Refugees

One of the most common images in the Second World War in Europe is long streams of refugees fleeing the fighting. At the beginning of the war you see French people fleeing from the advancing German Blitzkrieg. Late war, you see long lines of Germans fleeing advancing Soviet troops.























Often these groups of refugees will be seen with a small wagon full of their world possessions. Sometimes they include livestock and even kids or old people are riding on them.























These are the JR Miniatures ruins and the Forces of Valor Germans with the new Preiser WWII Refugees, in 1/72nd scale hard plastic. They have several optional parts, and the wagon can have the supplies load of baggage, but they are separate parts and so you can load it with your own gear.





















This is a very good set but it runs about a dollar a figure so it will be rather expensive to build up long columns of fleeing civilians. I really like the small wagon and will probably get a couple more. There is another set with the wagon and a couple kids, if it is cheaper I may get a few of those too. Refugees in the wargame can serve several purposes. They can block roads, they can be the reason you have to defend the city until the civilians escape, they can hide infiltrators, very common in the Korean War; they can have a mix of civilians and soldiers fleeing the front lines.