Monster high doll as Lili MarleneSgt Joe Bradley 1/6 scale military doll in US army uniform

Lili Marlene

Because the Monster High Doll is not 1/6 scale I have decided I will replace it with another at a later date and reshoot the same scenes as well.

Action figure Lili Marlene is named after a famous second world war hit sung by the German singer, Lale Andersen called Lili Marlene. The words to the song came originally from a poem in 1915 by Hans Leip (1893–1983), a school teacher from Hamburg. The song was very popular on both sides of the conflict and was demanded by allied soldiers as much as the enemy they were fighting. In fact the song was adopted by the British 8th Army operating in North Africa.

The doll is a bit creepy in my opinion and so I want to replace it, but it then affects the story line quite a bit. I'll be thinking what to do about it, possibly it could be sent back to England as a POW which is what would have happened in real life.

The poem was published in 1937 as "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" ("The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch"). Music behind the poem was composed by Norbet Schultze in 1938 and recorded by Lale Anderson in 1939

Radio Belgrade became the German forces' radio station under the name of Soldatensender Belgrad (Soldiers' Radio Belgrade) after they took Hungary in 1941, with transmissions heard throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. A German officer in charge of the station, began playing the song on the air frequently. The rest is history.

My 'uncle' Ozzie, a very close friend of my dad, married a Wehrmachthelferinnen. Lottie, was a German servicewoman during the war. They met during the allied occupation after the war. This was not an unusual practice. She was very amused at my confusion of a photograph on their living room wall of a soldier in German uniform when I first met her in 2006 on a trip to England with my dad. "Zat iz my Father" - she told me. Romance has no boundaries.

The Song 'Lili Marlene' English version
Song was also sung by Marlene Dietrich

"Das Mädchen Unter Der Laterne"
("The Girl Under The Lantern").
'Lili Marlene'
Outside the barracks, by the corner light
I'll always stand and wait for you at night
We will create a world for two
I'll wait for you the whole night through
For you, Lili Marlene
For you, Lili Marlene
Bugler tonight don't play the call to arms
I want another evening with her charms
Then we will say goodbye and part
I'll always keep you in my heart
With me, Lili Marlene
With me, Lili Marlene
(more verses follow)

The skirt is made in a similar fashion to Lisa's using a trapazoid shape, hemming all round and using a zig zag stitch to attach the elastic. I have not been able to find any blue grey material locally that fits the uniform colour of the German army. It is available online by the pound. So this green was as close as I could get for now. Because the doll for this uniform is 17" tall, the first attempt was too short. (The chalked perimeter). The scale of the doll is more like 1/5 I think. But the jacket is 1/6 scale and fits ok except the arms are a little large.

Skirt

Trying again, with larger dimensions (20cm across top, 25 cm across bottom and 15 cm between the two). Sewing the skirt together before turning outside in. Sewing from the center creates a split in the back. I don't know if they had one or not. Should have asked my 'Aunt' Lottie.

Here are some examples from Pinterest. So there is no skirt split, it's a pleat. Boots appear to be worn with trousers. There are a variety of jackets. The one I could probably make is the combat style shown below right, three women captured by the 7th Army, probably caught out by the speed of the allied advance through Germany. I have yet to master the more classier jacket collar. From what I've read, the uniforms were made distinctly feminine down to the cut of the trousers. Shiny 'rubber' boots (below centre) also existed.

Jacket

I made a cardboard template for making Joe Bradley's combat jacket but lost it. They are 1/6 scale and fit GI Joe or Action man dolls or 'action figures' as I've noticed they are called these days. Fortunately I found some jacket pieces already cut from the template. So I have made a new template from tracing around the spare jacket pieces. Although the 17" monster high doll is larger it has a small body that fits in well with the men's jacket. Not sure if it will be long enough though. There are 6 sections altogether, the collar, two sleeves, back and 2 front panels.
The left side of the jacket above the collar is slightly in the wrong place.

I have gotten better at attaching collars to jackets but again there are some details that need attending. OK for now.

The blank Heliferinnen jacket waiting for insignia, pockets and fasteners to be attached.

Blouse

Boots

I used real leather to make Lile's boots. The design is similar to those worn by the British army at Waterloo and are also a kind of anime style, just easier to construct this way. The leather is wrapped around a cardboard cylinder with a circumference that matches the doll's leg. For Lisa's boots I left the cardboard roll inside the boot, but for Lile, removing it created a nice soft pliable boot. Because the first boot was too big I replaced the cardboard roll with a standard candle. This gave a perfect fit across the calf of the doll's leg. But now the boots don't match.

A hole is cut out of the leather at the bottom to allow the doll's toe to protrude through. The leather boot roll is then placed over the doll's leg to check the fit. In this case, the second attempt, perfect.

