Gordon Craig

I also have a small collection of medals to the International Brigades. Here is a picture of my Polish cased commemorative medal for comparison to the emedals one Antonio posted. The ribbon on my medal is badly faded. As a comparison of price, I paid US$34.95 for my cased example in 2017. I do not have a document for this medal. My research indicates that there were only 2000 of these medals produced. Regards, Gordon

Interesting documents. Since the badges don't appear to have been numbered you could match any badge to these documents as well earned achievements. I have a number of similar Hungarian badges for building factories etc. Thanks for posting these interesting pieces of history. Regards, Gordon

I won't bother posting the google translation of the second letter as it is not any better than the first one. However, the second letter says that the soldier died as a result of grenade splinter. And that the dog tags and other belongings of the deceased were taken by another soldier who continued fighting and that where these effects are located at present was unknown but an investigation will take place to try and find them. Regards, Gordon

Interesting small badges that I haven't seen before. Looking forward to seeing more of your collection of these badges. Regards, Gordon

cath, A google translation of the above German text of your letter. Not great but useful. Regards, Gordon In the field, April 15, 1918 Dear Miss Schusch .. (?)! At your request from April 8th about the death of your uncle, of the lake. Sasse (?), I can tell you the following: At the previous = hen on Albert on March 26th the company got a direct hit, where your uncle was shot in the head. He was dead instantly and has not suffered. Is with five other fallen comrades he was buried. The grave is east of Albert in a hollow, where he found the hero's death on Albert-Bapaume Street Given the current fighting it is of course difficult to take a photograph of the tomb, but later we will of course be possible. Sincerely Schnna ... Ltn. D. R. and company leader.

obi007, Interesting badge and with a low number. Probably not many of them made. Regards, Gordon

ze-pole, Welcome to the forum. Very nice uniforms that you have posted. Looking forward to future pictures of your collection. Regards, Gordon

bilylev, Always difficult to tell from photos but these don't look to be of the quality that I would expect to see in these badges. In particular the one on the right as viewed by me. I would pass on these myself. Regards, Gordon

I have them all the Bundesluftwaffe ones, all on tunics, except the Richthofen one so I can not help although I would like to. Regards, Gordon

Paul, Thanks. I can be patient. Regards, Gordon

Interesting question and I hope that someone can answer it. I would ask the same question for the NEAS slip on should title. Regards,

Gentlemen, I would like to bring my thread back to life again with some new questions. Now that I think we are reasonably certain as to the correct markings on the War Victory Cross that came with a ribbon lets move on the Order with a chain suspension. Does anyone know if the Order with the chain was made by the state mint or was it made by a private firm. Here are some pictures of one with a chain suspension with different markings than the one with the ribbon suspension. Really interested in your comments thoughts. Regards, Gordon

Paul, Would you be willing to post pictures of these pair on the forum? Regards, Gordon

Gentlemen, To add a little to this thread. One of these badges, to a Moslem, sold recently on Spinks for 290 pounds. There is one for sale now on London Medals for 695 pounds. https://london-medals.co.uk/indian-title-badge-muslim-issue-3rd-class-for-khan-sahib-gvr-2nd-type-silver-and-enamel-awarded-to-saiyed-mohammad-on-1st-january-1934-scarce Regards, Gordon

