Mossy

Alex, Brilliant photos, thank you for sharing them with us! Definetly lets us have a better insight into the war. Cheers and thank you again! Sam.

Michael, fantastice medal and research! I haven't found a Colonial LS&GC to a man with war service (Though there is one possible.), though in most colonies war service counted as double time. It seems that alot of these men were kept for home defence rather than sent out. I have seen a couple of examples where the recipient has had war service, but i didn't get much of a look at them to determine how they worked regarding years of service and what units they were attached to. Come on people, there must be more of these hiding in peoples drawers or shoeboxes or wherever you keep your medals! Cheers, Sam.

Another one to join the ranks! Picked this up in a recent auction and it's winging its way over to me as we type. Another EDVII issue, this time to "546 SPR. H. MORTON. AE. 4.4.08". A Sapper from the New South Wales branch of the Australian Engineers, with service in the New South Wales Engineers prior to federation. These guys were kept very busy over the entirety of their existence, fortifying ports and other stategic points along the coast. The N.S.W. engineers would have been working in N.S.W. prior to federation, but just before and after federation they would have been sent to other states (Usually Western Australia and Queensland and the northern part of South Australia, which would later become the Northern Territory.) to help their defence efforts. A point worth noting is the defences of Sydney harbour was never really finished and was constantly in either a state of disrepair or undergoing a change in methods of defence (The 'keep him out' or 'lure him in' approaches were juggled from decade to decade.) With a date of award on the 4th of April in 1908, Morton would have to have served since at least 1888, definetly a very busy time. More research forthcoming. Sam.

Thomas, congratulations of such a stunning group! I've seen a couple like this, but they are definatly far and few between, especially to a Kimberly defender. Cheers, and can't wait to see more as you uncover it. Sam.

Amazing family narrative Leib, Thank you for taking the time and effort to put all this together. Your relatives would be proud. Cheers, Sam.

Randy, St Thomas, in Ontario, is actually fairly close to where the Fenians crossed the border from the USA. I would leave the medal as it is, although that is my personal prefernce, it seems to be one shared by many in the medal collecting community. Cheers, Sam.

Randy, Welcome, and i am sorry to hear of your loss. The medal is the Canadian General Service Medal and was awarded for taking part in one of three campaigns: the 1866 Fenian raids, the 1870 Fenian raids, and the Red River 'rebellion' of 1870. Your medal was awarded for the first of these campaigns, the 1866 raids, hence the clasp. Different clasps were issued for the different campaigns. Hopefully someone should be able to verify your medal on the rolls for you, but i doubt anyone would fake these medals as they are quite easy to find. There are a couple good references out there, the names of which elude me at the moment, but a brief introduction can be found on wikipedia (Though i loath sending you there.), just search for "Fenian Raids" and that will give you a brief overview of the entire situation. Cheers, Sam.

Recently i picked up a nice silver shooting fob for the 1st L.A.V. (Launceston Artillery Volunteer) carbine club, awarded to "Bombr. Dick, No. 8 Company" in 1892. The front has a shield with the following inscription "H.D. to M.H.", not quite sure what that means, any ideas? What occoured to me as i bidded on the piece was how short some volunteers' service could be in Australia, even as low as two and three years. This being because of either lack of interest in the volunteer movement, or financial recession, or even a towns population dropping. In addition, the Colonial LS&GC medal/s were for twenty years service and the earliest was introduced as late as 1892. Logically, all of what could be left of some volunteers service would be fobs and prizes such as these. In this case, however, the 1st L.A.V. was formed quite early and was eventually rolled into the Federal forces during the re-organisation following federation. Unfortunatly my scanner is off line, so no photos of this piece. Please post your own pieces or thoughts on what place these unofficial prizes have in militaria collecting. Some people see these as little tid-bits that hold no real interest as they are not an officially sanctioned medal or award, whilst others (Including myself) view them with a little more interest. I have seen a medal bar where the recipient had his award mounted with his Colonial LS&GC and Victoria LS&GC medals, so he obviously felt similar, though it's worth noting he also had two other sports awards that are unmounted. Sam.

Absolutly amazing! I don't think i've seen such an outstanding collection before, and those medals and groups to the Sudanese Battalions are just jawdropping! I would love to see them in more detail if you could? Or even just a write up on the battalions themselves. Once again, truly an amazing collection! cheers for letting us see it! Sam.

True, but that's a massive gap in years there, over thirty in fact, as well as no other WW1 medals being in the group. It's possible certainly, but WW2 seems more likely to me. Sam.

Lastly, courtesy of the Australian War Memorial (Fantastic research and verification site!) Lieutenant J W Castine's sword (Note the Lieutenant part.) Copied as usual, i hate the idea of mis-translations on my part, hence the copy and past approach and full sourcing. Interesting to note it states he is a member of the House of Assembely which means he was on the winning team of the above competition! ID Number: REL/19530 Title: British Pattern 1827 Officer's Sword and Scabbard : Lieutenant J W Castine, South Australian Rifle Volunteer Force Maker: Unknown Object type: Edged Weapon or Club Place made: United Kingdom Physical description: British Pattern 1827 Rifle Officer's sword and scabbard. The hilt has a bronzed steel Pattern 1827 three bar half basket guard with a crown over a stringed bugle cartouche badge and a brass wire bound fishskin grip. The slightly curved Pattern 1845 blade has a single fuller to each side and etched for three quarters of the length. On the right side there is the royal VR cypher and a banner with J.W. CASTINE. The left side has a banner with SOUTH AUSTRALIAN RIFLE VOLUNTEER FORCE and on the ricasso the miltary outfitter's name of HOBSON & SONS LITTLE WINDMILLS LONDON. The steel scabbard originally had a bronze finish to match the guard and has two loose hanger rings on bands at 2 and 10.5 inches from the throat. Summary: This sword was used by Lieutenant J W Castine, an officer of the South Australian Rifle Volunteer Force. Castine was a member of the SA House of Assembly 1884-1902. Copyright: Status to be assessed Related subject: Scabbards; Swords Related unit: South Australian Military Forces Related place: Australia: South Australia Related conflict: Colonial Period, 1788-1901

Parliamentary Rifle Match Photograph of a large composite photograph in the shape of a plaque, commemorating the Parliamentary Rifle Match held in August 1889. The competition (seven shots at 400 and 500 yards range, Wimbledon scoring) was between representatives from the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly, and was won by the former. In additions to individual portraits of the participants, their individual scores are also recorded. To see the individual images do number searches on B 39101/1 to B 39101/12. 1889 Unfortunatly, i can't find the individual images, so he's in there somewhere as are his scores, so for the moment we won't know just how accurate he was. :P

John William Castine Lieutenant John William Castine 1926 Yes, the date and the rank are strange, though i've yet to find out why. It could be it is wrongly named and is in fact his son, or at some point was heavily demoted, can't imagine why though. No idea on the badge on his jacket, i'm planning a trip to Adelaide so will have to stop in and try to get a close look at the original. Any ideas though, despite quality?