peter monahan

Thanks, Lawrence! I should have scrolled up before asking. On a related note, how would YOU feel about being part of 'Operation Reassurance' ? 'We don't actually get to fight, but we do try hard to make people feel comfortable.' Or is that just too cynical for words?

Aren't they always thrilled when we show up with our treasures? Mine is!

And our men and women now in the Baltic? Do they get something shiny as well?

Interesting. Would their experience have been typical of German POWs or was there some special reason this unit was robbed in this fashion?

Like the now infamous swastika, the fasces have a long and generally proud hsitory. In Roman times, and presumably in the minds of the Belgian Army, they make a nice visual shorthand for 'We enforce the law.', a perfectly logical motto for a military court, especially one with the power of life and death. Mussolini and his ilk, of course, emphasized the 'force' at the expense of 'law' but that does not completely negate the historical precedents and meaning.

I hear what you're saying about well intentioned government biologists! Up here, a few years ago, the 1,000 animal herd of Wood Buffalo, in a park the size of Rhode Island, got brucellosis from ranchers' cattle. Gov't solution? Wipe them all out, start over with 'pure animals'. Really, guys? And if you miss just one...? 'Oh, we won't.' It also sounds as if 'taboo' is the anthropological equivalent of the archaeologists 'ritual object' - 'We have no freaking idea what this does/is fo, so we'll call it religious, 'cause religion is mysterious!' I assume from your comments that you DO speak at least one local language, which I would have assumed was more or less a requirement for serious field work. I taught for 2 years, with our version of the Peace Corps, in Nigeria. In English, one of the 4 official languages there, but could just barely feed myself and get gas for my bike once off the beaten track. Can't imagine discussing anything of substance without some command of the local bhat. In fact, our local missionaries, had 30 years in country and their greatest asset was a colloquial knowledge of Hausa, the local lingua franca.

A great story! And he was from Beeton, just down the road from my home in Alliston. A couple local boys joined the Cyclists, who often did duty in towns, helping the MPs direct traffic and man check points, so his police experience would have proved useful, though the bicycles themsleves were less of a success. 'A good cop'!

I'd call it 'grey-green', myself, but I'm no artist!

I see what you mean about the comparativce sizes of the cap badge and the helmet plate! As I say, my research was sketchy at best. Lovely photos, BTW. I assume and hope that they are part of the TPD museum's collection. P

Two badges I picked up some time ago. My minimal research suggests that they were worn on the helmet and perhaps also on the first peaked caps, sometime between the 1880s and the 1920s. One is complet, the other missing the central device. The second was clearly painted black at one time as well.

I am always fascinated and impressed when an expert expounds on his or her speciality. I would have assumed that wood points were used, as you say, because they were readily replaceable but not being a bow hunter would not have made the leap to 'things that get away'. On the same note, notched points for monkeys make sense. I assume that the hunters track the animal, even if the arrow is recovered, till it dies? The harpoon for caiman is quite similar to some of the similar implements used for seal and narwhale by Canadian indigenous groups. Parallel evolution works for tools as well as animals!

A truly lovely thing! Thanks for sharing. I have seen the photos from the '50s and recall wondering about the unifroms - in great shape for the 40 year old souvenirs of a defeated army, I thought, but I know nothing of French uniforms and didn't pursue the thought. Glad to see an expert such as yourself chime in on them. Peter

Cool! I have a friend who is an archaeologist [and Biblical scholar] who did all his digs in the Middle East - Lebanon and Israel - andf he had wonderful stories of the 'ancient coins' one can buy there. "Oh, wait, effendi. Let me get you a resh one from the back.' But I believe these items - 'ushabti', apparently - are common enough that they're not worth faking. I look at those and the occasional bronze arrowhead with lust from time to time but have so far resisted the urge. Please post more pics when you can.

I showed this to a couple of people, who all oowed and ahhed over it. Not, however, without noting that the whole 'reproduction' thing is a minefield when one goes back a century. A good friend makes quality reproduction uniforms, many of them French Imperial, for museums and historical units world wide and some of his efforts have found their way onto the market as 'authentic'. They're not, of course, and there are ways to tell - he typically machine stitches anything not visible when a coat is in wear, for example, but not everyone is as savvy or a shonest as The Armoury.

Welcome to the GMIC, Stalker. And thank you for the identification. Given that you read Russian, you could become a popular guy here! Rick, that's a stunner! Thanks for posting it. Peter

Cheers, Megan.. I knew you'd know. And Happy New Year.

Good luck with the hunt. The appeal and frustration of collecting combined!

You should be able to load pictures by opening a window like this one, whereupon 'Drag files... chose files should appear at the bottom of the window. Load the files from your own computer.

Morar Just saw this for the first time. I suspect, from the look of it that the background is a photographer's backdrop rather than a view of the outside, as was common at the time. Actual outdoor photos were not very common.

Order of? Megan?

My understanding, which is admittedly slight, is that the WDC was, like the NAAFI and some other groups, is an 'ancilliary' or 'auxilliary' service of the MoD. So, while that service might count towards medals, as it did for the NAAFI folks in Iraq/Afghanistan more recently, it is not technically 'part' of the armed forces. Just my tuppence worth. The WDC was phased out in 1974.

And everything looks to be in wonderful shape. Your Troop Sergeant Major would approve! Welcome to the GMIC. Peter

His Imperial majesty, the Emporer looks 'if not actually disgruntled, far from being gruntled'! Well done!

On another forum it has been identified as belonging to the Dutch east Indies forces, as bayern suggests. No idea about the badge.

A very useful post/thread indeed. Thank you!