Brian Wolfe

Good Moring David, I was worried and hesitant to reply to your post in case I offended you. Even as I was pressing the "Add Reply" I was wishing I had not done so. When it comes to values and what the market will accept it quickly becomes a vicious and unforgiving atmosphere. There is a family here in Canada whose Great Grandfather was gifted an Iron Cross by an officer when he stopped their execution by other Canadian soldiers. The story was greatly doubted even after they found the Iron Cross in their Great Grandfather's effects. There was a telvision show here called Ancestors in the Attic and they were able to prove the story. It seemed incredible yet it was proven to be true. Even the Christmas truce seems hard to believe all by itself. Regards and relieved, Brian

Hello David, An interesting story indeed. You stated, if I have read this correctly, that you have been collecting for 40 years, so what I am going to say should not come as much of a shock to you. I don't wish to sound sceptical but the story of a German soldier in 1914 giving up his Iron Cross to another soldier as a Christmas gift is...well...pretty amazing. I also noticed that the condition of the EK is less than mint. Since this truce took place five months after the outbreak of hosilities I would expect it would have been in better condition. Perhaps I'm being too critical on this point and there may have been extenuating circumstances that lead to the damage, or the damage even happened sometime between the "gift exchange" and being placed away in storage. I'm not saying that the story is not true, only that if this is forming part of the history of this EK and that will become one of the deciding factors in the EK2s value then I would say it is not really going to do much for the price you will realize from its sale. It is still a single EK that has no provable history other than an unsubstantiated family legend. Please don't take offence by this, however, you are talking values with the intention of selling and that brings anything into a whole new light and under greater scrutiny. Family treasures and their associated stories are nice but when you are talking cold hard cash then the family stories need more proof; more proof than random photos of your Great Grandfather either in uniform or not. As you say, you've been collecting for 40 years so this is something you probably already know. Any idea how the photo of the German soldier from WWII came into the collection? Regards Brian

Hello Rudi, A beautiful and impressive collection. I hope you will post closer views. Thanks for sharing your collection with us. Regards Brian

Hello Everyone, It looks like no one was able to come up with a wage range for NCOs and above and I knew I had seen something relating to this but could not remember where. Well, almost a month later I found it, or at least what I was looking for. The average private earned 10 yen or equal to about $2.36 U.S in 1945. Perhaps this will help to determine what the higher ranks made, perhaps not but, this is the wage for privates. To put this in perspective, in 1937 a woman working in a department store in Canada made $7.50 per week. A Wireless Radio Operator in the RCAF in 1944-45 made $1.00 per day. These figures come from family records; yes we have always been obsessive compulsive types. The information regarding tha Japanese soldier's wages came from a 1945 Anti-Japanese Propoganda Documentary that may be found at the link below. Even though this is propoganga it is worth watching for the great film footage from the period that was used. Regards Brian

Hi Mervyn, Thnaks for taking the time to post the photos and especially for including the history. I like it when the posts include historical information. Well done. Regards Brian

A great piece of police history. Thanks for posting the photos, I would never have seen one otherwise. Regards Brian

Hi Tom, You're a funny guy...Bad'n! I live in New Hamburg which is next to a small village named Baden, except we pronounce it as Bay-din. Next to that is Kitchener which was known as Berlin until 1916. It's a pretty German area so why they pronounced the name they way they do is a mystery to me. Thanks for the histoical documents, I printed them off and will read them a little later. Too much time in front of the computer screen reading text is hard on the old eyes. Thanks again Tom. Regards Brian

Hi Tom, Many thanks for the link. There's a lot of information there. Regards Brian

Very nice indeed Mike. Thanks for posting them. Regards Brian

This is the reverse. Thanks again for any information you can give me. Regards Brian

This is a closer view of the obverse. I can find no marker's mark on the medal though I understand some had the letter "K" stamped on them. Brian

Hello Everyone, This medal just arrived the other day and my attempts to find out much history on it has not met with much success. It is a Baden Campaign Medal 1849 with an original ribbon, not one of the newly made ones. From what I can find out, this is a commemoritive medal awarded to those who took part in the 1849 campaign against insurgents. That's about all I could find. I am hoping that the membership can help with more details as to why it was awarded and who were the "insurgents"? Thanks for any information you can give me. It is, as always, apperciated. Regards Brian

Thanks Heiko, Now there a great thought...a medal bar mine...oh, how I wish and dream it were true. Regards Brian

Here's a view of the back of the bar and the reverse of the medals. The hanger for the Baden medal was obviously made for the medal so I don't think this is a case where a medal, or both, were added to an existing ribbon bar. Any opinions will be welcomed and appreciated as always. Thanks for taking a look. Regards Brian

Hello Everyone, This pair of Imperial German Medals arrived a few days ago and I wanted to share them with you. I doubt they are rare but the medal on the right is the Baden Felldienstauszeichnung which was awarded to those who fought in Baden's campaigns. Instituted in 1838 it was retroactive to 1806. I've read that there were bars to this ribbon as well but as you can see this one has none. I'm fairly confident that this is an original pair. I hope you like it. Regards Brian

Hi militaria0815, That is one sweet bar! Thanks for posting it. Regards Brian

Hi Heiko, Thanks for adding to my knowledge base, this was something I didn't know. Regards Brian

I missed this post somehow, but here is the identification of the ribbons on the Indian group. Top Row (Left to right) Vayu Sena Medal (Air Force Medal) General Service Medal 1947 Samar Seva Star (combat service in the 1965 Indo-Pak War) Poorvi Star (combat service in the 1971 Indo-Pak War) Middle Row Paschimi Star (combat service in the 1971 Indo-Pak War) Rahsha Medal (1965 Indo-Pak War) Sangram Medal (1971 Indo-Pak War) Sainya Seva Medal 1971 Bottom Row Videsh Seva Medal (Overseas Service Medal) 25th Independence Anniversary Medal 20 Years Long Service Medal 9 Years Long Service Medal That should cover it; they are the correct way up in the photo. If you ever want to get rid of this ugly little ribbon bar keep me in mind. Regards Brian

Hi George, I wouldn't worry about offending anyone as your statement simply expresses the frustration we have all felt at one time or another. Sometimes it is a good idea (probably in my opinion only)to revive a post from time to time in case a new member or one of the more seasoned members has resently attained additional information. It's easy to forget about a post asking for help with identification after a time so a gentle reminder once in a while may be worth while. Regards Brian

Hi Pinpon590, I almost ran downstairs to check to see if mine was still here. They do look a lot alike, thanks for posting them. Regards Brian

Hi Len, Welcome to the forum. The group is beautiful and being your father's medals makes it a family treasure. What a great nucleus for a collection. I hope we hear more from you. Regards Brian

Hi George, I don't think it is a matter that, "...if it is not German, no one cares". I've found that if any of the members can identify something they will, even if it is not within the scope of their interest and/or collection. I know it can be frustrating to post something for identification and get no responses but several posts stating , "can't help you there", seems like a waste. Having said that,...can't help you there. Regards Brian

Hi Frank, Fantastic grouping. Please be sure you post the framed set when you get it finished. Thanks for posting tem. Regards Brian

Thanks for the comment VtwinVince. I'm really happy with it now. Regards Brian

Here is the reverse. I think you can see the nylon thread in the photo. I could have used the same black thread that was used on the "original" group but I didn't feel comfortable doing that. We have to remember that we are only the custodians of our collection and some day it will be in the hands of other collectors. Therefore any changes or repairs should either be documented, reversable to its original state or made obvious, as in this case. Regards Brian