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    Tom Morgan

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    Everything posted by Tom Morgan

    1. I found this Instruction very interesting, Graham, and thanks to you for posting it. Army Form B104-82 (The form which the Instruction notes as the wrong one to use) is the form which notifies that a soldier has been killed. It has a space where the cause of death is to be written, and presumably they were writing "Missing, Believed Killed" there. The form the Instruction says should be used, Army Form B 104-83, informs the next-of-kin that a soldier is missing, with an explanation that this does not necessarily mean that he is dead. Tom
    2. Welcome. Perfectos. I've seen the details of an officer who was reported Missing and about three months later, his solicitor wrote to the War Office to ask if the officer was still consiered missing, or if he was now considered to have been killed. The reply said that the the officer could not be listed as "presumed killed" because six months had to elapse first. At the end of six months the officer's family received notification that he was presumed to have been killed. This would seem to suggest that the "waiting period" was six months, but in many other cases I have heard of, it was more like a year. Incidentally, British soldiers were never listed as "Missing in Action" - it was just "Missing". And I believe that missing soldiers were not re-classified as "Killed in Action" - it was "Missing, Presumed Killed". In other words, the principal part of the classification was still "missing" because no one actually knew what had happened to the man. Tom
    3. I also have a QSA medal belonging to a relative who was undoubtedly entitled to it. Although it has his name around the rim it looks as if there was once another name there. There could be quite a few reasons for this, I suppose. Tom
    4. It's a shrapnel fuse, with that timing-ring. Shrapnel was designed to burst in the air, and the timing-ring was used to set the delay so that the shell would burst over the target. Mind you, if looks very much like Tony's illustration of the - Lg. Zdr. S/22. That fuze was used to initiate a special shell containing a slow-burning, illuminating flare which came down slowly via a parachute. Tom
    5. He's operating a peep-show. (There's a picture of another one below.) Essentially it was a portable entertainment consisting of a box which could be carried on the back like a pack and a small folding table to stand it on. There was also a flap somewhere which could be opened to let in light. Customers looked through the round holes. Inside there might be a representation of a royal procession or a sea-battle painted on a long roll of paper. The showman would wind the roll across the field-of-view, giving a very primitive impression of movement or progression. The showman could them give a commentary. Other subjects could be the story of a notorous and recent "horrid murder" - the crime, the capture, trial, imprisonment and execution, etc. More sophisticated peep-shows used articulated images operated by rods, so sword-arms could slash, horses could gallop, and so on. The squirrel on the treamill, ringing the bells, is just an attention-getter! Tom
    6. Hayling Island would seem to be a good contender. There is a website which has details of mulberry harbour construction going on at Hayling. CLICK HERE to see it. Tom
    7. Mike, I'm afraid not. The only reference I can find is to some of Sir John's British awards, honorary degrees, orders of knighthood, etc. I can't find any reference to foreign awards though he must certainly have been awarded several. Tom
    8. At last! A question I can answer! This is Kwajah Mohammed Khan, a member of Sir John's personal staff. I can tell you no more than this, but a photograph obviously taken at the same time appears in The Little Field Marshal by Richard Holmes, a biography of sir John French, and this name appears in the caption. It does not appear in the index, unfortunately. The other officers named are, Fitz Watt on the left and Maj. Jack Dawnay on the right. Tom
    9. I think the term pre-dates the Great War slightly. Although withering massed rapid fire was a feature of the B.E.F.'s musketry actions early on in the war, the phrase was originally used to describe part of the pre-war infantry training which enabled the men to do this so well. As part of the standard infantry musketry course, the soldier would be required to fire as quickly as he could for one minute, aiming at a target 300 yards away, and he would be required to hit the target at least 15 times during the minute, working the bolt between each shot, of course, and having to reload the rifle at least one to achieve this. "The Mad Minute" was thus the climactic, pass-or-fail part of the musketry course. Tom
