On 16 December 1944 the Germans struck the thinly-held Ardennes by surprise, and the American response was to rush everything that could walk toward the breakthrough. Cooks, clerks, and rifle companies alike were fed into the line to hold the shoulders and slow the panzers, and the roads filled with men heading up toward the sound of the guns. Many wore the old friend of the cold-weather soldier: the double-breasted Melton wool overcoat, a heavy 32-ounce garment first issued back in 1927 and still keeping men alive in 1944 because nothing better had reached them. Warm until it got wet, and then a sodden weight — but it was what they had.

The set marches two infantrymen up the line in the long wool greatcoats, M1 Garands slung and a .30 cal ammo can in hand, on separate groundwork bases. It's the heart of a winter reinforcement column: extend it with the Infantryman Walking, Winter and the Infantryman Kneeling Firing in Greatcoat, and lengthen the march with "Slogging Along".

W. Britain model 25263. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Two-figure set on separate sculpted groundwork bases. Boxed.