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Lot 714

MILITARY UNIFORMS; 1 army blue track suit and RASC officers mess uniform complete with buttons badges, jacket, waist coat and trousers. (5 items )

Lot 715

BRITISH ARMY WESSEX REGIMENT WO2 UNIFORMS. No 2 jacket and trousers complete buttons and badges, mess jacket and trousers with band all in good used condition. (5 items)

Lot 720

BRITISH ARMY BATTLE DRESS AND 1922 PATTERN UNIFORMS; BD jacket complete with buttons label inside dated 1951 size 9, trousers size 10 dated 1950. 1922 service dress jacket possible re-badged with brass Middlesex titles, staybright collar with home county buttons and badges to arms, trousers size 10 dated 1960. (4 items )

Lot 722

BRITISH ARMY UNIFORM ITEMS; No 2 dress BLUES & ROYALS jacket complete with buttons and badges divers badge to arm; Irish army jacket complete with buttons and No 1 dress uniform. No 1 dress has no buttons or badges, jacket label size 26 dated 1955,trosers label size 19 dated 1955. ( 4 items )

Lot 723

BRITISH ARMY NO 1 DRESS UNIFORM. Complete with Home Counties buttons, badges and red sash, label to jacket, size 20 dated 1955, trousers size 19 dated 1953 all in good used condition. (2 items )

Lot 724

US ARMY COLD WEATHER COATS; 1941 dated label hooded size 44 R coat and jacket NATO period large size both in good condition. (2 items)

Lot 732

British Army Officers Uniform, R.A.M.C. tunic and trousers, complete with buttons ,lanyard and officers gilt badges to collars, makers Moss Bros.in good condition. Accompanied by a R.A.S.C. officers jacket, complete with buttons ,lanyard and collar badges and R .A.S.C. beret with badge in pocket in good condition.

Lot 735

WW2 British Women’s Army Tropical Dress, complete with buttons ,white military label well faded date looks like 1943 in used condition.

Lot 764

Grouping of WW2 German Cloth Insignia, bullion embroidered Luftwaffe Generals cap cockade, German army combat tunic breast eagle, Kriegsmarine eagle and cockade one piece, SS bullion embroidered Totenkopf collar tab, embroidered Waffen-SS arm eagle, SS signal blitz diamond, embroidered SS Standarte 11 collar patch, plus other items. We believe all to be post war representations, sold as such and as viewed. Not subject to return. (15 items)

Lot 780

WW2 HOME FRONT ITEMS; WW2 Home Guard certificate and defence medal in frame, dig for victory leaflet, four foot powders, sten mag loader tool and army pen knife. ( 8 items )

Lot 784

MIXED WW2 EQUIPMENT; WW2 army gas mask bag, shell dressing bag, map case missing one stud, three pouches, belt and four sten magazines all in used condition. (11 items)

Lot 792

BRITISH ARMY MILITARY STABLE BELTS, 8 belts complete and in good condition. (8 items)

Lot 796

MIXED MILITARY EQUIPMENT; 1 civil gas mask,2 army gas masks in bag, US gas mask in bag, RAF first aid bag with content and 2 empty tins. (7 items)

Lot 800

US MILITARY EQUIPMENT; 2x US army gun covers one dated 1943 other 1944, camo helmet cover, pair of gaiters dated 194 size 2R , leather mag pouch stamped back US BOYT-45, USMC garrison hat, belt with pouches and D-1 aircrew cap. ( 8 items )

Lot 803

MIXED MILITARIA; army blanket , 2 shirts, sentry sash ,2 web 37 pattern belts one with buckles one without, 2 hat covers,1 hat , bag and straps stamped US MECO 1944. (11 items)

Lot 823

1918 Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Officers Photograph, signed on the photographers mount; photograph of WW1 US soldier in uniform, grouping of photographs of female wartime interest; Great War period US Army Camp Meade coloured postcard folder; six postcards in sleeve of the Royal Military Chapel at Wellington Barracks also called The Guards Chapel; postcard set “Views of Celle” in folder of 43 (Wessex) Division interest. Various conditions.

Lot 827

BOX OF ARMY ORDERS; quantity of 1950s army order sheets in good condition, viewing recommended.

