COBI Soldiers of The Great War Set 2051

COBI's Soldiers of The Great War set is built from 30 blocks and contains three figures of the Western Front: a Frenchman in blue with a Mauser C96 pistol and a printed helmet, a British soldier with a two-colour Lee-Enfield and bayonet, and a German with a Mauser rifle and a Pickelhaube. Accessories include a trench ladder, barbed wire, sandbags, a wooden beam and a shovel, plus display bases. All uniforms are printed.

The ladder in the box

Among the accessories is a short wooden ladder, and it is the most loaded object in the set.

A fire trench was cut deeper than a man's height, so that standing in it was safe. Attacking meant leaving it, and you could not climb a vertical earth wall carrying a rifle and sixty pounds of equipment. So ladders were placed along the parapet at intervals, and men were positioned at the foot of them before an attack.

The phrase going over the top describes exactly that: climbing the ladder, in order, into the open, usually behind a barrage that had just stopped — which told the other side precisely when to expect you.

The ladders were also used the rest of the time, for working parties, wiring parties and carrying, most of it at night. But every soldier who saw one knew what it was mainly for.

COBI has included it without comment, as a small brick object among the sandbags. It is worth knowing what you are building.

In the COBI range

Set 2056 is the other Great War figure set. The Great War vehicles include the Mark I (2993), the Mark V (2995), the A7V (3094 and 2983) and the Rolls-Royce armoured car (2988).

Specifications

Pieces: 30 · Figures: 3 with accessories · Trench ladder, barbed wire, sandbags, beam and shovel included
Box dimensions: 13 × 3.7 × 10.5 cm (5.1 × 1.5 × 4.1 in)