Mervyn Mitton

The painting would have been from the 1890's - or, if done during the War, the medals had not yet been awarded. The entry above is from the South Afria Who's Who for 1908. An exceptionally rare volume which lists details of many local Colonial officers. I will be happy to look anyone-up if you give me a name. You will note that he was the Captain and Commander of the Worcester Volunteer Rifles. They were formed in the 1850's with about 50 men - later, they became a Rifles Unit. During the War he was a Staff Officer and had the appointment of DAAG ( I think - Deputy Asst. Adjutant General) Much more importantly - he was made the Commandant for Boer P.O.W. transit camps at Capetown ; Green Point (in Capetown) and at Simonstown. Simonstown has always been our main Naval base and is about 30 miles (45Kms.) from central Capetown. From this Port the POW's were despatched to the four overseas camps. These were at St. Helena ; Bermuda ; Ceylon and India. Despite his humble rank , he was obviously highly thought of and held important positions. Worcester is a small inland town - famous for it's orchards. Roughly 40 miles (60kms.) from Capetown. All towns in those days had an armed unit to protect the area - these were made-up from the local poulation. Captain Perkins actually owned a grocery shop.

One of the more frustrating things about collecting medals, is that so often they are broken sets. Many times, it is the family each having one as a 'keepsake' - other times they have never been claimed. But, very rarely do you have all the accesories that the medal wearer had as an officer or, enlisted man. This post is about such a set, and I think you will be amazed at the quality and the variety of the objects. Firstly, an original oil painting of the officer :

Shanghai Girl ( do you have a name we can call you ?) Penang is an interesting town - to my mind a 'pestilential' place which I have never been fond of - and neither were the original settlers. (Hugh, what did you feel about the place ?) Originally setup by the East India Company to control trading and the pirates in those parts - one of the Lt. Governor's was Sir Stamford Raffles. When he later became Governor, he took the opportunity to move the settlement to what is now Singapore. Much better for trade and also, gave better control of passing ships. I think the move was in the early 1830's - so, King William 1Vth. However, Penang continued as a trading post and has grown to be a large town - it is , of course, an Island. The word Police would not have been used at that time, so the button is probably 1850's - a nice early Crown. Apart from founding Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles is famous for founding the London Zoo, the Scientific Institute and the Great Library. Even today , the Zoo is (theoretically) run by The Fellows. I was elected some 35 years ago and at that time we had to vote on every major resolution - there were under 2500 of us. Times have changed and we passed control to the paid staff. Amazing how a small - old - button can run to 4 paras...

Chris - I always enjoy your posts - the research is impeccable and makes for very interesting reading. Thankyou.

ZULU SOCIAL HISTORY: With the nature of this thread being an occasional one, an article in this morning's paper has prompted me to add. It is self explanatory and has come about because not everyone follows the 'old' customs and the Police were called-in as outsiders thought the girl was being taken advantage of : The next stage - when both sets of parents are agreed that the couple are ready for marriage - is to have the iLOBOLA ceremony. Zulus still pay a dowry , but in their case it is the reverse from Europe - the man pays the Father of the girl to compensate for the loss of his daughter. The amount is an agreed one between the parents and is very expensive - always quoted in cows (the way the Zulus used to measure wealth ) it can easily be 15 or, 16 cows + money and other items. Since a cow is over Rands 2000 (£1600 $2500) you can appreciate that it takes the young man a long time to save-up - most Zulu marriages take place in their 30's - unless they have rich parents. For better, or , for worse - the iLobola custom is dying away, it is mainly the rural people who preserve the tradition. However, the President has just taken his 5th. wife - and being Zulu , paid iLobola to her parents and the ceremony was held in the full traditional way. What happens if you live in a town and haven't the money - I'm afraid they just 'get' on with life , like the rest of the World . (article: The Sunday Tribune - Durban)

Keith - what is your book going to cover - will it be Sth. African history ? Let me know if you need any ref. material - depending on the subject, may be able to help.

Very interesting that you bought the medals - must have been a surprise to find them being talked about on GMIC ? Anyway - welcome to the Forum - now that you have the medals I think we would appreciate a photo ? Oh, Yes ! You should certainly start collecting again before the prices really take-off in a year or, so....

Thought the link was great - the old vehicles always bring back memories. Sad to think that everyone in the footage is now well into their seventies - watch out 'kids' it will happen to you too ! Nick, you obviously have a Police background - let us into your secrets ?

Under ' Swords and Edged Weapons ' I have just posted - what I believe - to be an old Turkish Shamshir. I would be very grateful for any help members on this sub-forum could give.

This came -in on Wednesday and I thought it would add to our meagre sword postings. I'm almost certain it is Turkish in origin - but as always - we hope for confirmation from those more experienced in this field. General Allenby's campaigns in - what was then , Mesopotamia - covered the period 1916 to the end of the 1st World War and involved the defeat of Turkey and the re-arrangement of Her former territories into Protectorates. These included Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. With this vast area one cannot, then, say where this was recovered from - however, although a little faded from it's former glory, this sword still has the appearance of being for a senior officer. A Shamshir is part of a generic family of swords and was a standard weapon for the army. The Indian Tulwar is part of this background and you can see the similarities in design. Both were in use for many hundreds of years and their basic design came about from battle experience. Good quality Turkish swords often had the covering for the scabbard made from Ass' skin and were bound in iron. Now faded, this one had elaborate silver designs on the metal. These continued to the cross guard and on the blade - only on the right side of the blade, where it would be seen - was an elaborate design in gold damescening. This may actually be a complicated message - we will have to wait for an expert opinion. Should it be wording , it will be a religious expression. There are very elaborate stamps on the blade - these point upwards towards the grip and cross guard. Again, a sign of quality, they were originally outlined in gold. Hopefully, from these we will find out more about the maker and his smithy ? The handle is of wood and is in the usual ' pistol grip ' style. There are no signs of inlay in the handle - rather a strip of cloth is wound around where the hand would hold. This is a sign that the sword was intended to be used - the cloth would grip - even if soaked in blood. I am going to mention this post on the Turkish sub-forum - some help with identification of the maker would be good. I look forward to seeing any responses.

Brian - I doubt if you will ever be sure of the identity of this little badge. The General Strike of 1926 is certainly a possibility. Many truncheons (plain - no painting) were handed out and I still have the lovely teak one my Father was given - and escaped with. After the strike a number of Forces handed out commemorative truncheons with the C of A's being a transfer. Salisbury in Wiltshire did , and also the Force I am illustrating. I can't remember whose Arms they are - perhaps someone will recognise them.

Nick - I wouldn't doubt the plausability of your explanation for a minute - for myself, I always thought it was because the P.C. looked like something from 'toytown' ! There is another version of the Noddy - the 2nd. pattern. A friend of mine at Bethnal Green was unhappy with the height of the helmet and re-designed it to be lower and squatter - but, it still looked like a helmet - perhaps this is the type Simon refers to. Alan Harston submitted the design to CO and it was made standard and he received a cash award. I've lost track over the years, but I think he was a Supt. at retirement. I do/did have an example - can't remember if I sold it to Ian - or, if it is at the flat. Let me know Ian ?

Keith - firstly , welcome to GMIC - I hope you enjoy it as much as we all seem to. Secondly - we need to see a picture of the two spears - if you have difficulty, and everyone does , then email the picture (see my profile for email) and I will post it for you. There will be two problems - they are not Zulu, but rather from their first cousins, the Matabele , the other problem will be that the history is 'hearsay'. Are there any documents ? Mervyn

Jonas - thankyou for that info. - there were no dates and with the German and Austrian flags it seemed likely it was around 1914. You have now proved pre-1905 - hopefully other members will know when other Countries ceased to exist - or, came into being. The other interesting problem, is that the names have changed over the years - there are several I'm not sure about.

Hugh - the tip on instant enlargement is fantastic. I had never heard of this and I don't think many people have. In fact a Moderator should 'pin' it for future reference. However, don't do what I did - make the enlargement, but forgot to note the cancellation - took five minutes to go back - in very large type.... Your stories were also very good - pity you lost the large ensign - I would have thought fairly rare.