Hugh

Oh, Peter, you shouldn't have encouraged me. Some followup pictures. The first appears to be Princess Louise's cypher and coronet from the 91st (Princess Louise's Argyllshire Highlanders). The second and third are the Boar and the Cat respectively. I wasn't able to attribute these in a quick search of J. S. Farmer, Kipling and King and Reginald Cox's books, but assume that one or both would have been the badge of the 93rd ( Sutherland Highlanders). Next up, the blade.

I recently bought an officer's dirk from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, c. 1882 - 1900. You may have seen it in the Spnks catalogue. It was bloody expensive, but I'm happy with it, and of course must show it off. I've shown it with its cousin, a sghean dubh for the Seaforth Highlanders, which I showed some years ago. I like the idea of the knife and fork, rather like the Ghurka kukri I had years ago.

I wonder if it might be a merchant shipping company insignia. Somehow just doesn't look naval to me. Hugh

Sounds as though it could fit between the hammer and the striking position to absorb the fall. H

Can you tell / show us the size of the device? I'm not aware of us using such a gadget in the US Armed Forces. Thanks, Hugh

Back when we were doing small arms training during the mid-last century, the instructors seemed to place a high value on dry firing or snapping in - repeated alignment of the sight picture followed by gradual pressure on the trigger until the hammer released. Perhaps this device prevented damage from repeated snapping in. Can't envision how it might have worked. H

I'm no expert, but this looks to me like the insignia of the Spanish Army. Of course, it could still have been worn by the Legion Condor.

It seems likely that you are referring to the rank "Jemedar" ( also spelt "jamadar") which is a rank for junior commissioned officers (JCO). JCOs, who were known as Viceroy's Commissioned Officers during the time of the Raj, were roughly equivalent to warrant officers in the British and other Western armies. Apparently the use of "jemadar" has been discontinued, and "subedar" (sometimes spelt "subadar") is now used in its place. There are three ranks of JCOs. The article below may be useful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ranks_and_insignia_of_India Best, Hugh

These are VERY dated, but in case you get no other responses, it's a start. The Parentheses entries are my best recollection of where they are in the city, but it's more than 20 years ago. I've heard that the supply of old British medals has really dried up. Devichand, Delhi (Connaught Circus) Ribbons, replacement medals Satish Kumar, Delhi (Gole Market?) Curio Centre, Delhi (In a small market area named "something" Nagar?) Army Equippers, Delhi (Connaught Circus?) Ribbons, replacement medals Good luck! H

I'm a very serious person. H

I DON'T speak Italian, but the inscription on the medal/ribbon seems to be for the Fifth Congress of animal breeding and artificial insemination in September of 1964. Perhaps a Google search of Lazzaro Spallanzani might tell you more. Hugh

