alan_g

Before Rick Research passed away I wanted to share with him some devices from my collection, which I thought would be of interest to him and the ribbon bar articles he was working on. Here are a variety of 3 police eagles which show variance in size and design. The biggest and rarest device I have been able to find is 13mm tall. The average device which are the most commonly found on most police ribbon bars is a standard 10mm tall. The tiny device which is quite rare but highly detailed is only 5mm tall.

Hi Dave, are you thinking of the wreath device with one sword running through it? German Honorary World War Commemorative Medal of the German Legion of Honour? Rick Your bar could be a great example of a "make do and mend" approach to German ribbon bars and their manufacture. If it isn't in stock well use the next best thing. Unusual device, yet still characteristic of the medal itself... maybes it was deliberate? There was a 20 year gap between the end of WWI and the start of WWII, and Turkish devices most certainly would be a specialist purchase at that point in time, from say a small town tailors shop who would only stock the basics for German state awards and would be geared towards catering for the "modern soldier" etc. I would imagine in some cases devices would also be stripped from older ribbon bars to adorn new longer ribbon bars of the 1940's, as officers upgraded. Here is a nice simple little example I came across. Some tailor ran out of Eastern Front ribbon

Would they have had ample stocks of Turkish WWI devices so late on as 1939? I would imagine tailor shops would have stopped stocking these after the mid 1930s. Specialist military out fitters would possibly have had the stocks of correct devices available?

Haha!! Useful information if you want to set up a creche ;-) A name is not so important, but would be nice to confirm a career and historical profile in more depth than what these ribbons tell me. This one is a nice unusual example because it features a unique array of awards on the one bar, which aren't commonly found together.

I have shown these two bars before on other sites and wanted to share them here also for those of you who do not use other sites A pair of SS Polizei ribbon bars purchased separately. And brought together by chance. With the Hindenburg Cross not having any swords on it, one would assume this guy was never awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, So from what we see on the longer formal occasion ribbon bar, is a high ranking officer with all 3 flower war campaign medals, had duties at the Olympic games, was an activist in Danzig and was awarded the Danzig Cross medal, being a high ranker he would have had to travel and would have been pally with the Italians during the intimate bonding period of the late 1930's between Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. The military field bar, most likely worn on his every day wear police/ss uniform, shows he was awarded the Iron Cross in WWI, was still possibly a non-combatant in a civil role. Took part in all the flower wars campaigns and was in the Danzig Freikorps. A true post WWI militant and Nationalist. Construction of these bars i'd say was done by Godet. With quality of these bars, in particular the militant bar, the deterioration is not through poor manufacture, but through physical wear.

Here is a nice post 1939 ribbon bar which belonged to a Hesse veteran of WWI who fought in Turkey and gained the Liyakat medal and Iron Halfmoon. Somewhere in his career he managed to tie in service with Austria and Bulgaria. After WWI he joined the Freikorps and was awarded the Silesian Eagle medal. In WWII he was awarded the KVK X, sadly the swords have fallen from this piece. Probably an NCO ribbon bar?

It did happen, and it's always nice to find these quirky bars.

Here is a 10 place ribbon bar for a German Officer. Made in a "deluxe" style with a backing cloth under the ribbons. Its a half height bar, Godet manufacture.

Here is a nice 7 place ribbon bar, from a WWI veteran who later signed back into the Wehrmacht and fought on the Western and Eastern Fronts during WWII. This ribbon bar is interesting because it has a ribbon in 5th place, which I cannot identify. I thought that it could be a Weimar era sport award or some kind of Freikorps award, but the banderkatalogue does not feature this award. This bar is also nice because it has the mini West Wall medal on the end. I asked a SS Polizei veteran who was also awarded the west wall medal and wore the mini on his ribbon bar, why he chose to do that. His answer was that he bought it because without the miniature he felt that it wasn't "complete". That it was only half a purchase to buy just the ribbon on its own. Can anyone help ID this band?

Thanks Matt!! and for adding the photo!

Yes you are correct Rick, I had it upside down, should have paid more attention the bow at the bottom of the wreath! The white looking ribbon I am sure is faded from whatever colour it originally was.

Rick the ribbon with the silver swords is the Hessen Bravery medal

Amazing!! But I think he had yet another ribbon bar (s), with the joint crown and swords devices on both the HOHX and Order of Nassau, unless my eyes deceive me from the old black and white photo. Would be great to see his medal bar too! It makes sense that no wehrmacht long service awards can be seen here, with him retiring in 1930, even though he was called back up 9 years later, he wouldn't have seen the need to upgrade his rack. What would he have done to receive the Order of Nassau?

This 10 placer is interesting and unusual because it comprises southern style mounting technique upon a buckram body, so flexible in wear, not easy for a manufacturer to make and get right too! So a lot of work went into creating this piece. Attachable to uniform by some little clips. Two original one period replacement. Miniature devices are good quality and highly detailed. What makes this one more interesting than most is the impressive enamel cross slap bang in the centre. Which is the Cross of Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. Which is a Roman Catholic religious order, the oldest surviving order for chivalry. Would like opinions on this piece and any info regarding the Order of St John and why it ended up here

Here is a 7 place officers ribbon bar. It is mounted on brass hardware. Scarlet backing cloth. Not sure if this is an army or naval piece. Manufactured before 1934. Iron Cross 1914-18 HoH Mecklenburg Military Service Medal Colonial W.Afrika medal Swedish or Brunswick medal? reversed swords deliberately done this way, what does this indicate? Prussian Crown Order Red Eagle Order.

Here is a Prussian ribbon bar, which I assume is naval, sue to the awards and blue backing cloth. The ribbons are: Order of the Red Eagle Prussian Crown Order Long Service China Denkmunze Medal Kaiser Wilhelm Commemorative medal Order of the White Elephant (Thailand).

Here are a set of twin ribbon bars manufactured by Godet. This bar has many prestigious awards and unusually it has the Dutch order of Nassau on the end, which was awarded for "Special merits to society"... What could this chap have done to be awarded this medal?

Here i'd like to share with you a very interesting 8 place ribbon bar in almost perfect condition. Featuring an unusual array of awards, including those from the states of Bavaria, Anhalt and Brunswick (Or possibly Swedish order of the Sword?), it also has some very nice foreign awards from Bulgaria (Order of Merit) and Thailand (Order of the White Elephant). This one has a cloth backing, with maker ticket too.

Here is a small, but interesting ribbon bar from a medic, possibly from Hamburg with an Austrian red cross award. I am struggling with the ID of the last two. What appears to be a plain white ribbon, and the Order of St John?.

Here is another example with little button clips.

Some from Romania

Some From Slovakia.

1941 Fire Cross.

Austro-Hungarian with nice enamel mini.

Here are some from Hungary with minis.