Brian Wolfe

Funny,as I am sort of a "sword guy" and I just realised that the sword is the Pattern 1845 Infantry Officer's sword. The hilt is actually the 1822 as if you look at it closely you can see that the side that would be against the uniform in wear folds up to prevent wear. This was changed in 1854. This is not as important in dating the photo as officers often carried a sword with the older hilt. What I can say for certain is that the sword would have to date no earlier than 1845 when the fullered blade was mandated. This Pattern sword was in use from 1822 (in this case 1845) up to 1895 when the pattern changed drastically. 

Regards

Brian

No sure if this is of any help but I remembered such a "hat" in one of the Men-At-Arms books, "The British Army of the Crimea" published by Hippocrene.

It looks like the ball in your photo is white which would make him a grenadier.

Regards

Brian

Population 5 and no Starbucks or even a Tims? You were at the ends of the world!

Seriously, thanks for posting this lost from memory WWII site. Man, you just never know what you'll learn when you check the posts on GMIC

Regards

Brian

I would like to add photos of the swords covered in this series from time to time, when I find them. With that in mind here is a photo from around the early part or just prior to WWI (going from the equipment) of a group of the 7th Hussars at their barracks holding their Pattern 1908 Cavalry Swords. Check further up in this section for an article on these swords under Britain's Last Sword.

Regards

Brian 

You are most welcome and thank you for the feedback.

Regards

Brian

Perhaps the one regret, that I will ever admit, is all of the questions I could have asked those who served and just didn't. Now, obviously, it is to late.

Thanks for your reply, Gordon.

Regards

Brian

Thanks for your feedback and comments Gunner 1 and BalkanCollector. It is much appreciated.

Regards

Brian

No worries, I'm well past my "best before date".?

Regards

Brian

A little over 100 years ago a pandemic spread out over the world with devastating results. Misnamed the Spanish Flu it seemed to accompany the soldiers returning from the Great War. In actuality started in the State of Kansas in the United States, spread through the thousands of American volunteers for war service then crossed the Atlantic. Recent research has shown that the facts involving the influenza, or flu, were withheld from the general public so as not to start a panic and the thinking was that the governments didn’t want the public to think that there was a another threat to their “boys” besides German bullets. The one country that remained neutral was Spain and the news media in Spain reported the virus infection in its fullest thereby giving the influenza of 1918 the name of “The Spanish Flu”. The soldiers returning home brought with them a new wave of infections that, in the end, resulted in 500 Million people worldwide, or about ¼ of the world’s population being infected with deaths of from 17 to 50 million people worldwide. The 1918 Influenza Pandemic was the first of two pandemics caused by the N1H1 virus, the second being the so-called Swine Flu of 2009.

 The reason that the first pandemic in 1918 was so devastating was due to the general poor health of the soldiers as well as the general public at the time, coupled with overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Having said that, we are at a point in history where we can only hope that the current pandemic will not eclipse the devastation of 1918 to 1920.

 I have taken this opportunity to present to you an item from my collection that is very important to me and is a small part of the story of a contemporary of mine. This sounds strange, even to me, that a man who served in the Great War was a contemporary of mine but such is the case and sadly such is my age. More about this in another post I will start soon.

 Sherman De Groat, Private, number 3137517 was drafted into the Canadian Army 21 November, 1917 at the age of 24 and discharged 17 May, 1918. During this time he fell ill with the 1918 Influenza and was hospitalized at the Beach Hill Hospital, Sheffield,  where he recovered before being shipped home, a survivor of the Great War and the greatest pandemic to hit the world to date.

 Below is a section from his Medical Records along with his BWM. There is a photo of a group of soldiers as well. It was easy for me to pick him out as he looked a lot the same when I knew him and I will bet you too will be able to recognize him as easily. He is in the middle row, second man from your left.

 Regards

Brian

In looking through my German collection I realised just how many groups and individual medals I really liked. I do tend to purchase only those I like rather than attempting to get one of every type of medal  issued. Not that there is anything wrong with that as a quick look around the collection room would prove me a hypocrite if I were implying there was anything wrong with one of each type.

With that in mind I decided to pick out no more than two groups that I would hate to sell almost no matter what.  Here they are. not the most glorious of groups I am sure but the ones I like the most.

Regards

Brian

Everything so far is just my guess but I'd say that you are correct regarding the numbers on the back strap area. I have been through every book and listing I have for the British and Canadian regiments and even delved into Indian regiments. Shows how desperate one can get. ? I even considered Provost Division but that quickly went nowhere.

When and if I find out I will post a photo of the whole sword and scabbard. It happens that the scabbard is not original to this sword and is marked 21 L for 21st Lancers. It is in excellent condition so if I see a sword marked to the 21st I'll snap it up as a match. 

The search continues, and like the search for the Northwest Passage I am starting to feel like a member of the Franklin Expedition.

Thanks for your efforts.

Regards

Brian

Very nice groups fellows. Mine is more of a work-a-day group of Colonial German medals. The two photographs are not associated with the medals themselves. The group would indicate to me that after his military service he was in the civil service, if I am incorrect please advise me as this is not my area of knowledge.

