BATTLE SITE BUTTONS ????

[PLUM]

These were supposedly found at battle field sites, Canada, New Zealand and French maybe ????

[Chacal]

"Douanes" is French for "Customs".

Apart from "8" at the top none show signs of having been in the ground for any great period so perhaps they were found at the time, rather than later?

Graham

[Cribyn]

Hello,

It would be interesting to know where these buttons were found.

Something of an odd mix suggesting some interesting battles that would have involved Canadian and New Zealand forces fighting with/against the French (including the French Customs - the ' Douanes' button) and the Danish State Railways (the button with crown over a winged wheel).

Can't quite make out the button top left though, is that a '1' in the centre?

Regards
Roger

[PLUM]

Thanks Guys
Sounded like a fanciful tale, yes the left hand button has 1 in centre
Plum

[btns]

The winged wheel button is Belgian Railways not Danish.
Crossed cannons is Belgian artillery, WWI
Number 8 is Belgian Infantry, WWI
Top left with star and number 1 is Canadian "Governor General's Foot Guards", ref. Smylie, in use 1872-1898.

[manchesters]

You are probably right, but Rogers explaination is far funnier.

[Brian Conyngham]

These are definitely not battlefield pick-ups...

I have a number of genuine ones and they are all terribly aged, flattened and most green.

These are almost new!

BC

[GTB]

I concur. Definitely Not battlefield relics. There is absolutely no patina deposited on their surfaces (apart from possibly the '8' button). The clincher though, would be a pic of the backs of the group.
In my experience, no amount of cleaning old soil-patinated buttons would bring them back to their original condition - weathering, soil condition, acidity, would all have affected the copper alloy constituents.

GTB

[Cribyn]

Originally Posted by btns

The winged wheel button is Belgian Railways not Danish.
Crossed cannons is Belgian artillery, WWI
Number 8 is Belgian Infantry, WWI
Top left with star and number 1 is Canadian "Governor General's Foot Guards", ref. Smylie, in use 1872-1898.

My mistake on the railway button, although Gwen Squires does have this shown as Danish State Railways. She is not always 100% correct though, so thanks for the correction.

I think we are all agreed that most of these are unlikely to be battle site finds.

Regards
Roger

[btns]

This was a recent purchase. The label was not listed in the auction description.
The text says: Winstead Hill, 14-10-'18.

Can anyone explain?
If someone expresses a special interest in this button I am happy to let it go.

[btns]

This is the link to the date on the label of the battlefield button:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...rai_%281918%29

It is the "battle of Courtrai" on 14-10-1918.
I presume Winstead Hill was a name given by the British army to one of the hills.
I have not been able to find it on the internet.

[Silver Tourist]

Good afternoon.
Not my thing at all but, having read the annotation on the label, I would suggest the date is in fact 14/10/98, ie. 1998, not 1918.

Google throws up no Winstead Hill in the UK, but it does give Winstead Gardens in Dagenham and Winstead Street in Battersea. Interestingly, the latter does not appear in my London A-Z.

I would suggest that perhaps the button came from one of those two areas: check local maps for changes to Street names. Or, it may have been a colloquial name for part of the local area.

All in all, both are an equally probable location for the original find.

As we all know of course, Winstead Hill was part of The Battle of Franklin, TN, 30 November 1864. One of the more costly Battles of the American Civil War. Nasty!

Not quite sure why it would have been there, but one never can tell!

Enjoy

S.T.

[btns]

It was purchased from Rochester in Kent, and it indeed may be '98.

[PLUM]

Good Evening Gents
In the bag of now unlikely battle field finds where these odd items, any ideas.
Thanks for your previous views.
Plum

[btns]

Your stud is an early WWI Prussian M/1907 belt hook.