Mervyn Mitton

You can clearly see the poor lettering and the 'ghosting' of the original inscription.

This is an interesting example of how a group of medals can be altered and re-named to fit a particular need. Having the odd medal in a group that has been re-named and added is fairly common. Quite often it is because the person feels he was entitled to that medal - or, his friends in the Legion or, the Moths have more then he has - hence the addition. However, to find a group with eight medals - and all problematic, is not that common. The only example that springs to mind was a group that came-in, where he started with the 1879 Zulu War medal, had the Egyptian campaign of the 1880's, Boer War pair , 1906 Rebellion and the War Medal for the 1st WW. Of these only the WW was genuine - he had awarded himself all of the others. One does have to point out that there is always the possibility that the original medals have been lost or, stolen and he has replaced them himself. However, in this case it seems unlikely - however, if anyone has the rolls it will be interesting to see if he ever did serve with the named Regts. For these, alterations, wrong lettering and obvious signs of skimming and re-naming would seem to make this unlikely. One has to look at obvious things - i.e. The Devons were not at Talana - the first Battle of the Boer War. He corrected this wrong bar on the min. -so, someone must have pointed this out. The other very obvious mistake is that if he was 20 when the Indian Campaigns took place, then he would have been 60 years of age in 1940 - and certainly would not be front line material. This was all pointed out to the seller and the only reason I bought them was because I wanted the bar from the Indian medal - it is the correct pattern for the 1879 medal and I have one that has been brooch mounted. The value of the silver is about stg. 10 per oz. ($16) and of course, original medal bars are hard to find. So, we were both happy. The pity is that the medals will be melted down - but it is wrong if they are allowed to stay in circulation.

I am assuming that this picture shows 'C' Company's white officers. However, there seems to be more then compliment - perhaps some Regt. Officer's were included ?

Thhe upper picture shows all of 'C' Company. This photo is probably for the musketry team - with their officers.

Britain - particularly in the 19th. Century - had great experience in managing new Colonies. The first thing we always did, was to raise local troops and constabulary. The reason for this is very simple - in 1800 the population of Britain was approx. 15,000,000 - and whilst we could supply the Govt. ministers and administrators, we did not have sufficient troops to man all of these areas. The one exception was India - where we did maintain quite a large European Force. The Gold Coast - part of the West African territories that included Sierra Leone and Ghana - was originally the Coast that slaves were taken to from the inland areas and then transhipped to the US and the Caribbean and also, South America. Surface gold was always plentiful and eventually gave it's name to the original Colony. The other famous gold bearing area was Guinea - and if I remember correctly, this is where the British Guinea was named from. These three old photgraphs - dating from 1920 - were in a mislaid envelope, which has just 'surfaced' - there are also some earlier ones from Bechuanaland, (now Botswana) however, I will keep them separate. In 1879 the Colonial Govt. established the Gold Coast Constabulary. They were mostly Hausa tribesmen, who are a natural warrior tribe and proved to be excellent for the job. In 1901 they were changed into the Gold Coast Regt. and were quickly used in some of the trouble spots that existed at that time in West Africa. During the first World War they raised 5 Battalions to fight in the East African campaigns. During WW2 9 Bns. were raisd to fight in Kenya, Italian Somaliland, Abysinnia and also, Burma. Ghana became Independent in 1957 under the notorious Kwame Nkrumah - who nearly bankrupted the Country. During 1959 the their name was changed to the Ghana Regiment and they became the main home defence unit. They also withdrew from the West Africa Frontier Force - a unit from several different countries , formed to protect the area. Today thay have 6 Bns..

Hi - Irish, and welcome to the Forum. The photographs sound interesting and we will look forward to seeing them. Do you collect anything else ? Mervyn

He could have gone to UK to join-up - however, the Rhodesia Regt. was involved quite early in the War. We must find out when they went to France ? With South Africans many of them were involved in South West Africa and then took discharge to travel to UK on their own money to join-up.

