The Bear of Kinmen

[greg3]

I recently ordered an M5A1 Stuart kit from Brickmania. While researching the tank, I came across this interesting bit of history which gave me an idea on how to display it!

Kinmen is an island (or rather an island group) just off the coast of China and in 1949 was the location of a key battle during the Chinese Civil War. By this time, the Communist People’s Liberation Army had taken control of much of mainland China establishing the People’s Republic of China and forcing the Nationalist, Republic of China government to flee to Taiwan. Keen to secure a total victory, the Communists began planning to invade Taiwan, but first they had to secure the strategically important island of Greater Kinmen.

With little experience of amphibious warfare and few ships, their plan was to land an initial force of 9,000 troops to seize several beachheads before landing another 10,000 troops to secure the island. They believed that that would be enough to defeat the 12,000 Nationalist troops they thought were defending the island. Unfortunately for the PLA, the Nationalists had reinforced the islands garrison with at least another 5,000 troops and more importantly 22 M5A1 “Stuart” light tanks.

 

The Bear of Kinmen by g.nat, on Flickr

 

The invasion turned out to be a disaster for the Communists. Their plan to land the first wave at high tide to avoid beach obstacles was hampered by delays so most of the landing craft (which were mainly commandeered wooden, sailing vessels) ended up stranded and easy targets for Nationalist artillery meaning that the second wave never reached the island. While those troops who did make it ashore managed some initial successes, they were soon overwhelmed by the tanks against which they had little defence. Accounts describe tanks running out of ammo and simply crushing the enemy under their tracks!

By the 27th October, after 2 days of fighting, the invaders made their last stand in the village of Gunningtou before finally surrendering. The entire invasion force had been either killed or captured and the victory gave the Nationalists a great morale boost. The vital contribution of the tanks earned them the nickname ‘The Bears of Kinmen”.

Over the next few months, the PLA did manage to capture some smaller islands but the outbreak of the Korean war saw their attention shift elsewhere. It also saw the Americans pledge support to the Nationalists and so Taiwan and KInmen remain under Nationalist control today.

My build is based on a monument at the Battle of Gunningtou Museum and features one of the “Bears of Kinmen”  - an M5A1 Stuart tank. This particular tank (Tank #66) played an important role in the battle. While on exercise the day before the invasion, it had got stuck in the sand on the beach at Longkou, which as it happened was one of the main invasion beaches. The tank, along with two others whose crews were helping to free it, were still there as around 3,000 PLA troops landed. The quick thinking tankers were able to open fire on the invaders (and their landing craft) before they could get inland and seize their objective (a village in the centre of the island which would have allowed them to control the main road).

 

The Bear of Kinmen by g.nat, on Flickr

 

The Bear of Kinmen by g.nat, on Flickr

 

The tank itself is by Brickmania - with a tiny MOD to remove the hull machine gun and the addition of some custom stickers. The flag is also from Brickmania. The rest is loosely based on this reference pic I found online.

Bear+of+Kinmen+M5A1 by g.nat, on Flickr

 

As always thanks for looking - comments are always welcome!

 

Edited March 16, 2019 by greg3