Tony

That's made me feel a little better. I bought the medal from a dealer who I trust. The price including a copy of his service record which shows he was a very bad boy, cost 350 GBP. I suppose he just couldn't be bothered to have things changed and was more occupied with his HL (hard labour?) convictions. Tony

Sorry about the quality of the photos.

That's interesting Brett. Does this affect the value? I bought the medal because of the possible family connection and I must admit, for a QSA, it wasn't at all cheap. Tony

No Ed, they look as if they've been there from the word go. Saying that, I don't really have any experience with Victorian medals and the way their clasps were attached. If I can take a half decent photo of the clasps, you or someone else may be able to shed more light on it. Tony

I have his service record. He joined the Devonshire's in 1895 and apart from spending an awful lot of time behind bars, he stayed with the Devonshire's until about 1911. Everything is packed away ready for my return to that place where my nose doesn't run but, if I get the time I'll grab it and write down some details. Are those clasps rare? I'm wondering if they were used by someone for a different medal for some reason or other and the more common ones added to this QSA. Tony

Hello, I recently bought a QSA to a 4413 Pte. H Neal who happens to be from the same part of London as my family and could therefore possibly be a distant relative. It has 3 clasps - Elandslaagte, Orange Free State and Transvaal. According to the medal roll of the 1st Bn. Devonshire Regt. he was entitled to the clasps Belfast, Elandslaagte and Defence of Ladysmith. Could there a reason for the clasps on his QSA not corresponding with those on the medal roll apart from someone maybe adding any 3 clasps in the past? If anyone comes across his KSA please give me a shout. Thanks Tony

That is interesting. Did you see the tag I bought and posted here recently Chris? He died by drowning after receiving a vaccination. Tony quick edit - it was his death notice I posted, I only just picked up his tag from my mum's.

Don't you lot work? Tony

Thanks for the info, that's very interesting. Tony

I couldn't find anything on him. Only Pte. Stephen Shorter and 2nd Lieutenant Harry Hooper Shorter of the RAF. Maybe someone else will have more luck. Tony

The South African VM is bilingual and British issue WWII medals aren't named whereas South African and Australian are. I'm not sure about other Commonwealth countries though. Tony

Hello Christophe, Thanks very much for the translation. I wonder what it was they injected him with, sounds like it could have been something like LSD. Whatever it was the side effect was very bad, I wonder if anyone else in the French army suffered similar after being vaccinated. Something we'll never know. Cheers Tony

Hello, Can someone tell me how this soldier died? All I can make out (I think) is that he was an artillery soldier in Belgium who died in an accident on 15 Feb. 1915. Any translation help is greatly appreciated. Also, was one of his ID tags sent to his family with his belongings or did French soldiers only have one tag and were they buried without it? Thanks Tony Or is his date of death 13 February 1915?

Found him on the census as Frederick Greenslade. He was part of a large family with no obvious income, his dad was blind. Tony

Hello Rich, King George VI reigned from the late 30s (1937 I think) until his death in 1952 so the badge can date from any time between those dates if I've remembered them correctly. Tony

He's R F Greenslade and is missing his 15 Star and VM. I'd probably be tempted to pay more for the ribbon than the BWM and that wouldn't anything above 2 GBP (but I'm tight) unless I was able to reunite his group. Tony

Drvar in Bosnia but that doesn't mean I know anything about history, it just means I have an idea where to look online. Is it correct? Tony

A Yankee in the Trenches is available as an e book here http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13279 I haven't read it yet but as he served in 22 London Regt. I'll no doubt find it interesting. Many members of my family served in the 22nd too. My latest purchase was a 1914 trio and pair + plaque to brothers from Bermondsey, one of them being in the 22nd. Tony

Great site Dave, thanks for the link. The man seated could well be a driver in the RFA, I say that as I wouldn't have thought a standard gunner needed spurs. I've since been told the soldier standing is probably a member of the Bays, a cavalry unit. Tony

Chet, I have everything packed away in the cellar back in Germany. I've only bought a few Commonwealth bits and pieces (trios/pairs/plaques/photos/SWBs/wound stripes and a fantastic stereographoscope for my stereoviews) since moving and keep them upstairs in shoe boxes. Apart from the graphoscope as it's quite large. Tony

Don't get annoyed if you forget where you put whatever it is you're looking for or why on earth you bought that, it comes with the package when you are loosely focused and it's fun. Right Chet?

Quite true Graham, I bet I looked like that too after a few marches etc. Thanks for the added info Peter. I wonder if those poor buggers had a hard time as POWs, not only the work they may have had to do but the language barrier too. Tony

Chet, Staying loosely focused has always worked for me Tony

Don't know trenches on the web. I'd have a guess at the photo being taken at about early to mid 1915 going by the lack of snow etc. although I don't if or when cap comforters were fased out.

Cheers Leigh, I'm well chuffed with the photo. Don't suppose the 3rd Ghurka Rifles were in one place long enough during 1914/15 to work out where they could have been captured. When did they arrive in F/F?