Super 1850's 'Crimean War' Russian Military Officer's Campaign Trunk

A wooden and steel strap banded military officer's campaign trunk from the Crimean war. Painted in faded pale Russian blue-grey. From family history, it was been used by an officer of the 17th Lancers after he acquired it from various kit and officers campaign equipment captured from a Russian baggage train in 1854 around Balaklava. The British officer then used it for his gun case and military kit during his campaign in the crimean, and later by his sons. Campaign furniture is an umbrella term for the portable items of furniture used by the military in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is comprised of a huge number of objects, from chairs to chests, wardrobes to washstands and games tables to camp beds. A number of celebrated British furniture makers created pieces of campaign furniture, elevating it beyond its roots in functional, army-based design to desirable, collectible decor that continues to add a beautiful, innovative touch to homes today. The Crimean War started with Russia's invasion of the Turkish Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (now Romania). Britain and France both wanted to prop up the ailing Ottoman Empire and resist Russian expansionism in the Near East.

Although Russia fought a largely successful war against the Turks in Armenia, and British and French fleets operated in the Baltic Sea, it was the events in the Crimea that had the biggest impact on Britain. In September 1854 the allies landed troops in Russian Crimea, on the north shore of the Black Sea, and began a yearlong siege of the Russian fortress of Sevastopol. Major engagements were fought at the Alma River on September 20, at Balaklava on October 25 (commemorated in ?The Charge of the Light Brigade? by English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson), and at Inkerman on November 5. On January 26, 1855, Sardinia-Piedmont entered the war and sent 10,000 troops. Finally, on September 11, 1855, three days after a successful French assault on the Malakhov, a major strongpoint in the Russian defenses, the Russians blew up the forts, sank the ships, and evacuated Sevastopol. Secondary operations of the war were conducted in the Caucasus and in the Baltic Sea. The last picture shows the bottom rear strap loops for mounting the trunk on the rear of a horse drawn baggage coach. 13 inches deep x 21.5 inches wide x 11.5 inches high.  read more

Code: 22604

Imperial German Bronze Zeppelin Forced Landing Medal 50mm With Symbolic Cockeral & Eagle

This is Goetz’ first satirical medal. The French made quite a clamor when one of Germany’s airships developed engine trouble and was forced to land in Luneville. Goetz couldn’t hold himself back from making light of the obvious over reaction by the French.
Obverse: The French Gallic coq is speaking to the German eagle, “Par ici c’est la terre Francaise, Compris-“ ( This is French soil, do you understand?). The eagle replies, “Sehr richtig, aber mein Schiff ist deutscher boden, verstanden!!” (Right indeed, but my ship is German territory, understand!!). ZXVI in Luneville, 3. April 1913 is in exergue. Reverse: A zeppelin airship involuntarily lands in Luneville as armed French troops scurry towards it and a French bi-plane surveys the situation below. Inscription: “Vive la politesse Francaise (Cheers for the French politeness). German Empire. Due to the forced landing of the airship Z IV (LZ 16) in Lunéville on 3 April 1913. Karl Goetz, medalist.

Obv: VIVE LA POLITESSE FRANÇAISE.
Airship flying left; plane above; below, french cavalry and infantry rushing to the zeppelin.
Rev: PAR ICI C'EST LA TERRE FRANÇAISE COMPRIS - SEHR RICHTIG, ABER MEIN SCHIFF IST DEUTSCHER BODEN VERSTANDEN!!! / ZXVI IN LUNÉVILLE 3. APRIL 1913.
Cock standing right arguing with eagle standing facing.
The H class Zeppelin IV, or LZ 16, landed at Lunėville in Lorraine on 3 April 1913. This Zeppelin was powered by three 160cv engines and stretched some 148 metres in length. With a maximum diameter of 14.4 metres, it enclosed a volume of some 21,000 cubic metres.

This landing could have been construed as a provocative act by the Germans, given French sensitivity over the territories of Alsace and Lorraine. Indeed Lunėville was the seat of the last Duke of Lorraine, before Louis XV annexed the Duchy in 1766, and turned the Duke’s castle into barracks.

Indeed the Zeppelin landed on the cavalry parade ground of the French Army’s camp at Lunėville. However, the Zeppelin was still undergoing testing at this time, and was carrying civilian engineers as well as military personnel.

The crew claimed that poor atmospheric conditions had led to navigational error and the low fuel carrying capacity of the Zeppelin meant they needed to refuel.

The landing on French soil does not appear intentional as the French were able to give the airship a thorough going over. General Hirschauer, head of French aircraft inspection, rushed to the scene to oversee the examination of the Zeppelin. German technical advances were thus revealed to the French before the Zeppelin was allowed to leave.

