You won’t need to hop into a TARDIS and travel back in time to catch new Doctor Who episodes featuring the fictional military organization UNIT. That also goes for Kate Stewart, who leads the group’s scientific research department.
The long-running sci-fi show confirmed actress Jemma Redgrave will return to the show as Kate, and also added that Aneurin Barnard is joining the cast.
In a “cast announcements” tweet, the official Doctor Who twitter account run by BBC wrote: “UNIT returns! Jemma Redgrave returns as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and UNIT, the long-running organization set on defending the Earth, returns in the next series of Doctor Who. Aneurin Barnard also joins the series as the mysterious Roger ap Gwilliam.”
No other details were released. Redgrave, 57, was first cast in the series in 2012, and has recurred in the role, including in a 50th anniversary special in 2013, episodes in 2014 and 2015, as well as in episodes from 2021, on.
Welsh actor Barnard, 35, has previously appeared in the films Dunkirk and The Goldfinch, and will play the mysterious 21st century politician encountered by the 15th Doctor.
The new series will return later this year, with new episodes appearing on the ABC and Disney Prime. In October, it was announced that Doctor Who was moving over to Disney+ for its upcoming seasons, but it appears that this was only partially correct, and it now appears that it will be shown on both.
Ncuti Gatwa, of the Netflix comedy-drama show Sex Education, is set to be the 15th Doctor. He’ll make history as the first black actor to hold the series’ leading role when his first episode airs somewhere around the end of this year.
I now only have one more U.N.I.T. section to go as well as a younger Lt Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart.
Recently classified by the Council of Seven’s scientists, the Plague 2A “Sentient” is a seemingly more intelligent, larger, faster, and stronger strain of the “Leaper”.
Sentient on the left with Plague Leaper on the right.
Typically it is seen barking and screeching commands from the rear, while packs of Leapers charge toward their target.
Little is known about the “Sentients” only that they are big, bad, and brainy!
The Sentient provides another leadership option for the Deadzone Plague gamer. At 10pts cheaper than a Plague Lord they fight better, are significantly faster but have one less armour value. Given you can only have one leader in a Deadzone team they are my preferred option.
Australia relied on LVT transport from the United States as the only ones they had in large supply were at the amphibious training school in Port Stephens.
LV T-4 used by Australian force at Puckapunyal Tank Museum, Victoria
The battle for Borneo, first at Tarakan in May 1945, and then at Brunei Bay in July, 1945 were the largest amphibious operations by Australian forces and saw the largest use of LVT-4’s by Australian troops during the war.
The Allied force responsible for capturing Tarakan was centred around the very experienced 9th Division’s 26th Brigade of nearly 12,000 soldiers.
The 26th Brigade had been formed in 1940 and had seen action in North Africa and New Guinea. The brigade’s infantry component was the 2/23rd, 2/24th and 2/48th Battalions, also with much war experience. These battalions were joined by the 2/4th Commando Squadron and the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion, which fought as infantry in this battle.
The brigade group also included the 2/7th Field Regiment equipped with 24 25-pounder guns, a squadron from the 2/9th Armoured Regiment operating 18 Matilda tanks, a company of the 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion, the 53rd Composite Anti-Aircraft Regiment and two engineer field squadrons.
Unknown Australian troops on an LVT-4, probably at Port Stephens, where the amphibious training school was located.
The main invasion force arrived by sea off Tarakan in the early hours of 1 May. Supported by a heavy air and naval bombardment, the 2/23rd Battalion and the 2/48th Battalion made an amphibious landing at about 08:00. The 2/23rd Battalion disembarked from American LVTs into deep mud at “Green Beach” on the southern flank of the beachhead, and overcame several small Japanese positions in the hills around Lingkas. At nightfall it dug in along the main road to Tarakan Town.
The 2/48th Battalion had a much easier landing at “Red Beach” on the northern end of the beachhead with most troops disembarking from their LVTs near dry land. The battalion pushed north along the “Anzac Highway” and nearby hills, and rapidly secured a number of pillboxes behind the beach as well as the oil storage tanks. By the end of the day the 2/48th held positions in the hills to the west of Tarakan Town.
The 2/24th Battalion also began landing on Red Beach from 9.20 am, and spent most of the day in reserve. The unit received orders to advance north along the Anzac Highway late in the afternoon, but did not encounter any opposition. By nightfall the Australian beachhead extended for 2,800 yards (2,600 m) along the shore and up to 2,000 yards (1,800 m) inland.
To those Australians aware of the what was the last major action of the Pacific War it is also the most controversial. Considerable argument raged as to whether the attack on Balikpapan on the south-eastern coast of Borneo, which began on 1 July 1945, was a gross waste of Australian manpower. At that stage the war had six weeks left to run and effectively was all over.
