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A Very Fine Factory 'New York' Engraved 7mm Pinfire Revolver

The US government purchased 11,000 model M1854 pinfire revolver pistols (originally developed for the French navy) for the Union army’s cavalry and some also found their way into Confederacy hands – most likely via New Orleans – during the American Civil War.

This 7mm model also had something of a reputation among European arts and cultural circles in the 19th century and was a popular personal-carry piece in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany.

The popular French poet Paul Verlaine used one to shoot and wound another French poet, Arthur Rimbaud in 1873. In 2016, that original pistol sold at a Paris auction for 435,000 euros .

A Lefaucheux 7mm pistol is said to have been the type used by Dutch master Vincent Van Gogh, who in 1880 fatally shot himself. His original pistol is currently on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Code: 23321

695.00 GBP

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A Most Rare And Desirable Mauser Bayonet Of Earliest Machine Gun Troop, Regimentally Stamped.

Marked 2nd Guard Grenadier Machine Gewere No 14. From the very earliest Imperial German Machine Gun company of the elite 2nd Guard Grenadier regt. The Maxim machine was the scourge of the British infantryman during the trench warfare, and effectively the great slaughter of World War I on the Western front. There is no depiction in any film ever made but doesn’t feature a German maxim in it’s murderous slaughter of the Allies.

However, the German machine gun companies did not have it all their own way, for the life expectancy of a German machinegunner was somewhat poor, for It is often forgotten that while the machine gunner is mowing down the often walking regiments across no mans land that every soldier on the opposing side will be aiming and firing their rifles at the machine gunner. They were relatively well protected but not impervious to hundreds of rifle rounds fired in their direction every second by high-power Enfield rifles, or hopefully our version, the Vickers machine gun, as equally deadly as the Maxim which effectively was the same gun.

In 1908 the German arms manufacturer Deutsche Waffen-und-Munitionsfabriken was licensed to produce the British-designed Maxim machine gun. As well as making a 7.9-mm version for the German Army the MG08 the company also produced a 7.65-mm export version, the MG09, which was sold to Bulgaria, China, Romania and the Ottoman Empire. Although many were lost in the Balkan Wars, the MG09 was the machine gun used against the New Zealanders and other Allied troops at Gallipoli. The Ottoman Army received large quantities of MG08s once German military aid was resumed in 1916, and both types of machine gun were used by the Turks in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns. Both German Maxims had an effective range of 2000 m and fired at a rate of 300 rounds per minute. No scabbard.

Code: 23282

495.00 GBP

Archived

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A Good Viking Spear Head 1000 to 1100 Years Old

Overall in superb and well preserved condition. Only deeper pitting on one blade face. This almost certainly may be a traditional Viking pattern welded blade, in the traditional 'Wolf's Teeth' form, but the surface is too intact to tell, however its shape is very similar to the most famous recovered 'Wolf's Teeth' Viking spear head in Helsinki Museum [see gallery]. According to the older parts of the Gulating Law, dating back to before the year 900 AD covering Western Norway, a free man was required to own a sword or ax, spear and shield. It was said that Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway from 995-1000 AD, could throw two spears at the same time. In chapter 55 of Laxdæla saga, Helgi had a spear with a blade one ell long (about 50cm, or 20in). He thrust the blade through Bolli's shield, and through Bolli. In chapter 8 of Króka-Refs saga, Refur made a spear for himself which could be used for cutting, thrusting, or hewing. Refur split Þorgils in two down to his shoulders with the spear. The spearheads were made of iron, and, like sword blades, were made using pattern welding techniques (described in the article on swords) during the early part of the Viking era . They could be decorated with inlays of precious metals or with scribed geometric patterns
After forming the head, the smith flattened and drew out material to form the socket . This material was formed around a mandrel and usually was welded to form a solid socket. In some cases, the overlapping portions were left unwelded. Spear heads were fixed to wooden shafts using a rivet. The sockets on the surviving spear heads suggest that the shafts were typically round, with a diameter of 2-3cm (about one inch).

However, there is little evidence that tells us the length of the shaft. The archaeological evidence is negligible, and the sagas are, for the most part, silent. Chapter 6 of Gísla saga tells of a spear so long-shafted that a man's outstretched arm could touch the rivet. The language used suggests that such a long shaft was uncommon.

