Nick

No doubt many of you are aware of the tragic news that Rick (Research) Lundström who only recently was able to rejoin us at GMIC, was killed yesterday,17th September 2013 in a road traffic collision. Rick had been a member of GMIC since 2005 and proudly passed his 20,000 post mark only last week. It is too early to pay him full honours at a time when many of us are in shock at this tragic news and are mourning the loss of a friend, who is simply irreplaceable in the world of military research and collecting. But I assure you that Rick who has played such a significant part at GMIC will be properly remembered so that his name lives on for future collectors. I only had the pleasure of meeting Rick once on one fine day in the fall of 2007, when I visited his home and spent an afternoon whiling away the hours talking about military history and viewing the artefacts in his modest and well cherished collection. I made a friend for life that day and although our friendship was internet and letter based in the years that followed, like many of you I mourn the loss of our friend and online companion. My thoughts at this time are with his elderly mother, family and close friends.

What is the text on the medal is it Gaelic?

Antonio do you have an English speaking version of this file ?

A new mid year competition is now up and running. There are some really great prizes for the winning entries including the prizes shown. For further details on how to enter the competition go here

I have usually found copy Golden jubilees to be over defined especially the ermin collar of her robes which stand out and feel noticeable if you rub your finger over them.

I think the easiest thing to do here is to start a helmet database with pictures supported by a topic. I will set one up.

Another fascinating group. Is there much information, if any released on the service records of Palestine Police officers or is it still out of the public domain ?

Peter Fantastic collection of Palestine Police Medals, what were his actions for the gallantry award and clasp?

The men's bodies were repatriated in the mid seventies and given a state Israeli military funeral and regarded as heroic freedom fighters. Britain lodged formal objection but this was unsurprisingly disregarded. As is often the case in history, particularly British history, one sides murderers and terrorists are later regarded as freedom fighters and heros in the struggle for independence from the yoke of British Imperialism. Palenstine was a poisoned chalace for the British, a mandate given to administer a region which was and still is in conflict. These are really a great and historically significant set of medals, one of the best Colonial groups I have seen. Thanks for showing them.

Also don't forget Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police. Police officer Sean Collier was also tragically murdered by them.

Bernard fascinating account thanks, looking forward to some more !

Best of the bunch: http://www.london-medals.co.uk

I would suggest you find a copy of his obituary try The Times.

Marco Perhaps you would like to give us some details of your grandfather, any photos or award documents perhaps ?

I agree my sincere condolences from all of us at GMIC.

I have sent you a PM with regards reposting this in the appropriate forum. Are you looking at starting to collect Iron crosses or are you looking at replacing awards which your grandfather was entitled to ?

Interesting article. But quite frankly there are many examples in both world wars where men should have received some recognition for their acts of bravery and never did for various reasons. Of course it easy to look at things from a different perspective in modern times and I have no doubt the fact he was black would have made some difference, as would have been the case if he didn't come from the right school or right background. But we should not assume that the colour of his skin was the only reason. I have read of acts which were beyond the pale in terms of courage which never were considered for the highest awards because of criteria not being met. What it does show is that in even in another age, steeped in Colonialism and prejudice, where a black officer would have been an unheard of thing. When men are thrown together in the most difficult of circumstances, colour of skin and background, goes bye the bye, especially when they are a good soldier and respected by their men.

It looks like a wild goose chase to me, a myth with no evidence to support the claim other than some fading memories....

Cheers. Any ideas on cost ?

Is it going to be available in English ? I take it is going to be released imminently ?

A long time bone of contention at GMIC has been image upload restrictions. However I am pleased to announce that from today I have introduced a new standard across all membership levels. Basically (dependent on the speed of your internet connection) all membership levels (apart from Basic members) will be able to upload images up to approx 8 to 10MB in size which is massive ! Basic members will be restricted to 2MB which is still a pretty impressive size. Images will be automatically resized, but it should not impact on the quality of the image too dramatically. This in essence means that for most members that they will no longer have to resize or play with images before uploading as the software does it for you, saving you time and hassle. This may still need some minor tweaking so any problems please report it. I will run this for a few months as a trial to ensure it is not impacting negatively on resources and then review it.... Enjoy....

I have looked into stocking ribbon for a ribbon bank at GMIC not just for British Medals, but which would include sourced original as well as reproduction. I have previously spoken with several manufacturers about this including Toyne Kenning and Spence, but I never took it forward as I didn't want a lot of expense for few sales. If it is something that is a demand I can chase things up again out of interest.

Steve Paul is right please post some images, as without them it is impossible to assess what you have got, and it would be nice to see some Olympic medals.

Mike They are not officially permitted to be worn on Queen's uniform Military or Police. The official designation is 'ribbons' which is cloth material not enamelled metal. I personally dislike them as it encourages individuals to attach them to articles of uniform which are non regulation for the wearing of ribbons. i.e. I have seen police walking the streets wearing them on uniform jumpers which are non regulation items for the wearing of ribbons. I can understand some of the frustrations though as todays military and even more so the police, rarely get to wear tunics, so the opportunity to wear ribbons or medals is limited. However there is now within certain Civil orders a miniature badge being officially issued which can now be worn in a non dress state in certain circumstances.