TOPIC:

I wasn't 100% sure about the Machanik connection, I just presumed it could be his. However the Machanik shown in th photos late son, the father of the gentleman from whom I bought the item, was a passionate collector of militaria, a veteran of the 2nd world war and a curator of the Ditsong Museum of Military History. This item is then probably a remnant of his once splendid collection which was sadly sold off after his death. Thank you very much for your addition of the historical documentation. It adds a lot of value to the piece.

I have looked high & low for a photo of the Albion Works where the button stick was made but without success and Great Hampton Row is all modernity now. The photo would have had to predate October 1914 as a fire destroyed all their workshops and the warehouse but the offices were saved. Not the best time for "Contractors to the Admiralty, War & India Offices" to have a fire but they seem to have been back in production by the next year. The quote is from the cover of their 1897 Catalogue which can be viewed here: archive.org/details/Bodill29206 Sadly the 22 pages of products shown do not include any Button Sticks.

Thomas Ashcroft's Button Stick, which must have been issued to him before December 1897 when he was transferred from the 2nd to the 1st Battalion, was well travelled before he lost it:



I have tried to track Thomas Ashcroft down on census returns etc helped by the family information given on his Military History Sheet:



I think this is him on the 1911 Census living with his twice married sister and her family. His place of birth is right and a lone public family tree on Ancestry claims they had a mother called Elizabeth and she had a second daughter called Mary Elizabeth. The one thing wrong is that the Thomas on the 1911 Census is a year too old according to the age he gave when he attested. The villages of Tardy Gate & Lostock Hall are very near the village of Penwortham - all are in the Ribble Valley and not far from Preston.



In some ways a Button Stick attributable to a man is more poignant than his Medal(s). A Medal was awarded after the event but the Button Stick was right there in the thick of it with him. Wonder how he lost it? Did he throw it away in disgust when the last button fell off his uniform?

I wholeheartedly aggree with your analagee, that such a button stick is more poignant. It is one of the reasons why I love collecting militaria. I must also thank you for all the research ypu did on my part. It is greatly appreciated, and one of the reasons why this forum is the amazing source of knowledge that it is.

Thank you;

J.I.W