TOPIC:

I'm with you on that one - the market is being artificially "buoyed" by one or two of us with deep pockets. Mason was one of those that I "went for" but, common sense prevailed and I pulled back.....

Elsewhere on this forum, I mentioned 157 Tpr M H McGreal, Imperial Light Horse, whose 'double relief' QSA was the 'sleeper' Rory referred to. He was "severely wounded" at the Battle of Colenso, and it was in this context that he came to my notice. Unfortunately, the Natal Field Force Casualty Roll recorded him as "Ocgreal", and this incorrect name appeared in no other ILH records I consulted. It never occurred to me to substitute 'M' for the 'O'.

What is remarkable about McGreal is that he recovered from his 'severe' wound(s) quickly enough to return to the regiment to earn the Tugela Heights and Relief of Mafeking clasps. This was not the case with 141 Tpr W P H Nelson, who was recorded as "wounded" at Colenso. I will try to find and then post the link to my account of Nelson.

McGreal may have been an example of the rapid recovery from Mauser bullet wounds, which is also an interesting topic 'worthy of further research'.

Regards
Brett

My thanks to the Museum of Liverpool for allowing these images to be reproduced.

A four-sided medal tower

An impressive collection of medals David but I really don't like the way they're dispalyed. There appear to be no captions or recipient information and the cabinet is ridiculously tall which would leave the likes of me squinting at the top few rows.

David

I agree, David. This is an example of a museum display for artistic effect, with no thought of enlightening the visitor on the nature and significance of items displayed. This kind of problem never arose when collection curators alone decided what and how to display their treasures. Now museums are likely to employ fine arts graduates who have the last word on displays.
Their inclinations are likely to be on aesthetics and not the dissemination of information. The situation is simply not as it used to be in the good old days!

Regards
Brett

Davidh,

I was surprised to see not attribution to the medals. There were a few DoL QSAs that I wanted to catalogue but alas they were two high to see.

There was a lectern to the left where it was possible to look up the Great War service of soldiers but there was nothing to connect to the medals in the tower.

Did you see the VC in the lower left. Surely, this deserved much better.