This would have been part of a by-knife set from the scabbard of a Scots dirk. Together with a small knife of matching design, the set would have been mounted on the outer face of the scabbard, normally one above the other. The dirk would have been mounted en-suite with a large citrine as a pommel.

This is a rare surviving letter in German from Gustav Salek, possibly a Czech political prisoner, in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It is dated 21 April 1940 and I have translated it below - please excuse any mistakes, as German is not my mother tongue.

This sepia photograph, pasted on a card page torn from a British military album, shows a battery of Italian mountain artillery in front of their barracks - 'Caserma Alfonso La-Marmora' (Rome). They appear to be in tropical kit, as many of them are wearing white foreign service helmets, with saddlery, ammunition boxes and guns in the foreground.

This silk sash with the little enamel badge, both sporting the Imperial black/white/red colours, epitomises the student duelling world of this era, together with the logo (picked out in silver bullion) 'Rast Ich so rost Ich', loosely: 'Inactive I rust'. In Bavaria the duelling tradition was still active into the 1950s.

The hilt incorporates the arms of Hungary and various arms of Austria (introduced 7 November 1915), with the motto 'Indivisibiliter ac inseparabiliter'. On the back is 'Geschutzt' (= patented) Hirschler' and the blade is stamped 'Offizielle Kriegsfursorge' (official war fund) - ie it is an official piece for raising money for the war effort.