Perhaps the best guess we can make is that the combined length of shaft and head of Viking age spears was 2 to 3m (7-10ft) long, although one can make arguments for the use of spears having both longer and shorter shafts. A strong, straight-grained wood such as ash was used. Many people think of the spear as a throwing weapon. One of the Norse myths tells the story of the first battle in the world, in which Oðin, the highest of the gods, threw a spear over the heads of the opposing combatants as a prelude to the fight. The sagas say that spears were also thrown in this manner when men, rather than gods, fought. At the battle at Geirvör described in chapter 44 of Eyrbyggja saga, the saga author says that Steinþórr threw a spear over the heads of Snorri goði and his men for good luck, according to the old custom. More commonly, the spear was used as a thrusting weapon. The sagas tell us thrusting was the most common attack in melees and one-on-one fighting, and this capability was used to advantage in mass battles. In a mass battle, men lined up, shoulder to shoulder, with shields overlapping. After all the preliminaries, which included rock throwing, name calling, the trading of insults, and shouting a war cry (æpa heróp), the two lines advanced towards each other. When the lines met, the battle was begun. Behind the wall of shields, each line was well protected. Once a line was broken, and one side could pass through the line of the other side, the battle broke down into armed melees between small groups of men.

Before either line broke, while the two lines were going at each other hammer and tongs, the spear offered some real advantages. A fighter in the second rank could use his spear to reach over the heads of his comrades in the first rank and attack the opposing line. Konungs skuggsjá (King’s Mirror), a 13th century Norwegian manual for men of the king, says that in the battle line, a spear is more effective than two swords. In regards to surviving iron artefacts of the past two millennia, if Western ancient edged weapons were either lost, discarded or buried in the ground, and if the ground soil were made up of the right chemical composition, then some may survive exceptionally well. As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity 12.25 inches long

Code: 23285

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A Simply Superb WW2 German Officer's Military Watch From Hitler's Personal Watch Co. in Berlin + Owner's Iron Cross

An Historical, Very Good, Original and Classic WW2 German Military Officer's Open Faced Keyless Lever Watch & its owner's Silver Mounted Iron Cross [WW1 issue]. The black dial signed UHRENFABRIK BUREN A.G . and with A. LUNSER BERLIN above a subsidiary seconds dial, luminous Arabic numerals, all in excellent condition, luminous hands, The watch appears to be in good going order. The Nickel Silver case with screw rim front and back stamped a three digit serial number, the case winding crown and bow in good original condition .53 mm diam. Adolf Lunser of Berlin, sold watches in the 1930's and was the official supplier to the German government, the Third Reich, and Adolf Hitler, and two pocket watches sold to Hitler by Lunser of Berlin, have sold in the past 15 years for $70,000 and $636,000 respectively. One of those watches, purchased from Adolf Lunser by Adolf Hitler [another keyless pocket watch] sold for $70,000 and according to the archives the watch was made in 1938, and bought on December 12, 1938, by Adolf Lunse;'s watch shop in Berlin.
The watch was subsequently bought by Hitler then presented to Dr Theodor Gilbert Morell by Adolf Hitler personally on July 22, 1944.

Morell was Hitler’s personal physician, and was well known in Germany for his extremely unconventional and alternative medical treatments. But, even more incredibly, another watch sold by Adolf Lunser to Adolf Hitler, sold in the US in 2006. It bore the engraved crest of the German politician and military leader, Hitler's No.2, Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering.
An inscription on the inside of the Goering watch case, when translated, read: 'In cordial friendship at Christmas 1934.'
Below it was the engraved signature of Adolf Hitler. That watch sold to a European collector on May 14, 2006 for a staggering final price of $629,691.08. This watch and the accompanying Iron Cross were 'recovered' from an important military family home in Berlin in 1945/6. The Iron Cross is an iron centre solid silver framed example and the ring mount is maker hallmarked. Next to the Victoria Cross, it is the most famous medal in the world. The Iron Cross was awarded for bravery in battle as well as other conspicuous military contributions in a battlefield environment. The Iron Cross 2nd Class came with a ribbon and was worn in one of two different methods: When in formal dress, the entire cross was worn mounted alone or as part of a medal bar. For everyday wear, only the ribbon was worn from the second hole in the tunic button. Since the Iron Cross was issued over several different periods of German history, it was annotated with the year indicating the era in which it was issued. For example, an Iron Cross from the First World War bears the year "1914", while the same decoration from the Second World War is annotated "1939". The reverse of the 1870, 1914 and 1939 series of Iron Crosses have the year "1813" appearing on the lower arm, symbolizing the year the award was created. The 1813 decoration also has the initials "FW" for King Frederick William III, while the next two have a "W" for the respective kaisers, Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II. The final version shows a swastika. Interestingly the only medal Hitler would ever wear was his WW1 awarded Iron Cross. Needless to say there is no way of knowing that this watch was presented or even given by Hitler to its original recipient and owner, but the possibility is intriguing. These are exactly the kind of fascinating militaria artefacts we are constantly keen to uncover and, hopefully, thence offer for sale. Needless to say there is no way of knowing that this watch was presented or even given by Hitler to its original recipient and owner, [Keitel junior or senior] but the possibility is intriguing.

