WW1 / WW2 / 20th Century
8th Punjab Indian Army Regt. Officer's Cap Badge
Single pin mount. The 8th Punjab Regiment had its origins in the Madras Army, where its first battalion was raised at Masulipatam in 1798. Four more battalions were raised in 1799-1800. In 1824, they were designated as the 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd and 33rd Regiments of Madras Native Infantry. In the early 19th century, these battalions were engaged in fighting the Marathas and took part in a number of foreign expeditions including the Anglo-Burmese Wars. Between 1890 and 1893, they were reconstituted with Punjabi Muslims and Sikhs as Burma Battalions and permanently based in Burma to police the turbulent Burmese hill tracts. Under the Kitchener Reforms of 1903, they were redesignated as the 89th, 90th, 91st, 92nd Punjabis, and 93rd Burma Infantry. They were delocalized from Burma before the First World War The 8th Punjabis have a most distinguished record of service during the First World War. Their long list of honours and awards includes the Victoria Cross awarded to Naik Shahmed Khan of 89th Punjabis in 1916. The 89th Punjabis had the unique distinction of serving in more theatres of war than any other unit of the British Empire. These included Aden, where they carried out the first opposed sea-borne assault landing in modern warfare, Egypt, Gallipoli, France, Mesopotamia, North-West Frontier Province, Salonika and Russian Transcaucasia. All battalions served in Mesopotamia, while 93rd Burma Infantry also served in France. The 92nd Punjabis were made 'Prince of Wales's Own' in 1921 for their gallantry and sacrifices during the war During the Second World War the 8th Punjab Regiment again distinguished itself, suffering more than 4500 casualties. It was awarded two Victoria Crosses to Havildar Parkash Singh and Sepoy Kamal Ram, besides numerous other gallantry awards. The regiment raised a further nine battalions. Two of its battalions, the 1st and 7th, were captured on Singapore Island, when the British Commonwealth Army surrendered there to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. Four battalions fought in the Burma Campaign, while others saw service in Iraq, Iran, Italy, French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies. Two men from the 8th Punjab Regiment received the Victoria Cross: Havildar Parkash Singh in Burma and Sepoy Kamal Ram in Italy. By the end of the war, the Regiment consisted of 14 Battalions. read more
65.00 GBP
A 1930's Essex Regt. Silver Officers Cap Badge
Essex Regiment Officer?s 1935 silver cap badge. Fine example. Within an oak wreath surmounted by a Sphinx resting on ?Egypt? tablet Castle and Key of Gibraltar, across the base a scroll inscribed ?The Essex Regt?. The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, and served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot and the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot. read more
120.00 GBP
8th Scottish Volunteer Battalion Helmet Plate the Kings Liverpool Regiment,
The pre-war territorial Battalions of The King's Liverpool Regiment will also show that the social class within the city was still divided. The King'sLiverpool had six territorial battalions within the city, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th. The 6th catered for the middle class, 5th, 7th and 9th for the respectable working class, while 8th ( Irish ) and 10th ( Scottish ) recruited men with links to the respected country. the King's Liverpool territorial regiments fought alongside one another many times in France and Belgium in WW1. The battalion was formed on 30th April 1900 when due to the Boer War, it became clear there was a need for men to volunteer their service. It was raised from the higher educated and professional young Scotsmen of city of Liverpool and named the 8th (Scottish) Volunteer Battalion, The King's (Liverpool Regiment). To join you paid an annual subscription of 10 shillings, and an entrance fee of ?2. The first Commanding Officer was Colonel C. Forbes Bell. read more
75.00 GBP
A National Socialist Motor Corps Enlisted Man's Side Cap Eagle Badge
an eagle sitting, its talons gripping a wreath swastika below, with a ribbon banner above inscribed "NSKK", - read more
65.00 GBP
German WW1 Medal of the German Legion of Honour.
Deutsche Ehrendenkm?nze des Weltkrieges der Deutschen Ehrenlegion.
Awarded by the "Council of the Order" of the Union of Nationalist Soldiers to men or women who, during WWI and after dutifully served the Fatherland.
This bronze medal, either gilded or coppered. Noteworthy is the portayal of the winged Victory crowning a German soldier on the obverse. The reverse shows the Iron Cross 1st Class with oak leaves around the lower rim of the medal. Along the upper edge of the medal is the text "F?RS VATERLAND" (For the Fatherland) in Gothic lettering. The ribbon is formed with the then German national colours.
For frontline troops a combat emblem was created for attachment to the ribbon : a gilt oak leaf wreath with a sword across.
