WW1 / WW2 / 20th Century

Presented to officers of the Household Cavalry, the mounted bodyguard of her Late Beloved Majesty, Queen Elizabeth IInd, in 1965 at Windsor Castle. Silver Birmingham hallmarked by William Neale & Son Ltd (their mark from 1909). William Neale & Son Ltd
Birmingham, 1933 hallmark. Firm established by William Neale in 1850 in Birmingham. Later the firm became William Neale & Sons as a partnership of William Neale Sr., William Neale Jr. and Arthur Neale, building new premises at 29 Warstone Lane, Birmingham (1896). In 1905, the firm was converted into a limited liability company under the style of William Neale & Sons Ltd moving in 1910 at 34 Cox Street, St. Paul's Square, Birmingham. In 1941,

The Arms of the Borough as shown upon the silver box are officially recorded in the College of Arms as having been entered in 1566 at the Visitation of Berkshire made in that year by William Hervey Clarenceux, King of Arms, in the following form:

Per fesse Argent and Vert a Stag's Head caboshed of the first in chief between the attires Sable an Escutcheon of France Modern and England quarterly in base a Castle Wall with three Towers also Argent in the central tower a open Port with Portcullis raised Or.

Origin
Arms entered (without tinctures) at the Visitation of 1532; Confirmed with tinctures at the Visitation of 1566;

The castle is, of course, a reference to Windsor's famous royal fortress, and the stag's head recalls that the Windsor Great Park around the town formed a hunting ground for the Norman kings. The shield depicts the old 1405-1603 Royal Arms and is appropriate as New Windsor is a Royal Borough.

The Freedom Of Windsor: The freedom of the Royal Borough of Windsor was given to the Household Cavalry at a special ceremony held in the home Park, Windsor Castle, today. Immediately following this ceremony the Household Cavalry exercised their right by marching through the town of Windsor with bands plkating. Armoured cars from the Lifeguards took part in the parade. May 05, 1965.

Gross weight 22.8 ozs approx 6.75 inches x 4.65 inches x 2 inches. Hallmarked silver lined with cedarwood interior.  read more

Code: 25511

675.00 GBP

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A beautifully crafted horse, standing erect and proud, finely cast with a finely hand engraved coat

Made in two parts, with the horse free standing upon its rectangular base {hallmarked}. The horse is hallmarked upon its hoof.

The firm of Carrington was named after its founder John Bodman Carrington who established his manufacturing business at 130 Regent Street.

He was listed as a silversmith, goldsmith and jeweller working from the London premises of the Birmingham silversmiths G.R. Collis & Co. The business was re-styled Carrington & Co in 1880 and the firm specialised in extra strong silver plate for use in restaurants, hotels and ships.

By the early 1890s Carrington were advertising themselves as jewellers, diamond merchants, dealers in precious stones and manufacturing silversmiths. At this time the partners were John Carrington, William Carrington Smith and George Bruford. They were awarded the Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria and would go on to gain the warrants of Prince Albert, Edward VII and George V, as well as Nicholas I and II and Queen Alexandra of Russia. In 1893 they created the beautiful Dorset bow brooch for Queen Mary and in 1911 they set the famous Cullinan diamonds numbers III and IV into a brooch/ pendant for her, a jewel now owned by the Queen who affectionately refers to them as ‘Granny’s chips’.

John Carrington became Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company in 1903 and retired from his business in 1906 leaving W.C. Smith to continue as sole remaining partner. Carrington co-authored a book ‘The Plate of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths’ which was published shortly before his death in 1926. The firm was converted into a limited liability company in 1922 and was eventually bought out by the firm Collingwood.  read more

Code: 25509

495.00 GBP

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With the regiments Garter Star, the lion surmounted the Queen's Crown {the Imperial State Crown}, with 19 battle honours around and below. All in the finest gold and silver bullion, on a garnet cloth with a wide bullion trim with embossed oak leaves of the mounts fore-quarter shabraque.

A post 1953 shabraque, with battle honours up to 1991.

This shabraque would look amazing bespoke framed

The Household Cavalry is classed as a corps in its own right, and consists of two regiments: The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). They are the senior regular regiments in the British Army, with traditions dating from 1660, and act as the King's personal bodyguard. They are the cavalry element of the guards regiments and, with the five foot guard regiments, constitute the seven guards regiments of the Household Division.

