Arms, Armour & Militaria

Intricate representation labelled as a Royal Navy vessel has French prisoner-of-war origin.

Painted by Lt Gen Henry Hope Crealock (1831-91), this 6ft 8in (2m) wide pen and ink drawing is an eyewitness account of The Action of Bareilly – the battle of the last stronghold of Indian independence in 1858.

Codes are there to be broken, as the Second World War British team at Bletchley Park proved by cracking the German Enigma machines.

A Russian battle sword is on offer at Morphy Auctions in the June 12 sale in Denver, Pennsylvania, estimated at $50,000-100,000.

A classic SAS beige beret from the Second World War has sold for what is believed to be a record-breaking £17,500 hammer price.

A flying log book belonging to one of the female pilots of the Air Training Auxiliary (ATA) who became famous for ferrying planes in the Second World War has been sold at Kent saleroom C&T.

In the latest of our occasional series of collector interviews, we talk to entrepreneur Algy Cluff, a former army officer and oil and mining business supremo, about his collecting tastes

The inscription London on the barrels of this pair of 19th century, silver-mounted flintlock pistols is entirely spurious.

Estimated at just £50-80, an Alice Davis Hitchcock medallion sold for £3000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at a Spink auction in London on April 10.

A late 19th century gold bone-handled Arab dagger was hammered down at £4100 at the inaugural sale of Knightsbridge auction house Kings Russell (22% buyer’s premium).

This Chicago Firearms Co ‘The Protector’ palm pistol is estimated at $800-1200 in the Pook & Pook auction in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, on April 13.

To this day every Indian officer swears the ‘Chetwode motto’ as they commission into the army: The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.

When British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents were parachuted into occupied Europe in the Second World War speed was vital. Not only did they have to jump from sub-radar altitudes as low as 400ft, hitting the ground within 10-15 seconds, but they also had to make a quick getaway.

Once the Tirpitz had been damaged by midget submarines (see main story this section), the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst was left to tackle British convoys to Russia alone. A trap was set by the Royal Navy in December 1943.

Captain Albert Ball (1896-1917) is remembered as one of Britain’s greatest heroes of the skies. At the time of his death over Arras in the First World War, aged just 19, he had shot down at least 44 German planes and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

A collection of First World War memorabilia relating to British army Private John Trickett – including an 1889 copper penny apparently bent when a bullet hit his breast pocket – brought a multi-estimate sum at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) of Etwall on March 22.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the British were clearly impressed by the French lancer regiments they encountered during the Napoleonic Wars. The first British lancer regiments were established in 1816, just a year after Waterloo.

Until March 17, 1834, Her Majesty’s Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms was known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners.