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.

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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]

Second view of the crypt looking towards the steps down which the SS attempted to storm the crypt.

The previous view the ventilation openning through which the Prague firebrigade was made to flood the crypt.

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Don, I missed your thread on Wehr. Awards I was in Prague in August and could not get my 15 year old up to the Castle for love nor money.

As luck would have it we were staying in a Pension Guest house very close to the dancing house and only 5 minutes walk from the Church of "The Heydrich Terror".

I picked up a czech book on Heydrich which was largely a photographic history of his time as Reichs Protector , really good.

The 2 Volume biography of Heydrich by Max Williams , published by Ulric of England is a good read , Vol 2 in particular.

My daughter loved the City especially the street entertainers on King Charles Bridge (at night).

Pity I could not get her to the Castle , one to do in a year or two perhaps.

Thanks for a link to an interesting thread.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ad.php?t=122039

Attached two views of the interior of the crypt.

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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.

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Whilst I agree with the above...it was wazzer going to war on the Canberra...a decent cabin...great cinema....even had washing machines...

and a lovely deck to run around...but yes, pollies do take the piss...

Chris

Point taken Chris.

I read in the Telegraph today that this country's MOD is descaling the Navy down to something the size of the Task Force sent to the Malvinas....

Delete Malvinas and Insert Falkland Island.

Unless you are Argentinian of course.

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.

JUX is for the N.V. Nederlandsche Instrumenten Company (Nedinsco), in Venlo, a little town in Nederland.

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

James and others,

This is not so correct. Here are some facts about the 3 "Cod wars" between Iceland and the UK:

1) 1958 Iceland moves it territorial waters line, from 4 miles out to 12 miles. A lot of foreign ships were coming up to the shore line and over fishing the waters, with big trawlers.

2) 1972-73 Iceland moves its territorial waters boundary to 50 miles. This was done to prevent the fishing stocks from being depleted, due to over fishing by big UK trawlers. Conflict ended with a fishing agreements between the 2 countries.

3) Nov 1975 - June 1976 Iceland moves the territorial line to 200 milies in accordance with other nations doing same regarding natural resorces. This was the biggest one, bringing the countries close to war. Icelandic Coast guard ships used a locally invented contraption to cut the cables of Foreign ships fishing nets, with some measure of safety to both ships.

A number of Royal Navy ships enterd the area and start chasing and ramming the much smaller Icelandic ships. Some shots were fired. I think that the behaviour of the Royal Navy Commaders was bad, and its just luck that nobody got killed when they were ramming the ships. In one case, a UK fishing ship was leaving the 200 mile zone, but was ordered my a Naval Captain to return back into the zone and fish there.

Iceland cut the diplomatic ties with UK, and threatened to close down the Nato base in Keflavik, bringing the Americans in on the Diplomatic descussion.

One of our current Coast Guard Captains, is a friend of mine and was a Shipsmate on one of the Icelandic ships. I see from reading about this on English speaking websites that some of the writing there has error?s and seams a bit bias toward the British point of view. Iceland was and still is very dependable on the fishing industry, and we can see today that this was a right move towards protecting the fish stocks, when we look at what has happened to the fishing industry in the Sheatlands islands for an example.

Regards

Hinrik Steinsson

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 .

A rubber gasket provides a 100% water proof seal against the elements.

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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 .

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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.

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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.

Was the Cod Wars actually about 'Cod fishing areas' or was it territorial waters?

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 .

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A nifty pair of binoculars that will only get better when you clean the optics.

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.