This web site describes the militaria objects that I have acquired over the years with the main emphasis being on British Army equipment that includes firearms, helmets and swords. Although I am fascinated by militaria, the closest I came to being in the UK armed services was being a Royal Marine cadet while still at secondary school in Birmingham in the 1960’s. I attended TS Vernon based in Gas Street in the centre of the city (now relocated to Edgbaston Reservoir) with the barracks backing on to the Gas Street canal basin. Most of the parading was done on the towpath.
Unlike most cadets, I actually enjoyed applying blanco to whiten the belts we wore with the dress uniform and I enjoyed cleaning and polishing boots. One of the things I remember well about TS Vernon at the time was the large racks of Lee Enfield rifles stacked on site all marked DP (Drill Pattern) in large letters on the butts. Even at that age I must have known quite a bit about military arms because I remember being very disappointed when getting ready for our first camp on Cannock Chase when we were handed our Lee Enfield No. 4 rifles. For some reason, I was hoping to get an SMLE (Lee Enfield No. 1 rifle) but all I got was this much less attractive looking weapon with a ridiculous spike bayonet! I wanted one with an 17″ sword bayonet!
Instead of joining the Royal Marines, I eventually went off to university but I have always had a passion for anything military since. This includes the study of military campaigns especially during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and an interest in all small arms, military vehicles (both armoured and unarmoured), and military kit. I have therefore collected a considerably library of books on all aspects of the military and have also collected a large amount of small arms and certain items of military kit, mainly British.
The main purpose of this web site is to describe my collection of militaria and to provide a short history for each object. I do not intend this to be a definitive guide to the various objects and have attempted to describe just the basic features.