A shabrack or shabraque is a saddlecloth, formerly used by European light cavalry.

The shabraque was an accoutrement of the hussar cavalry, based on the Hungarian horsemen in Austrian service who were widely imitated in European armies in the 18th and 19th centuries. The shabraque was a large cloth which in its original form, covered the Hungarian-style saddle, and was itself surmounted by a sheep or goat skin.

Made of Sheep or Goat skin, The Shabrack was a common Military article during The Napoleonic Wars, used by both The French, their Allies and by The English and theirs. Traditionally, Royal Regiments bore their Monarch's Signet – often embroidered in Silver or Gold Thread.

By the end of the 19th Century and into the 20th, Shabracks (when found), were used solely by Officers of various Elite Cavalry Units (such as those found today on Great Britain). Variations were used by both American and Confederate Officers during The American Civil War. Today, in The American Army, The Shabrack is most commonly used for Funeral Processions known as The ''Fallen Rider''.

The corners of the shabraque were rounded at the front and elongated into long points at the rear. It could be elaborately decorated with a contrasting border and a royal cypher or regimental crest. It was often discarded while on active service and by the start of the 20th century, was confined to ceremonial use; in the British Army, it is used by the Household Cavalry and by General Staff officers.  read more

Code: 25510

950.00 GBP

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1924 LZ126 Zeppelin Medal, stunningly bright condition.
By Lauer of Nuremberg. A silver coin/medallion issued to commemorate the arrival in the USA of Zeppelin LZ-126 from the manufacturer in Friedrichshafen, Germany. It was built in 1924 with the original designation LZ-126 and given over to the US as part of war reparations. There she was commissioned into the US Navy and redesignated ZR-III (USS Los Angeles). The Zeppelin remained in service until 1932 and was finally dismantled in her hangar in 1939, having been the longest serving rigid airship ever operated by the USN.
Made in .990 grade silver, 33mm in diameter with a portrait of Dr. Hugo Eckener on one side and Zeppelin in flight over land and sea. Inscribed with caption "Amerikafahrt Des LZ126 / ZRIII 1924" and with flight details from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst. Dr. Eckener was manager of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin during the inter-war years, and was commander of the famous Graf Zeppelin for the majority of its record-setting flights, including the first airship flight around the world, making him the most successful airship commander in history.

The airship's hull had 24-sided transverse ring frames for most of its length, changing to an octagonal section at the tail surfaces, and the hull had an internal keel which provided an internal walkway and also contained the accommodation for the crew when off duty. For most of the ship's length the main frames were 32 ft 10 in (10 m) apart, with two secondary frames in each bay. Following the precedent set by LZ 120 Bodensee, crew and passenger accommodation was in a compartment near the front of the airship that was integrated into the hull structure. Each of the five Maybach VL I V12 engines occupied a separate engine car, arranged as four wing cars with the fifth aft on the centerline of the ship. All drove two-bladed pusher propellers and were capable of running in reverse. Auxiliary power was provided by wind-driven dynamos.


Medallion is engraved '990' silver content to rim. Very nice condition.  read more

Code: 23601

325.00 GBP

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In overall excellent condition, and it’s original metal transit case for the instrument. It’s optics are truly incredible, in fact as good as anything that can be made today for the purpose of a ‘level’ instrument {somewhat similar to a theodolite}

A war trophy of the first gulf war, a Russian Scud Missile Rocket Launcher Level Site on adjustable tripod stand. Originaly designed for use with the USSR Red Army 'Frog' nuclear rocket. The Scud missiles targeting Israel were relatively ineffective, as firing at extreme range resulted in a dramatic reduction in accuracy and payload. Extensive property damage was caused, and according to Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Damage to general property consisted of 1,302 houses, 6,142 apartments, 23 public buildings, 200 shops and 50 cars." It was feared that Iraq would fire missiles filled with nerve agents such as sarin. As a result, Israel's government issued gas masks to its citizens. When the first Iraqi missiles hit Israel, some people injected themselves with an antidote for nerve gas. It has been suggested that the sturdy construction techniques used in Israeli cities, coupled with the fact that Scuds were only launched at night, played an important role in limiting the number of casualties from Scud attacks.