Lot 837

Mixed Selection of Mostly Military Ephemera inc. paybooks. A Colony of British Guiana Travel Permit 1952; George VI warrant to David Jenkins MBE to rank of Lieutenant from 06/08/1946, Royal Corps of Signals; Paperwork relating to training camp – note on security, Army Welfare Services’ Gala Cabaret pamphlet, Rank and Qualification record card for the Royal Artillery, blank; Single sheet (pp 1 and 2) from 23/06/1940 edition of Sunday Dispatch on Defending The Country – illustrations of German aircraft and paratroopers; Booklet of Motor Car 101-1500 cc fuel ration book – unused small tear to one sheet; Clothing Book 1945-46 to E A Whitton – part used; Single sheet Navy news item from 1908 ‘Deadly Naval Shot’ on the new World’s record for the 12pdr gun; Field Service Regulations book Vol 1 Organization and Administration 1930 with amendments 1 – 11 1939. Good condition, owner’s inscription; The King’s Own in the Great War by G E M, St Leonards, 3” x 2” booklet; Printed card – Barney’s Alphabet – comedic phonetic alphabet; 4 theatre tickets for the Allenby in Palestine, dated 1942; International Air Federation Competitor’s Licence to Henry G Perry dated 14/07/1921; HMSO booklet His Majesty’s Submarines, 1945, fair condition; 2 National Registration ID cards to Irene and Elizabeth Kirkman dated 02/06/1943 with small qty of photos and personal papers; Field Message Book notepad in wallet used for infantry training notes, with owner’s inscription; Campaign Medals list sheet noted as being for R Thomas Stripp, RN; Ration Book 1950-51 to I P C Calham, Dover, part used; Clothing Book 1947-48 to R F McCarthy, part used; Pocket Book of English-Arabic for British Soldiers and Sailors in Egypt; The Reconnaissance Journal Vol 1 No 2 Sept-Dec 1944; Regular Army Certificate of Service booklet to 857599 Edwin R Blackburn, RASC, served in France 1940, returned home 05/06/1940, appointed to a Commission 15/11/1940; Booklet The Guards Division 1914 – 1918, Nominal Roll of Casualties owner’s inscription; The Highway Code 1946 and Driving Licence to Henry E Heale, Kent 1959-1962; Campaign Medals list sheet, address from box cover and paper packets for Mercantile Marine War Medal and British War Medal; Reproduction booklet Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain 1942, Bodlein Library; Soldier’s Service and Pay Book AB64 to ATS Pte Enid Gaterall, 1942; Soldier’s Service and Pay Book AB64 to John W Craven, 1919; Soldier’s Service and Pay Book AB64 to Spr Ronald A Lee, 1945; Soldier’s Service and Pay Book AB64 to Arnold Dutton, 1944. V poor condition, all loose; Sailor’s Pay Book and Identity Book S43A to Norman C Clarke, issued by HMS Queen Elizabeth 20/12/1942.

Lot 1222

Britains Deetail - Collection of British Army Soldiers (approx. 30 total)

Lot 1259

Fourteen Army Guns including Dinky 88mm Gun and Britains plus Dinky Tank Transporter and Dinky, Britains and other Vehicles, plus a Model Fuel Tank

Lot 1267

Collection of Army Vehicles including Dinky - Volkswagon Kof, Recovery Tractor, US Jeep, Britains - Kettenkrad, Kubelwagon, Jeep, SWB Landrover, Scout Cars and Matchbox Missile Launchers (20)

Lot 1288

Collection of 24 Army Artillery Guns including Dinky 88mm Guns and Britains plus Two Canons, etc (approx. 27)

Lot 1296

Six Boxed Collectable Figures including Mars Attack! Supreme Martian Ambassador, Chicken Run Clock, Pirates of the Caribbean Clock and Admiral Norrington, Mega Block Halo and Army Soldiers (6)

Lot 1310

Airfix Kits - approximately 23 Sets including German Paratroopers, 8th Army, D H Mosquito, Waterloo Highland Infantry, Henry VIII, Oliver Cromwell, Corythosauraus plus Lark UFO Lunar Carrier

Lot 1383

Collection of 200 Commando Action & Adventure comics mainly issues within numbers 800-4000 but including a few issue numbers within pre 1000 to include 272 Kelly's Army

