25 May 2022
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Editor Duncan Evans talks through some key highlights.
REGULARS
Welcome
What the Editor has to say about this month’s issue as we look at the pivotal air and sea battle in the Pacific, when the US Navy took a huge gamble on ambushing the Japanese carrier fleet.
News
What’s happening in the world of militaria, museums, exhibitions, collections and events. This month the Queen’s role in the Royal Navy is celebrated, there’s a letter about the capture of Tiger 131 and a new aircraft display is revealed.
Militaria for sale
Lenny Warren takes a trip around the internet in search of rare, interesting and desirable collectables.
EVENTS
In the sale rooms
Here's a look at what's coming up for auction with medals and awards ahoy at Noonans and some highly desirable firearms at Rock Island Auctions.
Japan: Courts and Culture
As it’s the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, what better time to head for Buckingham Palace to see a new exhibition showcasing the exchange of gifts between the Royal households of Britain and Japan.
Under the hammer
Let’s have a look at what’s gone under the hammer in auction rooms, with medals and militaria at C&T Auctioneers, classic sporting guns at Gavin Gardiner and all your Third Reich needs at Ratisbon’s.
FEATURES
Warsaw Pact: East Germany
In the third instalment of Ed Hallett’s six-part series looking at the accoutrements of the Warsaw Pact nations in the Cold War, his attention turns to partitioned East Germany.
Wartime industries
Without armament production at home there would be nothing to fight the war with, as Neil Storey explains in this guide to the wartime industries of WWII in Britain.
Manville Tear Gas Launcher
The post-WWI years in America were rife with crime and the depression. Along came an enthusiast, designing a multiple barrel tear gas launcher for crowd control.
Air rifles of the 1920s and ‘30s
You asked for it and here it is. John Walter takes a look at air rifles in the years between the two World Wars.
Battle of Blenheim
Graham Priest brings you the background to the battle of 1704, and the weapons used in it, where an alliance of British, Dutch and German troops took on the French.
Regimental badges
The British Army’s 8th Regiment of the Line was The King’s (Liverpool Regiment). Ray Westlake is your guide to the variety of badges available to collect.
M’wele medal of 1895
Peter Duckers examines the medal issued to troops for securing the headwaters of the Nile via the east coast of Africa.
The mysterious knife of WWI
Lee Sheldon describes one of three known prototypes of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers’ fixed guard Welsh Knife.
MBG: The Lewis gun
John Walter looks at the Belgian Rattlesnake, the weapon that opened the eyes of many commanders to the value of portable machineguns
The Photo Inspector
Ray Westlake looks at the uniform and insignia of a Private of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (Prince of Wales’s Own Royal Regiment).
COVER FEATURES
The Battle of Midway
The pivotal battle in the Pacific saw Japanese superiority in carriers and naval air strength wiped out at Midway, as Graham Caldwell explains.
Collecting Midway
Edward Hallett gets all nautical this month and looks for some US Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy related militaria.
SIGNALS
Militaria reviews
Duncan Evans takes a look at the latest releases including the Battle of the Bulge from the German perspective in Hitler’s Winter, Cold War battles in the excellent Flashpoints, more Falklands Conflict stories with The Unseen Falklands War, and what the Romans did for us in A Short Guide to Hadrian’s Wall.
Your Letters
Your comments on what you’ve been reading and doing. This month we’re discussing medals for nuclear tests, the ATS at War article and that real or fantasy Luger that we featured a few months back.
Auction & Fair Diary
Check out the online arrangements for the auctions where you can top up your militaria collection and what fairs will be opening.
Competition
Thanks to our friends at Osprey Publishing we nine prizes up for grabs with three people each getting a copy of Flashpoints: Air Warfare in the Cold War, Hitler’s Winter and Walther Pistols
Buy the print copy Download the digital edition