Table of contents for October 2022 in The Armourer

A collectables store in Morpeth New South Wales, 100 miles northeast of Sydney, currently displaying Nazi memorabilia in its window, has sparked outrage in the Jewish community and ignited calls for a nationally consistent approach to outlawing the sale of Nazi symbols in Australia. Vic Alhadeff, a prominent member of the Jewish community was quoted in The Australian newspaper, for Wednesday 20 July 2022, saying that the display was: ‘Objectionable. Twenty-seven thousand Australia soldiers lost their lives fighting Nazi Germany. Whilst the swastika and the evil it represents are an integral part of history, there is a difference between the responsible sales of such memorabilia and the promotion of its horrendous message’. Campbell’s Store is well known as an antique and art centre featuring 25 dealers. Australian Anti-Defamation Commission Chairman,…

Ratisbon’s 51st History Auction We had a brief look at this last month but now the consignments for Ratisbon’s 51st Contemporary History Auction are flooding in. Let’s get started with some interesting items from the Luftwaffe, including three original parts of a Focke Wulf FW 190. By parts the auctioneer means pieces of metal. Still, bits of this plane are very rare, they have the original camo colour, and measure 55cm x 104cm, 70cm x 85cm and 100cm x 55cm. Bidding starts at an incredible £5,074 (remember to add on Buyer’s Premium of 22.5% at the end as well). Also from the Luftwaffe, how about this Observer’s watch? Made by Lacher & Co. (Laco), a fine watch of impressive size that was worn above the flight suit. It was used…

When thinking about WWII, the image of our men in uniform does not usually conjure up the vision of them engaging in acts involving prostitutes. Although considered unlawful by society, the practice was predictably essential to the individual military member and encounters were widespread. The majority of patrons went unpunished, while the enablers were dealt with much more severely. In 1941, the Social Protection Division was created by the US Government with the charter of preventing military personnel from soliciting prostitutes. The head of the agency was none other than Eliot Ness, a former FBI prohibition agent who had helped facilitate the arrest of the famous gangster Al Capone. One of the first agency actions towards the SPD goal was to pass the May Act, which made it a federal…

Formed in 1939, the Polizei Division was initially not considered an SS fighting force. However, in 1942, following operations in France and then Russia, the division was transferred to the Waffen-SS, and eventually upgraded to a Panzergrenadier division, known as the 4th SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier Division. Even before the Germans attacked Poland in September 1939, SS boss Heinrich Himmler wanted to create a third division that was not technically SS, unlike the LSSAH, SS-VT units (later Das Reich) and unofficially the Totenkopfverbande (Death heads). This new division would be formed from ordinary Policemen or Ordnungspolizei. From its conception it was planned to be part of the military arm of Himmler’s growing empire which would be capable of fighting alongside both Wehrmacht and SS-VT troops and still police the local area with force.…

Spy cameras used during the Cold War mostly had one thing in common, they were small, easily hidden and sometimes concealed within other everyday objects like cigarette packets and lighters. Today, camera collectors clamour for these miniature marvels. But there was one spy camera which broke all the rules, because it was gigantic. Officially known as the 100in Lens Camera, the soldiers that used it gave it the nickname Peeping Tom. The camera was built in the early 1950s by the US Army Signal Corps. Its name was derived from its use of a lens with a 100in focal length. The longer the focal length of a lens, the closer it appears to bring faraway objects. Peeping Tom’s mission was to shoot pictures in closeup of subjects like battlefront objectives,…

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See the world’s only running Tiger I tank in action during its last outing of 2022, at Tiger Day, 17 September at The Tank Museum. Tiger 131 runs only twice a year, on Tiger Day in April and September, and always attracts huge crowds when it does. Visitors will have the chance to see it in action in a 45-minute WWII tank display, including its Fury movie co-star, the Sherman tank ‘Fury’. As well as an action-packed arena display, including the Panzer III, Comet, Chaffee and more, visitors will be able to get up close to vehicles in the Tank Park and explore militaria traders amongst the Museum collection. The Tank Museum is also giving Tiger fans the chance to win a ride in its most famous exhibit in a…

