WW1 / WW2 / 20th Century

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 Very Rare Original,1930's Aeronautical Collection of Wide, Wool Felt, Sleeve Patches for Early Airships & Aeroplanes

Shoulder sleeve insignia. For the Farman Biplane USA, Astra Monoplane, Curtis Biplane USA, Delagrange Biplane, Ferber Biplane, Bleriot Monoplane, French Military Dirigible, Wright Biplane, Reid-Curtis Flying Boat USA, and the Mengin Monoplane.

In the early 20th century US military the 81st Infantry Division "Wildcat" is generally agreed to have been first U.S. Army unit authorised shoulder sleeve insignia or SSI. In 1918, during World War I, the 81st Division sailed for France after training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. On their left shoulder the men of the division wore an olive drab felt patch with the silhouette of a wildcat - after Wildcat Creek, a stream that flows through Fort Jackson. When men of the other fighting divisions challenged the right of 81st soldiers to wear the patch, General John J. Pershing ruled that the 81st could keep this distinctive insignia. He also suggested that other divisions adopt shoulder patches of their own. This patch was officially adopted by the U.S. Army on October 19, 1918. The first patches were often primitive but by World War II, the manufacture was regulated.

By World War II, all army groups, field armies, corps, and divisions, as well as all major Army commands, had unique SSI. These SSI would often be created with symbolism alluding to the unit's formation. Examples include the 82nd Airborne Division, which included an "AA" on its patch alluding to the "All-American" soldiers from every state that made it up, and the 29th Infantry Division, which included blue and grey to allude to soldiers that made it up being from states on both sides of the American Civil War.

Most US formations had unique patches which varied greatly in size and makeup, with the exception of U.S. armoured divisions (as well as 1st Armoured Corps and the U.S. Army Armour Center & School), all of which adopted the same patch (a yellow, red and blue triangle with a symbol for armour in the middle). Each division and I Armoured Corps then included its number in the upper yellow portion of the patch to distinguish it. The SSIs of those armoured units which survived into the Cold War became irregular pentagons (some units later than others) with the addition of rectangular section at the bottom, bearing the division's nickname or "U.S. Army Armour Centre". In the past we have individual examples sell for a few hundred pounds, but we have never seen a complete, or near complete, set of 10 before. They would look stunning bespoke framed. Wide sleeve type patches, approx 6 x 3 inches.

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Code: 23859

A Most Decorative Imperial German WW1 Soldiers Zeppelin Flask

This is a superb WW1 German Reservists flask (Reservistenflasche). A glass schnapps flask encased in a decorative enamelled metal jacket, with a lanyard in the black, white,black and red colours of the Imperial German Reich. They were made by between 1871 and 1918, for sale to conscripts, wives or sweethearts of soldiers as a memento of their service time. The front and rear of the flask are covered in military themed vignettes, with, a military regimental panel attached to the front, and to the rear a rotating panel surrounded with picture portraits of pretty ladies. The lid is a cup of a soldier sitting astride a Zeppelin that turns to become a drinking cup. Named for the Minden Regt. The figure on the Zeppelin in lacking one arm.  read more

Code: 22326

A Rare King Airship Co. of Washington, USA, an Original & Historic, One Share Stock Certificate, Signed and Dated 7th August 1920

This would make an intriguing a unique gift, especially for a devotee of early aeronautica, and the earliest flying machines, and would look beautiful suitably framed.
On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers were the first to fly in a powered and controlled aircraft. Previous flights were lighter than air vehicles, gliders (control but no power) or free flight (power but no control), but the Wright brothers combined both, setting the new standard in aviation records.

There have been many booms and busts in the aviation industry. The earliest known aviation stock certificate for a company that actually made a flying airship called the Novelty Air Ship Company in 1888. The Novelty Air Ship Company manufactured the vehicle for Professor Peter C. Campbell who was the inventor. Unfortunately, the air ship was lost at sea in 1889 while being test flown by Professor Hogan during an exhibition flight. This historic document was printed by the Goes Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of a Bald eagle. This item has the signatures of the Company’s Secretary and the President and is over 100 years old.  read more

Code: 17807