Surrey RASC MT
 

I mentioned this a while ago but now have it back in my possession to show photos. At first sight it is a rather ordinary run of the mill cigarette case. On opening it is silver with a full hallmark and a second half hallmark.
Birmingham 1917-18
Then there is the inscription. I actually bought it because of the inscription that identifies it as not being quite so 'run-of-the-mill'

Presented by Capt Goodsir
to
Private S E H Foyle
Surrey RASC MT

Stewart Ernest Harry Foyle. Born Kensington 13th August 1899. Married Florence D Sibery 1928. Shown on the 1939 Register as living in Croydon and working as a Lorry Driver for the Co Op bread distributors. He died in 1966 age 67. There is no medal index card for him so it seems unlikely that he served overseas during the Great War.

Thank you. He would have been on the cusp of going overseas or not. My uncle Charles, born 1898, did go the France in April 1918 and managed to see out the end of the conflict.
Pte Foyle doubtless did much mundane but essential transport work.

He certainly could have served in Germany in 1919 but would have had no medal entitlement.

Unlike the poor German lads of 1900 who were called up and killed in vast numbers in the last 100 days.

I rather like it as it is a rare unit and often overlooked.
I paid £35 to save it from the scrappers

You did well and thank you for saving it. I often do the same, there is a bloke at the local antique market who buys old pewter tankards for scrap, he lets me look through his scrap box for any that I think are worth saving.

My latest purchase from him is a glass bottom tankard, without the glass, that is engraved with the badge of the Inns of Court O.T.C. It reads: Inns of Court O.T.C. Prize for Recruits. 1922. Squadron. Won by E.M. Brandebourg.

Surprisingly, Eric M Brandebourg served in both the Machine Gun Corps and the Hampshire Regiment during the Great War.

Being called Brandebourg would have been tricky during WWI.
I am always curious about those territorials, whether WW1 or WW2 who carried on with the colours after the conflict was over.
I wonder what went through their minds when it was remembrance day or when they heard gun fire.

Well worth the £5 paid to save it from the melting pot. It will probably cost five times that to have the glass replaced though.

I have often thought the same about the regular soldiers who stayed in the Army after serving in either of the two World Wars. So many of them must have been affected by all they had seen and been through and yet continued to serve their country. Poor pay and an indifferent nation is hardly a great incentive.

And my similar pewter pot. COst a bit more but I was in 41 Signal Squadron as a 17/18 year old

It is very unusual in having two handles. Is it a tobacco jar or a tankard?

It would be tricky to drink from!
It maybe for baccy or just 'a jar' of decorative purpose