Claudius

Thanks Alex, but it has been covered. Thank you again Chris!

I was just asking for a photo of the Weigel badge from the book. (What I would really like is to HAVE the badge, but short of that I will have to settle for the photo.)

Does anyone own this book? -Please contact me by PM Thank you.

sorry, don't know that one. I can't read it from the photo. What does it say on the obverse top and bottom cross arm?

Wonderful document group! I really like how the Crown Order in on a light blue ribbon for foreigners! A great observation.

Congratulations! I know how well this fits into your collection -an excellent pick-up.

This is a really hard scan to try to read the medals. Could you crop and enlarge the area? It might help. The left breast is not the St. George Cross. It looks like Order of St. John of Jerusalem Maltese Cross. On the right breast; just like Andreas I could see it being the St. Stanislaus Order with swords. I initially thought St. Anne, but the ribbon is suggests the St. Stanislaus.

I'm a fan of this award too. And you have one in the case. Very nice. All four of your awards are VERY nice pieces!

I also think it looks like the Order of St. John.

Great example of this usual bar construction! It must have been a tailor's unique practice to do it this way. It reminds me of how Rick R. would post period photos of bars with the awards ordered contrary to the Regs. Great photo and bar! I can make out the battle bar on the F-P medal as "Gravelotte - St. Privat". I can see the other awards clearly, but does anyone have a guess to #8 and #10?

hmmm..... I don't like the bar construction, the overlapping ribbons from right to left???? Also, could we get a peek behind the Crown Order ribbon at the Red Eagle ribbon? Thanks

nice bar!! interesting, the Saxon LS after HK, but before the Prussian LS. any other gems from SOS?

This thread doesn't mention when the medals were issues, only that the recipient list was still reviewed up to 1961! http://gmic.co.uk/topic/50400-liberation-war-commemorative-medal-vapaussodan-muistomitali-1918/#comment-461234

It is wonderful that you can match up the medal bar and the photo! It is done on too few of occasions. Andreas, do you know the name? At least, can you tell us what was this man's occupation? (Can you tell from the photo? What (Hussar's uniform?) is he wearing?) Regards,

Wait, what?...wasn't the Finnish Liberation Medal issued in late 1918?

Yeah, that is a nice bar! Proud Saxon. I like what the bar says to me. Can we see the reverse too?

Ok! Thanks for the information.

This looks like an interesting book. Does it include any after-action reports on Russian ships that went to Tsingtau seeking repairs and medical aid?

Could you show the reverse too? Thank you

He was a Karelian? That is interesting! I came across that area and the people there when I was reading an account of western intervention during/after WWI in North Russia, (The Murmansk Venture by C. Maynard) He discussed how different groups in North Russia were vying with each other; Whites, Reds, White Finns, Red Finns, etc. The Karelian's were among them, hoping to carve out their own country. This is great account of his life at this pivotal point, and probably correct. The medals being lost is not too surprising. Many of these bars didn't survive (or we haven't seen many that are in very private, private collections). a pity. If we all agree that two of the "coins" are St. George Medals, I would feel a really good guess is that the other three are; a Zeal Medal, a 1812-1912 Centennial Victory over Napoleon medal, 300 year Romanov Rule medal, but one of them could still be a 1914 Mobilization medal (last medal?). Thanks for sharing!

Hello Locktsar; Welcome to the GMIC website. An excellent photo of a family member. Let me first just say, Wow what a nice medal bar! It goes without saying that it would be a real nice to see in person. You and Andreas are correct. There is little doubt, the first four crosses are the St. George Crosses in all four classes. You can't see the metal color, but the first two on the left are gold, the second two are silver (like Andreas' example). The 1st Class and the 3rd Class are further defined by having bows on the ribbon. Again it is hard to make out, but you just discern them. The next five "coins" are likely campaign medals. The ribbon hue patterns may be the best clues to which, but by the age you mention of the recipient, and the date of the photo, I would suspect medals like; Zeal Medal, 1812-1912 Centennial medal, 300 year Romanov Rule medal. Then it gets harder to guess; 1914 Mobilization medal?, Life Saving Medal, First General Census? If he was older I would suspect medals like; Turkish Campaign, China Campaign, Boxer Rebellion, Alexander Coronation, or Russo-Japanese War. There are others here that will have some great ideas of which medals he earned. Yes, the last device is a Regimental badge.

It will certainly be the Belle of the Ball!

Hello Kasle; I can understand your buyer's concern about this medal. The short answer is "Yes" this medal is original and period. But why did your buyer even have a question about this medal? And that is the long answer. This medal has all the details of an original and is an excellent strike. The embossed lettering, on the reverse the tiny dots before and after the words and right down to the artists initials on the obverse. The medal looks perfect..except it isn't "blackened". H&S describes the medal as blackened iron. And the öse is different too. This is why your buyer is questioning the medal. Why the difference? I believe I know the answer. I've seen this before with the Schwarzburg Ehrenmedaille that was also made at different periods with slightly different construction techniques. The Oldenburg War Merit Medal 1916 was first decreed in November 21, 1916 to those who have show help in the war effort. On May 9th, 1917 the awarding of the medal was expanded to include younger recipients (minimum age of 15) and to women. (awarded on a bow ribbon) I have seen Oldenburg War Merit Medals 1916 on regular ribbons and they were blackened medals with the heavier öse. The medals on bows seem to be the unblackened medal with the thinner öse. My theory is that when they expanded the award to include more recipients (i.e. women) AND the war was making more demands in materials the production of this medal changed. They no longer took the extra step to blacken it and a öse they used needed less time and metal. This OWMM 1916 you sold is one of these latter productions and obviously awarded to a woman. Everything else checks out too. To the ribbon and the DRGM stamp on the pin holder. Ordinarily I would suggest a black light to the threads, but I don't think they will glow. Someone else here may have an opinion on this piece and may have a correction or something to add.

That is a great document! Thank you for sharing it.