Brian Wolfe

Here is the reverse. Thanks again for any help you can give me. Cheers Brian

Hello Everyone, This medal just arrived and I bought it listed as being from India. I knew it was not from India when I purchased it and suspected it to be from Thailand. The medal is hinged to the hanger and is made of a light metal but I don't think it is aluminum as it is too heavy for it to be made of that material. The ribbon looks to fit the hanger in a neat manner so as to lead me to think is is original. Can anyone shed some light as to the country of origin, what is was issued for, the date of issue and whether the ribbon is correct or not? Your help is much appreciated. Cheers Brian

Hi Lorenzo, The photos were on the internet but if I see them again I'll let you know the website. That's the one problem with the internet, it is so large that if I don't save the site I forget where it was. Cheers Brian

Just to add to what Eric has said, when you display this katana (which is what you have) be sure the blade is up and the handle is to the viewer's left not their right. A right facing handle is a sign of readyness to defend your home and could be taken as an insult. All of mine are to the right but then that the kind of person I am. Bushi all the way! Cheers Brian

Please do post more, I am quite interested. Cheers Brian

Thanks Rick and Chip, you guys are so fast I didn't even have the close up posted. It takes me quite a while to post more than one photo, it's not the equipment, it's the user. Chip, what is V.A.K.? Thanks Brian

Here is a close up of the soldier. The buttons are polished but with no decoration. What looks like a decoration is in fact a reflection of the inside of the studio where the photo was taken. Under greater magnification you can almost make out the architectural features behind the photographer. Man I would like to have one of those computers you see in police detective movies for a super close up! The device on the end of the lanyard looks like an artillery shell with two bands around it. Another thing that drew me to this photo was the photographer's name "Wolffe". The legend in our family is that our name was once spelled with a double "F" and for whatever reason one "F" was dropped over time to become "Wolfe". From the address of Posen, I would take it to be in Prussia, well, until the end of 1918 when it became part of Poland. My family is said to have originated in Prussia. Thanks again for your help. Cheers Brian

Hello Everyone, I have just picked up this cabinet photo of a soldier I believe to be Prussian wearing the 1897 Prussian Wilhelm I Centenary Medal. Can anyone identify his rank or unit? I would think the moustache would have been a lethal weapon on a frosty day! Ow! My eye! The Centenary Medal is mounted on the trapazoidal mount and I would like to add one of these bar to the medal I have in the collection and display the photo and medal together. Would anyone know where I might obtain the mount? I have some good quality medal ribbon of the correct type so just the metal mount would be great. I know of no suppliers here in Canada. Thanks again in advance for any help with the identification and information, it is greatly appreciated. Cheers Brian

Hello sabrigade, Very nice, thanks for posting the General Gordon's Star. The only one I've seen is in the Medal Yearbook (Medal News) and yours looks to be a far better casting. I always thought the reverse would have been flat being a sand casting so seeing yours was enlightening. I should have realized that the star could have have some design because my father worked in a foundry many years ago as a mould maker. Thanks again for this post. cheers Brian

Hello PK I'm a little upset with your attitude regading this fellows digets , you could have at least asked me to hold him down for you. It is very upsetting to hear of the breaking up of sets of medals and documents. It is like ripping pages from a history book or selling parts of a sculpture, an arm here a leg there, I'm thinking of ancient artifacts. The damage to the historic value of an intact group is almost criminal. I too like my snipe bid program and use it if I will be away from home when the item closes. I still like to place a last second bid manually if I am going to be home. I like the excitement of actually sitting here, watch in hand, counting down the seconds then entering my bid. Ok, I need to get out more. I totally agree with you that a snipe program will save you money, I am on vacation today and a medal is closing at 3:00 PM and I'm here to place a bid in person. There will be no bargains for Brian today! Cheers Brian

Hello scottplen, I usually follow threads like this one on Imperial items to gain knowledge as I am not well versed in German items whatsoever. I am speaking as someone who once he sets his sights on an item gets tunnel-vision and tends not to heed good advice. Perhaps you are not like me but my advice to you would be to heed what these fellows are telling you, it could save you a lot of cash. I once purchased a TR item that was "backed up" by the dealer and when these same members from the forum pointing out that it was a reproduction I took it back. Even though I have purchased a lot of medals from this dealer I had to almost get nasty with him before he would consider a refund. Actually I ended up with a credit which I used (on the spot) to purchase a WW I BWM to a Canadian, an area I am comfortable in. So in a sense he did not actually refund any cash. I would be very very very careful in your decision based on what other members have said. Good luck with you decision. Cheers Brian

