Paul L Murphy

Gerst, How about stamping or engraving the word "copy" on the back of your bars. That should keep everyone happy since re-enactors will not care, those who buy them as copies will not care, and those concerned about them being passed off as fakes in the future will have their concerns addressed. Paul

The Meiji era was from 1867 to 1912 so if it was made when you think it would be a Meiji era piece. Nice sword. Glad I never got into swords, all the other stuff is already expensive enough !

These are for graduates of civilian institutions, not military. The first badge is for a medical university graduate but the second is for a graduate from a technical institute, not university level. Regards, Paul

Many thanks. I shall try it over the weekend and see how I get on.

Chris, Is there an order in which you need to do them since I can easily imagine you struggling to keep the earlier crease firm while putting in a new crease elsewhere on the shirt if you were not careful ? Best regards, Paul

One of the key points about the French Foreign Legion uniform is the set of regulation creases which must be ironed into the shirt. I have a number of Leigon uniforms, ranging from the 2002 Terre de France uniform back to uniforms from the 1920s in Sahara, and in a number (especially from Algeria and Indochina) I would like to know how to get the creases back into the shirts ? Does Chris (or any other member) know exactly how you can get the measurements correct and the order in which it must be done since it looks a nightmare ! Thanks in advance. :cheers:

The third character is the kanji for "type", ie Type 99.

Tomar is well worth a visit, I was there a few years ago. It is about 2 1/2 hours by train from Lisbon and apart from the Convento de Christo and a related church where 13 Grand Masters of the order are buried (but whose name escapes me) it has some nice relaxed restaurants to quaff vino verde after a hard day's historic study.

It is difficult to comment on the flag since the photo is not of sufficient quality to see the characters clearly. Regarding the other two items, neither have anything to do with the military at all, never mind Kamikazes ! The square red item is a civil item and the character is to do with good fortune. The headband has the name of a town written on it. These two items are pretty much worthless so if the flag is from the same source I would exercise caution since even if they are acting with the best will in the world they do not know what they are talking about. Regards, Paul

I am pleased to say I got the numbers right first time. It is the 10th Infantry and Showa 28 (1953).

Price agreed and I should shortly have more than 30 documents, his German Cross in Silver and a post war Federal Republic of Germany Merit Cross 1st Class to him in my collection. When I finally have them I will post pictures in a thread here since I am sure they will yield a fascinating story. Among the documents are handwritten letters about his career from the family so it should be a little treasure trove.

Many thanks. Hopefully this lot should be in my greedy little mits shortly. Just negotiating the price at the moment. :cheers:

This is his War Merit Cross document. Other documents (including some post war) have him as a post office engineer.

Here is the document. It is nothing impressive. Here is his document for his WWI Iron Cross. This might help to track him down.

A quick question for those among us with more German research sources than I. Can anyone tell me if there was a German Cross in Silver recipient called Gustaz Roeder (also spelt Roder on some documents) ? I believe he was a WWI recalled veteran who received the German Cross in silver on 1st May 1945 but want to double check whether or not this is correct. Many thanks in advance. Paul

Some of the reverse characters are a bit indistinct but it seems to be a commemorative badge dating from April 1953 for veterans of the 10th Infantry Regiment in commemoration of a gathering. I have not seen this particular badge before. If you can give me a higher resolution scan on the reverse characters I will double check what it is since some of the numbers are not clear. Regards, Paul

Here is a closer look at the medals

This is one of the latest medal related poscards I purchased on my trip to Paris over Bastille Day. Apart from what appear to be four French government awards for livesaving he has 26 other awards, mainly from different "Sauvetage" organisations. At his age I am surprised he was able to carry the weight ! Enjoy

This certificate is to Senior Cavalry Private Kastumura and is dated 1st April 1906. This means it is an award for the Russo Japanese War. Now that you have started on the slippery slope of collecting Japanese certificates there are loads more for you to get ! Cheers, Paul

This is a Showa era 8th Class case, actually from between 1940-45 since the characters on the lid are in silver instead of gilt. Regards, Paul

Book arrived today. Fills a considerable gap in people's knowledge and will definitely become the standard reference on this area for a long time to come.

I would have really enjoyed ramming that with my 2 1/2 ton bullet proof landcruiser in Jeddah. Silver is a pretty soft metal so I hope it has good airbags !

The 6th Class is a Showa era piece. I would need to see the reverse of the 5th before I make up my mind on the vintage. Regards, Paul

That is a beautiful example of a Meiji era piece. These are much harder to find than the later Showa era awards, and much nicer as well in my humble opinion.

These cannot be described as rare by any stretch of the imagination. Even calling them scarce would be difficult. $30 was a fair price, anything more would be too high. You can easily pick these up at flea markets in France with no problem whatsoever.