Paul L Murphy

One of the items in my collection is a set of service dress ribbons that have been cut from a tunic. The medal combination is pretty special : -

DCM, MM & 2 bars, Kings Police Medal, 1908-35 IGSM, 1939-45 Star, Africa Star with 1, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, 1939-45 War Medal, 1918-62 GSM, 1962 CSM with MID, Army LSGC medal, MSM, Territorial Efficiency Medal, 1939 Croix de Guerre, Belgian Medal of the Order of the Crown.

I thought this would be easy to pin down but I cannot find anybody who was entitled toa DCM and three MMs. Anybody out there able to shed some light on this ?

Paul

ps. I do not have any decent photos of the set, my apologies. However it has definitely not been tampered with and the roses have been on the MM ribbon a long time.

Rats ! So it is either a vain and eccentric policeman, a vain and eccentric general, or a vain and eccentric sailor ! At least the guy had character one way or another.

Unfortunately I do not have the badge but I am keeping my eyes open in case one turns up. It would be nice to get one and put the two together in a decent frame.

It is often used by collectors of ancient coins to preserve ancient bronze coins. Pure beeswax will also work.

It was given to a veteran of the 4th Guards Tank Army. I have not got the dictionary out yet to check everything but basically it was on his 85th birthday and in recognition of his excellent work on behalf of the veteran's association.

Cheers,

Paul

Here is a nice Gramata that I picked up recently. Unfortunately there were no other documents with it. It is to a veteran of the 4th Tank Army. I have to admit I find the various gramata certificates very pleasing to look at and really inexpensive to purchase. I wonder why they are so underrated by collectors (apart from the fact there are a lot of them about) ?

You don't need more wall space. Start hanging them from the ceiling

Larry,

My book will reveal everything

But for now here is a summary of what you have : -

The box in post one is for a men's special member medal and does not go with the medal that you have shown. The medal is the Red Cross Russo Japanese War commemorative medal. It was never authorised for wear and is normally not found on a ribbon. Here it is on the ribbon of the women's member medal. It is only found in bronze.

The medal in post five is the women's version of the Special Member Medal. Basically you became a special member once your donations totalled more than a certain amount. The reverse of this, and all membership medals, shows the date of foundation of the Japanese Red Cross.

The medal in post 11 is the Life Members Medal.

A nice start to the Red Cross, there are a lot of variations to collect and they are nice medals and relatively inexpensive to obtain.

Paul

This is a Russo Japanese War award dated 1st April 1906 (as they all are). It is to a 1st Class Naval Mechanic.

Here is a photo of the reverse. Unfortunately these are the only photos at the moment since the medals are tucked away in a bank vault in the UK and I am in Moscow !

I am presuming the bright yellow backing rules out the naval connection ?

Regards,

Paul

Ed,

If I had to walk around carrying all that metal I'd look grumpy too !

Paul

Many thanks. Some helpful feedback. I will start off with lid inscriptions since I have all the material I need here in Moscow and can put together the information pretty easily.

On the subject of fakes, I need to have front and back photos of the genuine badges for this to be really meaningful. Mine are back in Ireland so it will be Christmas before I can take all the photos I need. In the meantime I will put together what I can since this seems to be one area where there is a lot of interest.

Are there any specific air force badges that you have been looking at John ? Apart from wings, which are heavily faked, the air force did not have that many specific badges.

Regards,

Paul

Can you post a picture of the GK obverse and the box lid. That way I can see if it is a Showa era award, which may support the post 1940 KIA theory.

Regards,

Paul

Bill,

Nice pieces, and in far better condition than you normally see for these in Japan. The guards cap is to the 1st Guards Infantry Regiment.

Regards,

Paul

Around his neck is the Auspicious Clouds and Rising Sun. In both cases they are auxiliary badges for the second class awards. The breast star of the Rising Sun is the top one on his right breast and the star of teh Auspicious CLouds is the one that is cut off in the photo below it (in a larger version of the photo it can be seen clearly).

He wears the sash badge and breast star (uppermost on left breast) of the Sacred Treasure 1st class.

On his medal bar he has 1904-05 War Medal, 1914-20 War Medal, 1931-34 Incident War Medal, WWI Victory Medal, Taisho Enthronement Medal, Showa Enthronement Medal, Manchurian National Foundation Merit Medal, Manchurian Imperial Visit to Japan Commemorative Medal, Red Cross Cross of Merit, and finally a Red Cross Special Member's Medal.

The two non Japanese stars are the Italian Order of the Crown and German Eagle Order as already identified. He subsequently also received the China Incident War Medal, Marshal's Badge, Golden Kite (I think from memory the 1st class) and the German Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with oakleaves and swords. I am probably missing a few of his entitlements as well !

Regards,

Paul

I think the vaulted WWI Iron Cross 1st Class is one of my favourite decorations. I know the TR collectors will hate me for saying it but they are far classier than the 1939 version. These are beautiful examples.

