Graham Stewart

In response to your comment on the clean trousers - an NF always likes to look his best after a good punch up with Jerry. Clean underwear would be optional of course. Graham.

Same battle again and the gentlemen who kindly supplied the "gizzits". Graham.

Same battle closer shot of the lads and their newly aquired "gizzits". Graham.

Yes - obviously staged for the camera and the folks back home, although on closer inspection they don't look that clean and the Lewis Gunner has removed his puttees. Still the point is enemy equipment was readily available for picking up and so these belts really shouldn't be classed as "hate-belts" with gory tales of daring-do, as the stuff was there to take and put on belts in the first place. Graham.

Certainly not infantry, but either Militia or more likely Volunteer Artillery both of whom wore a 'Guards' pattern grenade badge with the pill box cap in whitemetal. The infantry tended to wear a dark blue 'Kilmarnock' forage cap, which was gradually replaced in 1868 by the dark blue glengarry cap. The badges of infantry units for wear on the Kilmarnock consisted of either just regimental numerals or devices and numerals as shown in the photo I posted of Patrick McHale. For decent reading of Artillery uniforms and badges read Norman Litchfields;- "The Militia Artillery 1852-1909." "The Volunteer Artillery 1859-1908." TynesideIrish, HAC are posh cockneys, whereas nearly every county in the country raised it's own Volunteer Artillery post 1860. The Volunteers we now know as the Territorials. The Militia was not a wide spread in Artillery, but "The Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery", which comprised of six batteries had it's H.Q. based in Liverpool from 1853 -1859. The Militia Artillery eventually became the Special Reserve in 1908. Graham.

Further to my last post and I mentioned an Australian souvenir hunter - well here he is and also a run down on the man himself, thanks to my colleagues in the Great War Forum. John 'Barney' Hines, 45th Bn, Australian Imperial Forces. Graham John "Barney" Hines was a real thorn in the side of the German army during World War I, so much so that the Kaiser put a price on his head "dead or alive". Hines had the happy knack of being able to wreck German pill boxes which threatened Australian troops using his favourite Mills bombs (grenades). On top of that, he became a master at souveniring, looting all sorts of items from dead and captured Germans and returning triumphant to the Australian lines. So good was he that he became known as the "Souvenir King". It was a photograph showing Barney Hines squatting among a pile of souvenirs after the Battle of Polygon Wood in France in 1917 that originally infuriated the Kaiser and brought about his demand to capture the "Australian Barbarian" dead or alive. The photograph was passed among Australians and eventually a copy fell into the hands of the Germans. Barney was not at all fazed by his notoriety and continued to collect great supplies of badges, helmets, guns, watches and other jewellery while maintaining his amazing attacks on German troops. He was reputed to have killed more Germans than any other soldier in the AIF. On one occasion he reached a German pill box and danced on the roof taunting the occupants to come out. When nothing happened he lobbed a couple of Mills bombs through the gun openings, killing some and forcing the rest, about 63 of them, to come out with raised arms. He duly collected his souvenirs from them and herded them back to the Australian lines. Among his more unusual souvenirs were a grand piano, which he managed to keep for several days, a grand father clock which was eventually blown up by his own men because it attracted shell fire from the German lines whenever it chimed, a barrel of Bass ale, which he shared with his comrades, and several suitcases full of banknotes from the bank at Amiens. He was arrested by British military police but caused so much bother he was returned to his unit. Hines was born in Liverpool, England, and tried to join the British Army when he was 14. His mother intervened and he was returned to her care. Two years later he joined the navy but lasted a year till he was discharged after a bad bout of malaria. He headed for the Klondike gold rush and got caught up in the Boer War where he worked as a guide for British troops, before trying his luck in New Zealand and eventually reaching Australian shores. When World War I broke out he tried to enlist in the AIF when already in his 40s. He was rejected on medical grounds. But he persisted and was finally accepted, sent to France as a reinforcement for the 45th Battalion. And then began his amazing sequence of daring attacks and enthusiastic souveniring. His luck had to run out eventually and he was wounded when at Passchendaele every man in his Lewis gun crew was killed by an exploding shell. Hines was flung 20 yards through the air, had the soles ripped from his boots but still managed to crawl back and keep firing until he fainted from his wounds. He was soon back in action but not long afterwards was hit above the eye by a bullet and was hit by a gas attack. He was eventually repatriated to Australia and recovered sufficiently to take up droving, prospecting and timber cutting. When World War II broke out he again tried to enlist in his 60s but for some reason was rejected. Hines died in 1958