Missiles were a vital part of the old Cold War. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) threatened to hurl nuclear payloads from one side of the globe to the other, obliterating humanity, a real war to end all wars.

Before a Scud level site it was made for the Russian USSR Frog rocket. Further down the scale of destructiveness, tactical missiles were an important part of the Soviet arsenal. Following Joseph Stalin’s death in 1952, Nikita Khrushchev came to power. A great believer in rocketry and nuclear weapons, he cut back on conventional forces while boosting the USSR?s missile systems.

It led to a proliferation of vehicle-mounted ballistic missiles for use in tactical rather than global engagements. The first tactical missiles added to the Soviet arsenal under Krushchev were the Free Rocket Over Ground (FROG) series.

FROG-1 entered service in 1955. An IS-2 tank chassis was modified to become the basis of the launch vehicle. On it was mounted a ten-meter-long rocket powered by a solid fuel engine. It could carry a conventional 1,200-kilogram high explosive fragmentation warhead. In keeping with Khrushchev’s faith in nuclear solutions, it could also carry a tactical nuclear warhead.

The vehicle had a maximum road speed of 41 kilometers per hour, which went down to 30kph while carrying the 3,200-kilogram weight of the rocket.

The rocket had a range of nearly 26 kilometers. Half the rockets fired by FROG-1 landed within 700 meters of their target point.

One replaced bolt on the tripod.  read more

Code: 21696

295.00 GBP

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A slender steel unit with chequered black bakelite scales secured by five steel rivets and belt loop securing pin. Forward section of body is enclosed by short bright steel bolster. Forward section of underside is recessed for stowage of larger blade. Blade when stowed is enclosed by body. A blade release stud is located at back of tang Blade form: larger blade is very slightly recurved and single-edged with a, near Bowie-style, clipped and sharpened false edge. A small but very sharp tyre sabotage hook-like single-edged blade is fitted at "pommel" end of body, with nickel grip plate bolsters. In almost every case over the past 50 years we have sought and found a few of such incredibly intriguing ‘special services’ clasp knives, the long blade’s have all had numerous hand sharpenings and re-shaping due to their constant use in clandestine operations against the Third Reich occupation forces. In fact almost all examples that survive within clandestine forces museums, The IWM and the like, have the blades in such condition and the grip plates with obvious signs of combat use.

See pages 46 and 47 British and Commonwealth Military Knives by Ron Flook.

S.O.E. operatives had a wide range of equipment to help survive in enemy territory. Specialist jump-suits and personal escape and survival packs were developed by S.O.E.'s own factories.

Agents were carefully prepared for missions. Detailed briefings gave the latest information on the countries and specific locations where they were operating. Cover stories, contact addresses, personal codes and escape routes were provided. S.O.E. s paramilitary teams were given money, food and special military stores to meet individual needs
..
This was the knife issued to agents, initially in order to cut the shroud of the parachute, but from thenceforth as a universal espionage knife blade. The second blade is a sabotage tyre slasher.

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its purpose was to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe (and later, also in occupied Southeast Asia) against the Axis powers, and to aid local resistance movements.

Few people were aware of SOE's existence. Those who were part of it or liaised with it were sometimes referred to as the "Baker Street Irregulars", after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as "Churchill's Secret Army" or the "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare". Its various branches, and sometimes the organisation as a whole, were concealed for security purposes behind names such as the "Joint Technical Board" or the "Inter-Service Research Bureau", or fictitious branches of the Air Ministry, Admiralty or War Office.

SOE operated in all territories occupied or attacked by the Axis forces, except where demarcation lines were agreed upon with Britain's principal Allies (the United States and the Soviet Union). It also made use of neutral territory on occasion or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by the Axis. The organisation directly employed or controlled more than 13,000 people, about 3,200 of whom were women.

After the war, the organisation was officially dissolved on 15 January 1946. The official memorial to all those who served in the SOE during the Second World War was unveiled on 13 February 1996 on the wall of the west cloister of Westminster Abbey by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. A further memorial to SOE's agents was unveiled in October 2009 on the Albert Embankment in London.3 The Valençay SOE Memorial honours 104 SOE agents who lost their lives while working in France. The Tempsford Memorial was unveiled on 3 December 2013 by Charles, Prince of Wales, in Church End, Tempsford in Bedfordshire, close to the site of former RAF Tempsford.

