Farkas

Gents, would it make any sense for there to have been a previous mark scrubbed off this before it was stamped with the A?? I can’t help seeing (imagining 👀) lines and a box or something running left to right 👀 I’m also seeing (imagining) a first letter in the box... 👉 maybe R, W, A, H or F? Stefan, Is there any chance of another picture of yours, if you have one without glare on that bit? Just to shut me up! 👍 cheers tony

Hi Gents my little collection of blades... nowt special... but look good regardless. ((A poor amateur restoration project made the big chromed fella just cheap enough for me to snaffle it up. I believe it is a Pioneers blade dating from 1862.)) Pioneers short sword/blade. bayonet (m85?) & trench knife. With sword and trench club With nice stamps TD - Train Division maybe? Last one.... Hope you have a good weekend Gents, tony

Thanks Terry, i was pretty sure of a few things it wasn’t but not so sure what it was... That dates it between 1876 and 1895. Thanks again, tony

I signed up last night too... 🍻 Glad it’s all sorted. tony

I wouldn’t give up on your boards yet. I don’t know the technical term but there are 5 ‘curves’ on your boards. They are at least the correct design for yours I believe... These 2 are the same period 👇 This one is Royal Artillery... and this one is Royal Engineers This is a later Royal Fusiliers from 1962 As you can see there are many varieties. The shoulders have been altered on yours but the chances of someone randomly adding the correct style board are surely low. They should be individual rope pieces though all attached together securely, with a little movement in places. Made possibly with a shiny coating originally. It may have worn off the front but still visible on the reverse or elsewhere. When you say they are styrofoam do you mean they are all one shaped piece or is it inside? Any pics? tony

As I understand it, British Merchant Marine ‘uniform’ was not official or required, there was though definitely a need/purpose in some cases and of course us Brits had rules. Though not for medal ribbon wear it seems, this example is not regulation either... MM officers had 2 rows of 4 buttons but also epaulettes. The reason i asked about buttons was we started using aluminium buttons in the early 50’s. If yours are brass they would probably have makers marks on the reverse. 🤞 The details may suggest an age supporting the likelihood this is a period veterans jacket. tony

It wasn’t but the similarity of the description is surely too much for mere chance, i wonder if 👇 was copied from the one you found? I doubt they had the same book 🤷‍♂️ Maybe the collector was wrong, was copied by 👇 and so am I? One thing i notice is these 2 have the same stitching, most noticeably the vertical lines on the M and the N, different to Boonicootza’s example... tony Gents, just as I decided it must be US 10th mountain, i had to find this ☹️ The stitching matches boonicootza’s 🤔 tony

Hi Gents, I was looking at this and would like to add my tuppence worth... (It’s 6.54am and this is off top & after 🍺) I would agree this is not a Royal Navy tunic but i’m not so discouraged by the medal ribbon. Four ribbons would not be worn 3 over 1, they would be 4 alongside each other, if there is an exception it would be 1 over 3 as Gordon said but the order and those issued look good to me. I wonder if there was simply not enough room for the 4 bar, also possibly there was another bar above? The lack of a defence medal is not uncommon for sailors. The France&Germany star was not issued to those in receipt of the Atlantic star, instead a bar was issued to those eligible for both... Medals aside USN, the buttons may offer some insight. If possible could we see a picture of them? Seems at least 2 different types, silvered (unusual) & other. The design, the material (brass or aluminium) and the reverse of these might help 👍 Lastly, if tailor made, there might be a name tag in one of the pockets 🤞 tony

I’ve just seen one of these described as... 1940’s - British Army. ”Supplementary general title for all Mountain Division, Royal Artillery (RA) Units, 52nd Mountain Div.” tony

Hello USN, Good save! It doesn’t look like it would have lasted much longer without you. I’m in the UK and i guess we get different google results to the US so here are a couple of things i found, though you may have seen them already. 👇 first there are a few documents from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. —— —- —- There was also this nice little local piece about him which actually might come in useful if you are looking up his records... In particular, there is a reference to his service beginning in the South Staffs before he transferred to North Staffs. I’ve got three 1940’s Staffordshire Yeomanry uniforms, it took me a while to work out what they were as the Staffs regiments all use the ‘Staffordshire Knot” and their similar badges have changed over the years. The earlier picture of him in dress uniform looks to me to be Victorian South Staffordshires, the collar badge is i think South Staffs worn upto 1898ish. Your tunic definitely has North Staffs buttons and i’m guessing has collar badges more like this 👇 with fleur-de-lis above the knot? I also found this which only mentions from Captain onwards as does the medal roll you’ve pictured. So i wonder if your tunic was made when he transferred to, or was perhaps recalled and joined, the North Staffs? It is labelled Captain, mine are mostly labelled (2nd) Lieutenant regardless of the rank reached. Good luck with it all. cheers tony

Hi Gents, my new arrival... A Victorian 3 sided British Enfield bayonet with partial scabbard. I live in the UK and these, or similar, can be found here but i got this from the USA. It likely has a better story than those over here though i don’t know it! I understand these were often ‘upgraded’ and found further service in armies outside the UK including the US. However there is a ‘bracket’/piece added to the ‘socket’ section that I believe the exported upgrades would have had that is not on this. The main feature that stood out for me were multiple stamps on it. One that I do recognise is the manufacturer stamp E for Enfield on the scabbard. 👇 The others are an ‘M’ on the socket section of the bayonet 👇 There are also stamps on each of the 3 sides of it at the base of the blade 👇 These 2 pictures include multiple similar style stamps - ‘crown, B and number’ among others. and the 3rd shows another WD, War department stamp with a ‘W’ and above possibly an ‘R’ 👇 As always any information on this is welcomed, particularly an idea of its age. tony

I know i’ve picked up a ribbon for one and, I can’t recall, but either a miniature or a stick pin along the way... but no award. Nice find. tony

Lovely little things! I have just 4 or 5 rosettes altogether from other nations but none that’s A.H. I’ve got quite a few of those little ribbon buttonhole things that veterans had but these are much better! Thanks for sharing. tony.

