WW1 / WW2 / 20th Century

A Most Rare Large Aviation Medal For the Acceptance Run of the 'LZ 4'.Zeppelin

Medal 1908, by A. Galambos. On the acceptance run of the 'LZ 4'. Germania with sword in the right wreath medallion of Count Zeppelin under oak, right a crowd of faces in an auditorium and an airship above / winged male figure with torn chain over globe and cloud. Kaiser 292.3, Gutt 14
Obverse — Goddess Germania with Sword in right hand. 60 mm. They made a smaller 33 mm silver version, and a small undated bronze version 33mm but this is the very rare, large gilt bronze version, of 60mm
Dir/ Danken/ Deine/ Deutschen.
A. Galambos on bottom
inscription — 4. 5. August 1908 on the left. A. Galambos. The Zeppelin LZ 4 was a German experimental airship constructed under the direction of Ferdinand von Zeppelin. First flown on 20 June 1908, it made a series of successful flights including a 12-hour flight over Switzerland. It was destroyed when it caught fire after landing to carry out engine repairs during a projected 24-hour endurance trial.This disaster proved fortunate for Zeppelin: donations by the German public raised 6.5 million marks, so guaranteeing the future of his development of airships. . At Westfälische Auktionsgesellschaft
Auction 71, 29-30 April 2014, a much smaller silver more common version of this medal sold for 480 euro.  read more

Code: 23707

A Very Good Pre WW1 Royal Engineer's Dress Uniform for Lance Corporal

Tunic and trousers. In excellent condition for age. Fine red cloth with single bullion corporal stripe . Fine original Royal Engineer buttons. Austrian knots and cuffs. British other ranks and NCO's uniforms made prior to WW1 are very sought after and so few survive today as to make them most scarce and very interesting. Makers label inside with date.  read more

Code: 15259

A Most Scarce WW1 Scot's Guardsman's Tunic, Part of The British Monarch’s Personal Guard

Tunic in traditional red with brass buttons. The centre regiment of the five Guards Regiments of the Household Div. The Scots Guards have over three hundred and sixty years of unbroken service to the crown. They can trace their origins back to an army that was raised by Archibald 1st Marquess of Argyll, 16 March 1642. Since this date the Regiment has served in nearly every campaign in which the British Army has been involved in. In 1686 they were brought onto the establishment of the English Army for the first time. Eight years later they took precedence within the Foot Guards, despite their seniority by length of service. The Battle Honours of the Regiment are;

Namur 1695, Dettingen, Lincelles, [Egypt]1, Talavera, Barrosa, Fuentes d?Onor, Salamanca, Nive, Peninsula, Waterloo, Alma, Inkerman, Sevastopol, Tel-el-Kebir, Egypt 1882, Suakin 1885, Modder River, South Africa 1899-1902

First World War: Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, Ypres 1914 ?17, Langemarck 1914, Gheluvelt, Nonne Bosschen, Givenchy 1914, Neuve Chapelle, Aubers, Festubert 1915, Loos, Somme 1916 ?18, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Pilckem, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917 ?18, St. Quentin, Albert 1918, Bapaume 1918, Arras 1918, Drocourt-Qu?ant, Hindenburg Line, Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914-18

Second World War: Stien, Norway 1940, Mont Pincon, Quarry Hill, Estry, Venlo Pocket, Rhineland, Reichswald, Cleve, Moyland, Hochwald, Rhine, Lingen, Uelzen, North-West Europe 1944-45, Halfaya 1941, Sidi Suleiman, Tobruk 1941, Gazala, Knightsbridge, Defence of Alamein Line, Medenine, Tadjera Khir, Medjez Plain, Grich el Oued, Dejbel Bou Aoukaz 1943 I, North Africa 1941-43, Salerno, Battipaglia, Volturno Crossing, Roccheta e Croce, Monte Camino, Anzio, Campoleone, Carroceto, Trasimene Line, Advance to Florence, Monte San Michele, Catarelto Ridge, Argenta Gap, Italy 1943-45
Honours since the Second World War;
Tumbledown Mountain, Falkland Islands 1982, Gulf 1991  read more

Code: 15501

Original British Army Paras Issue, Ist Parachute Regt. Warrant Officer's Denison Smock

One of two smocks from the same Para. Named to the WO who served between 1964 into the 80's. His name is confidential but will be passed to the next owner. The 1st Battalion can trace its origins to 1940, when No. 2 Commando trained as parachutists. In 1941, the battalion was assigned to the 1st Parachute Brigade which also included the 2nd and 3rd battalions. The 1st Parachute Brigade was part of the 1st Airborne Division and remained with it throughout the war.

