Avernos, The Australian 9th Division

Hey folks so it’s been a minute or two, with work and other projects getting in the way so I’m finally getting some paint down onto my first miniatures.

These are early tests and may change over time, but I’m looking for a combination of speed and results while remaining relatively accurate.

As uniforms bleached and wore at different speeds perfection is not to be looked for, it’s an impossible task to get uniforms that are “accurate”

I’m currently not worried about skin tones and weapons and details like the pipe and mug.

So here are my plans for painting, block colours, then wash the lot with a sepia brown and highlight up again.

My current test models have only have one level of highlights on them.

basic fatigues have been painted in Dark Sand, along with the metal tin pot helmet.

Webbing in stone grey, and socks in khaki.

Everything gets a wash and then highlighted back up with the original colours.

The caps and slouch hats for the Diggers are basecoated in US Field Drab, this can also be used for some jumpers and regular twill battle dress if you want to mix them in.

Leather work is currently Flat Earth, this is used on water bottle covers and the boots are notably brown as opposed to the British and Commonwealth troops that wear black leather boots.

Again everything received a wash of sepia and then highlighted back up with the original colours.

Here’s what I was able to find on 9th Australian Division at the outset of the Siege of Tobruk (April 1941):

9th Australian Division (Major-General Sir Leslie James Morshead)

20th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General J. J. Murray)
>>2/13th Infantry Battalion (New South Wales – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>>2/15th Infantry Battalion (Queensland – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>>2/17th Infantry Battalion (New South Wales – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>> 20th Antitank Gun Company (x3 Batteries, QF 2-pounders, 15 trucks)
>> x1 battery, 76mm mortars with trucks
>>58th Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

24th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General A. H. L. Godfrey)
>>2/23rd Infantry Battalion (Queensland – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>>>>> *pretty sure 2/23rd replaced 2/25th, which was transferred to the 25th Brigade … not sure when.
>>2/28th Infantry Battalion (South Australia – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>>2/43rd Infantry Battalion (West Australia – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>> 24th Antitank Gun Company (x3 Batteries, QF 2-pounders, 15 trucks)
>> x1 battery, 76mm mortars with trucks
>>76th Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

26th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier General R. W. Tovell)
>>2/24th Infantry Battalion (Victoria – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>>2/48th Infantry Battalion (South Australia – x4 Companies of x3 Rifle Platoons, 65 trucks, 10 U carriers)
>>2/32nd Infantry Battalion (Victoria – would only arrive from Palestine LATER in the siege by sea)
>>>>>transferred in from 25th Infantry Brigade
>> 26th Antitank Gun Company (x3 Batteries, QF 2-pounders, 15 trucks)
>> x1 battery, 76mm mortars with trucks

2/7th Royal Australian Artillery Regiment
x4 batteries of 25 pounders, BUT NOTE: these are the refurbished pre-war 25-pounders, many of them originally bored / chambered as 18 pounders from World War I era.
>>20 “Matador” heavy trucks – these heavier trucks were used to tow artillery whenever possible, they are NOT the standard lighter trucks used in infantry battalions. Also note 9th Australian was critically short of these trucks in 1941, and many vehicles used in artillery regiments were “appropriated” civilian heavy vehicles from the immediate area.
>>63rd Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

2/8th Royal Australian Artillery Regiment
As above.
>>64th Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

2/12th Royal Australian Artillery Regiment
As above.
>>61st Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

2/3rd Australian Machine Gun Regiment (Victoria)
400-600 men, x12 machine gun platoons (Vickers) – Inadequately motorized, probably deployed piecemeal in support of line battalions in 20th, 24th, and 26th Brigades, and reliant on their transport.

2/3rd, 2/7th , 2/13th Royal Australian Engineers
15 standard trucks, 450 combat engineers. Again, inadequately motorized.

2nd Battalion /3rd Light AA Regiment
x6 batteries (usually 4 guns each) of 20mm (??) guns. This is weird. I can’t independently verify this right now. 20mm is a strange caliber for British / Commonwealth / Allied AA artillery at this time. I would be expecting 40mm Bofors or 3.7 inch QF guns.

