peter monahan
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Posts posted by peter monahan
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I can't get it to read 'ASSAYE' either, even when I squint. perhaps the motto of the bearer of the arms?
Does the cipher on the back read 'B / B' or 'R ? B' .
It seems to me that the clues lie there and, of course, in the coat of arms. Two lions as supporters and perhaps a third as the crest. The arms halfed vertically - forgotten the term for that - with a chevron on one half but I can't make out the rest of the charges.
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Welcome to the GMIC!
Off the top of my head, which is how I usually speak, the bird looks as if it might be a civilian pin - based on what I can see of the fastening - though possibly inspired by the RAF 'bird' or some other air force's insignia. The pin with the 'mural crown' on the top - often indicating the arms of a city - shares the red and white of the coat of arms of Malta and is almost certainly a civilian item. Such pins were / are commonly produced for sale to tourists throughout Europe and very likely the sort of thing a sailor on shore leave might pick up to take home.
I hope some of the other members have somethig more useful to say about these items.
Peter
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Might it be a French Model 1854 cavalry sword like the one below?
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I know that the Scots Grey's who were at the 200th were from the Regiment itself and had the support [read 'money] of the Army. The recently retired Colonel of the Greys, who I believe was at that time commanding the London District territorials, or somethig of the sort, was a mover and shaker in getting the group to Belgium. I strongly suspect that the Life Guards were supported similarly by their unit and perhaps an Old Comrades group.
Again, your best bet is most likely the NA chaps. If you are a Facebook user, try to hook up with a Major Rob Yuill. he was our Brigade Major at that event and now works for the Rifles Museum in some official capacity. He's very involved in napoleonic re-enacting, a lovely man and almost certainlywilling to offer advice. Good luck! [His FB identity shows up as "Rob Yuill RHQ The Rifles"] Good luck with the search!
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I actually taught philosophy, to teenagers, which was both fascinating and frustrating by turns! Two problems with 'puzzles' is that, in terms of 'events' conspiracy theories are almost always more fun than the boring old truth and, in cases like this, it is fatally easy to fall in love wiuth one's own 'clever answer' [aka 'castle in the air'.]
But then, that's what makes us human. Those of us who are!
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Magnus
It sounds as if you indeed have sufficient on your plate to prevent the kind of boredom which can drivwe one to 'surfing' - the Web that is. And I do like a man who takes the long view! I'm sure you'll get that ship built!
Cheers.
Peter
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Michael
In June of 2015 I was priviliged to take part in the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. I was with a composite battalion of North Americans but we were brigaded with a 'company' from the Colstream Guards, made up of British members of the Napoleonic Association. All of their kit was spot on historically and very lovely and, probably needless to say, all reproduction including buttons, gorgets, belt plates and so on.
I suspect that if you were to contact the NA with your query they could connect you with whoever makes their kit, who I strongly suspect must have a set of illustrations or even original examples of buttons and so on for a variety of units. I have a friend here who makes such things for the 'trade', but only for the British and Canadian units who served in North America. Here is the contact info. for the NA: https://www.napoleonicassociation.org/contact
Good luck!
Peter
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A double DCM mounted for wear, with a rosette instead of a dated bar for the second award is certainly possible. or it is an improvement / error / fake. This question was asked on another forum as well and I don't think any of a list of six 'possibles' given there was a Fusileer.
I'm a firm proponent of Occam's Razor - the simplest explanation is the one most likely to be correct. And the simplest explanation, IMHO, is that it isn't quite right.
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The 'stirrup hilt' and curved blade are classic light cavalry. It looks a lot like a British Pattern 1796 Light Cavalry sabre to me, and I know the British did buy some of their blades in Europe at some points in theri history, as there was a real scandal in the 1870s over 'German made' bayonets which turned out to be substandard when used by British squaddies on hostile 'Fuzzywuzzies'. So, possibly Belgian made for the British Army?
'J. B. Ronge FILS Liege' was apparently an arms maker, established in 1789 who made revolvers and shotguns so A Ronge may have been the predecessor company.
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Yes, i wish it were mine! Stole the pic from Pintrest. Glad it was of some help.
