Chris Boonzaier

Are there certificate collectors? for me the documents with the clasps on them would be the more interessting thing to collect (I am a "paper guy" :-)

Maybe I can shed some light here.... maybe a wild guess as well..... I remember before the ground offensive began, in the months leading up to the advance there was a lot of political talk going on in France as to whether the French Division (Division Daguet) would actually advance into Iraq or whether they would stay in Saudi Arabia in case of a potential Iraqi flank attack. It was probably the most tension we had in the Gulf. Guys in my company were even talking about deserting with their APCs, forming own groups and crossing the border on their own, damning the consequences and going out in a blaze of Glory. The whole time it was rather "iffy" as to whether we would go to Iraq. Case 1: Maybe the bar shown was a specimen made up in this time? In the end the Division Daguet crossed the border 24 hours BEFORE the official start of the ground war along with a brigade of the 82nd Airborne, so the fears of not being in Iraq fell away. Case 2: Maybe the A.S. clasp was initially thought out for troops who did not cross the border (supply troops in Saudi Arabia for instance?). In the end everyone got the middle east bar Case 3: Maybe after Div. Dag. left there were to be French troops kept in Saudi (Embassy guards, Liason etc) who were to get the bar? If they did or not, i have no idea. Maybe back in the old days unofficial bars were worn, but I would say that anyone trying to wear unnoficial bars in the French Army in the 80`s and 90`s would have had his gonads removed. There was zero tolerance for things like that.

An interesting medal! A question as to value. Does the amount of people who got a specific bar effect the value? I assume there are many more Europe bars than Java ones... but maybe it is just as easy to order a Java bar than a Europe bar, giving them the same value? All the best Chris

More or less exactly that one ......

Hi, This one set me back USD2800 postage included.... had a sell a British medal group to finance it :-( I am not sure if that was a bargain, or expensive... I just know I have never seen one for sale before. The MAN factory made a small amount. All the numbers match except the cover to the spring. The weapon was captured by a Canadian soldier and taken back to Canada, where I picked it up last week. I saw repro leather straps for USD28.

Anytime you want, You, David, Jens welcome to shoot down for a weekend. We INVENTED the EURO !!!!

You betcha ass. I just need to find the best way to display it... (Just so you "non weapons" guys dont miss my baby.. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8846

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discreetly deactivated, but all parts original and still moving.....

A super story... and a rather nice pocket knife as well !!!

I dont know, call me a super sceptic, but something is strange with the idea of a spy, under cover, from an occupied country... and the germans are openly sending awards and money to his parents in an occpied country? There is a really good book by ladislas Farago that goes into good detail about the German spying in WW2, especially this kind of spying. it may be worth picking up acopy and seeing if there is any mentions of him and his operation. Best Chris

TomY has a nice 1st pattern, ask him to post it. Best Chris

I have heard there were some South Africans in the BFC but have seen no references in books? There must have been a certain % of soldiers who were both British AND German? They would presumably have served in Regular german units?

I have a DKiG group to a German torpedo bomber pilot who sank 7-8 allied merchant ships in the med during the war. in the papers are the dates and locations of the sinkings. So far I have managed to find sweet fanny adams about the ships..... Does anyone know anyone who could research these? is there an online list of ships that went down? Thanks Chris

Nice group, I recognise all the places on the documents !!!!

"Tight" ???? When i was in the army I mounted my own medals...AND did my own ribbon bars. My usual one was 2) the stiffening backing was cut from one of the plastic cassette cases that anyone who has been in Saudi arabia knows and loves (not the ones you get in the rest of the world.) 1) the dark Blue/Black cloth backing I got by butchering a dress uniform shoulder board. The cloth was folded around the plastic, roughly sewn, hooks added to the back.... Then...... The ribbons were superglued on. I had the best looking ribbon bar in my section, bar none.... :-)))))

I think it has a class of its own ;-) Not all these old soldiers were strutting around in tailor made SA uniforms, some were Rural hayseeds. The village where I live was only tarred in the 1950s, when you see the photos of the volunteer fire service, or Veterans associations fron the 1920s you see the kinds of guys who would have the wife do something like the bar above.

Is that heavy pitting on the blade in post 27? if so, I have a couple like that I use in the garden

Incase you missed it... http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8606

Ahhhh, the navy diver version.... never seen a real one before ;-)

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