The 9th Armored Division went into the Battle of the Bulge with almost no combat experience — and came out of it as one of the battle's quiet saviors. Newly arrived in Europe and holding a supposedly quiet stretch of the Ardennes front, its units were scattered when the Germans attacked on 16 December 1944, and were pitched at once into desperate fighting at St. Vith, Echternach, and the approaches to Bastogne. Green as they were, the division's tank-infantry teams fought delaying actions that bought priceless hours — including time for the 101st Airborne to dig in at Bastogne. Months later the same division would seize the Remagen bridge, but the Bulge was where it was forged.

The figure advances with his M1 Garand at the ready, in field uniform and M1 helmet — a dismounted trooper pressing forward. Build a 9th Armored diorama around him: put him and his Armored Infantry Officer off their 9th Armored M3A1 Half-track, fighting to hold the line that shielded the paratroopers at "Welcome to Bastogne".

W. Britain model 25194. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.