Farkas

Your site looks great Hendrik 👍👍 I’ll be back on there tonight 🍻

Hi Gents, These are the first 3 of my 6 newbies… • The first was described as ’Belgian Congo Medal’ Early C20th Administrators Decoration. • The next was described as ’King Leopold II Commemorative Medal’ These 2 were together, came from a house clearance not a dealer, and the ribbons are sown in the same manner. The commemorative medal to me would seem to be in suspiciously fresh condition if not for the above. Is it reasonable to put them together or are they not of the same period? • The third was described as ‘Army Long Service Medal - Order of Leopold II Gold Class’ This one has a good weight and again a nicely faded ribbon I know this is the pre 1951/52 design but is there any way to date it further please? They all have a nice box to rest in… (Incl. postage- £12 / £10 / £11) Any thoughts welcome as always Gents, cheers tony

Hi Gents, tony 🍻

Amazing to see how it has lasted… Nice one Felix. I know people do visit these sites but what about you? Are they situated so that you are able to visit them or are they too far away & up in the clouds? I’m 53 soon, I don’t think I could make it anymore even if I tried 😊 tony 🍻

Felix - I spent a while looking the other night in various ways… I really wish I spoke German. Preemxx - The studio picture of your GF shows they have edelweiss collar badges which confirms he was a mountain trooper. I know Infantry Regiments were split into 4 battalions, each with 4 companies, numbered in order. So I believe it’s likely that komp 13 would have been in the 4th battalion of his regiment. The fact he is in a jaeger battalion is, apart from being ‘cool’ in itself, helpful by narrowing the options. I’m really glad to see 👆this Felix 👍 tony 🍻

Hi Gents, I sometimes get a bit fixated… especially when surely there must be an answer somewhere, the mark is not uncommon. So I’ve kept looking on & off. Recap first. (F mark) - Not any known European makers mark. - Not a craftsman/journeyman/batch mark (as always an F not variable) - Not a hallmark. - Used on a Bulgarian award. - Used on a German made Austrian award. So… I have another observation, nothing I would definitely attribute to these marks but worth a mention maybe. The Dutch had a dating system for their hallmarks. The chart is below. They used a letter F (though circled) for the year 1915… • The Austrian Red Cross award and the Bulgarian Cross date there or thereabouts. (1914+ & 1915) • I’m clutching at straws (it is gone 3am here in 🇬🇧 & I’m bit buzzed) and I have found nothing more to back this up but I’m wondering if this could indeed be a 1915 date stamp? • The Dutch were neutral in ww1 but traded with Germany (at least) as I understand it. Could medal production, or parts of it, have been outsourced by certain government’s or individual makers to the neutral Netherlands? 🤷‍♂️ tony 🍻 Zzzz

Hi Gents tony 🍻 ps I notice some are uploading as smaller files than others, to me they all look fine as I’m on my phone. But if there are issues with the scale/quality of the pictures please let me know,👍 t.

Hi Tracy, They are my favourite style, 100%. I’ve got so many German ones like this but not so many to go here… for now here’s one to keep us going 😊 tony 🍻 Glad you like them Graf, plenty more to follow 😊 and thank you for your replies over in the ‘Belgium’ forum 👍 tony

Thank you all for the positive comments! A little encouragement never goes amiss. tony 🍻 Leo, your wish is my command! I’ll post some later… tony

Hi Gents cheers tony

Hello Gents, Everyone likes pictures yeah? I do. I like all sorts. Rppc, CDV, postcards. But particularly those used as Feldepost with all the details the backs carry : names , dates, units , addresses and if I could actually read German, a lot more 🤨 I’ve posted a lot of these front & back in detail a few years back, so for now, this is just about the fronts. I’ve got this shoe box just for AustroHungarian cards… I’m gonna work through the box and post a few at a time here, just for us to enjoy 🙃 Cheers tony

Thanks Graf

Well Gents, it took a bit of time and a dose of good fortune… They are from a bicorn. It explains the small size. Fortunately I hadn’t unpicked one yet. I haven’t identified them precisely yet, the closest match was a Royal Navy Bicorn but in position they are hard to see. I also believe the ‘red facing’ is relevant. tony

