Copyright 2006 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
Regular Herald Khaki Infantry on left, Berlin Gray on right
A problem for makers of toy soldier has been making figures that represent the enemy. As we know, several makers produced molds for specific enemy troops. Marx, MPC and Lido did so, but even they too ka while to get around to it. The only “enemy” troops for the longest time were the same old soldiers molded in another color.
Herald did a unique twist on this theme. In the 1950s, they made their “Khaki Infantry” series. These were a small assortment of British soldiers with the uniform and equipment of the mid to late 1950s. Soldiers were molded in a dark forest green. Their field gear and helmets were painted a light olive color. The figures were extremely popular, and were even copied by other firms.
Herald’s response to the need for enemies was a simple one. First, they molded their figures in a light-medium gray. Next, they painted the belts, suspenders and gear black. Helmets were also black. That was not too far a stretch at the time. East German soldiers used a flat helmet, and they wore a gray uniform with old black leather field gear.
Here at Milihistriot Online, we refer to troops like the Herald “enemies” as Berlin Grays. Enemy troops, the 1950s, East Germans, Berlin Crisis: it all goes together. By our definition, a Berlin Gray is any regular toy soldier that has been altered to serve as the opposition force.
We opted to cook up a few of our own. Inspired by the old Mission Impossible television series, we cooked up the IM Blue. He is based on “enemy” officers in several episodes. The IM Blue wears a very dark blue uniform with epaulettes and collar tabs, His lapels and epaulettes have red piping trim.
On the other end is the IM tan. These fellows wear khaki tan uniforms with black leather field gear. They wear dark grey helmets or dark colored berets. There is no piping for trim, but they do wear collar tabs and their rank insignia is on their epaulettes.
The U.S. Army developed its own fictional enemy for training purposes. It first appeared in 1947 as “Aggressor.” The Army went all out on its make-believe enemy. They devised a country, a government, and a complete military organization. There were uniforms, insignia, rank and printed forms for Aggressor. Esperanto was the “official” language of the Aggressor country. Ironically, Esperanto is as much a contrivance as Aggressor.
There are digital copies of the old Aggressor manuals on the Internet. The Army spent as lot of time and effort on them. The best manual is the 1961 version entitled “Aggressor, the Maneuver Enemy” It has illustrations of uniforms and insignia. For making a make-believe enemy, Aggressor is ideal.