It would not be long though before the looming shape of the Zeppelin would threaten the allies in WWI. LZ 16 would undertake reconnaissance duties over East Prussia and take part in the bombing of Warsaw.
There an identical example in the Metropolitan Museum in the USA. Accession Number: 2009.266  read more

Code: 23602

A Household Division, Welsh Guards, Drum Major's, Vintage Pace Stick. E.R II Period

Formerly used by the Welsh Guards Drum Major of H.M.Queen Elizabeth II . A pace stick is a long stick usually carried by warrant officer and non-commissioned officer drill instructors in the British and Commonwealth armed forces as an aid to military drill.
A pace stick usually consists of two pieces of wood, hinged at the top, and tapering towards the bottom, very similar to large wooden drafting compasses used on school blackboards. They are usually shod and fitted with highly polished brass. They can open so that the tips separate at fixed distances, corresponding to various lengths of marching pace, such as "double march", "quick march", "step short", etc. When opened to the correct pace length, the pace stick can be held alongside the holder's body by the hinge, with one leg of the stick vertical to the ground, and the other leg pointing forward. By twirling the stick while marching, the stick can be made to "walk" alongside its holder at the proper pace.

Otherwise, while on parade or when marching, it is normally carried tucked tightly under the left arm and parallel to the ground, with the left hand grasping the stick near the top.

The objective of the pace stick drill is to ensure uniformity in the use of the stick, as well as to maintain a high standard of steadiness and cohesion among the instructors. This meticulous display of drill prowess highlights the discipline and precision that are hallmarks of military training. Photo by David Friel - originally posted to Flickr as Colour Sergeant, Welsh Guards, with pace stick
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.  read more

Code: 25474

An Incredible & Substantially Formidable, Around 1,100 Year Old Viking War-Hammer-Axe. An Impressive, Beautiful, and Most Powerful War Axe and Hammer, Combined.

In superb condition for it's age, and stunningly conserved. The front has a fine blade, with the reverse made into a flat, helmet smashing hammer. For combat, as a middle-heavyweight axe, it could have been mounted with a single or double handed haft. In a discussion on axes from the medeavil age we had together with Howard Blackmore {deputy curator at the Tower}, and Dennis Ottrey {our former gun and armour smith of over 40 years} the service of the war axe in hand to hand combat was critical in all the major battles for over a millennia. The lighter wide bladed axe, perfect for deep slicing and cutting, the heavy axe, for smashing and crushing, but often the most formidable, like the hand and a half sword in the world of long edged weapons, aka the bastard sword, the middle weight axe was the most functional. At home set in either a single handed short or two handed long haft, it was almost ideal for all purposes, and like the ‘bastard’ sword, it was perfect {in the right hands} for all fighting conditions. The hand-and-a-half sword was known as the ‘bastard’ sword because in trained hands it was far more powerful than the shorter, knightly cruciform sword, and much faster than the considerably longer zweihander {two handed} sword. Thus the middle-heavyweight axe could well have been classified as the ‘bastard’ axe. Although in hand-to-hand combat the only ideal defence against the war axe was the shield {or, possibly, superior agility} not another axe, unlike sword-to-sword combat, where the best defence against the sword, was another sword.

Knowledge about the arms and armour of the Viking age is based on archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and Norse laws recorded in the 13th century. According to custom, all free Norse men were required to own weapons and were permitted to carry them all the time. These arms were indicative of a Viking's social status: a wealthy Viking had a complete ensemble of a helmet, shield, mail shirt, and sword. However, swords were rarely used in battle in the same quantity as axes, as few Vikings were of the status to own or carry a sword, A typical bondi (freeman) was more likely to fight with a spear, axe, with shield and most also carried a seax as a utility knife and side-arm. Bows were used in the opening stages of land battles and at sea, but they tended to be considered less "honourable" than a melee weapon.

The warfare and violence of the Vikings were often motivated and fuelled by their beliefs in Norse religion, focusing on Thor and Odin, the gods of war and death. In combat, it is believed that the Vikings sometimes engaged in a disordered style of frenetic, furious fighting known as berserkergang, leading them to be termed berserkers. Such tactics may have been deployed intentionally by shock troops, and the berserk-state may have been induced through ingestion of materials with psychoactive properties, such as the hallucinogenic mushrooms, Amanita muscaria, or large amounts of alcohol. Perhaps the most common hand weapon among Vikings was the axe swords were more expensive to make and only wealthy warriors could afford them. The prevalence of axes in archaeological sites can likely be attributed to its role as not just a weapon, but also a common tool. This is supported by the large number of grave sites of female Scandinavians containing axes. Several types of larger axes specialized for use in battle evolved, with larger heads and longer shafts.

