Armies are run by their sergeants. A U.S. rifle squad — twelve men — was led not by an officer but by a staff sergeant, and it was he who turned a plan into movement: who got frightened men up out of cover and across the open ground, by voice, by example, and by knowing each of them better than any officer could. Under fire, coordination came down to a shouted word cutting through the noise. The Thompson submachine gun, with its heavy .45 slug and high rate of fire, was a favored weapon for squad and section leaders — close-in firepower for the man who had to be everywhere his squad was at once.

The figure catches him mid-command, one hand raised, the Thompson ready in the other, in early-war khaki and an M1 helmet. He is the driver of a rifle-squad-in-the-assault diorama: place him pushing the BAR Man and the Infantryman with M1 Garand forward, carrying out the orders of the Infantry Officer Prone behind them.

W. Britain model 25245. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.