On 5 May 1941 Georges Bégué (1911–1993), a radio operator, became the first SOE agent parachuted into German-occupied France. The American, Virginia Hall, who arrived by boat in August 1941, was the first woman to serve for a lengthy period in France. Andrée Borrel (1919–1944) and Lise de Baissac (1905–2004) became the first women parachuted into France on 24 September 1942. A typical team of a network consisted of an organiser (leader), a radio operator, and a courier. Agents performed a variety of functions including arms and sabotage instructors, couriers, liaison officers and radio operators. Between Bégué's first drop in May 1941 and August 1944, more than 400 F Section agents were sent into occupied France. RF sent about the same number of agents; AMF sent 600 (although not all of these belonged to SOE). EU/P and DF sent a few dozen agents each.

Some networks were compromised, with the loss of many agents. In particular agents continued to be sent to the "Prosper" network headed by Francis Suttill for months after it was controlled by the Germans and most of its agents had been captured. The head of F Section, Maurice Buckmaster was blamed by many as he failed to see signs that the network was compromised. Buckmasters highly significant no 2 was Vera Atkins, the basis for the character of Hilda Pierce in Foyle's War. { For those interested, Antony Horowitz’s ‘Foyle’s War’ {2002-2015} was one of Britain’s finest ever wartime tv drama series ever made {see Netflix}. It was of such incredibly fine dramatic quality, staring some of The UK’s finest acting talent, that it was cancelled, due to budget cuts, by its broadcaster, twice. For many, the failure of its recognition as to its quality and worth by the TV exec. mandarins, and to thus order its cancellation, is effectively, the highest praise indeed}

Atkins was recruited before the war by Canadian spymaster Sir William Stephenson of British Security Co-ordination. He sent her on fact-finding missions across Europe to supply Winston Churchill (then in the 'political wilderness') with intelligence on the rising threat of Nazi Germany.

After the war as well as tracing 117 of the 118 missing F Section agents, Atkins established the circumstances of the deaths of all 14 of the women, twelve of whom had perished in concentration camps: Andrée Borrel, Vera Leigh, Sonia Olschanezky (whom Atkins did not identify until 1947, but knew as the fourth woman to be killed) and Diana Rowden executed at Natzweiler-Struthof by lethal injection on 6 July 1944; Yolande Beekman, Madeleine Damerment, Noor Inayat Khan and Eliane Plewman executed at Dachau on 13 September 1944; Denise Bloch, Lilian Rolfe and Violette Szabo executed by shooting at Ravensbrück on 5 February 1945, and Cecily Lefort executed in the gas chamber at the Uckermark Youth Camp adjacent to Ravensbrück sometime in February 1945. Yvonne Rudellat died of typhus on 23 or 24 April 1945, eight or nine days after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen,30 and Muriel Byck had died of meningitis in hospital in Romorantin, France, on 25 May 1944. Atkins had also persuaded the War Office that the twelve women, technically regarded as civilians, who had been executed, were not treated as having died in prison, as had been originally intended, but were recorded as killed in action.

Atkins' efforts in looking for her missing "girls" meant not only did each now have a place of death, but by detailing their bravery before and after capture, she also helped to ensure that each (except Sonia Olschanezky, unknown to Atkins until 1947) received official recognition by the British Government, including the award of a posthumous George Cross to both Violette Szabo in 1946 and, especially due to Atkins's efforts, Noor Inayat Khan in 1949. (Odette Sansom, who survived Ravensbrück, also received the GC in 1946.) However, when Atkins did confirm that Sonia Olschanezky had died at Natzweiler-Struthof, she failed to pass the information to Sonia's family. Atkins was appointed CBE in the 1997 Birthday Honours. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1948 and made a Knight of the Legion of Honour by the French government in 1987. She died in Hastings Sussex in June 2000 aged 92.

4 3/4 Inches fully folded, naturally in combat service used condition, entirely as to be expected, the grip plates are good with small end loss. Considering their service, almost every of the very few examples we have seen in the past 50 years, in or outside of museum collections, have had damage and losses in this area.  read more

Code: 25482

950.00 GBP

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