Stephen M

Odin Thanks for your time taken looking into my request. A one in three chance but that makes it more interesting as well. I must say you are quite on top of your game to have such a wealth of knowledge to this type of information. Thanks again Steve M

Good Evening Gents I recently came across a 1911 Coronation Medal for the Metroplitan Police to a PC C Scott, can any of our great reseachers out there give me an indication to this officers background please.Any information would be gratefully accepted. A very interesting medal with a good hand engraved example around the rim. Not a massive amount of value but pleased it is in my collection due to its age. Regards Steve M

Gents As a grand nephew of a Lancaster mid upper gunner, I will be appying for his bar to his 39-45 star next week. I have heard people debating that it should be a medal, am I concerned about a bar- no. I am only glad he was recognised for his part, which was 35 trips at the latter end of the war. At the end of the war men and women going back to a normal way of life were more interested in getting a job,home and family than recognition of their part during the war. My Grand Uncle fell into that bracket and I applied for his medals about 5 years ago as it was sitting on the MoD medal office for 63 years. The covering letter and medal card were to be honest the main reason for applying, the medals were an extra bonus. I will let you guys see the end result in due course. Steve M

Gents To keep the Special Constable thread going regarding please find attached one of my many Special Long Service Medals plus extras. I purchased this one a few years ago with its box plus a WWII Tag,ID Bracelet and a letter from the C Constable Leeds dated 6th Dec 1950 thanking WILLIAM STANLEY RIDER for his service "both in peace and in war. Much of the service which is now being recognised was carried out under difficult and dangerous conditions and we regret that we are again having to face similar circumstances." The latter half of the statement reflecting the start of the cold war no doubt. Rider's ID bracelet, on the front is engraved W S RIDER 245750 1918 CE ROYAL AIR FORCE and the rear highlights an address of 32 Nunroyd Rd Moortown Leeds 7 25 May 1940 and KGBS 93/1. It is not often you get a little gem like this and although Specials Medals do not command a great price I am well pleased with this bit of WWI and Special Constable history. Hope you enjoy. Stephen

HI Darrell I have just put a thread on regarding the QSJM. Could you check to see if this is a match to your own medal? One of the things that jumps out is the double edge on the thin raised circumference at the back. Regards Steve

Hi Paddywack Thanks for looking anyway best to check every avnue but still trying to check out the medal its self. Thanks again (may call on you again sometime) Steve

Hi Thanks for that. Any help would be great, I know that the value of these medals are quite high at the moment and two examples on the big auction site (boxed and good condition) rececently sold for £200+ last week. The one I have was part of a group of WW1 dual/1908 school medal and ISM (from the same family).However the QSJM was in a bit of a state as it had been kept loose with the others in a tool shed by the looks of it and required a bit of TLC to remove paint/tar and there is a scratch across "ELIZABETH" letter A. but other than that I am pleased with it but was wondering if its "The real deal" but compared to new copies which are very blunt in detail and it appears to fit with original examples I have seen. Regards Steve

Hi Paul The London Gazette is dated for 1988 which would have been 11 years after the medal being issued and the ISM is usually issued at retirement. The holder was an engineer with the MoD but thats all I have about the guy. Thanks for the reply. Steve

Gents Please could you have a good look at the attached recently purchased QSJM which was in a group (ISM) named to an Arthur Ernest Bennet. (This has been checked to the London Gazette and is OK but no record to the QSJM records). As this is my first Silver Jubilee to my collection, I would be grateful if anyone out there has a good eye to establish if it is an Original/Good copy/copy/or fake. I have compared it to other examples on this site and can see no evidence of copy mark and appears to be an exact example of one shown recently (Boxed female ribbon) and the back of the medal seems to have a "double step" edge mark from around 7 o clock to the 11 o clock. Could anyone provide a specific way to identify an original such as weight,size,ring format. Thanking in advance. Steve

Gents Please find attached an Army and Police medal collection from my time as a Royal Engineer (1991 - 2002) and Special Constabulary to date. I collected and signed for the QDJM in May this year from my inspector as per home office instruction - no parade just sign for- which I thought was a bit off as this has been a great year Queens Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympics. However I was taken back by the amount of Jubilee medals on the auction site from many who were making a quick buck within hours of being presented when many who had missed out by the strict criteria of time served to qualify. I will be "airing the medals" later this Month on the Police memorial parade with a few of my colleagues at HQ. I hope you like the attached. I then got to think what would be next regarding HM and thought she may stand down in the next few years and a coronation medal may be the next thing on the horizon but if she keeps well as her Mum that could be in the year 2027! Regards Steve

Hi Gents I have been offline for a few months, between computer. I would like to attached my medal lot as I recently gained my Long service as a SC and Queens Diamond Jubilee medal all within a few days as the long service was held up at A&S HQ for around a year but all has arrived and has been remounted with my Army Medals. I aml proude of my collection but at the same time I feel quite ashamed that other Officers/Armed Forces/Prison Officers and all could not wait to get their medals on the auction site for a few pound after many had been left off the award due to not enough service time. In fact serving Armed Forces it is an offence to sell whilst they are still in and a few have quoted that due to cut backs/Pay freeze etc the medal holds not worth. As the medal is a gift from HM, I find some of the comments quite offensive who have sold the family silver and will in time will regret what they have done.