The leather toe cap is then cut out, a semicircle with a diameter the width of the boot when pressed flat. It is then hotglued to the boot. Finally the boot sole is made by tracing out the foot of the boot and securing it with hot glue.

Stocking
(updating)

making the stocking top

stocking top after trimming

Templates

template for reinforced toe

template for sheer toe

made from one of each templates

Handbag

The bag is made from soft leather and popsicle sticks available from craft shops.

I used super glue to join all the parts together.

The fastener snaps come in a kit with instructions but you can YouTube the method. These are the prong type so make sure you choose that style on YouTube as there are other types of snap fasteners.

Identification papers

Lili's Story

Lili Marlene was a celebrity before the war as she was the world's tallest woman. (America had the tallest man, Robert Wadlow who was about the same height but died in 1940). She appeared in a number of magazine and newsreel films attending special events mainly for propaganda purposes. But Lili was not German born, a potential problem for anyone living in Germany at this time. Because of her fame and to avoid any international repercussions, she was enlisted in the German armed forces recruitment unit as a Wehrmachthelferinnen.

She unofficially became the 'Patron Saint' of female flak gunners and proudly wore their insignia on her uniform in support. She was dispatched to various locations around the occupied zones to entertain forces on leave from front line fighting. Although she was famous for her singing, in particular, her song 'Lili Marlene', her mere presence alone was enough to boost the moral of the troops considerably.

On the 6th of June 1944, the allies launched the D-Day operation to invade Normandy. As the allies advanced through Normandy and pushed back the German forces, she became known as Lili Hope by the German troops and Last Hope by senior German officers, who perhaps could see that Germany would not win the war even at this early stage. This was also a nod to the American comedian Bob Hope.

In July 1944 she was visiting the Jet Propulsion Aeronautical and Observatory facility outside St Lo in Normandy at the time of the Allied invasion. After the fall of St Lo, the four officers and leading scientists except one Wernher von Braun, left using the cover of darkness without telling Lili Marlene of their plans. They left her to surrender to the allies on her own.

The main advancing division of the US army worked its way past the facility as it was considered to be abandoned. Early the next morning Sgts. Buck Remington, Duffy Washington and Joe Bradley from the 24/7 Military Field Hospital were searching for a suitable location to set up their medical and evacuation center. While on the road, Buck thought he saw a reflection coming from a building window and asked Duffy to stop the Jeep, back up and investigate. A battered signpost signalling the location of the propulsion facility swung on the only nail attaching it to its post. Taking a right turn, Duffy cautiously approached the first building that came into view dodging pot holes in the road. Buck made a radio call to the beach head HQ. A Sherman tank and a few rangers lagging the main advance because of technical issues were diverted to offer assistance.

Buck and the "volunteers" took up defensive positions around the observatory. while the tank commander placed his Sherman between the observatory and the remaining dwellings.

Buck yells out, "can you make some noise to frighten them out?"
The tank commander replies

"only 50 cal, main gun doesn't fire, trigger guard replacement required, we can get one over near the 91st, but to be honest everyone is so spread out you can get anything everywhere or nothing at all."

The Sherman rattled off a few machine gun rounds. Everybody felt the shock waves as each round was dispatched over the observatory. The effect was immediate as a white rag popped out of a window above the entrance to the observatory.

Buck called over one of the rangers closest to him. He trots over to Buck with one hand holding onto his helmet "Yes Sergeant?"
"What's your name son?"
"(name) sir!
"Gees (name) how old are you?"
"18 sir!"
"Just call me Sgt that will do"
(name) nervously nods his head, his relatively large steel helmet wobbling, obscures his eyes.
Buck didn't have time to analyse the morality of war.
"OK (name) I want you to point your rifle at that door. Don't you shoot now, unless they fire first, you got that?"
Name looks in the general direction of the entrance where the white rag hung motionless and then back at Buck. "Yes Sgt, that's covering fire Sgt"
Buck replied slowly and deliberately emphasizing each word in his reply. "No it's not covering fire because you won't be firing - you got that?"
"Yes Sgt, no firing unless I have to".

The other rangers are diverted to the rear/ east and west entrances.

Buck yelled out for whoever was in the building to come out with raised hands. The flag retracted itself from the window, there was a sound of something falling and crashing which triggered Name into firing off a shot at the door. This was followed very quickly by a frantic woman's voice. "bitte nicht schießen"

Buck repeated his earlier call "Come out, keep your hands up, (Name) get Sgt Bradley our medic by the Jeep, he speaks German.

There was still no sign of anyone leaving the building. Sgt Joe Bradley arrives on the scene cupping his hands over his mouth "Bitte komm mit deinen Händen in der Luft heraus."

