OK Guys, Own Up, Whodunnit

[Keith Jones 989]

Hi,

Watching an edition of Bargain Hunt today (as you do in retirement) the auction was in Ottery St Mary (not a stones throw from Honiton) and one of the items bought by one of the competing teams for sale at the auction was a metal bearskin storage container, looked like a round haystack and was painted black. The pertinent bit was a bright brass plaque on the lid of the item which clearly stated 'Property of 1st Bn The Royal Welch Fusiliers'!

That means it has been percolating around the area of Honiton since we left Heathfield Camp in 1969 and I want to know which bandsman/drummer got off the plane at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, diffy of his bearskin or its storage tin?

Come on, be a man, OWN UP!

[LightOrder]

It was me, I left it behind the bar in 'The Three Tuns' and forgot to go and pick it up. �� [Joke]

[martin Hargraves]

If I remember correctly, only the BM, BSM and DM had a Bearskin which was carried in a tin as described, the remainder had Busbies, a smaller version which were carried in a black bag.

[LightOrder]

So the real culprit must have been the BM, BSM or DM at the time?

[Keith Jones 989]

No, sorry, tin was too small for a bearskin, besides how dare you suggest that a senior member of the band/drums could have made a mistake?

[LightOrder]

"If the cap fits....." what was the tin for then? [I am sure I saw some of the Band and Drums in the 'Three Tuns' the night before the Battalion left for Hong Kong?] What else could the tin have been for, it wasnt somthing to with the goat I hope?, that flipping goat ate my socks; the drums used to keep it our drying room.

[keithwill38]

none of us could have been in the Three Tuns,as we did not leave for Hong Kong until later as we were away on the Cardiff Tattoo

[LightOrder]

Maybe it was the pioneers then...?, I saw them in there that night.

[Keith Jones 989]

Now we might be getting somewhere near the truth?

[Keith Jones 989]

"If the cap fits....." what was the tin for then? [I am sure I saw some of the Band and Drums in the 'Three Tuns' the night before the Battalion left for Hong Kong?] What else could the tin have been for, it wasnt somthing to with the goat I hope?, that flipping goat ate my socks; the drums used to keep it our drying room.

You talking about the tin or the goat being kept in your drying room?

[johnnye63]

We never had had "tins" to put ours in we had MFO box made into sections to carry four at a time, who had tins???

[LightOrder]

The Goat was kept in the drying room, did'nt smell to good in there most of the time either, not a lot of point of washing your kit as you smelt like farmyard after getting it out of the said drying room.

[LightOrder]

By the way, we are talking about the communal drying room, shared between, Sigs, Recce and Drums, maybe we should cast the net a bit wider. It definitly wasn't anyone from Sigs, we were all sober that night[ Huh!], could have been a Recce job they were always up to some 'Trickyness' when not out on RRB; seen them with a few tins from time to time, still think the Band/Drums are not out of the frame though, were they all down the Cardiff Tatoo?

[nasher546]

If I remember correctly, only the BM, BSM and DM had a Bearskin which was carried in a tin as described, the remainder had Busbies, a smaller version which were carried in a black bag.
How right you are Martin.

[LightOrder]

Looks like the Band/Drums Hierarchy are coming back into the frame for this?

[keithwill38]

DM Taylor maybe,he did live in Honiton after he left the Bn

[LightOrder]

That would explain it then [Maybe], is he still "alive and Kicking" ?

[keithwill38]

no he passed a long time ago

[LightOrder]

RIP

[LightOrder]

Hi,

Watching an edition of Bargain Hunt today (as you do in retirement) the auction was in Ottery St Mary (not a stones throw from Honiton) and one of the items bought by one of the competing teams for sale at the auction was a metal bearskin storage container, looked like a round haystack and was painted black. The pertinent bit was a bright brass plaque on the lid of the item which clearly stated 'Property of 1st Bn The Royal Welch Fusiliers'!

That means it has been percolating around the area of Honiton since we left Heathfield Camp in 1969 and I want to know which bandsman/drummer got off the plane at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, diffy of his bearskin or its storage tin?

Come on, be a man, OWN UP!


Right then! Am I the only one still “kicking this tin” thing around ?
Could a working hypothesis be that, [just guessing here] one of the Band/Drums Hierarchy retires to the Honiton area after full career with the Battalion.
Because, like officers they have to buy certain bits of kit [which they get an allowance for] for themselves.
They have to buy this bearskin, which is made to fit just the individual concerned, so is no use to anyone else.
They keep it as a souvenir on demob, as a reminder of illustrious service with a famous Regiment, which they are obviously entitled to having paid for it themselves.
During the time it is in service it is carted about in the above mentioned tin and for administrative reasons it was marked as property of the Battalion.
Perhaps with the demise of the above mentioned, or with their need for some cash this item is introduced into the antique circuit in the Devon area?
[Still not convinced that all the Bandsmen and Drummers were down in Cardiff at the tattoo that last night and that I am sure I spotted a clutch of them in ‘The Three Tuns’?].

[Keith Jones 989]

To try to resolve this I got in touch with Tim Wonnacott and asked him to try and get me the details of the purchaser at the auction so I could ask if the previous owner could be identified. Of course Data Protection precludes them from telling me but he WAS able to tell me that the tin was bought by somebody over the internet and the auction house had to arrange to send it to the buyer in India - Lucknow, to be precise!

Safe to say, as the OP, this thread has run its course.

[LightOrder]

Good effort Keith, it would have been interesting to have known the original owner but you cant win them all, "pandora's box' refers.👍

[LightOrder]

I know this thread is dead, however still think some Bandsman was keeping his biscuits in this tin up until it ended up being sold.