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  #31  
Old 23-11-15, 07:16 PM
Artynut Artynut is offline
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I bought "Owen's" book many years ago and was stunned at the photo's and information in it. It arrived from S.A., extremely well packaged and the total price plus S.&H. was very much less than many other books of this type. I remember it arrived, I opened it and was so engrossed in it's size and complexity that I was late for my afternoon shift. Years after, I was informed that Mr. Owen did not take too kindly to opposing advise from at least two respected collectors when he was preparing the book and thus it seems others have seen mistakes and omissions. For me though, it's the best book I could find re South African badges and I would suspect his numbering system is very well used. Regards, David J.
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  #32  
Old 23-11-15, 08:01 PM
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Loski Loski is offline
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I’m sure that there are mistakes in all reference books I have copies of
Signs of the Times by Dudley Wall available by contacting him
Service before Self M P Radford not in print
Military Badges of South Africa & Rhodesia from 1850 to date (1970) by Colin Owen not in print
Badges and Insignia of the Rhodesian security forces 1890 to 1980 by A J Arniel. not in print
And I'm sure if you look hard enough there are mistakes in all of them, we of the collecting fraternity are all human none of us knows everything about their chosen field .
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  #33  
Old 24-11-15, 08:34 AM
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Brian Conyngham Brian Conyngham is offline
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Guys

For me personally a good reference book on badges must have the reverse view BUT I concur with the view that that will open a can of worms regards faking.

The one big plus about Owens is that the pictures are the exact size as the badges they represent, a nice feature. It goes without saying that there are a number of mistakes, some are basic and these are now taken as gospel. One that has always bugged me is the shoulder title S.A.T.C. clearly the SA Tank Corps WW2, however Mr Owen called it the SA Trades Company WW1! There was no such unit, it was the SA Miscellaneous Trades Company and hence would have been the S.A.M.T.C.

Yes, many views about all reference books on militaria in general. As many of you know I have been plodding along with a work on the Memorial Plaque issues for South Africans and it is just the point that, when is enough...enough? I have come close to deciding I have all there is to find and then along comes a few more examples of relevant paperwork etc and I hold back waiting for more.

Brian
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  #34  
Old 24-11-15, 09:23 AM
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Traist Traist is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Conyngham View Post
Guys

For me personally a good reference book on badges must have the reverse view BUT I concur with the view that that will open a can of worms regards faking.

The one big plus about Owens is that the pictures are the exact size as the badges they represent, a nice feature. It goes without saying that there are a number of mistakes, some are basic and these are now taken as gospel. One that has always bugged me is the shoulder title S.A.T.C. clearly the SA Tank Corps WW2, however Mr Owen called it the SA Trades Company WW1! There was no such unit, it was the SA Miscellaneous Trades Company and hence would have been the S.A.M.T.C.

Yes, many views about all reference books on militaria in general. As many of you know I have been plodding along with a work on the Memorial Plaque issues for South Africans and it is just the point that, when is enough...enough? I have come close to deciding I have all there is to find and then along comes a few more examples of relevant paperwork etc and I hold back waiting for more.

Brian
Hi Brian, trust me, you need to draw a line. There will always be more, and the day you print it, you will find mistakes. It will irritate the hell out of you, but that is life. You will also, after printing, find conflicting "evidence" to what you had before and then you will also find items you never knew existed. So the bottom line is you have say "today I surrender my work" and know that it was the very best you could do, otherwise you will be dead and buried and it will still be incomplete and unpublished. Regards Andrew
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  #35  
Old 24-11-15, 10:01 AM
Alex Rice Alex Rice is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Traist View Post
Hi Brian, trust me, you need to draw a line. There will always be more, and the day you print it, you will find mistakes. It will irritate the hell out of you, but that is life. You will also, after printing, find conflicting "evidence" to what you had before and then you will also find items you never knew existed. So the bottom line is you have say "today I surrender my work" and know that it was the very best you could do, otherwise you will be dead and buried and it will still be incomplete and unpublished. Regards Andrew
Wize words, hear hear
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  #36  
Old 24-11-15, 10:49 AM
Madziro Madziro is offline
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The quest for more information on our hobby is an insatiable desire when it has become an incurable disease!! For me all books and printed matter on the subject are invaluable and allow for more knowledge. Having said this I realise that all books (including the ones I have written) are bound to have mistakes in them. This is because the original source may be flawed or cannot be verified.

For this reason I have started a small project on SA, British and Rhodesian badges for my own interest. I refer to it as the Badge Card project and have taken the liberty of posting the SA badge cards as a single album on this group. I would really appreciate and corrections to info or dates. The link to the album is http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...p?albumid=2704

Regards to all

Dudley

Last edited by Madziro; 24-11-15 at 10:59 AM.
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  #37  
Old 24-11-15, 11:36 AM
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Milmed Milmed is offline
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Hi,
Great cards. I will be happy to help with any corrections.

Steven
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  #38  
Old 28-11-15, 04:37 PM
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Brian Conyngham Brian Conyngham is offline
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Thanks guys for the advice. Yes, I feel it is time to get the draft checked for grammar and other mistakes such as cross referencing.

I am sure it will assist collectors and historians alike.

Brian
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  #39  
Old 30-11-15, 03:25 AM
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Tony B Tony B is offline
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Go for it Brian! When its time its time. Based on the help youv'e given me in my short membership I'm sure the end result wil speak for itself. I wait in anticipation.
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  #40  
Old 27-09-21, 08:01 PM
shahldm shahldm is offline
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Default List of Errors in Owens book

All, bumping this thread up.

Does anyone have a list of or know of errors in Owens book that they can list here as previously in this thread someone had requested a list?

Rgds
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