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If the cipher on the second set is "M Y C", I would suggest 'Montgomeryshire Yeomanry Cavalry' as a possibility, though their dragon seems to face the other way. A picture of a sabretache of theirs below. The cipher looks the same, but that's hardly surprising.
http://www.uniformology.com/YEOMANRY-06.html
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Magnus
I perfectly understand your reluctance to give up real life for the often fascinating but always artificial 'life' of the World Wide Web. I'm afraid I have become an addict but won't share with you the embarassingly high number of hours I spend on-line in any given week.
In fact, your post probably went into the right 'drawer' for this forum but, sadly, most of our membership do not seem to have a great interest in weapons per se. Or , if they do, they indulge it elsewhere. You might have more luck on the 'Sword Forum International'. http://www.swordforum.com/vb4/
I have once or twice gone there in search of esoteric info. and have had my queries responded to promptly and with good will, if not necessarily with the answers I sought. One must register prior to posting but I recall that this was easy and quick.
Whatever you decie, good luck in the hunt!
Peter
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Well said, Michael!
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Magnus
I'm glad you got past the 'note in a bottle' but, yes, 'Contact Us' is your best bet. Me being one of a nuymber of Moderators is based on my having the interest, the time and the inablity to duck or go invisible when the Sergeant says 'I need a man for...'
I am whetever the opposite of a computer geek is, so helping you change your password is well outside my area of expertise. That siad, if the contact link doesn't pan out, PM me and I'll give it a whirl. our illustrious leader, Nick, is 'up to his a** i n alligators' as the Yanks say and doesn't have a lot of free time and I don't even know if we have a tech wizard on call, but we'll et ti sorted.
Again, welcome to the GMIC.
Peter
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I noticed the '3' was blurred but, even armourer sergeant's have off days too. Or the shakes first thing in the morning? may not be significant.
Peter
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Posted on behalf of Happydiver, Basic Member, Manitoba, Canada
The Mystery of AB William Dearl Trickett, Stoker (1st Class), HMCS Athabaskan G07
Like any good Navy ditty, this tale starts in a bar. Little did I know, my visit to the local Legion in my home village of Kelwood, MB would end up on a quest to uncover some of mine own RCN family history that would have soon gone into the oblivion. While sipping on my Club beer (it's still horrible stuff), I was perusing the military memorabilia on the walls when to my great surprise, I see the crest of my old Athabaskan 282 up on the wall with the date of the original G07's sinking on it. A relative happened to be there who said it was from my old Great Uncle Willie. Unbeknownst to me, AB William Dearl Trickett, RCNVR, Stoker (1st Class), V38773 had served onboard HMCS Athabaskan G07! Due to the obvious Navy ties, I started my first inqueries with my parents. Mom said, oh yes, he was a Japanese POW and complained that his stomach was never the same after being interned. Well, they were about half a world off and the wrong Axis power, so I started hunting for actual documentation. He was onboard G07 when she went out for her final patrol April 28, 1944 and fortunately he didn't perish with the other 128 men of his ship that night. Unfortunately, he ended up being part of the 83 men captured by the Germans and he spent the rest of the war in a POW camp. Of course, like most WWII vets, Willie never spoke of his experiences and might have easily taken them to the grave.
Of course, complicating matters as I continued to dig, his surviving son out in Victoria had financial issues and is estranged from the family. He must have liquidated his father's possessions because I turned up an old Ebay ad for his Wartime Log (POW No. 1295 of Marlag und Milag Nord, Germany) and an original photo of G07. Command Post, a military memorabilia shop in Victoria, had sold the items on Dec 08, 2011 for $1165 and $24.49. Enquiries with the shop were a dead end. I am trying to track down organizations, outfits, or forums who would have some idea of who might have been interested in such items. My intention is to ask the present owner if they would be willing to part with the items especially the logbook. The log is an invaluable part of both my family and RCN history that IMHO shouldn't be hidden away by some private collector.
I have slowly chipped away the layers of mystery surrounding the wartime record of my Uncle. It was a little difficult as the family had never received a Death Notice or Obituary on either he or my blood aunt who had resided in Saanich, BC. All I could find was a mention of the date of his passing in the Legion's Last Post archives. I have the BC Genealogical Society helping me track down his final whereabouts plus I've sent a request to Ottawa for his Service Records. Dr. André Levesque, whom I believe you know, is kindly helping me also.
