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From a former stores man who was responsible for an Army stores 'New for Old' exchange regime, for combat soldiers to exchange their issued former clasp knife for a new issued one. Four clasp knives, still in long term storage grease, two dated 1943 Humpreys Radiant with Broad Arrow, and two 1944 by Richards. with Broad Arrow. Chequered black plastic scales secured by five small rivets. Underside of hilt has two deep recesses to allow stowage of two knife blades. A long broad and very gently curved tapered marlinspike is stowed on the back of the hilt, pivoting at opposite end from blades. Shackle also fitted at one end, and a screw driver flat end at the other. This British Army issue clasp knife, follows a standard pattern laid down in 1913 but with the improved long can opener blade fitted from the late 1930's. It incorporates a marlin spike and long can-opening blade, as well as a knife blade, and screw driver . The scales were made from 'Bexoid'.Each blade has signs of wear and small nicks likely
Code: 23774
140.00 GBP
Awarded personally to the surviving veterans that attended the 50th anniversary ceremony at Caen, of their liberation of what remained of their fair city by our heroic boys. From 26 to 30 June, on these days alone, the operation of the Battle of Caen cost the Second Army up to 4,078 casualties. VIII Corps suffered 470 men killed, 2,187 wounded and 706 men missing. During 1 July, a further 488 men were killed and wounded and 227 were reported missing. Plus the numerous Canadian soldiers murdered by the, German, Waffen SS after they had surrendered. The German Waffen SS officer, KURT MEYER, was, after the wars end, later charged and found guilty for the murder of the 30 plus Canadians and was sentenced to death, however, in reality, he merely served 8 years in prison, yes, 8 years, which represents around 3 months imprisonment for every Canadian soldier murdered under his orders. This is not including the numerous but unknown amount of French civilians murdered. This medal struck on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of the City of Caen in tribute to all those who took part in the battle is presented to you with the respect and compliments of Mr.Jean-Marie GIRAULT Senator Mayor of Caen The Battle for Caen (June to August 1944) is the name given to fighting between the British Second Army and the German Panzergruppe West in the Second World War for control of the city of Caen and vicinity, during the larger Battle of Normandy. The battles followed Operation Neptune, the Allied landings on the French coast on 6 June 1944 (D-Day). Caen is about 9 mi (14 km) inland from the Calvados coast astride the Orne River and Caen Canal, at the junction of several roads and railways. The communication links made it an important operational objective for both sides. Caen and the area to the south is flatter and more open than the bocage country in western Normandy; Allied air force commanders wanted the area captured quickly to base more aircraft in France. The British 3rd Infantry Division was to seize Caen on D-Day or dig in short of the city if the Germans prevented its capture, temporarily masking Caen to maintain the Allied threat against it and thwarting a potential German counter-attack from the city. Caen, Bayeux and Carentan were not captured by the Allies on D-Day and for the first week of the invasion the Allies concentrated on linking the beachheads. British and Canadian forces resumed their attacks in the vicinity of Caen and the suburbs and city centre north of the Orne were captured during Operation Charnwood (8–9 July). The Caen suburbs south of the river were captured by the II Canadian Corps during Operation Atlantic (18–20 July). The Germans had committed most of their panzer divisions in a determined defence of Caen, which made the fighting mutually costly and greatly deprived the Germans of the means to reinforce the west end of the invasion front. In western Normandy the US First Army cut off the Cotentin Peninsula, captured Cherbourg and then attacked southwards towards Saint-Lô, about 37 mi (60 km) west of Caen, capturing the town on 19 July. On 25 July, after a weather delay, the First Army began Operation Cobra on the Saint-Lô–Périers road, coordinated with the Canadian Operation Spring at Verrières (Bourguébus) ridge to the south of Caen. Cobra was a great success and began the collapse of the German position in Normandy; the Allied break-out led to the Battle of the Falaise Pocket (12–21 August), which trapped most of the remnants of the 7th Army and 5th Panzer Army (formerly Panzergruppe West), opening the way to the Seine and Paris. Caen was destroyed by Allied bombing which, with the damage from ground combat, caused