Mick's Blog

Catalogue 194

Posted On Jul 23, 2016 | American Civil War 1861-1865,Aviation,Espionage,Military Biography,Military General,Modern Firsts | No Comments

Catalogue 194 comes to you from the dead of winter here in chilly Perth where it was down to 1 degree this morning. And we’ve had lots of good, soaking rain with a lot more to come over the next week or so. Not bad for the driest capital city in Australia! A bit more rain may see the dams and aquifers topped up in prep for a following savagely hot summer. I think those twins El Nina and El Ninyo or whatever they’re called, are toying with us here in the West. But I also see that the south east and Canberra are experiencing snow falls. We were posted to Canberra in the mid ‘80s when it last snowed there. At Duntroon we always checked (visually) how far down Mt Taylor the snow line was before we would head out the bush. A bitter place in winter is Canberra and meltingly hot in summer. Anyway, I enjoy the cold and my beloved loves the heat so there you are! We’re still ploughing along with the ‘SIMMO’ project and have sold 750 of the 1,000 printed. So those who have yet to secure a signed copy you’d better do so quick smart as they will be all gone. (listed in the Biography section of this list) On the cover of this catalogue we present some very rare pieces indeed. The first item is an original ‘Murray’s’, a compilation list by unit of every Australian soldier who served in the Boer War 1899-1902. This is actually from the Ken White collection and is priced at $1,800. Serious collectors will want this. And the star piece this month is a 3 volume set of ‘Butler’s Medical volumes of WW1’. They are in excellent condition but to enhance the lot we have included a rare serviette ring from the Duntroon Officers Mess, named to LtCol Butler who was RMO of the College and lived in the Mess. He would have used this serviette ring at every meal. Accompanying this is another small book he wrote about ‘Diggers. Also two photographs of a dedication plaque and church in which he figures. There is also a good biographical article in a AWM journal. The entire lot is priced at $2,800. If further info or other photos needed just let me know. I’m also open ‘by appointment’ for a visit to the book room to view these items. Now that the nonsense election is finally out of the way we may be able to get on with our lives in a civilised manner not having to tolerate one more lying politician in our ears. Fair dinkum! We should have a referee who oversees these lies and hands out yellow and red cards accordingly. As usual this list is dedicated to our Service men and women in harms way and from now on I’m including police in this. The boys in blue do it hard day in and day out protecting our fragile butts from bad guys. Via con Dios, my friends. Fondest  Mick & Jo