Ulsterman

Thanks- the wonder of the internet though- Still, odd things pop up at gun fairs. Some of these were in a plastic box filled with brass 22 cartridges, Perot '92 buttons and other bric-a-brac.

I WOULD GUESS THE BAVARIAN 9 LS Medal: pre war Police NCO, called up in 1914 - quickly goes to Sergeant dR/L and is issued his LS medal in 1918-just like Hitler.

I nice little badge, all of 2cm across and of 1960s-1980s manufacture I reckon (cheaper metal, nice enamel) from the M.H.S., (the national paramilitary sports club). Oddly enough though- I translate this as "Excellent Listener"...which makes me wonder if it was awarded for sitting through Marxist theory lectures, bad Marxist poetry seminars or for radio reception work. What do you think?

I just got an exact copy of this badge, probably 1970s-1989 version (nice piece though). I translate this (badly) as: Ministry of the Interior Bela Kun Banner (ensign/cadet?) qualification/education school"? Obviously I have done this badly, as this would make me believe that this was a badge for the Bela Kun Flag waving qualification school. Tricky language.

An exerpt from Atkinsons VERY GOOD book. pg. 228: ..."Help had been ordered forward by General Oliver at 8:00 A.M., but for unexplained reasons the 2nd Bttn. of the 13th Armored Regt. had failed to get the word. Not until 1:00 p.m. did Lt. Colonel Hyman Bruss and his tanks cover the six miles along the Medjerda (river) towards Djebel el Guessa. Compounding tardiness and tomfoolery, Bruss split his force, conducted no reconnaissance, and ordered the tanks to "charge up the valley as quickly as possible". Reinforced with five new Shermans from Patton's' units in Morocco, the Lee tanks drove at flank speed with no inkling of where Colonel Kerns' men were, much less the enemy. German gunners waited until the Shermans, five abreast, closed to within a quarter mile. Fifteen minutes later every Sherman and most of the General Lees were in flames. "Shells were cutting through the wheat on either side of us" , Lt. Phillip G. Walker wrote later. "I walked from tank to tank trying to make them fire and retire. They seemed petrified. I cursed and insulted, climbing on tanks and shouting." An explosion killed a soldier in the turret beneath Walkers' feet. Shell fragments peppered his arm, eyelid and right temple. "I was swearing and crying from frustration and pain. I took a shot of morphine and felt better." More American tanks then blundered into the killing zone after giving the German gunners time to reposition and reload. The disaster was complete. Wearing full-length sandwich boards painted with huge red crosses, Afrika Korps medics traipsed from hulk to flaming hulk, saving a few of the wounded. Eighteen tanks were lost. General Oliver sacked Col. Bruss.'

This is a google earth overview of where he died. The DAK outfought them in these hills and wadis.

Scott: Have you tried to obtain the combat report for the Company for that date? it could well give you additional details. Try your local Senator-they have contacts at the archives who can (eventually) ferrit this stuff out. Alternately-try the US Forum on the WAF as they have a couple of armor experts there who may well have a detailed 2 AD day-by-day battle guide. Lastly, Atkinson's "An Army At Dawn" has a good account of the week's battles around Tebourba which decimated the American Lee and Sherman tanks and caused over 1,000 casualties.

Well, I'll give you a hint- a stout and elderly nun guards the doors watching me while I sit in the rather cool and dank library.

thanks CD- Tis a 1970s version: cold enamel.

well, I got a new one today-it doesn't scan well, so no picture I'm afraid. But it's a dead ringer for the one one the far right in post # 141 and has: AZ Ipari Szovetkeze, Kivalo Dolgozoja" on it so I think its some sort of Youth excellent worker?