My ultimate intention with all of this sleuthing is to put together a proper narrative and memorial for presentation to Willie's home Legion back in Kelwood especially in light of the upcoming 75th anniversary of the sinking next year. Every Remembrance Day people say the words 'We will remember' but they ring hollow if stories like my Uncle’s are lost. I'm glad I was part of the Athabaskan 282 Remembrance ceremonies for G07 when we were near the site of the wreck in 2015. I find it amazing that two related prairie boys from the same little Manitoba hamlet ended up in the same chunk of ocean with the same namesake ships.
While I was the Public Affairs Representative for Athabaskan 282, I put together a montage of the G07 and 282 ships companies that I understand was presented to Mr. Takalo on his last attendance of 'Athabaskan Sunday'. I have attached a soft copy of the image for your use. From my understanding Bernard Lauren, George Takalo, and Harry Hurwitz are the only surviving members of G07. Mr. Ray Meloche passed away May 29, 2017.
I will keep you apprised of my investigative progress and final presentation. I am sure the RCN will be doing something associated with the sinking (they better), so I'll pass on my material from my end if you want it.
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Fascinating. Thank you!
Having made such a shot, retiring modestly to rest on your laurels isalways the recommended strategy!
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Blair,
I trust you've considered contacting Veterans Affairs and the 'new' "Canadian Navy" about what you're research and memorabilia might ad to any commemorations. Thanks for sharing them!
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Magnus
Sadly, we lost Mervyn several years ago now. He had been wheel chair bound for many years but almost to the end of his life kept a militaria shop in a city whose name, I'm ashamed to say, escapes me. He was a very warm man and eager to help other collectors, even offering to connect my daughter with friends of his in Capetown when she moved there, though he'd never met either of us.
Near the end he was selling off most of the stock, so, sadly, the pieces you speak of are probably somewhere in SA. A gentleman and sadly missed on this board and in the hobby.
Peter
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I believe that the crossed flags and probably the crowned circle are British inspection marks. The broad arrow is, of course, the first identifier of British military gera and comes from the 19th century Board of Ordnance stamp on everything they issued. I can't make anything of the 'rearing horse', if that's what it is, but I'm not a hand gun enthusiast so my knowledge of same is shallow.
The 'R.A.F.' is probably for Royal Air Force, as the Royal Flying Corps became the RAF on April 1, 1917, so the stamps would have changed by 1918 and, like you, I'd guess that the '13' on the butt is an individual 'rack number' - for easy indentification of this gun without reference to serial numbers and so on.
My not very well informed tuppence worth!
Peter
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Welcome to the GMIC!
You should be able to do an on-line search for the awards at this site: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/116
A word of warning, however, that the search engine does miss things, and you'll need to be prepared to use vaious conbinations of surname, first name or surname, initials dpepnding on date and award. I belive the technology is an early version of text scanning software and it's not 100% but with luck you should find something.
Peter
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Wilkinson Sword makes ceremonial swords for many organizations and military units throughout the Commonwealth. Another forum has suggested that this might be to any regiment from Quebec, but my feeling is that they'd be more likely to use a regimental badge. On the other hand, a member of the Quebec Provincial Police of high enough rank, someone from the National assembly in Quebec City if any wear swords [Sergeant at Arms?] or other groups are possibilities, in my opinion. here in Ontario, for example, our Emergency Medical technicians now have a dress uniform and march in our Nov. 11th parades, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that one of their 'officers' had purchased a dres sword from Wilkinson. All you need is pounds sterling!
An interesting puzzle!
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Why didn't I get IGS 1854 for William Pitcher? Old age is the pits!
And William Manley was an early version of a 'Lend-Lease' officer. Interesting indeed. I suppose he's the only chap to have that particular array of medals and awards.
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Perhaps the tunic went with him when he was invalided home. And mustered out?
The liner on the Brodie is interesting. Not a style I recognize but my knowledge is a little sketchy on these. The one I've seen [and wear on occasion] has 'netting' of a sort, a fibre pad in the crown of the helmet and two loops through which the strap passes. But perhaps that's a latter pattern liner?
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Boot Pulls/ German Stiefelanzieher?
in Germany: Imperial Uniforms, Headwear, Insignia & Personal Equipment
Posted
I've seen similar 'pulls' here in North America and suspect they were common from the mid 1700s or so, when tight fitting riding boots came into fashion. Still available for riders, I believe and, absent any markings probably impossible to say for sure whether they are civilian or military, but a prwetty standard piece of equipment for at least a century.