Di, Lovely to see you have kept and treasured your fathers things, so many people just throw them away or sell them, not realizing that the up and coming generation of family would love something like that.
The Sam Brown was suppose to have been invented my a British chap who lost his arm in the Indian Mutiny about 1857 so he could draw his sword easily, but that has been disputed by a few people who are still arguing about it today.
I bet nearly everyone has some little treasure tucked away from the past and think that it is insignificant or of no interest like a ration or rent book or a piece of trench art.
I hope now that it makes people who see this go and have a good mooch (rummage or look) to see what they can find and maybe post it on the site like you have done.
And may I add Home Guard material is getting quite rare and fetching a few bob as people now see its worth