A Good Victorian Fifth Royal Irish Lancers Tchapka Helmet Plate

In superb condition, fabulous bronze patina and two helmet screw posts.Queen Victoria's crown. The regiment was originally formed in 1689 as James Wynne's Regiment of Dragoons. They fought in the Battle of the Boyne and at the Battle of Aughrim under William of Orange. Renamed the Royal Dragoons of Ireland, they went on to serve with the Duke of Marlborough during the Spanish War of Succession and earned three battle honours there.In 1751, they were retitled 5th Regiment of Dragoons and in 1756 the 5th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoons. As such, they served in Ireland and were active during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. However, they were accused of treachery; their accusers claimed their ranks had been infiltrated by rebels. (According to Continental Magazine, April 1863, the unit refused to attack a group of rebels.) This accusation appears to have been false, but nevertheless they were disbanded at Chatham in 1799. The regiment was reformed in 1858, keeping its old number and title, but losing precedence, being ranked after the 17th Lancers. It was immediately converted into a lancer regiment and titled 5th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoons (Lancers). In 1861, it was renamed the 5th (or Royal Irish) Lancers and then the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers. The regiment served in India and a section served in Egypt in 1885, taking part in the battles at Suakin. It served with distinction in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902, gaining battle honours at Battle of Elandslaagte and The Defence of Ladysmith.

The regiment then returned to England where it stayed until the outbreak of World War I, when it became part of the British Expeditionary Force and saw action continually from 1914 to 1918 in some of the war's bloodiest battles. During the battle of Bourlon Wood George William Burdett Clare received the Victoria Cross posthumously. The 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers won a total of 20 battle honours during the Great War.

The 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers also has the grim honour of being the regiment of the last British soldier to die in the Great War. This was Private George Edwin Ellison from Leeds, who was killed by a sniper as the regiment advanced into Mons a short time before the armistice came into effect.

The regiment was renamed 5th Royal Irish Lancers and disbanded in 1921, but a squadron was reconstituted in 1922 and immediately amalgamated with the 16th The Queen's Lancers to become the 16th/5th Lancers The Royal Irish Lancers were in Mons at the time of retreat in 1914 but escaped and returned on Armistice Day. The last cavalry regiment out and the first back!. The memorial panel we show in the gallery records the return welcomed by the Maire and the Cur?. The scene is taken from a painting, ?5th Lancers, Re-entry into Mons?, last heard of in the private collection of a Belgian citizen. This in turn is almost a mirror image of a painting ?5th Lancers, Retreat from Mons? (whereabouts unknown). In the former, the troopers are heading in the opposite direction to the ?Retreat?, and a middle-aged priest and a pregnant woman watching the departure of the regiment among a worried-looking crowd of Belgian citizens have subtly changed: the priest is now white-haired and the mother holds up her four-year-old child, having lived through the occupation of the German forces in Mons for four years. The Great War 1914

The 5 Lancers, as part of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, were heavily involved and played a major role in the initial mobile actions fought by the BEF. They gained the distinction of being the last cavalry regiment to withdraw from Mons during the retreat; they also had the privilege to be the first British regiment to re-enter Mons after the pursuit in November 1918. Generally the First World War is described as a war of trench deadlock primarily fought by the infantry, gunners and engineers, this assessment is correct. It must however be remembered that cavalry regiments were expected to take their place in the line from time to time and did share the privations of trench warfare suffered by the infantry. On a number of occasions 5 L particularly distinguished themselves: in the defence of Guillemont Farm, June 1917, 3 MCs, and 4 MMs were won and during the defence of Bourlon Wood in 1918 Private George Clare won a posthumous VC. While the main focus of the First World War remained with the armies fighting on the western front it was by no means the only theatre of war. In 1918 Allenby, a 5th Lancer and later a Field Marshal, reorganised British forces in the Middle East pushing his lines forward into northern Palestine. Allenby's Army broke through at Megiddo resulting in the collapse of Turkish resistance. 8.25 inches x 5 inches approx.  read more

Code: 19688

An R.101 Airship Catastrophe Crash Memorial Service Card

On October 5, 1930, the British airship R.101 crashed on a hill in Beauvais, France. The impact was gentle and survivable but the ship was inflated with hydrogen, and the resulting fire incinerated 46 of the passengers and crew. Two additional crew members died of their injuries soon after. The ship had never been flown at full speed, or on all engines, or in bad weather. But on October 4, 1930, the ship was dispatched to fly on all engines into a known storm, at a time of year known for bad weather, despite the recommendation of airship officers and meteorology experts.

