Sterling Silver & Enamel WW2 Royal Artillery Badge Pin

Hallmarked Sterling.  read more

Code: 21837

Zaire Awarded Congo Medal 1977,Operation Shaba

To a French special advisor to the Zaire military. Zaire, Military Merit Medal, Operation Shaba I. Shaba I was a conflict in Zaire's Shaba (Katanga) Province lasting from March 8, 1977, to May 26, 1977. The conflict began when the Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC), a group of about 2,000 Katangan Congolese soldiers (veterans of the Congo Crisis, the Angolan War of Independence, and the Angolan Civil War) crossed the border into Shaba from Angola. The FNLC made quick progress through the region, due to sympathizing locals and to the disorganization of the Zairian military (Forces Arm?es Za?roises, or FAZ). Traveling east from Zaire's border with Angola, the rebels reached Mutshatsha, a small town near to the key mining town of Kolwezi.

President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire accused Angola, East Germany, Cuba, and the Soviet Union of sponsoring the rebels. Motivated by anti-Communism and by economic interests, the Western Bloc and China sent assistance to support the Mobutu regime. The most significant intervention, orchestrated by the Safari Club, featured a French airlift of Moroccan troops into the war zone. This intervention turned the tide of the conflict. U.S. President Jimmy Carter approved the shipment of supplies to Zaire, but refused to send weapons or troops and maintained that there was no evidence of Cuban involvement  read more

Code: 21688

Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait, 1991, Wisam al-Tahrir al-Kuwait, AH1411

Circular bronze medal with laterally-pierced ball for ribbon suspension; the face with a map of Kuwait imposed on the Bahraini flag, a flaming sun above left, a winged ribbon rising like a whirlwind from the Kuwait Towers, an inscription in Arab characters above right and below; the reverse with the crowned emblem of Bahrain, palm leaves to either side, an inscription in Arab characters above and below; on original ribbon with brooch bar mounted with pin for wear. The medal was instituted by Emir Isa bin Salman al Khalifa in 1991 to be awarded to members of Bahrain's military who served during the First Gulf War. Although Bahrain was the main naval base for Coalition forces and a major base for air operations, the number of its military was relatively small. A good example.  read more

Code: 21687

Framed Original Photo of His Majesty's Airship R100,

His Majesty's Airship R100, known simply as R100, was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The other airship, the R101, was built by the British Air Ministry, but both airships were funded by the Government.

R100 was built by the Airship Guarantee Company, a specially created subsidiary of the armaments firm Vickers-Armstrongs, led by Commander Dennis Burney. The design team was headed by Barnes Wallis, later famous for his invention of the bouncing bomb and Knighted by the King. David Hawkins Senior, formerly of our family business, was Sir Barnes Wallis's bodyguard during his time that he served in the RAF. The design team also included Nevil Shute Norway as the senior stress engineer.

R100 first flew in December 1929. It made a series of trial flights and a successful return crossing of the Atlantic in July?August 1930, but following the crash of R101 in October 1930 the Imperial Airship Scheme was terminated and R100 was broken up for scrap. We show [for illustration only] a photo R100 over Canadian Bank of Commerce building in Toronto, Canada, then the highest building in the British Empire (August 1930).  read more

Code: 21487

Original Mounted Photograph of HM Airship Parseval PL18 In 1913

Photographed at Farnboro. Maiden flight: 23. April 1913
1913 delivered to the English Navy, under the marking "Parseval No.4". The Royal Navy described its service as very successful
Length: 80 m; diameter: 15 m; volume: 8800 m?.
Power plant: 2x 132 kW (180 PS) Maybach-engines, max speed 68 km/h,
Crew: 2 officers and 7 men. Radio and Weaponry installed
Served during the World War I first with the BEF then on the Western Front as a patrol ship, she was demobilised by the Royal Navy in July 1917. The original mounting card has some foxing but the photo has none and is good. Hand written in pencil on the mount. Dated 1913. Photo 19 x 24 cm, mount size 38 x 30cm  read more

Code: 21484

French Medal Commemorating the Universal Exhibition in Paris,1855. E.Oudine

A large, original, mid 19th century French metal medal of beautiful quality made in 1855. Laureate bust of Napoleon III left. NAPOLEON III EMPEREUR (Obverse by E.A. Oudin?) Reverse: Three allegorical figures. EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE In exergue: LA FRANCE COURONNE / L'ART ET INDUSTRIE (Reverse by A.A. Caqu?) 6.83 cm diameter. A near identical example in the Royal Collection Trust number;RCIN 444908
AA Caqu? (medallist) and E.Oudine
Napol?on III, Emperor of the French, 3rd son of Lodewyk I, King of Holland (1808-73)
Exposition Universelle (1855 : Paris) Very crisp example in nice condition, two very small edge nicks on the reverse. Exactly ten years before the opening of the first universal exposition in Paris, the future father of the event was serving a lifetime prison term in the state military fortress at Ham. Charles Louis Napol?on Bonaparte, nephew and adopted godson of the Emperor, had failed in his second attempt at a coup d'?tat against the restored monarchy of Louis Philippe. After the first attempt in 1836, the government had exiled him to America. The second attempt in 1840 earned him the detention term at Ham, behind the very walls that, over four centuries before, had held Joan of Arc captive. Many monarchists and conservatives in the Court of Peers and the National Assembly wished for terminal punishment; but the name of Napol?on was in the ascendant once again throughout France. On the very day when Charles Louis was sentenced, Emperor Napol?on's ashes were received by both royalty and the multitudes of Paris with great pomp at the church of Les Invalides. And so, rather than arouse the wrath of the still considerable number of Bonapartists, the Court of Peers determined to make the military fortress at Ham the Elba of Charles Louis. In spite of a decree banning the Bonaparte family from France forever, Charles was elected in absentia to the Assembly. He skillfully parlayed his popularity, and the halo of glory around the name Napol?on, into the presidency of the National Assembly in 1848. After a parliamentary struggle with the retreating forces ? supporters of the monarchy and revolutionaries who wished France to become a republic ? Charles Louis took command of the army and forcibly dismissed the assembly. He was proclaimed Emperor of the French on December 1, 1851.  read more