    10. Many thanks, Dan, for such a complete answer to my question. the reason I asked is that a friend of mine in Belgium has a Maxim, very much in relic condition, dug up from the fields after his plough hit it. They only have the gun, not the mount. They also found a pair of tongs but didn't know what they were for. They are of course exactly like the ones in your picture. Knowing what they are and exactly what they were used for is very welcome information. Tom
    11. Barry you might like to try This Website which has quite a large section on War memorials. (Scroll down the page a little way and you'll see the "War Memorials" heading. As well as the standard, highly-visible outdoor memorials there are references to smaller memorials inside churches, at workplaces, etc. Tom
    12. Kevin - the RAOB Grand Lodge England website has in its sidebar menu an appeal for old jewels, with a contact address for the museum. (There is also a mention that old jewels of no specific interest to the museum will be passed for disposal for the Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund.) If your friend is in the UK, he might write to the address given to ask for advice about the history of the jewel. The website can be found here. Tom
    13. Kevin - could the intertwined "BRAO" be "RAOB" - Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes? And could "CLE" be "GLE" - Grand Lodge of England? Tom
    14. Those are all yours?? I had no idea. I'm not worthy...... Tom
    15. Kjell - with a rifle manufactured 90 years ago (and especially if it's seen service) it wouldn't be unusual to find that the numbers don't all match! It may have been re-barrelled more than once, for example. I have a 1915 Mk III* and none of the numbers are matching. Hope I'm not teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, but the main differences between the Mk III and the Mk III* were: Cocking-piece changed from round button type to flat serrated slab Windage adjustment on rear sight omitted Long range volley sights omitted Magazine cut-off omitted There were some "transitional" rifles manufactured using the last of the pre-existing parts. For example, some rifles have no volley-sights, but do still have the indentations in the woodwork where the forward volley-sight would have fitted. Incidentally - how do you make the marks stand out white like that, so you can photograph them?? Tom PS - it seems that your rifle is a rare one. These rifles were ordered for the Royal Tiger Corps. The king of Siam had been to Military College in Britain before or during WW1 and presumably became familiar with the SMLE then.
    16. The cocking-piece in the picture is the round, button type. This was changed (among other things) when the Mk III* was introduced in 1915, and the replacement design was a serrated slab. The changeover was not immediate, with some rifles being built using the former parts until stocks ran out. But I would have thought that by 1919 the flat cocking-pieces would have been the only ones available. I wonder if the factory stopped fitting the earlier part while they still had stocks left, and these were used in these export models? Tom PS - I see that the rifle shown in the link Michael gives, also has a round cocking-piece.
    17. Worth bearing in mind also that Christophe's picture of the "wreck" of the plane doesn't show it as it was after it came to earth (the plane landed more or less intact) but how it looked after the souvenir-hunters had finished! Tom
    18. Postally unused - German artillery shelling Ypres, 1914.
    19. I think it might be a myth. The main question I have is, "Why?" I did a bit of googling and apparently...... With the introduction of banknotes during the Great War, gold coins ceased to be used in everyday transactions. Production of sovereigns ceased in 1917. However, some more were minted in 1925. There weren't needed for general circulation, so I imagine they must have been used for storage as bullion. When sovereigns were needed for agents and airmen, these would have been the latest ones held in stock. Incidentally, in 1949, 1950 and 1951 the Royal Mint produced more sovereigns - again for bullion use. They didn't bother to make new dies, but used the still-existing 1925 ones with George V head! So there IS a known history of 1925 sovereigns being minted much later than 1925. Maybe this has lent some gloss to the story of a special "wartime edition." Tom
    20. British friction-tube. When you see a gunnner firing a piece by pulling on a lanyard, this is what the other end of the lanyard was attached to. Pulling the lanyard pulled out a pin which was coated with material rather like that on a match. The resulting burn passed down the small tube and ingnited the charge.
    21. Fragment of British rum-jar, with part of the "S. R. D." transfer - La Boisselle, Somme.
    22. Transit-plugs for the threaded fuse aperture - British 2" Mortar rounds ("Plum Puddings" or "Toffee Apples.") Boesinge, near Ypres, Belgium.
    23. Machine-pressed aluminium strips from original British wooden cross grave markers - bonfire-site in field next to Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme. The upper one says (if carefully unfolded) "Unknown British Sergeant." The lower one reads, "UNKNOWN B".
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