WW1 / WW2 / 20th Century

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

Code: 19174

Northern River Lancers - White Metal Hat Badge 1953 - 56

The 15th Northern River Lancers was an amphibious assault squadron of the Australian Army, the Lancers were designated 'A' Squadron, Amphibious Assault Regiment. The 15th Northern River Lancers were formed in 1948 and based in Northern New South Wales, in 1956 it was amalgamated with the 1st Royal New South Wales Lancers to become 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers.  read more

Code: 19171

A Very Good Officer's Silver and Gilt Cap Badge of the Loyal Regt. the Lancashire 1950's.

Original early ERII. With red rose centre and gilt regimental banner. Silver crowned lion. 2 part construction. At the outbreak of World War II, the 1st Battalion Loyals were part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, attached to the 1st Infantry Division. In September 1939 they were sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force and remained there alongside the French Army until May 1940. The 1st Loyals would participate in the fighting in France and Belgium in 1940, including acting as part of the rearguard for the Dunkirk evacuation. Eventually, the 1st Loyals would see action in Tunisia in early 1943, and Italy and at the Battle of Anzio where the 1st Division saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The battalion along with the rest of 1st Division were sent to Palestine in 1945. During the fighting in the Tunisian campaign, in April 1943, Lieutenant Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke was posthumously awarded the regiment's only Victoria Cross of the war for his extreme heroism.

Upon the commencement of hostilities in 1939, the 2nd Battalion, Loyal Regiment found themselves stationed in the Far East as part of Singapore Fortress's 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the 2nd Loyals fought in Malaya as part of the delaying action during the Battle of Malaya. Eventually, the 2nd Battalion surrendered along with the rest of the Singapore garrison on 15 February 1942. The survivors spent the rest of the war as prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Following the destruction of the 2nd Loyals with its surrender at Singapore, the battalion was reformed in Britain. The 10th Battalion, a hostilities-only battalion raised in 1940, was re-designated as the new 2nd Battalion on 28 May 1942. Eventually the battalion was deployed as part of 20th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 10th Indian Infantry Division in Italy during the closing phases of the Italian Campaign  read more

Code: 18835

WW2 Period Chinese Bank of Communications 25-Yuan Note,

1941, serial no. 784417 green, electric direct
current generator, Zeppelin and plane at centre. Established in 1908, Bank of Communication claims a long history in China and is one of the banks to have issued banknotes in modern Chinese history.  read more

Code: 18248

An Original Desk Paperknife Made From Duralumin Of Airship USS Akron

Made from Duralumin taken from the construction of the airship. USS Akron (ZRS-4) was a helium-filled rigid airship of the U.S. Navy that was destroyed in a thunderstorm off the coast of New Jersey on the morning of 4 April 1933, killing 73 of her 76 crewmen and passengers. This accident was the largest loss of life for any known airship crash. During her accident-prone 18-month term of service, the Akron also served as a flying aircraft carrier for launching and recovering F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes.

With lengths of 785 ft (239 m), 20 ft (6.1 m) shorter than the German commercial airship Hindenburg, Akron and her sister airship the Macon were among the largest flying objects in the world. Although the Hindenburg was longer, she was filled with hydrogen, so the two U.S. airships still hold the world record for helium-filled airships.  read more

Code: 18105

A WW2 Dental Instruments Medics Kit Roll

Very nice quality instruments that could likely work well today [after polishing and sterilising.  read more

Code: 18104

Operation of Regulations of Zeppelin Airship Construction in Freidrichafen

Published for the Zeppelin Co. in 10th Sept 1934. A paragraph withing the text makes a reference to the SA and SS but sadly as it is printed Gothic German it's devil to translate. The booklet contains operating istructions of the company including such details of working hours, winter and summer, and all manner of expected functions of the staff of the company. Not many of these documents survived. Dr Eckner is named on the last page as the company Fuhrer. The company that ran the Graf Zeppelin and Hindenberg transatlantic airships was the Nazi propaganda based company, titled the DZR, the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei. The DZR was created at the instigation of Air Minister Hermann G?ring as a way to increase Nazi control over zeppelin operations, and can be see as part of the larger policy of Gleichschaltung, or coordination, which affected all aspects of German life in the years following Hitler?s assumption of power.

Consistent with Nazi ideology, the airship was expected to be more than just a private commercial venture; it was to be a public symbol of the new German nation. In a speech marking the founding of the DZR, G?ring commented: ?I hope that the new ship will also fulfill its duty in furthering the cause of Germany? The airship does not have the exclusive purpose of flying across the Atlantic, but also has a responsibility to act as the nation?s representative.?  read more

Code: 18092

A Campaign Service South Arabia Bar & Territorial Efficency Medal Pair

Unnamed. ERII replacement issue in superb condition court mounted. South Arabia;
This campaign is related to the Radfan Campaign, because both were Egyptian-inspired attempts to end the British presence in Aden and end the embryonic Federation of South Arabia.This 3 year long campaign saw numerous terrorist attacks on both civilian and military targets. In both Rafan and Aden, the British Army suffered 90 personnel killed and 510 wounded.The qualifying period was 30 days service in the Federation of South Arabia between 1 August 1964 and 30 November 1967.  read more

Code: 17981

A WW1 Royal Naval Officer's Belt

Gilt bronze buckle with patent leather belt, however the belt is pretty worn and very small size.  read more

Code: 17852

A Fabulous Group Of WW2 Medals 39-45, Africa, Atlantic, Italy & Burma Stars

With the North Africa 1942-3 bar, the Pacific bar, and the War Medal. Awarded to a WW2 RAF officer, and just one medal short [the defence medal] of the maximum amount of medals any man serving in the Army, Navy or RAF could have been awarded for the entire war. This is an incredible symbol of an extraordinary service career in the war.  read more

Code: 17803