peter monahan

A lovely piece of trench art and, as Trajan suggests, modelled on a British heavy cavalry helmet. Thank you for sharing it!

I'd say, from the conditions of the ribbon and the lack of a pin, that the group has been remounted for display by a collector or family member. Sadly, researching Other Ranks of the Indian Army, either pre- or post-1947 is virtually impossible. There were 15 battalions by the end of WWII, of wehich several were capture at Singapore and the 2nd, 5th and 8th saw service in Burma. The 2nd also served in French Indo-China, trying to keep the peace between the Viet Minh and French, with the help of re-armed Japanese troops. Here is Wikipedia's take on their WWII service: During the Second World War the 8th Punjab Regiment again distinguished itself, suffering more than 4500 casualties. It was awarded two Victoria Crosses to Havildar Parkash Singh and Sepoy Kamal Ram, besides numerous other gallantry awards. The regiment raised a further nine battalions. Two of its battalions, the 1st and 7th, were captured on Singapore Island, when the British Commonwealth Army surrendered there to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. [Three] battalions fought in the Burma Campaign, while others saw service in Iraq, Iran, Italy, French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies. Two men from the 8th Punjab Regiment received the Victoria Cross: Havildar Parkash Singh in Burma and Sepoy Kamal Ram in Italy. By the end of the war, the Regiment consisted of 14 Battalions. However, most of the war-raised units were disbanded in 1946 except the 6th and 8th Battalions

It looks like, as far as I can tell, a fairly standard police/military issue topi - Britain/Empire - which some trog has 'improved' with red and white paint and a non-regulation red band. I'd assume it was picked up cheap, and used for amateur theatricals or a costume party. Th eliner looks original though, and it's a shame to see it butchered tis way.

All from the Nyasaland battalions, it seems. The KAR had a hard war in east Africa and anyone should be proud to have those poor unloved tokens of that! The regiment fought in the East African Campaign against the German commander Paul Erich von Lettow-Vorbeck and his forces in German East Africa. Transport and support into the interior was provided by over 400,000 porters of the Carrier Corps. By the end of the Great War the KAR comprised 1,193 British officers, 1,497 British NCOs and 30,658 Africans (33,348 total) in 22 battalions, including two made up of former German askaris, as noted above. KAR casualties in the First World War were 5,117 killed and wounded with another 3,039 dying from diseases. [Wiki]

Lovely work, Larry. Thank you for sharing it with us.

I do WWI re-enacting in the US twice a year and I can't recall seeing any examples of white blankets being used by the doughboys or sold by the vendors who come out to our site, but I realize that is not evidence of very much. This site says that there were a number of blanket types issued, some of which had a stripe, but all but the 1905 version [light blue] were 'olive drab' in colour, which is what I would have expected.

Two comments. With that back, I'd say its' a modern re-cast of something, rather than an actual issed badge,as clearly there is no way to attach it to anything. Second, while I'm out of my comfort zone with police stuff, I've got two old two-piece Toronto Police badges, which are a maple leaf with an added 'crown over beaver' in the center. I've also seen pics of other older police badges which feature a malpe leaf. It seemed to be a, if not 'the' common shape/background for various force. I realize that's not a lot of help, but at least this lloks to be a remake of an actual badge and not a complete fantasy piece.

That's not a bad thought, Duncan! Well done. There are some very odd ranks in the modern IA, as there were in the old Imperial organization and even though they tend to be in English, puzzling them out can be a real challenge, especially when one adds in all the 'para'-police/army units and civvy employees who seem to qualify for gongs too!

The 'Regiment of Artillery' has over 60 batteries, so the simple name is not much help. 'A.M.C.' is probably 'Army Medical Corps'. I agree that 'AC' is most likely Armoured Corps but not sure about 'T.A.' Is the 'DMT' a rank or a unit designation on the Sanya Seva medals?

I rthink JapanX has suggested a couple of resources on Page 1 of this thread. I hope they help!

By a complete coincidence, I spent an hour on Saturday having a beer or three with a lovely Scot, now Canadian, whose daughter has enrolled at RMC and is at St Jean this year. He did 33 years in the British Army's Ordnance Corps, as a bomb disposal expert, I think, but has been to the Vandoos Mess at least once. We were discussing how successfully the British Empire had exported its military traditons and he mentioned at least twice how much he loved the fact that the 22nd Reg't looks just like a British unit, and uses the same customs, but in French! Funny what takes people's fancy!

