Tan
Jacket - Chest measurement: Small (34-36"), Shirt measurement from sleeve
to neck: 29" The jacket has an inner insulating lining and is therefore more
than just a shirt. You can tell from the photos that the jacket originally
had two shoulder pads that were removed at some point.
Image right: The decorative button on the uniform. There are eleven of these buttons as good as the day the uniform was issued
There are two ribbons on the left chest and buttons with the Royal Military Insignia on them. The liner is in good condition with minimum mothing. The backs of the buttons reads "London Maddox Co." .
This item was worn by a Royal British Navy Officer in the 1900's and used during the Boer War. The Royal Navy provided heavy field artillery at the battle of Spion Kop with a number of 4.7 inch naval guns mounted on field carriages devised by Captain Percy Scott of HMS Terrible.
This garment displayed below is in the Balson Holdings Family Trust
collection
 |
 |
 |
 |
Ribbons and button |
Backof button - |
Image Right: Officers of the Naval
Brigade, the gunners who fought at Ladysmith (Natal) and Graspan (in the
OFS). The uniform above could well be one of those worn by the smaller officers
in the picture.
Doc Peters (seen right) financed the building of this rare collection, as
well as the
Museum
of World Wars, from 1976 through 1990. Doc was a WWII veteran who
served as a front line medic in the pacific theatre with the U.S. army Air
Corps. Unfortunately, when Doc Peters passed away the collection that he
had amassed had been hidden from the rightful heirs. The Peters family has
won a lengthy court battle and now would like to sell the collection off
in order to cover legal expenses as
well as to give the collecting community a chance to own a piece of this
historically significant collection. This Museum was a definitive collection
covering both World Wars. This museum truly has it all, Doc's accomplishment
was to preserve this history for future generations.
On April 25th, 2003, a judgment was entered against the defendant in a civil action in the Superior Court of California, County of Orange. The judgment, including interest awarded by the court was for just less than two million dollars. ($2,000,000.00) After a long appeals process, the plaintiff emerged victorious, and the Orange County Sheriff has been executing on the judgment by seizing items from the defendant's military collection, formerly known as "Museum of World Wars." We are pleased to announce that we have obtained the rights to auction off some of the items which were previously housed in this museum.
The museum was located in Anaheim, CA between Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. It was in operation from 1976 to 1991. Among other things, The museum's curator boasted that the museum had the largest collection of military uniforms on display outside of the Smithsonian, located in Was hington, DC. The museum collection consists of in excess of 1,000 uniforms and 10,000 military accouterments, consisting of patches, pins, photo's, and other military accessories! The value of the collection was estimated at over $2 million.
Binoculars used by
the British forces during the Boer War:
The lenses of the Binoculars held by the Balson Holdings Family Trust (seen right) are in excellent order with no scratches or damage. The binoculars have a broad military arrow mark and were used during the Ber War.