Perhaps redundant, but here's what the NY Times had to say: OBITUARIES King Michael of Romania, Who Ousted a Hitler Puppet, Dies at 96 By DOUGLAS MARTINDEC. 5, 2017 King Michael acknowledging applause after speaking in Romania’s Parliament in 2011. Beside him was his eldest daughter, Princess Margareta, and her husband, Prince Radu Duda, left.CreditDaniel Mihailescu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images King Michael of Romania, who was credited with pre-emptively saving thousands of lives in World War II when, at 22, he had the audacity to arrest the country’s dictator, a puppet of Hitler, died on Tuesday at his residence in Switzerland. He was 96. His death was announced in a statement from the royal family. King Michael cited a diagnosis of cancer when withdrawing from public dutieslast year. The king was often remembered for distinctions that were not of his own making. He is, for example, said to have been the only man to both precede and succeed his own father as king. But his shining achievement was assuredly his doing. It came on Aug. 23, 1944, when Michael, whose powers were perceived as largely ceremonial, bravely summoned Hitler’s crony Ion Antonescu, the fascist dictator of Romania, to his palace and arrested him. Photo King Carol II and his son, Prince Michael, at the Royal Palace in Bucharest in November 1930. That year Carol returned to reclaim his throne, which Michael had occupied as a boy king. CreditAssociated Press By then Michael was in league with antigovernment forces, and soon afterward he renounced Romania’s ties to the Axis powers, paving the way for a Soviet takeover as Germany’s military strength was waning. Historians say his action might have shortened the war by months, saving tens of thousands of lives. Later, as postwar Romania slipped into communism, Michael strove to preserve its constitutional monarchy. But he was forced at gunpoint to abdicate and flee. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE The Saturday Profile: Romania’s King Without a Throne Outlives Foes and Setbacks For years, while living mainly in Switzerland, he returned only as a stirring memory on Voice of America Christmas broadcasts. After communism fell, he headed home from his exile in Geneva in December 1990. “King Michael! King Michael!” crowds screamed on his arrival. But, the country’s rulers, who had been elected that May, were shocked at his popularity and banished him again, saying he had not received proper permission for the visit. Photo Crown Prince Michael with the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, on a visit to Britain in November 1938 as Europe crept closer to war. CreditAgence France-Presse — Getty Images He was allowed to return for Romania’s celebration of Easter, however, in 1992, and again Romania’s leadership was horrified by the size of the crowds he drew, news reports said at the time. He was not allowed to return for another visit until 1997. But on that visit his citizenship and his castle — though not his crown — were returned, and King Michael visited regularly after that. In 2011 he addressed Parliament, which that year granted him the same rights as other former heads of state. He received a standing ovation. The Kingdom of Romania was formed in the mid-19th century when two Balkan principalities, Moldavia and Walachia, merged. Its shape and size changed radically as empires waxed and waned. It had a king only five times in its history, twice with Michael: He was king from 1927 to 1930 and again from 1940 to 1947. He was born Prince Mihai Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen on Oct. 25, 1921, in Sinaia, Romania. His father was Crown Prince Carol; his mother, Princess Helen, belonged to the Greek royal family. Other relatives belonged to Prussian royalty, and his great-great-grandmother was Queen Victoria of England. Photo Michael with his father, King Carol, in Romania in 1939. Carol was forced to abdicate the next year, returning Michael to the throne. CreditAssociated Press In 1925, Carol, widely known as the “playboy prince,” bowed to his family’s fury over an affair he was having with a woman named Magda Lupescu. She was divorced; he was married. He renounced his right to the throne and went to live in Paris, leaving Michael heir to the kingdom. When Carol’s father, King Ferdinand I, died on July 20, 1927, his grandson — all of 5 years old — succeeded him. When told he was king, Michael was said to have replied, “Really?” When assured that indeed he was the king, he was said to have asked for a piece of chocolate cake. Michael had English, French and German nurses to help with languages and regents to make decisions. But he grew into his station; he was once said to have told his mother, “Madame, I am king and I want to be obeyed.” A royal spanking followed. In June 1930, Michael’s father, tired of flitting about Europe, returned to Bucharest to renounce his renunciation. Welcomed back by the country’s political leadership, he was crowned King Carol II. Michael, now 9, was again crown prince, and he seemed to fancy the demotion. Photo Romanians in 1946 carrying portraits of King Michael and government leaders after the first election since the end of World War II. CreditJim Pringle/Associated Press “I have been terribly tired of wearing long trousers and a stiff hat and going to places I don’t want to go at all,” he said. With the onset of World War II, King Carol tried to take advantage of his country’s political chaos by declaring a royal dictatorship. But the Soviet Union and Germany outmaneuvered him to seize Romanian territory, and the king came under fierce attack. To placate the outraged military and Romanian fascists, he named the brutal General Antonescu to head his government. In September 1940, the general turned on King Carol and forced him to abdicate. So, at 18, Michael was again king — but in truth, he was more of a prisoner. He seldom appeared in public. Romania’s leaders gave him chores like reviewing troops. But as the young king matured into his 20s, he prepared to act. He secretly huddled with antigovernment forces that were gathering strength as Germany began to lose the war. Photo Former King Michael and Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma with attendants and guests on the grounds of the Royal Palace in Athens after their marriage there in June 1948. CreditThe New York Times This alliance was at first secret, but by the summer of 1944 Michael had emerged as a symbol of popular discontent. Risking the severest retribution, he publicly pressed General Antonescu to surrender to the Soviets. The general refused. Michael summoned him to the palace and asked him again, pounding a table for emphasis. The general again refused. Michael then uttered prearranged code words, and three soldiers and an officer came forward to arrest General Antonescu. He was locked in a vault where Michael’s father had once kept the royal stamp collection. Other arrests followed. German pilots tried to kill Michael by bombing the palace, but the king prevailed, renouncing Romania’s alliance with Germany. Germany searched in vain for a Romanian general not loyal to the king. Its frustrated ambassador warned Michael that he was playing with fire. Photo King Michael, at 75, as he addressed tens of thousands of Romanians who had gathered in University Square in Bucharest to welcome him on a visit in February 1997. CreditRadu Sigheti/Reuters The king shrugged, and Romania became the first Axis satellite to desert Hitler. He soon unleashed 16 divisions against Nazi troops, inflicting severe losses. The coup also accelerated the Soviet takeover of the country. Michael received the Legion of Merit from the United States and the Order of Victory from Moscow for giving help to the Red Army. He was the last living recipient of that medal, and one of only 20 to receive it. By 1947, the Cold War had started in earnest, and Stalin ordered Romania to get rid of its king. Romania’s prime minister, Petru Groza, was persuasive: He threatened to execute 1,000 of Michael’s supporters, and Michael himself, if he did not abdicate. “It was blackmail,” Michael told The New York Times in 2007. “They said, ‘If you don’t sign this immediately we are obliged’ — why obliged I don’t know — to kill more than 1,000 students that they had in prison.” Michael, the last monarch behind the Iron Curtain, abdicated on Dec. 30, 1947. He left Romania with more than 30 family members and friends on an eight-car train carrying, among other things, four American automobiles, nine cases of gin and three shotguns. The Romanian government said he had also taken valuable paintings, although he denied this. Romance soothed the sting of leaving. In November, Michael had attended the wedding of Princess Elizabeth of England and Prince Philip of Greece, his cousin and childhood playmate. There he met Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma. As they both later recalled, they fell instantly in love. The couple married in an Orthodox ceremony in Athens in June 1948 after Pope Pius XII refused to permit Anne, who was half French and half Danish, to marry a non-Catholic. They remained married until Queen Anne died in 2016. They had five daughters, Margareta, Elena, Irina, Sophie and Maria, who survive him. Living mainly in Switzerland, Michael went on to be a commercial pilot, a stockbroker and, briefly, a chicken farmer. He always regarded his forced abdication as illegal. In his own mind — and in the minds of many Romanians — he died a king. Photo A Romanian on Tuesday paid his respects at an impromptu memorial to King Michael I in front of the former Royal Palace, now the National Arts Musem, in Bucharest. CreditRobert Ghement/European Pressphoto Agency Correction: December 5, 2017 An earlier version of this obituary erroneously attributed a distinction to King Michael. He was not the last surviving head of state from World War II; at least one other — Simeon II, who was king of Bulgaria from 1943 to 1946 — is still alive. Correction: December 5, 2017 A picture caption with an earlier version of this obituary misidentified Neville Chamberlain, who was shown with King Michael in 1938. He was the prime minister of Britain, not the foreign minister. Correction: December 6, 2017 An earlier version of this obituary misspelled the given name of one of King Michael’s daughters. As an accompanying picture caption correctly noted, she is Margareta, not Margarita.

