MILITARY MEDALS & MILITARY RELATED ITEMS circa 1800 to recent. 

With a particular emphasis on naval history related items.

TO PLACE AN ORDER:

Reserve your items by sending an email to  oldcoins@senet.com.au or telephone, Midday to 6pm AEST - Monday to Friday, 08 81653446 to confirm your purchase.

 If necessary, leave a phone message and a time to call and you will be answered.   

GEORGE III, Boulton's Trafalgar Medal, 1805, in white metal (48mm), by C.H.K(uchler), reverse inscribed, 'W.Malkinson/H.M.S Polyphemus' (BHM 584, Eimer 960). In a case and fitted with a wide ring mount with glass cover on obverse and reverse, the mount fitted with a loop and bar suspender with blue ribbon fitted, fine, Ex Fred Scarffe Collection.

SD313 Landsman William Malkinson HMS Polyphemus is confirmed as serving during the Battle of Trafalgar. He was born in 1767 at Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, and the next ship he served onboard was the HMS Leyden. He was perhaps the son of John Malkinson (1737-1822) and Bridgett Trout (1740-1825) 

Boer War Coinage & Medalet.  Includes South Africa silver 1897 3d & 6d plus 1892 shilling, GB 1899 penny, 1900 Halfpenny, 1901 Farthing, plus South Australia Boer War Peace Medalet. 7 items in group.

GB 1905 Nelson Token.  100th Anniversary of Trafalgar. 18mm. Made from original copper from HMS Victory, something usually in stock, VF or better, similar to photos.

James Albert Fitzroy Ratcliffe, motor mechanic, age 20, born at North Brisbane, Qld; Enl.20Jul1915 at Brisbane, Qld, with 2 years service in Senior Cadets and 2 years in AAMC CMF; Emb.16Aug1915; TOS 2AGA; to AMTS 01Oct1915; to 2AGH 26Mar1916; to L/Cpl 14Dec1916, France; TOS 1DSC 17Jan1917; to hospital with VD 02Jul-08Aug1917; TOS 1ADMT Coy 12Mar1918; to Cpl 14Jan1919; RTA 20May1919; Disch.04Sep1919. With part copy of Service File.

BRITISH KGV Period POLICE MEDAL. 

Harry A Moat. gVF, with ribbon.

Click small photo to see larger photo.

World War 2 & later items.      

Nazi Germany WW2.

War Bonds, A4 size, colourful, original, three different to choose from, $20 each.

 Click small photo to see larger photo.

GB/Commonwealth Medals & Militaria, WW2, most are originals unless noted in the description.

Part

of

the

song

"Dust"

By

Redgum

My brother played the ponies,

a breaker by his trade.

Sailed for Cairo in '41, 

with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade.

Rode the winds of fortune, 

cast his life in a two-up game.

I carry his coins, they were in his hat,

from Tobruk to El Alemain.

His bones lie out at Sandgate, 

where the waste creeks meet the sea.

There's gutted cars and salvage yards,

where Brumbies once ran free.

GB/Australia. WW2 1939-45 Original Medal,  a few minor marks, un-named, with ribbon, similar to photo. 

GB/Australia. WW2 Defence Medal,  a few minor marks, with ribbon, un-named, similar to photos. 

WW2 AIR CREW EUROPE.

Modern Copy of a scarce award, original worth $100s.

GB. WW2 period original Naval reserve Long Service Medal.

Silver, 35mm diameter. Name erased. Complete with ribbon, toned, scarce.

GB. WW2 Long Range Desert Group badge. 32mm. Modern copy, original very scarce.

New Zealand WW2.  New Zealand Armoured Corps Badge, approx 40mm. Excellent condition and scarce, similar to photo.

Interesting Bits and Pieces.  Old Australian badges, etc, mostly 1930s-1960s period, incl Miniature WW1 Service medal, Comforts Fund badges, War Veterans Home Appeal, KGVI Lapel badge, 5 KA smilers Club, Dog House club, etc. Approx 30 items, many military related.

Book - Propaganda Postcards of WW2.  By Ron Menchine, Krause Publication, 2000. Softback, over 150 pages. Describes 100's of postcards, from USA, Britain, Germany etc, many priced, profuse illustrations.

Nigeria. 1966-70 National Service medal.  Un-named, with ribbon, near as made.

Nigeria. 1967 Defence Service medal.  Un-named, with ribbon, near as made.

The Tragedy of HMS Glorious, June 8th 1940.   

This plastic model of HMAS Sydney is to scale, 1 inch = 50 foot and is nearly one foot (12'') long.

It shows the Sydney as she appeared in 1939, with 8 x 6 inch guns, 4 x 4 inch AA guns, 12 x .5 inch machine guns, eight 21 inch torpedo tubes, three searchlights, pole masts, fire control directors, ship's boats, carley floats, crane, catapult and one Seagull Mk V seaplane. 