This medal was first proposed in the autumn of 1917 but it took till 1921 before the "Council of the Order", which was to effect the actual awarding, was formed. Recipients had to pay for their medal themselves and could, if they so wished, be entered in the German Legion of Honour. This organization was divided in "Ritterschaften" (knight groups) and its members could call themselves "Ritter der Deutschen Ehrenlegion" (Knight of the German Legion of Honour).
Early in the Nazi era, by a decree of 15 May 1934, awards like these were forbidden and the German Legion of Honour joined the Kyffh?user-Bund (the official veterans' organization) soon after. read more
75.00 GBP
A Nazi German Occupation WW2 Public Notice Wanted Poster 1944
Listing in two languages, German and East European [possibly Slovenian] 55 Communist Bandits and their helpers. Various torn areas but vital to be kept as a piece of unique WW2 history. Would be perfect framed for display. In the aftermath of Munich, Slovak politicians from the democratic parties (Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants, Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party, and Czechoslovak National Socialist Party) organized a resistance movement. Individual underground cells sprang up in towns and villages throughout Slovakia. A campaign of "whispering" propaganda was initiated to alert the acquiescent Slovak population to the true nature of the Tiso regime. The goal of the democratic resistance was the restoration of the Czechoslovak Republic, but with greater participation for Slovakia. In the spring of 1939, the "Zeta" headquarters was established in Bratislava to coordinate with the Czech resistance and to transmit intelligence information to the liberation movement abroad. Party Communists remaining in Slovakia formed the underground Communist of Slovakia (Komunisticka strana Slovenska--KSS) and until 1943 favored the creation of an independent "Soviet Slovakia."
The shortage of qualified personnel enabled resistance members to infiltrate all levels of the Tiso administration, where they promoted economic sabotage. Mutiny within the Slovak army (marshaled by the Axis powers for combat against Poland and, later, the Soviet Union) was encouraged and became commonplace. At Kremnica, on September 15, 1939, approximately 3,500 Slovak soldiers abandoned their transport train and marched into the city. Members of the underground Slovak Revolutionary Youth set fire to machinery in factories, emptied the fuel tanks of locomotives, and exploded munitions in warehouses. Slovak youth turned increasingly against the Tiso regime.
In his Christmas broadcast of 1942, Benes called for resistance groups in Slovakia to increase their activity in preparation for a seizure of power. The groups worked to unify their efforts. The following November, negotiations between democratic and communist resistance leaders culminated in the signing of the Christmas Agreement of 1943. The agreement called for the creation of the Slovak National Council to represent the political will of the Slovak nation. The Slovak National Council would act in concert with the Czechoslovak government and liberation movement abroad. The postwar Czechoslovak state would be democratic and organized on the basis of national equality. The Christmas Agreement provided also for a close association with the Soviet Union in foreign policy and military affairs. Benes endorsed the agreement on March 27, 1944.
The Allied powers agreed that Slovakia would be liberated by Soviet armies. In March 1944, with Benes's approval, the Slovak National Council authorized Lieutenant-Colonel Jan Golian to prepare for a national coup to be coordinated with the arrival of Soviet troops. Golian organized a secret military center at Banska Bystrica and created Slovak partisan units composed of escaped prisoners of war and army deserters. The Slovak National Uprising of August 29, however, was premature. The Soviet government, regarding the Slovak resistance as politically suspect, failed to inform the Slovaks of a change in Soviet strategy. Despite American efforts to assist the uprising, the German Wehrmacht occupied Slovakia, and Banska Bystrica fell on October 27. Nonetheless, local partisan warfare continued up to the liberation. read more
120.00 GBP
1953 Queen Elizabeth IInd Coronation Silver Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal is a commemorative medal that was instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal is a silver disk, 1.25 inches in diameter. The obverse features a crowned effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right, in a high-collared ermine cloak and wearing the collar of the Garter and Badge of the Bath. There is no raised rim and no legend. Unnamed read more
55.00 GBP
13th Battalion (The Macquarie Regiment) - Bi Metal Hat Badge 1953 - 60
13th Battalion (The Macquarie Regiment) - Bi Metal Hat Badge 1953 - 60. Complete with two lugs. The 13th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised for the 1st Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, it was formed just six weeks after the start of the war. Along with the 14th, 15th and 16th Battalions which were recruited from New South Wales, it formed the 4th Brigade. The battalion saw service initially at Gallipoli before being transferred to France in 1916. For the next two years it fought in the trenches of the Western Front, earning numerous battle honours in the process.
Following the end of the war, the 13th Battalion was demobilised in early 1919. It was re-raised in 1921 as a unit of the part-time Citizens Force, based around Maitland, New South Wales. During the Second World War the battalion undertook garrison duties before being amalgamated with the 33rd Battalion in October 1942. It was re-raised for a third and final time sometime after 1948 and remained on the order of battle until 1960 when it was subsumed into the Royal New South Wales Regiment. read more
90.00 GBP