The battalion took part in operations in Tunisia in late 1942 to May 1943, suffering heavy casualties. The battalion and the brigade took part in Operation Fustian, when the Allies invaded Sicily and, again, suffered heavy casualties and was withdrawn to England in late 1943 to train and prepare for the Allied invasion of France. The battalion wasn't used in the initial invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day, but was held back in the UK in reserve in case any of the five invasion beaches encountered serious difficulties and needed support. The plan turned out not to be required. During the fighting in Normandy numerous plans to drop the 1st Airborne were formed, none of which came to fruition. Finally, in September 1944, the battalion dropped into Arnhem the Netherlands with the rest of the 1st Airborne Division, as part of Operation Market Garden, where they suffered extremely heavy casualties and never saw combat again for the rest of the war.

After the war the battalion was reconstituted in 1946, and affiliated to the Brigade of Guards and served with the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine. It was disbanded in 1948, only to be reformed by the renumbering of the 4th/6th Battalion. The battalion was part of Operation Musketeer in 1956.

In the 1970s, the battalion first deployed to Northern Ireland in Operation Banner.

The battalion was involved in the NATO operation in Kosovo in 1999, Operation Agricola. In 2003, they were deployed to the Persian Gulf for Operation Telic in Iraq where despite overwhelming odds, two multiples of No. 8 platoon managed to fight their way out of the town of Majar al-Kabir. The Denison smock (or Smock, camouflage on later garments) remained on inventories in Commonwealth and other militaries after the Second World War, and was popular with troops in Korea. It remained standard combat dress for the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment until the mid-1970s . 1959 Para Smock Denison parachutist smock fish tail flap date 1964 size 1 knitted cuffs Beginning in 1959 the Denison smock was redesigned and the brushstroke pattern reconfigured. The 1959 pattern smock camouflage (and those produded thereafter) has a distinctively different look to it than the earlier Denisons, with a lighter and more prominent background, incorporating only two additional colours (usually brown and green) to create the basic brushstroke overprint. (WW2 era Denisons were darker and often appeared to incorporate more than two colours due to the blending and mixing of dyes that occurred during the application process.) These smocks were produced into the 1970s, and despite the standardization in manufacturing and printing technique, they still show much variation in colour and hue depending on when they were produced. The 1959 pattern Denison smock was worn primarily by members of the Parachute Regiment in theatres such as the Suez and Ulster (Northern Ireland), although there is evidence to suggest it was also issued in limited quantities to the Royal Marines (RM). and worn by British Special Forces , and US Special Forces in vietnam war too. The Denison smock (or Smock, camouflage on later garments) remained on inventories in Commonwealth and other militaries after the Second World War, and was popular with troops in Korea. It remained standard combat dress for the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment until the mid-1970s (see below), and changed little from the wartime issue. A full length brass zip had become standard - with no cloth flap to cover it - and the ever-popular knitted cuffs (deleted on the 2nd Pattern smock, but often imitated by sewing woollen sock tops to the cuffs), were reintroduced. The base colour of the camouflage pattern was now a lighter khaki shade. The "Newey" press studs changed from brass/copper to nickel-plated versions.

The 1959 Pattern Denison Smock.
The Denison was significantly modified in the 1959 Pattern. This had a higher hem line, and was much less baggy. This was because wearing it over the personal carrying equipment (but under the parachute harness) while parachuting was no longer the practice. The '59 Pattern retained the full length zip and knitted wool cuffs, but the flannel lining of the collar was changed from khaki to light green. The most obvious difference to the eye, however, was the change in pattern and colours of the camouflage. The pattern became less random, more defined, with broad, vertical brush-strokes, and greater contrast between the base light khaki and the overprinted tones. The green was much darker than previous versions, and the brown was now chocolate, rather than brick. Where green and brown overlapped, they formed a fourth, darker, olive brown colour.  read more