So, WWII service, perhaps with the RAF, and post war service in Palestine & Malaysia, follwed by emigration to Rhodesia and police service there? Interesting indeed!

Lovely relic! I just saw another religious icon on a different site: a small staue in a carrying cazse, apparently picked up in France in war One. 'Dr. John', as he was known, had a story about getting shelled while reading a letter about his brother, who'd been blown up by shelling because he sheltered to near an ammo truck. Dr. John was reading the letter when he got mortared and rolled under the nearest soild object for shelter, thinking 'What a silly way to die!'. After 2-3 random shells the stonk stopped, at which point he realized he was under a petrol bowser!

Semper Didin't see this earlier. The British war diaries are now - for several months or so - availableo0n-line, here: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-war-diaries-1914-1922/ I'll let you ferret through the site on your own. Good luck! Peter

It appears that Belgium may follow the French custom of having/allowing multiple manufactureres of medals and bars, with the almost inevitable result that various persons including both veterans and unscrupulous sellers can easily obtain extra bars to 'improve' medals. It is certainly the case that as long as medals have been issued they have been appropriated and worn or displayed by soldiers who felt entitled to them, regardless of what some $%##$** regulation said. Sadly, this means that it is often impossible to tell who has added bars and medals to a group or even why: a real soldier who only served 29 of the needed 30 days to qualify for an awrad, for example, or the dealer trying to get more money from a buyer. That is why, I think, named medals have always and will always command such a premium.

Tres bien! The notepad page is a nice touch. Are the crossed off names casualties or...? My first girlfriend at uni was the daughter of a Canadian soldier stretcher bearer. One of his tales was of almost getting 'done up' by some Vandoos in a taverna in Italy. He had been recently attached to the North Novas [I thinkl] who apparently had an historic feud with the 22nd and, all unknowing, walked into a bar full of Vandoos but was rescued in a nick of time by his new comrades!

I have noticed, over the last several decades, a sort of 'uniform creep', in which various groups and ranks have begun adopting styles of uniform which historically they would not have used or been entitled to, presumably to address such situations as those mentioned above. At the last two Remembrance Day ceremonies in my home town, for example, there have been a contingent of Emergency Medical technicians/attendant, dressed in a formal black unifrom with red trim. [This is in Canada]. More than a little odd, to my perhaps jaundiced eye, as I can't think of any other situation in which these fine folks would have need for a dress uniform.

"Wow what a story Peter... thamks for sharing. " He is in the book I self-published this year on the 70 men whose names appear on our local WWI memorials. After publication his full record became available. He lasted 4 weeks the first time he enlisted, based on pay records, thrown out on 'medical' grounds - height, I'd guess. Re-joined the same unit with a new number and lasted 5 weeks. The third time he travelled 200 miles to join a different unit. His first enlistment lists a non-exitant home address in Scotland, though he wasfrom Yorkshire, and his 'Next of Kin' was first a landlady then a 'friend', though his mother was alive in England. Determined little cuss!

Nice!

It was not uncommon for boys to be allowed to enlist when the evidence seems clear that they were underage but many were held in Canada or the UK until they were at least 18. At least in the Cdn forces, under-18s in the trecnches - 19 was the official age' do not appear to ave been that common. I have records for a Simcoe County boy who enlisted three times before it 'took' and even then his papers say 'Not to proceed overseas [ie: France] until [indecipherable]' and 'Forestry Corps', which was where many under and over age volunteers ended up. In fact, one of his attestaion papers actually has '18' crossed out and '17 years, 9 months' written in, though that was also wrong. This lad stayed in England until his 'official' 18th birthday, based on his 3rd date of birth, was wounded on Nov. 9th and Died of Wounds Nov. 11, 1918.

Tony I'm retired, with nothing but time on my hands, so reading and responding fills the day and if it proves useful is doubly good! Peter

I didn't want to rain on Tony's parade, but I did wonder if this was a repro. Not my area of expertise, however it is certainly one obvious explanation for the exquisite condition in something at least 117 years old.

Nineteenth century, cavalry sabre, possibly German or French would be my guess. Check on this site: http://swordsdb.com/SwordsDB_Cavalry_Sabers.php

Or a commemorative piece made for an old comrades group but, either way, unissued. Very nice!