Kev, You never know do you as to be honest I couldn't even dream half of that up without an acquired knowledge of military history. For instance he could well have been a DR at Monty's H.Q. and may have been mentioned for good work. Both the 11th and 12th(African)Divisions served in Somaliland and Abyssinia, both assisting in the capure of Addis Abbaba. The other bits may not be too far fetched either and if the person in question did live in Kenya as many whites did in the 1930's then picking up Swahili wouldn't be a problem and the K.A.R. did infact serve in Burma. For instance the 81st(West African)Divsion did serve in the 14th Army and one Brigade of it did serve with Orde Wingate's "Special Force". Specialist Signals personnel would be attached to where ever their expertise was needed the most. Obviously I've had to dig this out of books and Monty didn't appear in North Africa until 1941, but unless you know about this sort of thing your historical timing would be well out. Difficult to say whether it's fantasy or not, best to keep an open mind until disproven. Graham.

Hope you can guage from the attached photo the size of an officers service dress collar badge. Graham.

Tony, Officers Service Dress bronzed collar badges tended to be the same size as cap badges and years ago I had a lovely photo of an 11th Border officer in SD wearing the bronze cap and collars. The difference was the cap badge had two fixing blades as opposed to lugs, which is why I'm looking at collars, but a Liverpool or Border Regt badge expert could possibly tell us differently. Ironically the other ranks first pattern badges of the 11th Borders were made in solid silver, but a large proportion of them did a disappearing act not long after they were issued. Price wise it's difficult to say, but as single collars to rare units you'd be looking at a starting price of perhaps ?20-?30 each. If they can be proved to be cap badges then start at ?50 each, but seeing as I don't collect badges as I used to because of repro's I could be well wide of the mark. On a well known auction site on the right day with two genuine collectors battling it out they may fetch more, with that in mind though I'd still put a reserve price on them. Graham.

It's the "Liverpool Pals" or 17th to 20th(Service)Bn's, Kings(Liverpool Regt)(1st to 4th City) as it's officially known and they're one of the many locally raised service battalions of WWI, which went by the name of "Pals" battalions, although in actual fact it also included artillery and engineer units. These units shouldn't be confused with battalions of "Kitcheners New Armies", which are different. These were raised by Lord Derby in Liverpool and it's his crest which forms the badge. The other badge belongs to the 11th(Service) Bn, Border Regt(Lonsdale), which was raised on the 17th Sept 1914, by the Earl of Lonsdale & an Executive Committee in Carlisle, Kendal and Workington, with it's H.Q. at Penrith. It went onto serve with 97th Bde/32nd Div. Graham. PS, The reason I say they're officers collars is because they have that bronzed heavy finish to them.

Tony, They both look pukha to me, but at the same time would say that they're officers collar badges, rather than cap badges. Still a must have item for the genuine collector. Graham.

The result of the blast in which Fus. Grundy was killed on 1st May 1992. The 8ton sangar he was in was blown 12metres by the explosion. The crater measured 11m x 11m x 3.3m deep. Houses up to 500metres away were damaged in the blast. Graham.

I'm with the souvenir hunters on this one, as it's highly unlikely that when you've topped someone, you're going to hang around and have a rummage. Can imagine it after an action, but not during. There is I believe a well known photo of an Australian souvenir hunter shortly after their arrival in France who is well and truelly weighted down with loot, but all taken from German dugouts not from 'kills'. I'll post a photo later on today of the Northumberland's after a battle and a number of them have German items taken from dugouts. As I said in early in the post the British had been doing for years with their own insignia, so they can't in any way be described as 'hate belts'. Graham

The W.F.A. are the custodians of the MIC's under certain proviso's from the NA and they're currently located in a secret location under going 'digital' archiving. The intention is that the W.F.A. will provide a digital copy both front and rear(if containing information) of the MIC on request, but the cost will be slightly higher in for the upkeep of the MIC's, which will require secure storge in fire proof cabinets. The current on-line MIC 's are a poor substitute for the original thing and so these new digital copies will look something like the Australian Records, although I believe the W.F.A. might not be able to give an on-line research facility, due to the terms in which they were taken into custody. Currently our efforts to provide facilities on-line pale somewhat when having viewed those service record's from Australia and Canada. Those service records which do survive in the UK are currently stored somewhere in Cheshire in an old salt mine in preservation conditions, but there is currently no plan to have them digitally copied, which in the view of many could be a huge mistake on behalf of the government. The same can also be said for the none use of current DNA screening on the recovery of bodies from the Western Front, which would mean many being positively identified. Alas for some unknown reason the U.K. government won't allow this on the excuse of 'cost', yet I believe the same techniques, at which 'cost' was no problem was used during the uncovering of mass graves in Bosnia. Graham.

