james Stewart

The attached jpg shows my daughter Kara ( In black , then aged 12) placing flowers on his grave. This was taken on the Dutch National day of remembrance, following a church service , school children place flowers on all of the Commonwealth Graves . The pipe band - are all local dutch men and they play very well . As a visitor I must pay my respects to the local people who look after the Commonwealth Plot . The men buried here are mostly aircrew both Coastla and Bomber Command , I was greatly surprised to find some men there who were lost at Dunkirk in 1940 , the coastal current having carried them to the Netherlands. If you are looking for a short break in the Netherlands I can fully recommend a few days on Ameland. [attachmentid=18443]

Logbook and medals belonging to Sgt (A/G). James D. Stewart. He was lost on his third operational flight on the in bound leg to Bochum on 29th September 1943. Their Halifax MkII was shot down by Marine Flak Battery "Vlieland West", they had been posted to the Squadron just two weeks earlier. Jimmy's body was cast ashore on Ameland on 5th October and following examination by the occupying power was buried the same day in Nes General Cemetery, his body was the only trace of the aircraft or its crew to be recovered. He was the midupper gunner , his crew mates remain trapped in their aircraft , "missing". The sketch diagram forwarded with the claim form a victory pennant , made by the unit commander shows the aircraft to have crashed into the sea about 2 kilometers to the west of Texel's southern tip.[attachmentid=18429]

That is not just good , its outstanding. Thank you for the look. The crosses alone are a labour of love - the uniforms - to a very average man like me - rarely get the chance to see such wonderful items.

The larger of the two sets. I have had one in my hands before and was much impresed by the quality of the build and optics , just this evening saw a set of this type on a documentery on BBC-1 about a RN destroyer making her way to the Gulf. Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks to all in advance. james s

Smaller one , front view.

Gentlemen , I have bought these two post war optics from that "Janus" system which we all frequent from time to time - " The God eBay". Both are post war Royal Navy optics and I wonder if they might be related in developmental terms , the smaller evolving into the larger perhaps ? I will put my hand on my heart and say I know little about them and would be grateful if anyone might be able to tell me anything. Presently I "assume" that they are for tracking incoming missiles but an more than willing to be corrected. (A guess at best.) I would like to know what power sources might be used to put life into them and any opinion as to how they preformed at "the sharp end " , good points and bad points. Unfortunately someone took the electrical leads of the smaller set but for ?35 cleaned internally they will be good to use , they so nearly , nearly fit on the 10x80 flakglas mount. Simple information e.g maker age , service history etc would be greatly appreciated. My thanks to all in advance. ( At presnet I am waiting for the larger set to reach me and have used the sales photos from "eBay" as I have none of my own yet. [attachmentid=16744]

Point taken Chris.

The term " Ship taken up from Trade" has been used in a decent reference book written about the Royal Navy and the Falklands war. The " Taken up from Trade" means what it says ..." a "Roll on Roll off" of ferry or container ship presed into service beacuse the RN did not the support or transport ships to do the job. The Dunkirk spirit is quite fine but its a bit out of place in the modern world , even in the 1980's. What other nation goes to war or leaves their armed services up the left like we do ? There is some mind set which needs to be looked at - we no longer have a Fleet . The man in the front line deserves better , time he got it. Does anyone know the state of play with the new aircraft carrier which was to be built ?

Some naval sets made by Nedinsco turn up from time to time I don't have any myself - a friend of mine bought a Nedisco 7x50 a fewweeks ago - quality he tells me is very good. I may be wrong but I think there was a strong connection bewteen this company and Carl Zeiss.

Hinrik, I do think that the Icelandic Goverment were right to extend their limits and to protect stocks. My memories of the Cod Wras are those which I recall from News footage. As you rightly say over fishing has destroyed fish stocks . I think there was some conflict between Canadian fishermen and Spanish trawlers in more recent times. A few years ago I saw Irish boats in Killybegs flying the Canadian Flag as a measure of support . Thanks for your insight into the "war". Best Regards james S

Michel , a very nice collection of unifroms - I would be delighted to own any of them I would be delighted if you could give some close ups of the shoes worn by the "tropical officer". Thank you for the chance to see your outstanding collection , first class.

Sorry if this seems an odd question to ask. What type of footwear was most commonly worn on board submarines ? I have seen ( I can't remember the source) details of a special type of shoe with a "composite" sole , did this exist - if so was it widely issued ? Any information and illustrations on type of footwear worn on ( in) board and on watch keeping duties would be very welcome. Something which you don't see well illustrated in books as a rule. Thank you to all in advance.

