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A Career Navy Birchall in WW1 & WW2

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , , , on November 11, 2017 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis orphaned British War Medal is impressed to K6690 F.BURCHELL L.STO R.N. Luckily today is Remembrance Day, so the Ancestry military records are free. He was hard to track down because the naming of the medal is in error. It belonged to George Victor Burchell, born in Preston in 1896. He joined the Royal Navy as a boy of 12. He served in both WW1 and WW2, however, all of his service post WW1 was on shore stations like HMS Defiance and HMS Vivid. He had postings on HMS Eagle both in 1918 as well as the next Eagle in the mid 30’s. His trade was listed as jeweller/watchmaker and since most of his berths were at torpedo training establishments, I think he most likely serviced the mechanisms in torpedoes. His rank on the medal was Leading Stoker, his final rank in 1942 was Leading Petty Officer.

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A Reunited Orphan Birchall

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , on September 19, 2017 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis single is a WW1 Victory Medal belonging to William Birchall. It is impressed to 20177 Pte. W. Birchall Essex R. William deployed to the Balkans on the 19th of September 1915. He was discharged on the 30th of March 1917 under category 16, “No longer fit for war service”, in this case because of wounds. William was also entitled to the Silver Wound Badge 152379.

What is fantastic about this humble medal is that I already had his 1914-15 Star from back in 2013 so getting these back together is very satisfying. I am still missing the BWM but my search goes on.

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A Birchall Driver in the ASC

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , on August 4, 2017 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis lonely little Victory medal was awarded to Thomas Birchall, 2529, a Driver in the Army Service Corps in WW1. I can’t find much on him but I can see by his entitlement card that he was awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal in 1920. Both this and his British War medal are lost to time unfortunately.

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A Self-Award For A Victorian Birchall

Posted in 1850-1900 Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , , on July 19, 2017 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomHere’s an odd one. We have our share of military imposters today, slipping into a uniform and slapping on a bunch of undeserved medals in order to gain the eye of the ladies. They call them “Walts”, after the deluded central character in the 1939 book, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”.

Now it appears I have one from the 19th Century. This medal, a Crimean Medal with Sebastopol, Inkermann and Balaklava bars is inscribed to Captain Basil Herne Harper Birchill 1854-5-6. Researching Basil tells me that he was a member of the minor gentry from Middlesex. His surname was Diprose at birth but he was able to change his name to Birchall upon the death of Lt Col. Herne Harper Burchell in 1858 (probably due to either a remarriage of his mother or an illegitimate issue). He did indeed serve in one of the County militia, the Royal Bucks. However as far as I can see he never made it to the Crimea. I see a record of him  connected to the British Italian Legion which replaced British troops in garrison on Malta during the Crimean War. And he seemed to be busy in organisations like the Cinque Ports Corps (basically a bunch of rifle clubs) and the Royal Geographical Society. However I sincerely doubt that he left Britain and this medal is a self award. Pompous little classist pommie prick. I would say I’d plant my boot into his nuts if I met him today.

 

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Western Front Group to a Birchall

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , on May 13, 2017 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomA pretty common trio to a English soldier on the Western Front. The group is named variously to PTE. or L/CPL J.BURCHELL 3553 R.LANC.R. John Burchell entered France on the 6th of October 1915 and is therefore entitled to the 1914-15 Star. He doesn’t show up on the CWGC website so it appears he made it through alive.

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A Birchall In Victorian Egypt

Posted in 1850-1900 Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , , on April 15, 2017 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomA nice tidy Anglo-Egyptian War group belonging to one of the Birchall/Burchell/Birchell’s out there. This one is impressed to H.T.BURCHELL PTE. R.M.L.I. Harry Thomas Burchell (No 2473) enlisted in the Chatham Division of the Royal Marines on June 11th 1883. He served until discharged on 6th November, 1894. The Egypt medal has bars for Suakin (1st March to 14th May, 1885) and Tofrek (22nd March 1885). I have another Birchall from the same campaign here.

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A Birchall in the Malaya Campaign

Posted in 1945 + Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , on April 14, 2017 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomIn my never-ending quest to find all the Birchall or similar named groups and singles on the internets, there is this example in the post this week. Named to 23416889 SIGMN.J.I.BIRCHELL R.SIGS., it is a EIIR General Service Medal with a bar for the Malayan campaign against the communist insurgency. This post-colonial bush war ran from 1948 to 1960 and was one of the few successful attempts to keep the communists out of S.E.Asia.

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A Birchall with Talent in WW1

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , on October 16, 2016 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomInteresting partial group here. These two medals are part of a group belonging to Arthur H. Birchall, 2596. He was enlisted in 1915 as a Lance Corporal in the Durham Light Infantry and ended the war as a Lieutenant Colonel in the same regiment. His BWM and MC are lost to time. Something that is also interesting here is that another partial group of his, sans MC, recently went through the DNW auction house before being snapped up and relisted on EBay at an exorbitant markup.