Just to add, portraits exist with Commemorative medals being worn by officers etc.. Often someone wishing to show "I was there" I expect.

weights? measurements? Weights and dimensions will allow me to figure out if its silver. You may have a winner, but frankly, you need to take this one to Spinks or one of the higher end auction houses. There are some Napoleonic navy experts out there , but they don't live here (I think). I suspect it's a later restrike-but....I don't know. These were often drilled so as to be worn about the neck on a rawhide or silk thread. Not a few disappeared into pawn shops and into coin collections over the years, which is exactly where you'd expect to find them as they're obscure enough to be overlooked. When I was a kiddie a guy next to me at a Jumble sale literally pulled out a Culloden medal from amidst a shoe box of bric-a -brac at a gymkana. It was probably a Victorian restrike-but...you never know. Good luck!

weights? measurements?

Hmmm -the Kreigerbund medal would make more sense. Alfons "shooting badges" seem to have ALWAYS been represented by the schnalle. One sees them in portraits always that way and considering he gave them out prolifically as a mark of royal esteem (seemingly to very aged Bavarian veteran and shopkeeper one sees in photos) I doubt seriously that it would have been represented on this class of ribbon bar. The kreigerbund medal however, is different. Those vets associations had prestige and were important and it is a quasi-official medal. Photo below @ 1926-32

worth every penny. i used to take it along to antique fairs for "authentication" purposes. If course, in those days a Victory medal was only 50p.

Superb! Real front-line pics.

One Mod (Not Don Doering) and one Lifetime member -not Seba.

Depends- For imperial german...many of the world class imperial experts reside here. However, they aren't given to "authenticating" a piece but more likely to give an opinion. To be honest with you-I do not fully trust many of the dealers who provide "authentication papers". Not because they are inherently dishonest chaps, but they tend to err on the side of "saleability" as opposed to "historically accurate". This helps them pay their bills. Austrian bars seem especially a problem. A series of imperial medal bars "authenticated" by a famous dealer in Hamburg (whose updates are often on Friday mornings) went to sale on the WAF last year and after I pointed out the incongruent/impossible nature of two of them, I was politely requested to 'tone it down'. Frankly, I would trust implicitly my wallet to the collected hive knowledge of Rick, Verkuilen, Gordon, Saschaw, ST, Francois, SPM,WC, Heiko, Rick, Claudio and a few others here in imperial. These people don't have vested interests either, they are scholars and gentlemen. In other bailiwicks are obvious: Ed Haynes for example. For British medals I'd go to Spinks or Dix, Noonan etc. For US medal I'd go to FJP auctioneers. I trust NO ONE 100% for TR stuff (except Gordon and Prosper). There are too many "experts" in that field who are masters of the secondary literature and little else.

hee-hee- Purnells' "Heraldry: Regaila of war" pp. 86!

The lamppost is a British council lamppost from the Victorian era. odds are at the base you'll see a "VR". How do I know? Because my parents bought two in 1971 when the council sold them off. They still have them in their back yard.

They weren't necessarily all from tailors and individually made. As today, some folks bought second hand. I sold my Mess dress uniform back in 1990 for 400 pounds and I had bought it used for 500 pounds. Not a bad deal.

Exactamundo! if for example, this piece had once been part of the Seymour/Ludvigson/Colson collection-then I'd snap right away!

Yeah I was just thinking that- another subfield about to become expensive. Still, I am really looking forward to the book. I like the bit about 'holding high the banner of the Reichsbank', that is awesome. I wish I could receive a performance review that Wagnerian.

A close up of the medal bar-note the Franco Italian style bar mounting knobs...perhaps an Albanian Salvation Army Quartermaster?

I picked this up this morning at a flea market and I'm reasonibly certain the back is in Hungarian, but I haven't a clue as to what the rest of his awards are or indeed what he could be (grenade is artillery, but maybe police?): "CPSV" on the collar)? The medals are similar to a couple I thought I recognized, like the Austrian military merit cross on a red ribbon (at the end), but now I'm stumped. Anyone have any ideas? Argentine police? Guatamalan trains? Montenegran artificer? Help! Ta-