Vikings most commonly carried sturdy axes that could be thrown or swung with head-splitting force. The Mammen Axe is a famous example of such battle-axes, ideally suited for throwing and melee combat.
An axe head was mostly wrought iron, possibly with a steel cutting edge. This made the weapon less expensive than a sword, and was a standard item produced by blacksmiths, historically.

Like most other Scandinavian weaponry, axes were often given names. According to Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, axes were often named after she-trolls. A bearded 10th century Viking battle axe that could double as a throwing axe from the time of the last Viking, English King, Eric Bloodaxe, King of Northumbria. Probably the eldest son of King Harald Finehair The first King of all Norway. Eric's name probably derives from the legend that he murdered most of his 20 brothers, excepting Hakon. This was an unfortunate error as, upon Haralds death, Hakon returned to Norway from Britain to claim Harald's throne, and removed Eric from his Kingship. His elder brother Eric then fled Norway to Britain and to King Athelstan, an old friend of his father's, whereupon he took the Kingdom of Northumbria in around 947 a.d. While the sagas call him 'Bloodaxe', one of the Latin texts calls him fratris interfector (brother-killer), but, for whatever reason his name was derived, it was certainly a fine example of the descriptive titles the Viking warriors had, and that we are told of in the Viking sagas.


Weighing just under 2.5 pounds, 6.75 inches x 2.75 inches  read more

Code: 25472

A Rare WW2 21st Army Group Commander-in-Chief's, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, April 1945 Signed Certificate for Outstanding Good Service & Devotion To Duty As a Combatant.

This certificate states:

“21st Army Group, 1659410 Gnr W Fox 98 HAA Regt RA

" it has been bright to my notice that you have performed outstanding good service, and shown great devotion to duty, during the campaign in north west Europe. I award you this certificate as a token of my appreciation and I have given instructions that this should be noted in your Record of Service. Date April 1945, signed B.L Montgomery, Field Marshal Commander in Chief, 21st Army group.”

This certificate is in nice condition, but with age foxing, and is mounted behind glass.  read more

Code: 25462

Very Scarce British Army GPMG 'Jungle' Box 50 Round Magazine

After the Second World War the Belgian Mitrailleuse d’Appui General (MAG – General Purpose Machine Gun) was selected as the winning design to replace both the Vickers Heavy Machine Gun and Bren Light Machine Gun.

Built under licence at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield it was renamed 7.62mm L7A2 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), or 'Gimpy'.

L7A2 '50rnd Belt Box' GPMG 4,000rnd Auto-Winding Box Magazine

The design uses piston and bolt derived from the proven Browning Automatic Rifle, with the belt feed mechanism being based on that of German wartime designs, providing for a reliable and robust weapon.

The GPMG can be used as both a Light Machine Gun, firing from the shoulder or in the sustained fire mode installed on a tripod. In the sustained role it is operated by a two-man team, in a specialist machine gun platoon to provide battalion-level fire support.

The Parachute Regiment has always been a major user of the GPMG and in operations from the Middle East, Northern Ireland through to the Falklands, Kosovo and Afghanistan the GPMG has provided over 50 years of service.

The newer 5.56mm Minimi Light Machine Gun has supplemented the Gimpy in the British Army, but the Parachute Regiment still carry the Gimpy on foot patrols in Afghanistan for its superior weight of fire, stopping power and range.

Statistics

Length: 1,232mm

Weight: 10.9Kg

Calibre: 7.62mm

Feed: Belt

Range: Bipod 800m, Tripod 1,400m

Rate of Fire: 1,000 RPM

This item is for sale to UK only, Not suitable for export.  read more

Code: 23866

A Beautiful, Large & Most Fabulous Original Antique Ching Dynasty 'Rose Medallion' Canton Export Porcelain Lamp

An absolutely stunning and beautiful quality original Chinese export antique lamp, Qing Dynasty {Ching} circa 1830, with the body of a fine large size antique Cantonese porcelain vase, in rose medallion pattern with its lacquered highly decorative pierced brass oil lamp mountings, created and assembled in Paris in the 1830's. Later converted to electricity.

A large piece that could be categorised as a centre piece, most surviving antique Canton export lamps are the smaller size side lamps, but this is a statement piece of superb presence. The decoration centres around six dominant panels. On one side there are two panels with scenes of high status mandarins and courtiers above another over a panel decorated with birds and butterflies. The other side a central panel decorated with birds between two panels of people. Antique Chinese export porcelain is now become incredibly desirable and highly valuable due to the ever rising and powerful, so called Tiger Economy, of China. Rare antique Chinese porcelain is now attracting values of 10 to 100 times the prices achieved for them just 30 years ago or so. 'Canton' porcelains are fine Chinese ceramic wares made for export in the 18th to the 20th centuries, this is a piece from the earlier part of that period in the Ching Qing dynasty.