many French civilian casualties. After the battle little of the pre-war city remained and reconstruction of the city took until 1962. Members of the 12th SS Panzer Division shot 156 Canadian prisoners-of-war near Caen during the Battle of Normandy. After the Battle of Le Mesnil-Patry, troops of the 12th SS-Panzer Division captured seven Canadians who had been wandering around no-man's land since the battle, all being tired and hungry. The men were interrogated by an officer of the 12th SS-Pioniere Battalion at an ad hoc headquarters in the village of Mouen, about 5 mi (8 km) south-east of Le Mesnil-Patry. On 14 June, two crew members of the 1st Hussars reached Canadian lines and reported that they had seen several Canadian prisoners shot in the back, after surrendering. At about 10:00 p.m., the men had been led to the outskirts of the village under armed guard. Four Canadian prisoners were killed by a firing squad and the remaining men were shot in the head at close-range. Twenty Canadians were killed near Villons-les-Buissons, north-west of Caen in Ardenne Abbey. The abbey was captured at midnight on 8 July by the Regina Rifles and the soldiers were exhumed and buried in the Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery. After the war, Waffen-SS officer, Kurt Meyer, was convicted and sentenced to death on charges of inappropriate behaviour towards civilians and the execution of prisoners, a sentence later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released after serving eight years, which represents around 3 months imprisonment for each murdered Canadian soldier. After his trial in December 1945, and being sentenced to death, it was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released from prison on 7 September 1954 after the German government reduced his sentence to fourteen years and for good behavior, was determined to be eligible for release. He always maintained his adoration of Hitler and the politics of National Socialism. Upon his return to Germany in 1951, Meyer told a reporter that national socialism was past , but now "a United Europe is now the only answer". He died in December 1961, and 15,000 people attended his funeral procession.
Code: 23770
PriceonRequest
A wonderful, unique and original souvenir of the greatest tank combat era in history. The Tiger I tank shells are amazing but the 'King' Tiger II shells are almost beyond belief, and phenomenally rare to survive unfired from WW2. This one has all its original third reich waffen amt stamps, maker codes, issue date and King Tiger II cannon's issue stamps [ KWK 43] the code for the KWK 43 88mm gun fitted to 'King' Tiger II. The King Tiger is one of the most famous and rarest of the terrifying Panzers. A photo in the gallery is of the German Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, being shown a demonstration of the King Tiger and a comparison of the size of shells it fired compared to the other battle tanks in production. Of 1500 King Tigers ordered by Hitler only 487 were actually constructed and place into combat service, and this quantity was a tiny amount of tanks produced by Germany in WW2 compared to the numbers of the other standard and various Tiger and Panzer tanks produced. The first use of the Tiger II in combat was in Normandy on 18 July 1944 with the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion (schwere Panzerabteilung 503). It was first used on the Eastern Front on 12 August 1944 with schwere PzAbt 501 in the fighting at the Soviets' Baranov bridgehead over the Vistula River. In this action, a single Soviet T-34-85 under the command of Guards Lieutenant Os'kin from the 53rd Guards Tank Brigade knocked out three Tiger Iis by firing at their sides from an ambush position. Later the Tiger II was present at, among others, the Ardennes Offensive, the Soviet offensive into Poland and East Prussia in January 1945, the German offensives in Hungary in 1945, fighting to the east of Berlin at the Seelow Heights in April 1945 and finally within the city of Berlin itself at the very end of the war. The Sherman-equipped 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards claim they were the first British regiment to knock out a King Tiger, on 8 August 1944, in France. The upgraded 88mm armament used a simply huge shell, much larger than the standard Tiger's 88, and one of the most impressive and rarest of all the shells ever to be seen. With electric primers specifically used in armoured vehicles [not to be mistaken with percussion primers used in artillery pieces] we believe only the fifth example we have had in 45 years, and possibly the last we may ever see. The shell is an amazing 44 inches long, x approx. 6 inches wide at the base. Not suitable for export. Empty inert and completely safe.
