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Here is a simular thread from the WA forum - http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...8726&page=1

And a note from the SED Berlin -

And the presentation photo -

It's a certificate/urkunde for my VVO in Bronze.

I suspect it was a economy measure to save money in production of these ribbons. Most early DDR medals, badges and ribbons were of high quality. But this quality declined over the years, especially in the 80s. Yes the front is a plastic cover. I'm not knowledgeable about other East Block countries to comment about their ribbon bars. Keevin

Red Eagle - Nice display of DDR General's items. Also a nice general's dagger. There is a article I posted on the WA forum sometime back that covers NVA generals daggers. It can be found at: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ad.php?t=176869 I suspect that the shoulder boards for Marschall der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik may not be originals. According to Klaus Wather's Uniformeffekten der bewaffneten Organe der DDR Band II, only 12 pairs of these shoulder boards were made. The original Marschall's device has a real ruby in the center, copies have synthetic stones or painted red centers. There is also an article in German that Klaus Feder wrote for Militaria in May 2002 that covers the Marschall Der DDR rank: http://www.schwanenorden.com/Artikel/Marsc...20der%20DDR.pdf Kevin

And lastly the components of a 'paper' ribbon bar -

And here is the reverse side of that last ribbon bar. Quite a "welding job" -

Oh I totally agree, but this distinction is never easy with East German medals and badges which is the focus of my collecting efforts. Between the fall of the wall and unification East German makers produced hundreds of thousands of badges and medals using the original equipment. They restruck badges that had been discontinued in the 60s and 70s of which the originals command high prices. They produced thousands of higher orders and medals. So for example a late issue cased II or III class Banner der Arbeit can be had for less than $20. For those who have been collecting for some time this late issue stuff is relatively easy to distinguish from the older, higher quality badges and medals. But for new collectors it can be quite a minefield. Kevin

Paper -

Ribbon Bars. Cloth -

Ed this was a major topic several years back on the now defunct Yahoo DDR Collectors forum. As I recall 'put toether' was considered permissable for a collector who had no intent to resell and 'faked', 'invented', etc was reserved for those dealers who purposely altered uniforms to increase value. Things like sewing on new collar tabs, cuff titles and parade bars where none were before. Unless you are buying this stuff right from the veteran or have other good provenance there is always a good chance that a uniform has been assembled. A good example are all of the DDR general officer hats and uniforms floating around out there. A lot of this stuff was made just prior to unification and never came near to a general officer. Kevin

As for references, for years the standard reference is Uniformen der Nationalen Volksarmee der DDR 1956-1986, Klus-Ulrich Keubke and Manfred Kunz, Brandenburgisches Varlaghaus, 1990 ISBN: 3-327-00731-4 This book was published just before unification. It was expanded and reprinted in 2003 by Keubke with the title Militarische Uniformen in der DDR 1949-1990 ISBN: 3-00-011362-2. It was republished again a couple of years ago and widely availabe at a reasonable price in Germany.

Yes it's quite easy to put together a uniform with shoulderboards, ribbons and badges to enhance value. For ribbon bars times have changed, even the paper ribbon bars go for good prices on US e-bay. Good values can still be found on e-bay.de if you look hard enough. I don't actively collect them but have a few that I picked up in the late 80s in East Berlin, both older cloth and later paper. I'll see if I can post a couple here. Late issue dress uniforms are still quite easy to find, although you dont see as many camo uniforms as you used to. Older "dark collar" uniforms fetch high prices both here in Germany. Kevin

Thanks much Geoff, I would have never found it. Roy said that years after his UN service as a senior observer he was called to testify at the International Tribunal in the Hague and testified in the trial of Major-General Stanislav Galic who commanded Serb troops around Sarajevo in 1992. Kevin

Darrell - Thanks much. I served with Roy Thomas in the UN Mission in Haiti in 95 and kept in touch with him for a number of years. He had served on 5 UN missions and had plenty of stories to tell. He lived an hour away from me in Kingston, ON when I was stationed at Fort Drum in the late 90s. I remember him showing me his MSC and stating that it was a high honor bestowed by the Queen and that there were only a very few recepients. He and the other Canadian officers in Haiti educated me on the importance of Vimy Ridge, Cambrai, Hong Cong, Dieppe, the I Canadian Corps, Ortona, etc in Canadian Military History. Kevin

Does the book include a list of awardees for different honors? If so does it include Major R. Thomas a Canadian Armor officer who earned a Meritorious Service Cross for service as the senior UN observer in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina? Kevin

The Air Force didn't stop at awarding Bronze Stars to airmen outside of Kosovo but lobbied the DoD hard for the creation of a Kosovo Campaign Medal. Kevin

I picked up a small, less than 1/2 inch, British Empire Service League Pin about a year ago as part of a group of insignia. On the back it is marked 1927 RD: W. Scully. Kevin

I must agree, I was there in 2002 and spent a couple of hours. It's not the Imperial War Museum or National Army Museum, but an excellent collection indeed. Kevin

I actually started looking for them after Ed posted a thread on these badges/medals. I was planning on bidding on several you had until they went from .99 cents to over $50+ in the last minutes of the auction. I did manage to get a 25th Anniversary Badge (the type on the Ed's photo) right on Ebay.de a couple months back.

Thanks much Peter! Yes some of the badge designs on the link you provided look simular to mine. They are much higher quality than mine which appears to have been somewhat crudley cast from bronze. Kevin

And they sold well, I was suprised at how high the bids were on a couple of the Anniversary Badges. They were out of my price range. Kevin

My wife picked up this brass badge at a Thrift Shop yesterday thinking it was military. It appears to be from a Masonic or Faternal organization. The only abbreviations on this badge that I could find anything on were COCF. Which might mean Canadian Order of Chosen Friends. Does anyone provide any background on this badge? Thanks. Photo below, backside is blank. Kevin

Torsten - A warm welcome to the Gentleman's Military Interest Club. I've always enjoyed your posts on the DDR forum at Wehrmacht-Awards.com Kevin