PeterJAnderson Posted 3 November , 2012 Share Posted 3 November , 2012 Good afternoon - this is my very first post so please be kind to me. I have a Great War trench club with some interesting history. In about 1970 I was serving in the Met Police at Edmonton police station; and as was the custom at that time we had to find a 'tea hole' to hide in. Well I found an elderly gentleman in the basement who was the caretaker of the police station and he recounted one of his experiences in the Great War. He told me that he served in the trenches and on one occasion he and another solider carried a wounded man to the first aid station. As he was leaving a nurse called out to him, "Where are you going", 'Back to the line mam': "No you are not, you are wounded." He then told me that he felt that his backside was wet and thought that he had sat in a puddle - this was not the case, half of his buttocks were hanging down, then he remembered that on way to the field station they had been shot at by a machine gun, but did not think he had been hit as he did not feel any pain. He told me that all they did was to stitch him up and sent him on his way Unfortunately I did not discuss the war with him again, but he did say, "This was the club I had in the war - would you like to have it". I thanked him very much. I hope that the pictures I have taken of it load. But there is an original inscription on it - written in red ink and white paper and stuck to the club, it reads on the top - "Try one hit only" and the bottom it reads - "Safety first - Handle with care - Welcome little stranger" Your comments please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 3 November , 2012 Share Posted 3 November , 2012 Hi Peter, Great piece with interesting story, sort of looks South African in style (knobkerrie) is that definitely paper around it or is it thin rawhide? regards khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJAnderson Posted 3 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 3 November , 2012 khaki - Hi, Yes it is definitly paper - wound with a single 1/2" paper strip Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
militariaone Posted 3 November , 2012 Share Posted 3 November , 2012 Greetings Peter, an excellent first post! I usually run (Quickly) from any Wooden WW1 Trench Clubs especially dated/Crow’s Foot/unit stamped ones (As there’s a small army of talented and not so talented craftsmen out there reproducing wooden ones), but you obtained yours from a veteran and well “originality/provenance” does not get any better than that. You clearly made a positive impression on the gentleman for him to share this with you. Thank you, for taking the time to share it with all of us. Regards, Lance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radlad Posted 4 November , 2012 Share Posted 4 November , 2012 Good story, but does not feel right Wouldn't any WW1 veteran working for a government organisation in those days have had to compulsary retire at 65? From what I know of the employment situation at that time, the dates don't add up. Police stations often had items that were handed in or confiscated and reporting was extremely lax . It's possible the gentleman found it in a forgotten cupboard at the station or was tasked with putting it in a dustbin.? After the 1968 firearms amnesty, a police officer (Yorkshire area) was convicted of selling surrendered firearms on the black market but the home office refused to include them in the statistics because 'It would grossly inflate the figures for that year'. Many people at the time believed that the recording system was so poor, the authorities simply didn't know how many weapons were sold, only guessing by creating an average from other stations records. Who Knows, but nice club anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wainfleet Posted 4 November , 2012 Share Posted 4 November , 2012 Greetings Peter, an excellent first post! I usually run (Quickly) from any Wooden WW1 Trench Clubs especially dated/Crow’s Foot/unit stamped ones (As there’s a small army of talented and not so talented craftsmen out there reproducing wooden ones), but you obtained yours from a veteran and well “originality/provenance” does not get any better than that. You clearly made a positive impression on the gentleman for him to share this with you. Thank you, for taking the time to share it with all of us. Regards, Lance +1. Nice to have the story behind this, and it has the right look of age and usability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJAnderson Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 Old Sweats - Hi, This guy looked about 70 - with the flat cap and various bits of Great War memobilia in his his office. As for the dates, if he was born in say 1898 then he would have been 16 at the start of the GW and 72 when I met him. Civil Servants in the UK would normally retire at 60 but pre-2007 they could still retire at 60 but were allowed to continue work for as long as they were able to do so, if i have read this correctly, right up to 100 [.%20%20In"]http://www.civilserv...ons.shtml]. In any case I can remember many people who served in a non-police job within the police back-room that were in their late 60's+ You are quite right, he could have found it laying around. A police officer 'may' have confiscated it, but the rules on confiscation are quite strict, unless it had been involved in some crime. In which case as 'evidence' it would have been kept and sent along with the case papers to Wood Green police station, the main divisional station, and disposed of after any court case. Just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radlad Posted 4 November , 2012 Share Posted 4 November , 2012 Lol In those days my impression was that police officers tended to use 'common sense' rather than rules in many cases. Not like the much stricter regime today where that quality has been abolished in persuit of 'targets' Still a nice item though, no matter what the provenance is. I've seen one very similar that was supposed to have been used in Ireland before WW1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJAnderson Posted 13 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 13 November , 2012 Hi Guys I was just thinking - any idea what this item might be worth if I sold it. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chordate Posted 12 March , 2013 Share Posted 12 March , 2013 Great to have the history attached to the item. Excellent story...excellent piece, thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJAnderson Posted 26 August , 2015 Author Share Posted 26 August , 2015 Sorry Guys - I lost my usename but I am back now. A little bit more about this trench club are the inscriptions, which read:- I have a Great War Trench club for sale – with providence. This trench club is 24.5” long; covered with four layers of leather and an iron ring at the top. The pictures do not show certain features as there are two inscriptions upon it. At the club end the inscription reads “One Hit Only”. Further down on the white parchment/paper it reads “Safety First. Handle With Care” & Welcome Little Stranger” I also have a few more pix, but do not really show up the inscription although it can be read with the naked eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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