Paul

Hi folks,

As your newly appointed Club Host (the gods must be crazy!) I would like to find out what you would like to see in this section of the forum. Ideas and suggestions should obviously be kept within the respectable boundaries of Japanese militaria !

A few ideas of mine, which I will work on over the next few weeks if there is membership interest, are as follows : -

1) Standard translations of award certificates (most only change the date, number and recipient)

2) Lid inscriptions showing the difference between the types of lid for the different time periods

3) Something about war bonds (this is just an excuse for me to show off some of mine but they are very pretty)

4) Examples of Japanese ranks, titles, dates etc. in Japanese with English translations beside them. Not sure how to embed pictures in the post rather than attaching them so this could be a challenge (or a very long thread) !

and lots and lots of show and tell so we can all get very excited

My area of strength, as those who know me are already aware, are orders, decorations, medals, badges and documents. I am so-so on cloth, moderate on uniforms and parade swords, and totally lousy on hand made swords etc.

All suggestions regarding what you would like to see (and would not like to see) are welcome so please give me your suggestions.

Best regards,

Paul

Rick,

Interesting. I will try to dig out a photo of the reverse of the bar, I have it somewhere. I bought this from Detlev a few years ago so I never questioned the composition of the group. Is there anything else about it that does not match Schwarznecker's entitlement ?

Could it be possible that the wrong medal was mounted at some stage ? Are you basing your comment on having seen his medal bar with the Bremen medal or on his entitelment as per your research ? I would be interested in anything else you can let me know.

Best regards,

Paul

Many thanks for that.

Here is a photo of the award, I forgot to attach it to my original post.

One of the medal groups in my collection is to Lieutenant General Schwarznecker. All I have been able to find out about him so far is that he was Commander of the R?ckw?rtigen (rear area) Gebiete 582 (West Ruthenia) and heavily involved in anti partisans raids. West Ruthenia is located in the Ukraine, south of the Carpathian Mountains.

In addition, from 3 July 1943 to August 1944 he was Syrmien Regional Commander (Befehlshaber Syrmien). Syrmia is an area of Crotia, which includes the Vukovar region. It was the scene of a lot on interracial fighting between the Croats and Serbs and was given to Serbia at the end of WWII.

I imagine he much have had an interesting two wars given his medal entitlement. His medal group comprises : -

8-PIECE MEDAL BAR: - 1914 Iron Cross 2nd class; 1914 Mecklenburg War Cross 2nd Class; Hamburg.Hansetic Cross; 1914 War Combatant?s Cross; 25 Year Wehrmacht Long Service Cross; 12 Year Wehrmacht Long Service Medal; Austrian Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with War Decoration; Turkish War Medal (Gallipoli Star)

RIBBON BAR ? the above 8 medals

1914 IRON CROSS 1ST CLASS

1939 BAR TO THE IRON CROSS 1ST CLASS

WAR MERIT CROSS SECOND CLASS

WAR MERIT CROSS FIRST CLASS

1 WW WOUND BADGE IN BLACK

2 WW WOUND BADGE IN SILVER

4 YEAR WEHRMACHT LONG SERVICE MEDAL

18 YEAR WEHRMACHT LONG SERVICE CROSS

HUNGARIAN 1914-18 WAR MEDAL

AUSTRIAN 1914-18 WAR MEDAL

CROATIAN ORDER OF THE CROWN OF ZVONIMIR.NECK BADGE SET WITH SWORDS (Breast Star and Neck Badge)

SLOVAKIAN ORDER OF THE WAR VICTORY.MODEL 1939-45 NECK BADGE 2ND CLASS WITH RIBBON BAR

SLOVAKIAN BADGE FOR MOTORISED UNITS

If anyone can help me with information on this battle scarred warrior I would be very grateful.

Regards,

Paul

One of the items in my collection is a rather battered German Cross in Silver which was awarded to Major General Stephen Bulowius in April 1945 when he was Inspector of Land Fortifications South West (Italy). Does anybody have a photo of him at any stage in his career since I would love to put a face to the name.

The details which I have about him so far follow, so needless to say if anybody knows more about him let me know : -

Promotions

Officer Aspirant Corporal 11 March 1914

Officer Aspirant Sergeant 22 April 1914

Officer Candidate 18 July 1914

Lieutenant 28 September 1914

Senior Lieutenant 1 September 1924

Captain 1 April 1929

Major 1 August 1935

Lt Colonel 1 April 1938

Colonel 1 April 1941

Major General 20 June 1944

Military Career up to the end of WWI

24 Nov 1913 ? 5 Oct 1916(?) Officer Aspirant in the 1st Pioneer Battalion.

1 Jul 1914 ? 2 Aug 1914 Detached to the War School in Danzig

9 Nov 1915 ? 13 Nov 1915 Detached to the Army Gas School in Berlin

Mar 1916 ? 12 Apr 1916 Detached to the Mortar Courses School in Unterl??