They were ‘found’ in the former Keitel family home in Berlin in 1945/6, with two Keitel Ex Libris books we acquired separately.

Code: 23281

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A Good Antique Keris Dagger Likely 18th Century Likely Meteorite Iron Blade

An old saying in the Indonesian islands is ‘a sharp - edged dagger is good for a soldier, almost certainly not suitable when owned by a trader. The sharp - edged dagger is good for a leader who has many men, not suitable for low-ranking officials‘. Not exactly profound and no doubt is losing something in the translation, but certainly pertinent in the homelands of the kris dagger. A special term is used for a dagger blade that is not straight, but curved or curved. Luk curves on the dagger are always smooth, never even. The count ranges from three bows, to thirteen bows. That's a normal dagger. If the wound is more than 13, it is considered an abnormal kris, and is called akalawijanorpalawijan kris. Fine , beautiful, and scarce examples of a keris from the southern Malaysian peninsular region of Johor or Selangor. Handle in the jawa demam form. This form of hilt is common in central or southern Sumatra, as well as the Malay peninsular regions. The Minang variant is usually more upright with a more flaring top.

Pamor patterns are arranged in the mlumah technique of the wos utah or scattered rice variations which is said to enhance the owner's material well being Pamor is the pattern of white lines appearing on the blade. Kris blades are forged by a technique known as pattern welding, one in which layers of different metals are pounded and fused together while red hot, folded or twisted, adding more different metals, pounded more and folded more until the desired number of layers are obtained. The rough blade is then shaped, filed and sometimes polished smooth before finally acid etched to bring out the contrasting colours of the low and high carbon metals. The traditional Indonesian weapon allegedly endowed with religious and mystical powers. With probably a traditional Meteorite laminated iron blade with hammered nickel for the contrasting pattern. No Scabbard

Code: 23275

170.00 GBP

Archived

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A 'Signed' Letter From King George VIth Aknowledging Service in the Home Guard

The Home Guard (initially Local Defence Volunteers or LDV) was an armed citizen militia supporting the British Army during the Second World War. Operational from 1940 to 1944, the Home Guard had 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service, such as those who were too young or too old to join the regular armed services (regular military service was restricted to those aged 18 to 41) or those in reserved occupations. Excluding those already in the armed services, the civilian police or civil defence, approximately one in five men were volunteers. Their role was to act as a secondary defence force in case of invasion by the forces of Nazi Germany and other Axis powers.[1][2]

The Home Guard were to try to slow down the advance of the enemy even by a few hours to give the regular troops time to regroup. They were also to defend key communication points and factories in rear areas against possible capture by paratroops or fifth columnists. A key purpose was to maintain control of the civilian population in the event of an invasion, to forestall panic and to prevent communication routes from being blocked by refugees to free the regular forces to fight the Germans. The Home Guard continued to man roadblocks and guard the coastal areas of the United Kingdom and other important places such as airfields, factories and explosives stores until late 1944, when they were stood down. They were finally disbanded on 31 December 1945, eight months after Germany's surrender.

Men aged 17 to 65 years could join although the upper-age limit was not strictly enforced. Service was unpaid but gave a chance for older or inexperienced soldiers to support the war effort. The letter is on parchment paper a little frayed at the edges etc.

Code: 23273

40.00 GBP

Archived

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A Very Interesting Pair of WW2 1942 Spitfire Cannon Round Shells, 1 Exploded