9th Australian Divisional Cavalry Regiment (transferred from 8th Australian in MAY, 1941).
x30 universal carriers, HOWEVER, many / most were converted to carry the Boys antitank rifle, in an attempt to make them into “tank destroyers.”
x15 Vickers Mark VIb light tanks.
>>82nd Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

9th Australian Divisional Services, includes:
>>9th Division Australian Army Service Corps
>>>>9th AASC Supply, Ammo, and Petrol companies
>>2/3rd, 2/8th, 2/11th Battalions, Australian Army Medical Corps
>>2/4th Field Hygiene detachment (platoon strength), AAMC
>>9th Australian Signals Regiment
>>>>>67th Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

NOTE that some sources will list the 3rd Australian Antitank Regiment. This is true, but I have these listed broken in their component 20th, 24th, 26th AT Gun Companies, attached to the 20th, 24th, 26th AT Gun Companies (batteries, actually)
>>>3rd Australian AT Rgt included 71st Light Aid Detachment (maintenance, ordinance, 2-3 trucks, 12 engineers / technicians)

So my plan is to build a basic 900 point infantry force with a view to doing a second platoon where I can use the valentines and number. I’ve built a list in easy army from the Western Desert campaign book.

I’ve chosen the 1940/42 Commonwealth Infantry Brigade as my 9th Division operated in that period, finally leaving for the pacific in 1943.

I’ve reached out to Oriskany for help as I’m starting to go blind trying to find out what was in Tobruk and that may change the list down the line, for now though I can get to building

So if you paid attention in the past you would know that this was going to be an 8th Army project, but a couple of months after I got my army Warlord released a Commonwealth sprue, identical except for the heads. At that point I decided I’d really like to do Aussies instead for a bit of a difference.

With the new box containing LRDG/SAS heads I figured there would be plenty of slouch caps around.

I was wrong.

But 3 fantastic community members eventually dug out enough to do my 60 men, one even threw me in an extra sprue from Wargames Illustrated.

I had talked about this a long time ago in the forums and Oriskany suggested 6th Div because of the Valentines that I already had from the Army box.

About a month ago, when the Spring Clean Challenge started, I started with my U-Boat and the idea that got discussed in the House of Water was to finish it, then the DAK project and then start into my Aussies.

It was then that @Beccas suggested the 9th Division instead. I’ve known him for a few years now through his youtube channel and the Tabletop Commanders and he’s a top bloke so I thought that would be a nice idea instead.

He then through in the nugget that his Grandfather had served in the 2/28th Battalion of the 9th and showed us a photograph he had of him.

I hadn’t planned on visiting this project so soon, and in fact I’ve skipped the DAK and some detail work on the U-Boat because a week after that discussion Beccas dropped the news that he was to go into hospital to have surgery for cancer.

He asked the rest of the community to keep cranking out the videos so he’ll have something to watch as he recovers and he’s successfully through the surgery and is even starting to post some of his hobby videos again which is fantastic to see.

So in honour of his Grandad and to give him something to watch and point out when I get things wrong, the 8th Army is being retired in favour of the 9th Division, specifically the 2/28th.

When I talked about my plans to start this on the XLBS that goes out tomorrow I hadn’t even realised that I would be starting it on ANZAC Day, it must be fate.

So maybe it has a special poignancy because of that, or maybe I’m just reading more into it than I should.

“Lest we forget”

Once again my initial list is 1000 points and based on the Operation Lightfoot list from the Armies of Great Britain book. It seems that the north African lists in the books allow you to field lists at a lower model count than the specific Western Desert Campaign book, albeit without some of the bells and whistles. I like this as it means you can get a force up and running faster and then swap over to the campaign book once you’ve got the rest painted up.

So once again we’re faced with a mixture of plastic, resin and metal. Let’s break it down the army box contains 30 plastic infantry with assorted options, bells and whistles. A metal command blister, with officer, NCO, medic and radio operator. A metal vickers machine gun. Humber armoured car and 2 resin Valentines.