The attack was to be undertaken by the experienced 7th Division. First ashore at Klandasan, just south of Balikpapan, were the 16th and 27th Battalions. The 16th faced a determined opposition but the 27th found little opposition.
The day after the Australians took command of Mount Malang the Sepinggang airfield fell to the 14th Battalion without opposition. Tough opposition from Japanese entrenched in the hills was encountered by the 25 Brigade.
On 4 July, although hampered by Japanese in the surrounding hills, Australian troops captured the Manggar airfield.
Several heavy naval guns possessed by the enemy did considerable damage to Australian tanks, so that night Australian patrols attacked and took the gun positions. In the north the 25th Brigade was advancing along the Milford Highway against violent resistance. Australian units suffered considerable losses between 4 July and 9 July.
By 21 July the enemy had withdrawn through the village of Batuchampar, fighting doggedly all the way. When the enemy pulled back into the hills the Australians opted not to follow.
The other front in the Balikpapan operation opened on the western side of Balikpapan Bay on 5 July. Its aim was to neutralise any Japanese action which might threaten ships crowded in Bay.
Real resistance was not encountered until 7 July, and even that was half-hearted. The 9th Battalion advanced easily against only sporadic battles with the enemy.
A large part of the information in this post was obtained from the Australian War Memorial website and Wikipedia.
These and the previous scout figures are excess to what I need. Each Bolt Action army can only have one unit of three. What I intend to do is to replace some of the figures armed with Owen guns in the Jungle Division figures already painted with these and create two additional sections that I need for the Australian Tank Platoon which is my next WW2 Australian project.
As a risk and emergency manager I am used to managing fires, floods and other emergencies, but edging towards retirement the last thing I needed was a fire literally at our back door.
The map of the 22 hectare fire, Our house is on the far right.
We live in the yellow “Watch and Act” danger zone.
“Watch and Act” means keep a close eye on what is happening with the fire and get ready to evacuate. Enacting our fire plan we put the four cats in their large crate and readied the carry baskets to evacuate them if required. Our essential paper work, medications, laptops and a few clothes were readied to be packed in the car if required.
Friends were notified that I wasn’t going to be wargaming with them tonight but instead we may need to visit if everything turned pear shape!
Continuing to monitor the emergency warnings we received the message that we wanted. The two fire helicopters and 22 fire trucks kept the fire on the opposite side of the Plenty River Gorge and the “Watch and Act” warning was downgraded to “Monitor”.
The famous Australian poem by Dorothea Mackellar describes “My Country” perfectly:
I love a sunburnt country A land of sweeping plains Of ragged mountain ranges Of droughts and flooding rains I love her far horizons I love her jewel sea Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me
In the 2019 Christmas Dr Who special the Doctor tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with U.N.I.T., only to be told they had closed “following financial disputes and subsequent funding withdrawal from their partners”. UNIT fans were left wondering what happened to the defence force led by Kate Stewart.
Apparently a diplomatic bungle has caused this and U.N.I.T. has now been replaced by a call centre (probably in the sub-continent)!
BREATHE EASY FANS!
Earth will be safe from alien invasion, including balloons over the Continental USA, as my force will continue to expand with today’s, and two more sections, one with a Lt Col Lethbridge Stewart, about to be recruited in the next few weeks.
As I said yesterday I am pretty tired of painting Plague Leapers at the moment and thank goodness this is the penultimate unit!
The models are OK it is just that I am sick of painting them – plus they are a pain to put together The resin does not take either Super Glue or plastic glue that well. In the end they have been drilled and pinned.
Tomorrow you guessed it the last of the Plague Leapers – Yippee!
The fourth LVT was Designed in 1943 on the basis of the LVT-2, but was the first to feature a stern ramp for unloading of personnel and cargo. It was also the most produced of any LVTs during the war. This alone was a remarkable step forward, essentially dictated by early battle reports over casualties resulting on landing troops.
It was completely remodelled to achieve this, with relocated engine was from the rear to behind the driver’s cab. This allowed for a larger cargo area and thus provided enough space to accommodate a full rear loading ramp, and far more troops (from 16 to 30 compared to the LVT-2).
This rear configuration also better protected landing forces and facilitated loading. Another particular was to have Wash Vanes (honeycombed boxes above the tracks) that forces the water out, pushed by the grousers when in motion.
More than 8300 were produced from December 1943 until the end of the war. The LVT-4s were first used at Peleliu with LVT-2s. This operation showed how far the designers efforts resulted in a way better machine, useful, well-protecting and reliable. On the long run, the engine\’s location facilitated its maintenance.
LVT(4)s participated in the Saipan campaign (June 1944), Guam and Tinian (July 1944). LVT-4s were also used by British and Canadian troops during the operations in the Netherlands and by allied forces when crossing the Rhine in march 1945.