View into the prism housing. The two glass prisms are held in a "cage" which secured to the body of the binocular. When taken out to be cleaned they were both badly marked by gassed out lubricant which would in time degrade the optical surfaces. Cleaned with acetone and then with an optical cleaning fluid they came up 100%. All the major component parts are matched numbers. The change from black to green can clearly be seen . [attachmentid=13359]

two jpegs of the set as they are now. I have made a start at removing the black paint which was a post war coating , the pea green colouring is being exposed and at the moment the set is more green than black. [attachmentid=13358]

Nick - It was started and took on a life of its own - I didn't intend to do a biography as such - just to say something of the man behind the medal group and the photographs.

" Not enough room to swing a cat" , the cat of nine tails again. "Don't let the cat out of the bag" - the lash again.

Goverments are really great. When there was "a review of the fleet" last year there was really very little left to review. The ironic use of ships in the falklands , the assult ships , they were being sold to guess what country ? Argentina ...... Cut backs are fine , they save money but given the lack of equipment and make do and mend which cut backs bring about the eventual cost is to the man in the front line. The body armour shortages - that cost lives . Perhaps it seemed like a good idea at te time- when soldiers going abroad have to buy their own kit because of shortages or gear which is not up to it , time to think again about cuts and what they mean.

The loss of the Lancastria in June 1940 - she had left St. Nazaire loaded with troops and was sunk as she headed into the bay of Biscay by Luftwaffe aircraft. She was 16,000 t. the number of troops lost was terrible. The loss of Hood - Holland almost got it spot on he closed the distance to the german squadron as quickly as possible and was just making his turn to open his after arcs when the fatal shot hit. Hood was indeed a very elderly lady who having flown the flag all over the world was over due for a refit and was vunerable. P.O.W. - a new ship which was not properly run up she sailed with workmen on board who were trying to resolve mechanical problems with her main armament. She lost most of her guns to mechanical failures, had Lindermann been allowed to follow her she would probably have been sunk as well . ( Having said that she did hit Bismarck several times - one of her shots was to prove decisive). The loss of Force Z "Battleship" by Martin Middlebrook is certainly a book worth reading on this subject. No air cover unsure of what was going on around them , everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Two ships which could not defend themselves , put out on a limb. A carrier was to have gone with them , she ran aground and the two battle wagons went on alone , might it have made any difference ? My guess is that three ships would have been lost. Two capital ship loss which has been over looked, both to submarines. HMS Barham Nov. 1941 - that terrible detonation as she slowly settled , over 800 men lost in an instant. (U-331). HMS Courageous , aircraft carrier lost to U-29.

From what I recall it was about fishing areas around Iceland. The Icelanders worried about stocks and their own industry placed a ban on other nations fishing around Icelandic coast . The 9.00pm BBC news had some amazing footage of the Icelandic fishery protection vessels cutting trawl nets , playing cat and mouse with Royal Navy ships . Thor does spring to mind, the sjkipper of that vessel being a very determined individual. Lots of trawlers lost their gear and RN ships came home with bent sides and hand rails.

Yes , nice photos seems well worth a visit - liked the observation on the sound efects and Horst's view on them. A few years ago I spent a day at St. Nazaire and was on board the Atlantic class boat they have placed in the lock system, it is really just a carbon copy of the XXI.

I have two sets of blc's which are uncleaned - no internal problems bright , and perfect. They have never been "openned" in one set the desicator cells are still working perfectly. I guess its luck of the draw - depends on what way they have been looked after and in what enviroment they have been kept. Dougie Biggart ( Glasgow Binocular Repairs) told me about a set of 8x60 leitz that he sees every year for cleaning , in they come in fogged up. I know of one major collector who has a room full of rare binoculars - he never uses them and rarely even picks them up. None are ever cleaned to be used , he would never consider using any of them . The sets range from mint conditioned examples to sets which are really only up to be considered for spare parts, each totheir own but reducing them to ornaments to be ignored to me just does not seem right. We are the owners of items for our generation only - we must accept some duty of care for items which are of historical interest. My "2d" for what its worth. Attached an untouched km marked set . [attachmentid=12845]

Some people would not clean these , it would change them and alter what they are. Bottom line is sooner or later if they are left long enough they will degrade completly and be just a useless hunk of metal. Perhaps not in my lifetime , but if they are to be used why not have them doing what they were made to do and to a standrad which would be acceptable back in 43-45. Yes looking foraerd to being able to use them.

Bob- these sets did not carry the full Kgm mark of the eagle over M, just the three letter makers code and the glass number. ( Se attached jpeg). I have just had a mail from Hans Seeger who thinks that the black may not be a war time application , good news is its wearing off . [attachmentid=12782]

Medal group. MBE (1978) , 39-45 Star , Atlantic Star , Italian Star , Defence Medal,1939-45 Medal,Police Medal, RUC Service Medal. [attachmentid=12781]