peter monahan

Lovely work, Squadron Girl! Thanks for sharing the results of your brave efforts. Now, of course, if anyone else destroys a priceless vintage headdress we'll know who to blame! I wonder if the use of multiple 'WD' stamps on the actual skin is merely a reflection of the military compulsion to label everything, often, or a signal that there was in fact a market for stolen bears in Victorian London?

The badge of the 7th, whoever they are, would fascinate my friendly neighbourhood Satanists!

Intersting! Does the background info. give the rationale for institutitng this, Frank? Are they perhaps afraid that there are not enough provincial awards for this, or that Her Majesty won't be around long enough for another XXth anniversary medal to share out?

Excellent! When I was at the the 200th anniversary of Waterloo last year there were quite a number of Swedes there, although I think someone told me he was in a 'Finnish unit' if that makes sense. I'm afraid I'm lamentable ignorant of the role played by Sweden in that war. I had a beer with a couple of them who, of course, spoke excellent English! [You Europeans put we North Americans to shame with your command of multiple languages. ] Peter

Is that at Newville, Hoss? I'm headed down there next week - SB with the 3rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. What's your unit?

There's the definitve word then. Essex Reg't is a possibility, particularly if he joined up early enough that the Army was still able to deal in regional preferences. good luck!

You're both lucky to have connections to such a disntiguished soldier, however little he may have valued his 'trinkets'! Now all you need is some bit fom one of the Emporer's uniforms.

I notice that both the original photo and the latest one feature 7 button tunics, not the 5 button style shown in the Turkish plate. The empty crecent might be either a function of rank, perhaps, or because of the unit he was a member of. Did all battalions / units wear a distinguishing numeral?

The only easy answer is to blow the photo up until the badges are visible, but I assume you've thought of that. OTOH, with your father's full name and birthdate, one of our British members may - not 'may' - be able to extract somehting from the WWII records - always a somewhat dicey proposition. As a direct descendant you are entitled to your father's service records, I'm sure, but being in Canada and not a WWII expert, I'm not sure how much info. is needed for the records blokes to search for them for you. here is an address which lays out how to go about that. Seems fairly simple [in theory]. https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records Good luck with the search!

Sometimes one gets lucky on Ancestry; sometimes one is driven to alcohol laden whiskey!

Very nice! I suspect His Grace would have needed a separate baggage wagon to carry all his awards and decorations in the latter years! Always interesting, though, to see who was given what and by whom in these international situations. [I almost said 'international love fests' ] Is the star yours, Augustin? Whether or no, thank you for sharing it.

With an unnamed, very common medla that may be as close as you can get, but your best bet is likely some one of the members with access to the Ancestry.UK site. If you can track the born-in-1909 through their respurces you may be lucky enough to find reference to is service, especially if the syrname is a bit uncommon or if some family member has shared a family tree with bioraphical details on line. Sorry that's not more help but perhaps the UK members can think of something I've missed. Peter

Good luck with your search, Lady!

That last article is fairly daming! Nevertheless, he did his service and certainly deserves recognition for that. Intersting too that he identifies his British service as having been in 'intellience' while the official record seems to suggest active service with the Gunners. OTOH, the transfer to Egypt and perhaps ther Italian award suggest that perhaps he wasn't just filing inter-Army memos as a US-Brit liason. Interesting fellow, no doubt.

That's nice! What were the qualifications for earning this award?

I have nothing useful to add to the discussion of the batons, but on reading the whole thread I was tickled by Mervyn's description of the Ushers: They are a temporary appointment of Gentlemen who act as Ushers during the Coronation Ceremony in Westminster Abbey. 'temporary Gentlemen', of course, being the sneering description accorded war time commissioned officers by their long term, regular Army brethern. We miss both his eruditon and his wit!

Rather cryptic, Mark! I'd say the odds are slim, but I've been wrong before. Once, in 1998. Seriously, if you can guve us a hint - spare parts to sell? somebody making a movie and needs props? - a member(s) may have an answer for you. 'I know a guy who knows a guy who...' actually does work in some cases. Peter

Your usual wonderful work! You might want to check out the US 'Great War Association' and contact some of the Central Powers units with samples of this sort of thing. Our sprinbg event is fast approaching and some of these dudes clearly have more money than is good for them! And in US dollars too! http://www.greatwarassociation.com/CentralPowers.html Peter

I'm afraid my limited expertise on things Napoleonic is realted solely to the British Army and, more specifically, the War of 1812, and my German is non-existant. However, there were some very good looking KGL troops at Waterloo 2015 last summer and there is a facebook page for at least one of the units: https://www.facebook.com/KGAUK/ Peter Catley, a senior re-enactor and acqauintance of mine is linked to the group, I think, but even if he isn't can almost certainly direct you to knowledgeable types in the UK who may be able to answer your questions. I hope this is of some small help. Peter

Luverly!

It looks like a smaller version of the famous 'Khyber knife' beloved of the Pathan peoples of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The blade shape and the 'eared' handle are common to fairly distinctive, though other blades from that part of the world may be similar' If you Google 'Khyber knife' or 'Choora' you will find many similar looking blades. This looks like a simple blade with honest wear on it, so it's probably NOT made for the tourist trade. The steel in these varies tremendously in quality, depending on the source. Old bayonets [European] were a favoured source for blade steel in the last century; now perhaps auto springs, as that's what the Nepali kukri makers prefer. Here's an example of a very similar blade, I think: http://www.collectarea.com/shop/afghan-khyber-knife-dagger-choora/

As a 'Born in the USA', raised in Canada dual citizen with no military service in either country, I'm staying right outta this debate!

So, Northern Ireland sounds right. Nice catch, Toni!

Well done that man, for checking the books and doing the math. So, sounds as if Group 1 might be dodgy. As with any other collectable, the bottom line has to be 'Will I think it was money well spent in X weeks / months / years from now?' Neither group has any rarities, if that makes a difference, so its down to price and how much you want to wet your feet in this particualr collecting pool.