ChrisW

Owain, Many thanks for your appetite-whetting sneak preview! The book indeed sounds promising, and looks like it will live up to my high-but-realistic hopes. My own copy is probably several months away from reaching my eager hands, and I look forward to any further notes from you. I'd be particularly curious if there is any material on: - commemorative medals - unit-level military medals - Police medals - details on recipients, including numbers of medals awarded, examples of recipients, etc. It's a little surprising that the author evidently was unable or unwilling to use his position -- a major general in the police -- to gain official cooperation. Although that only increases my admiration for his DIY effort. Thanks again, Chris

I came across this apparently new book on Egyptian orders and medals, several copies of which are available on Ebay from an Egypt-based seller. I have no additional information on the book other than what is in the listing. The book's author is an Egyptian Police major general, Samah abd al-Rahman al-Liqaani. http://www.ebay.com/itm/EGYPT-OLD-BOOK-/311527758770?hash=item4888805bb2:g:14gAAOSwa-dWml2U I have dealt with the seller on many occasions and always found him reliable, prompt and trustworthy. But I would warn any potential US-based customers that mail parcel service from Egypt to the US has slowed down dramatically since November. Parcels which used to take 2-3 weeks to arrive now are taking more than two months.

Thanks for the information Owain. It's interesting to see two Royal Guards wearing the Italian Order of the Crown, as well as the probable Afghan award. That seems to have been one of the perks of being in the Royal Guards - being involved in state visits by foreign royalty and heads of state, and as a result being rewarded for it. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy visited Egypt in February 1933, and following his abdication from the throne in May 1946 he went into exile in Alexandria, Egypt, where he died in December 1947 (and is still buried). The medals in the photos above could have been awarded for service to the King in exile during 1946-1947. Here's another photo of a Royal Guard officer, probably a First Lieutenant. He also wears Italian Order of the Crown 5th Class, along with the Egyptian Medal of the Order of Mohammad Ali. I don't know what the date of the photo is. I imagine the Mohammad Ali medal was awarded for gallantry outside of combat, since he doesn't have a campaign medal? Happy New Year and best wishes, Chris

Thanks for posting these, color photos from this period are very rare. These photos are extremely useful for determining uniform and insignia colors. And the medals are nice too - it will be fun to try to identify them.

Nick, if you haven't already seen it, I humbly recommend this thread on Egypt's Palestine Medal: http://gmic.co.uk/topic/40737-the-egyptian-palestine-medal/#comment-377057

Welcome to this little corner of the hobby, Nick! Owain is right on the mark (as usual) that Ebay usually is the easiest and most reliable souce... Sometimes it helps to be creative with search terms and categories, as sellers may not necessarily know what they have. So you can find bargains and serendipitous surprises. This is of course a symptom of there being few references for Middle Eastern militaria, so this hobby can be frustrating. Of course, if your studies take you to the Middle East, the souks and bazaars always offer enjoyable experiences. Best of luck and enjoy, Chris

Paul, thanks for the photo. By "Maritime Museum in Washington DC" do you mean the US Navy museum down at the Navy Yard? Or is this another museum? Thanks.

Thank you for the additional details on the author! And also thanks for the clarification on the title - it's obvious when I look at it now. I've run across Carman's book once or twice in online auctions but have never seen a copy, I'd be curious as to your thoughts on it. Besides the Royal Guard insignia, the book also has sketches of distinctive insignia of the following branches of service: - Armor - Cavalry - Border Guards - Artillery - Engineers - Infantry - "liwa' al-asaas" (?) - Machine Gun Training Center - Signals - Arms/Ordnance - Army Service Corps - Medical - Maintenance (?) - Music/Band I'll try to post these in coming days if you're interested.

Here's a photo of a Royal Guards major, probably during the 1940s. He's wearing an ordinary Army officer's summer uniform, with only the Royal Guards hat and collar insignia to distinguish him. (Because of that I missed this photo in my earlier search.) The medal ribbon probably is the Medal for Distinguished Services.

