peter monahan

I would respectfully suggest that Chris' last post implies that he does understand, if not speak, Oz. Interesting that none of the forestock but all of the butt has survived. Thanks for sharing the full view, Tony. Great relic. And I suspect Brian is correct - wax would be impossible to get off/out of some of the bits on this. I hadn't considered that when I suggested it. Thanks again for sharing.

Certainly done by someone with a degree of skill, a good set of carving tools and lots of time, so POW is certainly a possibility. I have seen some lovely wood and brass work out of RE and RAOC units in WWI - the products of skilled craftsmen with time on their hands - so the other possibility is a bored sprog in an armoured depot repair company or some such. Either way, a very nice and unusual souvenir with some historic significance. The 27th had some of the 'DD' Shermans - the amphibious model - as well as some SP guns and one unit of conventional Shermans and saw service at Normandy, Caen and in Operation Goodwood before being broken up at the end of July, 1944 .

And you were doing so well, Chris. The rest of us looked at that title and, in the extremely unlikely event that our minds went in that [low] direction, remembered the place and our roots - 'Gentleman's' - and resisted our inner demons. But thanks for contributing! [Actually, it was my first thought too, but... ]

Personally, I'd go with the beeswax: doesn't add or take away anything, but will help seal it against further desication. With artifacts of this sort/condition, one is caught between 'making it look good' and 'keeping it as found' but musuems and conservators will always come down on the side of the latter, as it's history since it was made is a key part of it's value.

Beat me to it! A very common diagnoses at Field Ambulance posts and Casualty Clearing Stations. 'He has a fever.' Lots of liquids and a couple days bed rest and off you go back to your unit. No antibiotics and if there had been they'd have been reserved for the seriously wounded/infected.

My apologies, Herm,an. You are correct as to the order of the WWI trio. I should have looked more carefully! [blush]

As I used to remark on a regular basis, in response to the mantra 'It's rare!', 'So is leprousy. But nobody will give much money to get it.'

Actually, Herman, if the IGS 1908 was awarded for that campaign, with the 'N.W.F 1908', then the ribbons are in the correct order and that combination, IGS first is quite common in the Indian Army and not unknown in the Btitish Army of the period. However, you are correct that it is an improbable combination for someone born in 1927, which is why I suggested that perhaps they were his father's.

Yes, thank you, Mike, for sharing your knowledge and collection. My acquatinace with the LOF is extremely slight, so much so that I was unaware that there were British members, though I did know of the CEF battalion they sponsored.

This one? http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30106116 One in an original box, so presumably in excellent condition as well, is being sold by a UK dealer fro L60.

Very nice. Canadian or...?

Lovely work, Nigel! I do educational work and re-enacting of WWI over here in Canada and the only GS wagons I know of are in military museums. Nice to see one in private hands and available for important ceremonies!

Clearly a military family, as neither was a 'hostilities only' enlistment. Ancestry.com can likely provide some further information, as Kimber is not so common a name as to be unsearchable, with birth year and city or origin known. Nice grouping!

You are very welcome, Pav. Sadly, much of the information on the old British organization of India/Pakistan was left in various local archives on the sub continent and is not readily accesible, especially to someone like myself who does not read Deva Nagri script. However, I'll keep poking about and if I come up with anything I'll let you know. Peter

The 'dot dash dash' stands for 'W' of course, but other than that, no ideas. Possibly some connection with the Order of St George.

What Hugh said! Thanks, Dave.

Wonderful, wonderful work.

Welcome to the GMIC, Pav. You have very probably figured out that yourr GG Granfer was a Carpenter for the Public Works Department. The Dept was established in 1854 by Lord Dalhousie and its' descendant organization exists today. Both Burma's and India's PWDs had Military Works branches, run by their respecticve governments but officered British officers of the Royal Engineers. The Indian one was transferred to Army control in 1899, but it would not be at all surprising if members of the civilian branches were seconded to the military during WWI. The Indian Labour Corps made a large though generally unheralded contribution to the war effoert, serving in a number of theatres and it may well be that members of the PWD were attached to them as well. I will see what I can dig up on this for you. I hope this is a small start. Below are a couple of links whihc may give you a little more general information. http://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/indian_labour_corps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Public_Works_Department,_India Peter This site may also be of use, specifically the section on researching one's ancestors: https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Indian_Army

Fascinating and I second Brett's comments. It's also nice to see one of these tales with a 'happy ending': "She died a wealthy woman".

Dave The tradition of 'badges' which afre more than just identifiers is not new in the British services: the War Service badge for WWI was given for wear after one left the service and the Indian Army issued an 'Overseas Service' badge in both WWI and WWII. All of those were in addition to or separate from any 'medals' a serving soldier/person may have qualified for. It's nice to see that the government can see the value in acknowledging such service and is prepared to spend the relatively trifling sums needed to do so. Here in Canada, the men who served in the merchant navy were only officially recognized as war veterans, eligible for government support, in 1992, despite having a casualty rate higher than any of the figthing services [1 in 7]. The cynics point out that most of them were dead by '92, so it didn't cost the gov't much!

You might try contacting the Ugandan Embassy as well, to enquire whether or not those records are available in country if kew doesn't have them. I know that, for Inida, the records stayed in country and are, sadly, almost inaccessible, but perhaps you'll get lucky! Good luck in the hunt.

Hugh My understanding is that the ARC ladies - 50,000 by the war's end - did do 'hostess' duties in hospitals in the US and in mobile units in Europe, where the 'donut dolly' moniker arose, I believe. Here's and interesting retor. look at the unit: http://www.redcross.org/news/article/Red-Cross-Retrospective-The-Gray-Lady-Service Sorry for your loss! Peter

Welcome to the GMIC, Bruce. I'm not sure if I undersatnf your question, but are you asking about who might have made and/or earned this 'award'? My first guess is that this is a souvenir piece, probably locally made in Libya, Egypt or somewhere similar by local artisans for sale to the occupying troops. A man has to make a living , after all! I may be totally wrong, however. Perhaps other members have more concrete info. to contribute. Again, Welcome. Peter

Great find, Chris! Unrelated question: is the mounted soldier in your photograph Black? Or is that just my aging eyes and the photoreproduction of my cheesy laptop?

Interesting set indeed. Impossible to say exactly what it commemorates, though, without a few more clues. You might be able to get some information by contacting the Royal Green Jackets museum, as the Ox and Bucks were subsumed into that regiment in one of the re-organizations. Or, possibly, from the Soliders of Oxfordshire Museum: https://www.sofo.org.uk/ Good luck with your enquiries!