Peter, A very interesting JOMSA article. Thanks for posting it. Regards, Gordon

numis, As my friend mentioned in his response to me, he has a copy of the book "La Croix de Saint-Louis en Canada" and I will see if he will lend it to me as your questions are also of interest to me. The club we both belong to hasn't met in person in several months so getting access to the book could be difficult. Whether it contains information to what French officers received this award or not I can not say until I have had a look at the book. Since the book is in French and my abilities in French are limited this could be a long time sorting out. Chris McCreery's book THE ORDER OF MILITARY MERIT (produced by DHH) says the following "The membership of the Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis included French Canadian born officers living in Canada as well as Canadian-born officers serving in France and following the fall of New France in 1759. Approximately 300 people associated with Canada were appointed to the Order, including 145 who were recognized for service in Canada." This statement does not specify how many Canadien, or French citizens, were awarded out of the 300. There were no Order of Merit awarded in Canada during the time period of interest to you. They did not exist then. Although La Croix de Saint Louis is considered one of the antecedent to the Canadian Military Order of Merit. Canada, as was the case with other British colonies, did not have it's own national honours system until very recently. Canada instituted its own national honours system in 1967. The Order of Military Merit came into being in 1972 after protracted discussions in the Canadian Government and the Cabinet. The following is an excerpt from "THE ORDER OF MILITARY MERIT" by Christopher McCreery. "Governor Roland Michener approved Order in Council 1972-810 0 1 May 1972, which enunciated that the Order would come into being on Dominion Day (July 1) 1972, and on 10 May 1972, The Queen signed the Letters Patent constituting the Order, counter signed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. With this the Prime Minister's Office issued a press release explaining "The Order of Military Merit has been established to provide a means or recognizing conspicuous merit and exceptional service by members of the Canadian Armed Forces, both regular and reserve"." Regards, Gordon

numis, I have asked a friend who is a Colonel at the Canadian Military Directorate of History and Heritage about your question and he has responded with an interesting reply as below; Yes, France awarded the Royal Military Order of St. Louis Aka La Croix de Saint-Louis to recognize distinguished service in New France, to Frenchmen serving here but also to almost 200 ‘Canadiens’ born here. It is mentioned in our 2012 book on the Order of Military Merit, in The early history as an antecedent. There is a book on the topic: ‘La Croix de Saint-Louis en Canada’ by Aegidius Fauteux, 1940. It has a history of the Order, its use here and a list with Brief bio details on about 180 recipients https://www.emedals.com/a-french-royal-military-order-of-st-louis-knight-s-class The above url will take you to the site of emedals a well known Canadian seller of ODMs. The description of the award on the emedals site is not as good as the one in the DHH 2012 book on the The Order of Military Merit but should be sufficient for your needs. I have a copy of the DHH 2012 book. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Regards, Gordon

Numis, There were awards available to French citizens in the period that you are interested in. If any were awarded to residents of what is noow Canada is unknown to me. What existed of my country in this period was referred to as New France and there doesn't seem to be much information in the Library and Archives Canada on medals awarded in this period but to start your search here is a list of French regiments in New France at that time. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/Pages/new-france.aspx There were also militia units raised from the residents of New France. Sorry that I can not be of more assistance. I will keep looking for some more answers for you though. Regards, Gordon

Peter, Thanks for starting this thread and to 1812 Overture for translating it. I bid on one of the bronze medals issued to the survivors last month but it went too high for me. An interesting and little known part of WWI. Particularly to Canadians as many members of the Chinese Labour Corps were sent through Canada hidden in sealed trains on their way to France Regards, Gordon

Shots David, There is no need to wait for the pandemic to end to research your South African medal. I have researched a number of mine recently using dewald@antiques.co.za . He is very reasonable in his prices and is quick in his response with the results. Good luck in your research. I'd like to add a medal with the commendation to my collection. Regards, Gordon

Plum74, The whole bar doesn't make mush sense. I'll let you work out why. Good experience for you if you are going to buy DDR uniforms. Perhaps a good book on uniforms and medals would be the next step? If you want comments on these uniforms, and on the medal bars on each one, I would suggest that you post each one separately and include the pocket labels. Regards, Gordon

Plum74, The ribbon with airplane on it is the Medaille fur treue Dienste in der zivilien Luftfahrt. I woldn't expect this ribbon bar to be found in wear on this tunic. The two bars on the ribbon indicates the wearer had between ten and fifteen years as a civilian pilot. Regards, Gordon

Oscar Szwec, A number of these bars with a large number of awards have appeared over the years and unless they come directly from a known source with proven provenance are of recent production. I would tend to leave these alone. Regards, Gordon

1812 Overture, Thanks your comments. Regards, Gordon

Michael R. Here is another link from the same person about this radio and its use including war time pictures of it in use. Regards, Gordon http://www.la6nca.net/tysk2/lispr/index.htm