Code: 21143
2650.00 GBP
Historical Scientific Instrument. The B-29 was equipped with a radio direction finder which was located on the top of the fuselage behind the forward gun turret. Just in front of that, and just behind the flight deck there was the gunners position which could double as an astrodome. The radio direction finder was used to guide the plane and locate its position whenever there were suitable radio stations available. For long overwater flights, the astrodome was used with a sextant to use the sun and stars to navigate. Bubble sextant Type AN 5851-1 with altitude averaging device for use on aircraft. Made by Bendix Aviation Corporation, Teterboro, New Jersey USA. Instructions for use with and without averaging device on two metal plates screwed onto instrument, one plate a continuation of the other. These sextants were used by the US Army Air Corps and the Navy in the later years of World War II, it recorded an average of 60 altitude readings over a 2 minute observation period, see Ifland, P (1998) 'Taking the Stars' p 185. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF), informally known as the Air Force, was the aerial warfare service of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II (1939/41?1945), successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force of today, one of the five uniformed military services. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which in 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the Services of Supply (which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces), and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff. The AAF administered all parts of military aviation formerly distributed among the Air Corps, General Headquarters Air Force, and the ground forces' corps area commanders, and thus became the first air organization of the U.S. Army to control its own installations and support personnel. The peak size of the AAF during the Second World War was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft by 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943. By "V-E Day", the Army Air Forces had 1.25 million men stationed overseas and operated from more than 1,600 airfields worldwide. The Army Air Forces was created in June 1941 to provide the air arm a greater autonomy in which to expand more efficiently, to provide a structure for the additional command echelons required by a vastly increased force, and to end an increasingly divisive administrative battle within the Army over control of aviation doctrine and organization that had been ongoing since the creation of an aviation section within the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914. The AAF succeeded both the Air Corps, which had been the statutory military aviation branch since 1926, and the GHQ Air Force, which had been activated in 1935 to quiet the demands of airmen for an independent Air Force similar to the Royal Air Force which had already been established in the United Kingdom / Great Britain.
Code: 21550
275.00 GBP
The dagger has a brass cross guard with the quillon turning upward at one end and downward at the other, the brass ferrule with a blade release button, smooth white streaked simulated ivory grip plates, domed brass pommel. The scabbard is brass, illustrating the Romanian Socialist Republic coat-of-arms inside a swelling frame on both sides, the throat held firmly in place via two screws, the two bands displaying oak leaves and acorns with large dagger hanger rings. Modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877. Following World War I, when Romania fought on the side of the Allied powers, Bukovina, Bessarabia, Transylvania and parts of Banat, Crisana and Maramures became part of the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. In June?August 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov?Ribbentrop Pact and Second Vienna Award, Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union, and Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In November 1940, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact and, consequently, in June 1941 entered World War II on the Axis side, fighting against the Soviet Union until August 1944, when it joined the Allies and recovered Northern Transylvania. Following the war, under the occupation of the Red Army's forces, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition towards democracy and a market economy. Very fine condition overall
Code: 21930
295.00 GBP
