Why red? The British soldier's red coat is so iconic that myths have grown up around it — most stubbornly that red was chosen to hide blood. It wasn't; blood dries dark and shows plainly on scarlet, and no one expected to hide a wound. The real reason was money. Madder, the dye that gave the common soldier's coat its brick-red, was cheap and plentiful, which mattered enormously when you had to clothe an entire army; the true scarlet of an officer's coat used costlier cochineal. England had dressed its soldiers in red since the 1600s, and by Napoleon's day the colour had become an identity in itself — the "redcoat," recognised and feared on battlefields from Spain to India.

The five-figure set is the head of a British column — an officer, two drummers in laced coats, and two bearded pioneers with axes and aprons, in red coats, white cross-belts and plumed shakos. It leads a British line diorama. Fall the firing line of the British Line Infantry in behind it, bring up the colour party and command of the British Line Infantry, and set the column marching under Wellington at Waterloo.

Tradition of London. 54mm, white metal, hand-painted in gloss enamel. Five-figure set — an officer, two drummers, and two pioneers. Supplied in the Tradition Classic Red Box. Allow 2–3 weeks delivery.