WW1 / WW2 / 20th Century

An Edwardian Colonel's Scarlet Cloth Sidecap, of 15th The Kings Hussars. With Gold Bullion Trim.

Good condition overall. With two Lion and Crown buttons for the rank of Colonel and Brigadier, used in WW1.

In the First World War, they landed at Rouen in France on 18 August 1914: the squadrons were attached to different infantry divisions to form the divisional reconnaissance element: A Squadron was attached to 3rd Division, B Squadron was attached to 2nd Division and C Squadron was attached to 1st Division. On 14 April 1915, the squadrons returned to regimental control and the regiment was placed under the command of the 9th Cavalry Brigade in the 1st Cavalry Division. The regiment remained on the Western Front throughout the war. It participated in most of the major actions where cavalry were used as a mounted mobile force. They were also used as dismounted troops and served effectively as infantry. On 11 November 1918, orders were received that the 1st Cavalry Division would lead the advance of the Second Army into Germany, by 6 December 1918, having passed through Namur, the division secured the Rhine bridgehead at Cologne.

The regiments battle honours in the Great War: Mons, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Ypres 1914 '15, Langemarck 1914, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Somme 1916 '18, Flers-Courcelette, Cambrai 1917 '18, St. Quentin, Rosières, Amiens, Albert 1918, Bapaume 1918, Hindenburg Line, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1914-18

One of the famed of the regiment, Louis Nolan, was an officer of the 15th Hussars who gained notoriety as the bearer of the ill-fated order precipitating the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Around 30 years ago we were honoured to have acquired the undress sabretache of Captain Nolan of the 15th that carried the order in the ‘Charge’. It was recovered from beneath his slain body and steed, and was previously on loan for display in two museums, including Alexandra Palace, for over 100 years after its return to the family.  read more

Code: 12987

A Superb Silver Australian 5th Light Horse Mobile Infantry Badge

Excellent rare and original example [Wide Bay and Burnett Light Horse] Queensland Mobile Infantry. The history of the 5th Light Horse is distinguished and goes thus; The 5th Light Horse Regiment was raised in Brisbane in September 1914, entirely from men who had enlisted in Queensland, and became part of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. Sailing from Sydney on 21 December 1914, the regiment disembarked in Egypt on 1 February 1915.

The light horse were considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, but were subsequently deployed without their horses to reinforce the infantry. The 2nd Light Horse Brigade landed in late May 1915 and was attached to the 1st Australian Division. The 5th Light Horse played a defensive role for most of the campaign but was involved in several minor attacks. It left the peninsula on 20 December 1915.

Back in Egypt, the 2nd Light Horse Brigade became part of the ANZAC Mounted Division and in February 1916 joined the forces defending the Suez Canal from a Turkish advance across the Sinai Desert. The 5th Light Horse?s main activity in the Sinai was long-range patrolling, but it was involved in several small engagements during August, as the Turks retreated after their defeat at Romani.

The ANZAC Mounted Division advanced into Palestine in late December 1916. The 5th?s work predominantly continued to be patrols and raids until the advance stalled before the Turkish bastion of Gaza. The regiment participated in all three battles aimed at capturing the town, most notably the first abortive attempt on 27 March 1917. On this occasion the 5th attacked Gaza from the rear and was fighting its way through streets and gardens when ordered to withdraw.

With the fall of Gaza on 7 November 1917, the Turkish position in southern Palestine collapsed. The 5th was involved in the pursuit that followed, and then spent much of the first half of 1918 holding the west bank of the Jordan River. During this time it was involved in the Amman (24?27 February) and Es Salt (30 April?4 May) raids, both of which were tactical failures but helped to convince the Turks that the next offensive would be launched across the Jordan.

Instead, the offensive was launched along the coast in September 1918, with the 5th taking part in a subsidiary effort east of the Jordan. It attacked at Amman on 25 September, and on 29 September 4,500 Turks surrendered to just two squadrons from the regiment at Ziza. Turkey surrendered on 31 October 1918, but the 5th Light Horse was employed one last time to assist in putting down the Egyptian revolt of early 1919. It sailed for home on 28 June 1919. Text from AWM
One of the most famous men of the 5th Light Horse was sniper Trooper Sing at Gallipoli. Trooper Sing sniped from a position known as Chatham's Post, his tally stated as 150 confirmed, but a higher informal estimate puts his tally at 201. The discrepancy can be accounted for by the way such hits were recorded. On 23 October 1915, General Birdwood issued an order containing his compliments on Trooper Billy Sing's performance accounting for the 201 Turks. Private Sing was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre in early 1918, probably for his role in leading a patrol eliminating some German snipers at Polygon Wood in September 1917. Studio portrait in the gallery is of 1707 Lance Corporal (L Cpl) John James Marsh, 5th Light Horse Regiment from Murraria, Queensland. A 21 year old grocer prior to enlisting on 18 August 1915, he embarked for overseas with the 11th Reinforcements from Sydney on 21 October 1915 aboard HMAT Hawkes Bay. He served with the regiment in the Middle East where he was wounded in action at Gaza and died on 6 November 1917. L Cpl Marsh is buried in the Beersheba War Cemetery, Israel. Original badge, pattern1930/42, with two lug fixing in superb order and superb quality definition.  read more