The wares were made, glazed and fired at Jingdezhen but decorated with enamels at Canton (Guangzhou) in southern China prior to export by sea through that port. Canton was a large, densely populated Chinese city. Most of the buildings in this ca. 1800 view in our gallery are two- or three-story buildings used both as residences and shops. The pagoda and five-story watchtower rise above the city, surrounded by the mountains where country estates and guard houses were located. Prominently featured in the foreground, with foreign flags, the area to which foreigners were confined was a tiny district of several acres on the banks of the river, where thousands of boats collected for trade. Many cities along China's southern coast had created foreign quarters for much earlier generations of Indian and Middle Eastern traders. The Westerners were just the latest arrivals. During the passage from Macau up the Pearl River foreigners passed through densely populated agricultural lands and market towns, but they never saw a major city until they reached Guangzhou. We call the trading system that lasted from 1700 to 1842 on China's south coast the Canton system because of this city's dominance. Guangzhou (which Europeans called Canton), an ancient city and one of the largest in South China, had flourished as an administrative and trading centre for over 1000 years before the Westerners arrived. Arab and Persian traders had lived in its foreign quarters under the Tang dynasty since the 8th century. Like most traditional Chinese cities, Canton had a large wall surrounding the central districts, major avenues within the wall, extensive market districts outside the wall, and constant contact by riverboats with the surrounding countryside and distant ports. 25 inches high not including light fitting 33 inches high with shade. The shade is around 50 years old, made of silk, but its condition is now most poor and shown for display purposes only, for use today a new example should be considered  read more

Code: 22231

A Very Good & Fine Original Medieval 'Crusader' Knight's Bronze Battle Mace & Scorpion Flail Mace Head Circa 12th Century. Around 900 Years Old, In Superb Condition and With Excellent Natural Age Patination

Made of Bronze Copper Alloy. A weapon made at the time at great cost, and only for the most affluent knight, a battle mace for the crushing and smashing of armour. The mace head is approx. the width of a pool or billiard ball. This fabulous mace could be mounted upon a haft {pretty much none of the original hafts from that period are now still in existence, being organic they decay very quickly once buried} or the aperture filled with lead and a large hand wrought iron staple, that would then be chained, and further mounted upon a short wooden haft to use as a flail mace.
Although no original early mace heads, in reality, were that large, they were heavy and powerful enough, combined with the impetus of a powerful swing, to be incredibly and dramatically effective at smashing through armour, and even iron plate helmets.

This bronze mace was made and used in the era of the first, through to all the knightly crusades to the Holy Land to reclaim Jerusalem.

The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century.

In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont. He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a variety of motivations. These included religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, and economic or political advantage. Later expeditions were conducted by generally more organised armies, sometimes led by a king. All were granted papal indulgences. Initial successes established four Crusader states: the County of Edessa; the Principality of Antioch; the Kingdom of Jerusalem; and the County of Tripoli. A European presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291. After this, no further large military campaigns were organised.  read more

Code: 25454

A Fabulous, Original, Cased Set of 3 German 15cm Howitzer Steel Shell Cases

The box case still with it's original German Army camouflage paint. Each shell case is dated. The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 or sFH 18 (German: "heavy field howitzer, model 18"), nicknamed Immergren ("Evergreen"), was the basic German division-level heavy howitzer during the Second World War, serving alongside the smaller but more numerous 10.5 cm leFH 18. It was based on the earlier, First World War-era design of the 15 cm sFH 13, and while improved over that weapon, it was generally outdated compared to the weapons it faced. It was, however, the first artillery weapon equipped with rocket-assisted ammunition to increase range. The sFH 18 was also used in the self-propelled artillery piece schwere Panzerhaubitze 18/1 (more commonly known as Hummel).

***We bought a collection of these scarce collectors items, original Third Reich shell cases, some are now sold.

The sFH 18 was one of Germany's three main 15 cm calibre weapons, the others being the 15 cm Kanone 18, a corps-level heavy gun, and the 15 cm sIG 33, a short-barreled infantry gun. The gun originated with a contest between Rheinmetall and Krupp, both of whom entered several designs that were all considered unsatisfactory for one reason or another. In the end the army decided the solution was to combine the best features of both designs, using the Rheinmetall gun on a Krupp carriage.