A crumpled bent green grey figure appears to fill up the entrance way. Like a moth emerging from its cocoon, stretching out and standing upright, stood the towering figure of Lili Marlene who then uttered a few words in a rather deep voice with raised hands,

"I don't need a translator to tell me what to do!"

There was a split second of silence and then one of the soldiers yelled

"She gotta gun, She gotta gun!"

There was a flurry of trained rifles, actions clicking, pointing in one direction.

Marlene stood tall and calm and slowly removed her holster, letting it fall to the ground. Rescue dog Ranger trotted over and picked it up in his mouth and delivered to the feet of Buck Remington. Ranger then sat wagging his tail.

"Who taught him that trick?"

"Sarge, that's Milly Marlene"

Lili rolled her eyes but said nothing.

He continues,

"She's a famous singer, hey Duffy, you're from the 91st, that song you guys play all the time while you're all thinkin about your girlfriends".

"Don't know who sung it, sorry and I don't have a girl friend" Duffy replies.

"That does not surprise me in the least" Lili scoffs.

Duffy wants to challenge her with his rifle but he holds.

"OK ah, miss Marlene we need to take down a few details, the boys here are going to be setting up our aid station so if you ah wouldn't mind following us over so we can ask a few questions and if you don't mind our medic would like to check you over especially after the shooting incident."

"Fine with me Sgt" she replied.

Buck calls over Duffy
"Hey Duffy we better get HQ on the line and inform them about what's going on here".

"Sure thing Buck"

"hey sgt", the tank commander calls out, we have to get going and join the war you be OK here, more reinforcements should be arriving tomorrow. You're pretty safe here."

Yes thanks sir really appreciate your help. Stay safe.

The tank crew rumble there little sherman out of the facility. After a while.
"where the hell are we guys?"

"don't know sir, I'll pull over".

"Good idea, who's for the bathroom?"
"affirmative sir"
"me too sir"
"don't forget your driver".

Driver Willi Huber and gun operator, Dieter Schuster along with their commander extract themselves from their panzer iv. The tank is going nowhere after Willi forgot to fill the petrol tank at their last stop. The commander is furious. Minutes earlier they were driving towards the 24/7 MFH previously detected by retreating German troops. The aim was to rescue the remaining rocket scientist Von Braun.

"I don't believe it, this is not possible. Our panzer is taken out by the stupidity of it's own driver, this is such incompetence I should court marshall you on the spot Huber!'"

"But sir there is no gasoline left in the whole German army north of Paris"

"Don't get smart with me Huber, I can get you posted to any POW camp in the Germany, my cousin is a colonel at Stalag 13, I'm sure he can find something for you to do there. You can start tomorrow."

The commander went quiet, "Oh this is not a good start to a war. He looks down the road.

"let us walk, ah, this way".

After about half an hour the trio hear the sound of an engine running and take up a crouching position along a hedgerow.

"See anything Schuster?, Huber, help Schuster! Go closer."
"Sir, I don't see anything"

"what do you mean Huber?"

"There is no one there, just a tank"

Klink is excited. "I cant believe our luck Huber"

They creep up to the tank and quickly ascertain that not a soul is in sight. Stealthily, they climb into the tank and take off down the road.

END OF SCENE

Lili's Health Check as a POW

I had a lot of fun doing this sketch, hope you like it. I'm still looking for the photos I took for it!!!

Lisa: Hello Miss Marlene, I am doctor for you today. The name for me is Dr Putin. Please excuse the mask it is wearing. It is recommendation from health department. Please take the seat on the chair for your inspection. We must look at the tooth and the body. After that for your attention, replenishment of the lamps on the chevalier below you.

Lili: Excuse me Dr but I don't need any dental or health check thank you. I recently had a medical from the St Lo Gestapo headquarters. I would almost be Aryan if it wasn't for ..... Forgive me but your English is, well, a little different where are you from?

Lisa: No need for the question. You are the prisoner of the war and must follow the particles. With this health up check we can eliminate two stones with a brush.

Lili: "Follow the particles?...don't you mean protocols?
Chevalier?...don't you mean chandelier?

And you really know how to screw up metaphors. Are you sure we haven't met before. Are you really a doctor at all? I demand to see the commanding officer of the American forces here immediately!

Lisa: Oh look at the tooth tut tut tut. You not brush the tooth properly I think this is so. Now we look at the toes!

Lili: What?, my toes, what do they have to do with my teeth?

Lisa: Because when I do the nerve test on your feet it is like getting the tooth out!

Lisa: Shut the mouth, stop the talking, no more chatter box like you were before. Oh you have the long tooth I never see before. It might have to come out. Now for your feet.