198 Brighton civilian residents, men, women and children were killed by the German Luftwaffe between 1939 and 1945. These are a pair of Brighton, RAF vs Luftwaffe fighters battle-site recovered Spitfire 20mm shell cases, one fired and ejected, but the other exploded due to the impact and the explosion of the guns on the Spitfire when it was likely shot down. Both empty shells are dated 1942, and the dogfight was on the hills of the South Downs outside of Brighton. Daytime raids continued around Brighton throughout 1941 and into 1942, and eight people were killed by German fighter-bombers in late 1942. From 17 December 1942 a 9.30 p.m. bus curfew was operated except for night workers, but the following day Rottingdean was hit and the Steyning Road vicarage was destroyed. A direct hit on the Black Rock gas-works resulted in a 300-foot orange flame. The heaviest raid occurred on 25 May 1943 when the town was dive-bombed by German fighters. Twenty-four people were killed and fifty-one seriously injured as the planes strafed pedestrians in the streets, and the London Road viaduct was seriously damaged. In a night raid in September 1943 thousands of incendiary bombs were dropped, destroying part of the railway works and a gas main in London Road. Another raid saw bombs fall in the Pavilion grounds, shaking the Dome walls out of the vertical, but the crater was put to use as a static water tank.
With the course of the war swinging in the Allies’ favour the ban on visitors was lifted by 1943, but was reimposed in August and September 1943 and prior to D-Day, 6 June 1944. The last raid on the town was on 22 March 1944, but from 1939 until 1945 Brighton suffered from 1,058 siren warnings; 685 local alarms and 56 actual raids; 381 high explosive bombs were dropped along with numerous incendiary bombs; 198 people were killed, 357 seriously injured and 433 slightly injured; over 200 houses were destroyed, 894 seriously damaged and 14,232 slightly damaged. Not for sale to under 18s not suitable for export. Deactivated inert and safe. Not suitable for export

Code: 23271

50.00 GBP

Archived

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An Imperial German Iron Cross and Eagle Desk Ornament

In blackened finish lead.The Iron Cross is a black four-pointed cross with white trim, with the arms widening toward the ends, similar to a cross pattee. It was designed by the neoclassical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and reflects the cross borne by the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century. Since the Iron Cross was issued over several different periods of German history, it was annotated with the year indicating the era in which it was issued. For example, an Iron Cross from the First World War bears the year "1914", while the same decoration from the Second World War is annotated "1939". The reverse of the 1870, 1914 and 1939 series of Iron Crosses have the year "1813" appearing on the lower arm, symbolising the year the award was created. The 1813 decoration also has the initials "FW" for King Frederick William III, while the next two have a "W" for the respective kaisers, Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II. The final version shows a swastika 5.5 inches high. 1.4 kilos

Code: 23269

85.00 GBP

Archived

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Japanese WW2, Silk, Imperial Flag. Souvenir of WW2 War Veteran

In good condition overall with a few light holes. Excellent light as a feather silk. The scarcer allied soldiers souvenir flag from the Pacific War campaign. The is the simple orange disc circle on a plain white ground. Since ancient times, the sun has been a symbol of national unity because of the close relationship between national rule and the sun. When Taira was destroyed and the samurai government was established by Genji, successive shoguns claimed to be descendants of Genji, and it was said that the Hinomaru of "Shirachikamaru" , [ red circle on white background] had been inherited as a symbol of those who achieved the unification of the country. In Japan, "red and white" has been regarded as a joyous colour scheme

Code: 23264

175.00 GBP

Archived

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A Good Rare Ottoman Army Cavalry Officers Sword Made in Constantinople

Traditional 'P' hilt of regulation Turkish form, langet engraved with the Turkish crescent and star. Deluxe quality fully etched pipe backed blade bearing further star and crescents, florid scrolls stands of arms and etc. Makers name on the blade spine. Photo in the gallery of two Ottoman Turkish Camel Cavalry officers seated, drinking coffee, with their swords at hand. Also photographs of Ottoman General Staff officers. Recently original weapons of the late Ottoman Empire have become very much sought after by Turkish collectors seeking elements of the old Ottoman period. The Germanic style of the sword hilt falls into place in the latter part of the Ottoman Empire with it's alliance with the Kaiser. Beginning in the 1880s, the Ottoman Empire entered into diplomatic relationships, and later military alliance, with Imperial Germany. The Turks wanted to modernize their ramshackle, obsolescent army and build up their navy. The Germans wanted, among other things, a rail link between themselves and the Levant, for strategic and economic reasons.
The equipment of the Turkish Army became Germanized. In 1887, the Ottomans adopted the first of four models of Mauser repeating rifles (total number of variations was seven including carbines) to replace the British and American-made single shots previously used. During this period, regulation swords on the German style were adopted, and the kilij became a thing of the past except in irregular militia formations. The same pattern could be seen in the Ottomans' choice of artillery, saddlery and harness, ships, and even band instruments.

German officers, such as Limon von Sanders, went to Istanbul to supervise the re-training of the Turkish officer corps. The effort was not entirely successful, due to cultural inertia, and personality clashes between the two peoples. When war between Turkey and Bulgaria broke out in 1911-12, the Ottoman forces took a terrible drubbing from the Russian-backed Bulgarians. During World War I, the Ottomans made the ill-advised decision to ally with Germany, and suffered the consequences of ending up on the losing side. By the early 1920's, the Ottoman Empire, the "Devlet Aliyeh" or Exalted Dynasty, was no more. No scabbard

Code: 23260

475.00 GBP

Archived