Megan

Naval Forces Medal. Instituted: 20 March 1971 by King Faisal ibn Abdulaziz. Awarded: To naval personnel to reward outstanding bravery or recognize meritorious actions and to base commanders after five years of service in command. 3rd Class (Bronze) Medal:

The Insigne des Bless?s Militaires was created by a law passed 11 December 1916, laying down that an enamelled red star should be worn on the planned M?daille comm?morative de la Guerre 1914-1918 (only of course they didn't know what the dates would be at that time!). So the star was pinned on to a special piece of ribbon, the size of a conventional 'undress' ribbon bar. The Insigne des Bless?s Civils was created by a law of 18 July 1918 (as Hendrik says), for civilian victims of warfare. It was a white enamelled star, also worn on a piece of ribbon, of a different pattern from the military version. The medals marketed and worn for both these awards are unofficial, but as they exist they need to be recorded!

Instituted: 14 November 1953. Discontinued: 1 January 1964 & replaced by the National Order of Merit Awarded: For meritorious services to post and telecommunications.

Instituted: 14 September 1953. Discontinued: 1 January 1964 & replaced by the National Order of Merit Awarded: For meritorious services to ex-servicemen and war victims of the 2 world wars.

Instituted: 11 June 1948. Discontinued: 1 January 1964 & replaced by the National Order of Merit Awarded: For meritorious services to craftsmanship and its organisation.

Instituted: 27 May 1949. Discontinued: 1 January 1964 & replaced by the National Order of Merit Awarded: For meritorious services to tourism in France.

4th Type (commander & officer only):

2nd Type (commander & knight only):

Instituted: 27 May 1939. Discontinued: 1 January 1964 & replaced by the National Order of Merit Awarded: For meritorious services to the national economy and foreign trade. There appear to be FOUR different versions, although I only have pictures of some grades from 3 of them. 1st Type (officer & knight only):

Instituted: 18 February 1938. Discontinued: 1 January 1964 & replaced by the National Order of Merit Awarded: For meritorious services in the cause of health, relief of the poor and child welfare.

Instituted: 25 October 1936. Discontinued: 1 January 1964 & replaced by the National Order of Merit Awarded: For meritorious services within institutions concerned with social legislation.

Instituted: 20 August 1926 Awarded: To prisoners of war who escaped and returned to service.

Instituted: 4 July 1935 Awarded: For voluntary enlistment.

The clasps I've found so far (does anyone know of others?) Guerre 1939-1945: Indochine: Cor?e: Afrique du Nord:

Instituted: 5 February 1953. Awarded: For voluntary enlistment, originally to serve in the 2nd World War but subsequently extended to other wars - each marked by a clasp worn on the ribbon.

Instituted: 15 April 1954. Awarded: For voluntary enlistment in the Resistance.

Reverse:

Instituted: 28 June 1930. Awarded: To active combatants in wartime. Obverse:

Military Merit Medal... but I cannot really tell you anything more than its name!

Lovely, thank you.

You are correct, Wilco - the first post shows the 1st class obverse & reverse, the second post shows the same for the 2nd class. What puzzles me is why there are two classes, when there is also provision for changing the ribbon depending on how many times an enemy marksman got lucky. All I have found on that is, if my German hasn't let me down, is that repeated awards of the SAME CLASS will get you the striped ribbons. Perhaps the class of award depends on the severity of the injury.

2nd Class. These are both for 1 wound... like the old Austrian Empire version, additional stripes are added to the ribbon for further awards (or continued lack of the ability to duck!).

Verwundetenmedaille, in 2 classes, instituted 11 June 1975. 1st Class.

In post-1962 Algeria, 3 medals on this theme are known. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of any of them, and only know the ribbon of one! 1. Medal for the Gravely Wounded, Invalids of War - awarded to those severely injured and left as invalids during the war of liberation. Ribbon: 2. Medal of the Martyrs of the War of Liberation - awarded to those who lost their lives in the struggle for liberation. 3. Medal of the Wounded - awarded to military personnel wounded in the course of duty.

Browsing around this place (remember I'm new here!) it seems that this thread is getting a bit unwieldy - my fault, keep adding the high-quality versions of what I'm putting on my website as France is the 'page a day' country for this month. What would be the best way to break it down? A thread per order/medal, or is that overkill the other way? It might give a coherent space to discuss variations and history, and so on... Thoughts?