Lot 1466

27 Time Line Boxed Pewter Figure and Gameboard Sets including Civil War, Roman Britain, American Civil War, Egyptian Gods, Viking Life, Union Army, House of Tudor, Celtic Life, Anglo-Saxon & Norman, Medieval Knights, etc (27)

Lot 1663

A collection of approximately 114 2000AD comic books to include: John Wagner, Kev Walker, Ben Willsher, Marshall and Cam Kennedy, 'Judge Dredd: Satan's Island', Oxford, Rebellion, 2005. 'From Russia with Love: Nikolai Dante Sends a Message to the Tsar'. 'Judge Dredd: One Man Army'. 'Some Like it Hot': Lobster Random is Back. Aloha'. 'Animal Instincts: Nikolai Dante Gets the Horn'. 'Lady Killer: Mechs & Violence in Synnamon'. 'Power: judge Dredd, Slaine, Nikolai Dante, Robo-Hunter, and much much more'. As well as many others.

Lot 1670

Two repro Action Man figures to include boxed German Fallschirmjager and a German Soldier plus a boxed Cherilea Toys German Army Motorcycle & Side-Car in gd condition with damaged end flap

Lot 1696

Plastic military figures - Collection featuring 15 boxed examples (Airfix x 7 with one sealed & Matchbox x 8) and a quantity of unboxed figures. Lot includes Airfix British Infantry Support Group, German Infantry, Eighth Army, Matchbox 15 Combat Troops British etc

Lot 1717

Four Britains Limited Edition Collectors Models sets of figures to include 5192 Royal Irish Rangers, 5293 The Blues and Royals, 5193 Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and 5391 The United States Army Band of Washington DC. All complete, with certificates and outer packaging.

Lot 26

Boxed Hornby OO gauge R2883 DCC Ready Super Detail EWS Co-Co Diesel Electric Class 60 Locomotive The Territorial Army Centenary

Lot 400

Four boxed 1:50 Corgi D-Day 60th Anniversary military diecast models to include US51011 M4 A3 Sherman US Army, CC60305 Bedford QLD, US60204 Panther and CC60404 M3 White Half Truck all excellent and with certificates

Lot 402

Seven boxed 1:50 ltd edn Corgi Fighting Vehicles to include British Army x 3 (69902, 69901 & 07501), US Army 55601, United States Armed Forces 55101 and German Army x 2 (66501 & 66601) all vg with certificates

Lot 454

Eighteen Lledo Boxed Three Van Sets including 3 x Days Gone, Home Front, Essex Police, Royal Navy, Pearl Harbour, British Army, El Alamein, Pearl Harbour, etc, Lledo Boxed North Yorkshire Moors Railway Two Vehicle Set, Marks & Spencer Days Gone Four Vehicle Set, Lledo Boxed Limited Edition Bryant & May Four Vehicle Set with certificate, Eight Lledo Boxed Souvenir Series View Vans, Two Boxed Lledo Promotional Vans, Boxed Trackside Days Gone and Four further Boxed Lledo Vans (36)

Lot 704

Boxed Britains 1432 Army Covered Lorry 10-Wheel vehicle with driver, some paint wear and cream tyres have lost shape, cover is present, box tatty

Lot 764

Two boxed Dinky Supertoys military vehicles to include 660 Tank Transporter and 622 10-Ton Army Truck, both play worn, boxes tatty)

Lot 784

Three boxed Dinky military vehicles to include 623 Army Covered Wagon, 626 Military Ambulance and 676 Armoured Personnel Carrier, showing some paint wear, boxes tatty but gd overall

Lot 277

A MOUNTED SET OF SEVEN WORLD WAR II MEDALS, (uninscribed) to William Maitland Rain-Little, (Ex Regimental Sergeant Major R.E.M.E. son of Major Rain-Little of the Indian Army), includes The Africa Star, The Italy Star and a medal for Long Service and Good Conduct

