Lukasz Gaszewski

Nice group and a really generous deed! A little off-topic: where can you find information about the awards of the Canadian Royal Life Saving Society?

Kind of good-bye medal from the late DDR. Here is the type for uniformed services (no bar - sorry):

Exactly!

Actual and worn along with other medals! Here is the type for the uniformed services.

Reverse:

Medaille für Treue Pflichterfüllung in der Zivilverteidigung der DDR.

No, they were awarded for merit. There was a separate medal for 30, 20 and 10 years of service in Civil Defence (Medaille für Treue Pflichterfüllung in der Zivilverteidigung der DDR). I will send a scan tomorrow if no one else does.

Cross of Merit (Gold) Cross of Merit (Silver) Armed Forces in Service for the Country (Gold) Armed Forces in Service for the Country (Silver) Armed Forces in Service for the Country (Bronze) Medal for Merit for the Country Defense (Silver) Medal for Merit for the Country Defense (Bronze) Decoration of Merit in Protection of Public Order (Bronze) Commission of National Education Medal Socialist Youth Association Decoration of Janek Krasicki (Gold) [One of local honorary blood donor assn. awards (can't tell which right now)] [Another honorary blood donor assn. award] Decoration of Merit for the Voluntary Labor Troops (Bronze) Medal of Merit for Civil Defense (Bronze) You could receive a silver or even gold CoM withouth having the bronze one, particularly if you were an officer. Some ribbons look mixed-up but that also could happen. The poorly-looking gold or silver laces to denote class are seldom encountered, they usually used gold or silver bullion instead. You also did not have to obtain the Polonia Restuta, even upon completion of 20 or more years of service. Some professional military received it only upon retirement (the same way as LoM in the USA or OBE in UK), some did not receive it at all. Summing up, I think the bar could be a real one; such a combination of ribbons was certainly possible. A really nice piece, BTW!

Roter-Adler-Orden or Kronenorden 3rd or 4th class f. war merit?

There are two possible explanations: 1. it is a tunic of a Fähnrich with the star removed for some reason (any traces of stars on the collar?), or 2. it is a tunic of an officer cadet (Zögling) with no rank; the tunic is presumably from before 1891. You can read more about k.u.k. officer cadets' ranks on the same website: http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/kadett.html A photo of the tunic would probably help. Regards, Lukasz

I am unable to translate all, as part of the certificate is illegible, stil from what can be read it looks as follows: "...for paricipation and fulfilling duties in the Bulgarian military contingent in the operation of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan within the Regional Command - Capital City." Anyway, the name of the medal is "for Participation in the Mission" Decoration and was issued by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria. I think the medal must be fairly new. I have never heard of it before. Could you please check its diameter and ribbon width? I dare say it will be 32 mm - typical of contemporary Bulgarian medals. Regards, Lukasz

A beautiful addition to your collection Ilja! The Order of Pakistan was established in 1957 as the country's top order. It still exists but in 1986 it was completely redesigned and it is now an award for foreign nationals only. Yours is the third class of the order (out of four), the Sitara-e-Pakistan which means "Star of Pakistan," the pre-1986 type. Lukasz

I am now updating the Canadian section of my rackbuilder. I have a little question to Canadian experts on this forum. Does anybody know which of the currently awarded Canadian medals go with the Mention in Dispatches (MID) device on the ribbon? I am particularly intrested if MID can go with the following: 1. Somalia Medal 2. South West Asia Service Medal (SWASM) 3. General Campaign Star (GCS) 4. General Service Medal (GSM) 5. Operational Service Medal (OSM) 6. Special Service Medal (SSM) Thanks in advance. Lukasz http://www.medals.pl/

The royal Nepalese award system followed to some degree the British system. The closest counterpart of the Order of the Gurkha Right Arm is the Order of the British Empire.

The Nepalese royal award system followed to some degree the British one. The closest counterpart of the Order of the Gurkha Right Arm is the Order of the British Empire.

The Nepalese royal award system followed to some degree the British one. The closest counterpart of the Order of the Gurkha Right Arm is the Order of the British Empire.

The Nepalese royal award system followed to some degree the British one. The closest counterpart of the Order of the Gurkha Right Arm is the Order of the British Empire.

I have never heard of any "Signum Laudis" Medal ribbon other than solid red (for peacetime merit) or "ladder" (for wartime merit). I have consulted the literature available to me (Mericka, Schwarz) and they do not mention it either. Almost certainly nothing official. Also from what I know the "Signum Laudis", unlike the Militärverdienstkreuz, was not awarded to foreign nationals, being kind of "internal" decoration for officers of the Imperial and Royal Armed Forces only.

Or this? Order of the Grunwald Cross 3rd Class

Well, maybe this? Partisan Cross

I recently found this photo of Marshal of Poland Marian Spychalski in a friendly conversation with the commander of the Warsaw Pact, USSR Marshal Andrei Grechko. The photo is dated 1968. It is the only color photo of Marshal Spychalski I have ever seen. Can anyone recognize his orders and medals? The photo is rather small, I have enlarged the part with the ribbon bars, but the quality is not perfect: I have identified his Polish awards: - Order of Builders of People's Poland - Order of the Banner of Labor 1st Class - Order Polonia Restituta 2nd Class - Order of the Grunwald Cross 2nd Class - Order of the Grunwald Cross 3rd Class - Order Virtuti Militari 3rd Class - Partisan Cross - Medal for Warsaw - Medal for Oder, Nysa and Baltic - Victory and Freedom Medal - Medal for Paricipation in the Struggle for Berlin Can somebody help with the foreign ones? They seem messy indeed. Maybe someone has other photos of his in a uniform with medals or ribbon bars?

#18 can also be the Swedish Order of Vasa.

Have never seen anything like this. I personally do not think it is Polish.

Thanks, did not see your post while writing mine. I do maintain my opinion about the last ribbons, but the classes are of grand commander (commander 1st class if O. of Dannebrog).

Nice 1st row: Eisernes Kreuz 1914 2. Klasse. Sachsen Albrechtorden Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern. Ernestinischer Hausorden Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern. Mecklenburg MVK 2. Klasse. Braunschweig MVK 2. Klasse. Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer. Schlesischer Adler 2. Stufe. Ehrenzeichen für Deutsche Volkspflege 2. Klasse. Preußen Dienstauszeichnung. Treudienst-Ehrenzeichen in Gold für 40 Jahre. 2nd row: Olympia-Ehrenzeichen 2. Klasse. Baltenkreuz 2. Klasse. Österreich Militär-Verdienstorden mit KD. Bulgarien Militärverdienstorden mit Krone und Schwertern. Türkei Eiserner Halbmond. Italy Order of SS Maurice and Lazarus Grand Officer Yugoslavia Order of St. Sava Commander(?) Hungary Order of Merit Commander (?) Japan Order of the Rising Sun [or] Denmark Order of Dannebrog Commander (?) BTW: "Rumänien Militärverdienstorden Ritterkreuz." What is it? Never heard of such a Romanian order from before WWII.