Mervyn Mitton

Noor - the damage to the mini is weird. Usually this type of rubbing is from certain types of associated medals - in this case mini's wouldn't be heavy enough. I suspect someone has put it on a buffing machine - perhaps to see if it is silver - which it isn't. Perhaps someone else will have some ideas ?

Kommando named medals are certainly not as common as the British named units - however, many citizens of Afrikaans background joined for service in WW1. Bi-lingual Victory medals are quite sought after. At the beginning of the 1st. WW a number of Afrikaans units and the local people around Carnarvon in the Eastern Cape went into open rebellion.The suppression was quite brutal and it is interesting that it was the local colonel of the Carnarvon Commando - an Afrikaaner - who led the local troops against them. He had the DSO for SWA and a sealed OBE for non-specified activities. We later found out it was for the rebellion. Well done, Noor.

Jim - my interest in German items is fairly limited - as is my knowledge of these different patterns. However, it would be quite wrong if your fellow members didn't congratulate you on this very fine collection. The above comments speak for themself !

Still waiting for the descriptions Keith... This is a very unusual spear that I am showing. The head has undoubtedly been dug-up - whether from a battle site or, a grave, we will never know - particularly as it would have been done by a Zulu. Going into graves is common in Sth. Africa and basically they are looking for valuables and weapons. He hit 'pay dirt' with this spear head - 19 inches long - from the binding to the tip. ( 47cm). This makes it an important Iklwa and probably carried originally by a Chief. I mentioned earlier that long spearheads could be identified in battle and were used to move the Impis around. Age wise - perhaps up to 150 years old . The original wooden shaft would have perished and the new owner has used a short length of rounded wood to make another Iklwa. The overall measurement is 32 inches (81.5cm) One of the most unusual changes from it's original appearance is the binding. There can be three types - copper and brass wire; Ilala Palm stalk, plaited; and, the tail of a cow - rolled down. However, none of these have been used - instead different coloured lengths of covered wire have been woven to act as a binding. These wires are actually detonating wire from the gold and diamond mines and many Zulus worked at the mines in the Transvaal and came home only at Christmas, when the mines closed. This was the time that old fueds were revived and was possibly the reason the spear head was dug-up and re-made. There is one fued on record that started in 1892 at the Howick Falls in the Natal Midlands. The dispute started over right of way crossing a ford and a number of chickens were killed. Every year the fued starts up again in December and to the present, the death toll is well over one hundred lives..... This binding is 8 inches (20cm) So, an unusual spear - with a history . I would judge the re-mounting to have been in the 1920's or, 1930's. Perhaps the wire could tell us ?

The numbers are for August 1902 - which was at the end of the War. They made a final pattern and then in 1906 the long Lee Enfield was introduced. The first pattern in 1888 had three brass studs - in triangular formation - holding the grip together - the second pattern had two - in line. This was the first issue to have a double blade - in the 1st WW many were cut down to make trench fighting knives. The 'X' means it was officially sold-out of service.

The photos are from '' The Hall Handbook of the Anglo Boer War '' by Darrell Hall. I regard this as one of the top ref. books for statistics on the Boer War - for both sides.

Tomas - I am enclosing two photos of shells from the Boer War. Thay have different drive bands to the ones you show - so, I am wondering if they are both French or, German. The main artillery piece that the Boers had was the Crousot - from France - however, most of their artillery and ammo. was from Germany. I am enclosing a photo and details of the Crousot and if either of your cases matches the diameter then it is for this gun. The alternative is that the shells are for the British 12lb. and 15 lb. shrapnel ammo..

I have never seen these two Brian - so good additions. As Arthur said - municipalities used to commission them to give to the school children. Needless to say - they never parted with them and it is only now as the older people 'pass-on' that the relatives get rid of them. East London was originally founded by the 1820 Settlers.

Kevin - firstly, the archives. Contact the local radio station that covers that part of Northumberland and drop them a line with details. Offer to do a phone-in interview on air. I expect them to 'jump' at this - they always have to fill space - and who knows what the public might produce. I used to do this a lot on both radio and TV. An interesting tid-bit of 'useless' info. The Northumbians are not actually of the same background as the Angles and Saxons. They were part of the ' Great Army ' that ravaged Europe and England in the 9th Century and who were brought to heel by King Alfred . This tribe - with it's prince, broke away from The Army and settled in Northumberland. 1100 hundred years later - we are, of course, all British. Couple of nice Bradford truncheons - I have found - on photos - some of my remaining Bradford collection, I will post them and then you can tell me if you are interested ? Mervyn

Chris - I know these old Brodies have gone-up quite substantially in recent years - and you obviously like the unrestored condition - however, I would not have thought them to be that rare in Europe - particularly, France ?

Chris - what is a 'kubotan' ? You would be shocked if you knew the value of this small piece. Nick - the Metropolitan Police have always been responsible for the Monarch's safety - and as you say a special detachment from ' A ' Division still guards the Queen when She is in residence. However, the Supt. of the New Windsor Police would have always been present in the heirarchy and would have had precedence over the Inspector or, Supt. of the accompanying Met. guards. The quality of this tipstaff shows his importance.

