Brian Wolfe

Hello Mel,

Welcome to the GMIC.  Mervyn may be a while in responding since he lives in South Africa now and with the time difference...well you know the drill.

Regards

Brian

Hello Mel,

Welcome to the GMIC.  Mervyn may be a while in responding since he lives in South Africa now and with the time difference...well you know the drill.

Regards

Brian

Hello John,

As you can see and have demonstrated the subject of named medals can generate a lot of passion.  I purchased a grouping of WWI medals from a co-worker a number of years ago as she didn't want them in her house and the family had long stopped speaking, for what reason I do not know.  The next day se arrived at work with four boxes full of documents and photos of her family that went back to the late 1800s.  I really didn't want them but she plunked them on my desk and said that if I didn't want them then I was to throw the lot in the dumpster!  I feel like the archivest for this family's history.  I did track down her brother and was rudly told where I could shove the family photos and documents. 

There are many reasons why family members sell their ancestor's medals and to say that it is unethical to purchase them may indeed result in the medals being trashed, as would have been the case in my story above.  Many of us spend years researching the recipients of the medals we have in our collections.  Not for profit as many of us will no doubt pass away and our families will have to dispose of the collections.  Most of us are historians and keeping the stories about the recipients of the medals alive somehow keeps then alive as well. 

I wish you luck in your attempts to recover the medal and hope you are sucessful.  Just keep in mind that the medal is probably in the hands of a collector who has broken no laws in securing it.  I think you will find the vast majority of us more than willing to help you regain the ownership of the medal, at least until a family member a few decades from now decided to once again sell it...it happens.

Respectfully,

Brian Wolfe

Chris, what were you doing in the Home Office, I thought I told you no photographs.

Regards

Brian

Well done Tony!

This is the correct section, in my opinion.

Regards

Brian

Hi Rick,

I never got around to mounting the medal, a shame but I just haven't had the time.  Believe it or not some areas of the collection haven't been visited for a couple of years.

Hi Andy,

Great photo and even greater moustache.

Regards

Brian

This is the same rank in both the Pakistani and Indian military and stands for Lance Daffadar (Lance Corporal) in the cavalry and armour divisions.

Regards

Brian

It looks like there are two shiny "wear spots" on the clip which would indicate the proper position of the clip when inserted into the weapon.  I'd agree with Pylon1357 in that it is probably Photoshop.  Not only would the clip fall out right away the shells would never feed at that angle.

Regards

Brian

Yes, Peter there is a regulation and you have already quoted it, "the number you currently own + 1".

Regards

Brian

Yes, Peter there is a regulation and you have already quoted it, "the number you currently own + 1".

Regards

Brian

All in all a very nice lamp.  I like it as it has some differences and an added feature (match strike strip), that other lack.

Thanks for posting it.

Regards

Brian

Interesting, I'm not sure if mine is maked on the back or not.  At the moment it is in a display case behind a mountain of odds and ends that are temporarily stored in the office so I can't check.  Yours looks like the lamp designed by Phillip Bicknell, former Chief Constable of Lincolnshire at the turn of the 20th century; one of my personal favourite specimens in my collection.

I just remembered that my Cresent Lamp is shown on page 3 of this post and upon checking the photos I see that mine in, in fact, not marked like yours.  I wonder if this is the accountability number that would be recorded in connection with the PC it was issued to that particular night's duty?

Regards

Brian

Hi Draklantern,

Very nice examples, thanks for posting them.  From what I understand from Mervyn, and I stand to be corrected, not all lanterns used by the different police forces were marked.  Therefore quite often we have to be content to accept a certain specimen on the faith that it was indeed at least the "type" used by the police.  It is always a bonus when the specimen you have just added to your collection has the markings of the issuing police department .

I hope Mervyn will weigh in on this point to satisfy that I am correct or at least to add to my knowledge with a correction.

Regards

Brian

Sadly anything you might try will probably result in what is an interesting object becoming a piece of trash, good for the kids to play with or as a standard for the support of your tomatoes to grow.

