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    Bilco

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    Posts posted by Bilco

    1. Hi Gents,

      Well, after selling off all sorts of bits and pieces I managed to amass enough cash to contact the seller of the medal in Lambert's post (#76 above) with a proposal. After a little negotiation we agreed a price, and I'm now the proud owner of the medal!

      As Rob suggested in post #77, I've replaced the rather moth-eaten ribbon with an original piece of French ribbon. The ribbon the medal came with was very stiff and quite rotten - it disintegrated when I tried to remove it. The planchet is a beautiful piece of workmanship - I can gaze at it under the magnifier for hours, picking out the details.

      So, photos with the replacement ribbon:

       

      0e0646bf-d164-4876-9875-4b75f7196949_zps

      obverse

       

      100df14e-b9ab-4032-99aa-cc925fcfa732_zps

      Reverse.

       

      As you can see, the replacement ribbon isn't pristine - it's rather faded on the inner side, and worn on the reverse - but I hope you'll agree, it looks a bit better than the piece that came with the medal - which I've saved.

       

      Now, what can I sell to afford a Brazil vic ....

       

      Bill

       

    2. Hi Gents,

      I've acquired a bit of an oddity - an ordinary Type 2 British vic, but silver plated (or silver-coloured-metal plated).

       

      GB%20Silver%2001-crop_zps0syblq8t.jpg

      Obverse

       

      GB%20Silver%2002-crop_zpsqzgt5o7k.jpg

      Reverse

      There is a yellow tinge to the photos from the lighting - the top of the reverse is more silver than it appears.

      I've seen silver-plated French vics - indeed, Delande offered them for sale - but this is the first British vic I've seen so treated. There's no way of telling, of course, if it was the person to whom it was issued who had it done, or someone much later, trying to 'improve' it, or even try out the plating process. The obverse is pretty well covered, as is the edge, but the reverse has a patch in the right side missing the plating - or maybe it has worn off. Would the original gilding have had to be removed before the plating process? Maybe it had been removed by over-zealous polishing and this was an attempt to restore a shine.

      Anyway, it's a bit different, and it wasn't expensive, so I bought it!

      Bill

       

    3. Bill:  Some portions of my talk have already been published in two articles in the OMRS Journal. I will probably publish the new material in that journal or in JOMSA.

      Many thanks Dick. I have the article that appeared in the September 2009 OMRS Journal, and you posted here about the Type 1R - is that the subject of the second article you mention?

      I'll look out for the new material.

       

       

      Bill

       

    4. Hi Lambert,

       

      There has been a long topic on this subject on the Great War Forum. The MoD medals web site says that replacement WW1 medals will not be supplied  https://www.gov.uk/the-ministry-of-defence-medal-office    

      However, the lady who has been successful was able to get them because the originals were returned to the Government - as the soldier in question was dead it's assumed it was his mother who returned them because the rank shown on the medal was wrong. I can sympathise with that, as my mother always said that her father's Commonwealth War Graves Commission gravestone had the wrong rank, and she couldn't get it changed.

      It appears that, notwithstanding the statement on the MoD web site, in the case of returned medals they can be claimed. As the originals would have been destroyed after 10 years new ones had to be sourced from a commercial medal supplier that the MoD has used for other medals.

      The GWF thread is here http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=216669&page=1

       

      Bill

    5. The reissued VM and BWM illustrated in the post you cite on the Great War Forum are as poorly designed as many of the so-called 'replacement' medals for sale on eBay!  I wonder who supplies them to the MoD?

      ​Yes, I've just had a quick look on eBay, and there are several that look very similar to the photos posted on my link. Some sellers talk of an 'MoD-approved supplier' who makes the medals they sell - it would be interesting to find out who this is.

       

       

      I should have mentioned in my last post that if any of you are attending the Orders and Medals Society of America Convention in Atlanta in August I am giving a seminar talk on the Great War British Victory Medal which will discuss all aspects of the two (or is now three) types and statistical information on the numbers awarded based on an analysis of the newly released Great War medal rolls on Ancestry.   Gunner 1

      Will you be publishing the text of your talk at the Atlanta Convention?