After 212 years of colonial rule, Grenada was granted sovereignty from the United Kingdom in 1974 and functioned as a democracy until 1979, when a Marxist-Leninist faction led by Maurice Bishop (New Jewel Movement) deposed the government in a vicious coup. When Bishop suspended the constitution, arrested several political prisoners, and started friendly relationships with communist Cuba, American officials became apprehensive. Soon after coup, Cuba, Libya, and other countries joined the Bishop government in the construction of the Point Salines Airport that included a 9,000ft-long runway, which was long enough to permit the largest Soviet military aircraft to operate from the island. Grenada vehemently denied claims made by the US and stated the airport would be only used for large commercial tourist aircraft. Despite the statements, the American government believed…

Following the first China War, 1839-42, further conflicts of interest arose between the British and the Chinese which resulted in a new outbreak of warfare, commonly known as the Second China War. The operations which followed fall into two main parts – those of 1856-58 and the renewed campaigning in 1860 (with French forces then involved) resulting in the occupation of Beijing (Peking) and the imposition of a new treaty. As part of the operations to seize the major port of Canton (Guangzhou) in 1857, naval forces were in frequent action along the Canton or Pearl River. At this time the largest Chinese naval force lay in Fatshan Creek, one of a number of tributaries to the south of Canton. The British Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, set out on…

Probably three individuals can be credited with the overall design of the vast majority of the world's assault rifles in use today. The oldest was Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov followed closely by Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov and Eugene Stoner. Of these, the inventors of the AK47 and M16 have received the largest number of column inches, despite the products of the first in evidence in almost any current affairs television broadcast or daily newspaper. Simonov was one of Imperial Russia's peasant underclass with a limited education, despite an early apprenticeship as a blacksmith. During WWI he toiled for two years as a machine builder. When the revolution changed the political landscape in 1917 he was recruited to work at an arms factory at Korov where Vladimir Grigorevich Federov’s Model 1916 Avtomat was…

During the 19th century the Ottoman Empire consisted of a large portion of North Africa’s coastline (from the eastern borders of Morocco to Egypt), the Middle East, the coastline of Arabia, the southern portion of the Caucasus and most of the southern Balkans. During the 18th century the military ascendancy of Austria and Russia in Eastern Europe caused serious problems for the Turks, who had to fight several conflicts against the European powers to keep possession of their Balkan territories. Austria and Russia, being interested in conquering new territories in the Balkans, supported the local communities of countries like Serbia and Romania in their national uprisings against the Turks. The Balkan revolts, which were caused by political factors as well as by religious ones, became a real problem for the…

Facebook: www.facebook.com/armourermagazine Twitter: @The_Armourer Post: Letters Page, The Armourer, Warners Group Publications, West Street, Bourne, Lincs. PE10 9PH Email: armourer@warnersgroup.co.uk PORTUGESE ARMY I enjoyed the article on the Lewis Gun, it was most interesting. One photograph showed Portuguese soldiers carrying these but I have never heard anything about the Portuguese army in World War I. How did the Portuguese become involved in WWI? I am hoping you can do an article on this army, and how it was used in the Great War. Also, as you do so well, a Collecting Militaria of the Portuguese army article would be most appreciated, especially if it could show their uniforms, equipment carried, cap badges, medals awarded and also pistols and rifles used. I find your magazine interesting every month. There will always…

Imperial War Museums (IWM) announced that Dame Diane Lees will be stepping down as Director-General on 31 March 2023. Diane Lees joined IWM in 2008 and became the Museums’ first female Director-General since it was founded in 1917. Over the course of her 14-year leadership, she has led IWM through one of the most transformative periods in its 105-year history, redeveloping its branches through more than £90 million of investment. She placed IWM at the forefront of the nation’s First World War Centenary Commemorations with the opening of IWM London’s groundbreaking First World War Galleries in 2014 and the co-commissioning of Peter Jackson’s critically acclaimed documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old. She led the redevelopment of IWM Duxford’s American Air Museum in 2016 and the recent completion of IWM London’s…

