Gordon Craig

There are also issues of this medal for the years 1964 and 1965 with a different series of numbers for hours flown. If you have any of these medals it would be appreciated if you would post pictures of them for all of our reference. Regards, Gordon

A close up of the front of the 1500 hour medal. When compared with the 500 hour medal it is quite dark. It has been completely covered in some sort of plastic coating which would help it stay together. Another manufacturers variation.

A close up of the front of the 500 hour medal. This medal was in a number of different pieces when I acquired it. Some cleaning and some super glue did wonders for it.

The reverse of these medals. There were several different makers for these medals so sevseral variations exist. These four medals illustrate this very well when viewed from the back. You can see medals with the attachment rings orientated the same way as the medal or rotated 90 degrees. Another medal has the attachment ring as a sepatate piece attached down the back of the medal.

One of the awards missing from our forum has been the medals awarded for the number of hours flown by Hungarian pilots. Probably because they don't come up for sale very often. Earlier this week I was able to acquire four from the 1983 series of these badges. The entire set comprises medals for the flight times of 3500 hours, 3000 hours, 2500 hours, 2000 hours, 1500 hours, 1000 hours and 500 hours. The four pictured below are for 500, 1500, 2500 and 3500 hours. Please note that two of the nedals have the aircraft missing from them. I never noticed this fact until I got home and the two medals without airplanes have been returned to the vendor. Regards, Gordon

The 1980s Order of Labour in Bronze.

A close of the badges on the right breast.

Here is the other Munkasor tunic I acquired recently. It only had the collar tabs when I found it. The red rank stars on the collar tabs are the late cold enamel type in keeping with the time period of the tunic. It is now set up for parade. The rank is Rajparancsnok which is the second lowest rank on the headquarters assignment chart. All of the badges on the tunic have been covered in this thread except the medal which is the Order of Labour in Bronze class. Regards, Gordon

coinguy, These uniforms were worn by civilian prison guards. As I mentioned my my last post, they worked for the Ministry of the Interior. They were not associated with any other organizations that I am aware of but would have worked with the police as part of receiving prisoners etc. No difference here than in any other country. I can not give you an idea of how large an organization it is because I have never researched the number of prisons etc. Their uniforms are not uncommon so you shouldn't have any problmes acquioring another uniform from this organization. Regards, Gordon

jon m Good to see your post. Very interesting label you posted. Regards, Gordon

Here is an example of the rectangular inspection stamp used from 1950 onwards. This stamp is on an enlisted man's leather belt. It is marked for 1952. Regards, Gordon

Paul, Thanks for adding to the thread. I should have mentioned that fact. Regards, Gordon

Dan, Sorry but I must agree with Uwe. Do you have a copy of Bartel's book? A necessary tool to collect DDR medals. Another way to tell your medal does not match an early Urtkunde is to look at the pin. Yours has the simplified pin catch and not the early barrel pin catch as posted by Uwe. Not really a problem though. All you need to do is get a medal to match the Urkunde. Cheers, Gordon

Coinguy, Thanks for sending the markings in your tunic. They stand for; MdI- Ministry of the Interior which is the Ministry responsible for the prison guards; k48- is the size markings-k for klein (small) and 48 would be a size 38 in North America; 1850- is the code for the maker-a list identifying manufacturers names with their numerical code has not been found yet; 1/L- stands for the first quarter of either 1973 or 1987. L was the only alphabetical letter used twice to indicate a year of manufacture. From the pictures of your uniform on this thread I would say 1987 is a more likely date for manufacture than 1973. I would say that the hat is definitely from an earlier period than the uniform but that is not a bad thing. Just something to note. Regards, Gordon

And another type of Polizei Helpers armband from the same period.

Before the DDR came into being and the Polizei Helper arm bands were printed there were other types of armbands used to identify Polizei Helpers in the SMAD. Here are some pictures of two of these arm bands from an auction that just finished in Germany on the 14th of April, 07. Regards, Gordon

coinguy89, Nice uniform. It is not unusual to find the cap lining loose at the front. It is difficult to repair so as has already been suggested I would just leave it alone. Most of the time when the lining is loose like this it indicates someone has removed and replaced the cap badge. It is virtually imposible to remove and replace the cap badge without cutting thread holding the lining in pace at the front. Too bad the sweat shield is missing. Be nice ti have it threr to se what is prined on it. The cap appears to be of an earlier vintage than the uniform. What is the date code inside the tunic? Regards, Gordon

One more picture showing what I gather is the capes size. There is a large number "3" stamped on the flap at the top. I do not know hoa many different sizes there were.

The other side of the manufacturers tag showing the name of the maker.

The manufacturers tag giving all the details of the cape.

Another shot of the cape interior with the flap folded up out of the way showing the waterproofing of the interior plus the shoulders. It also gives a good view of the shoulder straps.

The interior of the cape showing the flap for rolling it up.

The back of the cape.

A closeup of the arm slits in the front.

The front of the cape with the hood down.