Gordon Craig

Gents, A note from the news here in Budapest re the Red Cross. Red Cross moving offices to Hungary The European directorate of the International Red Cross will move its headquarters to Budapest from Geneva, it was decided at Easter. One of the world?s largest organisations, the Red Cross will move the offices of 52 countries to Budapest, recognising the work performed in Hungary and availing itself of Hungary?s logistical advantages, Magyar H?rlap reports. Budapest was chosen ahead of Brussels, Istanbul, Moscow and Alma-aty. (MH p.5) Regards, Gordon

Paul, I should have checked my rank charts before saying anything about the boards. I agree. Feurewehr boards for sure. Regards, Gordon

Grant, The badge you posted was issued from 1987 to 1989. It is called the "Seigeransteknadeln". There were three classes "Kreiswettkampfe", "Bezirkswettkampfe", and "DDR-Wettkampfe". Each one came in Bronze, Silver and Gold classes. I imagine there should be something printed on your badge to tell you what you have. Regards, Gordon

jon m, I would say that this is probably a made up helmet. Someone trying to convince us that there was an NVA fire service and that they put these crests on their helmets. Wearing crests on firemen's helmets was widespread in the Bundesrepublic and Austria but not in the DDR. Research into who provided fire prevention service to the NVA might be interesting. Something for the future? Regards, Gordon

Dan, Thanks. A litlle slow tonight. I'll be more awake tomorrow! Regards, Gordon

Zsolt, Thanks for clarifying how many badges there were and who they were awarded to. That helps a lot. Regards, Gordon

Zsolt, Thanks for clarifying how many badges there were and who they were awarded to. That halps a lot. Regards, Gordon

Gents, This is a medal that I haven't spent much time studying. However, in other orders that I have studied, the smooth backed ones are normally of an earlier vintage than the pebble backed ones. Regards, Gordon

Gents, I'm a little confused by the location reference. I assume you are refering to the picture I posted. The caption under the foto reads "Schutspolizist und freiwilliger Helfer im Bereich der VPI Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg W?hrend der Dienstdurchf?hrung". I hope this resolves the question. Regards, Gordon

Gents, I doubt very much is this set could be traced. Something for the future though. I do have a list OF BG Generals so perhaps in time I sould work it out. Regards, Gordon

The interior of the box showing the medal and the ribbon bar ribbon.

The bottom of the box.

Here are some photos of a cased Bronze Fire Prevention Department Medal of 1956-35mm diametre.

Charles, A great book. Just what I need in my research on DISZ and KISZ. Gores well with the DISZ book you just bought. Check the flags and you will see they are the same for both organizations. This is probabaly the childrens/youth organization of DISZ and the predecessor to the Young Pioneers under KISZ. Please bring this book with you on Wednesday. I'll really like to see it. Regards, Gordon

Dan, Many people, and organizations, helped the police in the DDR. Young Pioneers as Crossing Guards for schools, FDJ members as street patrols and individual citizens patrolling with Police Officers. Here is a picture of a VOPO and his civilian assitant on patrol. Note the armband on the civilian's coat. Regards, Gordon

Charles, Thanks for the response. Kind of figured they would be NCO because of the colour. I have never seen a cased gold set. Fits right in with my Academy Badges. Cheers, Gordon

The interior of the case showing the rank stars.

The bottom of the case.

I have seen sets of communist era rank stars in small red cases a couple of times. Today I picked up a cased set. The case measures 87mm (3 7/16") by 57mm (2 1/4"). It is made of wood and covered with a dark red imitation leather. The top displays the Kadar period State Crest. The interior is a red plush material on the bottom and a white satin type material on the top. I have no reference material for these stars and would appreciate comments on what is known about these cased rank stars. The obvious thing would be to say they were awarded to graduating officer cadets but I don't know for sure. Regards, Gordon

Charles, That answers my question. Number location as wished by the person doing the stamping. I knd of thought that would be the answer but you never know until you ask! Cheers, Gordon

Zsolt, Thanks for posting this very interesting info. The list of medals to look for keeps growing thanks to your sharing your knowledge. Looking at the last three awards you posted. Post #127 award has the lettering KIV?LŐ BANYSZ and post #129 has the lettering A BANYASZ KIV?LŐ DOLGOZJA. Since you say both these awards were made from June 1954 to 1977 it looks to me as if there may have been four badges during this time frame with the same wording as you list for my 1954 type award. True? Interesting to know that the 1954 to 1977 awards with different wording were also a different design. Cheers, Gordon

Charles, Thanks for making sense out of these medals for me. Didn't make sense that the older medals would be the easiest to find. Since the large medals book doesn't show the backs of the medals I didn't realize there were two sets that looked the same. I need to add this to this to the info in my files on the Large Medals book. Regards, Gordon

Dan, There are lots of blank ones available on ebay.de but not many completed ones show up for sale. I don't think there was a lot of stigmatism associated with being a police helper. It is a long standing German tradition and not the same as being an informant for the STASI. Those people had a hard time after the wall fell and the files were opened. For example, the only East German fighter airplane accepted into the West German Luftwaffe, after the reunification of the forces, was the MiG 29. The Luftstreitcraft squadron pilots that flew the MiG 29 were offered positions in the Bundesluftwaffe and amost all of them accepted. After the STASI files were opened and researched it turned out that some of the East German MiG 29 pilots had been informers and seven of them "resigned" their commissions in the Bundesluftwaffe immediately. Regards, Gordon

Order of Victory, I should have congratulated you on the nice new additions to your collection. Regards, Gordon

Order of Victory, Charles has beaten me to the answer and has done a better job than I as I don't have all of the 1964 medals. Strangely enough, the 1964 type of medal is more available than the 1965 or the 1983 ones. Perhaps that is a task for me to concentrate on today. Seeing just what I have in the 1964 medals so I can list what I need to look for at the Flea Markets this weekend. Regards, Gordon