This product is sold unpainted.
GERMAN COLONIAL POSSESSIONS
‘The Schutztruppen, the Expedition Corps, and the III. See-Bataillon of
the Imperial German Marines were the forces assigned to protect Germany’s
far-flung colonial possessions in Africa and China. The German empire, at its
height in Africa, consisted of Togoland, the Kameruns, Deutsch-Sudwestafrica,
and Deutsch-Ostafrica. Holdings in the Pacific were the West and East Caroline
Islands, Yap, Admiralty, Bismarck Archipelago, Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land which was
part of New Guinea, New Pomerania, one of the Solomon Islands, the Marshall
Islands, the two Islands of German Samoa, Savoli Upou, and on mainland China,
Kiautschou (the German spelling of Kiao-Chow) with its important enormous naval
base of Tsingtau located on the edge of the Yellow Sea.
The African colonies were protected in large part by the Schutztruppe,
while in the Pacific islands the job was left to small groups of local police.
In China, the Marine III. See-Bataillon protected the area around the naval
base at Tsingtau, and the Ostasiatischen Expedition Korps was ready any needed
action in the Pacific.’
Source. ‘Uniforms of the German
Colonial Troops 1884-1918, Charles Wooley, Schiffer Military History,
2009. An exceptional book if you are looking to find some of the best reference
material for German colonial troops. Much of the book is taken up with colour plates
from 19th and 20th Century artists. Some of the illustrations
of battle scenes from the early twentieth century are lovely.