In 1896 there were only about 4500 people in the whole of Rhodesia. These were all from either the UK or, Sth. Africa. My own feeling is that this is one of the early settlers in Rhodesia and later was in the 2nd. Boer War and then in 1st. WW. I do have a roll for the 1890's for Rhodesia and will try to find his name. How you will find the roll for the Rhodesia Regt. I'm afraid I haven't a clue. I had some medals in to this unit some time ago and couldn't trace. The problem is most of the papers were left behind after 1980 and they will not help. What is nice is that the ribbon for the Rhod. medal is the original silk. Sorry - I'm talking rubbish again - we don't have a name, so everything is conjecture.

With Rememberance Sunday being today - it seems appropriate to show this letter sent to the relatives of a dead soldier. These were all signed personally by the then Minister for Defence - Gen. Louis BOTHA. He went on to be Prime Minister and was greatly respected by all sections of the population. This is quite a rare letter and has been purchased by Sth. Africa's top library for their collection.

Dan - not necessarily. The Rhodies had detachments in Sth. Africa - think of Mefeking. They also sent the first Rhodesia Regt. to help Britain very early in the War. Whereas S.A. only sent units to France after the Star had been discontinued in 1915.

Nice sword in excellent condition. The etching is very clean. I agree with Jon - certainly looks like an Artillery sword.

Hi - Alf. Looking at this I don't think Lee Enfield - if I remember they fitted differently. However, what about the Lee Metford - that had en extensive period of service in Sth. Africa ?

Dan - I've looked several times at these slugs and the size is baffling. However, you mention Snyder and Martini Henry rounds in the same location. The Martini rifle was produced in a smaller version and with a reduced bore for Cadets - we used them at Geelong in Melbourne back in the early 50's. Perhaps some research might turn up some info. on the bore size ? Word of warning - remember they are lead and wash your hands ! ( gee - I'm beginning to sound old !) ps. Do you collect old ammo. ? I have a jar of .577/.45 slugs picked up years ago on the battlefield of Isandlawana. If you have a good collection I might send you one ...........

Hi - Joe. How very nice to have a reply from you - one of the great things about GMIC is that we can correspond with people of the same interests right around the World. I think the photos you promise will be very interesting - and please don't disappear again - or, least not for such a long time ! I don't think I am strong enough now to go travelling - however, IM me your address and I will send a note you can keep in the book. Best wishes Mervyn

The British Police have always had a good sense of humour regarding their position in life and the strange things (and people ) that they come in contact with. Our Lounge has a good thread that Chris started on clean humour - I thought it would be interesting if we could do the same for our thread. Let's try to keep it going on a regular basis and humour, jokes, cartoons from any source - would be welcome. ( and, photos of Police in humerous situations ?) I am starting off with three South African cartoon from the Nonquai - the old South African Police magazine - they appeared in 1946 and the drawings reflect the period - I thought they were quite funny and I look forward to seeing your contributions. These British style helmets were discontinued in 1953.

I think it turned out to be a very interesting and informative post - always good to watch experts in a subject check things out. Therefore Stuart - we have all decided that you are spared from drinking the cup of Hemlock - but, only on this one occasion..........

Hi - Brett. Sad but I think most of our old Societies have gone - just the Society for the Preservation of Militaria being fairly active in Natal. Strangely, the Medal Society in Zimbabwe (old Rhodesia) with about 6 members is still active - or, was the last time I heard.

Very innovative, Brian. Worth remembering for the future.

Interesting bar - he could have served in either the Rhodesian or, South African Forces - we sent a relief expedition of some 800 men in 1896 to relieve the siege of Bulawayo.

Very interesting - when the two top authors and researchers in this field can mistake an item - then it shows how careful you have to be when identifying from photos. Regarding the spelling - the phonetic style was used until quite late - my surname can have three variations and yet, there is only one family.

Stuart - older and more experienced members have a duty to point out suspect items - and indeed, the people who appear to be responsible. We must thankyou for your alertness. May I suggest that you post some of these suspect helmets - and then , point by point, tell us what you think is wrong. That is how we all learn. Mervyn ps. I would urge moderation - most of our posts appear also on Google and then in the public domain , I think the laws of Libel may apply.