Code: 23664

A WW2 German Druck Zunder 35 Fuse

Stamped “dkt 4”. This fuse was used on a variety of German mines including Anti Personnel, Behelfs Brettstckmine, Aluminium AT mines, Haft Hohlladung 3, and several improvised mines and demolition charges, also used as the main igniter in the heavy antitank mine M35610/99. Good condition. This is inert legal and safe to own in the UK. Not suitable for export  read more

Code: 23589

An Officer's Cap Badge of the Northamptonshire Regt. WW2

In silver metal and gilt. With battle honour scrolls of Gibralter and Talavera. Silver coloured metal, not hallmarked English silver.  read more

Code: 10897

Wonderous Pieces Added Every Day & There is Probably Nowhere Else In The World You Can View Such Fabulous Wonders, & Where Everything Is For Sale

Under one roof, from a rare American Civil War Revolver used in the U.S. Navy, and by cavalry of both the North and the South. An Original, Huge, WW2 Shell from A German King Tiger Tank, to an Original Imperial Roman Legionary’s Gladius, to a Museum Quality Samurai Sword by on of the great makers of early Japan. These past three weeks we have added, and are still adding, original, ancient classical edged weapons, from Rome, Carthage, Persia, Greece, and Scandinavia, from fine English collection/s [acquired in the 1990’s or before] including; a 2000 year old gladius from the time of Julius Caesar to Augustus to Nero. A museum grade 1000+ year old Viking chieftain [king] or earl’s [jarl] sword inlaid with knotwork silver inlay. A bronze and iron Archemeanid sword from the time of the Greco-Persian wars of Xerxes the Great against the Spartans at Thermopylae. An Imperial Roman 1st century ring, the type as worn by the Imperial Pretorian Guard with the symbol of a lion, from the time of the Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. A superb 3rd to 4th century BC Falcata sword similar to the Greek Kopis, the sword used by Hannibal’s army in the 2nd Punic War and his invasion of Rome across the Alps, and a 3rd Century Imperial Roman Sword, from the time of Emperor Constantine and the Battle of Cibalae. Plus a remarkable 1066 period Original Norman Iron Four Plate Helmet, [as Seen Depicted in the world famous so-called Bayeux Tapestry] & two early Books, one, an original 5th century Roman treatise on Roman warfare, and 18th Century biography on 18th century Warfare. Plus, as usual, many more pieces of historical interest.  read more

Code: 23533

An Original French Bond Poster 1917-18. Subscribe to the National Defence

Francais aux invalides dans la narcelle d'un zeppelin face a l'avion de Guynemer et a cote d'un tank souscrivez a l'emprunt de la defense national. A poster of an exhibition at the great French museum Les Invalides. In the square in front of the museum there was exhibited; a narcelle from a shot down Zeppelin, WW1 French ace Guynemer's plane, and a tank. Backed on to linen, from the American Forbes Library.  read more

Code: 17959

A Simply Superb Master Conductor/Composer's Solid Silver Presentation Baton

For those with an interest in presentation pieces in the realm of musical memorabilia. Engraved 'Geisha', O.M. [Order of Merit] 25th April 1925. C.A.O.S. [Choral & Orchestra Society]. In mallacca and mounted in hallmarked solid silver. Presentation gifted to a composer/conductor who would have been a contemporary of Sir Edward Elgar O.M. Sadly, we know not to whom it may have been presented. However research in the right quarter may well bear fruit. Unscrews at the midsection into two pieces. Superb quality as one might expect.  read more

Code: 14710

A Fabulous Imperial German Air Service Flask & Cigarette Case

This is just the epitome of all things Imperial German from the time of Kaiser Willhelm and Baron von Richthofen. The reservists flask was a peculiarly German artifact, and alongside the bier stein absolutely typical of the Germanic age of the early 20th century. The flask is an alloy depicting an embossed Zeppelin, an embossed plane and another, an anchor and a panel for luftschiff reserve service, and a similar for the flieger reserve service. It has a mono plane cup holder with a young pilot and his fraulein drinking and reveling. The front panel opens on a hinge revealing a picture behind the flask and a holder for cigarettes. It has wear and aging, but for the Imperial German WW1 reservist flask and stein collector you could probably not find a better or more desirable example. Overall 9 inches tall by 5 inches wide by 2 inches deep  read more

Code: 16392