The carriage was a relatively standard split-trail design with box legs. Spades were carried on the sides of the legs that could be mounted onto the ends for added stability. The carriage also saw use on the 10 cm schwere Kanone 18 gun. As the howitzer was designed for horse towing, it used an unsprung axle and hard rubber tires. A two-wheel bogie was introduced to allow it to be towed, but the lack of suspension made it unsuitable for towing at high speed. The inability of heavy artillery like the sFH 18 to keep up with the fast-moving tank forces was one of the reasons that the Luftwaffe invested so heavily in dive bombing, in order to provide a sort of "flying artillery" for reducing strongpoints.

The gun was officially introduced into service on 23 May 1935, and by the outbreak of war the Wehrmacht had about 1,353 of these guns in service. Production continued throughout the war, reaching a peak of 2,295 guns in 1944 Inert empty and safe, but not suitable for export or for sale to under 18'  read more

Code: 18417

An Amazing WW1 British Trench Howitzer Maker Marked and Dated 1915, An Intriguing and Fascinating Souvenir of The Great War's Trench Warfare

What an amazing display and conversation piece!

Trench mortars were the army’s most forward artillery, right up on the front line. These short range weapons were able to throw large, high explosive projectiles, short distances across No Man’s Land at the enemy trench system opposite.

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith, a captain with the 15th Royal Welch Fusiliers, described a battery of 2 inch mortars opening fire on enemy lines:

“A pop, and then a black ball went soaring up, spinning round as it went through the air slowly; more pops and more queer birds against the sky. A stutter of terrific detonations seems to shake the air and the ground, sandbags and bits of timber sailed up slowly and then fell in a calm deliberate way. In the silence that followed the explosions, an angry voice called out in English [with a distinct German accent no doubt] across No Man’s Land, ‘YOU BLOODY WELSH MURDERERS.’

Somewhat ironic, since the Kaiser invaded France and Belgium, slaughtered the allies, both civilians and combatants, in their hundreds of thousands, yet when the British -Welsh have the temerity to fight back and thus kill the German invaders, they are called murderers by the German combatants [sound familiar?]

The 2 inch mortar [named for the size of the rod not the huge explosive head] was considered accurate out to 350 yards with a maximum effective range out to just under 600 yards.

Introduced in 1915, the 2 inch mortar was originally crewed by men taken from the battalion it was stationed with, along with some specialists from the Royal Artillery. However, with the introduction of the 3 inch Stokes mortar which was operated by the infantry themselves the 2 inch mortars became the sole responsibility of the Royal Field Artillery.

The British Army entered the First World War with very few mortars, and certainly none at the battalion level. As the stalemate of trench warfare set in and the effectiveness of enemy mortars became clear it was decided that trench mortars of various sizes would be needed.

Nicknamed ‘plum pudding’ or ‘toffee apple’ mortars after their projectile’s characteristic shape, the 2 inch Medium Mortar or 2 inch Trench Howitzer, was one of Britain’s first effective light trench mortars to be introduced.

Mortar positions were often in secondary trenches just behind the infantry’s frontline. This was to help protect the infantry from potential counter-battery fire. The trench mortars were often deployed to sectors to provide counter battery fire against German minenwerfers or in the run up to an offensive or local action. A British Army report on artillery use, drawn up in February 1917, noted that “Owing to their liability to be destroyed by hostile artillery fire it may often be advisable to defer opening fire with these mortars till the last day of bombardment.” The mortars were also tasked with keeping gaps made in the wire clear and with supporting any feint attacks made by infantry during gaps in the bombardment running up to a larger offensive.

Llewelyn Wyn Griffith, a captain with the 15th Royal Welch Fusiliers and later a novelist, recalled in his war memoir:

“At night a trench mortar officer set his guns in a derelict trench about twenty yards behind the line and carried up his ammunition, heavy globes of iron with a little cylindrical projection like a broken handle. In the morning I moved the men from the bays between the trench mortars and their target, to lighten the risk of loss from retaliatory fire.”

The 2 inch medium mortar entered service in spring 1915 and remained in use into 1917 with British and Empire troops. It was used on the Western Front and in Mesopotamia. Over 800 were ordered initially with 675,000 bombs, many of the mortars were made in railway and agricultural machinery workshops, allowing larger factories to focus on more complex weapons. The 2 inch mortar was superseded by the larger bore Newton 6 inch mortar later in the war. Some of the remaining 2 inch projectiles were re-purposed as makeshift anti-tank mines, buried in no man’s land in anticipation of possible German tank attacks.

Not suitable for export, inert, safe and perfectly harmless, but of substantial heft. UK mainland delivery only. 34 inches long overall head 9 inch diameter.  read more

Code: 24389