Mervyn Mitton

British officers on combat duty did not - as a rule - have their dress words with them during WW2 - so fairly unlikely for hand to hand. The only sword surrendered in the War by a Western commander (to the best of my knowledge) came into our shop for repair. The South African campaign in Ethiopia was one of the finest during the war and has never had the recognition it deserves. We had approx. 28000 men who started in Capetown and drove through Africa picking-up men as they went. They quickly had the upper hand - despite the Italians having some 250000 men - and a captain in the King's African Rifles (Kenya) had the surprise of his life when he was summoned to the Commander in Chief of the Italian forces - The Duke of Aosta - who surrendered his sword to him. He was allowed to keep it - and the family left it in a garage to rot ! Despite being for such an important person it wasn't of very high quality - our silversmith repaired it and it is now back with the family in Natal. Mervyn Mitton

An interesting sword - I wonder what it was doing in Iceland - of all places? It is the 1890's pattern British cavalry troopers sword and according to the engraving on the forte (the part of the blade just under the guard) was first issued in 1900.('00) This , of course, makes it a Boer War period sword. (Boer War 1899-1902). This pattern first appeared in 1864 - and despite modifications remained in service until 1908. During the Boer War there were several instances of men falling out of their saddles during the charge - the problem being that the sword had become too heavy and shifted the centre of balance. After the war finished the British set-up a Royal Commission to investigate the problem - a serious one since in one instance an entire troop of some twenty men were unhorsed. The answer to the problem was the 1908 cavalry sword which was pointed and carried into battle with arm extended - unlike the shown example which was for slashing. The 1908 (and the officers version in 1912) has always been regarded as one of the best balanced sword ever made. Your blade has British Board of Ordnance marks for being sold out of service, so, I suppose someone bought it and it has ended up in Iceland -- could be useful for polar bears - do you have them in Iceland? Mervyn Mitton

Dear Brian These old helmets just don't seem to be around any more - even the silver badge is worth a great deal. Since I am slowly disposing of my collection this helmet was in our shop - the medals that have shown-up are part of the back wall which is covered with them -so, they are not really part of my personal collection. I will put an exceptional Supt.'s 1900 cap on tomorrow. Mervyn

Thankyou for your comments. You are quite correct in ranks and the use of tipstaves - also, Chief,Deputy and Asst. chief constables in the County forces also wear them. The only official 'tipstaff' to exist is stationed at the High Courts at the Strand in London - he actually still carries an early Victorian one. I also found out that in Australia, they have a number of officials known as Tipstaffs. The particular pattern I have shown here is about 7 inches long - it stands alone and was not mounted on anything - the officer would have held it in his right hand - arm extended, and announced his position and requirements. When transportation was still a way of populating the colonies, to resist arrest - when you had been touched by the staff - carried a further 7 years transportation. I have always had a strange feeling when holding these old pieces - they are the history of law in the UK and without them the constable (or, other user) could not perform his duty. Swords and firearms were produced in their thousands - rarely are there more than one pattern of a tipstaff - or, decorated truncheon. I can show many more old items - just don't want to be a bore ! The other interesting thing is that the British don't easily give-up their traditions and I have found tipstaffs in Canada;S.Africa;Australia;India and Sri Lanka. The USA had Admiralty Courts and Maces - so there are - somewhere - the smaller tipstaffs carried by the officers' of the Court. NZ did not use them - at least I have never seen one. Mervyn

This interesting British Police Helmet probably belonged to the head Constable of Birmingham ( a large UK city) in the 1870's. Prior to that the police wore tophats, but in the 1860's Germany was the pre-dominant army and we copied their uniforms for our military - with the police in turn using the same pattern. Our present helmets are a direct descendent of the German helmet. The spike on the helmet is unusual - the army used it for Infantry officers - but in those days a head constable was often made from retired army officers and this style was obviously a one-off choice. What is rare is that all the fittings (or, furniture) are made from silver. Most people will know that the chain around the helmet is the ceremonial way of wearing the chin strap. I will put an original top hat on if it is of interest? Mervyn Mitton

Badges of authority have been around as long ago as the ancient Sumerians (5000 years BC) - the English have certainly been using them for the past thousand years. By the 19th.C. the appearance of the tipstaff had become more uniform - but, still varied according to the wants of it's owner. The police came to use a standard design from the 1840's onwards and Inspectors and Superintendents wore a small leather case on their belts - this had a concealed spring in the base and when opened the tipstaff 'popped-up' ready to be taken out and show the bearer's authority. This one was for an Inspector in the City of Leeds Police and has his name,rank and the name of the Force. Very rarely do the cases remain with the tipstaff and certainly not often in this condition. They ceased to be used when Warrants and I.D.'s were introduced in the 1880's. I will be happy to put-on more examples if they are of interest - also, some early uniforms. Mervyn Mitton

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_03_2009/post-6209-1237473267.jpgI am enclosing an attachment of a tipstaff for the middle Victorian period - 1850 - 1860's. This was carried on the belt in a leather case - next picture - by Inspectors and Superintendents. Hiatt's , the famous handcuff makers , produced this pattern. This particular tipstaff was for an Inspector of the Leeds Police. I will post other images if members are interested. Mervyn Mitton

Thankyou Will - will look forward to seeing you. Saw your 2nd posting for your collection - as everyone is saying - quite incredible ! You certainly won't need a pension plan. Best wishes Mervyn

I appreciate your encouragement - with the internet you can never judge what people are thinking , and I appreciate that Police are not top of the collecting 'heap'. I have a number of good photos of rare tipstaffs, recently taken for a customer in the States - once I master my 'Photo Impressions' programme I will down load them to GMIC. Meanwhile,if you really think people would be interested I will do a few condensed articles. Thankyou Mervyn Mitton

Hi ,everyone. I'm a new probationer -intoduced myself in The Lounge on Feb.9 , under 'another newbie' . I have been enjoying reading past posts and found two oldish ones I would like to comment-on. HAUPTMAN Jan.20/07 and EDUARDO Nov.4/06 hope you don't think this is too late? Firstly - the rope , with handles, is an early form of handcuff - original use pre-dated metal handcuffs which basically date from the 17th.C. onwards. British ones were usually of rawhide, with wooden handles - the rawhide wouldn't slip like rope - hence the knots. They were always known as 'snitchers' and it is the length that confirms the purpose. Interestingly, garrotting - which originally started in India as a form of worship to a goddess - was carried out using a coin tied in a length of silk. This was thrown round the victim's neck and tightened. The practise had spread to Britain and the first Met.police in 1829 wore a 4inch leather neck band to act as a guard. They wore this to 1845 when it was reduced to 2inches and was not abolished until 1875 - a most hated and uncomfortable piece of equipment but, it kept the tunic collar clean.. My second response is regarding the interesting corres. on tipstaves these are so rare that few people have ever seen one and when researching my book (The Policeman's Lot) we could only find about 2000 in existance. I would be very happy to write posts on any of the following - this would get the early history out for comments. 1.Early British police uniforms; 2.Helmets and headgear; 3. Forms of restraint; 4. Raing the alarm; 5.Police firearms; 6. Police swords; 7.Police lanterns;8. Development of truncheons; 9.What is a tipstaff. These are only suggestions and I await comments. I do hope members won't think I'm 'pushy' - that is not the intention. Best wishes Mervyn Mitton