peter monahan

I would agree with Mervyn - this does not look right. At least some of the screws appear to be machine cut, so several centuries too late for a matchlock, and I don't think the match holder is correct - the tube is unnecessary and would impede the functioning. matchlocks also don't have the same trigger mechanism as flintlock and later guns, as the match needs to be lowered slowly into the pan, not snapped down. The trigger suggests a flint or percussion lock to me. I think this is a put together piece, using [probably] flintlock parts, not a real weapon. However, as Mervyn says, consult experts. free advice is, after all, sometimes only worth what you pay for it! Good luck. Peter

Very nice. And for the record, its an eagle, not an albatross? Kidding! Kidding!

I think respect for various groups has deteriorated, but probably not because we've figured out that the POs put their pants on the same way we do. We recently had an 18 year old, probably mentally ill, with a knife but on an empty bus, shot 8 times then Tazered. In the presence of at least 20 officers. The poor bugger who did it - who has been charged with murder but I take no position on that - had 4 years in, half of it on court duty. Two weeks later 3 large cops Tazered a confused 80 year old with a kitchen knife. She broke her hip when she fell. Those kind of things make many Canadians feel fear or contempt for the police. Watching a PO dance - badly maybe - at Carabana tends, IMHO, to have the opposite effect. I hope today's police aren't being trained to take the middle of the pavement and shoulder others off it! Taking names and busting head has, or should have, gone out of fashions. A friend of mine, a PO in downtown Toronto, likes doing bar calls with a small female partner, because mostly the drunks don't feel they have to take a swing at her. Me, I'm far more impressed to see two POs talk the brute down and quietly walk him out than see the silly b***er disappear onto the floor under a wave of blue and beat sticks. If I wanted brawls I'd watch John Wayne! If police are respected less by the public, it has little or nothing to do with them smiling, chatting or even dancing!

Does someone out there have a list of date hallmarks? It would be nice to know exactly when these were made.

I notice that one of the soldiers in the flannel shirt photo is wearing a wooly pully on top of his shirt. Probably says something about the temperature rather than about military fashion!

Undoubtedly at some point, one of the NCB response units, having read up on what's likely to survive a nuclear holocaust, and with an eye to a catchy new headline, will be christened "The Crimson Cockroaches".

A very fitting memorial to our friend Rick, Chris! Excellent. He will be missed but, as many have said, he shared and helped because it was a good thing to do and wherever he is now, he will appreciate the sentiment and the act. RIP Rick Research Peter

Sweet!

In central Nigeria, where I spent 2 years, we had 'harmattan' - 2 or 3 months in the winter when the prevailing wind was from out of the Sahara and there was a 24/7 dust haze which dropped the temperature down to 50 or so. There were even local legends of frost - which I did believe - and snow - which I don't' The other Canadian and I of course made a point of commenting on how warm it was an never wore any but short sleeves, but some of my students had ski jackets bought from second hand clothes merchants, who got bales of clothing from New York, all kinds, and they wore those jackets! Your blood really does thin in a warmer climate. I wear wool in the summer - Napoleonic era uniforms - an in part believe the wool is cooler theory, but its all relative. "Cooler" is NOT the same as "Cool"! I've always wondered, but wasn't ever able to ask intelligibly, how our Tuareg watchmen explained wearing black in the Sahara too. Well, technically indigo blue, but so dark it looked black. I always wondered whether it was for the other kind of 'cool', cause they were wicked cool, with their 6'6" height topped with turbans and face veils and their swords, which they didn't wear but carried. Armed soldiers stepped off the sidewalks to let Tuareg men walk past and I once saw two of them sit in a van, unbothered, while everybody else but them and the two whiteys got d**n near strip searched. There were only 6 soldiers with SMGs at the Nigerienne border post, so I think they flet outnumbered by the Toureg!

Kevin I shoulda thunk a that! Especially as I know how much 'in country' stuff the UN missions typically generate. And hadn't considered the ribbon supply problem either. Makes me feel better about the land of my forebears and its military standards! Peter

Fantastic! Always good to read a good news story about honouring our heroes.

Ah, that too! "No reason, its just our policy." How many men did the British lose to heat stroke in the Punjab campaigns? And did they let them march in shirt sleeve order? Nooo!