As highlighted a few inputs ago the truncheon was given to me by an old family friend who late brother was a special in the Essex area during WW11. It is difficult to make out the painted design. I will try and send on to you further detailed pictures. any comments would be appreciated. Steve

Thank you for the kind words, SC are today unpaid volunteers who do put themself in the front line and a few over the past have paid the price with their lives (8 Specials were killed in Bath, England during the WWII due to an air raid). The medals for SC do not always pay very highly unless from the Ulster Constabulary.

As there is a positive update, I will try and print off a few extracts from his account. During his last Op in March 45 His oxygen line froze up and he started to pass out but was sorted out with a portable supply. Its a lonely place being a mid upper. More to come!!

No Checked the base and it was produced in England and it does look old, would not sell it as it is special to me gathering my old times as a sapper home and abroad. 24560712 Cpl S Mains

His medals are new issue from the MoD and to be honest best left as is. The medals are of a very low value (around 15 to 20 Pounds each) however the main thing was getting the letter and medal card after 64 years to recognise his effort during the war. After the second World War and you demobbed you had to claim your medals to get them. This was not the case after WWI, I would guess it was a cost saving activity at the time. Not a way to treat returning servicemen back in to civilian street.

Gents Please see attached one of my SC medals. It is made out to a SC George E Wilde. I do not usually research SC as it is quite difficult to do but SC are a nice medal to collect and not super expensive.

Just an other picture of his crew his Lancaster was EM-O (O for Oboe) and he flew from Spilsby. Regards

Gents Please find attached a group picture of my late Grand Uncle group picture. The story goes back to 1980 when I spoke to my uncle Hugh who was in his 70,s and told me about his time in the war as an air gunner and all the close scraps with German fighter Pilots. I thought at the time he may of egged up his accounts and thought nothing much else about it. This old boy, a retired Enginner, died and the family left me his flying log book and RAF AirGunner brevet. I read through his account and then found out that if anything he was modest about his 35 missions, it turns out he joined at the begining of WWII but was turned down for aircrew and spent 3 1/2 years as a ground engineer and PT instructor and during March 44 he applied and was accepted as an air gunner. He maintained an account alongside his mission log and one of his accounts he said " Sitting up as mid upper I saw two Lancs in front collide, 14 men just gone in a second and one behind me broke up due to flak or fighter, I dont know". He was injured by flak during an op and said afterwards the side of the Lance was peppered with 14 holes. He was a very brave man and his accounts are a boys own adventure. Around 10 years ago when I took up an interest in military medals, I asked if he had any medals in the family and no one knew. After a few letters the medal office sent me his entitlement because he demobed in 47 he did not apply himself for his medals. Hugh is sitting in the front row centre. He finished at the rank of Temp WO. I hope you enjoy the story. Regards Stephen

Mervyn Please see attached close up picture of the truncheon. The image is one of symbolic graphics rather than writing and the number is 6 on its own. The truncheon fits in my police right hand pocket a treat, mind you I could not see a foot chase with that down there. As you may guess I was trained on ASP. Regards Stephen

Gents As an old sapper I found the attached at a market a few years ago and thought "That will do" But after a few weeks, I notice that although the centre section of the RE crest has ERII, the crown is Kings Crown and I wondered if this is a flaw in the production or an interim standard. Any thoughts gents? Regards Stephen

Gents I can put a few words together in due course about A&S but in short the area has around 3500 Officers and around 250 - 300 Specials. As mentioned the SC are only differentiated by a selected batch of collar numbers and wear the same uniform, if like me and you have been in a number of years you started out with a standard tunic assembly rather than just a fleece and collar number arrangement. I have added on a small part of my collection which is a truncheon that was gifted to me a while ago from an old man who older brother was a special around WW11 and came from the Essex area. I cannot make out the design- any thoughts?

Hi Gents I thought I would attach my old body armour badge as over the last few years I have changed it about three times. The modern one is rectangle and comes off on velcro. As you cane see there is no reference to Special Constable or is there any indications on collar numbers. The instruction to remove SC and Crown came out about 4 years ago and the only factor that differentiates SC from Regs is the batch of collar numbers alloted to SC. Steve

Hi Gents Just got my head round resizing pictures. See attached my VRSM and QGJM awarded in 2001 and 2002 whilst I was wearing green kit as a Cpl RE. The VRSM had just came in 1999 to take over the the Efficiency Medal EM, however I had been given a chance to opt for the EM but I decided to go for the new one. The QGJM is for 5 years in by Feb 2002. As I am now a Special with 9 years in the QDJM is also in the bag and I will attach in due course. I have further items of Police to add on in due course. See you all in a bit Stephen

Sir Thank you for the warm welcome to the club. I have a strong interest in GB Medals /Military and the "story of the man behind the medal" as a small time collector who likes to look after medals as a short term custodian of historic examples. I do not hope to financially gain vast amounts of money in my hobby but would like to trade up for more rare examples. Once I am a bit more organised I will post up some of my collection from WWI WWII Territorial EM,ISM,PLSGC,GSM and also Special Constable Faithful Service of all monarch heads.(x23 examples).