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British WW1 Trench Whistle

Posted in Field Gear, Musical Instruments with tags , , on July 20, 2016 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomA simple, yet evocative item. This is a 1916 dated British officer’s trench whistle. I deliberately looked for a 1916 date because the centenary of the Battle of the Somme passed this month. The whistle was manufactured by D’Courcy & Co from Birmingham.

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Lancashire Fusiliers go “over the top”, first day of the Somme, July 1st 1916.

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Japanese Surrender Documents

Posted in Paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2016 by The Dude

Flag_of_Japan.svgThis booklet, dating from 1946, is a facsimile of the surrender documents signed on the USS Missouri, in Tokyo Bay, on the 2nd September 1945. These were produced by the National Archives in the US for distribution to institutions and individuals in education. I have the German ones here.


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A Birchall Valour Group from the Hundred Days Offensive

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, 1939-1945 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles, Rare Medals, Valour Medals with tags , , , , , on December 9, 2015 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomHere’s a great group coming from my never-ending search for medals impressed to my surname. In this case its a WW1 Military Medal group combined with a WW2 service medal group, named to J.E.Birchall 91004, The Kings (Liverpool) Regt.

It came with a little certificate from his commanding General commending his “…skilful use of his Lewis Gun section during operations against Evillers and Mory Copse on the 23rd and 24th of August 1918”.

The village of Evillers was completely destroyed during this offensive. John Eric Birchall later served in WW2, as evidenced by his Defence Medal and War Medal. This service was as a Lieutenant in the Home Guard. Given his age, it was probably his MM that got him that rank.

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Nachrichten Für Die Truppe Propaganda Newspaper

Posted in Paper, Propaganda Items with tags , , on September 5, 2015 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_StatesThis is the 12th of April 1945 edition of “Nachrichten Für Die Truppe”. This was a German language newspaper craeted by the Allies and dropped by bomber over the troop lines. It combined real news about Allied successes with unverifiable gossip about the Nazi leadership. Classed as grey propaganda since the Allies never owned up to producing it and the German soldier was under no doubts about who did write it. It was very popular with German soldiers. The newspaper was produced from April 1944 until the end of the war. Interestingly enough the Germans themselves printed their versions of this in order to combat it.

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A Birchall Sapper in WW1

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , on September 5, 2015 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis small group is impressed to 8518 SPR W.T. BIRCHALL RE. William Birchall served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers. This means he spent a lot of time on trench improvements and likely served close to or at the front. He doesn’t appear on the CWGC website so he survived. The group came with the owners miniatures which is a nice touch since I often find these things as lonely orphans.

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A Birchall in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , on August 24, 2015 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomA modest medal, unfortunately an orphan. This medal is impressed to 8846 PVT A. BURCHELL R.W.FUS. Albert Burchell served in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and later in The Welsh Regiment. I haven’t been able to find any more information about this man. No attestation papers. But since he doesn’t appear on the CWGC site, it appears he survived the Great War.

Update: From a friend on another site a little more about Albert
Albert Burchell
Rank: Private
Medal Awarded: British War Medal and Victory Medal
Regiment or Corps: Welsh Regiment Regimental Number: 267026 Sub Unit: 1/6th Battalion
Previous Units: 8846. R.W. Fus. Pte. Infantry Base Depot., Att. 6th Welch R., 15632. 6th Welch R., 267026. 6th Welch R., Welch R. Infantry Base Depot., 8th Welch R., Att. 37th Div Cyclists, 8th Welch R.

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Another WW1 Birchall in the Merchant Navy

Posted in Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , on May 3, 2015 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis is a pretty humble medal that has had a hard life. This is the WW1 British War Medal, impressed to Frederick W. Birchall. Because of the lack of a unit or service number I suspected this was a merchant seaman award. 10 minutes on the British Archives and here he is. Frederick was born in 1871 in Liverpool and would therefore have been 43 when war broke out. His medals were forwarded to the Merchant Marine Office in Canning Place, Liverpool. He was also awarded the Merchantile War Medal, since lost to time. The War Medal here has the neck of its suspender broken as well as bad edge knocking and bruising. It probably sat in someones junk drawer for a few decades.

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British Air Ministry Medal Chit

Posted in Paper with tags , , on January 17, 2015 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis is a slip that would have accompanied an airman’s issue of medals at the end of WW2. This was actually supplied along with an Air Crew Europe Star that I acquired, however the medal turned out to be a restrike. I kept the slip since it was authentic and I didn’t have another example.

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Anti-Hitler Propaganda Pot

Posted in Propaganda Items with tags , , , on December 14, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomFieldings of Staffordshire put out a very successful run of propaganda items in the opening months of the war. These included small “po’s” that mocked the Axis leadership. Of course there were imitators that got onto the market, hoping to take advantage of the demand that Fieldings created. These imitators are generally lower in quality than the Fieldings ones. Here is an example. It simply says “Adolf in Poland” on the outside and has a caricature of the guy inside.

More googling tells me that these were made by Lancaster Ltd. in  Hanley, England during 1939-1940.

