Chris Boonzaier

Here are 3 Outre mers (Including an old silver one) and a colonial...

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OK, I thought it was loooong over. Here are some others.... a modern one and an old one

I am not sure if they make them themselves. I called Arthus Bertrands shop in Pare and asked for the medal above (On the French forum they said it was made by Bertrand) Bertrand (Who are makers) said they were supplied with these by th Paris mint...

Hi, I missed the auction in the end... but did nail one this week.....

Hi, no, the national defense is awarded according to a system of points AND length of service. The overseas medal for operations (Usually in the ex colonies). You can have the DN without the Overseas, but usually when you have an overseas you also get the Defense national. (The DN can be taken away if the recipient is a bad boy)

The "Front row"... 1) A CC in the old style bought in Morocco 2) An Early Paris Mint sterling silver Overseas medal. 3) An early non official strike of the national defence All kosher as these are all on bars of guys still in service... no fantasy pieces in there.

The winner for the traditionally mounted bar...

From Left to right.... the "Illegal" strike, a mint Bronze one and my award one, a bit beaten and banged...

OK, This next one is largely Dave Danners fault... He posted an unusual national defence medal that he had picked up somewhere along the line and I though "WOW!!" thats a neat one!!!" I read somewhere that it was one made by the company Arthus Bertrand when the medal came out. The govt then siezed the dies and now only the Paris Mint may make them. On the French forum I saw a few guys were actually issued these or had them from early on. They seem to be very scarce... and so it was of course the one I wanted. The figure is taken from the side of the Arch of Triumph in Paris...

Hi, it has more to do with the fact that the medals were made over a longer period of time... and no LDO to control ;-) I think all the overseas and colonials above are official, just different times and makers. I think also the mint in Paris produced discs that were finished by other companies (i.e. the rings etc.) or so I understand from the French forum. All the best Chris

Out of interest, 2 colonial versions, a stone aged patina one with Maroc bar and the small indochina era one. The silver ones (Dark one here and 2 in above post have the mane of the die cutter Georges Lemaire on them

The silver piece ready for mounting...

Here from the back (The order reversed...1) Early silver 2) Colonial 3) Regt tailor 4) award piece)

OK, we have a winner.... In the pic below we see... 1) My original early 90s issue Overseas medal. 2) An early 90s regt tailor bought one 3) The original "Colonial" one (the colonial medal became the overseas medal) which I liked much better 4) Arrived today... an early sterling silver overseas medal that Vet posted about. I managed to find one....

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The last one, not nicely designed of made, is the one for Bosnia/Sarajevo.. an X-Mas gift in the 2nd Inf Regt

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The next one, a generic EFAO canteen bought one, ?l?ments Fran?ais d?Assistance Op?rationnelle or "EFAO" is the detachment in the Central African Republic. The other one is a special X-Mas gift for the 3rd company of the 2nd Legion Inf Regt for Operation Baumier in Zaire in 1991.

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I have had my medals in a frame in the den and my old Kepi in a case, but other than that i have never really done anything with my stuff since leaving the army. Jacques helped me along to getting some missing medals which I added to the frame, then I got lazy.... It is only since I started collecting a bit of WW1 French that I started taking an interest in my own stuff. I have spent the last week or so messing around with it, applying for what I still need. Telephoning to find out what I can still get etc. etc. I am doing some refining to my medal bar... This includes some "Upgrades" to different makers of medals (Some just "look" better than others) and...and...and a whole bunch more. I will add to this bit by bit as I go along, but here, for the first time after years an years on the forums, is my jumble of stuff... First off, some commemorative badges... these are not to be worn on the uniform, they are usually given to the guys as souvenirs, or bought in the canteen where you are stationed. In pic one. The Daguet one is for the Division Daguet in Desert Storm, it was the regt X-mas gift, it is sterling silver and numbered (No records kept of the numbers) The second one is a generic Operation Epervier one. Operation Epervier started out when Libya sent troops into Tchad and the French helped kicked them out, then continued for years as a simple French presence in Tchad? kinda like a sandy aircraft carrier where the French could base men and airplanes. There are unit specific ones, but our unit did not bother at the time, this was a canteen bought one.

OK... the devil makes work for idle hands... I have realised... scratching through my boxes, that I have everything twice. I shall do 2 bars. One swing mounted on a regular bar (Brit/colonial) style. and one in old French style mounted mounted with the "Ball bars"... Watch this space.... ;-)

Hi Ed, thanks, those are the ones. I saw the republican bronze one in your post 5 and was not 100% sure what it was and if it was worth getting. When you blindly buy outside your field, you can often fall on your nose. Best Chris

Hi, what does the standard police medal cost? Can someone post one for reference? Thanks Chris

I saw one on French ebay for EUR125 and tossed the idea around, but in the end I figured it did not really fit in any collecting area I had... just simply "Neat" and nice to see. Best Chris