Peter Mc

The attached picture is from an album relating to the Control Commission Germany, specifically Hamburg. Can anyone identify the building location and suggest if it still exists? It may of course be another building entirely, but seems to be grouped amongst other photos of the same one.

Thank you Dave. The clear image you have of the belt buckle is superb.

Can anyone identify this force please? I only have bare details from a family member, but they believe these to be William and Edward Lloyd, born circa 1879-1882 in Worthen, Shrewsbury. They are thought to have died in the Great War. A brother emigrated to Canada in 1913 although I think these men are part of a UK constabulary. Can anyone shed any more light on the badge/collar/belt buckle badges? Thanks

A query for the helmet fittings experts please - This is the 'acanthus leaf' boss from a Dublin Metropolitan Police helmet. It is the first time I have seen one disassembled, as they are usually seen with the 'ball top' finial. I notice that the decoration on the boss extends up to the very top, which is usally hidden by the finial. It is also unventilated, which seems unusual. Does anyone know if these 'acanthus leaf' patterns were used on other helmets, police or military, and if so what would the other fittings have looked like? Did they allow for the additional decoration to be seen? Any ideas as to when these were first taken into general issue (again police/army if relevant)? I am sure this must have been a general pattern and not one specifically made for the D.M.P. - or am I wrong? There were a few posts on this 5 years ago, buried within another topic, but not the information I was looking for. I have asked the same question on the British Military Badge Forum a month ago, but received no responses. Hoping to have more luck here.

A very interesting thread. I have also been looking at the activities of the Special (Irish) Branch (S.I.B.) and in particular at the members of the Irish Constabulary involved in Port Duties, both during and after the Fenian dynamite conspiracies. You may be interested in this thread (click here) relating to the S.I.B. and which throws a few more names into play. Members of the R.I.C. present in British Ports and Cities can be found here. It's largely unstructured but is an attempt to record further names some of whom may well have worked alongside, or embeedded in, the SIB. Melville gets a fair bit of a mention from one of my members - Hope this adds a bit more to the mix.

Very informative, and superb images supporting the text. I wonder how many others were ex-RN and potentially holders of service medals.

I first came across this medal being offered for sale in 1992. Despite extensive searches, I was unable to identify 'C.M. Wood' as ever being associated with any of the Irish Police forces, clerical judiciary or office staff. The RCMP Museum was unable to help even with a full name (this was in the 90's so new archives may be available now). I have come across a further 10 'funnies'; all Visits 1911, some engraved to the MPSC, Gdn Hrs, Stoke on Trent Police, others unnamed but with named military medals. I have a feeling some of these men may have provided services in the St Johns Ambulance at the time, but this is only a speculation. The RIC did have a Colonial Policing training school and it is possible that men were present there, but usually these would have been of commissioned or NCO ranks. Again, I cannot place any of my '11 funnies' as positively being in Ireland at that time.

Hello IMP. I haven’t got any images myself but I recall some years back looking for some, and indeed found some either online or in old copies of the RUC Gazette. Sadly I didn’t save them. Most of the band photos are of the Pipe Band and they are seen wearing highland dress or greens usually. If I come across them again I will update this thread. When you say a different colour, could that be slight shade variations due to the dye manufacturing process?

Cheers Mike! I got alerted to this via an email notification. The images are missing due to Photobuckets change in policy on third party image hosting, which has affected millions of users worldwide - and some 2500 broken image links in my case. There is a fix I can apply (or repost the photos) but I need to be able to edit my own posts on this site, and that functionality (editing) seems to become locked after a period of time. Perhaps an admin can unlock it for me. Nice rattle you just recently posted. I don't know if you ever give these a 'twirl' to hear the sound - I'm reluctant to do it on mine as the wood is so aged now - although I did slowly rotate it once. P.S. I've applied the 'fix' to my own site so you can view the same images here: http://irishconstabulary.com/topic/1364#.WYrFEq2ZOMI

Those 'feather or leaf-like things' are in fact a shamrock; the original device used by the Constabulary of Ireland before it adopted the harp as its crest.

By way of comparison, here is one from the Irish police: The earliest known form of communication between constables was the police 'rattle', carried in the tail of the coat and used to summon help. It was effective to about 500 yards and was in use from the 1840's until around 1880; individual forces replacing the rattle with the whistle from about 1860 onwards. This example was issued to the Irish police and bears the crest of the Constabulary of Ireland, together with 'KILm XI', perhaps a reference to a parish watch. It is a rare and possibly unique reminder of the earliest years of the Irish constabulary. The force crest of the Constabulary of Ireland - Marked 'Kilm XI' -

That's not an RIC crest, but a set of initials that looks like RJC. Even if it were RIC I would expect it to be stamped with a rack number as well. Not a police firearm imo.

That is very interesting dksgiggs. Can you put up a photo of the carbine and a close up of the crest? What is the serial number? PM me if preferred.

This is the ISM awarded to John Code, Royal Irish Constabulary Office, Dublin, 1903. This came in an unnamed box (although this box may be a replacement). Also shown is the ISM awarded to Frederick Hamilton, Royal Irish Constabulary Office, Dublin, 1908; together with his two Visit to Ireland medals. As you can see it came in a named box of issue.