Regards

Brian

Hello everyone,

I just acquired a Pattern 1899 Cavalry Trooper's Sabre marked to 3 P. D. and I cannot find what P, D, stands for. I believe the 3 is for the 3rd, and the D could be dragoons (?) but nowhere can I find a mention of what the letter P stands for.

I've included a photo of the stamping on the guard but the description (in case the photo is unclear) is as follows.

3. P. D. followed by 26 that has been crossed out, over the number 6. I would think the 6 is the accountability number that would be registered to a particular trooper. The back strap on the grip which is also the tang is marked  P  N, though these may not have any significance to the identification to the regiment but I have included a photo just in case. 

Any assistance you can extended to me would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Brian

Interesting and quite timely, thanks for sharing this with us.

Regards

Brian

Thank you for your help, 1812 Overture. I am guessing that the print is much like the China Incident Medal in that it is a commemorative piece. 

I have framed the print and it now resides in the gallery that is the hallway between my office and the collection room. I've included of a photo.

Again, many thanks for your assistance.

Regards

Brian

Hello Everyone,

While going through a drawer of military prints for an article I am working on  I came across this one that I actually forgot I had. I believe it is a commemorative print showing victorious Japanese soldiers beside the Great Wall. On the back is a stamp which I think could have been a mark denoting the piece was authorised by the government, but that is only speculation on my part. On the front and under the picture is an embossed section with a descriptive message. Could someone please translate these two sections for me. It would be most appreciated.

Since "finding" this print I have decided to frame it and hang it on the wall in the collection room, which was my intention several years back when I purchased it.

Thanks for any assistance you can give me.

Regards

Brian

Thanks for the post, and to echo Mike's comment, the wonderful link to your collection.

Regards

Brian

That is very nice work, your wood shop teacher would be proud of you. I especially like the way the edged weapons stand proud of the backing material, the shadowing really brings them to life. Thanks for sharing your work not to mention your exceptional collection.

Regards

Brian

Hello Nightbreak,

Excellent tip staffs with very nice display stands. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Regards

Brian

When I'm correct I like to be 100% correct yet when I am wrong I am usually 110% wrong! In close examination the W is in no way a W but the number 10 as you have suggested. I took for granted that it was a W based on what I was told and am embarrassed to confess that I never took a closer look. This post has turned out to be a complete revelation for me .

Thank you so much for your assistance and having started this post.

Regards

Brian

12 hours ago, CollectorInTheUSA said:

 

Mervyn, as dear a friend as he was, didn't ever like to be questioned by the likes of me...  I liked to question, "why" and "how do you know" and "are you sure" and Mervyn used to say, "don't question me, I just know!"  He was right most of the time, but just not always.  "Qui novit omnia" indeed!  

Oh, I experienced that on many an occasions, as have a lot of the members hear in the past. He used to say that I could be forgiven, being that I was a "colonial after all".?

Thanks for the additional information on my tip staffs. It's not often such news is that good, usually an item thought rare you find out that is is actually common as dirt. Though any tip staff is worth collecting on its own merits, but Scottish and two at that. YOu have made my day.

Regards

Brian

This is the second of the pair I received from Mervyn and I was told it was from Whitstable. There is only an inch difference in the length of the two tip staffs but due to the proximity to the cameras the closest specimen appears to be a good deal larger.

There is C.W. and 14.W. in script on the staff and I have attempted to show this in one of the photos.

Regards

Brian

I would truly like my example to be Scottish and would have no hesitation in changing the brass plaque to reflect this information. For me the issue is where this tip staff came from, being Mervyn. If was a gift and in the memory of a close friend I will probably leave it as it is. The problem arises in the possibility the this item will be "moved on" when I "move on" so-to-speak, by my heirs. I would not want to be the one to perpetuate an error in identification. Perhaps I will affix a note on the underneath the stand to reflect this new information.

The topic of the police tip staff has little in the way of research unlike my true passion, British military swords and black powder firearms. I have always needed to depend on limited information in the few books available and other more knowledgeable collectors. It would be difficult to pass off misinformation regarding British military swords to me and I could happily argue such points all day long. At the same time Mervyn was only human ( qui novit omnia) and he could have been mistaken, therefore I could never take a firm stand on the identification of the tip staff I posted.The "gift" was of two tip staffs and I will post photos of these a little later today.

Regards

Brian

I do think it has been dropped at sometime in its life. The identification came directly from Mervyn and that's all I had to go by. For the most part unmarked specimens, such as this one, could be from anywhere and other than what Mervyn told me I would have been left with no "title" for the brass plate at all, perhaps "Typical British Tipstaff"? I've made the stands for these a number of years ago when my thickness planer would not produce material as thin as the one I presently use. It has always seemed a little too "robust" simply to support such a light item. At least there is no danger of the stand breaking. ?

Regards

Brian

An interesting bit of history, albeit a sad event. You are so correct in that we tend to collect the life stories of others. Thanks for sharing this and, in that, helping to keep his memory alive.

Regards

Brian