A new grouping

[N.S. Regt.]

I wanted to share a last minute purchase for 2008 that I thought would intrest the members here. A good friend of mine picked up this group a few years back and I been after it since. The other day He called me and said he will finally let it go although I know he is still rather attached to thie group but knows my intrest in the battalion.

The group consist of WW1-WW2 pairs, a tunic named to the same man a helmet also named to the same man and a wall hanger. The man in question is 514165 Pte. Otto Ralph Hubley of the 25th battalion. Otto is from Tancook Island which is located in near Mahone Bay Nova Scotia He originally joined the CASC and after his arrival in the U.K. joined the 25th in Nov. 1917.

The tunic is a interesting peice it has both the Maple leaf and C\25 collars on the tunic the C\25s are in this case used a shoulder numerals which I have not seen in any period photos although the Mapleleaf collars continued to be worn untill after the war. the tunic also sports two cloth wound stripes (He was wounded on June 5 1918 and Aug. 12 1918 by shellfire on both occasions) a good conduct stripe and a three year overseas cheveron.

The medals are as worn by the wearer they show a repair to a torn Victory ribbion which was done by adding a section of BWM ribbon. Continued in my next post.

[N.S. Regt.]

The Helmet is a typical late war second pattern with a late issue liner the liner is C arrow marked on the inside which makes it rather nice. The Battalion patch was painted on the original surface of the helmet which was later painted with a sand paint mixture the patch was carefully painted around when the second coat was applied makinf\g it really stand out from the helmet. His name although faint is present on the chinstrap.

The wall hanger shown is not the one that came with this group but a similar one in my collection. The original was put away in a trunk and he said he would dig it out for me this weekend it is far nicer then the one I show here as a example and as I recall in blue felt instead of green

Hope you have enjoyed the photos I am very pleased to end the year which such a great grouping and consider it the best purchase for the year.

May 2009 be good to you
Happy New Year
Stephen

[jim a]

A great way to end 2008! It's always a thrill to connect on something you know is out there and then you manage to get it.... a highlight grouping... all the best and may your acqusitions in 2009 be as good as this one.... Jim

[Voltigeur]

Congratulations Stephen, a really really nice group there especially the tunic.
Cheers
Jo

[Bill A]

Great acquisition Stephen!
Is it possible to get a good close image of the formation patch?

[Haplo]

Wonderfull grouping.
Very nice to end this year with this.

[Sonofacqms]

Excuse my banner heading, it is an expression locally (Essex and Cambs UK) to say it's a good result. History is often better in the hands of collectors than Museums. Congratulations to you and lets see this site producing lots of quality threads as this one!

[N.S. Regt.]

Thanks everyone for your comments

I was only glad to be given the chance to own this collection as I mentioned my friend was attached to the grouping also. The group was bought by a antique picker directly from the family he contacted my friend and asked if he was interested when I was told about it I said to him to buy everything they had and I would certanky buy it if he decided to ever sell. I do like getting peices that were there with the medals it puts great meaning to me that this helmet may have been on Vimy or the wound Bars show some of the hardships that he went through. I only hope that I can equal this for 2009.

Bill

I am including a photo of the patch, the markings and naming inside the tunic and the best shot I could manage on the naming on the helmet as I mentioned it is somewhat faint.

Stephen

[Bill A]

Thanks Stephen, The battle patch is a bit unusual, it looks to be very high quality fine grain wool? Maybe even a beretha type?

[N.S. Regt.]

Hi Bill

Looks like the first day of 2009 we are getting a good dumping of snow here. Since I am stuck for the moment I decided to do a comparison study on the patches in my collection.

Not sure if they are a different material but they do appear similar to a uniused set I have. When Compared to the other two 25th tunics in my collection the patches appear not to have suffered the ravages of the past 90 years as the others. Otto's tunic shows signs of being folded and stored and the patches show little wear and fading when compared to the others. I have taken photos of the patches in my collection for comparison as I thought it may be of intrest to other collectors of CEF tunics and patches.

The First photo is of a patch that was worn by 734266 Sgt. Harold Clinton MacKinnon The tunic is damaged by moth and heavly faded and this is shown in the patches. which do show damage from moth and fading I do have a photo of him wearing this very tunic taken in early 1919 just before his promotion to Sgt.

The second photo is from the tunic of 733486 Pte. Aubyn George Selig It shows less wear and fading then MacKinnion's This tunic was fairly basic only having the patches and overseas stripes sewn on Although Selig was wounded he either had not put the put the wound stripe on or had not been entitled to wear one by the time of his discharge.

Third photo again is Otto's patch I retook the photo so the light conditions would be the same as the others. One thing I do notice when comparing the three patches is the vast differences in fading and nap wear.

Lastly is a patch that belonged to 715606 A-Sgt. Ernest James Chase He was only with the Battalion a short period From May 6 1917 to July 16 1917 when he got ill and was sent home and discharged in July 1918. These patches were found with his medals badges and a few other bits and peices there were two sets of these patches. This group came directly from the family. I was also lucky enough to aquire the other bits and medals to his brothers one of which won a M.M. for Vimy Ridge with the 24th Battalion. As you will notice these patches were never worn and are identical to the ones on Otto's tunic and due to the his service with the battalion I would date these from 1917. The colours are even brighter then the examples fround on Otto's tunic. If I did not know the source of these peices I would have treated them as suspect they are that nice.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos and although you cannot examine them more closely, I hope that you have found this interesting.

Happy New Year
Stephen

[Bill A]

Hi Stephen, Could you give the dimensions of the patches please. Length x width of the 2nd Div patch, and base x height of the 25 Bn triangle.
Thanks.

[N.S. Regt.]

Bill

I am including a couple of shots of other loose patches in my collection for comparision purposes.

The rectangle portion on all the patches including the ones on the tunic are 20 M.M. by 30 M.M. The triangle however there is some varation measuring from the front starting with the tunics. Selig's patches the triangle is 1 5\8" high and 1 1\2" wide. Otto's triangle is 1 3\4" high and 2 1\8" wide Harolds triangle is 2' high and 1 5\8" wide.

I do have a few documented singles which came with other items of insigina I am including the measurements when taken from the front. First is as mentioned one of four to 715606 A-Sgt. Ernest James Chase the one shown has a triangle 1 3\4" high and 1 3\4" wide. Second is a single patch that was sent home to the family of 67863 RSM Frank Hinchcliffe M.C. this patch and some of hsi badges came from the family Frank was killed at Vimy on Apr. 9 1917 so this would date to about this time period. The triangle is 1 3\8" high and 2 1\8" wide, this patch shows no evidence that it was ever worn but did suffer some moth damage. Lastly is one of four that belonged to Lt. Patchell these were bought by a picker in New Brunswick and included his badges collars and some buttons. The triangle is 2" high and 2" wide, these patches do show use and some threads showing that they were on a tunic at some point, the others are similar in size.

Stephen