I've seen these (photos) with Syrian markings. I guess it was like the AK47, started in the USSR and found it's way into armies around the world. Cheers Brian

Here's the watch mounted in the radio. Now to surround the watch and radio with an APC. To that my wife would say, "Keep dancing on the mine field, funny man". Cheers Brian

Here's a shot of the back. You really have to be in the correct light to see the markings and even then they are faint. Perhaps this watch was used in the ws19 considering the wear to the back and the "crystal" is in pretty good condition. I would have thought that if the wear was due to it being in a pocket both sides would have been quite worn. This is probably just a case of me wanting to think it was actually used in a radio, I hate it when so-called historians amature and otherwise make items fit into what they would like it to be. Cheers Brian

Hello Everyone, A while ago I posted some photos of the Wireless Set No. 19 Mk. II that I am trying to restore at least to display condition. One of the missing items was the military pocket watch that fit on the front of the wireless set. I was shocked at the cost of these little gems, even one that no longer worked. After months of looking I found this watch at a price I thought I could afford and while it does not keep time now (correct twice a day) my wife's nephew is a watch marker and should be able to repair it to working order. These were issued to soldiers like the Signals Corps who would have used the wireless in my collection. I have been told that if you lost the watch you had to pay for it and they were expensive at that time period. This one is Swiss made by the Moeris company and the dial and arms still glow in the dark. Perhaps they all do, I don't know about that. On the back, which is very worn, is the British broad arrow mark with GSTP and the serial number 140055 still visable, though just visable. I have been told that GSTP stands for General Service Time Piece. In order for the watch to fit into the watch holder the suspension ring on the watch had to be removed. They are easy to remove and are quite "springy" so no damage to the ring occurs when it is removed. I hope you like my addition to my ever growing No.19 Mk II project. Cheers Brian

Hi Mark, Here is a photo close up of the stripes. On closer examination it would appear that there are two light coloured stripes with a dark stripe of the uniform material between them. Thanks for your assistance in this puzzel. Cheers Brian

Hello Leigh, Here is the best I can get with the equipment I have. When I sent this photo to my Photo Shop program it looked as if the collar badges were flaming bombs to me. Thanks for all of your help in this family mystery. Oh yes, what would the time period be? My wife thinks it would be around 1900. Cheers Brian

Here is a close up of the Spitfire. Thanks for looking. Brian

Hello Everyone, I had to post this remarkable "toy" that is displayed over the Spitfire Emporium in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The owner owns KW Surplus also in Kitchener and also owns the T54/55 Tank I posted earlier today. The model is a full sized Mk IX Spitfire and is made of fibreglass. While this is not a model in the usual sense I posted it here because it is a replica and not a real plane. Check out this remarkable gentleman and his store on Google under Spitfire Emporium. He sells small scale models, replicas and books; it may be worth your time to check it out. I hope you like the photos. Cheers Brian

Here is a shot of the track. It is not like the tracks I've seen on other tanks I've looked at but then they were mostly British and Canadian. I took quite a few photos and burned them to a disc so I can add them to my collection but I won't take up a lot of space on the forum with them. I hope you liked the T54/55. Cheers Brian

Here's a view of the top and one of the hatches. Yes, I climbed onto the tank (I told you it was early in the day). It looked like you could access the tank by one of the hatches as the owner has chained it shut rather than welding it down.

Another view

Hello Everyone, I stated back in the winter that I pass a Russian T34 going to and from work. I was asked to post some photos so here they are. You will notice that it is in fact a T54/55 and not the T34 though the 54/55 is an improved version of the 34. It sits in front of the parking lot for KW Surplus in Kitchener Ontario. The store actually sells only a few common modern military items (mostly trash) and is the place to go for industrial surplus items and a lot of odds and ends. I hope the photos are clear enough as I took them in the very early morning so that I could avoid customers in the parking lot and the sun was too bright when facing east for good photos. Cheers Brian

Hi PK, I'm not even going to ask how you would know that. No, really, don't tell me. Cheers Brian