redeagleorder

Perhaps a bavarian's civil act of bravery?

Would 'Back from the Dead' be too cliche?

All medal bars tell the story of a man's life up to the point they were made and for me that's good enough. When I see a TR award on the bar of a WW1 vet I say to myself that he answered the call again.

Very true. Despite my previously mentioned dislike of third reich medals, those also show the person's history. This is why I prefer medal bars to loose medals, medal bars give you a much better sense of the person and what he did, even if you have no name to go with it. On the other hand, the same medals but loose and not attributed to the same person have much less personal meaning (in my opinion)

I kind of like the Hindenburg cross for the fact that it shows the wearer was alive in the 30's, something which I think he deserved after seeing the horrors of the trenches. The fact that it doesn't have a big swastika and is not awarded for what the wearer did under the Third Reich also helps. On the other hand the other medals of the third reich put me off more. When seeing a KVK on a WW1 medal bar I sometimes wonder if the wearer was involved in guarding certain camps...

@ Saschaw - Don't worry. I understood your point about 'boring', and i'm actually inclined to agree with you.

@Ulsterman - My initial thought was perhaps some doctor in the navy, due to the blue backing and non-combatants Africa medal (which was apparently also awarded to sailors who helped transport troops). However, a medical DRK official is also a possibility, especially since the Baden cross lacks an oak wreath for service under fire. Perhaps this guy thought that blue uniform = blue backing.

Grazzi hafna

Thanks saschaw for that information on the red cross medal, I really do see the difference. However, in this case I am glad that mine is a 'boring, struck one', as it quite fits in with Rick's statement and helps reassure me that the lack of a red cross third class is acceptable. So this type of struck medal was made in the early/mid -1920's? Were they given as a backlog for WW!, or for services after the war had finished?

Thanks for your explanation!

Matthew

Nice ribbon bar and research!

I can't imagine anyone faking this medal, but stranger things have happened. To the best of my knowledge the side with 1870 and 1871 on it is the obverse.

Regards,

Matthew

Thanks guys for all your help. As soon as it is in hand I will check to see if the ribbon is faded, although judging by the other two it shouldn't be. The Hesse medical cross on war ribbon really seems the most likely option considering the other medals.

Regards,

Matthew

I this medal bar. Unfortunately I cannot help you as per the recipient, but good luck with your research, as well as finding a MVO3xk!

@ dond - When I open the link I can see the Hessen Medical Cross on a red ribbon. After some digging around I found out that it was awarded on the red ribbon to non-combatants and on the same ribbon as the General Honour Decoration to combatants. Is this what you think should go on the bar? It actually quite fits with both the red cross medal and the frontline veterans clasp!

Thank you,

Matthew

Hi guys,

Just purchased this medal bar and I am wondering what medal goes on the middle ribbon. The Hesse General Honour Decoration is the first medal that springs to mind, but to my eye the ribbon I am showing looks a bit darker then the sky blue hessen decoration ribbon. On the other hand it is too lightly coloured to be the Oldenburg War Bravery Cross. Can anyone tell me any other decoration that might match, especially with a red cross medal and a honour legion medal?

If my eyes are playing up and it IS the hesse decoration, can you suggest which it would be? The most common is the fur tapferkeit, which would match the veteran's piece which through the sword and wreath speaks of frontline service. On the other hand, the precendence and combination suggest something more like the kreigsverdienst version, or indeed a peacetime award.

Thanks for all your help,

Matthew

Sorry but that´s wrong. The FAM should be a colonial one and this type is super rare!!!

And when the present piece is not original, it will be very very difficult to replace.

Best wishes

Karsten

I was not aware there was a special FAM for Africa . Can you (or anyone else) post a picture of it?

You learn something new everyday in this hobby!

Regards,

Matthew

I'd either mount them in a frame or if you have the original boxes leave them there. However, if you really would like to mount them to show how they would have been worn (and I can really understand that appeal!), I think the best idea would be to make a mount with hooks on the back, so nothing permanent is done and the medals can be easily removed. it should also be ensured that such a mount, however, should never come on the market (even without medals) as an original... This could be done by carving some symbol or words on the back to denote it is a display bar.

Regards,

Matthew

Where didn't he fight?!!! The KGL was famous in the British army for having high standards, especially its cavalry which was far more disciplined than its British counterparts (at Waterloo the British cavalry charged too far and was decimated, leaving mostly KGL cavalry left). All in all this soldier must have been extremely brave!

In my opinion it would be an nice project, and none of the medals are super rare. My main concern would be how to attach them to the medal bar, would you sew them on under the ribbons or simply leave them loose with the ribbon rings tucked under the ribbons?

Regards,

Matthew

Really nice medal bar to a guy who fought in two wars. I assmue the last medal is Italian, but what exactly is it?

Regards,

Matthew

Congrats on a rare award

Regards

Matthew

Congrats on a nice officer's bar. He might have been from Prussia, due to the lack of other states' awards. The blue/black backing means it is probably navy, like Matt said.

Regards,

Matthew

This happens to a lot of bars (still doesn't lessen the crime) but this was a really nice bar to an enlisted man before some ****** destroyed it. Its not just that the two rarest medals are gone, the others have also been messed with (note the Kaiser's Centenary medal). I really can't bear such people.

A very impressive grouping to a brave man

Nice bar Christophe! However, how are you sure that one of them is a knight's cross, and that you don't have the ribbons of both gold and silver medals? Is it because of the Order of St. Albert Knights Cross 2nd class?

Regards,

Matthew

Hi Sascha,

I also had worried when buying it that there wasn't a 3rd class ,despite the fact that I have seen a couple of other bars like that. However, I found this statement by Rick Research in another thread on this forum:

'Although by statutes the 2nd Class could not be awarded until the 3rd Classs was held for "at least" 5 years (both were worn together), there are many many post-1918 awards as these petered out where ONLY a second class seems to have been awarded-- perhaps mistaking the "AFTER 5 years" about holding the 3rd class for "5 years OF service" which by then anyone in the whole war had performed.'

For the whole thread see: http://gmic.co.uk/in...edal-2nd-class/

I wasn't sure if the red cross medal was postwar, but since it is it fits right in with this statement. I don't think it was replaced as the stitching (it is not connected by hooks) is tight and matches the other two medals, as does the colour of the thread used.

So if the only long service award that military doctors got was for 25 years, that means all doctors were officers (or considered to be equivalent)? Also if the red cross medal is postwar, from which period is it 1920's 30's, etc... ? Finally, what exactly do you mean by the enamelled underground should not be engraved?

Thanks for your info about the red cross medal!

Matthew

Thanks Chris for that information!

The bar arrived around a week ago and it looks great, with just that small amount of wear and fading to the ribbons that shows it has age. In cases like this, were soldiers got a china medal and a ww1 award such as an ek or a hindenburg cross with no long service award, I think they volunteered for China but then dropped out of the army soon after. Some may have joined up willingly in WW1, but in my case i think the recipient was conscripted towards the end of the war, as he has no ww1 awards

Regards,

Matthew

If the owner was a doctor during the war wouldn't he have had one of the red cross medals, especially in light of the last medal on the bar?