peter monahan

It does not appear to be on the list of 'Foreign Orders' eligible to be worn, or even 'eligible to be accpeted'. Here's the site I found on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_Kingdom#Foreign_orders

Unless there was a purse which went with the cup. In which case, not as looked down on!

I wondered whether it might be for Free French soldiers attached to the US Army - say in Operation Torch - to explain their lack of English, but that was just a wild a** guess. Seems a bit odd to have to tell people you're stationed in France when you're ...stationed in France. Or was it common to wear a patch indicating where one was stationed with US forces? My ignorance of US military protocol is encyclopedic!

Irish I quit looking when I got nothing but French. My own grasp of the language is serviceable but certainly not up to the finer points of translating technical terminology. If I find a promising source, however, I may take you up on the implied offer. Thanks!

Lovely!

I think Odulf's initial identification was correct: Royal Artillery. He is wearing the Slade-Wallace equipment [belts and pouches] and carrying a Snider-Enfiled rifle rather than a carbine though the exact length is hard to judge. See the illustration below. The 'carte de visite' was very popular with soldiers and civilians alike and so he is in the full dress fur busby rather than a cap or home service helmet for this 'official' photo.

Great! Keep them coming.

His medal, his choice. Year ago I was able to purchase, for my boss, a Great War trio plus Belgian Croix de Guerre to a RFC pilot. He said 'I take them out of the box once a year. With the money I'll be able to fly [from Toronto] to Vancouver to visit my sister.' He kept his log books. Hard to fault that decision, I thought then and still think.

I expect that these badges, while issued to all ex-servicemen, were especially important to men like Cooper, who might otherwise be mistaken for able-bodied fellows who had not 'done their bit'. Cerainly, if I had been invalided out I'd be wearing mine. And I suspect the heavy fines for unauthorized wear were meant to discourage 'slackers' from getting and wearing them.

Among the WWI reenactors with whom I associate - I blame it on a troubled youth - 'Brodie' is generally understood to refer to the rimless originals, but, as suggested, in conversation is more widely applied to any tin bowler of the Great War period. There: I've made absolutely now real contribution to the forum but have added another post to my count. [Oops, outside voice! Damn that filter slipping again!]

Hallmarked silver certainly sounds like officer's wear to e. Lovely to have a definite date! Presumably made not long before the monarch's cypher changed too, so the poor fellow may have had to order another before he's worn the shine of this one.

Wow indeed! Fabulous work and congrats on your win. Well deserved.

Very nice indeed. The downside, of course, is the fact that unless this bloke was a tailor before the war or a very quick study, he was in hospital long enough to get good at embroidery! One tends to forget how many of those wounded spent months and in some cases years convalescing, sometimes between repeated bouts of surgery. But lovely lovely work and surely with a story of its own if one could trace it.

Yes, 1843 and after sounds right. Hadn't thought of the hall marks, as I suppose subconsciously I was thinking 'nickel steel rather than sterling. Well done, that man!

Interesting theory - seems logical but goes against that most sacred of cows 'tradition'. Of course, the old rules didn't seem to cover such things: one was either and most commonly a soldier OR one was a civilian and had one's medals issued to one or the other by one or the other sets of rules. Yes, a look at the full size set would be very instructive.

I have not been able to find a source in English YET but it seems that the French, essentially invented the rolling barrage, not Sir Arthur Currie as we Canadians prefer to believe. I also understand - again, looking for detailed sources en anglais that they were able to take the majority of their objectives on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, advancing behind rolling barrages. If true, a significant datum. Clearly, at Vimy, the barrage had an effect. One source I recently read suggests that the 15 minute trip from the German cooking areas to the forward positions had become a 6 hour trip by the end of the pre-assault barrage! Clearly, along with the effect on morale of lack of food, the supplies of ammo and reinforcements, and the evacuation of the wounded must have been similarly complicated by the shelling in the lead up to the Canadian assault.

Victorian pouch to the 14th Hussars. Not my field so I'm not sure on details but would have expected the eagle an officer's belt to be gilt rather than brass so I'll stick my neck out and go with OR's kit. The Prussian eagle is peculiar to the regiment - awarded to them in 1798 to mark their having escorted Princess Frederica of Prussia from Dover to London to marry Frederick, Duke of Kent. And the cipher is hard to make out but looks like a variation on "VRI" which would date it from 1798 to whenever the reg't switched ciphers after Victoria's death - probably the early 1900s. By the style, later in that period rather than earlier, but that's a guess. A lovely thing!

Sounds a bit fishy then. I do know that civilian contractors could qualify, and quite probably some of them are ex-military, but would they have gotten a second gong or a bar to the first?

'Tommy' I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer, The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here." The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die [Rudyard Kipling] In many respectable households in Victorian England - and not by any means just the titled ones - having a son join the Army was considered only slightly less shameful than having a daughter go 'on the game'. It's referred to in both histories and fiction and might very well explain why a young man of the middle class, or perhaps from a chapel going family, would choose not to use his own name on enlistment. Or perhaps he'd had a run in with the law and wanted a fresh start. Fascinating puzzle. Please keep us posted on any more finds, Timo. Peter

I'm with Chris. It will let a lot of folks who would never read a book on WWI know that there were moments of sanity and humanity amidst the madness. The proceeds from the chocolate sales go to the Legion and if people buy extra stuff from the company, good on the company for having done this! And Happy Christmas all! Peter

There is a Canadian team photographing chalk carvings in one of the underground shelters in France - 3D scans so sensitive they'll pick up the overlay of grease if you touch the chalk - and reproducing the badges. Some of the work was done by a mason who worked on HRH estates before the war, then came to Canada. The reproduced badges will go on display/tour soon, I think. I'll try and keep all y'all posted.

Fabulous! If I sell one of my two blonde daughters, can I make a down payment?

Men of the 15th Sikhs and 129th Baluchis of the Lahore Brigade and some Gurkhas in what is probably a staged photo of trench digging. All used in an exhibit which I curated this summer on the Indian Army in the Great War.

Paul Thank you. That does help. Shall have to sift through the Gazette myself when I get some time. Off to a job interview today - Christmas help in a book store, which should be right up my alley if I can land it, and more money for trinkets and treasures too! Peter

You may well be right, Paul. Obviously the dead 'uns are easier to research - an absolutely obscene notion which some collectors I know cling to. The bit of ribbon on the BWM is well worn but of course one can't say when it was put on and the VM is ribbon less. And, as you say, not an uncommon name. Rather at a loss now as to how to try and research further.