What a grand piece of work! Many thanks for showing us. I was thinking Title badge" before I read Peter's comment. Feeling mildly smug. Hugh

Nice group! To whom is it named? Hugh

Just wondered if anyone found ribbons for the Bhawalpur medals? I am still looking. If anyone has any now, please let me know. Regards, Yasser. Hi, Yasser, I can only refer you to my not-particularly-helpful post # 16 above, which mentioned an unnamed supplier in Birmingham, England, who at one time was selling "replica" medals with new, snappy ribbons. The medals were not particularly expensive, so it might be worth it to just buy the medal and use the ribbon...if only someone could find the name of the supplier. Good luck, Hugh

Thanks for these inputs. From my limited time with the Aussies on parade and in the field, brim up seems to be on parade and down is in the field, just as you say, The Americans would have a regulation for it.

Thanks for this additional commentary, Sahil. H

Thanks for this. It's a handsome trinket. And thanks to Dave for the "how-to-wear" illustration. Hugh

So is someone going to show the unwashed amongst us a picture of this badge?

The Maltese cross is also very reminiscent of the UK George Cross which was presented to the island's population for their heroism during WW II. UK George Cross

Thanks for this, Windu. I'm guessing there would be lots of these, at least in the lower grades. Do you have any idea about award criteria: Civil vs. military (or both)? Was it an automatic award after a certain number of years of service? Best, Hugh

Well done, Emmanuel! A nice find. Best, Hugh

Quite an impressive set of gongs. I'm a little surprised that he didn't get a "V" for his Bronze Star nor Oak Leaf Clusters for his Air Medal. These medals (unmounted) have the look of being just out of the box. Perhaps he never had the chance to get all the doodads on the ribbons. Or perhaps it's a set of replacements after he left active service.

I have a similar one give to me in Hong Kong in the late '70's. I'll be curious to see what answers you get. Best, Hugh

I wonder if you've looked at Argentina as a source. Take a look at the sun in the center of their flag. Because this has only one face, I suspect this may not be an official national medal. Perhaps an honorary society, etc. Best, Hugh