I have read accounts of the Africa Corps fighting New Zealanders with "Schlapphüten" hats on their heads fighting.

I've used troops in certain situations even when they are not entirely accurate historically. I just pretend it's a slightly alternate universe in which some South African and New Zealand units did go into combat with soft hats instead of helmets. One of the beauties of our hobby is that we can use our figures however we want to

Thank you, Colin for reminding the Forum that this is a "Hobby" and not a "Historical Society."

You said above, "One of the beauties of our hobby is that we can use our figures however we want to." That's called using your "Imagination" and "Pretending" for Fun!

I get my fill of "Button Counters" and "Bean Counters" Monday thru Friday.

Happy Collecting!

Alan
Useful points about the Vickers. There is a pdf of the Vickers .303 MkIV MG (1930) manual on the internet with excellent line drawings which show the points you make. The steam tube is much finer and connects at the bottom of the jacket*.
The scope on the SMLE should be about a third of the length of the rifle barrel, breech etc and doesn't go much beyond the rear of the bolt. Either the rifle is small or the scope large or a bit of both. Not sure why the group doesn't have a Bren.

Nice to see rolled up sleeves makes them useful to fight the Japanese or in Italy, Greece etc.

David

*water goes in by a funnel in the plug at the top of the jacket just in front of the breech