Souvenir of service for a WW1 volunteer.An Imperial Prussian stein for 4 Battery, Niedersachs Feld Artillery, Regt. 46, for the years 1904-1906. Lower Saxony Field Artillery Regiment No. 46. The recipient then volunteered back into the regiment and served in WW1. Superbly decorated. Transfer glazed with hand painted highlights with scenes of the field artillery in combat. Personally named 'in memory of my service' to the recipient 'Kanonier Bahrwald', and further named with every man's name from the regiment [47 names in all] Souvenirs of service were purchased by reservists once there service was finished, in this case 1906. Steins seem to have been the most popular purchases. The period of popularity extended from the mid 1890s until the onset of World War I. Examples exist from the 1850s on, but were few in number and individually purchased items. Almost all early examples came from Bavarian units. Steins with wartime dates also exist but the demands of the war in terms of men and material effectively ended the manufacture of regimental steins as we know them. Steins were ordered from military shops in the area around the garrison town or through the representatives of stein manufacturers. Normally ordered in the spring, they were delivered in early September, just prior to mustering out. The average cost approximated a month?s salary for a German private of that period. The base shows [when lit internally] the hidden factory 'watermark' in the porcelain. The base also has two old damage areas where the base has been penetrated and in other one area fixed [see photo] The lid's artillery cannon has the barrel lacking. The Regiment was part of the 20th Infantry Division in WW1. Their actions in WW1 were as follows Calendar of battles and engagements 20th Infantry Division (Western Front) 08.08.-08.16.1914 Conquest of Li?ge 23.08.-08.24.1914 Battle of Namur 29.08.-08.30.1914 Battle of St. Quentin 06.09.-09.09.1914 Battle of Petit-Morin 12.09.-09.13.1914 Fighting at Reims 13.09.1914-18.04.1915 Fighting at the Aisne 21.04.-04.30.1915 Transport to the east 20th Infantry Division (Eastern Front) 05.05.-05.23.1915 Pursuits after the Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow 16.05.-05.23.1915 Crossing over the San 24.05.-05.26.1915 Fight at Radymno and San 27.05.-04.06.1915 Fight at the bridgehead of Jaroslau 12.06.-06.15.1915 Breakthrough battle at Lubaczow 17.06.-06.22.1915 Battle of Lviv 22.06.-07.16.1915 Pursuit battles on the Galician-Polish border 16.07.-07.18.1915 Breakthrough Battle of Krasnostaw 19.07.-07.28.1915 Fighting after the breakthrough battle of Krasnostaw 29.07.-07.30.1915 Breakthrough Battle of Biskupice 31.07.-08.10.1915 Pursuit battles from Wieprz to Bug 12.09.-09.26.1915 Reserve of OH-L. and transport to the west 20th Infantry Division (Western Front) 27.09.-10.18.1915 Autumn Battle in Champagne 31.10.1915-16.05.1916 Fighting at the Aisne 03/10/1916 Storming of the mountain at La Ville aux Bois 18.05.-01.06.1916 Transport to the east 20th Infantry Division (Eastern Front) 14.06.-07.15.1916 Fights on Stochod 16.07.-07.27.1916 Fighting on the upper Styr-Stochod 28.07.-04.11.1916 Battle of Kovel 05.11.-11.18.1916 Positional fights on ob. Styr-Stochod 20.11.-11.25.1916 Transport to the west 20th Infantry Division (Western Front) 26.11.1916-05.01.1917 training 06.01.-02.03.1917 Fighting at the Aisne 10.04.-05.08.1917 Battle of the Aisne 15.05.-04.07.1917 Positional fights in Champagne 05.07.-07.12.1917 Transport to the east 20th Infantry Division (Eastern Front) 13.07.-07.22.1917 Fighting on the Lomnica near Kalusz 23.07.-07.30.1917 Pursuit battles in eastern Galicia 31.07.-02.08.1917 Fighting for Zbrucz, between Zbrucz and Sereth 03.08.-08.16.1917 Position fights between Zbrucz and Sereth 30.08.-08.31.1917 Position fights before Riga 01.09.-05.09.1917 Battle for Riga 09/02/1917 Fights on the Big Jail 09/03/1917 Wholesale Kangern 09/04/1917 Conquest of Bh. Hinzenberg 09/04/1917 Pursuit battles towards the Riga-Wenden road 06.09.-09.10.1917 Positional fighting north of the D?na 10.09.-09.20.1917 Transport to the west 20th Infantry Division (Western Front) 27.09.-10.10.1917 Battle in Flanders 20.11.1917-17.02.1918 Positional fights in the Artois 20.11.-11.29.1917 The tank battle at Cambrai 30.11.-07.12.1917 Attack Battle at Cambrai 18.02.-03.20.1918 Training and march to the "Great Battle of France" 21.03.-04.06.1918 Great battle in France 21.03.-03.23.1918 Breakthrough Battle Monchy-Cambrai 21.03.-03.23.1918 Fight for Morchies and Beugny 24.03.-03.25.1918 Battle of Bapaume 22.04.-05.25.1918 Fighting positions between Maas and Mosel: on the Maashohe at Lamorville-Spada and St. Mihiel 25.05.-06.25.1918 Reserve of OH-L. at Arlon 18.07.-07.26.1918 Defensive battle between Soissons and Reims 27.07.-03.08.1918 The mobile defensive battle between Marne and Vesle 03.08.-08.17.1918 Reserve Army Group German Kronprinz or Boehn 28.08.-02.09.1918 Battle of Monchy-Bapaume 06.09.-09.26.1918 Fighting in front of the Siegfried Front 27.09.-08.10.1918 Defensive battle between Cambrai and St. Quentin 03.11.-11.11.1918 Defensive battle on the Maas 03.11.-11.11.1918 Defensive battles between Maas and Beaumont 12.11.-12.23.1918 Clearance of the occupied territory and march home 12 inches high overall