5 Oct 1916 ? 16 Dec 1916 Leader of the Pioneer Company ?Bulowius? with the 78th Reserve Division.

16 Dec 1916 ? 27 Aug 1917 1st Pioneer Battalion

27 Aug 1917 ? 13 Feb 1919 Adjutant of the 1st Pioneer Battalion

Military Career Between the Wars

Up to 13 Feb 1919 Adjutant of the 1st Pioneer Battalion.

13 Feb 1919 ? 1 Jul 1919 Director of the Department for War Files and Prison Affairs in Konigsberg.

1 Jul 1919 ? 1 Jan 1921 Court and Weapons Officer of the 1st Reischwehr Pioneer Battalion

1 Jan 1921 ? 1 Apr 1922 Platoon Leader in the 1st Pioneer Battalion

1 Apr 1922 ? 1 May 1923 Serving in the 1st Infantry Regiment

1 May 1923 ? 4 Aug 1923 Serving in the 1st Pioneer Battalion

4 Aug 1923 ? 1 Nov 1924 Adjutant of the 1st Pioneer Battalion

1 Nov 1924 ? 1 Sep 1925 Transferred to the 1st Artillery Regt and detached to the Pioneer?s School

1 Sep 1925 ? 1 Nov 1925 Detached to the 1st Pioneer Battalion

1 Nov 1925 ? 1 Apr 1928 Transferred back to the 1st Pioneer Battalion

1 Apr 1928 ? 1 Apr 1932 Chief of the Bridge Construction Column of the 1st Pioneer Battalion

5 Nov 1928 ? 18 Nov 1928 Attended a Gas Protection Course in Berlin

9 Mar 1931 ? 21 Mar 1931 Attended a Physical Training Course in Wunsdorf

1 Mar 1932 ? 1 Apr 1932 Detached to the Commander of Fortifications at Lutzen

1 Apr 1932 ? 1 Mar 1934 Pioneer Officer with the Commander of Fortifications at Lutzen

1 Mar 1934 ? 1 Oct 1934 Staff Officer of Pioneers on the staff of the 6th Division

1 Oct 1934 ? 15 Oct 1935 Staff Officer of Pioneers for Military District Command VI

15 Oct 1935 ? 1 Oct 1939 Expert in the Inspection of Pioneers and Fortresses in the Reichs War

Ministry (OKH from 4 Feb 1938)

WWII Military Career

1 Oct 1939 ? 7 Jun 1941 Fortress Pioneer Expert on the staff of the General of Pioneers and

Fortresses with the Commander in Chief of the Army

7 Jun 1941 ? 11 Jan 1942 Commander of the 413th Pioneer Regiment

11 Jan 1942 ? 10 May 1942 Fuhrer reserve OKH

10 May 1942 ? 24 Jan 1943 Fortress Pioneer Commander XVII (Southern Norway, Oslo)

24 Jan 1943 ? 6 Jun 1944 Fortress Pioneer Commander II (Greece, Salonika)

5 Nov 1943 ? 18 Dec 1943 Detached to the staff of Army Group B

6 Jun 1944 ? 19 Oct 1944 Detached to the staff of the Inspection of Land Fortifications South West

(Italy)

19 Oct 1944 ? 2 May 1945 Inspector of Land Fortifications South West (Italy)

2 May 1945 Captured by US forces

Post WWII Career

He was held in US captivity until 29th September 1947, when he was released. He died on 26 April 1979 in Westerland, Sylt.

The order in which the ribbons are on the bar is completely incorrect. The orders should come first, in order of class, so the Golden Kite, Sacred Treasure and Auspicious Clouds should be the first three (the exact order depending on what class of each was held). After that would be the Taisho Enthronement, China Incident, 2,600th Anniversary, Manchurian Border Incident and Red Cross in that order.

However, if they were in that order it would leave us with a member of the military (due to the Golden Kite) who got the Taisho Enthronement Medal in 1912 but did not see any service in 1914-15 or 1914-20 and did not receive the Showa Enthronement Medal in 1928. IMHO from what I have seen over the years it is not possible to have this combination of awards, even if they were in the correct order.

3) Banner Ends

The third main difference appears on the final part of the banners which criss-cross behind the sword. On each of these there are four roundals. On the earlier pieces the first roundal almost touches the point at which the banner crosses above it, Picture 6. On the later pieces there is a noticable space between the cross-over and the uppermost roundal, Picture 7.

2) Banner markings between sword suspenders

The central part of the Golden Kite has a Japanese katana suspended vertically with two banners criss-crossing behind it. On the right hand side of the sword there are two protrusions which represent sword hangers. Part of each banner appears between these protrusions on the right hand side. On the early pieces, Picture 4, the design of a roundal appears on each part, ie. there are two roundals to be seen between the swords hangers. On the later pieces, Picture 5, only the top roundal appears, ie. only one roundal can be seen between the sword hangers.

In my opinion this is the easiest way to tell the difference between a Meiji/Taisho period piece and a Showa period piece.

There is a third type of wing which droops, but where the second feather from the top is the longest. This is late Meiji and Taisho period.