Cheers for the link Terry, that was really helpful and theirs matches mine to a tee. Since this one I’ve picked up a few more from the same place, all I could in fact, and several of those were on the same link. Everything matches and cross references accurately with other sources. A refreshing change!! tony

Hi Gents, the good news is although the swords are not the correct design, they are the original ones belonging to this ribbon at least… The ribbon has been reversed previously likely due to the fading and the swords are clearly outlined in both positions of wear. In this picture it shows they were worn pointing down 👇 In this one they are pointing up 👇 Maybe the different ways are unintentional but if intended is it possibly the reason for changing the ribbon round? Although the swords are not the usual wider design they match those seen used elsewhere… 👇 So I’ve decided to arrange them like this for the time being, pointing up on the more faded position I think it’s a suitable filling for the box 👇. tony PS. As usual, I’ve got carried away while looking at a new field of interest. I’ve got 6 more since this one 🤷‍♂️ & Now I guess I need more boxes 😊 I’ll post some pictures of them shortly but in the meantime I guess 3 are common but nice examples 2 are better but have issues to address & 1 is hopefully a nice find 🤞I like it. tony

PS it is ‘Heiterwang’

Welcome Preemxx, You’re in the right place. This is indeed the section on GMIC for all things Austro Hungarian… We are a bit low in numbers in this section but hopefully we’ll help you add to what you know about your Grandfathers service. May I suggest you turn on notifications so you get an email if someone replies, it won’t be always be an overnight answer so stick with it. I too had a Grandfather that served in the AH army, I know there is information to be found if you stick with it, maybe about the unit & maybe specifically about your GF if you’re lucky 🤞 There is more to find if you speak German, which I don’t sadly, but with his unit identified you can find out when and where they were at least. ——- The picture is a beauty! ——- And yes… Please post the other pictures you have, front and also the backs especially if annotated or marked, & particularly the writing you mention. Also do you know any details about your GFather? Name or Date of Birth? & importantly his ‘place of birth’ if you know it or can find it out. The Austro Hungarian Army recruited locally, so the answer to your initial question ‘which unit was he in’ may be as simple as that to answer, 🤞 For example - My GFather was born in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary so was in Infanterie regiment 83 (IR83), the local regiment with a garrison there. ——- We look forward to seeing the pictures and hearing what you know. There’s no time pressure from us, whenever you are ready, you’ve taken the first step, stick with it… Best wishes tony

ah but Terry, remember yours have made it all the way from good ol’ blighty to the great state of Tennessee, USA… so they’ve definitely got a story to tell too! I’m glad to hear a Welsh Guards tunic has a place in your collection, I don’t need much encouragement to show pictures of the ones in mine… 2 Grenadier Guards 2 Scots Guards 1 Honourable Artillery Company 1 Irish Guards 5 Welsh Guards (well, I am Welsh after all) & 1 Life Guards for good measure. tony 🍻

It’s been suggested to me that this is possibly a Victorian regimental band tunic, apparently there were still dozens wearing ceremonial uniforms post the 1881 uniform regulation change which makes sense of the post 1881 buttons… I’ve spent a while over the last year trying to find this one. The colours and style definitely seem Scottish, there is also the possibility this is colonial, maybe Canadian. Colonial might explain the use of this style tunic post 1881. But right now, I’m going for… a Scottish Regimental Band. I bought this 👇 at the same time, possibly Scot’s Guards but now I think it is more likely The Cameronians… Maybe this tunic is related 🤷‍♂️. tony

I’ve just picked up an old buttons book and the only diamond shaped button is a pipers button of ‘The Cameronians’/‘Scottish Rifles’. The one illustrated had straight edges whereas mine has curved edges. I’m more inclined to accept this source than the other I saw previously describing it as ‘Scots Guards’. tony

Hi Gents, I picked up these not long ago. Believed to be British and probably Victorian but not identified… Literally until 5 minutes ago I thought they were weirdly small with the tassels on top of the shoulder not hanging down… I’ve just realised the tassels are actually folded up and tacked in place with what appears to be period gold thread.,. There is more to them hidden underneath They are quite small in width and length… Nice little things though.., 2 Questions… ‘does anyone know what they are?’ & ‘If no one recognises them, would it be okay to unpick one of them to see what it looks like?’ Any thoughts welcome as always 👍 cheers tony

