About

I am thirty five years old and have been collecting British Empire militaria seriously for the last ten years. I have also been involved in World War Two re-enactment and I was a reservist with the Royal Navy. I am married with a little boy and a little girl; I hope that as they gets older I can pass on my love of all things military to them as well (my wife might have other ideas though!).

I probably spend far more on militaria than I should, but as a tight Yorkshireman I am always on the lookout for a bargain and as my knowledge of my subject has increased so have my chances of finding that diamond in the rough. Just as I have learnt from other collectors through books and the web, I hope my blog will help highlight some interesting artifacts for reference by other collectors. I make no apologies for admitting that much of what I write is based on others’ original research, but hopefully the combination of this and the photos will be of value.

I started this blog because I realised I was collecting all these wonderful items and the vast majority went in a box and were never seen or enjoyed by anyone besides myself. I have found that writing these blog posts has encouraged me to research the items in my collection and increased my knowledge and understanding of them. Hopefully you will enjoy reading these posts as much as I have done writing them.

I am always happy to discuss commissions for writing articles and short pieces on British Military history for publication- just drop me an email at the address below. I have had the following pieces published:

Telephone Loudspeaker Control Unit, The Armourer, April 2017, pp94-95

Collecting on A Budget, The Armourer, May 2017, pp42-45

British WWII Webbing, The Armourer, June 2017, pp88-91

British Tank Crew in Normandy, The Armourer, July 2017, pp86-91

Small Arms of Dunkirk, The Armourer, September 2017, pp46-51

Stukas Over Dunkirk, The Armourer, September 2017, pp65-68

The Long Range Desert Group, The Armourer, October 2017, pp38-42

British 2in Mortar, The Armourer, October 2017, pp50-53

Heinkels over Britain, The Armourer, November 2017, pp62-65

The Panzer IV at Stalingrad, The Armourer, December 2017, pp80-83

Collecting the RAF, 100 Years of the RAF 1918-2018, 2017, pp124-128

Ragged Men of the Jungle, The Armourer, March 2018, pp78-81

Greek Army on Crete, The Armourer, April 2018, pp67-70

Death from Above, The Armourer, May 2018, pp92-95

Flying Kit of the Bomber Crews, The Armourer, June 2018, pp52-55

After the Dams Burst, The Armourer, June 2018, pp82-85

Uniforms and Equipment of US Cavalrymen, The Armourer, July 2018, pp40-43

The Tanks of Kursk, The Armourer, August 2018, pp78-81

British and Empire Uniforms in Italy, The Armourer, October 2018, pp55-58

The Uniform and Gear of the US Marine Corps, The Armourer, November 2018, pp64-67

Victory China, The Armourer, December 2018, pp60-63

Luftwaffe Flight Uniforms, A Guide to Collecting German Militaria, 2018, pp68-71

SOE Field Equipment, The Armourer, January 2019, pp44-47

Restoring Leather Militaria Items, The Armourer, February 2019, pp48-51

Cleaning Storage Grease, The Armourer, March 2019, pp54-55

Britain and the Russian Civil War, The Armourer, March 2019 pp66-6,9

Escape Gear, The Armourer, April 2019, pp47-50

Restoring Metal Objects, The Armourer, April 2019, pp82-85

Restoring Rusty and Tired Firearms, The Armourer, May 2019, pp73-76

Jungle Gear, The Armourer, June 2019, pp58-61

Restoring Uniforms and Clothing, The Armourer, June 2019, pp72-75

Restoring Ammunition Boxes, The Armourer, July 2019, pp87-90

The Personal Kit of a British Soldier at the start of the Asia Pacific War, History Hit, July 2019, here 

British Airborne Gear, The Armourer, October 2019, pp54-57

The Uniforms of the Colonial Allies, The Armourer, November 2019, pp54-57

Getting Started in Living History Part 1, The Armourer, November 2019, pp73-76

Finnish Uniforms of the Winter War, The Armourer, December 2019, pp54-57

Beginner’s Guide to Living History Part 2, The Armourer, December 2019, pp78-81

Getting Started in Living History Part 3, The Armourer, January 2020, pp64-67

Getting Started in Living History Part 4, The Armourer, February 2020, pp58-61

Insuring your Collection, The Armourer, February 2020, pp54-56

Anzac Uniforms, The Armourer, March 2020, pp62-65

Japanese Imperial Army Uniforms, The Armourer, April 2020, pp54-57

Gebirgsjager Uniforms, The Armourer, May 2020, pp47-50

Canadian Uniform and Accoutrements, The Armourer, June 2020, pp36-39

Prussian Uniforms, The Armourer, July 2020, pp48-51

Luftwaffe Uniforms in the Battle of Britain, The Armourer, August 2020, pp40-43

USAAF Pacific Flight Gear, The Armourer, September 2020, pp40-43

Collecting the Channel Islands, The Armourer, October 2020, pp50-53

Collecting the Battle of El Alamein, The Armourer, November 2020, pp50-53

Collecting the Boer War, The Armourer, December 2020, pp56-58

Collecting the Gulf War, The Armourer, January 2021, pp43-46

Collecting Anzio, The Armourer, February 2021, pp44-47

1919 Pattern Naval Webbing, The Armourer, February 2021, pp49-52

1925 Pattern RAF Webbing, The Armourer, March 2021, pp34-37

Collecting the Somme, The Armourer, March 2021, pp47-49

1940 Pattern Cavalry Webbing, The Armourer, April 2021, pp34-37

Collecting the Invasion of Greece, The Armourer, May 2021, pp58-61

My first book, written in collaboration with Michael Skriletz, entitled ‘British Empire Uniforms 1919-1939’ is available on Amazon here.

If you have any questions about British and Empire Militaria, would like to discuss a display and/or lecture or have an interesting item of militaria you would be interested in parting with; please feel free to email me at edward1302@hotmail.com