Chris Boonzaier

Ever seen one of these before !?!?!?!

Basically the names you gave, two were confirmed. Then they said they are renovating and cannot find any of the other info you needed at the moment and gave you some links, names of associations and names of books that may be of help. All the best Chris

Here is the CDG from the pic above. Aime obviously had 2 sets. This group from I assume the 1920s or so, and his award pieces to wear on parades. Lots of the vets also had a framed set like above. On the framed sets the stars were ofen glued on ones, which in this case had been lost over the years... so here is the CdG seem above with a new period ribbon and new stars.

Here is a thought placed in my little head after seeing Veterans group.... How to get them mounted? The French style is 3 in a row, row under row. But I am no longer in France. As a South African/Canadian we have the British tradition of all on one bar. Would it be out of line to get them court mounted?

Hi, He works for the University and I suppose the archives are just a jump away. best Chris

Having no dog in this fight and assuming the whole thing is "Just for interest" as none will be offering them to me for sale... I would say the one central theme is..... don't let your stuff out of your hands.... unless you are selling it....

WQell... deep from the archives in namibia Gordon McGregor pulls a rabbit out of his hat... My guy von Hadeln with some senior Boer leaders, including the famous General Kemp. This makes my week!!!

Get the CD folks... this is groundbreaking.... and from what I see... there is more in the pipeline.... Buying the CD supports the research...

hh

For those who dont know them, the Saudi medals were effeciently stamped out by some firm who probably makes key rings. I dislike the chrome finish (I suppose it is supposed to be "Silver") so I want it in the silver color it is supposed to be. The back has one of those patters you see on key rings etc. I dont suppose these was a specific order for that, so I will go with flat. As they were stamped the back edges of the rays are sharp as hell... I am going with old school smooth and have rounded them off on the back as they did in the old days. I am sure a purist or two will frown and we will hear from them, but I think I am more in line with what the original designer had in mind before the European key ring stamper got the contract....

back....

OK.... I intend to revive the idea of "jeweler made" pieces or as the Germans call them "Spangenst?cken" for these two clunkers... For these two..... 1) the absolute best solution would be to get these both done in Sterling silver, top to bottom. Silver is cheap (relatively, and I assume it could be done with molds made from the originals. The Kuwait one could use a better bar than the one one it so the join to the madaillon would have to be neater than this and a proper bar that goes all the way across instead of just the 2 pins that go above the ribbon. If that proves to be too expensive... 2) A THICK silver plating for both. The ring on the Saudi changed to a little bar as seen on the drawing. If possible the Bar on the Kuwait one a little improved and put on a bit neater.

Meet "Oncle Oskar (Laube)", identified as such on the back of the frame. We spent a couple of days puzzling what unit he could be......

Does this mean you have to walk every now and then ;-)

It looks like the US made ones ARE official after all... here is a boxed set of 10 by a govt supplier...

Tankers are soooooo gay.... Long live the Infantry !!!!!!!!!! :-)

Hi Vet, I sent you an email yesterday, did it come through? I dont think there is anything wrong with the TRN as such. I think some of the guys are getting a bad deal by only getting it. I found a forum online that is just about OPEX and CC... some of the guys are very frustrated because they dont qualify and I see their point. Seen that way, the TRN in a number of cases represents as much as the cc does. Back to "The Surge"..... I think all armies nowdays are spreading the medals around. Even the British are giving medals out instead of just bars (Although they still remain the most conservative). I begin to feel like a russian general ;-)

Hi, I have found an old OM on the French forum that looks as good as the Colonial. To be quite honest, I would not have had big problems using the Colo. The Colo and OM are the same award, just different times. You can buy from some suppliers uniface Colo/OM medals for framing, and on the French forum there is a privately made one without "Medaille Colonial" or "Medaille d'outre Mer" but with the recipients name. Anyway, now I have a line on the silver OM so its academic really. Doc, You are right, but it is the difficulty of trying to follow up on guys who are spread all over the world and who may not even be interested in recuperating awards. Vet, Indeed, if my money multiplied like modern medals I would be a rich man. The big multiplier are the other nation things (UN, Kuwait and Saudi) and redundancies. To get the CC you need at least to qualify for the TRN. Sooooo.... if you hace the CC then maybe the TRN should not be on the bar. To get the CCV you need to qualify for the CC (And the TRN) so.... if you have the CCV on the bar maybe the CC and TRN should not be? It seems a bit like wearing the gold, silver and bronze Defense national all at once.... To be quite honest, it makes me blush when I see how much it is and when I think that a Poilu at Verdun would have experienced way, way, way more in just a few days at Verdun. All the best Chris

Ahhh... 2 more points I need to do... 1) I also qualify for the medaille commemorative with bar "Ex-Yugo" which I should apply for 2) During operation Baumier I managed to loose my award document for my Outre Mer with moyenne orient bar and my temoinage de satisfaction for the gulf. I must see if it is possible to get these done as duplicates.

Hi Vet, What are the chances of finding an early OM? I will give it a shot on the French forum. Indeed, it is the card of the CC I telephoned for. The woman actually put me on hold for 10 minutes to go look for my dossier. She came back with an "Ooooops... we forgot that one... and said they have to send it to be signed. But that takes time as the authority only does it at specail periods. When that finally arrives the Croix d combattant goes into my frame. I have never worn medals since 1994 so I want to get them mounted for framing. The Croix du combattant volontaire is a no go for me. As the Legion are volunteers it seems logical that I may apply... but I have read that for the 4eme Generation au Feu that they have made it only for national servicemen who specifically volunteer for an operation as opposed to volunteer soldiers who are sent to an operation. A silly difference but one I will live with. Best Chris

Some German units had a tradition of issuing a document to men who had been involved in certain actions. For instance the RIR81 issued documents to men who fiught on the Souville heights and later in 1917 to men who were there for the battle on the Aisme. There was no medal involved, just a document. Here is the Verdun one... http://www.kaiserscross.com/60401/134122.html

EK2 is a narrow one.

Our guy was quite the combat stud.... Poland, France, Serbia, Greece, Russia, France, Belgium, Germany Poland, first to the channel, blitzkrieg in the Balkans, into the suburbs of Moscow, Kursk, Normandy, Mortain counter offensive, Falaise Pocket, Battle of the bulge.... and survived it all... The only postwar info I have on him is that he died falling off a scaffolding while working for/on/at a brewery. A rather ironic end to what must have been a hell of a soldier...

I seem to remember waaay back that I managed to place his Regt as the one that fought the "Band of Brothers" unit at ... I think it was Foy, there they advanced out of the woods, towards a farmhouse. Anyway.... the Division was the one that made the furtherest advance in the battle of the bulge. the 2nd Panzer was also the panzer division that was most highly rated by US and British intel. I am not sure when he was captured but when he was, sometime in 1945, it seems all the awards he had with him were souveniered by the GIs (The division was captured by the Americans) All that was left were the things not needed at the front, the medal bar, the DKIG and awards that were broken... obviously all left at home....

Our man was fighting through the Ardennes as this was being signed many miles away.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge