COBI Medical Willys MB Set 2295

COBI's Medical Willys MB is a 1:35 model built from 130 blocks, 10.5 cm long, under original Jeep licence, carrying the official logo of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. A stretcher that mounts on the back of the vehicle is included, along with a figure of an American medic. All markings are printed and based on historical originals.

Four red crosses on one helmet

Look at the medic's helmet. The cross is printed on the front, the back and both sides.

That was deliberate and it was not decoration. Under the Geneva Conventions medical personnel are non-combatants and may not be deliberately targeted — but the protection only works if the other side can see the marking, and a man crossing open ground under fire is seen from whatever direction he happens to be facing.

So the crosses went on all four sides, and on the sleeves, and often on a brassard as well. Medics were unarmed, and the paint was the only thing standing between them and a rifleman's decision.

It worked in Europe far more often than not. In the Pacific it did not, and American medics there removed their markings and carried weapons — because Japan had signed the 1929 Convention but never ratified it, and did not observe it.

The stretcher on the back

A jeep with a stretcher rack is the reason a great many men survived. The first stage of evacuation — from where a man fell to somewhere an ambulance could reach — was the part that killed people, and only a small vehicle could do it. Medical units improvised these racks from the start and the army later standardised them.

In the COBI range

Set 3133 is the standard Willys MB at this scale and 3132 the version with a trailer. Set 2268 is the WC-54 ambulance with a field hospital tent, and 2806 the 1:12 medical Willys.

Specifications

Pieces: 130 · Figures: 1 medic · Scale: 1:35 · Official Jeep licence · Mountable stretcher included
Model dimensions: 10.5 × 5 cm (4.1 × 2.0 in)