peter monahan

Paul is indeed a gent, his erudition matched by his helpfulness! The modern notion that no soldier wears/wore medals to which he was not entitled is just that, a modern notion, made even more prevalent in the 'Google age', in which instant verification is a possibility. Old soldiers with long and honourable service 'improving' their medal issue was not uncommon, I don't think 'back in the day', as the kids say. Fielding, for example, may have served through the Waterloo campaign and been detached from his unit - sick, on an 'errand' or some such when the medal was issued and felt he really was entitled. Or, he may have wanted the benefits Paul outlined or felt that it reflected badly on him that a man of his rank had NOT qualified. Not at all in the same category as the total 'Wallies' - fakers - about whom the Americands get so exercised that they actually have a 'Stolne Valor Act' making it a crime to benefit from wearing medlas one hasn't earned, so even the free pint becomes a crime. Either way, as i say, i suspect that this kind of thing was not rare and would be relcutant to pass judgemtn on the SM but am glad you didn't fork out that large sum for the 'pair'! Peter

I rather think the names are superfluous! Your usual superb work makes the identities quite clear.

Welcome to the GMIC! We have a number of members with interests and expertise in Middle Eastern militaria, including at least one who collects to the Omani forces, so I'm sure they will chime in here when they notice your post. Or, if you have the time and inclination, you might search some of our posts and look for similar badges and or said experts. Most of us are quite happy to respond to private requests for assistance, I think. Hope to see you with us again soon! Peter

No great harm done, Sam! If it were me granfer, I'd be looking everywhere too. That said, letting people know what others have suggested can sometimes 'prime the pump' of memory. Most of us have huge 'back files' of information we don't even know we know, until the right phrase kicks it up front and center. I'm certainly in that category! Ask me what I know about the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines and my first answer will be 'Nothing before 1770 or much after 1820.' That siad, I'm fairly certain the two would have had different head gear, even if their uniforms were virtually indistingusihable in an old photo. Looking more closely at the pic, I see Chinese in the front row in a) naval uniforms and b) something else - Customs police at a guess. There is what looks like a trophy in the center and a number of both European civilians - topis and bare heads - and british [?] naval officers - peaked caps. The Chinese in long robes in the back rows are, at a guess, clerks in the Customs Service. Not sure what the occasion is, but clearly a ceremonial - this looks like a posed official or press photo. I hope that is some small help. Good luck in the hunt. peter

I was intrigued by the 'some blleding of scarlet', which suggests moisture/water damage, but later in the assessment the conservator suggest that this cap was in fact being 'worn' 100-200 years afer its manufacture. Godd bless the stingy old Quartermaster. Or, God rot, depending on one's view. A truly signiifcant piece and I suspect that most/all conservators would agree that the work done on it was a necessary evil. As an example, the huge US flags on display at several historic US forts, including the infamous 'star spangled banner' at Ft McHenry, have been 'stablized', so that what the viewer sees is dirty, torn and full of holes, a few caused by shot an shell and most due to age. The impression one is left with is quite inaccurate as to what it would have looked like in use but has the virtue that the flags are unarguable 'original'. In this case, the repairs are clearly part of the history or the artifact,as much as is the original manufacture and pretty obviously nevessary if one is not to wind up in a decade or two with a collection of cloth scraps. But I ramble; my major failing! Thank you for sharing, Mike and I hope you enjoy this wonderful piece when it arrives!

I'm not at all sure when the document was signed. If it was in 1965 then the Chancellor of the Exchequer - is that the right man even? - was James Callaghan, but the signature looks nothing like that name. Here is a list of past Chancellors: https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-chancellors

Tygrynio17 Welcome to the GMIC! This topic has come up before on this forum, so here is a link to some answers: As you can see in the linked discussion, Paul Wood, one of our senior members, obviously has access to details of recipeints of the medal, so he may well pipe up here as well. There was a bit of a scandal several decades ago when it was discovered that somebody in the UK was re-naming Crimea medals so that they appeared to have been awarded to Light Brigade 'Chargers' but I'm not aware that the Waterloo medal is being tampered with, as I think while expensive they are still not too had to find on the market. However, someon like Paul or a number of our other members can likely speak to that. It is possible that a Sgt Major might be commissioned and rise to the rank of Colonel, but less likely during the period in question, as he would likely have been in for many years toi get to SM rank and would then have to 'start over' as a Lieutnenant and work his way up the commissioned rnks, so my guees is tat these are two different peopl, but it's only a guess. Peter

Excellent! I hope some members are archiving the photos for future reference.

Indeed! Lovely things. I particularly like the last one, but then that may be because I have a similar hat I wear in the summer, with the brim flat, not turned up! Thanks for sharing these.

Nothing screams 'wrong' to me, but for the kind of money I assume is involved, you might want to consider contacting a museum or high end auction house for an opinion. Sadly, there is just no substitute for holding the thing in one's hand. A friend, Peter Twist of HistoricalTwist, here in Canada, makes his living producing museum quality reproductions of [mostly British] uniforms from the 1760-1820 period and anything he has made in the last 30 years would be indistinguishable from an original except for deliberately added mistakes, to prevent fraud, and aging. The bearskin on this one looks to me very like a number I saw last summer which are modern repros. which have been worn daily for a decade, so that isn't a warning sign to me but... There are enough good copies out there now, never mind the fakers work, that even an experienced collector like the vendor can make mistakes. Again, not trying to queer his pitch. I assume he's sell it 'pending verification' and were they my shekels, I'd even consider paying for an expert appraisal. My ratrher long-winded tuppence worth. Good luck!

