Mervyn Mitton

Sorry - double post. Windows 7 seems very prone to doing this ?

Keir - welcome to the Forum. We all had problems when we first joined - photos particularly seem to be difficult. Anyway - hurry up and practise and I'm sure members with IT skills can advise. Meanwhile tell us a little about your collection ? Mervyn

Chris - that's amazing info. Only one query - I read it as Rilienstein - R rather then an L. What do others think on that letter ?

I recently showed - British Wars - some early photos from West Africa. Amongst these was the photo shown here - we know his identity, it is written on the back - however, the question remains. What did he do and what uniform is he wearing ? To me it could be a British Colonial style from the 2nd. Boer War (1899-1902). Can anyone help ?

Thankyou Harry. Nice to have photographs with the figure.

Thankyou for that confirmation on the HAC, Megan. Please use whichever images you need. Would it help if I emailed a full set ? Mervyn

Typically British - always too late. This medal should have been issued in 1945 - as the article says - now, hardly anyone is left. The big question will be - is it to be made retrospective for all who served in that area but, have now died ?

Unfortunately Leigh - there is a 'reverse' discrimination in place these days - Zimbabwe would probably feel that the Regt' had been traitors ! I would rather see such an unusual and historic item in the hands of a dedicated collector - also, I cannot lose sight of the fact that I paid a lot .

The Reverse of the Colour. The netting is only on this side and extends a few inches - uncut - on all sides.

Graham - Jean-Paul and Harry. My sincere thanks to you for your research which seems to not only have identified an important King's Colour - but also, explains why it is probably still in the original 'presentation' condition. This being - quite simply - that it was presented after the Regt. was disbanded and that it was 'laid-up' in a small local church in Matabeland and then forgotten. I have had quite a lot of interest and of course - for a collector of the 1st World War, it would have to be the centrepiece. I have never heard of a King's Colour being sold - has anyone else ? I would prefer this to be sold privately - rather then in an auction - and when I can establish a possible price, I will offer it to the members who have shown interest. Meanwhile here are some further photos - showing also, the reverse. Since it was re-discovered in the 1970's the netting on the reverse probably dates from that time.

Harry - the concensus of opinion seems to be for Ghana - and that does tie in with the pictures of the Gold Coast Regt. which I posted earlier. They were in the same envelope. I think it is great that we have been able to discuss and change original opinions - as I said earlier - hopefully, we are providing some guidance for future collectors. Thankyou Timothy for being the first to alert us. Simon - I wondered why the colours were cased for the ceremony - but open for the Governor ? From your comments as an ex-Guardsman that is obviously unusual. Perhaps they thought it would rain ? I will ask Nick to change the title of this post to reflect the Goldcoast. Many thanks everyone for the help and info..

Dear Rich - thankyou very much for that information on the Col. - goes a long way to explain his background. I would be pleased to have the extract - perhaps you could email it to - cathay@iafrica.com Mervyn

A FEW MORE VIEWS OF THE MEMBER OF THE LEGION OF MERIT.

I must now go into a little detail concerning this award and it's accompanying medals. For the present I have only the full size MLM and also, the miniature medal bar with this award present. I am expecting the full bar to be brought-in - but, this may take a little time. The award roll for the MLM has been checked and he is named. However, I know little more about the original awardee and if anyone can help, I will be most grateful. He was Lt. Col. John EVERINGTON MLM and I believe that he was originally an officer with the Ghurkas. He lived in Bulawayo and as this is a Civilian award he must have been retired. The second group of three medals - incl. a British Efficiency Medals - is named to Lt. L.S.EVERINGTON of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. This has the min.set. I have no idea what his role was in Rhodesia. One very interesting point is that both sets of miniatures have a different ribbon on some medals. This is for The Honourable Artillery Company - one of Britain's most distinguished Regiments and I am told it was customary for officers to show the HAC colours on min.medals for identification. Has anyone else heard of this. The HAC has always tended to include a lot of City of London businessmen due to the proximity of the HQ to the City. The miniatures - incl. MLM and an Officers Decoration.