Lot 42

PHOTO PORTRAIT OF ARMY OFFICER ON HORSE

Lot 58

WW1 German Army wooden ammunition box

Lot 455

A painted tin trunk inscribed "CPT. D.H Blackwell 86 Benomley Crescent Almondbury Huddersfield England", containing a copy of a photograph of Captain Blackwell, the back inscribed "By the King's Order The Name of Captain D. DM Blackwell Royal Army Service Corps was published in The London Gazette on 23rd May 1946 as mentioned in a despatch for Distinguished Service I am charged to record His Majesty's High Appreciation", "A Compact Guide to Luxor, Thebes" and various other related ephemera, together with a roof rack

Lot 146

A British Army Field Surgeon's Surgical Set,in brass bound mahogany case labelled 'Arnold & Sons London', approximately 43 instruments including amputation saws, amputation knives, trephine, silver tracheotomy tubes and catheters etc, some instruments by Evans and Weiss, all of the same period

Lot 189

 WHITE PATRICK: (1912-1990) Australian Writer, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1973. T.L.S., Patrick White, one page, 4to (folding air mail stationery), Castle Hill, New South Wales, 28th November 1961, to Neville Braybrooke. White thanks his correspondent for having sent a copy of The Idler which he had been very interested to read, remarking 'There are many details which remain with me - particularly the girl with the Camembert cheeks - but I suppose the key scene is most memorable. It reminded me of an occasion in Cyrenaica when I came across a burnt-out tank, somewhere near El Adem, I think. I walked round it, and there, suddenly, was the charred body of a man, caught by one ankle as he tried to escape. He was grimacing horribly, and bent like a bow. There was another scene - near Badia - a number of Italian infantrymen who had been slaughtered by Maoris a couple of days before. At least in their case they looked quite peaceful, lying there in the desert - again a kind of cheese, waxy green'. White concludes by hoping that Braybrooke will continue to write other novels. Together with a second T.L.S., Patrick White, one page, 4to (folding air mail stationery), Castle Hill, New South Wales, 7th December 1961, to Neville Braybrooke. White states that he feels the remarks made in his letter 'are too flabby to repeat in their existing form' and continues to suggest an alternative, 'Neville Braybrooke is the purveyor of a faintly sinister innocence. Many of his scenes linger: the London intellectuals and their not quite sympathetic child with cat; the brief, but memorable appearance of the girl with camembert cheeks; and the key scene of horror in an Army tank', further concluding by remarking 'Looking back, I think that scene in the intellectuals' flat, with child, cat etc. was probably the most successful, and I forgot to mention it when I wrote before'. Also including Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014) South African Writer, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1991. A.N.S., Nadine, on one side of a printed correspondence card, Parktown West, Johannesburg, n.d., to Neville Braybrooke. Beneath a printed statement in which Gordimer thanks the recipient for their interest but regrets that pressure of work means she is unable to respond to a request, the writer has penned a brief note, in full, 'Have juvenilia somewhere about, but no time to search for it. Sorry! Best wishes'. Some light creasing and age wear to White's letters and some heavier creasing and staining to Gordimer's note. FR to G, 3   Neville Braybrooke (1923-2001) English Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic and Publisher.    

Lot 194

LITERATURE: Selection of A.Ls.S. and T.Ls.S. by various literary figures, historians, biographers etc., all to Neville Braybrooke, including Robert Conquest (T.L.S., in part, 'I don't think I have any letters from Ackerley… he liked, and was taking, odd poems of mine for The Listener. I first submitted these when abroad in the Army, through Julian Symons…' 4th October 1971), C.C. Martindale (4), Roger Chance (2), Philip Toynbee (3; one T.L.S., in part, 'Glad to hear about Canetti. He may remember coming to see me years ago in the Isle of Wight… may I say I admired your novel. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but that was clearly not the intention… I wasn't quite happy about the anti-Semitism and its perhaps slightly over-simple explanation' 25th January 1961, and another T.L.S., in part, 'I was sorry not to see you at William Gerhardi's last week, but was grateful to get your encouraging message about Pantaloon' January 12th n.y.), Michael De-la-Noy (T.L.S., in part, 'I hope O Manning progresses. I have a Portrait of Michael Ramsey coming out from Collins in March, if they ever get around to sending it to the printer. They've lost one page of the ms completely! What a life…' 27th November 1989), J. C. Trewin (T.L.S., in part, 'Mrs Margaret Howard was Donat's secretary for a period, and she became General Manager of his company (Fanfare Productions) when it presented Much Ado About Nothing at the Aldwych in October 1946' 16th December 1972), Desmond O'Grady (T.L.S., in part, 'I don't know whether or not you recall me but we had quite a bit of correspondence at the time I was editing the Melbourne literary quarterly "Direction" with Vincent Buckley' 13th February 1962, on the printed stationery of The Bulletin newspaper), Richard Ingrams (A.L.S., to the verso of  Private Eye postcard, 12th December 1991), Chapman Pincher (T.L.S., in part, 'I never thought I would do a religious broadcast. I was invited to do it because of my book Traitors, which was a deep study of the motivations for treachery in its various forms', 13th March 1990) etc., Some minor foxing, creases and age wear, G to about VG, 17 Neville Braybrooke (1923-2001) English Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic and Publisher. 