After struggling to maintain altitude over England and the Channel the ship crossed into France, where rain and wind damaged the unrepaired fabric at the nose of the ship and broke open gas bags in the bow, releasing the ship?s lifting gas. The overloaded and under-ballasted ship settled into a hillside in northern France and moments later the ship?s hydrogen erupted into flame. Calcium flares in the control car may have ignited, activated by exposure to water, but whatever the source of ignition, the fire destroyed the ship in minutes and killed most of those onboard, including Lord Thomson.  read more

Code: 20424

A Stunning & Rare 5th Royal Irish Lancers Tchapka Helmet Plate

In superb condition, fabulous bronze patina and two helmet screw posts. Battle honours up to the Boer War. King Edward VIIth's crown. The regiment was originally formed in 1689 as James Wynne's Regiment of Dragoons. They fought in the Battle of the Boyne and at the Battle of Aughrim under William of Orange. Renamed the Royal Dragoons of Ireland, they went on to serve with the Duke of Marlborough during the Spanish War of Succession and earned three battle honours there.In 1751, they were retitled 5th Regiment of Dragoons and in 1756 the 5th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoons. As such, they served in Ireland and were active during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. However, they were accused of treachery; their accusers claimed their ranks had been infiltrated by rebels. (According to Continental Magazine, April 1863, the unit refused to attack a group of rebels.) This accusation appears to have been false, but nevertheless they were disbanded at Chatham in 1799. The regiment was reformed in 1858, keeping its old number and title, but losing precedence, being ranked after the 17th Lancers. It was immediately converted into a lancer regiment and titled 5th (or Royal Irish) Regiment of Dragoons (Lancers). In 1861, it was renamed the 5th (or Royal Irish) Lancers and then the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers. The regiment served in India and a section served in Egypt in 1885, taking part in the battles at Suakin. It served with distinction in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902, gaining battle honours at Battle of Elandslaagte and The Defence of Ladysmith.

The regiment then returned to England where it stayed until the outbreak of World War I, when it became part of the British Expeditionary Force and saw action continually from 1914 to 1918 in some of the war's bloodiest battles. During the battle of Bourlon Wood George William Burdett Clare received the Victoria Cross posthumously. The 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers won a total of 20 battle honours during the Great War.

The 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers also has the grim honour of being the regiment of the last British soldier to die in the Great War. This was Private George Edwin Ellison from Leeds, who was killed by a sniper as the regiment advanced into Mons a short time before the armistice came into effect.

The regiment was renamed 5th Royal Irish Lancers and disbanded in 1921, but a squadron was reconstituted in 1922 and immediately amalgamated with the 16th The Queen's Lancers to become the 16th/5th Lancers The Royal Irish Lancers were in Mons at the time of retreat in 1914 but escaped and returned on Armistice Day. The last cavalry regiment out and the first back!. The memorial panel we show in the gallery records the return welcomed by the Maire and the Cur?. The scene is taken from a painting, ?5th Lancers, Re-entry into Mons?, last heard of in the private collection of a Belgian citizen. This in turn is almost a mirror image of a painting ?5th Lancers, Retreat from Mons? (whereabouts unknown). In the former, the troopers are heading in the opposite direction to the ?Retreat?, and a middle-aged priest and a pregnant woman watching the departure of the regiment among a worried-looking crowd of Belgian citizens have subtly changed: the priest is now white-haired and the mother holds up her four-year-old child, having lived through the occupation of the German forces in Mons for four years. The Great War 1914

