Tony

This is the cockade in question. The green looks a little fresh to me. Were they brush painted or sprayed? Tony

Slang indeed. Steel helmets are usually referred to as tin hats well, they are in SE London. Tony

Is there a sure way of telling if cockades are original apart from an obvious new paint job? I have a Saxon cockade whereby the white paint looks good to me but the green appears a little fresh. I really like ersatz spiked helmets, I only have 2 and if I had the money to get another I'd go for a tin pickelhaube. Tony

Something else I've just noticed. There are 2 beads on the lower part of the crown that look similar to splashes on steel when welding. Tony

Hello Keith, That is interesting! My knowledge of restrikes only really goes as far as 'hmm, very bendy' or the tell tale signs where normal wear and tear should be obvious. I have always thought this badge to be original but, as it is something special I'm no longer sure. There are only 2 loops and the colour is more like copper, it retains a lot of grime in areas you'd expect not to be clean but as I said, you've got me worried. Please have a look at the photos, any comments are most welcome. Tony

Hello Claudio, I not an expert on these but I'd tend to agree with your observations unless someone could explain otherwise. Here's a pic of mine, the engraving on the left isn't very deep but still retains patina whereas the other one appears to have enough patina for several engravings. Tony

Hmmm, I have 2 of them, one in the packet and one on a safety pin which I call dead mans cross (pictured above) as it was probably used for several casualties. I usually only show the dead mans cross but I'm not sure which one I took to Wewelsburg. The one in the packet is just as spiffy. Tony

They look the same to me.

Hello Ronny, Here's my 100 for comparison. I'm afraid all those TR EKs look the same to me if you cover up the bump on the top of the 100s. Tony

Hello Angel, I didn't find anything on the 445th, sorry. I have scanned a pic from a book showing a Canadian battery in action, at least this'll give you an idea of what he did and how deaf he must have been. Just look at the size of the shells, they must have weighed a ton. Tony

Rob, The tunic is the later 1922 pattern, I believe these worn during WWII but not in the field. Tony

I want to here about some of those recipes, divide the ingredients by 100! Try making your pics a bit smaller too, that way we'll see more of what's in the case. Tony

Check the name here to find out if the soldier named was killed or not http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx I went for a medal yesterday awarded to someone with a name I wanted, someone else wanted it too so it cost a bit more than the going rate. Medals to jock regiments seem to go for more than average too. Also 1.7.16 casualties. The last trio I bought was a 1914 trio without bar to a member of the ASC and that was about 10 years ago so I'm not always up on the going rate. Your best bet is to keep an eye on ebay.uk or search some medal sites. Tony

Hello Scott, As he was ASC and survived the war I'd say a good price would be ?45. Average price is about ?50 for an ASC survivor and probably about ?20 more if had been a casualty. Medals to Corps members are usually cheaper than to men in the infantry, cavalry etc. but they seem to be getting more and more expensive. Tony

My Dad's name is Frank as was his Dad's so I wonder if F Neal was a Frank too? I'll have to ask in the family although all the Neals are dead now apart from my Dad. Is there interest? Not many! If you see a Citroen in Catford with German plates at the beginning of October give it a wave, it'll probably be me driving it. Tony

Imagine the look on my face when I saw a 1914 trio and the price. Now imagine the look after I noticed you got there first. I had to down a couple of beers and trawl ebay to cheer myself up. Tony

Hello Gilbert, That is one lucky find you have there! Although I don't have anything (awards/paperwork) to do with the 11th battalion, my Dad had some relations from Lewisham (most of his family came from the Elephant though). Would you mind having a look to see if any Thurstons (common name I know) or Neals are in there. Where in Catford were they? My sister lives there and I'll be paying her a visit in a few weeks. Cheers Tony

No the 445 Siege Battery doesn't mean anything to me but I'll have a dig in my books over the weekend. I might turn up something, you never know. Tony

Hello Angel, I don't envy your task, it looks like a few trips to Kew are in order. Have a look at the NA site here http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov....%2Ehtm&lBack=-1 It might help Have you checked the 1901 online census? You might find out where he lived, there were only 19 Charles Daniels aged 13 +/- 2 years and one of them lived were I grew up. Tony

An Italian M15? Where are the pics? Get posting Jim, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to see it no matter what the condition is. Tony

A great trio Darrell! You know what? I saw them for sale too, thought great! Wow great price too, scrolled down the page and bugger, Darrell beat me to it Tony

Left to right: Austrian, relic M16 with French writing to the front and rear, M17 (looking rustier than it really is), French inf. Adrian and Russian Adrian. Right, I'd better get my skates on because I have to get young Mark to the swimming pool. Tony

A look inside the Belgian, US, French and Brit lids. The Brit used Brodie is bottom left.

A relic Russian. I thought the badge may have been added at a later date to a French blue M15 but the outline of the Russian badge can be seen when removed. Someone told me once there's a blue Adrian with Russian badge in a museum in E. Europe. I'm not sure where but it was Hungary, Bulgaria or somewhere like that.

A French infantry M15, this one is just the shell and can also be found in the for sale section