Lovely collection, I’ve nothing KuK still boxed, i may need to rectify that. ... & more great information Gents. 👍 tony

This is what we’re here for! Knowledge! 👍👍 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧

New to me too Gents...

Hi Carlo, From what i can find... the separate head and number 2 indeed place it from 1867 to 1872. & As I understand it, the ‘A’ (Vienna) stamp is not a makers mark, these were added by the ‘Assay office’ who were responsible for confirming items were silver/material as claimed. There is, as you said, no A A A mark... yet you have one! Looking at your picture i would suggest an explanation is the poor application of the first two ‘A’ stamps and then the third was acceptable. Bearing in mind the ‘A’ stamp is not the work of the meticulous maker but a bureaucratic addition by the assay office I would say maybe this is the case. And it’s a lovely piece 👍 tony

Hi Chris, I may have found something.. The caption on the print says... ”Presentation to General Mac Mahon of three flags taken from the Austrians at the battle of Magenta” tony (Image is a screenshot so poor as the link didn’t work)

Hi Scott, i’ve assumed the ribbon is split down the middle, left is white and the right is green or a faded blue(ish) i knew i’d seen veteran association medals with a similar ribbon. i’ve found one and its below. The ribbon is not a colour match to your bar as it now looks, although possibly once was. This one is for 25 years membership of the veteran association. I don’t know if there are similar for 10yrs etc 🤷‍♂️ It is from the Styria region of Austria and there is another non military award i saw with the same colours so maybe they are regional colours. I’ve seen these in medal groups but I’m not sure that i’ve seen one on a medal bar, I don’t know if they would be on one officially. —— There is another more interesting possibility, I hadn’t been aware of this one before, shown below. A 1934 ‘Medal of Honour for the Home Guard’ —— There is a Tyrol medal instituted in 1928 and the German cross instituted 1934 but no Austrian (1932) or Hungarian (1929) campaign medals. and the more i look at it, it looks like it may be an improvised ‘ribbon’. Possibly thread wrapped around the bar? possibly over a different ribbon? Definitely an interesting bar with a story to tell & that’s the best kind! If it’s yours or becomes yours i’d love to see more pictures of it 👍 tony

The displays look great! Mine get sorted away into boxes 🤷‍♂️ Since my last sort away, I’ve bought 20 medals (pictured). I’m happy to say 60% are KTK 😊 My GrandFathers one with his others were sold on Ebay years ago without my knowledge... i’m happy knowing someone wanted them & bought them though and they are out there somewhere So it feels good looking after others instead. They shouldn’t just be floating round homeless. Every one was earned & should be with family. At least for now they have a home with me. tony

For sure. The imperial 25&40 and the nazi 25&40 all used the same ribbon. I think one article said there was a 50 too. i guessed the nazi 40 because it’s scarcity makes it worth swapping out but could be either... tony

Hi 1812 The 40 year Long Service award in gilted bronze like yours was awarded between 1928 and 1936. As Padro said, the 25 year award was not a medal originally A medal was introduced in Nov 1918. A Different ribbon 👇 to your ribbon 4. And the post war 25 year medal if he claimed it years later or just added it, looked like this, a white edged ribbon 👇 So if he had no 25, he must have reached 25 years pre 1918 change. Therefore he reached 40 years no later than November 1933 unless his fire service was interrupted by the war and that delayed him? 1933 is within the period 1928 - 36. Your last medal is, i’m just guessing... The BAVARIAN 40 YEAR LOYAL INDUSTRY SERVICE MEDAL 👇 This was a Nazi era award introduced in 1938. Apparently not very common so understandable for it to be missing. Cheers tony

Hi Johan, yes there’s a list of recipients on Wikipedia but its not complete. it lists them by nationality but i couldn’t find anything from Austria, Hungary or even the right period. As Christian says the French would have the full list, seems its a big deal to them too. cheers tony And a list of foreign recipients here too. 👍 https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Foreign_recipients_of_the_Ordre_des_Palmes_Académiques

Hi Marcus The only thing I found to add was when expanding the eligibility in 1866 to include foreigners, it was also widened to include French expatriates. ”In 1866, the scope of the award was widened to include major contributions to French national education and culture made by anyone, including foreigners. It was also made available to any **French expatriates** making major contributions to the expansion of French culture throughout the rest of the world” The recipients are listed by nationality as you know, perhaps yours was awarded to a French person living in the AH Empire? I know this won’t help... unless you have a lot of time to look 🤷‍♂️ Cheers tony

Hello filfoster there is an older thread discussing ADC boards including FM Haigs double crowns, with great details regarding dress regulations and more. Spoiler alert, no one knows the answer! 😊 Below is the old post, full of facts... One other point about FM Haig though, he was an ADC to King Edward VII between late 1902 and 1904. Then made an ADC to King George in February 1914. Is it possible the extra crown relates to Edward? Who knows 🤷‍♂️ Cheers tony