If you find a Fez, then it's confirmed!
Did Steve used to appear as if by magic?
If so, then he was definitely the shopkeeper.
* wry smile at the reference.. *
Well I haven't found a fez yet but if I do how do I differentiate between appearing "as if by magic" or "just like that" 😊
I bloody hated that shopkeeper. In my first few years at infants I went home for lunch and could catch a bit of TV. The shopkeeper appearing meant Mr Ben was about to end hence lunch was over and it was back to school.
In the mouse eaten box of books was this.
From what I can put together his father in law served in the 47th London Division in WWI as part of a Vicker's machine gun crew.The handwritten note inside the book appear to be orders about action to be taken in the event of an enemy breakthrough.
I'm not 100% sure yet but from everything I know so far this is him on the left.
This is proper history - what a treasure trove you have in all this, dave!
It is a treasure trove fadda but I have mixed feelings about it. I've photos that go back to the turn of the 20th century, some may be earlier and birth, marriage and death certificates of a similar age as well as all these objects. While I love them and find them fascinating I'm saddened that there is no family for them to go to. Steve and Joan were a couple from some time in the early 50's but didn't get married until 1975 when they were in their 50's and never had children. I don't know why they made that choice but I think both were dedicated to looking after parent's, Steve his mother and Joan I think was very close to her father. I think it wasn't until his mother died that they actually got married.
I wonder if there are local history facilities (probably, but not necessarily museums) that could get some benefit from some of that stuff, and they're likely to treat it with the love and respect it deserves, too...
Retro HiFi this morning, an Ecko record player with Garrard deck
Found under the work bench, unfortunately the mice and the woodworm had got to it before me.
This thread continues to be a highlight of my day.
Typical of Steve, he reluctantly handed in his Lee Enfield but they weren't getting the cleaning kit, it might come in useful for something else.
This thread continues to be a highlight of my day.
Agreed!
That rifle cleaning kit takes me back 40-odd years. I was in the school cadet force, and we had a supply of Lee Enfield .303s stashed away, which were regularly dragged out for parades and drill, and rather more occasionally for actual use. Yes, as 16/17 year olds, we were each given a 1st World War rifle, and let loose on the Wrekin firing range, usually at 200 & 300 yards, to see how many holes we could put in a cardboard target of an advancing 'enemy' soldier. This was in the mid-late '70s. Although I say so myself, I was actually quite a good shot with the thing, despite the fact that loosing off each round pushed my puny 8 stone frame backwards about 12". Then afterwards back at school, we had to clean the gun - and that kit is familiar, particularly the weighted pull-cord and the bristly brush thingy to clean the rifled barrel. Can't recall how the rest of the kit came into the equation now, but it did involve dismantling and removing quite a lot of the firing mechanism in order to access the breech. One part of the photo looks like a sharpening stone, so maybe was for the bayonet?
@thelawman. I have similar memories of my childhood. I was in the Army Cadets and remember using the Lee Enfield with blank ammo on the local training area - without ear defenders!
Next day firing them with live ammo on the local 25m range.
I think I was about 12 at the time.
My ears have not been right since.
Thanks to Steve and Dave I was able to answer the “What country was the first to introduce paper money” question in last night’s zoom quiz. Everyone was going for China, so thought I was mad saying Sweden!
Was a bit difficult to answer when they asked in disbelief how the hell I knew!
@beamers - yep, even the blanks were noisy; we'd do 'field days' and tactical exercises on various training grounds around the country using blanks.
The school also had (still has, for all I know) an indoor 25m range for use with Lee Enfields, but converted down to .22 calibre. I was less successful on that, mainly because the lighting or my eyesight was so poor I couldn't work out where in the black and white picture the machine-gun nest was supposed to be.
You should have sent them a link FB-ATB. I was never a cadet, cubs, scouts then ventures for me but my 6th form had a cadet force and a firing range where I used to fire .22's every week which I used to enjoy. I made up for the small caliber stuff at the MOD where I think the biggest thing we ever set off was 600KG of HE suspended from 2 towers. That made quite a bang!
@avdave2, this guy sounds like a character :), the tunic needs to be conserved if it’s going to last. The Imperial War Museum may well be interested in the military history and possibly some of the family stuff too.
Pd, you’re a git for making me feel old with the Mr Ben reference!
Ah yes, I think the Lee Enfield converted to .22 was called the No.8.
I also remember firing the Bren, live on the range and also with wooden headed blanks. The blank firing barrel had something on the end of it which trapped, and destroyed, the heads.
@Beamers, they’re called bulleted blanks, and were great fun at night! I Lit up 1/2 the training area one night with them.
Another ex ACF member signing in.
I was in the school cadets in the nearly 90’s at the point they swapped our Brens for LSW’s. Resulted in a trip to the range for a couple of us to burn through the last few hundred rounds of .303. Fun afternoon!
Another camping stove this morning.
