deptfordboy

Mine is sitting under the Xmas tree right now (present from the wife) but judged on the basis of his other books it will be excellent - I'll let you know how I get on!

Hi Jane, Sorry for the delayed reply - I am rather a lapsed member of this forum as life and babies have got in the way! Very interested to hear about your ancestor, he is indeed listed in the book but I didn't see any specific mention of him. A frined of mine has painstakingly compiled an index of names mentioned in the book and will be sending it soon, which may uncover more. What do you know about your G Grandfather which you'd like to share? Gilbert

Super badge, Tony - definitely a one off. I for one haven't seen any similar enamel work on suh a 'humble' award. Cheers Gilbert

Hiya Tony, The badge looks good to me - if subsequently played around with. If you can give me his number then I'll take a look at Williamson's book this weekend. Cheers Gilbert

After a period of silence, I have also heard that research on my awards is underway I'll keep you gents posted... Gilbert

What a shocking thread - this group is indeed of great historical importance and yet it gets cast to the 4 winds like this. However, this seller is only repeating practices common in contents auctions going way back. I spoke with the auctioneer of a local auction house who recently split up a (modest) family group which had been kept together over 150 years and he was quite clear about the fact that this way he'd make most money for his client and himself, with yer man on Ebay the tactics are the same, all that's changed is the medium. Unfortunately, I feel the only sensible course of action is to steer well clear of all his ebay auctions, should one even have the very deep pockets required to reunite some or all of the items. After all, bidding to save them as a group is what he's counting on. Cheers Gilbert

Thanks, that's helpful. So, he began his reign 1926, if you add the 14 then you get to 1941, making it just pre-WW2 (from Japan's point of view)? Whilst not trying to excuse my snaps, the numbers are difficult to read to the eye, but on the insrtument I think they are 15 and 5 . Cheers G

And finally, the tool kit with mysterious capsules - do they have something to do with the cylinder gizmo I wonder?

closeup of the compass plate markings

Here's a side view showing the plate with markings

Here's the front view of compass - note the cylinder

Shot of the box with contents in situ

A close up of the markings on the box plate

Here is the front of the box with marked plate.

Hi Gents, I have been away from collecting a while as work and family commitments have taken over, but a belated Happy New Year to all here. I picked up this item at a local auction last week. It came from a house clearance, and according to the auctioneer's description is a compass taken from a WW2 Japanese torpedo boat, but I take pronouncements like that with a big pinch of salt It is definitely a compass, with Japanese-looking markings, and a wooden box similar to military instruments of other countries in WW2. Beyond that I haven't a clue. Both the box and the instrument are marked. The compass sits on springs, has some sort of screw adjustment on top and bottom, and lugs for securing it to something stationary. There is some sort of cylinder at the front which is empty. The box also contains a toolkit and some mysterious glass capsules. Could anyone here please help confirm whether this is Japanese, naval and/or WW2, and help with translating the markings? It does seem to be a rare item as I couldn't find anything similar on from google searches. Any help would be much appreciated. Cheers Gilbert PS - apologies for the poor photography, it's a dark art to me!