       

      Bill

    6. Hi Gents,

       

      In his book Laslo says that the Belgian Victory medal was struck under contract by Establissements Jules Fonson, and examples have been found in Fonson wrappers, like this one:

       

      belgian%20ww1_zpsn0aytfxp.jpg

       

      However, he raises the possibility that the vics were also made by other Belgian firms, and quotes one he calls Fibru Fish. This may be Fisch, and I have seen an example, although I don't have one at present:

       

      belg%20fisch_zpsxemjr3ta.jpg

       

      I have just acquired a boxed example of the Belgian vic, with the stamp of Ch Galere Decorations, 172 rue du Trone, Bruxelles:

       

      Belgium%20box%2001-crop_zpsflbsr918.jpg

       

      belgium%20box%2002-crop_zpsjlexdtwi.jpg

       

      The medal and its ribbon look like they have had some wear, though I suppose it could have been kept in the box between wearings for many years.

      I would be interested in any comments, or examples of other manufacturers packaging.

       

      Bill

       

       

    7. post-821-0-92716800-1398815131.jpg

      Again Mounted Infantry officers, but with the addition of those from the Royal Scots Fusiliers, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers(?) and others. "Choppie" is again standing at the rear centre, but wearing his F.S.H., with a bandolier across his left shoulder.

      ​I wonder if the chap seated thrird from the left in the deck chair is Hugh 'Boom' Trenchard. He was in the Royal Scots Fusiliers and, according to this site   http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hugh_trenchard.htm

      "In 1900 Trenchard was posted to South Africa where the Second Boer War was being fought. Here Trenchard was ordered to form a mounted company of the Imperial Yeomanry. The Boers were skilled riders and had poised many problems for the British during the campaign. While in India, Trenchard had developed a reputation as a skilled polo player (in 1896 he clashed with a young Winston Churchill during a match) and it was for this reason that senior commanders believed he was the right man to create this new unit. During a clash with the Boers in October 1900, Trenchard was seriously wounded in the chest and in December he returned to England. In late December he moved to Switzerland to convalesce – it was believed that the fresh air in St Moritz would be good for his damaged left lung.

       

      Wanting to continue his army career, Trenchard returned to South Africa in July 1901. Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief, tasked Trenchard with creating a new corps of mounted infantry. In early 1902, he was appointed commander of the 23rd Mounted Infantry Regiment and by August 1902 he held the rank of brevet major. "

       

      There's a resemblance to the well-known photo of Trenchard as CAS of the RAF. Just a thought.

       

      Bill

    8. Hi Gunner 1,

       

      Many thanks - more good info for the files. Sadly, it's usually the soldered suspension that shows in the on-line photos, and not the ring!

       

      The other vic I thought was Type 1 is much darker than the 'guaranteed' one, and is smooth and shiny - much more like the one I posted above. It also has the soldered barrel, but the ring is the same as the one above. It's just in better condition - see the pics below. It raises the question of how they get to be that dark brown colour. I have a Type 2 which has lost the gilding, and it's a dull gray-bronze colour. The real deal Type 1 is matt and more milk chocolate colour.

       

      GB%201%20new%20010-crop_zpsqhsehzfu.jpg

       

      GB%201%20new%20012-crop_zpspx1oiilu.jpg

       

      Bill

       

       

    9. Hi Gunner 1,

       

      Interesting - my guaranteed Type 1 - I have the acknowledgement of receipt dated 17 Dec 1920 - has an open, unsoldered joint, while my other suspect is the same as the photo above.

      In-hand, the joint is more gray than the photo shows - that's what helped me spot the join - you can see in the photo a thin gray line. What about the soldered barrel suspension - does that not mean a Type 1?

       

      Bill

    10. Hi Gents,

      I recently acquired a much-abused British vic with dings, dirt and verdigris. I've had a go at cleaning it and treating the verdigris - I can't do anything about the dings:

       

      verdi%20brit%20obverse_zpsog8k0jw1.jpg

      Obverse before and after treatment ....

       

      verdi%20brit%20reverse_zpskz4d7cfq.jpg

      ... and reverse before and after.

      The verdigris on the reverse has nearly all gone, but that on the obverse is quite stubborn in places, and I don't want to rub too hard in case I make shiny spots.

       

      It appears to be a Type 1 from the soldered suspension ...

      verdi%20brit%2002%20solder_zps7uomvryk.j

       

      and I'm wondering if the reddish colour, which has been accentuated by the cleaning, means it's a Refurbished example. The medal is named to G-4778 Pte M.J.Simmons R.Suss.R., who turns out to be Harry J Simmons on the MIC. Unfortunately, I can't find any other records for his service.

       

      All comments welcome

       

      Bill

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