The 5 Lancers, as part of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, were heavily involved and played a major role in the initial mobile actions fought by the BEF. They gained the distinction of being the last cavalry regiment to withdraw from Mons during the retreat; they also had the privilege to be the first British regiment to re-enter Mons after the pursuit in November 1918. Generally the First World War is described as a war of trench deadlock primarily fought by the infantry, gunners and engineers, this assessment is correct. It must however be remembered that cavalry regiments were expected to take their place in the line from time to time and did share the privations of trench warfare suffered by the infantry. On a number of occasions 5 L particularly distinguished themselves: in the defence of Guillemont Farm, June 1917, 3 MCs, and 4 MMs were won and during the defence of Bourlon Wood in 1918 Private George Clare won a posthumous VC. While the main focus of the First World War remained with the armies fighting on the western front it was by no means the only theatre of war. In 1918 Allenby, a 5th Lancer and later a Field Marshal, reorganised British forces in the Middle East pushing his lines forward into northern Palestine. Allenby's Army broke through at Megiddo resulting in the collapse of Turkish resistance. 8.25 inches x 5 inches approx.  read more

Code: 18746

A Good & Scarce, Victorian, 12th Lancers Helmet Plate With Battle Honours

In patinated brass. With two screw posts. With it's Victorian, pre Boer War battle honours; Egypt, Salamanca, Peninsula, Waterloo, South Africa 1851-2-3, Sevastopol, Central India. The regiment of dragoons that was to become the 12th Royal Lancers was raised by Brigadier-General Phineas Bowles in Berkshire in July 1715 against the threat of the Jacobite rebellion. In 1718 the regiment was placed on the Irish establishment and posted to Ireland, where it remained for seventy-five years.

In 1751 the regiment was officially styled the 12th Dragoons. In 1768 King George III bestowed the title of The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons, the regiment was given the badge of the three ostrich feathers, and the motto "Ich Dien". The 12th Dragoons, led by General Sir John Doyle won their first battle honour in Egypt in 1801 against the French Dromedary corps.[3] They had previously had a young Duke of Wellington serve with them as a subaltern between 1789?91. In 1816, the 12th Light Dragoons were armed with lances after the cavalry of Napoleon's Army had shown their effectiveness at Waterloo and were re-titled 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Lancers). In 1855 they reinforced the Light Cavalry Brigade in the Crimea after the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. In 1861, they were renamed 12th (The Prince of Wales's) Royal Regiment of Lancers. Between 1899 - 1902 they fought in the South African War, taking part in the Relief of Kimberley and Diamond Hill, the last battle of the war.  read more

Code: 18669

German WW2 Combat Engineer's Short Wire Cutter's

Combat Pioneer personnel, (Engineers), were issued assorted specialized equipment designed to meet their needs as the spearhead troops tasked with destroying enemy obstacles and creating forward defensive positions for their own troops in the face of the enemy. Each Division in the German Army and the Waffen-SS, (Armed-SS), had an organic Pionier, (Combat Engineer), battalion that consisted of personnel specially trained in destroying enemy obstacles, creating forward defensive positions, bridging and assault tactics.
As the spearhead troops the Engineers were issued with assorted specialized equipment including assault packs, pick axes, saws, long handle shovels, wire cutters, explosive tool kits and other construction and demolition equipment. The Combat Engineer's equipment also included a wide variety of assorted demolition charges, anti-personnel and anti-vehicles mines along with the appropriate detonators, igniters and timers. The Combat Engineers were utilized two, different models of wire cutters enabling personnel to cut through barbwire entanglements. The wire cutters came in both a short and a long model and both were issue with a specific carrying case that was to be worn on the load carrying waist belt.  read more

Code: 23360

A Very Nice Original Simkin Watercolour of an Officer 2nd Lifeguards 1876

Simkin was born in Herne Bay, Kent, on 5 November 1850, (some references cite 1840) the son of a commercial traveller, also named Richard. After marrying his wife, Harriet, in 1880, He spent much of his time at Aldershot, Hampshire, and may also have been a volunteer in the Artists Rifles. He was employed by the War Office to design recruiting posters, and to illustrate the Army and Navy Gazette. In 1901, he created a series of 'Types of the Indian Army' for the Gazette. he obtained much of the information from the Colonial and India Exhibition of 1886. During his lifetime, he, along with Orlando Norrie produced thousands of watercolours depicting the uniforms and campaigns of the British Army. Simkin also contributed illustrations to numerous publications including the Boy?s Own Magazine, The Graphic and others; many were published by Raphael Tuck and sons.
He died at his home at 7 Cavendish Street, Herne Bay on 25 June 1926, survived by his wife and two daughters. Today, his pictures can be seen in numerous regimental museums and his illustrations appear in regimental histories, 7 inches x 9.8 inches  read more