Code: 21788
455.00 GBP
The pattern of helmet designed for service in either the German Police or Fire Service and this model is designed to remove the top skull rivets and affix a Fire Service nickel comb. Complete with original liner complete and its chinstrap present [seperated], with hand written name of the owner. Interior skull stamped DRGM 134188. Reichsf?hrer-SS Heinrich Himmler was named Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern (Chief of German Police in the Interior Ministry) on 17 June 1936 after Hitler announced a decree which was to "unify the control of police duties in the Reich". Traditionally, law enforcement in Germany had been a state and local matter. In this role, Himmler was nominally subordinate to Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick. However, the decree effectively subordinated the police to the SS, making it virtually independent of Frick's control. Himmler gained authority as all of Germany's uniformed law enforcement agencies were amalgamated into the new Ordnungspolizei, whose main office became populated by officers of the SS. The police were divided into the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo or regular police) and the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo or security police), which had been established in June 1936. The Orpo assumed duties of regular uniformed law enforcement while the SiPo consisted of the secret state police (Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo) and criminal investigation police (Kriminalpolizei or Kripo). The Kriminalpolizei was a corps of professional detectives involved in fighting crime and the task of the Gestapo was combating espionage and political dissent. On 27 September 1939, the SS security service, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and the SiPo were folded into the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA). The RSHA symbolized the close connection between the SS (a party organization) and the police (a state organization). Police Battalions (SS-Polizei-Bataillone), for various auxiliary duties outside of Germany, including anti-partisan operations, construction of defense works (i.e. Atlantic Wall), and support of combat troops. Specific duties varied widely from unit to unit from one year to another. Generally, the SS Polizei units were not directly involved in combat. Some Police Battalions were primarily focused on traditional security roles of an occupying force while others were directly involved in the Holocaust. This latter role was obscured in the immediate aftermath of World War II, both by accident and by deliberate obfuscation, when most of the focus was on the better-known Einsatzgruppen ("Operational groups") who reported to the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA ? Reich Main Security Office) under Reinhard Heydrich.
Code: 21663
285.00 GBP
The front has lost its gilt wash due to polishing, the rear has it remaining.The Regiment, as the Royal Regiment of Foot Guards, was formed in 1656 by King Charles the Second who was then in exile in Bruges, Flanders. It was known as the First Guards, later becoming the First Regiment of Foot Guards, and now bears the title "The First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards" in honour or the defeat of the Grenadiers of the French Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. It is the only Regiment in the British Army that has directly gained it's title from the part it played in action. As seen in all of Her Majesty The Queen's ceremonial occasions, such as Changing of The Guard and Trooping the Colour.
Code: 23760
35.00 GBP
Made of a a machine embroidered cotton, this insignia is in very good un-issued condition! The colours are still vibrant! Features tri-colour national emblem. Perfect for any collection or display of German WW2 Very rare to find an un-issued strip of any form of German Bevo uniform insignia. A most rare discovery
Code: 23761
475.00 GBP
5 Medal group with bar and Mentioned In Despatches oakleaf. Mentioned in Despatches (MID) is a military award for gallantry. This in an interesting group but with one strange anomaly. 39/45 Star, Atlantic Star* with France and Germany Bar, Africa Star, Italy Star, War Medal with MID. However it's original court mounting has not the Atlantic Star, but a Burma Star fitted, with the Atlantic ribbon and Bar, and we can't really explain why. Was the Burma Star sent by the MOD in error? we have simply no idea, but it has been worn this way since issued, and is none the less a very interesting heroism group indeed. The 5 medal ribbon bar also has two rosettes one on the Atlantic ribbon and another on the Africa ribbon. Medal recipient not named.
Code: 23759
290.00 GBP
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