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    Turkish War Medal


    Gordon Williamson

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    Is it known if Germans were also awarded the stunning quality Turkish made stars or did they prefer to receive an enamelled star back home?

    Would a Turk have been issued with an enamelled star?

    Tony

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    The cheesy, "tuna-can" metal ones with paint are the actual issued awards, as came with the document. The enameled ones are all "private-purchase" pieces as upgraded by the Germans. I have a document to a WW1 flyer, later S/A general Fritz Vielstich. One of the 2 guys you saw fly over the dunes and kick Ole' Lawrence of Arabia's butt back across the Sinai. The story of these german aviation units from this front are amazing. They lost, but the fighting they did with limited resources was pretty amazing. Vielstich was bumped up 2 full ranks for his bravery in action. An unusual occurance to say the least!

    Here's another "issue" badge

    [attachmentid=12501]

    [attachmentid=12502]

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    Guest Rick Research

    These nickled brass stars made by "BB&Co" can be taken as the standard for what Germans ended up with during the period.

    [attachmentid=1490]

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    I'd say roughly 90% of any TWM stars found will be made by BB&Co,

    [attachmentid=1493]

    with all other types combined in the remaining 10%.

    There has been endless unresolved speculation :speechless: about who and where BB&Co were, which need not distract us here since barring PROOF it is pointless. But they were certainly around BY 1927, when the New York surplus czar (buttons to used patrol boats, boots to artillery pieces) Francis Bannerman was offering them as souvenirs of the late war... for a week's pay!!!

    [attachmentid=1494]

    A nice catalog of types with any period documentation OF those types would be nice to have here!

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    Guest Rick Research

    My personal favorite, beating Godet hands down, would be the deluxe silver variety produced by J.H. Werner of Berlin.

    [attachmentid=1496]

    [attachmentid=1497]

    Whatever that firm's manufacturing and sales history of this award, this one dates after 1923/4, since the original owner (Konteradmiral (V) August B?ning) was not wearing it in photos then, but was thereafter-- including in internment the summer of 1945.

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    Guest Rick Research

    This one is a darker, almost purplish red enamel, "German quality"

    [attachmentid=1502]

    [attachmentid=1504]

    but apparently made by an Arabic (note "BB&Co horizontal style pin arrangement!) maker, whose blob of a chop mark on the barrel hinge

    [attachmentid=1503]

    cannot be made out. This one was given to a medical Gefreiter in Nablus in 1918 by a Turkish Lieutenant Colonel, who may have bought non-embarassing ones out of his own pocket. It is also in nickled brass.

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    Nice variety. I feel sorry for the Turkish soldiers. It is a shame when you risk your life and get a crappy thank you. Here is my BB&Co.

    Don

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    Guest Rick Research

    The documents were nice though. This scroll type (the official but not usual issue, so large that I have had to scan it in two parts) was-- improbable as it seems-- handed out in BELGIUM to Mecklenburg dragoons Lt dR Hans Behncke, serving as an orderly officer for one of the Marinekorps Flandern divisions!

    [attachmentid=2178]

    [attachmentid=2179]

    So as was often the case with Staff Types, he got a decoration for lighting a cigarette or holding a door open!

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    • 2 months later...

    I bought these recently and just wanted to show them off a bit even though the half moon is the quality made Turkish type.

    Was it common for a sailor to receive this award and were they not worn on the right?

    Tony

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    Guest Rick Research

    Yup, should be on lower right side, not left.

    But then he has the lower right (as viewed) point UP-- apparently confused by the sideways pin, too! cheeky.gifcheeky.gif

    This must have been taken "back home." There were a lot of German naval personnel in Turkey-- possibly as many as army personnel. The cruisers "Goeben" and "Breslau" were the biggest units, and many of their crew members were sent off far into the desert, at Gallipoli, etc, as infantry fill ins, machine gunners, and so on. There were also torpedoboat personnel, submariners, and so on.

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    I didn't notice the star was the wrong way round too Rick. I was hoping though that only a few navy personnel were there.

    The name of the photographer was Kreuzer which is rather fitting for a sailor but his studio was in Mindelheim, way down south in deepest darkest Bavaria just to the west of Munich.

    I think it would take you the best part of a day to get to the North Sea or Baltic today (unless flying), so a train journey back then must have taken yonks.

    Tony

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    I assume they are, but all the Turkish officers (or most of them) seem to have had them, maybe they were sold in turkey as well? I saw way more of them than the painted ones in the museum.

    I do remember a group or two with the painted ones.

    Just a question of whether they bought them during or after the war.

    by the way, one turkish seller insisted BB a co was a turkish firm, the others had no thoughts on the subject. I have no idea, just adding this to muddy the waters.

    Have any German groups popped up out of the woodwork with painted medals?

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    An excellent thread. Lots of detail and examples. A relatively unknown maker one popped up on eBay, Schneider Brothers-Wein, beg the "Evil One" and he will share the scan we lifted. Never saw this type before. Despite the fact that the piece itself was trashed, it was obviously yet another high-quality enameled piece.

    Here's the lid of a BB&Co. Cased TWM. No maker marks to the case itself, but the case is titled in Arabic, so perhaps BB&Co. was a Turkish maker!!!! jumping.gif

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