This scale model has been built by me from parts from several different 1/600th Airfix model kits...

No commercially produced 1/600 scale model kit of HMAS Sydney has ever been offered for sale...

Above: Only physical evidence so far found of  HMAS Sydney, a damaged Carley float.

Above-wartime photo of the Sydney, below is 
a peactime photo.

Below is a line drawing of the Sydney design, minus the aircraft & catapult.

Above: The Kormoran.

What happened to HMAS Sydney?   

HMAS Sydney, the second Australian cruiser to be so named, was a "Modified Leander" class cruiser. She was originally named HMS Phaeton, but transferred on completion to the RAN in the mid 1930's and re-named HMAS Sydney. She differed from the Leander class in being fitted with unit machinery. This meant that she had two funnels instead of one. Unit machinery was fitted to separate the boiler rooms, so the ship could not be completely disabled by any single hit.  The two funnels also gave the ship a remarkably handsome, symmetrical appearance.  Australia had three modified "Leander" class cruisers. Two, Sydney & Perth, were sunk during World War II with very heavy loss of life..

HMAS Sydney was 555 feet long, with a beam of 56.8 feet. She weighed over 7000 tons fully loaded, but was still very fast, and could make 32 knots (about 60 kilometers per hour). Her main armament consisted of eight six-inch (152mm) guns. She also carried four single 4 inch (100mm) 12 x 0.5 inch anti-aircraft guns, torpedo tubes and a seaplane.  Her range was about 6000 miles and she was designed to scout for the the fleet and protect convoys. 

HMAS Sydney had a short but busy and distinguished service career, the highlight being the sinking of the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni  in the Mediterranean in 1940.  However, on November 19, 1941, she was ambushed and sunk  by the German raider  Kormoran, in the Indian Ocean about 150 miles off Western Australia. 

Sydney's captain, Joseph  Burnett, had taken command of the cruiser in May, 1941. He was considered an officer of great experience and professional achievement.  However, Burnett fatally erred by approaching an unknown ship too closely on November 19, 1941, in an area where it was known German raiders were operating. 

Why Burnett waited to get within about 1500 yard (point-blank in naval terms) before asking for the other ship's secret call sign, a ship that was NOT listed on his plot, remains a mystery, as all 645 officers and men went down with the Sydney.  Why also, did Burnett not send his scouting aircraft to inspect the ship from a safe distance, particularly as she was giving garbled replies to his messages?  Also, Sydney was not properly "closed up" ready for action. True, her six inch turrents were manned, but most of her light guns were not and the Germans could see many men lounging about on the cruiser's deck.  The most charitable thing one can say for Burnett was that he was totally fooled by the German's disguise...In his defence, Kormoran bore a remarkable similarity to the ship she claimed to be, the Dutch merchant ship Straat Malakka and HMAS Sydney had experienced false raider sitings previously, also, it is easy to fight the battle on Monday morning, or in hindsight.

The German raider could not reply to Sydney's request for Straat Malakka's secret call sign, and her confusing messages had done their job of enticing the Australian ship in to point blank range.  Kormoran hoisted her German Navy colours and opened fire at close range. A hail of 5.9 inch and 37mm fire swept the Australian ship, killing many men and putting the bridge and fire control out of action.  Due to damaged fire-control systems, most of Sydney's return gunfire missed the German raider, but hits were scored and the Kormoran's engine room set afire. 

The ships drifted out of range after about 30 minutes of hectic action. Both were mortally wounded. The Kormoran's fire fighting gear had been destroyed so the crew had no choice but to abandon ship before the fire reached the ship's store of mines, which blew her apart.  They set to the boats, over 300 were later rescued. The Sydney was never seen again.  She had sustained devastating damage, much worse than Kormoran, and it is safe to assume that she sunk during the late evening of the 19th November 1941.  The only piece of HMAS Sydney ever recovered was a badly damaged Carley float, found eight days after the action and now on display in the Australian War Museum in Canberra..

Since that fateful day, many mysteries remain unanswered, and some people have tried to suggest a Japanese submarine was involved in the final disappearance of HMAS Sydney or some of her crew.. The evidence to support this is flimsy. The cruiser had taken numerous large calibre shell hits and at least one torpedo hit in the action. It is doubtful she survived long after the Kormoran lost sight of her, about 10 pm.  All her boats and rafts had almost certainly been smashed from the amount of gunfire she had received. Japan, although nearly ready for war, had not attacked yet. Her carrier forces were soon to strike Pearl Harbour in a surprise attack, so why potentially ruin that by attacking a single ship, or risk discovery, 18 days before?

HMAS Sydney was a victim of the fortunes of war, and unfortunately it appears, to incompetent leadership. She was a more powerful and faster ship than her final adversary, but the Kormoran had the vital element of surprise. Both ships remain forever off the WA  coast, a silent memorial to 725 brave men, both Australian and German, who gave their lives in service of their country. Lest we forget.