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Anti-Goering Propaganda Pot

Posted in Propaganda Items with tags , , , , , on December 14, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis is the fifth in a series of faux chamber pots put out by Fieldings of Staffordshire, England. On the front it says ‘Jerry No 2”. On the rear it says “Flip your ashes on Old Piggy″ and “Violation of Poland. Inside is a cartoon image of Goering. The design is a tongue in cheek one executed by the outstanding designer Enoch Boulton. These pots were viewed as being a little bad taste at the time, especially the ultra-rare large one that rotated on a wooden base and played “Rule Britannia”. Funnily enough I never realised that this one existed. An internet guy emailed me looking to buy my Mussolini and he ended up selling me the Goering one.

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Anti-Hitler Matchbox Cover

Posted in Propaganda Items with tags , , on June 4, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomBritish-made, celluloid-covered metal cover designed to hold a box of wooden matches. Front shows hand with thumb and fingers labeled “China/Britain/America/Russia/Free French” squeezing Hitler’s neck. The one side panel of the piece reads “The Greatest Enemy In History Against Humanity Is At Last In The Allies Grip.” The back of the piece has verse “Mussolini’s Note To Hitler/Why Oh! Why, Must I Die, All Through You, Oh! The Pity Of It All. With One Sharp Twist/Of That Wrist,/We’ll Both Be Through/I’m Sure We’re Heading For A Fall/Yours Broken-Heartedly,/Mussolini.”

Such fun!

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British Propaganda Children’s Parody Book

Posted in Propaganda Items with tags , , on June 4, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomHere’s a fun little item. This is a Daily Sketch parody of the well-known German children’s book, Struwwelpeter. Der Struwwelpeter is a German children’s book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehaviour in an exaggerated way.

In this version, printed in 1941 or before judging from the content, the writers parody Hitler, Stalin and Germans in general. Struwwelhitler: A Nazi Story Book by Dr. Schrecklichkeit was written by Robert & Philip Spence to benefit the War Relief Fund of the Daily Sketch, a now-defunct conservative British tabloid.

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Fieldings Anti-Hitler Ashtray

Posted in Propaganda Items with tags , , , on June 3, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis is the rarest of the propaganda items put out by Fieldings of Staffordshire, England in 1940 to take advantage of the, then recent, “Violation of Poland” by Hitler’s armies. On the top it says “Caught In The Allies Web” while down below says “Drop Your Ashes On Old Nasty”. Inside is a cartoon image of Hitler, probably by David Low, a prominent political cartoonist of the period. The design is a tongue in cheek one executed by the outstanding designer Enoch Boulton. These items were viewed as being a little bad taste at the time, especially the faux chamber pots.

These ash trays are very hard to find in good condition. This one took me three years to find.

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A Birchall Lost in the Battle Over Berlin

Posted in 1939-1945 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , , , , on April 18, 2014 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis small group belongs to 1076673 Eric Birchall, Sergeant, RAFVR. Eric flew on Lancasters of 44 Squadron and was killed in action on December 24th 1943. Eric was a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. He trained in 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit and was posted to 44 Squadron on 12th August 1943. He flew 13 sorties including two to Berlin, two to Hannover and one to Munich. On his 14th sortie, again to Berlin, he was part of group of 379 aircraft, mainly Lancasters. They took off at 0034hrs on the 24th and had a troublefree outer leg due to bad weather. His aircraft was en route home to Dunholme Lodge when it was attacked by a night fighter at 0315 hours and set on fire. It was observed to crash 30 miles NE of Limburg. The entire crew was killed. Eric is buried in the Hannover War Cemetery along with the rest of his crew.

 

 

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A Birchall from the East Lancashire Regiment

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , on December 23, 2013 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomHere’s another very ordinary Birchall. In this case it’s Albert Birchall, Private, 38249. He served originally in the East Lancashire Regiment and later in the North Lancashire Regiment. His medal card shows an entry for the Silver Wound Badge.
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A WW1 Single to a Birchall from the South Lancashire Regiment

Posted in 1914-1918 Service Medals, Family Groups & Singles with tags , , on December 1, 2013 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomHere’s a lonely single to Private Jonathan J. Birchall of the South Lancashire Regiment (No 39159). John Joseph Birchall was born in Salford in 1885 and appears in the 1911 census as single, living with his Mum Elizabeth and working as a general labourer. The census has their address as 16 Anderson St, Salford. This house and street no longer exist as they were flattened during the Blitz in WW2 and never rebuilt.

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Full Size British Propaganda Chamber Pot

Posted in Propaganda Items with tags , , , on October 27, 2013 by The Dude

Flag_of_the_United_KingdomThis is another one of a series of faux chamber pots put out by Fieldings of Staffordshire, England early in 1939 to take advantage of the, then recent, “Violation of Poland” by Hitler’s armies. This is the largest one I have seen, I include one of the more usual examples beside it to compare.

Inside is a cartoon image of Hitler, this one is by David Low, the cartoonist responsible for the Hitler caricatures on the other pots. The design is a tongue in cheek one executed by the outstanding designer Enoch Boulton. They got some stick for these pots as they were plainly chamber pots and they were accused of poor taste.

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