I'd not had Steve and Joan down as campers and it was only this morning that I think I now know why he had this set. During the week I was taken right back to childhood watching The Crown and the miners strike and the 3 day week. In the box for the lantern was also half a dozen candles and you can tell from there colour they've been in there a long time. It's my guess they he may have bought these back then for power cuts.
That could be useful in the current crisis!
I've got one of those gaz sets it's a fantastic bit of kit all still fully serviceable the box is a windbreak too.
Good tread too
Yes the box is well thought out with the stand for the stove and the door and panel to form a windbreak. The garage was pretty well equipped for all eventualities, tools, weapons, stoves, food and most important of all a 6 pack of toilet roll!
6 pack of toilet roll!
Keeping the best til last, then?
C’mon, we want pictures!!
C’mon, we want pictures!!
Back off FB-ATB, the lady says no
She wasn't in the garage but she did come from his house.
Hold on, you’re telling me a man with a machete, rifles, duelling pistol, sword, cannon shells, truncheon and god knows what else had that in the khazi to hide the bog roll?
Admit it, it’s yours isn’t it!
I imagine alot of the weapons 'migrated' from armouries. Old barracks and manor houses that were commandeered etc must gave loads of old stuff lying around.
Admit it, it’s yours isn’t it!
It is now, and anyone who tries to get it of me will get it up em and they don't like it up em
Google tells me it's a number 5 Mk1. This particular one made by Wilkinson Sword
Presume it went with the Lee Enfield?
I assume it did. It really is a rather nasty thing, guns can be used for target shooting, hunting, pest control or even just shooting at tin cans while knives can have many uses whatever they're designed purpose but this thing has only one use, it doesn't even have much of a useful edge on it and Steve kept every blade in the house sharp. This was was made only for killing other people up close. As I say it's actually a horrible thing.
I know in Rots there was hand to hand fighting between 46 Commando and the 12. S.S. Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend. Whether or not this was ever used I don't know but it would probably have been fitted as the final German troops were cleared from the village on the night of 11th June.
These are manuals from his training and his own handwritten notebook from Commando training at Achnacarry and were all in the mouse eaten box of books
Is the "Machine Gunners Handbook" akin to "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"?
I think it's more an alternative, if the metaphysics of quality don't provide the solution blast the shit out of it with a Vicker's machine gun.
It may have originally belonged to his father in law. It's got the handwritten date of 1917 in it and was published in 1916. I've got some useful tips on sniping from his notes though, for example be careful of things like mist or lose sand around your firing position as the escaping gas from the rifle is enough to disturb them and give your position away.
Mind you I've seen the films so I already know the snipers always in the church tower
For anyone who might be wondering where I can put all his stuff well Steve had that covered. One of my favourite things in the garage was this.
That's a lovely cupboard, are you going to restore it?
And what are you going to do with the military stuff, I don't know if the IWM or similar would be interested?
Agree, the cup board's lovely - complete with appropriate sticker, too!
What's the vertical slot between the bottom doors?
What’s the vertical slot between the bottom doors
It's an arrowslit.
Slits at top and bottom are likely to be for ventilation; I would guess cupboard was originally intended for food storage.
Slits at top and bottom are likely to be for ventilation; I would guess cupboard was originally intended for food storage.
Yes. That's a 1950s kitchenette. Pre home fridges. When I was a kid you would always find them repurposed as tool cupboards in somebody's dad's garage.
May be worth a bit now as retro-chique
@mogrim When we are through all this I'll look for a home for it all. I believe there is still a small museum in Rots where I would really like it to go if they want it and can keep it all together. Steve was made a citizen of honour by the commune when he returned there a couple of years ago and he was very proud of his Légion d'Honneur. It's hard for us to realise just how much the liberation meant to the local population and their enduring appreciation and gratitude for those who risked and gave their lives to achieve it. It would be nice for these things to be back there where they really mean something to the local community.
@fadda the slot is a grill for ventilation, I expect at the time this was made fridges were not found in many kitchens.
This may have been in the garage when Steve and Joan moved in. They didn't move there until 1982 and by then the house had a fitted kitchen.They could have brought it with them or it might have been left by Nellie and Bill who lived there before. Funnily enough I have many of Steve's things in my downstairs loo where I also have a whole shelf of books in the form of bound part works from the early 20th century which belonged to Bill and which Nellie gave me when he died. I've had them for nearly 40 years and now they have been joined by stuff from the same house. I hope whoever ends up living there realises they are only looking after their possessions for me 😊
Another map this morning. Probably a little rarer than the 1" maps he had, this is a German one of Caen from 1941 and I don't think he bought it in a shop.
And Steve being Steve he was always going to find another use for it, in this case he seems to have been calculating his pay on the back of it.
Strange, seen plenty of maps & related objects in museums and they're just that- an object that had a purpose. Seeing the notes written on the map actually brings home the fact they were used by real people.