Code: 23070

A Superb, Antique, Meteoric Steel Kris With Singularly Beautiful Blade of Meteorite Steel. The Metalurgical Graining in The Blade Is Absolutely Spectacular

Made with laminate steel and pamor and likely with metal from a meteorite. An old, 18th century Bali Keris [or Kris] with a superbly sculpted serpentine seven wave blade bearing pamor wos wutah. The old wrongko is the batun form in the South Bali style, it is made from an outstanding piece of timoho. The old bondolan hilt is from well patterned timoho wood and is fitted with an old wewer set with pastes.
This keris displays impeccable blade quality in a scabbard of beautifully marked timoho wood and is an outstanding example of the Balinese keris. Pamor is the pattern of white lines appearing on the blade. Kris blades are forged by a technique known as pattern welding, one in which layers of different metals are pounded and fused together while red hot, folded or twisted, adding more different metals, pounded more and folded more until the desired number of layers are obtained. The rough blade is then shaped, filed and sometimes polished smooth before finally acid etched to bring out the contrasting colors of the low and high carbon metals. The traditional Indonesian weapon allegedly endowed with religious and mystical powers. With probably a traditional Meteorite laminated iron blade with hammered nickel for the contrasting pattern. Traditionally the pamor material for the kris smiths connected with the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta originates from an iron meteorite that fell to earth at the end of 18th century in the neighborhood of the Prambanan temple complex. The meteorite was excavated and transported to the keraton of Surakarta; from that time on the smiths of Vorstenlanden (the Royal territories) used small pieces of meteoric iron to produce pamor patterns in their kris, pikes, and other status weapons. After etching the blade with acidic substances, it is the small percentage of nickel present in meteoric iron that creates the distinctive silvery patterns that faintly light up against the dark background of iron or steel that become darkened by the effect of the acids.  read more

Code: 22611

1928 Graf Zeppelin Plaque of the LZ127 Graf Zeppelin. By Heinrich & Co.

A Rare 1928 Graf Zeppelin Porcelain Wall Plaque
Depicting the LZ127 Graf Zeppelin. By Heinrich and Co. Inscribed on the reverse Forrngebung Fachoberiehrer, W-Veit Decoration Facheihrer Otto Keitel, Entwurf begutachtet una genehmigt von der Luftshiffbau Zeppelin Gmbh Friedrichshafen 1928, Ges Geschutzt -- 9.75in. (25cm.) diameter
The LZ-127, Graf Zeppelin, was arguably the most important zeppelin ever, the airship that put post WW I German aviation back on the map. Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin inaugurated German lighter-than-air aviation at the turn of the 20th Century. His zeppelins caught the German public?s imagination, and they became extremely popular. During WW I, his zeppelins flew for both the Army and Navy. Once more, the zeppelins caught the German people?s imagination. Even civilians and military officers who were bombing targets, both on the continent and in England, were impressed by the giant machines. Graf von Zeppelin died in 1917, and his company, which passed to Hugo Eckner?s management, faced difficult times in post WW I Germany. As a part of Germany?s war reparations, the Zeppelin Company built and delivered the LZ-126 (eventually renamed the U.S.S. Los Angeles) to the U.S. Navy in 1924. Eckner personally commanded the LZ-126 on the flight to the U.S. The engendered excitement allowed the company to build the LZ-127, eventually known as the "Graf Zeppelin." It was placed in service in 1928.
The Graf Zeppelin remained in service from September 1928 until a month after the Hindenburg exploded in New Jersey in May 1937. During this time, the "Graf Zeppelin" flew almost six hundred flights and covered more than one million miles. With the destruction of the "Hindenburg," the zeppelin era sadly came to an end. During her nine years of flight, the LZ-127 circled the globe, flying from Europe to the USA and on to Asia. She even had numerous voyages to South America. It was travel on a grand scale for less-than-thirty lucky people at a time. A crew of about twenty-four served the passengers. Trips from Germany to the U.S. were much faster than any other vessel of the time. Life aboard the "Graf Zeppelin" was very gracious.  read more

Code: 22597

A Very Rare Long Distance Flight Medal, Major von Parseval 1909

GERMANY. Medals by Karl Goetz. Silver medal 1909.. On the major's long-distance airship trips, e.g. D. August of Parseval. Half-length portrait to the left. rev. Eagle with outstretched wings on airship. by K.Goetz . Bayer Huptmunzamt Feinsilber.