Code: 18796

An Original WW2 British Special Constabulary Recruitment Poster

Published for HMG by Fosh and Cross Ltd London. A propaganda information and recruitment poster. The size as were used in the underground trains advertising panels, or the back of black cabs. Britain re-created the World War I Ministry of Information for the duration of World War II to generate propaganda to influence the population towards support for the war effort. A wide range of media was employed aimed at local and overseas audiences. Traditional forms such as newspapers and posters were joined by new media including cinema (film), newsreels and radio. A wide range of themes were addressed, fostering hostility to the enemy, support for allies, and specific pro war projects such as conserving metal and growing vegetables. In 1940 in particular, Winston Churchill made many calls for the British to fight on, and for British units to fight until they died rather than submit. His calls for fight to victory inspired a hardening of public opinion. Determination raised the numbers of the Home Guard and inspired a willingness to fight to the last ditch, in a manner rather similar to Japanese determination, and the slogan "You can always take one with you" was used in the grimmest times of the war. British victories were announced to the public for morale purposes, and broadcast to Germany for purposes of undermining morale.

Even during Dunkirk, an optimistic spin was put on how the soldiers were eager to return.

When the U-boat commander Gunther Prien vanished with his submarine U-47, Churchill personally informed the House of Commons, and radio broadcasts to Germany asked, "Where is Prien?" until Germany was forced to acknowledge his loss.

The turn of the war made BBC's war commentaries much more stirring.

We never normally comment on the investment potential of any collectable, but the potential for all underpriced WW1 and WW2 posters must be incredible, for example the more famed poster, 'Keep Calm and Carry On' can now sell for over £20,000.
Good condition 14.75 inches x 9.75 inches  read more

Code: 20874

A Very Fine 1920's to 30's Silver Gilt & Enamel Graf von Zeppelin Demi-Tasse Cabinet Spoon, With Enamel Portrait of Zeppelin & a Zeppelin Airship in the Spoon Bowl

Superb condition and a most charming and collectable object d'art. Ferdinand von Zeppelin served as an official observer with the Union Army during the American Civil War. During the Peninsular Campaign, he visited the balloon camp of Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. Lowe sent the curious von Zeppelin to another balloon camp where the German-born aeronaut John Steiner could be of more help to the young man. His first ascent in a balloon, made at Saint Paul, Minnesota during this visit, is said to have been the inspiration of his later interest in aeronautics.

Zeppelin's ideas for large dirigibles was first expressed in a diary entry dated 25 March 1874. Inspired by a recent lecture given by Heinrich von Stephan on the subject of "World Postal Services and Air Travel", he outlined the basic principle of his later craft: a large rigidly-framed outer envelope continuing a number of separate gasbags. In 1887 the success of Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs' airship La France prompted him to send a letter to the King of Württemberg about the military necessity for dirigibles and the lack of German development in this field. He went on to start the Zeppelin Airship Co. and his name lived on in German legend as the great airship pioneer of international travel and airship warfare.  read more

Code: 24604

A Rare German Aerospace Zeppelin First Flight To South America, .835 Silver Medal, 1930 Made In Berlin

Silver medal 1930 (O. Glöckler) The "LZ 127" made its first trip to South America. bust of dr. H. Eckener to the left / Airship over the Atlantic between Europe and South America. Edge punch: (half moon) 835 PR. BERLIN COIN. 36 mm, 24.59 Min. Scratches. excellent ++ condition
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin 127) was a German passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. It offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service. Named after the German airship pioneer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a count (Graf) in the German nobility, it was conceived and operated by Dr. Hugo Eckener, the chairman of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin.

Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights totalling almost 1.7 million kilometres (over 1 million miles). It was operated by a crew of 36, and could carry 24 passengers. It was the longest and largest airship in the world when it was built. It made the first circumnavigation of the world by airship, and the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air; its range was enhanced by its use of Blau gas as a fuel. It was built using funds raised by public subscription and from the German government, and its operating costs were offset by the sale of special postage stamps to collectors, the support of the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, and cargo and passenger receipts.

