Not every man who held Bastogne was a parachutist. The 327th Glider Infantry — the division's "glider riders," who went in by Waco glider without jump pay or paratrooper boots — manned a long stretch of the perimeter through the siege. From around 21 December 1944 the 101st was cut off in freezing fog, short of ammunition, food, and winter clothing, with wounded stacking up and no way out. When the skies finally cleared on 23 December, C-47s parachuted in resupply; three days later Patton's tanks broke the ring. The survivors wore whatever kept them alive and earned a name — the Battered Bastards of Bastogne.

The set gives you three troopers in the mismatched winter kit the photographs record — one in a long overcoat leaning on his rifle, two in mixed field gear and netted helmets — grouped around the "Bastogne / Prov. Luxemburg" road sign that makes this the anchor of an Ardennes crossroads diorama. Bring in the column arriving with "Are We There Yet?", tend the wounded with the 101st Airborne Medic, Winter 1944–45, and set the whole defense under Capt. Dick Winters.

W. Britain model 25290. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Three-figure set with a Bastogne road-sign accessory on sculpted groundwork bases. Boxed.