More than likely that his MIC is one of the thousands that went missing during the transfer from the Medal Office in Droitwich to the NA, or PRO as it was then. Apparently the transfer took place during high winds and a load of black bin liners they were stored in fell from the transport and split open and were scattered to the four winds. Graham.

Flags? Flags? - they're 'Colours' sir, and very kind of you to share them with us too. The Volunteer one is possibly Napoleonic and being cased has been well preserved. Graham.

Looking at the buttons and Para wings it's a member of the Royal Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers. Brits don't wear gold chevrons on No.2 Dress and the Para qualification badge is in worsted material. Graham.

At last managed to get this in through another programme. Graham.

Ed, Thanks for the reply and advise, although I do have a re-size tool that usually works quite well, it seems to be failing on this occassion. Going back to KR's I think it varies as I have KR's 1904 and it doesn't really allude to loss, but I seem to remember that if on inspection the medals weren't yours then "theft" could be applied. So any erasure would have to be done once free of service. If you want I can send you copies of these regs to read regarding medals, just send me an e.mail address. Graham.

Well after several attempts to post second part of my previous post regading Kings Regs 1908, the attachments failed to load despite several resizings. I'll try later on as there may be a clitch in the system. Graham.

Under Kings Regulations 1908 the loss of medals is unacceptable without cause for loss as they were to be produced at kit inspections as seen here;- The secord part I'll produce in another post. Graham

80th Light Anti-Aircraft Regt, R.A.(T.A.)[b] 6/8/1941 - Formed at the Manor, Hamble, Hampshire with 66th Bty(formerly with 47th LAA Regt); 76th Bty(formerly with 46th LAA Regt) & 295th Bty. 5/9/1941 - 295 Bty made up to four 'troops' by absorbing 4th Troop, 95th Bty, 48th LAA Regt. 19/2/1942 - 471st Bty added to unit. 24/10/1942 - 76th Bty disbanded. 1/6/1944 - 80th LAA Regt, R.A.(T.A.) disbanded with all batteries(66; 295 & 471) in the Middles East. It appears to have been common practice during WWII, that as German airpower waned, British AA units were either disbanded to reinforce other artillery units or converted to infantry. 2/4th Bn, K.O.Y.L.I. served with 138th Infantry Bde from 3/9/1939 - 16/5/1940 & 20/6/1940 - 31/8/1945. 138th Bde rejoined 46th Division from 26/1/1944 - 31/8/1945 and they were in Italy from 2/7/1944 - 28/1/1945. Graham.

The badge of the Mercian Regt. Graham.

Got the new badge on Thursday, which is reminiscent of the old Mercian Brigade badge, but this one is in actual metal and not anodised aluminium, which will please collectors. It has a lovely oxidised silver type finish with gold to claws, beaks and coronet and has 'Firmin' on the slider. I managed to cadge thid one off the partner of a Cheshire Regt lad, as she works for us at 100 Sqdn, RAF Leeming. It appears that a number of Cheshire families are in the RAF MQ's, although officially based at Catterick. Graham.

Levee - "A reception held by the sovereign, for men only." Any 1881 Army List, which can be found in Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly editions, wouldn't be too easy to get hold of and if you did get hold of one I think you'd be surprised at the number of officers it contained. The Royal Engineers were quite a large Corps and without a name you'd be floundering in the dark, as you need to know his name in order to find what year he was commissioned, but it could be anytime between 1881 and 1901. Another problem is that a 2nd/Lt commissioned into the Corps in December 1900 certainly wouldn't change his Victorian pattern buttons overnight for those with a Kings Crown, they would be changed as and when the opportunity arose, thats if he changed them at all. If the interior of the jacket has pockets, pull out the lining to ensure he hasn't hidden his name somewhere. My officers scarlet frock coat has his name written on the tailors label. Graham.