peter monahan

Great photos! Thank you again! I had the dubious pleasure of correcting any number of 'English' essays on Usman Dan Fodio during my brief tenure as a teacher in nigeria but must confess I didn't ever get into the particulars of North and West African warfare to the extent of looking at the armour. Rather ethnocentric of me, especially as my first love as a historian was the Medieval period! And when I did more African history it mostly began with the colonial period and focused on the impact of gunpowder on warfare. Live and learn! I now have another theme to investigate!

Fabulous, Herman! When did the event occur? Early 20th Century, I'm guessing form the costume.

I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that it is what the French call, I believe, a 'table award': a legitimate government award for some kind of service to the state but not a military award and obviously not meant to be worn. Many countries have them, for industry, arts and letters and so on. As such, they tend to be less valuable than military awards and much less well documented. All that said, this looks to be a well made [and very attractive] piece, so it might be worth your while to look out someone who deals in coins and so on from that part of the world to get a better idea of exactly what it is and whether its valuable. Not sure where you're located in the EU but many large cities will have specialty shops which deal with things Arabic. Hope this is some small help.

The Victor Buckle appears to be manufactured by Hobson & Son. of Aldershot, who do stable belts for many units. Examples on the web for Paras and other units seem to match, so I'd guess this is a good one. The finish on the reverse of the buckle is very crude, but that seems to be common to a number of the samples I saw, so I'd guess that's just the new standard. Here's a site with multiple examples if you want to compare yours to others. http://www.stablebelts.co.uk/mainpage.html

That suggests tourist item to me as well, but my experience with Masonic kit is pretty limited. The older stuff is usually marked somehow, but noi idea what the modern stuff is like.

You must spend a good deal of time looking at a wide variety of web sites to locate these lovely things, Antonio. Good for you!

I stand corrected! I wouldn't have thought, from my admittedly limited knowledge of North and West African arms and armour that such a weapon would be necessary- I was assuming it had been developed to deal with plate armour. Thanks for sharing those references and photos. I'm actually trying to recall whether on the half dozen occasions I saw traditional mounted 'troops' in Nigeria they were carrying any lances and I think the anser is 'no'. Swords, definitely, and of course the traditional Polaroids and plastic flip flop sandals to compliment the robes and head dres, but no lances that I recall.

Nice job on the mounting!

That is indeed an impressive lance head and pretty clearly - to me at least - not indigenous to North Africa. I don't recognize the style, though what you say about the armour piercing makes sense. Any other clues as to origins?

That's pretty neat!

That's disappointing!

The other possibility is that someone visited Israel and Egypt. There was at one point a few years ago, a fad for having one's name 'written' in Egyptian hieroglyphs [each glyp assigned a phonetic value] on a cartouche like this. When I taught Ancient History my students did it for fun but I'm fairly certain I've seen jewellery done the same way, which might account for the first item. The fitting attaching the chain to the cartouche has a very modern look to it as well, so my bet would be that it is simply a piece of jewellery. Any symbol/marking on the reverese of either?

Good call, Antonio!

Very nice indeed!

Yes, modern dictators have a gruesome record of medal design, including but not restricted to Idi 'Dada' Amin's VC. Yes, it di have his fat phiz on the front! Uniforms, at least personal ones, are also a pre-occupation of leaders - see photos of the late unlamented leader of Libya for some awful examples. In an earlier period, Victoria's husband Albert got his lick in and designed a shako with peaks at front and rear, which was universely loathed by the troops, but most European armies had design committees - of senior soldiers - and then departments who created the sealed patterns from which unifroms and badges were actually produced. Orders and medals, however, have always been at least approved of by the head of state in most nations as they represent the official heraldry of the state. In many places I suspect this is one of many jobs they do, more or less automatically, but for those who have/had an interest its a small way to put one's mark on the nation. And who will tell the King/Queen/beloved leader that she or he has no taste at al?

Very nice! Any information on what the medlas are , other than the UN awards, or who they may have belonged to?

Quite a puzzle! Do let us know if any other information turns up. Happy Christmas! Peter

The colours on the central shield are arranged as are those on the flag of EG and the rooster is clearly an emblem of the country, so I'm sure you're correct in your identification. Is there anything on the back of the badge which suggest it's possible use? Loops to pin it to a hat or piece of clothing or bolts which would allow it to be attached to plaque or wall? What size, roughly, is it? Anything under 2 inches [5 cm] might be a badge. Over that size it's more likely to be a decorative plaque of some sort.

If he got the DFC there should be a London Gazette entry, I think - WWII is not my forte. The Gazette is fully searchable, thought the search engine is a bit wonky at times. Records for the Second War are still under some restrictions, I believe - available to kin but not necessarily to everyone - but, again, someone over there will kow better. A raid resulting in the loss of 12 planes should be traceable in squadron and wing records too, I should think - that would have been a major loss for a single mission in the RAF and a good history of the bombing campaign should steer you to the correct units.

Me too! I made all my early re-enacting tunics [Napoleonic period] and a fair bit of period clothing and would be embarrassed to be seen on the field next to someone wearing that, never mind wearing it myself!

Very classy looking thing, ain't it! And rare as well. Nice find, Congo!

Happy Holidays, Gary!

Not imporbable, given the provenance, that an original tunic was modified for a tattoo, theatricals or just display. Frankly, for a tattoo or even re-enactor I'd have expected better workmanship, but I suspect that's what this is.

Excellent sleuthing! BTW, I expect that the explanation for the jodphurs [non-uniform] was the same as the explanation for Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery's famous beret with two badges on it: That's what he chose to wear and there was no one around of sufficient rank to tell him not to!

The cow tail shrunk over the haft of the blade is apparently the traditional method of fixing and no longer done, which argues for some age, as does the accompanying story. Sadly, our pukka Zulu expert, Mervin Mitton, passed away just recently or e'd have chimed in by now. I'm sure, wherevere he is, he has an opinion. That said, the mantra I have always clung to in collecting is 'Buy the thing, not the story.' Presumably Zulus were as taken with the events at Isandalwana and Rourke's drift as were the British, for different reasons, and the temptation to 'embroider' stories and the fallibilty of human memory are universals. Not saying it wasn't used there, but I've seen many many misattributed 'treasures' over the years, sometimes for profit often from sheer error.