Sunday, April 20, 2008

World War 1, 1914 - 1918

Just some WWI figures I have: Doughboy. Not too sure how the term came about but I understand that it is slang for an American infantryman during World War I. The helmet was called the Doughboy helmet, even though it was the Brodie helmet design used by the British army. At first, the term applied to only the infantry, but soon extended to the entire American contingent. This Hasbro GI Joe Doughboy came equipped with the Browning M1917 machine gun and tripod, springfield rifle, bayonet and sheath, gas mask and bag plus filter can, shovel, haversack but unfortunately, no doughnuts.

One of the many innovations of World War I was the use of aircraft for reconnaissance purposes and later as fighters and bombers. This would be the first war which involved a struggle for control of the air, alongside the battlefields of land and sea. This Hasbro GI Joe WWI aviator from the Millennium Series (released in 1999) comes with a base and the tail fin of a downed german aircraft.

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