peter monahan

I agree that its probably a copy, made for the re-enacting market. Condition far too good for an original, IMO, with no real signs of wear. Jerry's comment on patience is also on target. Peter

True story! One of the [few] downsides of re-enacting WWI in the US is the percentage, admittedly small, of 'ex-military' types who fall into this category. One we call 'Super Sergeant' has, by his own testimony, been decorated by the head of a special forces unit AND the Commandant of the Marine Corps and... You get the idea.

Californian, welcome to the GMIC! From Galt! That's just down the road from where I live. Well, an hour or so. Pity the reflection from his glasses gives such an odd look to the photo. Where did he serve in Nigeria? I was lucky enopugh to spend two years there, many many years ago.

This is a private purchase ID tag, as soldiers were issued with two official tags, in fibre, one green and one red. Eventually a second red one was provided for attachment to the Gas mask case. The official ones listed name, rank, serial number, religion and unit, so were chagned when a man was promoted or transferred. Many men also got these private ones, as gifts or for themsleves. French soldiers wore them as well - the metal ones on braclets, that is, tough I'm not sure whether they were official or just very popular. Sorry, no idea about value but the fact that it is to a confirmed and idnetified casualty probably makes it worth a couple pounds/Euros.

It certainly looks as if it could be a French 'bonnet de police', first worn by Napoleon's troops and made from old coat sleeves apprently. The style was adopted by many armies and, as it was a 'camp hat' often not marked with any insignia. The French continued to wear variations right up until WWI but this one looks to my fairly untutored eye to be Napoleonic or post-Nap. in style. Very unfortunately, the amount of stuff produced for various Napleonic anniversaries over the last 200 years make it virtually impossible to accurately separate the original 200 year old originals from the pre-WWI [100 year old] examples, which are often hand sewn and use period appropriate materials. So, I'd believe French and 1820's era unless there are warning signs to the contrary but I'm not sure how one would prove it, sans markings or clear provenance. Very nice find either way.

Welcome to the GMIVC, Gary. I'm a Canuck and so can offer nothing concrete about SA WWI research but we do have some SA members including, I believe, Audrey of Rhino Research, who some of them have spoken highly of. If none of them are able to help, perhaps contacting her would be worthwhile. rhino.research@icon.co.za Good luck and, again, welcome aboard! Peter

" I see there are many types and thus it is up to the Buyer to know what they are bidding on as the details between the types can be very small to tell. " What a cop-out, especially as there is no indication that it might be a copy or off-make and the starting price - $US 1,500 - would lead an unwary buyer to assume ti was an original. I'm glad to see it didn't sell!

"not motivated by money alone. It is a combination of play‐acting and a desire for adventure " Heavy on the play-acting!

Other guesses?

Dunn was the chap who died in a 'hunting accident' in Abbysinnia. Make of that what you will. Lovely work, BTW. My personal favourite VC winner is the SECOND Canadian, William Hall. He worked for Samel Cunard in Halifax, NS, joined the Andrew in Liverpool, went to Crimea as 'Captain of the Foretop', deserted from a manning hulk in the UK then was part of the HMS Shannon landing party which supported the assault on Hindu Rao's House a the Siege of Delhi. He and his captain were both recommended for the VC, captain dies, Hall is actually awarded his on board a ship in Simonstown Harbour, SA. He was BLACK. Yes, Negro, 30 years before the great debate over whether Black troops in the West India Regiment could qualify and 60 years before the Indian Army won one. Which must have caused considerable consternation when in London when they found out. When he retired, after 20 more years working for the Navy as a clerk the UK, he listed his occupation as 'Gentleman Farmer' of King's County, Nova Scotia and his 'hobbies' as 'shooting crows'.

I was going to say 'childrens' gas mask box'. Some actually came in Mickey Mouse boxes, to make them less scary, but those are in the 'hen's teeth' category.

We will remember them.

"and his wife, his beloved, the mistress of the house'. How lovely!

posted in error

Nice work, all. Thanks for your efforts.

Fabulous display. Thank you both for sharing it and for preserving it.

Of course you're correct: not a printing plate because it would be reveresed. Brain fart there. I wondered if 'IO' was 'Intelligence Officer' or 'I... Operator' but no real idea either. Interesting puzzle.

Very nice indeed!

Fascinating badge on that second cap! I've never seen such a thing before but I suppose it makes sense, as presumably the GGFG could be supposed to represent or contain men from all the provinces then in Canada, though I notice PEI didn't make the cut. Thanks for sharing.

A very interesting piece. I know very little about printing but I assume this is a plate intended to be inked and then used to print copies of the cartoon, presumably created by a fairly skilled etcher who copied the original cartoon. Not sure about 'I.O.' but probably not 'Infantry Officer'. Can't find it listed in glossries of 'Nam era slang.

The photo, at least to my old eyes, is too blurry to be much help, but perhaps one of our Scots members/experts can tell us which regiment wore a double-tasselled sporran and a side cap rather than a tam. Judging from the general clues, I'd guess one of the Volunteer units, pre-WWI but am quite prepared to be contradicted on that guess! Welcome to the GMIC and good luck with the quest. Peter P.S. Don't know how I've engaged the strike through function nor how to fix it.

British Imperial armies and their affilitates: India, Singapore, Mauritisu and the others, typically used the same weapons as the British and this is not, I'm quite sure, a British piece as such. Some of the colonies, of course, added their own heraldry and symbols but, as suggested, this is far more suggestive of the US and French/German style swords than of British ones, IMO. Perhaps Korea, Vietnam or another Asian former colony? Or perhaops a fantasy piece made up for the tourist/collector trade.

Posted in error,

Sounds as if we're talking a rather small total of authorized issues but, as Alex says, provenance will be key here and an unnamed issue or one with a spurious or incomplete pedigree will bring far less than one verifiably issued to a verteran of the Arctic convoys. I'm old enough to remember when the first Falklands conflict GSMs appeared in toronto, Canada, the two I sawe complete with hand written notes suggesting they'd been bought in a pub in Liverpool the day the QE2 docked there with a load of Royal Marines aboard. I take no position on how likely that was to be true, but I do know tat the Mint quite quickly started stamping '"replacement" on the re-issued medlas, as so many were being 'lost' by serving soldiers. I also seem to recall that a number were lost by one of the Guards battalions on Buck House duty, as the suspenders weren't up to the repeated stamping and clashing produced by such use. So, a question with no simple answer!

I agree: Great War German. For me, the strap with the clip is the diagnostic mark.