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Unread 01-30-2006, 03:40 PM   #19
Jamka
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Antwerp Belgium
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Tony,
Indeed a superb Vickers... It must have been kept in a drawer most of its live, and I probably know why. During my military service (1962-63) I was enlisted in the Dutch Signal Corps (Verbindingsdienst). We were supposed to take care of the connections between the staff and the field. Day and night sitting in a big cabin, mounted on a truck, with a noisy generator outside. I belonged to the last shift to use morse. The big transmitter was a BCC625 - we used it also to heat our coffee on.

Practising shooting? No sir, no time. Just the obligatory 20 rounds a month. So the signal corps in the Indies, 25 years earlier, might have 'enjoyed' the same monotone deskwork. Your Vickers is the proof of that.

The holster is very rare indeed. Stamps show that is was made in 1940 by the 'Centrale Winkel' (central workshop) in Batavia, the 'z' stamp means it was newly made then, not a repair job. The value is more than 1K - with the cleaning rod / oiler it would go here at 1.5K...
One of the best Dutch rigs I ever saw.
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