Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Trooper_D

    Active Contributor
    • Posts

      571
    • Joined

    • Last visited

    • Days Won

      2

    Everything posted by Trooper_D

    1. Thank you for posting these side-by-side images, Volovonok. They give a clearer indication of the complications of this issue. It is almost like the blade has been shortened from both ends. Let us hope that your examination of the etching throws more light unto this conundrum.
    2. Is it possible it is a broken blade which has been ground down?
    3. The bidding is all the stranger for the seller saying no more than that the man is wearing an 1850 model busby. It has to be said, of course, that this is careful wording which, while factually correct, allows a naive bidder room to read more into the description than is justified.
    4. The devastation caused by this ghastly explosion is almost beyond belief and is a major blow to an already stricken Lebanon. In this context, and in the light of how close he was, we should be thankful for the survival of your friend, a fellow member of our community, despite injury - and what sounds like a harrowing journey to get help - and the loss of his home. How fortunate that his family wasn't with him at the time. Let us hope that his recovery in body and mind is a speedy one.
    5. That's very annoying, Alex! However, the image I posted is all that is relevant there for this thread. If you wanted to see the rest of the volume, a search on archive.org using the title given in my original post is probably the best route for you.
    6. Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen! It turns out that that ever wonderful website, archive.org, hosts a scan of Army Regulations, India, Vol. VII - Dress, a link to which is below. WARNING: this volume is additive and many hours can be wasted spent browsing it! https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.505458/page/n5/mode/2up Now, to matters in hand. It is pp. 19 & 20 that concern us and I reproduce the relevant extracts, for convenience, below. Source: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.505458/page/n31/mode/2up
    7. Apologies, I should have spotted that you also made the ADC connection, Hugh.
    8. It seems like Bayern was exactly on the right track! Below is a photo of such a tunic sold by Bosley's five years ago, described as "Edwardian Scarlet Uniform of an ADC to a Viceroy". The flower in the embroidery on the front of the tunic I take to be the Lotus flower, the symbol of India. cf with the tunic worn by the then ADC to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the embroidery of which incorporated the shamrock, my source* tells me. Source: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/bosleys-military-auctioneers/catalogue-id-srbos10006/lot-e9576a2a-ede6-43fb-befe-a44a009c3773 * 'British Uniform Pattern Book', Wm. Jones & Co, London, 1886 (reprinted 2006, DP & G, Doncaster) p. 6. Edited to add this photo of Charles Noel Hill, 9th Lord Berwick, who was Aide de Camp to The Viceroy of India between 1922 and 1925. Source: https://attinghamparkmansion.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/andys-diary-the-farmer-the-soldier-the-sailor-and-the-diplomat-introducing-the-less-eminent-lord-berwicks/
    9. Why on earth would someone want to demolish such a splendid building?? Fortunately, the tower still stands, Google tells me. May I ask where the Jones picture is exhibited, please? I ask because he painted another version of it which can be seen below, and which is exhibited in Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery. Source: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/andernach-prussia-47436# You will note that he didn't feel the need to portray himself in this version, for some reason.
    10. This page agrees that it is the badge of the 1st Hussar Regiment of Estonia, http://militaria19191938.org/2018/06/05/3-original-estonian-1920-era-military-badges-silver-estonian-1st-hussar-regimt/ The one shown on the page linked to was made in Estonia, though. Here is an Estonian Wikipedia page about the regiment which shows an illustration of the badge and if you Google "Ratsarügement" you will find lots more on the regiment and its badge.
    11. A few years ago, when browsing old editions of the (London)Times online, I was astonished to read a letter in an edition from the 1850s (I seem to recall) from a recently-retired officer decrying that soldiers were still expected to wear the leather stock and noting that - never mind the difficulties of fighting whilst wearing it - he had observed men fainting on parade because of the restriction to their blood supply caused by it. Your friend was having a completely historically authentic moment, it seems. It must have made him proud - once he came round
