Spasm

And I love this little ribbon with the tiny cross - it's not from a pin, it has prongs bent over on the reverse (you can see one poking out on the left). All very worn I know but just great.

Close up of the ring

He also threw this in for a song:

This is on the back of the photo:

Was then talking about militaria (as you do) and was told that a music shop round the corner used to have some old army stuff for sale. So, off I went and found said shop that sold guitars etc but looking further in found a whole pile of fantastic gear in display cabinets up for sale. I asked if he had any Somerset Light Infantry badges (to go with the guys in this picture) and he threw a whole pile of them on the counter.

Went round another of her Auntie's places today to put up some shelves. Did the shelving, was bought some fish, chips, mushy peas and a massive pickled onion for lunch and was given a couple of pictures. Don't know too much about them but will dig into her memory banks later on.

I believe yours date from 1920s and 30s. There are a couple for sale on Weitze's web page. This gives units whereabouts etc: http://translate.goo...%26prmd%3Dimvns Imperial bands were of a different lettering: http://translate.goo...%26prmd%3Dimvns Cheers Spaz

And my final submission from the Societies list. The medal is called "Cross of Honour for Humanitarian Works, Officer". This matches perfectly. So, still thinking this ribbon was used to make up a fantasy award to a secretarial, sharpshooting fireman. Maybe as a fun works leaving award . Or perhaps (more than likely) I'm talking complete.........

This is from the commemorative list. It is called "Music Award in Art Nouveau, circa 1900" (I didn't know you could get Art Nouveau music but there you go):

This is a medal from the Resistance list. It is called "Medal for Proscribed Patriots 1939-1945" the band down the middle of the ribbon doesn't match but the green and tricolour does

Right, checked France's medal lists and only 3 come close to the ribbon colours. I've checked the following lists: life saving veterans societies red cross orders military commemorative music colonies civil and resistance

ND Can't find anything on this. Even the colours don't give it away (other than the French tricolour down the edges) on civil ribbon websites. The address on the button doesn't help as it is now a health centre so I didn't bother digging deeper as it looks like the button was a later addition anyway. All looks a bit rough and ready so could be a made up from bits and bobs but intriguing that the ribbon colours are strange. Spaz

Jim I've just looked at your pictures and I hate you. Not only are the awards just fantastic your photo taking skills are outstanding. Well done. I notice the end date has been extended, it'll give me time to try to improve. Spaz

There's that old saying, along the lines of - "You can push and push and push an Englishman, but he will only be pushed so far. If he takes his jacket off then you know you're in trouble."

Quote; "Trenching of the Heath over many decades has revealed no remains of plaque victims; it is unlikely that the populace in 1349-50 would have dragged putrifying bodies up the hill to bury them in hard pebbly ground without much if any top soil." So that's that then, an urban myth exposed.

Having lived in South London since about 1980, in and around Woolwich - just up the road really. My kids were brought up there and they are now bringing up their own kids there. I also worked in Greenwich for many years. I'd heard it said many times that Blackheath would never be developed because it is where many thousands of the victims of the Black Death are buried. As is the case for many London Parks. I now find that this seems to be an urban myth. Blackheath is where Golf, Hockey and Rugby were first introduced into England surprisingly but I like the Black Death story better. I'm off to do some more research and to go change wickipedia. Looking forward to 'big' school

Blimey :unsure:

What a great introduction! (We need a female profile, I'm assuming, instead of a geezer's silhouette) Obviously not just a 'boy's thing'. Welcome Tracy and I'm looking forward to Harry's stuff. Cheers. Spaz

Mervyn I'm still thinking it over. As I allow the time to pass, the excitement, want and need are slowly easing. As much as I want it, I can't really justify the cost, although there is a layaway plan that I may just convince myself to take advantage of. I'm sort of hoping it'll sell soon so that I can kick myself for not snapping it up. Damn, damn, damn. Spaz

Loads of stuck in photos with all the usual suspects and even a few blokes in swimming hats :lol:

Picked up a copy of 'Germany awakes' today at a militaria fair near me. It's not so much as the Max show but maybe the Min show. Loads and loads of old British Medals from a couple of quid up to several thousands, you medal guys may enjoy. I was gonna take some pictures but they didn't seem too pleased when I got the camera out, so I put it away again. I've left in the pencil note and price, which isn't too bad considering all pictures are there other than the large fold out rally and full page posing Hitler.

This is a bit frustrating, found this for sale today. 1800 Brown Bess stamped with our Awardee's Battalion and Regiment. Oh my heart strings.....sometimes I hate this hobby

Nothing from the National Archive as yet - maybe next week. I've now been looking through some medal catalogues etc and have noticed that the Waterloo medals have a wider ribbon than the GSM but are of the same colours - could this be a Waterloo ribbon on a GSM? Have now purchased a couple of books on the Peninsular Wars, one showing all the regiment's uniforms and another atlas showing all battles in the war (including the Spanish and Portugese). Will be visiting the 39th Devonshire museum to see what they have and Dorchester Abbey to take some pictures of the 39th Foot colours that I've discovered are hanging there. Will be trying to locate some 39th Foot militaria (doesn't seem like there's much of this about) to go with the medal. Any advice on where I may obtain this would be helpful?

Trevor Arthur Smith's Electric Rifle :D

Treats All Salesmen Equally Roughly ?