After several long flights between 1928 and 1932, including one to the Arctic, Graf Zeppelin provided a commercial passenger and mail service between Germany and Brazil for five years. When the Nazi Party came to power, they used it as a propaganda tool. It was withdrawn from service after the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, and scrapped for military aircraft production in 1940.

A most scarce piece, but remarkably we acquired this fine example thanks to another example that we have. That past medal was spotted by this rare medal's owner on our website, and they offered it to us. It is only the second of its type of this rare medal we have had in over 10 years.  read more

Code: 24598

1924 Graf Zeppellin Z.R. III, The USS Los Angeles, Airship Medal, For The Flight of The Zeppelin, Previously Known As The LZ126, To America. A Most Rare Example

1000 Hallmarked Silver Coin Medal
GERMANY, Weimarer Republik. 1918-1933. AR Medal (40mm, 25.68 g, 12h). The Flight of Zeppelin LZ126 to America. By A. Holl. Dated 1924. FERDINAND GRAF VON ZEPPELIN, uniformed bust of Ferdinand von Zeppelin right / LZ126 in flight left over Manhattan; Z.R.III above, 1924 below. Kaiser 459. EF, toned.

As part of their reparations payments for the First World War, Germany was required to give its remaining military zeppelins to the victorious Allied powers. This did not sit well with the crews of the ships who, only a week before the Treaty of Versailles was signed, destroyed many of the airships, following the example of their brothers-in-arms at Scapa Flow, who scuttled the German navy earlier that year. Germany was thus required to construct new zeppelins to replace those lost.
Among these was LZ126, destined for service in the United States Navy. The zeppelin was delivered to the US Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey on 12 October 1924, and was commissioned into the US Navy as ZR-3, the USS Los Angeles on 25 November. She would be the first of the Navy's brief foray into light-than-air vessels, to be followed by the Shenandoah, Macon, and Akron, and was the only vessel of her class to not succumb to disaster. Zeppelins, always particularly susceptible to the vagaries of winds and weather, were soon overshadowed by the development of vastly more reliable airplanes of the 1930s. The USS Los Angeles was decommissioned in 1932 and was dismantled in 1939.  read more

Code: 22707

Scottish Silver Buchanen 'Audaces Juvo' Clan Glengarry Badge 1930's

Not hallmarked silver. Clan Buchanan Audaces Juvo I Help the Brave. Is an armigerous Scottish clan whose origins are said to lie in the 1225 grant of lands on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond to clergyman Sir Absalon of Buchanan by the Earl of Lennox. A Dexter Hand Holding Up A Ducal Cap Proper., Tufted On The Top With A Rose Gu., All Within Two Laurel-Branches In Orle Vert. Traditionally, the Glengarry bonnet is said to have first appeared as the head dress of the Glengarry Fencibles when they were formed in 1794 by Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry, of Clan MacDonell of Glengarry. MacDonell, therefore, is sometimes said to have invented the glengarry - but it is not clear whether early pictures of civilians or fencible infantry show a true glengarry, capable of being folded flat, or the standard military bonnet of the period merely 'cocked' into a more 'fore-and-aft' shape. The first use of the classic, military glengarry may not have been until 1841, when it is said to have been introduced for the pipers of the 79th Foot by the commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Lauderdale Maule.

It was only in the 1850s that the glengarry became characteristic undress headgear of the Scottish regiments of the British Army. By 1860, the glengarry without a diced border and usually with a feather had been adopted by pipers in all regiments except the 42nd (Black Watch), whose pipers wore the full dress feather bonnet. In 1914, all Scottish infantry regiments were wearing dark blue glengarries in non-ceremonial orders of dress, except for the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) who wore them in rifle green, and the Scots Guards, who wore peaked forage caps or khaki service dress caps.  read more

Code: 21051

A Fabulous Piece of British Armed Forces Helicopter Aeronautica. A Souvenir of the Falklands War, A Westland Wessex Helicopter Cyclic Control Grip With Wiring

We acquired this from a former SF Falklands War veteran, who brought it back from the South Atlantic. It came from a Westland Wessex helicopter that had, apparently, somewhat, come a cropper. Of course we have no idea which chopper this control grip came from, and it certainly couldn't likely have come from a maritime loss, but none the less it is a great original part of the Westland Wessex, in pretty good condition, considering its circumstances of acquisition. It bears a serial number and its wiring portion.

