Any good shops in Australia

[Sock Monkey VC]

Going to Sidney tomorrow for 5 weeks. Anybody know of any good holes in the wall for badges etc? I googled Sidney and surplus and things seemed pretty thin on the ground there.

Monkey

[Nozzer]

Not badge related, but if you're in Sydney then perhaps a visit to Darling harbour and see the Daring Class ship HMAS Vampire. A fine class of ship that served both the The Royal Australian Navy, Royal Navy and of the top of my head, the Peruvian Navy.

If you do, post a couple of pics.

Travel safe,

Andrew

P.S.

Can I call you Sock?

[Sock Monkey VC]

Thanks Andrew. Sock is fine Mate.
I'll look into that ship. Thanks for the tip. It's always nice to see that kind of thing from the inside out.

I remember being in Munich and heard they had a type 7 U-Boat. I had my doubts so I phoned Bavaria Film Studios and asked them if it was a "richtig model 7 unterseeboot". "Ya Ya!". It turned out to be a full scale model they built for Das Boot. Interesting, but not a type 7 U-Boat.

[badgecollector]

if in Victoria
there are 2 shops rurally in Ballarat
Dave Wright militaria
and Ben at Antique Militaria

there used to be an ISW in the CBD but i haven't been there for some time and not sure if it still exists and if it has any stock?


bc

[slick_mick]

Originally Posted by Sock Monkey VC

Going to Sidney tomorrow for 5 weeks. Anybody know of any good holes in the wall for badges etc? I googled Sidney and surplus and things seemed pretty thin on the ground there.

Monkey

There really isn't any more decent militaria shops in Sydney.

Mick

[kingsley]

You might find a museum or two but you would have to check their opening times.
underneath the war memorial in Hyde Park in Sydney CBD
Victoria Barracks museum Paddington
Navy Museum at Woolloomooloo (next to the Opera House).

[Sock Monkey VC]

Cheers Kingsley.

[Sock Monkey VC]

Settled down enough to share some items. As discussed before there is not a lot of militaria available in Australia or at least the parts of it that I saw. I did get into one shop in Fyshwyck, just outside of Canberra called Ironside. They had mostly newer "camping; act like a soldier" kit there but "in the back" they had some badges, some sweaters, some shirts and a few tunics. Nice stuff and not too expensive. I got the digger's hat for $55 or so as I traded them a few military books I had in the camper van. The shirts were $20 AUD each. Money well spent I thought. The hat had never been used so I had to put my own "bash" on it. I found steaming it inside and out with a kettle for a minute works a treat. It came with the Royal Australian Navy puggaree on it. I was quite happy with that. I got the badge from Ian Kelly. Nice solid brass with clutch pins on the back. I expect that the RAN doesn't wear that badge but the puggaree pops right off so as I think it looks OK as it is, thusly it will stay.

The little tin hats are sweet. They were tokens associate with the United Returned Soldiers Fund. The blue one is marked with 2/- TIN HAT DAY and the gold one is 1/- TIN HAT DAY. This is 2 and 1 shilling I expect. They measure 28mm across, lengthways. Each has a folding tab and I suppose you were intended to put them in your hat band, pocket flap, etc. The RAAF badge is a nice gilt job with really long pins on it.

The shirts came from Ironside. One SAS Warrant Officer and an SAS CWO. Could anybody tell me the era/date of these shirts?

In downtown Paramatta I got a naval gun shirt. White OR's shirt, collarless, square neckline with navy blue twill tape. Fit's me too! I used to wear these as a young guy as the local surplus shop was dumping them when the Navy was done with them. I haven't seen a Canadian one for sale for years though.

Anyway, just some bits and bobs I got. Them being tricky to find makes me a little more attached to these things.

[fromelles]

Nice little stash you got yourself there, I'll try and help out with the shirts.

The WO1 (Australian Coat of Arms), is an older shirt, both the Wings and Crossed Rifles are an older pattern, perhaps 1980s to early 2000s.

The WO2 (Crown) shirt is slightly more modern, but not current, about 2010s.

The rectangular Rising Sun - "The Australian Army" - patch changed shape to an oval in about 2020 (give or take), but reasonably recently.

These types of shirts have been worn for years (unfortunately the labels have been removed) so it all comes down to when they were badged up. I'm only going of memory so am likely to be a bit off, but hopefully not too far off.

Maybe someone who is into modern Army gear will be along and be able to quote chapter and verse when the badges were changed.

You can also download the Army Dress Manual - https://www.army.gov.au/sites/defaul...Manual-AL5.pdf

Dan

[Sock Monkey VC]

That gets me closer. They are a little more recent than I would have guessed. Thanks for narrowing it down. They've likely been in a closet for a few years but not all that old.

Appreciate it.

[Sock Monkey VC]

Just scrolled through that entire manual Dan, some 600 pages. Cripes, there must be 150 orders of dress shown there. Pants, skirts, dresses, kilts, white patrols, blue patrols, shorts, overcoat, on and on. Mess dress red, mess dress white, short sleeve shirt, long sleeve and the combination of everything mentioned here. You must each have a 1cwt truck as a kit bag.