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    peter monahan

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    Posts posted by peter monahan

    1. Tiger

      They somehow look French to me - but just a guess. The cross - white with the gold edges and "little ball thingies" at the points is the same as for the Legion of Honour but the rest is not. The French are also very found of palm circlets like those in the center. Kev is right: the suspension on the big one looks damaged or dodgy. French civilian - maybe municipal or a society of some sort - would be my guess, if not cheaper copies of something. But for $16.00 they might br fun to pick up as curiosities!

      My tuppence worth!

      Peter

    2. A friend has sent me a shot of the breech of a musket or rifle (I think musket) made by Thomas Turner of Birmingham, England. The one shot shows what looks like a Snider breech, no obvious Crown markings. Did Turner and others make civilian conversions using Sniders breeches to udgrade old muzzle-loaders? Info or good guesses welcomed.

      Peter

    3. Hallo Darrell :beer:

      Not wanting to get into any conspiricy theories :blush: I just sold a French medal on Ebay with a shaking hand motif, either "Freemason" connected or a Mutual-relief society, maybe connected maybe not :unsure:

      It (yours pictures) may be lodge connected but I would ask one of our resident Masonic Experts to comment. :D

      Kevin in Deva :beer:

      Kev

      I thought "Masons" when I saw it but wasn't sure why. The old subconcious must have been twitching - maybe I once heard the clasped hands were Masonic and then forgot I knew that. Now that I know it casts an interesting light on some early Cdn grave stones I've seen. Thanks for that tidbit!

      Peter

    4. This is out of an old magazine kicking around the house. Anyone have ANY IDEA what this is called and what it was for?

      Darrell

      I'm gonna stick my neck out here. The slogan "Land of Promise" suggests part of Clifford Sifton and Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier's plan to "sell" the Canadian West to immigrants including, though we tend to forget this, those from the US.

      The look of the medal says (civilian) commemorative. The mustached chap would be Teddy Roosevelt (US President 1901-1909) and the joint hands meant to suggest that it was ok with him if we siphoned off some sodbusters from the Lower 48. A relatively amicable period in our joint histories so the two flags etc wouldn't annoy to many people.

      My tuppence worth!

      Peter

    5. Chriostian

      I'm reaching here and haven't time now to research, but I'll take a stab at the first one.

      It is Canadian, but not, Ii think, current. It was a patch from perhaps the 70'-80's worn by troops assigned to the canadian Armed Force "Mobile Command" which was a divisional / brigade size group tasked with fulfilling our obligatins to NATO. I Think! (I'll check more later).

      The badge was worn on the breast of the tunic - on the left pocket I believe - by all ranks. Roughly equivalent to a divisional or brigade patch in oyther armies.

      Peter

    6. And if you figure in the relative losses - how many Shermans or T-55s to take out a Tiger? - the numbers look pretty good for the Germans. :blush:

      I don't know any exact figures myself, but proverbially the Cdn,s Brits and US could expect to trade/lose 3-5 Shermans to get one Tiger! :(

      Peter

    7. "I also don't see how the airplane name would be a "borrowed" word from another country as it was a German deseign. "

      Sal

      Keep in mind that the language we are all writing in is composed of (very roughly) 40-50% Saxon/Jutish/German and the rest French, Latin, Greek, Persian, etc. For example:

      Mustang - a US warplane or a wild horse - fr. Spanish

      Crocodile - a Br tank - fr Greek (or Latin?)

      Tomahawk - US warplane - from Algonkian language group (literally "man-killer" or "man-club") :cheeky:

      The condor / kondor / ######ur was/is famous for being a graceful flyer and able to stay in the air for hours mwith minimal effort. Not a bad name for a long range plane in anybody's language! :P

      My dos pesos worth!

      Peter

    8. Anybody know a medal with an all white ribbon?

      The Polar medal, 1904 has a 1.25 plain white ribbon. Ninety one bars possible, from "Anartic 1902-04" to "Anartic 1958". Also an oddball because it was issued insilver and bronze and if a man won both he could wear both - two identical medals in two different medals. Quite a rare thing, all in all.

      Peter

    9. Kev

      from our Veterans Affairs web site:

      "Memorial Cross

      The Memorial Cross, the gift of Canada, was issued as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice on the part of widows and mothers of Canadian sailors and soldiers who laid down their lives for their country during the war; its description was as follows:

      "The Cross will be a Cross patonce in silver suspended by a purple ribbon; at the end of the upright a crown; at the foot, and at the centre, within a wreath of laurel, the royal cypher "G.R.I." It will be engraved with the number, rank and name of the soldiers commemorated."