Around 55 Westland Wessex HU.5s participated in the Falklands War, fighting in the South Atlantic in 1982. On 21 May 1982, 845 Squadron's Wessex HU.5s supported British landings on East Falkland. The type was heavily used throughout the conflict for the transportation and insertion of British special forces, including members of the Special Air Service (SAS) and the Special Boat Service (SBS). A total of nine Wessex (eight HU.5s and one HAS.3) were lost during the Falklands campaign. Two HU.5s of 845 Squadron crashed on the Fortuna Glacier in South Georgia during an attempt to extract members of the SAS during a snow storm, six of 848 Squadron's Wessex HU.5s were lost when the container ship Atlantic Conveyor was sunk and the HAS.3 aboard HMS Glamorgan was destroyed when the ship was struck by an Exocet missile.

The Falklands War was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

The conflict began on 2 April, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities.

The conflict was a major episode in the protracted dispute over the territories' sovereignty. Argentina asserted (and maintains) that the islands are Argentine territory, and the Argentine government thus characterised its military action as the reclamation of its own territory. The British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Falkland Islanders, who have inhabited the islands since the early 19th century, are predominantly descendants of British settlers, and strongly favour British sovereignty. Neither state officially declared war, although both governments declared the islands a war zone.

The conflict has had a strong effect in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films, and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the unfavourable outcome prompted large protests against the ruling military government, hastening its downfall and the democratisation of the country. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative government, bolstered by the successful outcome, was re-elected with an increased majority the following year. The cultural and political effect of the conflict has been less in the UK than in Argentina, where it has remained a common topic for discussion.

Diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, at which the two governments issued a joint statement. No change in either country's position regarding the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit. In 1994, Argentina adopted a new constitution, which declared the Falkland Islands as part of one of its provinces by law. However, the islands continue to operate as a self-governing British Overseas Territory  read more

Code: 24587

Original Vintage Scottish Pringle Clan Bonnet Badge, with Latin Clan Motto 'Amicitia Reddit Honores' With Clam Shell Crest Hallmarked Edinburgh Silver

The motto reads 'Friendship Gives Honour'. In the 14th century the family were close allies of the Earls of Douglas, to whom they were squires, and about the end of that era they are first defined as Hoppringle of that Ilk, holding the lands of Earlside in Lauderdale. Descendants were much in evidence at the Courts of James IV and V, at least two being trumpeters in the tail of James IV and one falling at his side at Flodden in 1513. For 100 years, from about 1489, a succession of Pringle ladies, usually younger daughters, were Prioresses of the Convent at Coldstream. The association of Pringles with the woollen industry may be traced to 1540 when one of their name held the responsibility for overseeing the shearing, storage and transportation of the wool from the King's sheep. In 1592 various Pringles appeared before the King, with other Border lairds, giving an oath to faithfully serve the Wardens of the East and Middle Marches, and evidence of their extended land-holdings is shown by no less than six cadet families standing surety, one for the other, in keeping the peace. Five years later, Pringle of that Ilk and Pringle of Smailholm subscribed to a Bond of Manrent, taking it upon themselves the burden of ensuring the good behaviour of Pringles in general. The last Pringle of that Ilk died in 1737, after which the principal family became the Pringles of Stitchill, the lands of which were acquired c.1630. Of this latter house, Sir Robert was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1683 and, although the lands have now been sold, the Baronetcy has survived into the 21st century, the current baronet title being.

Sir Norman Murray Archibald MacGregor Pringle of that Ilk and Stichill, 10th Baronet

Several Pringles have become Senators of the College of Justice in Scotland, which comes with the title and rank of Lord of Session.

On 6 June 1718 Sir Walter Pringle became Lord Newhall.
On 1 July 1729 John Pringle of The Haining became Lord Haining.
On 20 November 1754 Robert Pringle became Lord Edgefield.
On 14 June 1757 Andrew Pringle became Lord Alemore.  read more

Code: 21050

A Large Original Recovered Piece of a WW2 German Crashed Bomber's Alloy Wing Top Panel

Taken from a crashed German bomber, with original wing-top paint. Numerous rivet holes and rivet heads present. Typical german wing-top paint for a bomber aircraft. There is a partial printed word on the underside and with dilligent research it should be traceable to a specific bomber type.

Over the years we have had some amazing aeronautical archeological finds, and most have been identified by their approved, and gov. registered recoverers, yet this fine piece was placed in storage, and it’s plane I’d was mislaid, so the research for it has to start again if it is needed, but the price reflects that, and it may well reveal wonderful results.
14.75 inches x 22.0 inches. Just over 3.5 pounds weight.  read more

Code: 21589