Some have tried 4 Zero (0000) steel wool and a light machine oil such as "3 in 1" and lightly rubed the rusted surface.  This may remove any scale rust but will also leave a surface that will look like it has had a clear coat applied.  This shinny dark look is not considered desirable by almost any collector. and is seen as being "over cleaned"  I would simply see if any loose rust can be removed using somthing that will not scratch such as one of those bread-bag plastic tags and lightly see if the loose rust can be lifted off.  When I say loose rust I mean and rust that is almost ready to fall off on its own.  Other than that do yourself and the artifact a favour and do nothing. If you can't stand having it around in that condition then send it to me and I'll do nothing with it except appreciate it for what istis (I'll pay postage).  I am only joking about sending it to me; keep it as it is and see it for what it is, an artifact of a time long past and an era surrounded by the myth of the romance and glory of battle.

Regards

Brian

Hi Tomas,

Thanks for posting your sword, one that no doubt that helped forge the British Empire.  Ah, the stories it could tell.

Regards

Brian

Good stuff!  It's always nice when a combined effort brings about the desired results.

Well done everyone.

Regards

Brian

Hi Tomas,

Would you have a picture of a British 1861 Army Hospital Corps sword you could post?  None of my books seems to have one, though my library is no where complete.

Regards

Brian

Hi Juan,

Thank you for the complement, it is greatly appreciated by me and I am sure by all the other members, now including you, who have helped to build this post.

I had the same problem in findng a forum that dealt with British Police lanterns so I figured I'd post my collection and research here with the hope others would join in, as this indeed did. 

Regards

Brian

Thanks for posting this second photo.  Now I am completely at a loss to identify the sword but with some luck perhaps another member will be able to held.  I am leaning toward Gremany as a country of origin but that is more guess rather than an educated opinion. 

Good luck Hippy.

Regards

Brian

Hello Hippy,

Welcome to the forum.

Nothing is rubbish when it comes to original swords, even ones that have been neglected or "lost" to the weather for years.  I can't really identify this particular sword at the moment  from your photo but it is worthwhile keeping.  Do not attempt to clean this sword as any use of an abrasive will ruin it further.  It is at a point where it has probably stabilized and any attempt to restore it will cause it further damage to the point where it may actually end up being rubbish.

Any chance of a photo of the whole sword?  It may help in the identification.  Perhaps one of the other members will recognize the handle and hand guard but a photo of the whole sword will tell us much more.

Thanks for posting this interesting specimen.

Regards

Brian

There is a police secton under the Special Interest area that might be a better choice to post lanterns from other countries.  This area is mainly for British Police and the other section may be seen by more people with interest in lanterns but not necessarily British Lanterns.

Regards

Brian

Once in a while a couple items come along that both just need to be secured for your collection.  This may well be one of those times.  If not then it sounds like the St. Henry is the wisest choice.

Regards

Brian

Hi UEL,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for the additional information.  We have visited Perth several times since and other than the occasional verbal duel with my mother-in-law while there we never seem to have the time to re-visit the museum with the hope of getting a closer look. The last time we were there we looked for Robert Lyon's headstone in the cemetary where he is burried and the stone seems to be missing.  Have you heard anything of it's disappearence in your area on the province; no one we spoke to in Perth or Smith's Falls knew anything about it.

I hope to hear more from you here on the forum, it's also good to have another Canadian to moan about the weather to.

Regards

Brian

Hello Juan,

Your English is very good, no problems.  I should be sorry for the way I use English since it is my mother language.  Your collection is fantastic and I really liked the way you photographed the first lantern in the post above, very nice effect.

It has been a while since I have added to my lantern collection but who knows what will come my way tomorrow, I just need to be calm and wait.

Regards

Brian

Hello Darklantern,

Welcome to the forum, it is good to see a fellow lantern collector.  Your collection is magnificent and I hope you will continue to post information and articles of what both Mervyn and I consider a most interesting topic.  Mervyn was the inspiration for me starting to collect police lamps.

Regards

Brian