It’s often said, if you want to get ahead, get a hat and that’s what I’m talking about this month. I’m particularly fond of hats, as you’ve no doubt heard me whittering on about, but here’s a few choice examples for your perusal. I’m not a fan of mint, unissued items so this visor cap is a perfect example of a combat-worn example that really talks to you. It’s a Luftwaffe officer’s visor cap with lovely signs of wear and discolouration. Constructed of smooth dark-grey wool with a black woven ribbon cap band and leather peak. Featuring three bands of woven, silver Waffenfarbe piping at the top, middle, and bottom, with a silver bullion chin strap. Stitched onto the band is a hand-embroidered silver aluminium wire tri-colour cockade, flanked on…

We come, this month, to the sixth and final part of our series looking at Cold War Warsaw Pact equipment sets and to one of the poorest nations at this time, Romania. As might be expected therefore, Romania’s personal equipment was rather basic and rudimentary and was very much based around a belt kit, rather than using suspenders to help distribute the load. Only Romanian paratroopers were issued with Y-straps. Romania largely stepped away from Moscow’s influence during the 1970s and although still Communist the country was prepared to do things differently from the Russians, with a far more Western-looking position than many other Soviet Bloc nations. This did not, however, lead to much development in terms of accoutrements which remained simple, cheap and far from ergonomic. With the collapse…

Continuing from the Mk.IV, which had seen action in the epic battle at Cambrai, tank development gathered pace for the final offensives of WWI. MARK V The Mk.V was intended to be an entirely new design, but disruption caused by Mk.IV production ultimately rendered it simply a modified version, production beginning late in 1917, with the 400 built divided equally between males and females. The most outstanding Mk.V innovations were the epicyclic steering gear, and the six-cylinder Ricardo engine’s greater power. The new engine could have been significantly more powerful, but the current transmission could not have supported it, and the framework afforded to the previous marks’ Daimler engines was incompatible. The epicyclic gearbox gave the driver control of the entire transmission. Despite these improvements, however, conditions within the Mk.V…

When I was a young boy, my ‘Uncle’ Wilf gave me his medal group consisting of the India General Service Medal with ‘North West Frontier 1937-39’ clasp, campaign stars for 1939-45, Africa, Italy, and France and Germany, plus the Defence and War Medals. Upon his death, I inherited his wartime ephemera and souvenirs. Wilf was born in 1916 at Linstead Magna in Suffolk. A short, stocky man, who even in his 60s remained immensely strong. He was the illegitimate son of my grandmother’s youngest sister, raised as an older brother to my mother. Leaving school when he was 14, he worked on a local farm before joining the Army in September 1936, enlisting in the Suffolk Regiment for seven years colours and five years reserve. After completing basic training at…

The origins of the 4th Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers lie in the Volunteer Movement of 1859 to 1908 and the rifle volunteer corps raised in three Scottish counties: Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire and Berwickshire. In 1860 those from the former were formed into an administrative battalion (from 1868 called The Border) to which were added in 1862 both the 1st and 2nd Selkirkshire. The battalion was consolidated in 1880 to form the 1st Roxburgh and Selkirk (The Border) Rifle Volunteer Corps which in turn served as a volunteer battalion of the KOSB. With the formation of the Territorial Force in 1908 the corps provided six companies of the 4th Battalion. Infantry battalions were made up of eight companies at this time, the additional two being supplied by the former 2nd (Berwickshire)…

We’re heading to the desert and baking hot conditions of North Africa next month with a look at Operation Torch. This was the first joint American and British operation and featured 350 warships, 500 transports and over 107,000 troops off the coast of French Vichy occupied Morocco and Algiers. The landings had a significant political element, as pro-Allied French resistance forces attempted to stage a had a significant political element, as pro-Allied French resistance forces attempted to stage a coup in Morocco but were thwarted and after the French finally did lay down their arms and consequently join the Allied side, Hitler ordered his troops into Vichy France to occupy it. It was also the first opportunity for American troops to gain combat experience and led to the invasion of…