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

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

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

An Iconic Example of Now Highly Collectable Military Artwork of WW1. German Artillery Shell Trench Art Vases Dated August 1917

In need of tender hand polishing that would reveal superb results. 9 inches high
Trench art objects are holders of soldiers’ memories and reminders of the conflict they faced. Made out of recycled war refuse such as shell casings, spent bullets or whatever came to hand, they open a window to the past. They tell us things like where soldiers went and what their surroundings were like. They also give hints about soldiers’ thoughts and actions. Something as simple and functional as a matchbox cover can provide a map of a soldier’s movements while other, more decorative examples, show a desire to find and create beauty, to camouflage war in art
Trench art can be made of any number of things. Many objects were made out of the scraps created by war. This included ammunition shell cases, bullet casings, shrapnel, and pieces of destroyed buildings or downed planes. These materials would all have been readily available in the war zones to soldiers, their prisoners of war and to civilians still in the area. Some objects appear to have little to do with the war full stop. Turkish prisoners of war started a bustling business in objects made of glass beads which commemorated the war.  read more

Code: 16709

Original Fossil of a Trilobite, in Matrix, Circa 490 Million Years Old with Iron Oxide Deposits in the Mineralisation From the River Bed

Negative impression. Upper cambrian Trilobite
Size: trilobite size approx. 45 x 28 mm; approx. matrix size 86 x 68 mm, weight 148 gram.
Likely locality: Russia, Siberia, Arctic Ocean and Lena River basin, Haraulah mountains.
Age: Upper Cambrian, Furongian Serie, Ogon’or Formation (495-490 million year ago).

This would make a superb conversation piece paperweight

Trilobites meaning "three lobes") are a group of extinct marine arachnomorph arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period (521 million years ago), and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before beginning a drawn-out decline to extinction when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetids died out. Trilobites disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago. The trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans for over 300 million years.

By the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record, with some 50,000 known species spanning Paleozoic time. The study of these fossils has facilitated important contributions to biostratigraphy, paleontology, evolutionary biology, and plate tectonics. Trilobites are often placed within the arthropod subphylum Schizoramia within the superclass Arachnomorpha (equivalent to the Arachnata), although several alternative taxonomies are found in the literature.

Trilobites had many lifestyles; some moved over the sea bed as predators, scavengers, or filter feeders, and some swam, feeding on plankton. Most lifestyles expected of modern marine arthropods are seen in trilobites, with the possible exception of parasitism (where scientific debate continues). Some trilobites (particularly the family Olenidae) are even thought to have evolved a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-eating bacteria from which they derived food  read more

Code: 24089

A Very Fine Quality Meissen Porcelain Round the World Medal

A rare and most desireable medal a most fine collectors piece 1929 Graf Zeppelin World Flight Medal. White bisque porcelain, and gilt 48mm.
Obv. Airship over Eastern
Hemisphere globe, GRAF ZEPPELIN WELT
RUNDFLUG . Rev. Airship over Western Hemisphere globe, FRIEDRICHSHAFEN. TOKIO. LOS ANGELES. LAKEHURST . A classic Zeppelin
issue made by the State Porcelain Factory of Meissen, mintmark crossed swords. The tour began in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where the Graf Zeppelin was built, and continued on to Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Lakehurst, NJ (where her sister ship, the Hindenburg, exploded in May 1937) before returning to Germany.  read more

Code: 20959

A Rare 1853 Royal Warwickshire Regt. Historically Significant ‘Jamaican Rebellion’ Enfield Bayonet The Morant Bay Rebellion, From a Defender of Paul Bogle.

Regimentally marked bayonet for the 6th Regiment, the Royal Warwickshire. Maker marked by Deakin and full ordnance inspection stamps. A souvenir from a descendant of a defender of Paul Bogle’s, used with its service issue 1853 Enfield pattern rifle, in the Jamaican Rebellion in Morant Bay of 1864/5. The 1865 Jamaican uprising was put down by 6th Regt, The Royal Warwickshire soldiers. A leader of the Warwickshire Regiment, Colonel J. Francis Hobbs, led the British reprisals against Bogle’s community. Hobbs report to Governor Eyre (19 October) resulted in a commendation for bravery: "I found it most dangerous work crossing over the numerous rivers, which took the men above their waists. There was not a single non-commissioned officer or soldier who was not literally wet through, and every article of their clothing, saddlery, etc., utterly destroyed.

"Added to this, the entire darkness of the night made it a march never to be forgotten in the 6th Regiment. About daylight this morning, in passing through this village of cross roads, where the rebels destroyed everything, I found a number of special constables, who had captured a number of prisoners from the rebel camp. Finding their guilt clear, and being unable to take or leave them, I had them all shot. The constables then hung them up on trees, eleven in number. Their countenances were all very diabolical, and they never flinched the very slightest.

"From this we at once went to Stony Gut After partaking of some biscuits and rum in Bogle’s chapel, sending off his lamps as a trophy to his excellency the governor, and utterly destroying this rebellious settlement, I have returned with my jaded and sore-foot troops to this spot, where we bivouacked for the night in another ecclesiastical building, called the Chigoe-Foot Methodist Chapel.

"I must not forget to tell you that I have got Paul Bogle’s valet for my guide, a little fellow of extraordinary intelligence. A light rope tied to the stirrup, and a revolver now and then to his head cause us to understand each other; and he knows every single rebel in the island by name and face, and has been selecting the captains, colonels and secretaries out of an immense gang of prisoners just come in here, whom I shall have to shoot to-morrow morning."

Hobbs account of this bloody expedition was used as evidence in the Royal Commission of Inquiry which was set up to investigate Eyre’s role. Although it is doubtful whether Hobbs would have received the missive in time, he was certainly acting in the spirit of his commander’s instructions; the Deputy Adjutant-General John Henry Elkington (from a family of military officers with branches in Warwickshire and Leicestershire), had written to him on 18th October: "Colonel, I send you an order to push on at once to Stony Gut but I trust you are there already. Hole is doing splendid service with his men all about Machioneal" Paul Bogle (1822 to 24 October 1865) was a Jamaican Baptist deacon and activist. He is a National Hero of Jamaica. He was a leader of the 1865 Morant Bay protesters, who marched for justice and fair treatment for all the people in Jamaica. After leading the Morant Bay rebellion, Bogle was captured by government troops, tried and convicted by British authorities under martial law, and hanged on 24 October 1865 in the morant bay court house. The "Eyre Controversy" turned into a long and increasingly public issue, dividing well-known figures of the day. It may have contributed to the fall of the government. In 1866 John Stuart Mill set up and chaired the Jamaica Committee to examine the atrocities committed in Jamaica in the course of ending the rebellion. Thomas Carlyle set up a rival committee to defend Eyre. His supporters included John Ruskin, Charles Kingsley, Charles Dickens and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.  read more

Code: 21392