Pre-order update + Keeping military family history alive

Welcome to this week's blog.

Before I launch into the main feature, here's a quick stock update. We have another new COBI order on the way:

Last week’s order is on track to arrive early next week (including 5 new models).
This week’s order (featuring two new models and a general restock) is due to arrive between 17th and 21st August.

Scroll down for the full details.

Have a good weekend.

Zoë

At BrickTanks, we're privileged to hear from customers whose passion for military history is deeply personal. We have a few more of these types of customer stories in the pipeline - so watch this space. Please let us know in the comments if this style of blog appeals to you - our system unfortunately does not allow us to reply to the comments directly but we do read every one!

Our long term customer Patrick Lines shared his father Geoffrey Herbert Lines' wartime service records with us, providing a glimpse into the life of an ordinary British soldier who served throughout some of the Second World War's significant campaigns.

Geoffrey Herbert Lines enlisted as a regular soldier in April 1932 after previously serving with the Territorial Army. Before joining the Army he worked as a baker, but his new career took him into the King's Dragoon Guards, one of Britain's proud cavalry regiments.

His early service took him overseas, spending three years stationed in Egypt before another two years in India. During this period, the King's Dragoon Guards held their final mounted parade in Secunderabad in 1937—a symbolic end to the age of cavalry horses before the regiment returned to Britain to become mechanised. Patrick explains that his father always loved the horses and remembered this as a particularly sad moment in the regiment's history.

Pictured above: Last mounted horse parade of KDG they lose there horses after 250 years. Photo taken in India in 1937.

"We always thought he served with the King's Dragoon Guards throughout the war, but his Army records revealed he actually transferred into the Corps of Military Police." ~ Patrick Lines

Having completed his six years' service in 1938, Geoffrey returned to civilian life, only to be recalled when Britain declared war in September 1939.

Like many families, Patrick believed his father had spent the entire war serving with the King's Dragoon Guards (KDG). However, decades later, obtaining his full Army records revealed an unexpected twist. Geoffrey had transferred into the Corps of Military Police in May 1940, serving in a role that was a notable and significant contribution to the war effort.

Military Police were responsible for directing troop movements, maintaining order, escorting prisoners of war, controlling traffic and ensuring vital supply routes remained open—often operating dangerously close to the fighting.

For more on the history of the military police click the button below.

Pictured below: Geoffrey's own handwritten record lists the various locations he travelled to on his wartime journey.

Pictured above: Every soldier returning from 21st Army Group received this farewell message signed by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in 1945.

One particularly touching document is Geoffrey's "Notification of Impending Release" completed in Brussels shortly before returning home.

His commanding officer described him simply as:

"Quite reliable. Steady type. Can be relied upon to carry out any task allotted to him with initiative. Keen mechanic. Clean and tidy minded."

Sometimes, these brief handwritten assessments reveal more about a person than any medal citation ever could.

Geoffrey Herbert Lines never spoke much about his wartime experiences, something many veterans had in common. It wasn't until many years later, when Patrick obtained his Army records that the full extent of his father's service became clear.

Despite his father's modesty, Patrick remembers one tradition that never changed:

"My father received the usual standard five war medals and wore them with pride every Remembrance Day, and paraded with his comrades."


At BrickTanks, stories like Geoffrey's remind us that behind every brick model tank, jeep, ship or aircraft we build stood real people whose service helped shape history. Preserving these personal stories is every bit as important as preserving the vehicles themselves.

We're grateful to Patrick for allowing us to share part of his father's journey from baker to military police officer.

Pictured above: While not Geoffrey himself, this period photograph of a Corps of Military Police Jeep closely resembles the vehicles he recalled driving during the liberation of Europe.

Have you uncovered a family story through service records or old military photographs? We'd love to hear it. Contact the BrickTanks team at admin@bricktanks.co.uk and your family's history could feature in a future blog alongside the models that help keep these remarkable stories alive.