Lot 232

EDISON THOMAS: (1847-1931) American Inventor of the phonograph and light bulb among many other items. A highly unusual hardback edition of The Boy’s Life of Edison by William H. Meadowcroft, with autobiographical notes by Edison, First Edition published by Harper and Brothers, New York, November 1911, signed by Edison and over 100 other individuals, many of them employees of the Edison Storage Battery Company in New Jersey as well as other famous individuals who visited the company, including Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924, American President 1913-21. Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1919; ink signature on a slightly irregularly clipped card bearing the printed address of The White House, Washington, laid down to the head of the front free endpaper above Edison’s signature), William Meadowcroft (1853-1937, Anglo-American Secretary of Edison), E.S. Charlier (1826-1896, French Educationalist, founder of the Charlier Institute), Charles Steinmetz (1865-1923, German-born American Mathematician and Electrical Engineer), George Palmer Putnam (1887-1950, American Publisher, Author and Explorer, husband of Amelia Earhart), David Binney Putnam (1913-1992, American Aviator, son of George Putnam), Thomas Alva Edison Jr. (1876–1935, American Businessman, first son of Thomas Edison), Charles Edison (1890-1969, American Businessman and Inventor, the third son of Thomas Edison; three ink signatures, one dated 1940 in his capacity as Secretary of the Navy and another on a piece neatly laid down), Theodore Edison (1898-1992, American Businessman, Inventor, and Environmentalist, the fourth son of Thomas Edison), Arthur Walsh (1896-1947, American Politician, whose early career began as a recording violinist for Edison in 1915, and later holding executive positions with the Edison Enterprises), William F. Cody (1846-1917, American Showman, known as Buffalo Bill; A.Q.S., ‘True to friend & foe, W. F. Cody, Buffalo Bill’ and dated 18th December 1911 in his hand), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945, American President 1933-45; dated 14th June 1940 in his hand), Miller Reese Hutchison (1876-1944, American Electrical Engineer and Inventor, associated with Edison from 1909, and chief engineer of Edison's laboratory in West Orange from August 1912 until July 1918), Charles A. Boston (1863-1935, American Lawyer, President of the American Bar Association, 1930-1931), Robert Walsh (1861-1928, American Army Brigadier General), John J. Pershing (1860-1948, American Army General, most famous as the commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) on the Western Front in World War I, 1917-18), Harry Bates Thayer (1858–1936, American Businessman, President of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) 1919-25), George S. Fleming (American Actor and Film Director, hired by the Edison Manufacturing Company in January 1901, just as the new Edison Studios in New York City were opening), George A. Campbell (1870-1954, American Engineer), Laurence Eyre (1881-1959, American Stage Director and Writer), E.E Hudson (Sales Manager, Primary Battery Department), Walter E. Holland (Chief Electrical Engineer), Horace Wilson (Edison Storage Battery Co., Mining Scout and Manager of Darby Mine), H. R. Leist (Edison Storage Battery Co.), A. E. Pratt (Chief Clerk, Edison Storage Battery Co.), F.B. Neely (The Electric Storage Battery Co.), C. J. Welcke (Electric Storage Battery Co.), R.E. Darling (Anderson Electric Car Co.), E.M. Cutting (Manager Edison Storage Battery Supply Co. San Francisco), John A. Trumble (Edison Co. New York), Harry Robinson (Edison Co. New York), Norman R. Speidan (Curator of Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison), J.D. Maxwell (Detroit Electric Car Co.), Bruce Emerson, James Orme and Edgar Orme (Emerson & Orme, Buick dealers), Harvey Robinson (The New York Edison Co.) and many others, some of them American military personnel who served in World War I. The signatures appear on various pages throughout the entire book, some of the pages are multiple signed, and many have added their positions within Edison’s company, or their military ranks, beneath their signatures. The book is signed and inscribed to a fly leaf by Henry Lawrence Davisson, a sales and service manager with the Edison Company, on the occasion of the birth of his first child, ‘The first present to Henry Lawrence Davisson Jr., from his Dad, Dec. 14 – 1911, Thursday, 210 West 4 St., New York, “Dave”’. Together with a second unsigned hardback edition of The Boy’s Life of Edison by Meadowcroft, published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1921. The binding of the First Edition is loose, the spine largely detached and with extensive sellotape repairs, and the inside pages with light age wear, occasional sellotape stains and small tears to the edges etc. FR to about G, 2   Provenance: To celebrate the occasion of the birth of his first son, Henry Lawrence Davisson (affectionately known as ‘Harry’) obtained the present copy of the recently published book and duly circulated it amongst his colleagues at the Edison Storage Battery Company for their signatures. Davisson was also fortunate enough to obtain the signatures of the company’s hierarchy, including Thomas Edison himself, as well as some of the more distinguished visitors to the company over the next three years. Harry joined the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I and, as a Captain in the Engineer Corps and in command of troops, he sailed for France on the USS Tenadores a day after the armistice. It is evident that the book accompanied Harry to France as the signatures of various officers and senior NCOs are also included. Some other signatures were further added to the book over the coming years and an interesting, more detailed history of the book, its previous owners and some of the signatories, as written and researched by the vendor, is included in the lot. A copy of the document is available upon request.  