      (emphasis mine)

      The engraving STYLE is correct - tall, thinnish, square lettering. I wonder if the rough quality is due to the length of the name & trying to squeeze it in. Michael johnson will have a better opininon.

      We just had one sold for $70, 000 (L30 000) because it was to Sir fredrick banting, the chap who co-invented Insulin, but in general they are much undervalued items unless with the medals of the chap killed. I've already posted her on the subject of the first issued (last week) to the husband of a Canadian soldier.

      here's a shot of one so you can see the ribbon - it's a loop for neck wear by the mother or widow.

      Peter

    10. Hi Kevin,

      The knot of the "Staffs" badge is the heraldic symbol of the earl of Stafford, dating back to at least 800 C.E. and known, oddly enough, as "the Stafford knot". :P Incorectedly referred to as a "Staffordshire" knot. And apparently, despite common myth, not based an a nasty sheriff who hanged 'em in threes.

      (see Wikipedia: http://www.bagnallvillage.com/Pages/Stafford%20Knot.htm for details)

      Also, though it's been 20 years since I 'did" badges on a regular basis, even back then the NAS armoured car badge was considered somewhat "dodgy" just based on the apparent number around for what was a very small group, and on their collectibility. Ditto any "special" force: SS, SAS, etc. I don't know enough about your two examples to have an opinion except that which I've just expressed: be suspicious and get expert advice and thereby avoid heartbreak. "Too good to be true" rarities usually are! Of course, if the collection has provenance that helps a lot too.

      My tuppence and change!

      Peter

    11. Nice item!

      "Wyedean Weaving" (sorry lost the address) does regimental braid, metallic braid, etc for British and Commonwealth uniforms. Where I get authentic 1812 era "lacing' for tunics, so i'm sure they'll have your metallic tress - they do the braid for HRH Philip's unifroms, for example. They're in the north of England.

      Hope this helps. If they won't sell you less than a roll, send me a closeup of the pattern - i have a friend who makes period uniforms and may have some in stock.

      Peter

    12. I'm going to jump in here in reference to Ed's comments on Indians who joined the opposition, because I think why the germans wanted them is much more important than which "pathethic" POWs they actually got when they went trolling the camps.

      Ed mentions Mir Dast, VC and his infamous brother. Philip Mason - A Matter of Honour - tells of an Indian NCO captured on the Western Front in 1914 who apparently convinced his captors, by signs and gestures, that if released he could bring back many more Indian soldiers. He was released by the Germans and promoted by the British, but killed by the end of 1914. (Morale among the Indian troops was problematic in late '14 - poison gas, European winter and the fact that they were "re-cycled" into the trenchs if wounded, contrary to Indian Army custom).

      "In March 1915, ... Jemedar Mir Mast with fourteen Afridi Pathans deserted. He was the brother of Mir Dast.. and he too had previously shown himself an exceptionally gallant and useful officer. The incident was never explained, except that the party included a havildar whom his officers had begun to regard as a trouble-maker." (Mason, 419)

      Mir Mast was shipped to Turkey by the Germans, to meet with the Mufti, and by late in the war was back in Afghanistan apparently trying to discourage his Muslim countrymen from joining up to fight for the Raj. That would be why he was decorated, if he was. Also a classic tactic, used by all sides in all wars: "You're not really one of them, you (Muslim / Hindu / Irishman). You're not even from their country."

      I'd be much more interested to see what kind of propaganda use the Germans made of the Britische Freikorps than in the particulars of the admittedly miserable specimens they actually got to sign up. No flies on Himmler hwen it came to propaganda!

      A good number of Indian soldiers, after capture, joined the Japanese forces in WWII and the SS had a (small, noncombat, etc) AZAD HIND ("Free Indian") unit. Remember that many Indians were trying to get independence from Britain and imagine that a simple soldier, recruited for whatever reason back home in the Punjab spends a year in a POW camp, or in the Japanese case ses his comarades used as bayonet practice targets and then is offered a chance to "make a difference" in the struggle for national socialism / against the red menace / for Asia for the Asians / etc. Factor in depression, mental illness or whatever and who knows what you'd get.

      The above is not an excuse - personally I tend to Kev's view, but I've never been a soldier or a POW - but it is an explanation. Take a "foreigner" in your army, get him into his officer's bad books, however deservedly, then let enemy propaganda convince him that he's actually fighting on the wrong side and...??

      There have been 2 cases I've heard of in the US Army of Muslim servicemen committing "pro-Iraqi / pro-Islamicist" crimes, one in country and one at Guantanamo.

      I'd say my tuppence worth but it's too long. Sorry! A fascinating thread, though!

      Peter

    13. I know nothing about them, but they're nice looking gongs!

      Our (Cdn) merchant seamen got no recognition for services such as the Murmansk run until 2 or 3 years ago when the government, reluctantly, recognized them as equivalent to RN or RCNavy service, so they can now apply for the Atlantic Star, Pacific Star and War medal. Plus, for all 300-500 of them still alive, a miserly pension!

      Pretty disgraceful, but the medals issued would/will be the regular British/Commonwealth WWII medals, even if late strikings, so the fake/civvvy issue question doesn't arrive.

      (Footnote: My late father-in-law flew in the Ferry Command from 1940-1945 and I persuaded him to apply for his entitlement: 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star, CVSM and War medal.)

      peter

    14. Jef

      I know of one Indian Sates Forces badge with cobras on, but no Brit. or colonial ones: we don't like snakes!

      (by and large, in western culture, snakes are "bad guys". Blame genesis. So, not a favourite hearldic device. Not a lot of regimental rats or beetles out there either. :P

      I think the "S" shape just works well for a secure but easy to undo fastener - I wasn;t really kidding about the Romans using it - and some bright eyes said "hey, look! A snake!" and evrybody who saw one copied it!

      My farthings worth! :cheeky:

      peter

    15. "If they have been in use with the British army over at the last 200 years at least, I would imagine there were many different local buckle manufacturers from wherever British soldiers were stationed.

      I wonder if the Indian, Canadian, Oz, NZ, or SA troops wore the snake hook buckle too"

      Tony & Jef

      The first general issue British equipment to use the snake clasp was the infamous "Slade-Wallace pattern" of 1888. It was used in South Africa (1899-1902), where it was roundly criticized by all involved and, following Horse guards practice, was then manufactured for 50 years and issued to all and sundry.

      The snake clasp belts are commonly available in Canada, (and I suspect India, Australia, Bermuda...) . They were undoubtedly made by dozens of contractors over a period of decades and examples I've seen range from truly artistic bronze casting to total rubbish. They also tend to be mis-attributed ad nasuem - the Napoleonic website mentioned above being a classic example. partly, they tend to be unmarked and partly they look "neat" and people want to use them. I know of a number of War of 1812/napoleonic re-enactors who wear one "'cause we can".

      I wouldn't be at all surprised to find them on the officers uniforms of various periods and nationalities back to the early 19th century - nmaybe the Romasn used them too - but as standard issue Br equipment they're essentially a 20th century item.

      Peter

    16. Pat

      A wonderful find! I've never seen one, nor to be honest, heard of it before, though I re-enact the Royal Newfld reg't of the war of 1812 period. A lovely thing - as nice, IMHO, as the CVSM it repaces.

      About 15,000 Nefs saw active service in WWII - a huge percentage of the population. The RA had two batteries - 59th and 57th, there was a Nfld RAF squadron and many more served and died in the Merchant Marine. And that doesn't count the many who sailed to Halifax and joined the Cdn forces. Mackenzie King offered themn a spot in Confederation in 1943 in recognition of their services in the war effort.

      And of course it was a major staging point for air and sea traffic cross the pond. My late father-in-law flew for the Ferry Command - bombers to the UK - and their standard route was Montreal-Goos Bay- Iceland - SCotland. Also, 100 Nef civilians died when a U-boat torpedoed SS Caribou off the coast in '44(?).

      My tuppence worth

      Peter

    17. Here is a strange one for you, a Scottish sporran badge! It doesn't have any markings so if anyone can identify the regiment that would be great. It is about 2-3 times the size of a cap badge and with all the thistles I would say it is Scottish.

      Pat

      I don't think this is A Canadian or British Scottish regiment - the center device is very odd indeed. Size sounds like a sporran or plaid badge but it could easily be a militia or (even more likely IMHO) a cadet corps or civilian pipe band- many of them have less common devices (like this suit of armour).

      My tuppence 'orth. Anyone else?

      Peter

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