the fortress, but we'll definitely put it on our list the next time we're there.

      Yes, this has been my most productive year to date. I had stuff ready to go, lots of holidays and no relatives visiting. A perfect recipe for getting things done.

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  7. Norman Bethune was a remarkable man: the blood transfusion mobile unit was the first of its kind, he also invented/improved upon many surgical instruments and was committed to the idea of Universal Health Care (yay Canada! … Universal Health Care in Canada began in late 1940s right here in Saskatchewan). Bethune died in 1939, but his work and ideas were an integral part of the move towards universal health care.
    If anyone is interested, there is fairly decent film starring Donald Sutherland as Bethune (Dame Helen Mirren portrays the long suffering wife)

    And … that is my “Canadian Heritage Moment” shout out for the day!

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    1. Great follow-on comments Sarah. I always think of Donald Sutherland as Bethune. :)

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  8. I like the earthly tone of your color choices, quality painting again. And these history lessons are always nice to read, they make the miniatures much than just painted miniatures - if you understand what I'm trying to say. :)

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    1. Thank you Teemu, I get it entirely. I love history, and from time to time try to share it in some small way through my hobby.

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  9. That's a really nice post Curt with an emphasis on the side of that we all too frequently fail to consider. Lovely painting as well as an engaging story

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  10. Cracking entry, excellent brushwork and a poignant subject

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  11. This is a wonderful tribute to a tragic time. I appreciate the history and absolutely love hearing about yours and Sarah’s travels to the area.

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    1. Thanks Natasha. We've always had a great time in Spain and hope to return there when thing calm down.

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  12. A very poignant subject, but cleverly and beautifully executed!

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  13. great stuff Curt, really like those vehicles

    cheers
    matt

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    1. Thank you Matt, I'm relieved they sort of turned out okay. I always have a bit of a high-wire act with doing vehicles.

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  14. Great work Curt! Nice bit of background (of a dreadful event) for the painting project

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  15. Oh wow. Just WOW! So much to like about these themed posts of yours with the background included Curt. I always feel like I've learned something after reading one. It's all so evocative of the location and the conflict. Just wonderful mate.

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    1. Cheers Millsy, I'm really chuffed you liked the post. Much appreciated.

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  16. Splendid painting on the vehicles and refugees and a really interesting backstory!
    Best Iain

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  17. Really great group of figs, perfect for the Spanish Civil War and a nice bit of History to boot 👍

    Regards KenR

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  18. A very impressive homage to humanity's best and worst.

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