peter monahan

Obviously I imagined/misremembered the shileds for the NZ riot squad in '81, but, yes, those are the lads I was thinking of. Very impressive lot.

Nice work, Kris.

Someone commented on the NZ riot squad during the Springboks tour. I remember watching a film clip of them practicing for the anticipated protests: shields held up and short batons projecting forward, ahead of the shield. The whole squad advanced in lock step and every time their right boots came down they jabbed the batons forward at solar plexus height, very quickly, and withdrew them. It looked like a threshing machine and was one of the most frightening things I'd ever seen! It reminded me of what i imagined a Roman legion must have looked like wading into a crowd of 'barbs' and, I suspect, with the same effect.

Lovely indeed! I expect to see a few such next month, at Waterloo! "They came at us in the same old way, and we drove them off in the same old way." Wellington.

Taras That is indeed odd. I wonder if the post has somehow been moved or the wrong image attached due to the new web system which the administrator introduced.

I was lucky enough to be in Ottawa last weekend for the ceremonies around the dedication of a statue to John McCrea, who wrote the famous poem 'In Flanders Fields' and was able to meet a number of senior officers, including the current and former Surgeons General of the Canadian Forces, with their various staff, ADCs and so on. Many many sparkly orders and decorations and all looked, to me, very well made. But perhaps, as in all other things, rank hath its privileges? Me in the back row, in WWI CAMC kit, next to the shiny officer [also in WWI kit].

Iceman If you click on the envelope icon at the top right of the page you can send a personal email to arrestanddevelopment. I have sent him a note asking if he has seen your post and whether he still has the O wings. If he responds, I'll ask him to contact you directly. He does not seem to have made any other posts more recently than 2009, but I hope that his posting on your relative means that he is still a member of the GMIC and will get my note and any you may send him. Peter

Sadly, Mervyn, I suspect protests, public or otherwise would be more likely to encourage further outrages than the opposite as, like ISIS, the modus operandi of the various jihadists seems to be to deliberately outrage the West in hopes of provoking a reaction which they can characterize as 'ant-Muslim', 'imperialist' and so on. Ugly, hateful but with a certain low cunning!

Dave Not strictly my field but I'm intrigued by the combination of Garrison Court Martial - which suggest a more serious crime than would be dealt with by a Regimental Court - and the pretty lenient sentence of 12 days stoppages and imprisonment. You didn't say where the alleged offence occurred, nor which regiment or corp your distinguished forebear was with, which might well make a difference as to where you should look next. perhaps with some of that info. our UK members can suggest next steps.

Thanks for sharing the photographs. I don't think I've ever seen a 'live' one before. I suspect a lot were sold out of service to farmers and teamsters and driven until they were scrap, then left in a field somewhere, as is so often the fate of old farm machinery, at least here in Canada. Nice to see one preserved.

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What a great story! Do you know if there is a biography, printed or private for her, Dante? Any descendants?

Fascinating indeed. The digital records of soldiers' files for WWI are now available at the Canadian Archives, up to the end of the 'C's in the alphabet. Coderre is in the records as 'Codere' [one 'r'] here: http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?op=pdf&app=CEF&id=B1834-S031 He was only 21 when he enlisted in 1914 and all of his records record that he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. His temporary commission ends and he is dismissed the service on 5th Feb. 1916. Interestingly, his last pay - $65.00 - was paid out in 1917 before the file was closed. Pay probably went to his mother,as his other allotments had.

The red and gold suggest Spain to me as well, though the stripes more typically run vertically in the arms of Aragon. The bishop's mitre could be any Catholic nation, but fairly old, as later arms used an elaborate system of tassels to identify priest, monseigneurs, bishops, cardinals and so on. Likewise, the cross and lion are very common in medieval heraldry, so hard to pin down to one place. Any information at all as to where the banner or fragment came from - recently, I mean?

I doubt that it is Indian, as the star is used mostly by post Independence Indian forces and was not a feature of British Indian Army badges that I can think of, though its such a broad field it is very hard to be dogmatic. I'd guess Cameronians as well.

With the long stem driven into the ground next the back door, it would certainly work as a boot scraper, so I'd say that's as good a guess as any. Interesting bit!

Leigh When you mention 'trainer whitener' I assume that you are referring to what we colonials would call 'liquid shoe polish [white]' or 'shoe whitener'. I have chums who've used that too and it has a nasty tendency to flake and float in little clouds, much to the disgust of senior NCOs. To paraphrase Gilbert and Sullivan, 'The squaddy's life is not a happy one!'

A nice salty cap indeed. No, peaked caps to the IA are no too common, though I expect a couple of our members have examples they may share. The leather lining is indeed odd - must have been hellish hot, I should think. As to the location of the hatter, it may be that his work was worth sending for, or that the owner was originally stationed in Madras Presidency when he bought it - on a course, with another regiment or even as second hand kit. Nice to see an Indian Army badge actually in situ, however. Thanks for sharing. Peter

Noor I wonder if a search throught the diplomatic section of the London Gazette [back issues] would turn up any reference to his activities or death in Vienna? P

Chris I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. If there are different badges on the tunic in his photos then I would assume a transfer at some point in his career. The divisional patch would be that of the formation to which his company was attached and the hammer and pinchers badge indicates that he was a fitter by trade, I think. Hope that is some help. Peter

Jock Hadn'rt realized this was a permanent change of station for you. Yes, i can see how 70 years of 'Let's not bin that just yet.' would add up to a whopping big pile of kit! Hope you find some real treasures! Peter

That has been the conventional wisdom, Leigh, but as Irish points out, the same logic should have distated that all mounted units wore balls instead of spikes so... you pays your money and takes your choice - safety, symbolism, or 'just because'.

I shall have to invetsugate when I am in Brussels in June. I believe we have a free day. Thanks for the information.

Zarmaniac - my interest is in more modern African medals than these but we have several expert members who I'm sure can help once they see this post. Mervyn, one of the senior moderators is resident in SA and ran a militaria shop there for years and Chris Boonzaier is also very expert on the South African wars and, I believe, reads Afrikkans, in which I suspect much of the information about this group is written. I'll direct their attention to this post and I'm sure they will have some suggestions. Mervyn may also want to move this post to the colonial wars forum, due to its nature but I'll leave that to him to decide. Peter

Ned, as I say, 'heard it from a bloke in a pub' or, in my case, read it in a novel. Apparently they were shortened and the scabbards likewise bobbed ans crimped shut. I can't imaghine they were very good machetes, but when the Nipponese were expected daily in northern Oz, it may have seemed like idea than turning them into tent pegs or steel ingots. Who can say what goes through the minds , if that's the right word, of army QMs? And if we could say, would we want to?