Megan

Handsome beastie, thank you for sharing.

Oooh, lovely. I don't even have an image of that!

And (finally) today's the day that the first Elizabeth Emblems will be presented to next of kin by King Charles at Windsor Castle...

A fine piece of work, Mike. I shall tuck it away for future reference. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for all this detailed information.

Wonderful words, Owain. Books and articles, well-researched, are excellent for information and also provide pictures to help in the never-ending quest for good images that I can use. At least I know what I am looking for! Good to hear about the Ethiopian and Somalian books, I think I've blown the book budget for this year (yours is not the only book I've bought) but if they are on PoD, maybe I can get them next year! And I'm beginning to get into writing myself, although in my usual butterfly way there are 3-4 in progress right now (East Germany, South Africa, Greece, and maybe Colombia - having difficulty with images for that one - if anyone is interested). Hoping that the Christmas break will provide time to get at least one ready... 🤞

There were 2 types of this medal: Type 1 - reverse inscribed EΘΝΙΚΗ ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΙΣ 1941-1945 Type 2 - reverse inscribed EΘΝΙΚΗ ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΗ 1941-1945 - this was awarded from 1982.

Temptation has got the better of me, order placed. My Christmas present to myself 🤓

Oh dear, yet another rabbit hold to dive down on my website... ... it could so easily become a full-time job! Never mind, maybe once I retire (if ever, having too much fun teaching as well!).

We need for the publishing industry to crack out of these limited priint runs. Sure, there's limited interest in specialist areas, but information is like muck, of no use unless it is spread around. Print-on-Demand and PDFs are the way to go, after a limited print run if such is desired. Easier to update when new information comes to light, too!

Ooooh.... drool.... will find my fingers straying to the Spink bookstore... review will be posted, of course, once I have succomed to the temptation! 🤓

Auschwitz Cross (Krzyz Oswiecimski), originally instituted on 14 March 1985 by the People's Repuplic and awarded to those held prisoner in Auschwitz and other concentration camps established by the Germans in WW2. It was revised in 1990, the change being to the national initials on the reverse. People's Republic version Current Third Republic version Sorry they are a bit small - pinched them off my website. The larger high quality ones are on a different computer!

Useful links, thank you. As an academic, I have access into various Parliamentary papers without having to pay fees, must have a rummage and see if there's anything about this medal. Had a root recently for some recent ones, but the results are on my other computer.

Interesting... my mother grew up in Edinburgh and entered the University there in September 1939, certain that the outbreak of war was going to ruin her student experience! She made the most of it, however. Apparently the Poles were friendly although they thought that if you smiled at them you were making advances... She also spoke about the remarkable number of young men who felt a call to enter the church as they came to the end of their degrees, thus postponing their conscription for a few years as they went through theological training (and then served as chaplains rather than combatants)! During university holidays, she worked in the Land Army, doing agricultural work. Tales from then include having her foot stood on by a carthorse and almost fighting over butter... the faster eaters scoffed the lot, until they divided it up and gave everyone an individual portion rather than sharing a butter dish in the middle of the table. After a 3-year MA degree, she too stayed a further year to take a diploma in social work. Although she wasn't conscripted into the military, she was directed to 'war work' and ended up in the personnel department at a Handley-Pages aircraft factory - work she hated! Eventually she managed to transfer into the Civil Service and worked in the Ministry of Labour. In 1949 she went on a course which was apparently very boring so she started sizing up the talent... her eye lit on my father, and the rest is history🤓

Excellent informative analysis... I've certainly learned more about what to look for in one of these!

Fascinating thread, a lot of new information to sift through...

Fascinating stuff - although my area is medals, it's interesting to see all the uniform items... I'd never realised that merchant sailors wore them to such an extent.