It's never happened to me, but it's one reason I go to auctions and very definitely a reason I collect and research! Wonderful find and a great tale! Thanks for sharing. Peter

Yes, long before we had Photoshop [and Forrest Gump] we had artists who worked on commission and included what they were told to or just had a poor sense of events or painted what they knew would sell! Look at all the English portraits of cavaliers and their horses, where the horse's head is the same size as it's master's head. Never seen a horse like that, never expect to, but I can see the canny artist saying to himself "He's not paying for a picture of the horse's face! Make it smaller!" I wear a repro. 1812 British officer's uniform to a regiment who had their ten buttons arranged singly, not in pairs or threes or fours, but my coat has them in pairs. The only contemporary painting seems to show one of 'our' officers with paired buttons, probably because pairs were in that year and he told his tailor 'Put them in twos and b***er the regulations. I'm paying for it, Ill have it as I like!" So, of course, I'm regularly told 'That's wrong!" I just smile and nod.

Well done again! The ribbon colours, if nothing else, bring back memories.

Nice group for UN service! I thought the Warsaw Bloc and some of the Asians were the only people to use the plastic/painted bars. No offence to the Irish defence Force, but no the finest look I've ever seen.

Rick Accidental for sure! Plus, new name tags is way cheaper than replacements for our 55 year old SAR helicopters and submarines we're pretty sure will submerge but not at all sure will surface. Naw, we beat you in 1812-14 and decided to quit while we were ahead. And we know we won 'cause we captured Detroit early in the war and made you take it back again at the end!

Ask some of the old Africa hands for sure, but Mt Kenya has permanent snow and the Aberdare Mtns - 'Scotland with lions' - and even Nairobi hit lows of 50F in some months. Peter

Just saw a short article in Legion Magazine - possibly old news to some here - that along with the Canadian Air Force and Canadian Navy regaining their "Royal" prefix, the Canadian Army is [re]adopting rank pips, crowns and swords to replace the current system of cuff stripes of various widths and number. In addition, private soldiers will be referred to as 'gunner', 'trooper', 'fusileer', etc. and 2nd Lts will be 'Ensigns' while WOs will revert to 'Colour Sergeants'. Well done, that government department! God bless tradition and all who sail in her. Peter

I see nothing wrong with repeatedly stabbing an arming doublet with multiple blades. If you had a PhD in History it would be called 'research' and you'd have a grad student to do it for you! I myself once spent an enjoyable afternoon in the back yard - fenced, luckily - with a good copy of a 12th century German sword, reducing a 4"x4" post to splinters just to get a feel for the thing. B***dy hard work too! Those medieval warriors were the equivalent of our pro athletes: callouses and muscles everywhere, including possibly between the ears. People don't get that it took all those peasants to support squires and knights because they spent a 40 hour week just whacking things with swords and battles, or at least individual combats, were sometimes decided simply by who was in better physical shape! Anyway, I savvy both authenticity and craftsmanship. Keep it up! Peter Peter

Absolutely - there was 2nd war trench art too, just not as common because, on most fronts, there wasn't the same situation of months and months of sitting around, but the war did last 5 years, so some of the boys had time to get really bored too! Glad I could help.

Nice haul, Mike. Now you just have to convince Customs you took the helmet with you in case of snow! "I'm Canadian. It snows here in August!"

David I assume you have access to his basic records, as kept by the War Office - or whoever bought them recently for genealogists! If you know what brigade or battery he served with, there are a couple of sites where you might find more info: http://www.1914-1918.net/rfa_units.htm and http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/royalartillery.php. The second one is The Memories Project - personal reminiscences by vets, so if you're lucky you might finds one by someone who served with/near him. Good luck! Peter

Hoyden I echo Brian's comments. I live on the fringes of the world your describe: I make my own 1812 uniforms and clothing to a fairly exacting standard - but I'm no 'stich Nazi' and good friend include a man whose living is doing the same for museums all over the world. Oh, and history advising on the "Pirate of the Caribbean" series, but we don't talk about that so much! Your interest and efforts are indeed praiseworthy in the current 'done today, not done well' world we seem to inhabit. keep up the great psost too, please. Peter

Again, thanks for the work and the posting, Antonio. Good to see members with such wide spread interests! Maybe now that someone is, apparently seriously, planning a colonization trip to Mars, Mr. Nkoloso can get one of his astronauts onto the ship.