This is the book, "The Noble Egyptian Army" - at least I think that's the title. I can't figure out what the last word in Arabic is - it actually looks like "military" (al-harbi) but that doesn't make sense. In any case, the author is Lt. Col. Abd al-Rahman Zaki, director of the War Museum, published by Nile Printers, Cairo, April 1945. It was a very lucky find, like so many others - if I hadn't looked at the right part of the right used book stall in the book bazaar at the right time.... Looking through some of my files I couldn't find any photos of the Royal Guard, but I may have missed them. In any case they are pretty rare. I recall one or two photos of Royal Guards on horseback parading in the 1920s-1930s, listed on Ebay earlier this year, but I didn't acquire them.

Here's a drawing of the Royal Guards collar insignia, taken from a 1945 book. Regards, Chris

Egyptian Zogist, Thanks for your question! I've also been collecting information and photos of this period, and agree that there is not a lot of information out there. I will try to post some of the photos I have of the Royal Guards in the next couple of days. That could be a starting point for comparing information. Best, Chris

Paja, That's an intriguing question. It's certainly possible that there are buttonhole rosettes for some Egyptian orders awarded to civilians. But I think it might just as likely be one of the many other orders which have red/white/black ribbons.... like the German Knights Cross or Iron Cross for example? Regards, Chris

Gro, Thanks for posting this. Yet another interesting Egyptian commemorative from the Nasser period The lettering on the bottom of the medal, in the first photo, may be a clue as to the provenance of this medal: "Coin Minting Authority." Chris

There are precious few details here in this photo story, but it's still a nice and rare look into the making of Egyptian military and ceremonial uniforms. http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2014/12/25/tailoring-fabric-nation/

Lion101, I can't help you with the first two patches, but the last two do say "National Guard" (haras al-watani), so your information is correct. Chris

Thanks for posting! The 60mm is not a very common mortar caliber -- the biggest user was the US, particularly the WWII-era M2 and M19 mortars. Not sure if the UK used this. I'm sure a few made their way to the Middle East, including (possibly) Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc. Yugoslavia also made a 60mm mortar (M57), not sure if any made their way to the Middle East. Chris

Gro, thank you for posting this. Is there anything on the reverse side of the medal, or is it blank? Thank you. Chris

Given all the recent press about poor morale/conditions amongst USAF nuclear personnel, one wonders about the motivation for this medal...

An Egyptian Armed Forces/Middle East News Agency photo taken from the Associated Press site, of the 25 October 2014 funeral for the 30 Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai. This officer carries a plaque with the medals of (one? several?) of those killed. Looks like: Top Row: Sinai Liberation 25th Anniversary Commemoration Medal, 6 October 1973 War 40th Anniversary Commemoration, 1952 Revolution 50th Anniversary Commemoration Bottom Row: 1952 Revolution 50th Anniversary Commoration, Unknown, two more 1952 Revolution anniversary medals of some sort in silver not gold Wish that was a super-hi-res photo....

A good and long overdue idea, but one that could easily fall victim to bureaucracy and compromise. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27057909

Gro, I don't know if it's military or not, but it's from the United Arab Emirates, not Kuwait.

Hi Jan, Congratulations on your recent acquisition! I too recently acquired one, probably from the same seller! I'm afraid I don't have much more information. The battle of Shedwan Island was sort of a pyrrhic victory for the Egyptians, in that not all the defenders were killed or captured, and stood their ground. It was the last major battle of the War of Attrition, but I don't know why this particular battle should be commemorated. I first became aware of this medal in the early 1980s, at the Military Museum at the Cairo Citadel. There was a display of Egyptian medal ribbons, which included this one, simply titled "Shedwan Medal." I've never run across any documentation or seen another one until now. Best, Chris

Dave is correct, they do say "commandos" (maghawir). There are several Arabic words which translate as commandos and are more widely used. I've only seen the Lebanese Army use the term maghawir. Here's a pic of a Lebanese maghawir insignia I found on this blog: http://histoiredesforceslibanaises.wordpress.com/

A nice photo of a young Egyptian Navy officer (probably a cadet at the Naval Academy?) on his wedding day, wearing the Palestine Medal. Note the suspension bar. (His youth and the absurdity of his uniform leads me to believe he's a Naval Academy cadet, Egyptian service academies are prone to these sorts of costume.) (And I'm not sure how a cadet could qualify for a campaign medal. Perhaps part of his training included a combat cruise?)