RGA Siege battery soldiers equipment - linesman/signallers wire cutters etc and great coat straps

[6th Hauraki KIA KAHA]

Looks great together,nice to see.

[Chris Henschke]

Thanks, MrED, great photographs.

[Chasemuseum]

Lovely example.

Cheers

[MrEd]

And here are an example of the MkIII cutters, not mine, these were sent to me for interest, thanks Nigel!

 

MkIII cutters differ from the MkIV by the cutter blades being affixed by the screw inside rather than outside. Nicely Mk, date, Broad arrow and manufacturer marked

[6th Hauraki KIA KAHA]

Hi, great thanks for sharing the pics. Does anyone have a list of changes to work out the Mks dates of introduction?

[MrEd]

On 05/09/2023 at 05:01, Fromelles said:

The MK II and Mk III Frogs are very similar, the missing D would indicate yours to be the Mk II Frog which has escaped conversion.

The method of carrying the frog on the saddle is also different to what's quoted in the post above.

Here is my Mk III frog, does anyone have a picture of the strap used for these?

 

 

Yours are the Mk V Cutters. I've never seen a pair of Mk III or IV Cutters so cannot say if they were at all similar -

 

The Mk III Frog was originally designed to carry either the Mk III or Mk IV cutters, which are both stated to be 9½" long, however the Mk V cutters, also carried in the Mk III Frog, are said to be 11" long (I assume the handles would just protrude further out the bottom of the Frog) -

 

If anyone has access to any of the following LoC entries please will you post?  - 

#10396 - Cutter, wire, Mk II

#11153 - Frog, brown, wire cutters Mk I

#12061 - Cutter, wire, Mk III

#16264 -  Frog, brown, wire cutters Mk III

Dan

@6th Hauraki KIA KAHA @Fromelles posted this back on page 2 - so we just need to find someone who can find the LoCs he listed, I wonder if it’s worth a wider ask on the forum?

 

[Dave66]

On 10/09/2023 at 13:16, GWF1967 said:

2 from my collection. 
left has no tin opener, right has no marline spike. 

This time of year I take time off as the weather is usually rubbish, gives me a chance to have a sort out, list things etc etc….listing all the smaller clasp knives, to my surprise and delight, I do actually have one without the tin opener…A.H.Bisby, 1944…I wonder how many other things I’ve forgotten about🙈

[6th Hauraki KIA KAHA]

Vol. 1 reprinted from the edition of 1908; vol. 2 reprinted from the edition of 1909 Lines

lines.... I have seen 1915 dated Mk 1Vs I have 16 17 and 18 so somewhere between 1909 -1914 changed Mk? 

Edited 24 January by 6th Hauraki KIA KAHA

[Fromelles]

1 hour ago, 6th Hauraki KIA KAHA said:

Vol. 1 reprinted from the edition of 1908; vol. 2 reprinted from the edition of 1909 Lines

lines.... I have seen 1915 dated Mk 1Vs I have 16 17 and 18 so somewhere between 1909 -1914 changed Mk? 

What publication are you referring to?

[6th Hauraki KIA KAHA]

Hi, it is in Army Telegraphy and Telephony"  Lines

Regards Jonathan

is Also this of interest...

Edited 24 January by 6th Hauraki KIA KAHA

[MrEd]

Found a couple of photos online which show signallers with pliers in frogs, for interest.

 

[MrEd]

I have found another photo of pliers in a frog, but this looks like linesman’s pliers in the mkIII frog that also fits the mk5 wire cutters maybe?

zoom in on the chap with the moustache in the middle, he has a belt and frog with pliers in it 

 

here is a heavy crop

here is the link direct to the IWM image
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205268315

[6th Hauraki KIA KAHA]

Great pics thanks for sharing.

Hard to tell from the detail but they only look at the size of the 8-inch pliers

[MrEd]

2 hours ago, 6th Hauraki KIA KAHA said:

Great pics thanks for sharing.

Hard to tell from the detail but they only look at the size of the 8-inch pliers

Yes I can’t make out what they are. They look quite long?

[6th Hauraki KIA KAHA]

If it was this type you would not see the top of the pliers.

Rogers Dennis did send me some info with the MKs of Pliers Frogs But it was lost when my email was deleted.

One of the earlier MKs had a flap to secure the pliers from memory.

He is not here to get advice anymore sadly.

 

Edited 27 January by 6th Hauraki KIA KAHA

[MrEd]

Couple of pairs of pliers I found today,1915 dated MkIV and a pair of 1908 dated (?mkiii) which are quite large - 10inch, which makes me think they are the ones in the frog in the previous photo I posted.

There is no way they will fit in the linesman frog - they are too wide. I think they would fit in the frog @6th Hauraki KIA KAHA posted on page 5 and that @Dave66 and @GWF1967 and @Fromelles posted earlier on in The thread.
 

Lovely pair of pliers though in super condition, and very fierce cutters, really chunky. I think they would cut quite stout wire quite easily.

 

first pair marked with

’C&M 1908’

’WYNNE AND TIMMINS’

And N with a broad arrow above (naval I presume)

‘27’ stamped on both handles and another symbol I recognise, but can’t place, one on of the handles. EDIT: it’s just number 2

 

Second pair of linesman’s pliers are the MkIV and well used, and are marked

‘WYNN & TIMMINS’

’C&M 1915’

‘13151’ (I assume a soldiers number)

And 2 broad arrows

 

Unfortunately I don’t have a wire cutter frog to fit the large ones into, but hopefully one day I will find one for them to live in. If any forum chums are near Brighton UK and have a frog I could test my theory in I would appreciate it! 

 

Edited 4 February by MrEd