    12. Officers were lucky. As this site explains, for ordinary soldiers, "[a] three and a half inch (8cm) leather stock was worn around the neck to preserve a 'soldierly' aspect, which was rarely allowed to be discarded even on campaign." These two images, to be found on many Pinterest pages, are said to be of a 5cm high example in the The Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh. It was, apparently, also worn by the US Marine Corps and gave rise to their nickname of 'Leathernecks' (or so says Wikipedia!).
    13. The mess jacket you show, Simius, was an evolution of the stable jacket, which - as the name suggests - was an undress jacket worn when working in the stables. However, I think it is a red herring in this particular case. As the OP states, the figure is from a small detail and I would suggest that the ‘absence’ Of buttons etc is simply down to the small scale the artist is working in, here. As an aside, I agree with you that the figure is wearing a gorget and would add that the black area round his neck is a representation of the black silk stock officers of the time wore and which you can sort of see in the interesting image of the working dress of Royal Sappers and Miners you posted. I suspect that this ‘working dress’ was more generally the undress worn by officers of the period, which would have been worn rather than Full Dress for 'walking out' - as shown in the OP's picture.
    14. ...and a smile throughout! This was, of course, the wonderful Mae of the C&Rsenal YouTube channel. If you want to hear her views on the Lewis gun (based on her experiences firing it on the range) in a video worth watching in its own right from the start, here's the link,
    15. ... which brings us back to this story (found elsewhere on GMIC), which illustrated to me just how low-tech you can be and still produce 'acceptable' fakes (made in a garden shed, apparently), https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/derby-fraudster-made-thousands-selling-4208225 Thanks for posting the fascinating pictures of what I assume is an Imperial Russian mint, JapanX.
    16. I can't help but note the similarities between this mystery badge and the cypher of Carlos I of Portugal, as shown engraved on the detail from an image of a Luger pistol destined for Portugal, below. I cannot give an explanation as to why this might be but I note that Kaiser Wilhelm visited Carlos in Portugal in 1905. Carlos was, of course, assassinated in 1908. Source: https://www.phoenixinvestmentarms.com/2145KingCarlos00.html
    17. Glenn can answer for himself but I think that JapanX has put his finger on the answer. If you are fairly new to all this, you might not be aware that, during the period we are talking about, each of the states making up 'Germany' compiled lists of their officers, broken down into units, with one of the pieces of data shown against each name being their awards. These are the rank lists. There are people round here who know their way round these rank lists backwards and can very quickly search for any given combination of awards to narrow down a particular combination to a name or groups of names. I should add that, if you recognise the unit from the uniform the subject is wearing, it means that you can go straight to the rank list for that unit, which in turn cuts down the time required to search. That is not to say, of course, that Glenn doesn't have a photographic memory and never forgets a face
    18. Well spotted - but, in fairness, Glenn was even quicker the first time. So how did he do it, then???
    19. The original post was a long time ago, but I thought - for anyone who reads it now - I would provide a bit more information on this hussar atilla, a better image of which can be seen on the Imperial War Museum's website, here, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30097064 It belonged to Vladimir Littauer who served in the 1st Sumsky Hussars from 1913 and survived the Great War, eventually to end up in NYC running a riding school and, afterwards, becoming one of the USA's leading equestrian instructors and, indeed, theoretician who advocated the 'forward seat' riding style. His Wikipedia page appears to be accurate, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Littauer Perhaps of more interest to GMIC: along with a number of equestrian training books, he wrote Russian Hussar - A Story of the Imperial Cavalry, in which he describes his military career from the Nicholas Cavalry School in St. Petersburg to the Revolution and, afterwards, fighting with the White Russian forces. It is still in print and is a 'must-read' for anyone interested in the Imperial Russian cavalry. I am reading it at the moment but have only just got to the start of the Great War so cannot yet say whether he received the awards on this bar and, thus, whether it might be his (the IWM page doesn't mention it).
    20. "To be frank Q, 183 looks like a ladies' pistol.* I'll take 182, thanks". * (although Bond's original pistol, a Beretta 418, was little better, I understand!)
    21. I am sure that you were right to try to rescue something out of what was a foregone conclusion, Claudio!
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.