Gordon Craig

The back of the medal/order is plain.

Hi all, This medal just sold on ebay.com for just under $2000.00. It peked my interest and I wonder if anyone can tell me the name of the medal, or perhaps I should be calling it an order, and something about its history, how many grades it comes etc. Regards, Gordon

Ondrej, Yes it is strange that Czechoslovakia militaria is not as popular as other on this forum. I posted the same questions on another fourm and did not get any answer. Perhaps we can raise some interest by posting things from Czechoslovakia more often. I have a picture of a medal I will post tomorrow in the hopes that you can identify it for me. Every country does not have its own forum which is why we have this one. Without sufficient interest there would not be a forum for other countries. Regards, Gordon

Ondrej, Thanks very much for this info. So these badges were only worn by soldiers doing their national service. I guess that I need to add to my Czechoslovakian uniform collection and my knowledge about their uniforms and badges. Regards, Gordon

A side view of this same cap. The flash makes the cap look blue in this photo. It is not. The grey colour in the previous photo, at least on my screen, is very close to the actual colour of the cap.

GC, Here are some pictures of the cap badge on the Factory Guards visor cap. As Hunyadi said, we do not know very much about this organization but I would presume this is a senior officers cap because of the gold chin strap. The cap badge appears to be of a better quality than the one you posted which would be reasonable if I am correct about the rank of the person who would have worn this cap. Regards, Gordon

hunyadi, Thanks for answering this post. I was delinquent in responding to it. Regards, Gordon

Ondrej, Thanks very much for the information. Thanks for the offer to post a picture from the uniform regulations. I would like to see the picture from the regulations. One more question. Were these badges worn only on the service dress uniform on the field uniform as well? Regards, Gordon

Tom, I would suggest a new thread. This one has a specific purpose and we prefer to keep threads specific. Otherwise, it is difficult to find things in the future with a search or browsing through the forum. Regards, Gordon

Tom, Welcome to the forum. Always nice to have new members post things from their collection. Looking forwward to seeing some of your ribbon bars and uniforms. Regards, Gordon

The back of the Exemplary Army Unit badge.

Now for the Exemplary Army Unit badge. The questions I have on this one are the same as for the Specialist badge.

The front and back of the later badge. You can see from these pictures that the quality of these badges is no where near that of the screw type badge.

The back of the screw type badge. Unfortunately the nut is missing.

Gentlemen, While at an antique fair on Saturday I picked up two Czech badges. One Czech Specialist 3rd Class and one Exemplary Army unit badge. At least that is what I have found them called on the net. I have some questions about them. First the Specialist 3rd Class badge; 1-Was this badge worn by all military organizations? If not, who did wear it? 2-Was it worn by para-military organizations? 3-The badge I have is screw back. I have only found pictures on-line that show what appears to be a later type without a screw back. Just two prongs that perhaps are fastened through the uniform. During what periods were each of these badges worn? 4-Where were these badges worn on the tunic? Regards, Gordon

Chris, I must have led a very sheltered life. I didn't realize they came in various sizes! I always thought "one-size-fits-all". Regards, Gordon

juergen, Thanks for the response on the medals. My family history is similar to yours but I don't have the medals to put together something like your presentation. My father served in WWI, my brother in WWII, and myself in the cold war. Four of my years in the service (63 to 67) were spent at 1 Air Division Headquarters in Metz, France. Regards, Gordon

fregatte, Interesting family collection. Thanks for showing it to us. Are the green and yellow ribboned medals for the marches in Holland? Regards, Gordon

Kevin, Really great stuff with wonderful provinance. Regards, Gordon

BURGERHAUS, Very nice award document and mappe. Thanks for posting them. Regards, Gordon

Gentlemen, My copy arrived today and I heartily agree with Greg. I've spent a good part of the day going over the chapter on KGB Anniversary badges and will spend more time on it tomorrow. Lots of interesting stuff in this book. Regards, Gordon

Charles, In total, 9 Austrian tunics, but they span from the mid 19th century to the end of the 20th cenntury. I am only adding Austrian tunics to my colllection that I find really interesting. Not enough room for what I have now in my various collections. I missed two First Republic police tunics earlier this year. I don't see many Austrian uniforms for sale since I moved back to Canada. Regards, Gordon

ccj, The next time I visited the store the tunic had been sold. Regards, Gordon

cimbineus, Good to see you back on the forum again! Thanks for the information on this badge. I am surprised to see that MTH was involved in authorizing these DISZ badges. What exactly are you refering to when you say "Technical Schools"? Regards, Gordon

KDVR, I don't remember seeing this badge before but I don't think it would be classed as rare. The caption below the badge says "Excellent Student". I suspect this would relate to studies within DISZ but I do not know for sure. During this period, if you were not a member of DISZ you could not attend university. Regards, Gordon