I assume that the Gazette refers to a group of awards, as most do, especially for the MM. I looked up one and the list ran to 40 pages. OTOH, now that you have a regiment and battalion number and at least a general dating, you can try your luck with the regimental war diaries. I understand that the NAM Archives has put them on line and this site seems to be the access: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-war-diaries-1914-1922/ I've just done researching 70 Canadians and sadly, the amount of info. on private soldeirs found in most war diaries is minimal. As an example, they may, at best record that 'Lt Firstname Secondname, Sgt Secondname and three Orther Ranks' were killed on date X'. Not too surprising, as the diaries were meant to be a general record, but if you're lucky and the Adjutant was a keener, they can include lists of men gazetted for awards and so on. Worth a look anyway. Looking is feree but downloads may cost on the NAM site, it says. Good luck!

Nice one, William! presumably a 'bring back' by a Tommy who acquired it at Devil Wood. looks to be in good nick too.

Perhaps just as well. I saw, yesterday, one dated '1931' which sold on ebay for hundreds of pounds! This suggests to me that these are well worth the attention of the fakers and forgers, so you might have gotten your fingers burned. It's a pity that the world is as it is and the 'hobby' is beset with such trickery, but...

I appreciate Mike's point, as I have a smattering of museum training and experience, but even museums do some restoration/repair if not doing so would mean the destruction of the artifact by age and neglect. I must confess I blanched when I read "restitiching... using WW2 vintage cotton thread" But I'm hoping that means the stitches actually holding the pieces together and not any of the embroidery, as venturing into the latter area probably crosses the nebulous line between 'conservation' and 'improvement'. Way too early for me to have an informed opinion as well, but I would think that provenance, if any, would be important. As recently as 100 years ago, such things were made for military tattoos, parades, and display, by hand using techniques indeistinguisable form the original manufacture but the sheer amount of work involved might one to think this is NOT a reproduction. Either way, it is a truly lovely piece. If you'd like to PM me, I have a friend whose business is the creation and restoration of museum quality uniforms form the period in question and he may have some useful ideas if you get in touch with him. Peter

And when he got one he spent it on British shako plates of the Napoleonic period, which I believe still live in a shoe box in Casa Johnson. Michael is 'canny wi' his sil'er', as the Scots say. But then, he comes of Yorkshire stock, so no wonder!

Ouch!

BlackWatch Welcome back to the GMIC! Thansk for sharing this lovely example of a bush hat. The only thing I can offer in answer to your questions is to paraphrase comments by George MacDonald Fraser, author of the 'Flashman' series. In his Private McAuslan stories, young Lt. 'Dand' - Fraser himself - describes joining a battalion of the Seaforths in N Africa in late '45/early '46 still wearing his Burma slouch, which he refers to as being used as a 'Hotel' [ie, slept under] and ubiquitous dress item. I would assume that helmets were worn as rarely as one could get away with in the Far East and that would have meant that some combat included men in slouches, but presumably a look for period photos at the IWM of the campaign would confirm that. I don't recall seeing many examples of British slouches on the market over the years but as I don'd collect them, I may have missed them. I'd guess, however, that they are fairly rare: attractive but not 'typical' and hard to transport and store.

Nice to hear some good news out of the nation's capital, whatever one's political stripe!

JayBeth You're very welcome. Good luck with the hunt! Peter

I share Michael's feelings. Though I misremembered the details, my first WWI medal purchase was one from a box of singletons and those few of us who collected to the Indian Army regularly cursed the 'pickers'' and dealers in India/Pakistan who bought medals at bullion value and either refused or threw away any bronze ones. As recently as last year I was in a coin shop in a large mall near Toronto and found a half dozen medals of various sorts. Two, in separate cases across the shop from each other, were to a Lt. in the RAF. I now own them, though have little expectation of ever finding out anything useful about his career, as he was a late entry and almost certainly not a pilot. [Very common surname.] Not doen for an 'attaboy' but because I couldn't bear to see them broken up.

I agree; I'm no expert but it looks like a good one. No idea what a fair price is but if you Google 'shaska' and 'Imperial' you may get some idea.

A new, better casting? Wow! You don't suppose we have someone in Ottawa who cares about the military, do you? Na, couldn't be.

JayBeth Welcome to the GMIC! I just checked Army Historian's profile and he last visited the GMIC on Feb 28, 2014, so you may need to try contacting him directly. If you click on his 'name' the site should let you write him a private message which he may or may not get, as he was apparently quite an active poster - 3,000+ posts - up to that time but has not posted since. But perhaps you've already thought of that. The other option may be to try and track him down at the California Center for Military History, where he is apparently a Captain, first name George. Anyway, try that and if it doesn't work we'll try to think of something else. Perhaps other members know of him? Peter

While the rest of us are still scratching our heads over 'TFWM', Paul answers the question. Well done, that bearded man!