Emulating boot camp reality, German makers of composition toy soldiers produced fresh recruits for training in children's playroom armies.

Every drill sergeant knows it is a hard business to train young men to become real soldiers. Before they get trained for combat, they have to learn how to march and behave on parade. They need to know how to carry their rifles and how to salute to officers.

Nazi Germany revived universal conscription for the Wehrmacht in 1935. This might be the reason that German children became more interested in what happened behind barrack walls. Their elder brothers had to serve in the army and when they came home on leave, they told stories about their training regime. This was exiting for younger boys and they wanted to replay these scenes.

The two major manufacturers of composition toy soldiers, Hausser / Elastolin and Lineol produced figures which were devoted to this boot camp theme. They offered figures in white drill uniforms for the first time tn their 1936 sales catalogues. These were models of soldiers standing at attention and soldiers goose stepping. Hausser simply painted existing models of marching soldiers in white drill uniforms while Lineol crafted some new models.