U.S. Marine Standing Firing Rifle, Belleau Wood

This figure shows a U.S. Marine rifleman in the standing firing position at Belleau Wood, June 1918. The 4th Marine Brigade — most of them riflemen like this one — held the line outside the wood during the German Spring Offensive, then went on the attack across open wheat fields against entrenched machine guns, wire, and gas. After twenty-six days of fighting, they cleared the wood at a cost of nearly 5,000 casualties. The Germans reportedly called them Teufelhunden — Devil Dogs — a name the Corps still carries, and Belleau Wood is the engagement that earned it.

Standing firing is the classic infantry pose — feet planted, weapon shouldered, taking the shot. He works on his own as a single Marine in action, and pairs naturally with the other figures in the W. Britain Belleau Wood release set (advancing rifleman, Chauchat gunner, trench shotgun) for a fire-and-maneuver squad scene.

1/30 scale (60mm), matte-painted, single figure boxed. Catalog number 13075. As with the rest of the W. Britain modern range, the painting is photographic-quality detail intended to read well in dioramas and display cases.