Lot 150

An interesting Paul Ysart Royal Army Medical Corps paper weight, H. 10cm.

Lot 542

An Australian army bush hat and an Australian barmah collapsible leather hat.

Lot 65

ABBASID, AL-MUSTA‘SIM (640-656h). Dinar, Madinat al-Salam 656h. WEIGHT: 8.37g. REFERENCES: Treasures of Islam 437; Miles, RIC 219. CONDITION: On a slightly ragged flan, some weak striking but almost extremely fine for issue with unit and decade of date extremely clear, excessively rare. THE LAST ABBASID DINAR STRUCK IN BAGHDAD. Al-Musta‘sim became caliph in 640h and proved to be an ineffectual and weak ruler, surrounded by advisers who also disagreed among themselves. Unfortunately for the Islamic world, he was particularly ill-qualified to deal with perhaps the greatest threat the Abbasid caliphate had ever faced: the arrival of the Mongols under Hulagu. Mongol raiding parties had reached parts of Iraq during the early decades of the 7/13th century, on occasion possibly penetrating as far as Baghdad itself. It seems that the caliphs had begun sending annual tribute to the Mongol Great Khan under al-Mustansir (623-640h), but there were still at least occasional Abbasid victories over Mongol raids and early in his reign al-Musta‘sim had felt able to refuse an order from the short-lived Mongol ruler Güyük Khan to leave Baghdad and submit to him personally in Karakorum. But in 655h Möngke, the Great Khan, resolved to establish firm control over several Islamic states, including the Caliphate, and dispatched his brother Hulagu at the head of a huge army to carry out this plan. Although Möngke had no specific plans to overthrow the caliph, he ordered Hulagu to destroy Baghdad and kill al-Musta‘sim if the latter failed to meet his demands: these being personal submission to Hulagu, and agreeing to supply a detachment of troops to fight in the Mongol army. Hulagu left Hamadhan for Baghdad on 10 Ramadan 655h. The city was particularly ill-prepared to resist him, having suffered a major flood during the previous year causing unrest which had proved beyond beyond the caliph’s authority to quell. Nevertheless, on receiving Möngke’s message demanding his surrender, al-Musta‘sim not only refused but did so in a manner which so infuriated Hulagu that he broke off any further negotiations. Even worse, al-Musta‘sim seems to have made little effort to strengthen the city’s defences, nor did he seek aid from the other major Muslim states. He may have believed that they would rush to defend the home of the caliphate without being asked, but it is also possible that his authority was now so weak that they would not have obeyed him in any event. To complicate matters further the caliph’s wazir, Ibn Alqami, certainly downplayed the Mongol threat when advising his master. Whether this was through incompetence, treachery, or both is difficult to say, although Ibn Alqami managed to become governor of Baghdad after al-Musta‘sim’s death. A Shi‘ite, he was rumoured to have colluded with the famous scientist and philosopher al-Tusi, also a Shi‘ite, whom Hulagu had taken prisoner the previous year when he subdued the Isma‘ili fortress of Alamut. Al-Tusi was entrusted with conducting some of the negotiations between Hulagu and al-Musta‘sim, and when these failed gave his Mongol master advice on the most astrologically propitious timing of the final assault. By the last days of 655h Hulagu’s vast army was beginning to encircle Baghdad. Finally showing a degree of initiative, al-Musta‘sim sent out a force of 20,000 cavalry but was comprehensively defeated, with Mongol engineers cutting off their escape by flooding the countryside behind them. A little over two weeks later the siege