Corgi produced these enormously collectable models in association with The History Channel, a cable TV station with a specialty in high production value historical documentaries and docu-drama. Whilst originally Corgi models were produced in Swansea, their manufacturing base has long since shifted to east Asia. These models were produced in China, circa 2005, they are of reasonable quality given their RRP and sit comfortably in the lower end of the collectors' price range. WWII Legends models currently sell for between £20 GBP and £60 GBP depending on variant. Whilst the line is now discontinued, examples of these models are readily available online through eBay and dedicated retail sites.
Corgi WWII Legends series 1:50 scale Diecast model.
PzKpfw VI Tiger Ausf.E
Commanded by SS-Hauptscharfuhrer Will Fey
3.Zug., 1 Kompanie, Schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 102
Normandy, June 1944
Model number CC60510
The 102nd SS Heavy-Panzer Battalion 102 (German: Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 102) was a heavy-tank battalion of the Waffen SS during World War II.
It fought as part of the II SS Panzer Corps during the Battle of Normandy and was nearly destroyed. Renamed as 502nd SS Heavy-Panzer Battalion, (German: Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 502) the unit was destroyed by the Russians in the Halbe Pocket in Spring 1945.
SS-Hauptscharfuhrer Will Fey and his crew are credited with 73 kills.
The 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion over its history lost 76 tanks destroyed 600 enemy tanks a kill ratio of 6.89
Corgi WWII Legends series 1:50 scale Diecast model.
Tiger 1 of the 101st SS Panzer Div.
Model number CC60502
101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion (in German Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101, commonly abbreviated as s.SS-Pz. Abt. 101) was one of the Waffen-SS's elite armored units, acting as a 'fire brigade' and a crack assault unit on all fronts. With the introduction of new Tiger II - "King Tiger" tanks in late 1944, it was redesignated the Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 501.
It was created on July 19, 1943 as a part of the I Panzer Corps, by forming two new heavy tank companies consisting of Tiger I tanks and incorporating the "13th (Heavy) Company" of 1st SS Panzer Regiment. It was attached to 1st SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and sent to Italy on August 23, 1943 where it stayed until mid-October. The 1st and 2nd company were then sent to the Eastern Front while the rest of the unit stayed in the West. On 22 September 1944 the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion was Redesignated 501st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion (abbreviated s.SS-Pz. Abt. 501).
Corgi WWII Legends 1:50 scale Diecast model Tiger I tank.
Tiger I tank, Ausf H - Russian Front.
LAH, 1st SS Panzer Div.
model number US60509
The 1st SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (abbreviated as 1st SS-Pz.Div. LSSAH) was Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Initially the size of a regiment (brigade), the LSSAH eventually grew into an elite division-sized unit. The term Leibstandarte was derived partly from Leibgarde – a somewhat archaic German translation of "Garde du Corps" or personal bodyguard of a military leader ("Leib" = lit. "body, torso") – and Standarte: the Schutzstaffel (SS) or Sturmabteilung (SA) term for a regiment-sized unit.
The LSSAH independently participated in combat during the invasion of Poland, and was amalgamated into the Waffen-SS together with the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and the combat units of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV) prior to Operation Barbarossa in 1941. By the end of World War II it had been increased in size from a regiment to a Panzer division.
The Leibstandarte division's symbol was a skeleton key, in honour of its first commander, Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (Dietrich is German for skeleton key or lock pick); it was retained and modified to later serve as the symbol for I SS Panzer Corps. The elite division, a component of the Waffen-SS, was found guilty of war crimes in the Nuremberg Trials. Members of the LSSAH participated in numerous atrocities. They killed at least an estimated 5,000 prisoners of war in the period 1940–1945, mostly on the Eastern Front.
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