The list I have (although I have enough on my plate with state-issed medals to be diligent with for-profit inventions) is: Jubilee Medal "to mark the centenary of Leonid Brezhnev" Medal "Veteran of State Security" Medal "90 years of Border troops" Medal "90 years of the Russian Militia" Medal "Veteran of the MVD" Medal "Day of Artillery and Rocket troops" Commemorative Medal "65 years of the Battle of Kursk" Commemorative Medal "65 years of the Battle of Stalingrad" Medal "Navy Veteran" Medal "50 years of the submarine Leninskii Komsomol" Medal "The Varyag Cruiser Monument" Commemorative Medal "for Service at Baikonur" Medal "Space exploration" (50 years) Commemorative Medal "Tomsk School of Communication" (80 years) Jubilee Medal "Veteran of Air Defense Forces" Commemorative Medal "50 Years of Strategic Rocket Troops" Commemorative Medal "Veteran of Borders Troops" Order "For Service to Russia" Medal "100 years of Russian submarine fleet" Medal "Veteran of the GRU Spetsnaz" Medal "Veteran of the Air Force" Medal for "Defender of the Borders of the Fatherland" Commemorative Medal "65 years of Defense of Moscow" Commemorative Medal "Participant in the Afghan War" Order of duty and honor Order "Marshal Zhukov" Commemorative Medal "65 Years of the Fall of Berlin" Medal for Partificpation in Local Conflicts Medal for Distinction in Border Guard Service

Not often seen, as you aren't allowed to wear them in France. Vichy Croix de Guerre... instituted 28 March 1941 by Pétain. Same as the official one (instituted 1939) except for the dates on the reverse - 1939-1940 - and the ribbon (green with 5 black stripes). The wearing of the official Croix de Guerre was banned in Vichy France from 1 July 1941, but an Honour Council was instituted to review all awards from 1939 and the Vichy version bestowed if the act was deemed acceptable. There were several versions, yours is an early one with "Marianne" on the obverse. She was eventually rreplaced by the symbol of the "Francisque", the double bladed axe, with the inscription ETAT FRANÇAIS. The dates on the reverse also changed: 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944 being known. The other medal you have is the Vichy version of the Croix du Combattant, also instituted on 28 March 1941. That too differed from the official version only by the dates on the reverse (1939-1940) and the ribbon (pale blue with black edges and 3 black stripes. The pin is the Ordre de la Francisque Gallique. This was instituted on 26 May 1941 as the highest award of Vichy France. It was awarded to those who had participated in actions before the war which were in accordance with the principles of the National Revolution, also for services to the French Marshal since the outbreak of war and to those who performed brilliant deeds of military or civil service, and was worn on the left jacket pocket in civilian or military clothing. Records have been lost, but it's believed that 2-3,000 were awarded. De Gaulle banned the wearing of Vichy awards on 7 January 1944.

Recommended reference site: http://www.hausorden.de/

Nice selection, Ilya. Thank you for sharing...

Just the so-called 'Old Contemptible' bar for those who were involved from the onset... like my grandfather!

Not an official one, no. The UK had originally intended to issue bars to the British War Medal for various actions but changed their minds and didn't - probably for cost reasons.

Welcome to the happy throng! I don't think I can add much to the recommendations above. A lot of the early stuff has gone now. A.G. Bates had a wonderful site at https://soviet-awards.com/ - the images seem to have vanished, although the text remains. Go back a few years on the Wayback Machine and at least some of the images remain. This link is to 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190329165023/http://soviet-awards.com/ ... it hadn't been updated recently. Really going back in time, there's also https://web.archive.org/web/20010518173448/http://members.aol.com/sovietuk/ - a site that has translated a lot of statutes for different awards into English - we're back to 2001 here! If you read Russian, another early site that's now gone is https://web.archive.org/web/20020330125740/http://www.mondvor.iptelecom.net.ua/ this dates back to 2002. (Hint here if you don't read Russian, Google translate and the Wayback Machine don't work well together but if you use the Firefox browser, it has a built-in translator which will work with archived sites - it's not as good as Google, but you'll usually get the gist of what has been written!).

A good-looking piece and excellent condition... but the one nobody wanted to receive as it meant some loved one wasn't coming home.