peter monahan

Glad to hear he's got a peaceful place to call home! I think that's what all old soldiers want.

Nice find. I know a very little about the Napoleonic poeriod, mostly from the British side, and I'm a little surprised to see a stamped name plate/maker's mark on soemthing that early. I have no Italian, bar a few rude words, but the name 'Neapolitan Military Union' suggests a group or company to me, rather than a military unit. I wonder if these might have been made for a military academy or something similar which wore/wears period uniforms. However, if they are the same as the pair you tagged on the web site, they're valuable and you should get some expert advice. Try speaking to a reputable auction house: send them the photos and ask what they think. Knowing where they came from might be important too. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

The military has a long history of 'just growing' things. The classic examples seen today, in fact, seem to be most associated with Highland gear: the evolution of a bonnet with a plume on it into the 'feather bonnet'; the very peculiar pointed back canvas spats some pipe bands still wear and the pleating on some regimental kilts, which hide more material than they reveal for the sake of having identical verticals on each 'panel'. Never let the practicalities get in the way of a good look! And, of course, the habit of sneaking in 'regimental distinctions' despite the best efforts of higher ups is, I think, endemic to all armies and an important part of the tribal nature of regiments and their members.

I was out yesterday speaking to high school students about the war. When I get over the flu and unpack the car I'll try to remember to photgraph the contents and my tin and post it here. As far as I can tell - not far - the contents seem to be aithful copies of some of the individual tins. Tony, I can well imagine that the tins took a long time to deliver to NoK. As I sufggested, I believe the Indian Army ones chased the jawans out to mespot in 1917 or so. I'm writing up the 70 men from my community who died in the Great War and the medals. crosses, scrolls and plaques all went out 1920 at the earliest.

he must be getting on by now! I suppose the car dealership is long gone and he's living on all the 'loot' he allegedly gathered in his years as a 'Wild Goose'

Not sure what the regs are on UK medals thse days, but I don't believe it is 'wrong' to overlap medals. That said, if I were going to go that route I'd overlap all of them just a touch, as you've done with your last gong, for symmetry. I'm sure the MOD and British legion have protocols for this, but I tend to use the 'eyeball rule' - does it look OK? My tuppence worth.

Lovely! I was able to get an originakl tin last year and there is a company in the UK producing a 'set' of photos of Mary, the King and the Queen, a Christmas card and two small packets of cigarettes and tobacco. I gather from my research that everybody who was in France in 1914 eventually got these, though some of the Indians not until 1916! A very evocative thing, and perhaps the last 'personal' touch by a British monarch, befoe the sheer scale of the war put paid to such gestures. BTW, I'm going to ask our Chairman to move this thread to the British Empire area, where moew of the interested members are likely to see it.

Shams My guess is that 'cord' is short for 'whipcord', a tough wearing fabric often used in the unifroms of mounted units in particular in the 19th century. Almost a canvas in some of its manifestations. Here's a thumbnail sketch of what it was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipcord

Those are lovely! Thanks for sharing them.

Very nice work! Does it have a pin back?

I strongly suspect that the third line of Magnan's biography should read 'promoted to Ensign' rather than 'promotion of flags'. Ensign was, of course, the lowest rank of officer in the British Army in te nineteenth century and I suspect that the translator - person or computer - has taken the French equivalent and the second meaning of the English word - 'a flag' - and transposed them.

Wonder what the menus looked like?

Very nice haul! What's the lovely light blue enamelled one on the top left?

Excellent point, Brett. I don't know whether the characterization as 'iklwa' was Matti's or the seller's but clearly it needs amendation to be quite accurate.

Not my area and I haven't checked the prices, but if I were collecting to a 'unit' and could narrow a portrait down to one of two men, I'd be ecstatic! I hope one of our police collectors, or I should say 'other' ppilce collectors, Odin, can shed some like or at the very least find time to track these men further. As BigJar said, thank you for the time you've cl;early spent on this. This is the attitude which makes the GMIC my favourite forum! No egos, no put downs and many many members prepared to put themselves out 'for the hobby'. Gentlemen indeed. Peter

Sounds plausible and perhaps explains why the country is on it as well, if he was a merchant seaman or naval rating who might be wearing it in circumstances where his nationality was not otherwise evident. The Royal Navy historically threw a very wide loop when it came tio recruiting, as I suspect most navies and civilian fleets did: qualifications as a sailor trumped nationality every time.

I'm glad to hear it's something out od the ordinary then! Hard to tell from the photos. Hope you can find out something more too. Please do let us know if you succeed.

I hadn't seen this thread before and, though I'm setting myself up for a fall here, I'm not sure that Mervynn's Identification of the sword is accurate. His 'Hopital' example seems to have two bars showing on the hilt, one curved [in front] and the second with a right angle in it, which your sword doesn't appear to have. Sadly, swords are always tough even when the examples are in prime shape because so many are so similar. The hilt on your is generally described as a 'stirrup hilt' I think, which may be a tiny bit of help. Presumably the only real way to get a value would be to offer it for sale, which I think is not your intent. Discouraging!

I must confess to always feeling a guilty sense of glee when I read about this battle: the Russians getting thumped by a bunch of what they no doubt referrred to as 'primitives'. Sorry, not very Chrisitian I know. More importantly, I suppose, arguably one of the first truly 'modern' naval battles.

Matti Welcome to the GMIC! Sadly, our true South African expert, Mervyn Mitton, passed away a few months ago. He lived in SA for many years and ran a militaria/antique shop there. However, I can say a couple of things, in a general way. Zulu assegai and other African spears were made for a number of centuries as weapons and continued to be manufactured, up to the present, both as weapons and ceremonial objects and for sale to tourists and collectors. And, of course, not being 'military' in the Western sense there are no convenient serial numbers or even standarization of manufacture to help. So, it comes down to careful research and a lot of 'gut feeling' - best backed by experience. Provenance is largely a thing of the past for most collectibles now, as so many have gone through the hands of one or more dealers rather than coming to us straight from those or the families of those who acquired them and even 100 years ago these were being made for 'the trade.' That said, a couple of eneral comments. The most taditional method of attaching the head and shaft was to shrink a rawhide cow's tail over the join. So, a one piece leather tube. I see yours have leather but it looks like a wrapping to me - can't quite tell from the photo. Not bad news per se but probably means they're not really old. The shield is missing the stick which holds it rigid - as is almost always the case - but the loops of rawhide on the reverse are meant to hold that. So, it looks 'real' in that sense. They look to be decent quality but the wrappings prevent one seeing how the sockets were formed - forged or hammered over [open sided] tubes, which I believe is of significance as well. Here is the verty lengthy but also very helpful thread which Mervyn created over a period of time. Many many examples of Zulu weaponry with expert commentary on same. I hope it proves of more use than my few generalities. Again, welcome to the Club! Peter

Nice piece. I've never seen a side opening tin like that before. All the examples I know have tops which flip back. You'll need a plume as well as a badge to complete this one, Noor.

On a side note, Frank, I don't believe Ed Haynes has been a regular poster [or even reader, I suspect] on this foirum for a number of years now. He does however have his own site called, i think, South Asian Medals.

Ta!

Simply an attractive piece of jewellery, then? perhaps created for a family member or fan of the poet? It's quite beautiful, whatever it is!