Sahil117

Hi Ed! Hello everybody! Was wondering how the same individual served on BOTH fronts in the 1971 war? I would say it may be possible in the case of an officer posted on staff duties in a HQ during the war; it may certainly even be plausible in the case of an Indian Air Force (IAF) officer- given the few and precious assets available then, but i fail to understand how this may be true for a JCO, seemingly posted in a Sikh LI Bn during the War? Unless of course, this Bn was air lifted from the East to the West or vice versa...??

Hi! It was really interesting to read the nuances of engraving & impressing above. Could you elaborate a little further please? For eg- I'm trying to rebuild my grand dads Medal set, and have gotten all the medals & stars that he was issued/ authorised. So say I was to metal punch his particulars onto the rims of the medals and the backs of the stars- you'd say that was a bad idea? This is apart from the obvious risk of damaging the obverse side of the stars in the first place, when repeatedly struck in the back to carry out the punching?

Gentlemen, good day to you all. With all this 'in depth' talk that I just read above, it seems like I came to just the place to have my queries answered. 1. If you see the area on the obverse side of the War Medal 1939-45 above, immediately below King George VI's neck line, there is a really tiny "PM" initials that appear. Could anybody tell me the significance of this please- is this the maker's mark or something more? 2. The marking on the same place as described above on the War Medal, i.e. just below King George VI's neckline, appear on the Defence Medal 1939-45 as the letters "HP" & seemingly just a little larger than the "PM" of the War Medal. Again- what is this please? 3. Lastly and most importantly, King George VI is figured on the War Medal, wearing the Crown, but appears on the Defence Medal, without the Crown. Anybody- any idea on the significance of this please?

@cazack You sure it's DSD? Coz if it were DSC, that's "Defence Security Corps", which isn't army by the way- it's a separate body for routine sentry/ security duties of permanent/stationary assets and establishments.

TA is Territorial Army, as the name suggests, it's a "localised force" who stay put in one area and pretty much know the terrain and the villagers etc pretty well. DMT is 'Driver Mechanical Transport'. It is technically a trade and not a rank, but is sometimes used interchangeably so. (:

@cazack @peter monahan "W/man" is almost certainly "Washerman". For the record, 'Washerman' is actually a 'trade' & not a 'rank'; but in India, there is a tendency to be casual over long/ complicated ranks, especially where space is at a premium- like on a medal. The only exception is for clerks- they being more literate than the other tradesmen & non commissioned ranks, see themselves as top of the food chain as far as 'tradesmen' are concerned, and they will never use their rank loosely/ lightly. So whereas it should officially be "Sep (W/man) XYZ" and "Dfr/ Clk (SD) ABC" the latter will inevitably be correctly written and the former, wrongly. As far as Sep Sub AT is concerned, it should either be Sep AT or Sub AT, and not both. While AT is an acronym for 'Animal Transport' and signifies that the medal awarded was either in the ASC (Army Service Corps) or the RVC (Remount & Veterinary Corps, the Sep is short for Sepoy and Sub is short for Subedar- both are ranks at extreme ends of the non commissioned rank spectrum! In this case, since Putti Lal was from the Artillery (Arty), his rank officially would be Gnr (W/man) Putti Lal. [Gnr- Gunner]. If he was from the Armoured Corps/ Cavalry then 'Gnr' would be replaced by 'Swr' which is short for 'Sowar' which literally means 'mounted' or if he was from the infantry, it would have been 'Sep' or Sepoy, which is an anglicised version of 'Sipahi' meaning foot soldier.

Hi! Great answer. Just to add to what you've so rightly already stated, it's not just about the tip being cut on top. It's also about the direction of the cut. The AK has a tendency to fire in a two o clock direction, if you imagine you are firing at the centre of a clock face. This is partly due to the design and balance of the weapon and partly it is attributable to the AKs four right handed grooves which impart the spin to the projectile travelling down the barrel. By making the cut also in the same two o clock direction, the AK recoils in a seven o clock direction, therein furthering the cause for accuracy. Having said that, if you can pump out six hundred rounds a minute, accuracy takes a back seat as far as AKs are concerned. Regards!

@Megan Location: Earth. Nice! (: Many thanks.

@Brian Wolfe @peter monahan Brian and Peter- I appreciate your replies, truly. I've been looking to contact @Ed_Haynes on Twitter, Facebook etc. Thank you for directing me to his website, of which i had no idea. I'll try reaching him there as well. Brian, you mentioned that there are several other members, besides Mr Haynes of course, who may be able to help me with the Indian duo- 'Videsh Seva Medal with clasp United Arab Republic', for service in the Gaza Strip in 1964, and the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War, 'Raksha Medal', that I am searching for. Any particular leads that come to mind? Peter, thanks for the luck wishes! Lets hope before long, I am able to post a picture here of the completed set, occupying its rightful place along with the other family medals. Sahil.

Dear Sir, It is FANTASTIC reading your posts. As a subaltern, one of the first few books I bought was your 'Medals & Decorations of Independent India' and I'm happy to say- I'm all the wiser for it! I am now posted on a peacekeeping mission with UNIFIL and in some small way, am trying to to keep the tranquility between Lebanon and Israel. Sir, while here in Lebanon, I have also undertaken a 'personal sort-of project' project, which is to 're-build' my grandfather's medal set, for myself now/ and maybe for presenting to the Regiment at a later stage in life. (My grandfather, father and I incidentally have some 80 years in the same Regiment and they both had the honour to command it as well). The original set of medals, incidentally was presented to 'another Regiment' that my grandfather was ordered to raise, and they occupy a place of pride in the ibid Regiments Quarter Guard. Sir, at a recent visit to Spink, London, I was able to recreate exactly half the set by getting four original, good condition and un-named medals (The 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal and War Medal 1939-45) on my grandfathers set. Luck further favoured me some more, and I was able to get the UNEF-I medal too at an online medal auction. Thereafter, the struggle has begun: while I was able to procure a decent condition and un-named Indian Independence Medal 1947, the last two medals are turning out to be a nightmare:- The Videsh Seva Medal with clasp 'Sayunkt Arab Ganjrajya' (UAR) and the Raksha Medal 1965. I understand these were perhaps made in very small numbers (as medals go) and getting hold of an un-named or a decent condition medal may prove to be next to impossible. However, I am doing what I can to leave no stone un-turned as this is the only family set that is 'missing' (so to say) and I hope before long to be able to replace it. Having exhausted all options (seemingly) I turn to you for help/ ideas on how to proceed from here. I apologize for leaving names of Regiments and other details missing/ vague in this message, sir. I am sure you realize, the Do's and Don'ts that are hand in glove with life in uniform. Yours Sincerely, sahil