Code: 21482

Natal Carabiniers Other Ranks Helmet Plate Circa 1901-13. South Africa

Boer war period. A good die-stamped example. Crowned floreated "NC" cypher. Three loops to reverse. VGC. The Natal Carbineers participated in the invasion of Zululand in January 1879, and on 22 January, 23 members of the Regiment perished in the famous battle of Isandlwana. The unit was subsequently relegated to garrison duties at Landman?s Drift on the Mzinyathi, or Buffalo River.

South Africa, 1899?1902

Main article: Second Boer War

In September 1899, the Natal Carbineers were mobilized for active service in the British campaign to subdue the Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The Regiment served until October 1900, when the Natal Volunteer Forces were demobilized. Some men continued their service in the Volunteer Composite Regiment until the end of the war in May 1902.
Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal: From 2 November 1899 until 28 February 1900, the bulk of the Natal Carbineers was besieged in Ladysmith, and played a prominent part in that famous engagement. The most prominent military action was the attack by Colonial Forces on the Boer artillery emplacement at Gun Hill on the night of 7?8 December 1899. The Regiment lost heavily from the diseases that ravaged the garrison. A solitary squadron of the Natal Carbineers, the Estcourt-Weenen Squadron, avoided the siege of Ladysmith, and instead participated in the relief operations of Sir Redvers Buller as part of Hubert Gough's Composite Regiment. This squadron?s most notable military action of this period was the disastrous battle of Colenso on 15 December 1899, when four men were killed. These were their most serious losses for any one action during the Anglo-Boer War. Height 3 inches, width 2.75 inches  read more

Code: 21474

HMS Ceylon WW2 Tiepin. In Blue and Gilt Enamel

HMS Ceylon was a Crown Colony-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was of the Ceylon sub class, named after the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The cruiser saw service in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres during the Second World War. Built by Stephens at Govan and launched on 30 July 1942, she was completed on 13 July 1943. After two months in the Home Fleet she was transferred to the 4th Cruiser Squadron, with the Eastern Fleet and took part in many carrier raids, bombardments and patrols against Japanese-held territory, including Operations Cockpit, Meridian and Diplomat. In November 1944 she joined the British Pacific Fleet and sailed from Trincomalee on 16 January, taking part in a raid on Pankalan Bradan en route. By May 1945, however, she was back in the Indian Ocean, shelling the Nicobar Islands, and remained in that theatre until the end of the war.  read more

Code: 21418

Royal Indian Army Service Corps Post 1921 Officer`s Cap Badge.

Part of the 7th Armoured Div. in WW2. logistical support of the Indian Army to keep the fighting forces supplied was a specialised activity over the decades and centuries. Original this was the job of the Supply Department and the Transport Departments, but these two units were merged to form the Royal Indian Army Service Corps in 1884. After Indian's independence in 1947 the RIASC became The Indian Army Service Corps.  read more

Code: 21407

Officers WW2 Glengarry Badge of the Black Watch Regt.

Very good condition, multi piece construction. During World War I the 25 battalions of Black Watch fought mainly in France and Flanders, except for the 2nd Battalion which fought in Mesopotamia and Palestine, and the 10th Battalion, which was in the Balkans. Only the 1st and 2nd battalions were regulars, with the rest either part of the Territorial Force or New Army. The Black Watch served with the British 51st (Highland) Division (World War I). Sold unpolished, for those that prefer them untouched, but it would polish very nicely indeed

Battalions of the Black Watch fought in almost every major British action in World War II, from Palestine to Normandy and as Chindits (42 and 73 columns) in Burma. In 1940, the 1st Battalion, together with two Territorial Army battalions were captured at St Valery-en-Caux with the 51st (Highland) Division, but were later reformed from reserve units of the 9th (Highland) Infantry Division, and fought at the Battle of El Alamein and the Allied invasion of Sicily. After the war, in 1948, the two regular battalions were merged into one.

The regiment won honours after the Battle of the Hook during the Korean War in November 1952, and were subsequently involved in peacekeeping and counter-insurgency in various parts of the world such as the Mau Mau Uprising and Malayan Emergency; the same activity for which the regiment was raised 250 years earlier.  read more

Code: 21195