peter monahan

Excellent! Thanks to both of you!

What period? WWI is pretty easy, before or after not so much but I'm guessing from the 5 digit serial number War I or II.

Nice one, Robin!

Hoyden So that sartorial abomination IS a legitimate uniform? Oh, yuch! Looks like it should be worn by one of the Little People in Oz, or a particularly rural American marching band! :(

Indeed! I spent two years in Nigeria, back when the earth was still cooling, but never anywhere I was exposed to any of the fancier medals and orders you list here. I think the only thing I actually saw worn were some Independence Medals on a couple senior officers of the armoured brigade stationed in my state. The country was under military rule then, but very low key. One rarely saw a soldier except for the sergeants - poor buggers - who were stationed at every boys secondary school in the country to 'instill discipline' after the Beloved Leader was booed on a visit to a school. The Biafran War was also fairly recent, so military displays were not all that popular!

Jock The crown with the bent cross is on top is the Holy Crown of the Kingdom of Hungary. So presumably your shell came out of an arsenal in the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. [i'm assuming WWI vintage for the shell.] Peter

Yes, please do stay around and post! I believed you about the permission, as My impression of the Dutch is that after the war they were very welcoming and accepting of all, possibly because of the very harsh treatment they suffered during the war. So the permission seems in character for them/you.

Lovely photo, but wouldn't those look sooo much better on a dark blue tunic? Or is that my Euro-centric bias showing through?

Asjemenou, welcome to the GMIC! A very interesting story. I was particularly interested by your explanation as to how he may have ended up in Holland after the war. The permission to live there, based on those who died defending Holland, seems very Dutch, if I may say so. I hope you'll stay with us and have more posts in the future! Peter Monahan

N Sadly, WWII Cdn records from the Archives are only available to close relatives and after a considerable wait - staff cuts! However, if you care to pursue it, there may be some general info. available, perhaps even squadron records for the IAF Hurricane units. If you contact Tony McClenaghan at the Indian Military History Society, at "info@imhs.org.uk", and tell him I recommended you, he can probably put you in touch with the Vice President, Squadron Leader Rana T S Chhina (IAF Retd). All the best. Peter

I'm thinking 'side cap' would be appropriate for the period, but lord knows where you'd find one of those!

Definitely a 'not bad'!

Interesting! Possibly a regimental custom, as the standard practice would have been to centre ribbons, one or more, on the pocket. Unless they knew there were two more coming and were leaving space, though it does look a bit odd, IMHO. Lovely bust, Colin!

Brian Agree 100% with all the comments immediately above! Peter

Les Thank you very much for that! I've copied it for my own private collection of war poetry. Stunning impact! Peter

That is a very lovely piece! I hope some of our experts can shed some more light on its history.

N Here's some information I was able to pull together for you. Hope it's of some interest. It appears to me very likely that your step-grand'fer served with Indian Air Force squadrons, which is pretty cool. “The Hawker Hurricane had made its name as the workhorse of RAF's Fighter Command in the skies of Battle of Britain during 1940. The first of these fighters were provided to the IAF [indian Air Force] in 1942, No.1 Squadron being the first unit earmarked to be so equipped with the aircraft. No.2 Squadron followed soon after in September 1942 and No.6 was raised on this aircraft. All the three units went into action in Burma in 1943 and stayed on till the end of 1944. The Hurricanes earned the sobriquet "The eyes of the XIVth Army" while performing Tac[tical] R[econnaissance] missions. No.6 Squadron's Hurricane pairs were affectionately referred to as "The Arakan Twins" or "The Kaladan Twins" etc. by the ground troops.” [from http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1940s/Hurris.html Some really great photos of IAF Hurris on this site. Can’t guarantee the accuracy but it looks pretty good on a quick scan.] Apparently No. 8 Squadron IAF also served at Imphal. An article on RAF 3rd Tactical Air Force (S. E. Asia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Third_Tactical_Air_Force - which identifies the IAF squadrons engaged in the Battle of Imphal. Bristol Beaufighters used in that battle were equipped with radar. Not sure about the Hurris. Possible sources of further information: Bloody Shambles, Volume 1 (1992) by Christopher Shores; Brian Cull and Air War for Burma (2005) by Christopher Shores; Hurricanes Over Burma (1988) by M.C. "Bush" Cotton, D.F.C.; and Wings Over Burma (1944) by Kenneth Hemingway. Monty Cotton’s book is still available on Amazon and here: http://regimental-books.com.au/hurricanes-over-burma-the-story-of-an-australian-fighter-pilot-in-the-royal-air-force-p-2822.html If you're interested I may be able to connect you with a retired Squadron Leader, IAF who is Vice President of the Indian military History Society and may be able to shed some light on the Huuris in Burma. Peter

Pylon, can you post a shot of the DIEPPE bar? I can't recall if I've ever seen one, though I certainly remember the flap when they were issued. Thanks Peter

Mervyn What will they think of next? That is really cool! [To use a word form my distant youth!]

Fabulous, Colin! I'm with Frank: lets see the whole bunch, please! Peter

The Indian divisions sent to France in 1914 has Indian Divisional Ammunition Columns attached. The 1st (Sialkot) Cavalry Division, for example, had "I Indian RHA Brigade Ammunition Column" as one of its support units, the 2nd Cavalry Div. the "II Indian RHA Brigade Ammunition Column" and the Lahore Division the "Lahore Divisional Ammunition Column". So, I'd argue pretty strongly that Rick has the right of it here.

Colin Indian made 'tailors' copies' are a subject in themselves. Apparently one can get virtually any medal ever issued to Indian/Pakistani/Gurkha in the tailors shops of the sub-continent, as long as British quality is not an issue. These, as you point out, don't quite make the cut in terms of what we may be used to but have a certain charm of their own, IMHO. And you can't beat the price! Thanks for posting. Peter

Thank you for sharing those, Ilja. I'm sure Megan will add them to her files if she hasn't already done so! Peter

Yeah, I'd have gone with the British design, were I doing it. I'm glad, politics aside, that the vets now feel vindicated, though some of my reservations about motives and revisionism remain. Frank, thanks for posting the two articles I had alluded too but wasn't [whatever] enough to include in my initial post. Peter

N Do you have any other facts, which squadron he was originally from, rank, when he joined or any such? It might help one of our 'pros' tease out a bit more information for you. Peter