of Baghdad began on 14 Muharram 656h, with the Mongols using a variety of siege-engines against the city walls. A week later they had already made significant inroads against the city’s defences. Far too late, al-Musta‘sim tried to negotiate. Hulagu refused, and five days later the city surrendered. A week of looting and destruction, described in lurid detail by our historical sources, began on the final day of Muharram. Conservative modern estimates suggest that 100,000 people may have died in the destruction; others place the figure much higher. It was said at the time that the Tigris ran black with the ink from the books thrown into the river, and red from the blood of the slain. Al-Musta‘sim himself was captured alive, and forced to watch the destruction of his city before finally being executed on 14 Safar of that year. One well-known version relates that the caliph was killed rolled in a carpet and trampled to death by horsemen, allegedly because the Mongols considered it a mark of respect to kill a captive without spilling their blood. Another, reported by Marco Polo, claims that the Mongols locked the caliph in a room with the gold he might have used to buy his city’s safety, and left him to die of hunger and thirst. More intriguing, and less well known, is a version which once again features the philosopher al-Tusi. Hulagu, it is said, was excessively superstitious, and had heard from another astrologer that great disasters would come to pass if the Abbasid caliph was killed. Al-Tusi dismissed this as nonsense, and suggested that the caliph be wrapped in a carpet and rolled around the floor until he eventually died. This, he explained, would allow Hulagu to call off the execution if any dread portents should appear. Apparently satisfied by this unconventional piece of experimental philosophy, Hulagu agreed – and the unfortunate al-Musta‘sim duly met his end in this way. Discussing this extremely rare issue in RIC, Miles wrote: ‘I am aware of only one other specimen of this last of ‘Abbasid coins. It must have been struck in the first six weeks of the year, for al-Musta‘sim was put to death and the ‘Abbasid empire brought to an end by the Mongol Hulagu on the 14thof Safar, 656.’ Given the circumstances in Baghdad at the time, however, it seems most unlikely that the mint could have been active during the first two weeks of Safar, and these extremely rare dinars were probably struck during the four weeks of Muharram while the Mongols were camped around the city walls. The present coin is thus an extremely rare survivor of these events, escaping the destruction which befell so much else in the ruin of Baghdad.

Lot 561

British Army: Selection of mostly more modern GB covers in seven volumes including three volumes devoted to the 1983 British Army issue with a variety of special cancels and most with regimental cachets and signed by the commanding officer, two volumes of 2008-09 V.C. Heroes Campaign covers with reproduction medals and another with related signed covers but without 'medals', 1974-75 'Zaire River' Expedition folder and a 'Westminster' folder with GB 2006 Battle of the Somme medallic cover, almost all fine (100+)

Lot 568

Military: Collection in nine volumes, many of which have some sort of connection with the armed forces including two volumes devoted to the 1983 British Army issue with most relevant special cancels and cds types, 1987 Scottish Heraldry with cds incl Bannockburn and Edinburgh, 1994 D-Day including joint French issues, 1976 Christmas with Aldershot and Bielefeld special h/s, 1970 Anniversaries with FPO 142, 251, 965 and 1032 cds, 1988 Armada with Santander cds, almost all fine (200+)

