The weather was an enemy in its own right. Through the autumn of 1944, in the Hürtgen Forest and along the German border, cold rain turned the ground to mud and filled the foxholes with water. Men who could not keep their feet dry developed trench foot; across the European campaign, cold and wet injuries put tens of thousands of American soldiers out of action, rivaling battle losses in some units. The rubberized raincoat — resin-coated olive-drab fabric with sealed seams, issued before the lighter poncho became common — was one of the few defenses a walking infantryman had against a soaking that never seemed to stop.

The figure shows an infantryman on the move in the full-length OD raincoat, netted M1 helmet, his M1 Garand carried ready across his body, on a groundwork base. He heads a foul-weather column: fall him in with the Infantry Standing in Raincoat, the Infantryman in Raincoat Pointing, and the Infantryman with Raincoat over Equipment for a rain-soaked patrol diorama slogging through the mud.

W. Britain model 25244. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.