Chris Boonzaier

On the uniform....

The Ribbon bar, also home made (I guess the tailor hated folks like me.... regt tailors are civilians who have a place in the barracks..)

A few years later when the UN one came along I just moved the Saudi one down a peg and added the UN one into place...

Not as bad as you may think, from the front it looks really good indeed..... noone sees the back... just as well....

These were easy to mount with some pins on a blue cloth as the bar was not too long. By three it becomes a problem..... which I had when we got the Saudi medal. We got it on the monday.... on the Tuesday we had Guard..... Now, normally you would go tho the Regt tailor and get these things done.... but there was no time... so I mounted it myself.... order was...overseas medal, defense national and Saudi clunker... I took a blue legion shoulder board, cut it up for the cloth, took a green piece of plastic to stiffen it, sewed the hooks on .... and this was the result....

After Desert Storm (Operation Daguet) most of us young'uns landed up with 2 medals. The national defence medal and the overseas medal with clasp "Middle east" Here is Mitch and me dressed for guard duty at this stage...

Well, after years of not really caring, I am beginning to take an interest in my own medal bar. When I left i had 4 medals.... This was the bar.... standard three in a row on a dark blue backing...

There is a certain family resemblance between the three. I would sugges old Onkle Jogl was one of the german advisors attached to a Turkish unit? Best Chris

It looks very juicy indeed!!!

A funny difference.... the Kuwaiti medal to French troops had that US style pinback, the Saudi medal however was on the regular French system of the 2 long pins to be stuck into the jacket (In the award day). Best Chris

The death of a Regiment.... the 69th is destroyed at Haucourt... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40056/140301.html

See the "Whats new" for more snazzy stuff....... http://www.kaiserscross.com/40020.html

As a medal collector... what a pity. As a realist... why should they get one? Then comes to medal to the families of men killed on the Somme. Then the medal to those who were in London during the Blitz. then to the medals to Canadians who were killed at Dieppe, Then to Aussies from Gallipoli. Then to ... then to... then to.... Some of the above DO have medals... but from private initiatives.... The Lusitania medal from WW1 was not from the Govt either...

maybe because boats are so big the badges would look silly with an Inf assault sized eagle? It must have been hard enough cramming in enough "boat detail" The 2nd style e-boot seems to change things a bit... best Chris

Maybe the stamp for the makers mark itself began to wear out or got damaged? The last thing you want to have done in bad quality is your makers mark. At a point maybe they said.... hmmmmm.... the details are no longer so fresh on these... Another possibility.... maybe the old stamp did not work so well on other forms of metal? i.e from Tomback to Kriegsmetal ?

Not in this case, the "J" is for Johann Deutschbein. Best Chris

What a freaking fantastic group !!! Have you managed any research from the Brit side? best Chris

Proudly presented.... the hub for Verdun awards, stories and a memorial to the men.... http://www.kaiserscross.com/41902/136501.html

P.S. should be J. Deutschbein

A thought to this.... As we have seen in the past, there are certain firms that were simply "Stamping" firms. Frank and Reif were one of these... i.e. they stamped out one piece badges, but did not do complicated things like Iron Crosses etc. Their names are on it because they made the whole simple badge. Deutschbein was a belt buckle stamper, you can find metal and aluminum buckles made by them. You need heavy industrial tooling to make buckles, it is a specialty of its own. As a "Stamping" firm, what are the chances that they put a pilot badge together? As a stamping firm maybe they can stamp out wreathes, or eagles.... but then they would just be a parts deliverer to one of the recognized specialized firms who did the fine work of browning and gilding and silvering making holes, putting on hinges and hooks, putting eagles on the wreathes etc..... Schuco is also a simple stamping firm that has its name on badges.... once again they are simple one piece things... I am not sure how the name got there... maybe period (Personally I find it would be worrying to me) but maybe pastwar to make it more interesting? Best Chris

Pretty prominent hooters for a woman on a middle east medal... I guess certain sections of the population would get a bit angry about that....

I think technically just about any firm making them between 1921 and shall we say....1971... may be TECHNICALLY "Original"? All the best Chris

thats an option I had not thought of.... but now that you mention it......

All I can say is...... WOW!!! If I send a pic of me and one of Claudia Schiffer in a bikini on the beach.... do you think you could make us a happy couple :-)

Hi, I think he is using the French Foreign Legion FFL as opposed to the WW2 definition. Best Chris