Lukasz Gaszewski

The ribbon of OBE is visibly wider (3.8cm - 1 1/2") than that of LS&GC (3.2cm - 1 1/4"). Besides OBE should precede all other ribbons. 

12 hours ago, No one said:

Dear Gentlemen,

 

I want to thank both of you for solving this puzzle. Your help is much appreciated.

 

So it should be like this:

 

 

Yours sincerely,

No one

Now this is it!

And here is what the original Monte Cassino bar looks like (source: Wiki).

Best,

Lukasz

Hello everyone,

the only correct official precedence for a Polish military would be as follows:

1. Krzyż Walecznych
2. Medal Wojska
3. Krzyż Pamiątkowy Monte Cassino
4. 1939-1945 Star
5. Italy Star
6. Defence Medal
7. War Medal 1939-1945

It should be noted that the recipients who had both Medal Wojska and the War Medal were not supposed to wear them together (but they often did). 

I also do not think the medals could have belonged to a Brit, as both Medal Wojska and Monte Cassino were conferred exclusively upon members of the Polish Land Forces and not upon the Allies. Such a set of medals was typical of a soldier of the 2nd Polish Corps, who had participated in the capture of Monte Cassino in May 1944.

Judging from the photos, the ribbons look genuine, although the Monte Cassino ribbon should have a bronze "Monte Cassino" bar upon it.

A cute bar and a nice-looking uniform! And slightly off-topic: on picture #2 there seem to be some nice examples of the small decoration to the upper classes of the Hungarian Order of Merit and the Spanish Order of Military Merit. Would you mind showing them to public too?

#2 is just the Honour Cross of the World War, which means that the photo was taken in 1934 or later.

An interesting piece. Wish it was original - unfortunately it isn't 😟

Miniatures are privately made... as usual free enterprise proves more efficient than state-administered giants.

Not very new (3 October 2023), but as I could not see it pasted anywhere above, I think it can be of some interest: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/six-new-award-designs-featuring-the-kings-image-are-revealed

Yes, it is possible. In the ribbon bars of the Eastern Bloc it was also customary to display all received classes of your decorations, which you can see here, too. 

On 29/03/2023 at 01:31, Daffy Duck said:

I recently acquired new addition to my humble collection of 1918 Polonia Restituta orders.

To me it looks like an early 3rd Republic 4th Class (Officer) badge from ca. 1992-1995. It seems that slighly modified PRL stamps were used, The dimensions (55-56 mm) would match. The fairly poor quality of the ribbon would speak for that as well (cf. the quality of the pre-war ribbon). Interesting is the lack of the rosette, which should be there in that class.

9 hours ago, revolutie1830 said:

could someone help me with following document. 

Not sure if it is what you atre looking for, but it is a diploma of awarding the fourth class (Officer) of the order. 

Shouldn't there be the long service medal ribbons in the bottom row? 

One little remark: this shoulder board (of a colonel) was used prior to WWI. In 1914 for obvious reasons the regiment lost the patron and the cypher was replaced by Russian "П" (P).

Found one on the awardmedals.com website.

A silver Cross of Merit, post-1990 version. It seems it was kept in unfavourable conditions.

I do not think it can be the star of St. Stanislas. Leaving aside the color, when a badge worn normally on the sash moved to the neck, it was no longer accompanied by a star. That applied not only to St. Stanislas and other Russian orders, but was a general principle, accepted in other countries as well, to mention the Prussian Red Eagle as an example.

Besides that of the Order of the White Eagle, the only other gold star I can think of was that of the Saxon Order of St. Henry. But for historical reasons it was conferred sparingly upon Russians and I am not sure any Russian general (well, except Barcalay de Tolly) ever received the 1st or 2nd Class (only these two classes came with a star).

I have never heard of St. Vladimir with crown. Besides, in the times of Nicholas I only the highest class of an order reveived could be worn. That the cross with crown is of the Polish honorary Decoration is something I am absoluely positive about. With its black enamel I do not think it could be anything else.

Here is the list of the eight generals that can potentially be on the picture. Enjoy!

• Sergey Baturin (Батурин, Сергей Герасимович)
• Mikhail Cheodaev (Чеодаев, Михаил Иванович)
• Alexandr Gerve (Жерве, Александр Карлович)
• Pavel Pritvitz (Притвиц, Павел Карлович)
• Karl Rennenkampf (Ренненкампф, Карл Павлович - this can be crossed out. I have found a picture of his and he looks entirely different)
• Grigory Sergeev (Сергеев, Григорий Алексеевич)
• Afanasy Tolmachov (Толмачёв, Афанасий Емельянович)
• Alexandr Zaborinsky (Заборинский, Александр Никифорович)

55 minutes ago, filfoster said:

Can anyone identify all the ribbons on Brookie's two row medal ribbon ensemble? 

 

1. Military Order of the Bath

2. DSO with repeat award rosette

3. Mons Star with rosette

4. WW1 Service Medal

5. WW1 Victory Medal

6. Edward VII Coronation medal

7. George V jubilee medal 1935

8.George VI Coronation medal 1937

9. ? French Croix de Guerre?

Agree, provided that #6 is George V rather than Edward VII Coronation Medal and #9 Is the Belgian WWI CdG, as Great Dane has suggested.

Here is a GI photo of 22 August 1944, with two other foreign ribbons: of the Polish Grand Cross of Polonia Restituta (for some reason he is wearing it without the rosette) and USSR's Order of Suvorov 1st Class. Most interesting though is the ribbon of the future 1939-1945 Star. It is a good evidence that the ribbon was manufactured as early as 1944, when neither the star, nor the name (in 1944 nobody knew how long the war would last) was yet decided.

https://www.gettyimages.it/detail/fotografie-di-cronaca/british-army-officer-field-marshal-sir-alan-fotografie-di-cronaca/781765591

It is not Anrep Elmpt! I am sure I have seen this face before but I do not have too much time to dig through dozens of portraits of Russian generals. The portrait has been made with errors in the details of the uniform and medals. What I can say now is:

• the uniform is from the times of the reign of Nicholas I
• the man is a general
• he used to serve in the guards, so he wears Litzen on the collar instead of standard general's embroidery
• the picture was made in 1832 at the earliest.

The orders at the edge of his jacket are as follows:

• Order of St. Stanislas 1st Class
• Order of St. Vladimir 2nd Class
• Prussian Pour le merite
• Polish honorary Decoration 2nd Class - that was a slightly altered badge of the Polish Virtuti Militari, awarded by Nicholas I to all troops which took part in the suppression of the rising of 1830-31.

The row of medals on his chest is difficult to recognize as they are only sketched, but they are probably as follows:

• Order of St. George 4th Class
• Patriotic War 1812 in silver
• Capture of Paris 1814 ?
• Capture of Warsaw 1831 ?
• Patriotic War 1812 in bronze
• French Legion of Honour.

The star on the right is of the Order of St. Anne 1st Class with crown, On the left is that of St. Vladimir 2nd Class.

The gold star has been drawn most probably with an error as well. At that time not too many orders had an accompanying gold star. One that comes to my mind is that of the (already Russian) Order of the White Eagle. Technically, it should be worn above that of St. Vladimir, but as a former Polish order it was sometimes placed below, as “inferior” to genuinely Russian orders.

I have made a list of the generals awarded with both the Polish honorary Decoration 2nd Class AND Pour le merite – unfortunately none of them matches the face from the picture. There are eight other generals with no pictures and it is likely that the man is just one of them.

I agree that completing all the medals can be difficult, as even the replicas of some of them are hard to get (I have just seen a nice looking replica of the Prince-Regent Luitpold Medal in Gold). Still, good luck!

I would like to attract your attention to one of Ludwig's photos from this topic. I have got it in a better resolution. The photo was taken in 1916 at the earliest and is certainly the latest of all the photos here. I somehow did not pay much attention to it before. Note also the beautiful decorations of Queen Maria Theresa.

I have enlarged the medal bar, which is substantially different from the ones on the other photos. Some of the earlier medals are missing, one is surprisingly not, some other, evidently from WWI, have been added. Below is the list, as I could identify them. I am not sure of the three medals whose faces are actually hidden, but maybe someone else will be able to confirm or reject my guessing:

1.    Military Order of Maximilian-Joseph – Knight
2.    Order of the Bavarian Crown – Knight
3.    Military Merit Order 3rd Class with Swords
4.    Ludwig Order
5.    1905/1909 Prince-Regent Luitpold Medal in Gold
6.    Kingdom of Saxony Military Order of St. Henry – Knight
7.    Grand Ducal Oldenburg Cross of Friedrich-August (?)
8.    Princely Schaumburg-Lippe Military Merit Medal (? - perhaps moved from the place further on)
9.    Princely Lippe War Cross
10.    1866 Campaign Cross
11.    Prussian 25-year Officer Service Cross
12.    Prussian 1897 Centenary Medal
13.    Kingdom of Württemberg Commemorative Medal for the 25th Anniversary of King Karl's Reign in Gold
14.    British Queen Victoria Golden/Diamond Jubilee Medal in Gold (?)
15.    Austro-Hungarian 1898 Jubilee Medal for Military
16.    Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Medal for Foreigners
17.    Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Cross for the Armed Forces
18.    Russian 1896 Nicholas II Coronation Medal (it is odd that Ludwig decided to continue wearing it during the war!)

Let me make a slightly more precise list:

1.  Jubilee medal of the Order of St. George
2.  Military Merit Order 3rd Class with Swords
3.  Ludwig Order
4.  Cross of Merit for Voluntary Nursing
5.  1905/1909 Prince-Regent Luitpold Medal in Gold
6.  1910 Agricultural Jubilee Medal in Gold
7. 1866 Campaign Cross
8. Prussian 25-year Officer Service Cross
9. Prussian 1897 Centenary Medal
10. Princely Schaumburg-Lippe Military Merit Medal
11. Kingdom of Württemberg Commemorative Medal for the 25th Anniversary of King Karl's Reign in Gold
12. British Queen Victoria Golden/Diamond Jubilee Medal in Gold
13. Austro-Hungarian 1898 Jubilee Medal for Military
14. Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Medal for Foreigners
15. Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Cross for the Armed Forces
16. Russian 1896 Nicholas II Coronation Medal

Note that #11 is of Württemberg, not Anhalt.

You can see #14 for example here:

https://www.emedals.com/austria-imperial-a-bronze-jubilee-medal-for-foreigners-c-1908

Until 1901 Ludwig (not yet a king) also wore the Long Service Cross (Dienstauszeichnungskreuz) of 2nd Class (for 24 years) and between 1901 and 1911 - of 1st Class (for 40 years), then he replaced it with the Ludwig Order.

Good shot, Dan, my congratulations! I would only argue about #11. Actually, you cannot see it clearly on any photo here - it is either too small or covered by some other medal. I have found one of the above photos in a better resolution. It is a pre-1908 photo with apparently the same medal in a more legible position. To me it looks more like the Erinnerungsmedaille zum 25. Regierungsjubiläum von König Karl of the Kingdom of Württemberg of 1889 (most certainly in gold). The details seem much closer and the pink and silver ribbon of the Anhalt medal would probably come out brighter on the photo. Have a look yourself.

It is quite surprising that the king received two decorations for the same 1908 jubilee of Emperor Franz-Joseph. I thought at first that one of these K.u.K. medals was the Kriegsmedaille of 1873 (as an ally of Austria and participant of the war with Prussia he would be eligible) but upon a closer examination I think you are right.

Best,

Lukasz

A close-up.

#4 Verdienstkreuz für freiwillige Krankenpflege (for sure!)

#6 Landwirtschaftliche Jubiläumsmedaille (1910)

#8 Dienstauszeichnungskreuz für 25 Dienstjahre der Offiziere (Prussia)

Since nobody (except jcwater) has, I will try to help.

PLA ribbon racks convey basically two kinds of information: the wearer’s position in the level of command and the number of years served.

With the level of command it is quite simple. It is denoted by the ribbon bar located centrally in the upper row. Each level is represented by a color: light green – platoon, light blue – company, medium blue – battalion, purple – regiment, red – division, khaki – army corps, orange – military region, lemon – CMC (Central Military Committee – the highest PLA’s commanding body). The function held is denoted by stars: one star – deputy commander, two stars – full commander, except the platoon level, where there are no deputies, so one star denotes a full commander, and except CMC, where both the deputy chairmen and the members wear a gold star inside a wreath (the function of the chairman is reserved for the Secretary General of CCP).

With the length of service the things are a bit more complicated. There are six types of ribbons to indicate the years of service: green with a red stripe edged in yellow – 1 year, dark blue with two white stripes – 2 years, beige with three red stripes – 3 years, gray with four yellow stripes – 4 years, five-color – 5 years, ten-color – 10 years. The ribbons for the years 6 through 9, as well as for 20 through 60 that are shown on the pictures have been designed but are not used. In order to calculate the total length of service you just need to count all the years of service represented by particular ribbons. The plain light gray ribbon does not carry any information and is used only to keep three bars per row.

The pictures provided by jcwaters explain all this in Chinese.

In your example, the rack indicates a deputy divisional commander (one star on the red background) with the total of 24 years of service (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 1 + 2). The rank of a senior colonel seems quite typical for a post like that.

I hope it helped a little.

Regards,

Lukasz

Nicolas,

nice acquisitions, congratulations! A few remarks on these ribbon bars, if I may.

I think only #2 is original. #1 would be perfectly OK, if not that Medal for Merit on the Field of Glory. It is difficult for me to imagine someone awarded with it and not having any commemorative medals for WWII. Even assuming the medal was conferred not for WWII, but for fighting the anticommunist resistance right after the war, the ribbon bar should certainly have more items. Besides, it does not have any traces of wearing. Just a modern copy for collectors.

#3 is a kind of play with the ribbons, although the initial ones are arranged in the (almost) correct order.

#2 seems original. It comes from the 2nd half of 1980s and belonged most probably to a military in the rank from major to colonel who started his career in the 2nd half of 1950s. Your identification of particular ribbons is perfect! The before last ribbon is of the Honorary Decoration for Merit to the Poznan Voievodship. The decoration itself did not have a ribbon, but a bar like this could be worn on a uniform. The preceding ribbon is of the gold Country Defense League Decoration, rather than medal. It had the same colours, but was visibly narrower.

Congratulations again,

Lukasz

There was no rank of major in the Danish army then.

Absolutely stunning! Thaks a lot!

I did not realize the obverse and reverse looked the same.

Thank you, Daniel, a most valuable information. I think the RAO Grand Cross of 1861 was based on just that model. Now I am trying to find its photo/picture of a fairly good quality, which is not easy. It seems that that model is extremely rare now.

Best,

Lukasz