Lot 569

Military: Collection of mostly modern commemorative covers and other ephemera in 21 volume plus loose relating to the Army and RAF including some signed items, also similar material relating to various expeditions, mostly fine (Few Thousands)

Lot 618

Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates: 1902 (April) letter to his mother in England, handwritten in pencil while Oates was recovering from illness in the Heilbron hospital, Orange River Colony, accompanied by original cover which is franked GB QV 1d lilac tied by Army Post Office/S Africa cds for AP 26 02 and a transcript of the letter

Lot 927

Small used selection of QV to KEVIII on pages including 1840 1d black plate 6, fine with four margins, 1841 2d blue good used with 4 margins, odds of QV SP incl 1855-57 1s green and 1867 5s rose used by Hull cds (this typical centring), 6d QV Army Official mint, also 1925 1½d Wembley mint (66)

Lot 935

Officials: Selection of mostly used on album pages including Army Official ½d orange and 1d lilac controls (mint), Admiralty 1903 1d (4), Government Parcels with pairs, blocks, etc. incl 1883-86 9d, 1887-1900 1d (26), 1½d (21), 2d (33) 4½d (6), 6d (10), 9d (3), 1/- green (11) and green and carmine (1), 1902 1d (12), 6d (9), 9d (3) and 1/-. condition mixed

Lot 957

Collection from 1840 to 1951 in SG 'Philatelic' album, mostly used with a good number of better items including 1840 1d and 2d Mulreadys (latter unused), 1840 1d black (14) including one of unused appearance, most three margin or four margins with small faults, 1840 2d blue (6 incl pair), most 2 to 3 margins, one a spacefiller, 1841 2d blue incl vert and horiz strips 3 and two horiz pairs and a two margin example with '6' in mc, 1854-57 SC16 2d plate 5 (2), 1858-76 2d duplicated incl plate 12 (4) and plate 9 with red numeral cancel, 1864-79 1d red incl plate 225 (perfs lightly trimmed), QV SP incl 1855-57 6d (70) incl one on apparently blued paper, 1862-64 9d (2), 1865-67 wmk emblems 9d (2), 1867-80 to 2s incl odd cds example, 1873-80 to 1s incl 1s green plate 13 unused, 1867-83 5s rose (3), 1887-1900 to 1s incl 9d (24) most parcel cancels,1900 1s green and carmine mint block of 4, KEVII lightly duplicated to 1s, also 2s 6d and 5s, a few mint incl SH 1½d, 2d, 6d blocks of 4, 1903 6d Army Official (SG O50) x 42 (most parcel cancels), 1912-24 to 1s excl 9d olive-green mint, 1915 DLR 10s blue cds used, 1918-19 BW 10s cds used block of 4, condition mixed in places (Few Hundreds) (Plate )

Lot 117

A WWI British Red Cross Society Armband marked 'Army Medical Service and dated '22nd July 1917'.

Lot 460

A 19th Century Japanese Earthenware Koro & Cover, skillfully painted with noble-woman in a garden setting and an army of figures, intricately decorated with a tapestry of flowers and geometric design, approx 16 cms, character seal to base.

Lot 179

1 BOX OF ARMY WATERPROOF ETC

Lot 268

Dads Army 12x8 signed B/W photo of the actor Ian Lavender. Arthur Ian Lavender (born 16 February 1946) is an English stage, film and television actor, best known for his role as Private Pike in the BBC comedy series Dad's Army. Following the death of Clive Dunn in 2012, he is the last surviving cast member to have played a character in the platoon and, with Frank Williams, is one of only two surviving major cast members. Good Condition. We combine postage on multiple winning lots and can ship worldwide. UK postage from £3.95, EU from £4.95, Overseas from £6.95

Lot 46

Victorian British Army Shako, with Bedford Light Infantry plate to front, together with case named 'Fr. Chandler Esq.' the case measures 35cm high Condition report: general signs of wear and age to both cap and case. Moth hole to the back, together with two other small holes. Slight distortion overall, blemishes to the peak. The pommel falls out if inverted.

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