I don't like to be the first to keep commenting - guess our times have come into sync. - we are two hours ahead of Europe at this time - or, is that one hour for Europe and two hours for Britain - who cares... I like the plain simple design of this dagger - very elegant and under stated. The three Crowns on the pommel just finish it nicely. What date is this - it looks very modern ? How big is the Swedish Air Force - I tend to think of it as being small - probably totally wrong ?

Lovely sword Tomas, and the condition of the blade is exceptional. Strange how closely the design follows the British. I suppose because Britain was the leading sea power. However, Sweden has also adopted the fouled anchor. What date do you put on this one ? I must say it's a pleasure to see some pieces appearing on this sub-forum.

Smudge - welcome to GMIC. I have looked at your bayonet markings and must be honest and say I haven't identified them. The usual date marks and ' X ' for sold out off service are not there. The possibility of NR being Norfolk Regt. must be high - but it needs an expert on British Regts. to really tell you - hopefully Leigh will spot your post. On the grip, does it have two, or, three brass studs holding it all together ?

Under Special Constabulary, mention has been made of the Royal Town of Windsor - this is in Berkshire and about 30 miles ( 45 Kms.) West of London. The two main areas of interest are - of course - Windsor Castle, and to a much lesser degree Eton College. Windsor Castle's origins are from the Norman invasion of the 11th. Century - when the central Keep was first built to control the newly conquered Saxons. The Castle is now one of the official homes of H.M. The Queen. The lovely Tipstaff that I am showing here is - in my opinion - one of the rarest. I have kept a small ' inner ' corps of particularly rare regalia and this forms part of that collection - which I will probably not part with. Slightly larger than the usual tipstaffs , it is about 8 inches overall (20cm). The Crown has been beautifully cast in the form of a William 1Vth ( 1830-37) - however, it was probably made just after 1838 when the Permissory Police Act of that year, allowed Towns to create a Force - using the Metropolitan Police as their guideline. I cannot recall the exact wording - however, you can clearly see that it has the initials W.H.G. and SUPt. N.W.P. WHG was the commanding Superintendent of the New Windsor Police - which as I have explained was set-up after 1838. The whole tipstaff has been hand crafted and is very heavily gilded. Why ? Quite simply, with Windsor Castle being an official residence, the Superintendent, as head of the Town Constabulary, would have been in constant attendance on the Queen at all State functions. This makes it incredibly important - just think of the ceremonies and people in whose lives this staff has been present. I have a number of these special pieces and will gradually post them. (THE COPYRIGHT FOR THIS WINDSOR TIPSTAFF REMAINS AT ALL TIMES THE PROPERTY OF M.A.MITTON)

Hi - Kevin. Interesting that with your two identical lapel badges - one has an earlier pattern Crown, than the second. Obviously made at the same time - but, I would think different makers. Does it give any details on reverse. Have been reading the Northumberland archive again - when I have time. Apart from the interest of a new Force being eastablished for an emergency - it also has a lot of valuable info. on how people lived. Just never mention wheelbarrows to me again.... Mervyn

Stuart - I think you have made a very cogent arguement for the painting to be this man. Amazing what can be worked-out from a damaged painting and the Army List. I think the location of the two regiments at similar times , also helps. The Forces serving overseas did seem to move around with different postings - and as you say - if you made friends in a mess, then you would transfer if they had a vacancy. A very fascinating post.

I think Ulsterman has hit the nail on the head - the volume of posts prevents going through everything - particularly if you can't do it daily. I hadn't realised that it averages over 300 a day... As Arthur has pointed out, the wrong mountings are actually quite serious - however, I agree with Thomas and with Brian - who posted on this point a little time ago. They will remain ' as is ' and I will enclose a correct drawing . Arthur, I had forgotten the crossed swords - we have some in a box and I will have them put-on. Brian - your comments on early periods are really as I feel. However, when the centenary of WW1 comes-up in 1914 I can almost guarantee that the general public will only follow a few of the battles and campaigns. The Zulu War - and the other short wars of the Victorian period are ideal for the public to follow - and account for the interest and collecting from them. Even the Boer War (1899-1902) proved to be too much for most of the public. 1999 saw great preparations for the centenary - thousands of visitors were expected and accomodation prepared. We found it to be a 'damp squib' and very few of the displays and fairs attracted much interest. Probably the best one was held at the town of Dundee - in Nthn. Natal. This was the area where the first battles were fought and almost the entire town dressed in period costume and uniform and it was a great success. I think the point that comes out of this - is that occasionally we should bring postings back to the top - then people who missed them, have a second chance.

Just a note on the Police tin hat. All of the different ranks can be found painted on the fronts - also, for the Wardens. So, you've got quite a few to go... Original colour was a deepish blue.

Thankyou both for comments. Helen, the purpose of the flattened piece around the base tip is to protect the sword from wear when it is worn at the 'trail' in full ceremonial dress. I suspect in this case the designer thought he would smarten it up by carrying it around the whole of the base. I now look forward to seeing ALL of your six hundres bayonets.... Very old custom and very common. Remember the old saying - ' son of a gun ' often the only place when the local 'comforts section ' came on board !