Hi Graf, I literally knew nothing about these until I read this thread tonight. I now know enough to prove just how little I know! But… I wanted to see what possible connection between the ‘Sebastopol’ bar and your LOH there could be. & I’m ever optimistic so here I go! In 1856 the French agreed to the British issuing Crimea medals to 93,000 French involved in the campaign. The medals and bars, delivered separately, did not get successfully. 👇 Medals without bars = bars without medals. As these bars/clasps were in France, are known to have been loose and separate from the British medals in large numbers, I think that explains where it came from. I’m a cocky twat, I’d love to prove against the odds that the cross is from the mid 1800’s! 🙃 But I can’t work out which type LOH it is you have to date it, which obviously matters. Using the circled reference points I compared it to this chart of the different types… None of them matched yours using this and then I then found other images that were Inconsistent with the above so thought best to stop for now and ask you which it is… Even if there is 50years between them I’d still rather believe they’ve spent 150+ years together in a drawer or tin together… tony

Hi Gents, I picked this up a little while ago. The remaining buttons are those of the WRAC (Womens Royal Army Corp) which existed between 1949 & 1992. I really didn’t know what to make of it at the time, I was pretty sure it wasn’t a WRAC tunic but I didn’t recognise it as anyone else’s uniform either. I thought maybe one of the Horse Guards because of the collar. My confusion was not helped by the stamp below which, because of the buttons, I read as ‘RWC’ There are a number of stamps. You’ll notice the buttons are outside (& sown) over the button holes and there is a Velcro strip instead to fasten it… must be a woman’s touch but surely not regulation? 👇 I was pretty much stumped until I hung it up the other day to take photos for here. I found a date inside one of the sleeves… It seems it actually dates from 5.11.39 Now I knew it predated the WRAC I looked more widely for a match and found it 👇 It is a tunic as worn by… “The Royal Corps of Army Music is a Corps of the British Army dedicated to the provision and promotion of military music.” So the stamp below, i now presume, is RMC not RWC… M Music not W Women. It’s from a estate so I guess it’s been in someone’s cupboard for the past 30 years. In mine for the next 30 maybe 🤞. Any thoughts or comment welcome as always Gents. Cheers tony 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇬🇧

People need to remember that aside from the organised money making hacks now the norm, many other hackers are still just trolling and happily causing s**t simply for kicks & kudos. Their targets are often sites deemed ‘irresponsibly’ lax in their security and the misery the hackers deal out is a ‘punishment’, the hack is also used to show off/prove skills and more. This 👇👇 on here, doesn’t even bear thinking about… The effort & resources put in to keep (non-commercial, not for profit) GMIC safe from ever improving hacking tools is no easy task… & the least we can do is make sure it isn’t also a thankless one. For every ‘unsupportive’ comment there are so many more of these 👇 🍻🍻 tony

Hi Gents, an interesting question that doesn’t seem to have an obvious answer despite there being pretty good information on here and the web about jewellers marks. It is normal to see most official marks ‘boxed’ in, all the assay office punch marks & the ‘Frei’ mark are. This F is not listed as a different registered makers mark and not the known GAS marks either. In my hunt I did find reference to ‘scratch marks’, these are different to the jewellers maker mark, mostly just 1 or 2 letters and engraved (scratched) not stamped. As there is no reason I can see for Scheid to use an F to represent GAS. So I wondered if it may have been an individual craftsman mark… but the appearance of an F on both of the 2 Bulgarian Crosses 👇 presumably made by a different firm makes that most unlikely. I also wondered if the F might be because the award was for a woman (F for female) though obviously that’s English not German… but again the Bulgarian cross negates that because Its pretty likely it was for a man. I did find one other GAS mark that is a silver mark, this has the letter Z 👇. Totally different in appearance but it must represent something 🤷‍♂️ and I found another Bulgarian Bravery order with the F on the same arm as the others My only other thought is there was a guy called Fraget who did just about all silver playing for years, is it possible he silver plated these medals? 🤷‍♂️ More questions & no answers from me!! tony