Designed by world renown medalist Karl Goetz [1875 - 1950]
Very Rare silver medal, for the flight of 12th to 19th October, 1909. Long-distance voyages of the Parseval airships. Half-length portrait of the airship designer A. Parseval to the left / eagle stands with outstretched wings on the bow of the airship, below water surface, above right inscription. Hallmark: feinsilber BAYER. MAIN MINT OFFICE. it was awarded in two grades silver and bronze, this, the silver is an incredibly rare antique aviation medal from the earliest days of airships. August von Parseval (5 February 1861, in Frankenthal (Pfalz) – 22 February 1942, in Berlin) was a German airship designer.

As a boy, Von Parseval attended the Royal Bavarian Pagenkorps in Munich from 1873 to 1878, where he took the Fähnrichexamen (cadet exams). He then joined the Royal Bavarian 3rd Infantry Regiment Prinz Carl von Bayern. An autodidact, he busied himself with the problems of aeronautics. In the garrison town of Augsburg he came into contact with August Riedinger and also came to know his later partner Rudolf Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld, with whom he developed Drachenballons: balloons used by the military for observation.

In 1901 Parseval and Sigsfeld began building a dirigible airship. After Sigsfeld's death during a free balloon landing in 1902, the work was interrupted until 1905.

By 1905, thanks to improvements in motor design, an appropriate engine was now available. His designs were licensed to the British Vickers company. Up to the end of the First World War, 22 Parseval airships (both non-rigid (blimps) and semi-rigid (with keels)) were built. In the late twenties and early thirties, four more semi-rigid airships were built in accordance with the "Parseval-Naatz principle".  read more

Code: 24155

A Good WW1 14/15 Star 'South African' Trio With Transvaal Scottish Badge

8th Infantry, and further badges. All medals named. He served in the 7th and 8th Infantry. British TOE in April, 1916:
1st Division (Major General AR Hoskins)
1st East African Brigade- 2nd Loyal North Lancs, 2nd Rhodesia Regiment, 130th Baluchis, 3rd Kashmir Rifles/3rd KAR (Composite Batt)
2nd East Afican Brigade- 25th Royal Fusiliers, 29th Punjabis, 129th Baluchis, 40th Pathans
Divisional Troops- 17th Indian Cavalry (one squadron), East African Mounted Rifles, King's African Rifles Mounted Infantry (one company), East Africa Pioneer Corps (Mounted Section), 27th Mountain Battery, 5th Battery South African Field Artillery, # 6 Battery (four 12 pdrs manned by 2nd LNL), # 7 Battery (four 15 pdrs), 38th Howitzer Brigade (one section of two 5" Howitzers), Willoughby's Armored Car Battery, 2nd LNL Machine-gun Company.

2nd East African Division (Major General J Van Deventer)
1st South African Mounted Brigade- 1st SA Horse, 2nd SA Horse, 3rd SA Horse, 8th SA Horse (forming SA).
3rd South African Infantry Brigade- 9th SA Infantry, 10th SA Infantry, 11th SA Infantry, 12th SA Infantry.
Divisional Troops- South African Scout Corps, 28th Mounted Battery (six 10 pdrs), 2nd Battery SA Field Artillery (four 13 pdrs), 4th Battery SA Field Artillery (four 13 pdrs), # 12 Howitzer Battery (two 5" Howitzers), East African Volunteer Machine-gun Company.

3rd East African Division (Major General C Brits)
2nd South African Mounted Brigade- 5th SA Horse, 6th SA Horse, 7th SA Horse, 9th SA Horse
2nd South African Infantry Brigade- 5th SA Infantry, 6th SA Infantry, 7th SA Infantry, 8th SA Infantry
Divisional Troops- 1st Battery SA Field Artillery (four 13 pdrs), 3rd Battery SA Field Artillery (four 13 pdrs), 38th Howitzer Brigade (one section of two 5" Howitzers), # 5 Light Armoured Car Battery

Photos of soldiers of the Transvaal Scottish for information only, not included with the medals  read more

Code: 17538