Chris Boonzaier

Hi, these just arrived... to Pte S.H.Goodwin, wounded on the 29th of June 1917 at lens, died (in the 1950s I think) as a result of the wounds.

Just picked this up last week :-))

Nice to get a document where you can really SEE the guys place in history.... http://www.kaiserscross.com/60401/141501.html

I think the badge was introduced so late, many guys did not apply during the war... then in the 30s and 40 when everyone was getting back into uniform a lot of guys applied that had not gotten it during the war.

Cpl, classic underachiever Sgts course scrapped because I announced I was leaving at the end of my contract.

The parade uniform badges for Legionnaire, Legionnaire 1st class and Caporal

I would rather sell a kidney!!!!!

Not great condition, but I was veeeery happy to get this. A Croix de Guerre citation to a soldier in the Regiment d'Infanterie Colonial du Maroc ... the "RICM" It was the most decorated French Regiment ever and was one of the premier assault units of WW1...

2

Here are the divisional patches I had. 1) The division to which the 4eme Regiment Etranger belongs (The training regiment) I cannot remember which division this was :-( 2) The early 6th Light Armoured division (Part of the Force d#action Rapide) 3) The later version 4) Patch for the Division Daguet in Saudi/Irak

Hi, It depends. In 1991 we got a Camillus/K-Bar knife engraved with "2 REI X-Mas 1991" which had a lot to do with the French thinking the "Camilllus" is a good knife. I broke mine within a week. In Bosnia we also got hip flasks with the company badges engraved on them. I stupidly traded mine for a German badge.

A very nice doc indeed.... I would actually even consider it if I was not broke at the moment :-( Maybe I will go sell my body....

If we have to have a girl, as opposed to canons and swords and all the nice stuff.... at least lets take a nice looking one.... I think these die cutters dont get out enough....

She is scaaaaary...

Or Michael from Halloween...

And while we are at it.... Laetitia Casta was officially voted as the face of la Republique for 2000 onwards... An official French site says... "Gradually over the twentieth century, every town hall acquired a bust of Marianne, now systematically wearing the Phrygian bonnet and stripped of her other attributes (bundle of arms, builder?s level or scales). Marianne now appears in an expurgated version. The latest figures most popular with today?s town halls are modeled on the features of Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve and Laetitia Casta." Did you get those last three names? Check out the face on medal 2... the expression.... Is it closer to laetitia

Maybe at some stage they will do a new version? The colonial medal went through a few different ones.... maybe in a year or so this will see "Version 2" I do think however it is the 2nd worse.... the TRN has to be the lowest.... especially as it symbolises recognition. What I dont understand is... you have to buy the TRN yourself.... so why does the state say only one maker can make it?

The good point is the blackface makes the details a bit better... man... I dont get it... why did they make it sooooo flat !?!?!?!?

Indeed.... When you look at the wondrful quality of the WW1 medals, and the fact that millions were awarded.... nowdays there are fewer awarded, and the quality has suffered badly.....

It is a campaign medal for areas not covered by the overseas medal. Ex-Yugoslavie, Haiti, Afghanistan etc. etc. are all bars that come on this. I am not 100% sure how they differentiate between campaigns for the overseas medal and this one.

Backs

This is a low point in French medal making :-( You cannot even go back and buy a nice old one as this is a new medal and "cheap" was the theme right off the bat. The design is the symbol of the Republique (Marianne) surrounded by "Republique Francaise"... A tried and trusted formula that worked well on the Colonial medal, the defence medal etc. Two monstrosities have recently arrived in recent years that are simply not "Nice". The TRN medal blushes in shame compared to the quality of medals of yesteryear... and the guy who did the "Medaille Commemorative Francaise" was not the best the nation had to offer. On the left you see the official medal... the relief is very low, Marianne looks a bit like an Aztec medicine man mask. The quality is so-so but the loooooow relief makes it look as if the design would wear off with two wipes of a cloth. On the right is an unoffiial one of some sort. Better relief, the details a bit more obvious... but the face makes it look a bit more comic bookish.... Aztec woman would have been better with this relief...

What a fantastic quality!!!!!!! With all modern technology, we seen to have last the capability of making quality awards nowdays....

Agreed, seems to be a token turned into a badge. I think it was often done in those days, with coins as well.

and the backs with the order changed...