giorgos_p

Thanks for the reply! 

That was my feeling, too, judging by the looks of it - material, details, construction, and the screw on the reverse, but I am by no means experienced in this field. I 'll pass then! 

Regards, 

Giorgos 

Bringing this topic back on top, what is your opinion on this - rather crude-badge? 

Regards, 

Giorgos

Hi all, 

here are some photos of a representative KM piece from my collection, a Matrosenobergefreiter, light A/A gun chief, privately tailored Collani. 

Given its condition, I opted for an early unmarked S&H EK I and a tombac, unmarked Schwerin U-boat badge. 

I hope you 'll like it! 

Regards, 

Giorgos 

Thanks, BalkanCollector and Jim! 

Jim, the Royal Decree that instituted the Military Division used a rather vague wording regarding its award criteria. It was to be awarded to military personnel and civilians for actions that had to do with "the military, naval and airforce affairs" of the country. Practically, it was awarded for wartime service, as you said.

So, calling the version without swords a "Civilian Division" would not be right, more so in the pre-1941 timeframe, when the Military one didn't exist.

An older Decree regulated the number of Orders that was allowed to be awarded annually in each Class to officers and public servants, according to their rank. In that sense, both Orders of the Phoenix and King George I became some kind of "long service awards".

A good example are high-ranking officers of the '60s and '70s, since their careers spanned a good number of war- and peacetime service years. In the photo below, General Zoitakis, known for his role in the Military Junta of 1967-1974. His medal bar is a prime example of "I am a General and don' t have to follow the Regulation", since he is bearing both a 3rd and 2nd Class 1940 War Cross and an "excessive" Silver Cross of the Order of George I. His Commander of the Order of the Phoenix (the one hanging lower from his buttonholes) is of the Military Division and his Grand Commader, just above it, without swords. These ones do follow the Regulation, since one was allowed to bear a lower grade of the Military Division when the higher one was without swords. His Grand Commander of the Order of George I is also without swords. 

One more photo of an officer, taken during the first years after 1974, with the only Order in the Military Division being the Silver Cross of the Order of George I.

Nice medals! The 1940 War Crosses are quite an unresearched and undocumented field. The two middle ones and the one on the right belong to the only two versions found in all three classes, while the rest are only found in the 3rd class.

The 1940 War Cross was instituted in November 1940 and up until 1942, it could be first awarded in any one of the three classes. So, it is possible that the ones seen in all classes are the earlier ones, possibly struck during wartime and the immediate post-war era, since the demand for those would logically be higher. After 1942, the first award could only be of the 3rd class, upgraded to the next one after three more awards, so the other versions must have been struck later, during the late '40s and early to mid-'50s.

It is also interesting that the ones in the middle belong to the only version which follows the specified dimensions mentioned in the related Royal Decree: 4x4 cm from tip to tip of the cross, with the diameter of the central disk being 1.4 cm. They are also the ones shown on the award documents, irrespective of the medal version accompanying them.

The one on the right also looks like the Gendarmerie versions of 1946, the latter possibly being the date of their manufacture.

The one on the left is attributed to Spink and I believe that it could be a late-'40s or early-'50s issue.

Below, some examples of mine.

Regards,

Giorgos

Hi all, 

since my collection is focused on WW2 in North Africa, Italy, the Middle East and the Balkans, I wanted to put together a representative impression of an Australian soldier, as seen on photos in Alexandria, mainland Greece and on Crete in 1941.

So, the - unbadged but worn- jacket is 1942 dated, while all webbing and other equipment bears dates between 1939 and 1941.

At some point, I would like to add an early-dated slouch hat or australian-made Mk II, but these items don't turn up very often. 

Regards, 

Giorgos 

Hi, 

thanks, I 'm glad you like it. No, the card case hasn' t got any marks. 

A Commander of the Royal Order of the Phoenix, in its case and original carton box, manufactured by Rudolf Souval, and awarded during the 1935-1940 period.

It should be noted that during this timefrime no military division existed, so this version was awarded to both civilians and military officers alike. The military division, which was instituted on February 15, 1941, was also to be awarded to civilians for their contribution in times of war and not strictly reserved for officers. 

Last, the royal cypher of George II was not replaced by the one of Paul until 1949, that is two years after his death. 

Regards, 

Giorgos

One of the latest additions to the collection, a badge of the Greek Sacred Band. A struck, textbook example, which has had its c-shaped catch broken off and replaced with a wire-made one. 

Regards, 

Giorgos

Thanks for the photos! A very interesting chapter of WW2 history, indeed.

I would also like to see more photos. Are there any close-up ones of the para qualification wings?

Regards,

Giorgos

Hi Dave,

the first medal is the one instituted in 1948 and awarded well into the 1960s. Four different variations are known to exist.

The second one is the 1982 version, mainly awarded to the members of EAM/ELAS.

Regards,

Giorgos

Thank you very much for your quick and really helpful reply!

Regards,
Giorgos

I would like to ask for some help in identifying this badge. Judging from the crown it must be Bulgarian, but it's not something I have seen before. The "technical" concept is evident, but I couldn't find any reference to it. Is it military or of another organization? Is it WW2 or earlier? And what about the holes on it? They seem rather non-symmetrical for them to have been made by the manufacturer, so maybe drilled later?

Regards,
Giorgos

46 minutes ago, LKB said:

My apologies for spelling your name incorrectly last time ?

No worries, Lee!

12 hours ago, LKB said:

Giogos; The family name is 'Clark' from Northumberland, UK and with no known Irish roots; all roads lead to Scotland on that front. The family did not have a crest; sadly!

Lee, this is an interesting coincidence, but the crests I referred to, were actually the ones of families named either Clark or Clarke, and after reading a little bit more carefully, not all of them are Irish. I don't know if it is just a coincidence or if crests could have mixed elements after marriages between different families, and I surely hope I am not unnecessarily pointing at a wrong direction, but maybe you could find having a look at this book useful.

https://archive.org/details/fairbairnsbookof01fair/page/n131

Regards,

Giorgos

According to different sources, the strength of the formation at the end of the war is roughly estimated at about 20.000 men and women, the latter being part of the auxiliary formations attached to the division.

I haven't found any information about the number of the shields themselves yet, I would be really interested to know about it. I do have questions about whether all personnel (or at least the vast majority) had been issued with one, and what the number of the ones coming from unissued stock is.

Although not my field at all, could it be a family crest? Would that make sense? I had a quick search including the words "embowed, armoured, dexter, arm, halberd, wreath" and google directed me to certain books on that subject. It looks like several Irish families had crests with embowed arms in armour holding different weapons.

Just an uneducated guess...

Edit: Since I saw that the photo comes from the ancestry website, what was the family name of the man?

I 'd like to share my Decima MAS arm shield, made by Bregonzio, Milano.

I 'd like to share my impression of a late war (1944-1945) para.

- 1943 dated Kangol Wear Ltd. beret

- "Correct WW2 pattern" face veil

- 1945 dated John Gordon Ltd. Denison

- Webbing and equipment dated 1940-1944

Thank you for the reply and the provided info, Carol I!

Regards,
Giorgos

I would like to share a photo from my collection, taken by a Romanian photographer during a generally well-photographed event. It shows King Carol II, accompanied by Reichsorganisationsleiter and head of DAF, Robert Ley and a representative of EON, I. Kapsalis, in the Greek pavilion of the 1939 "Work and Joy" exhibition.

My question is, can any more prominent people be identified on the photo?

Although it's been a long time since the thread was originally posted, here's an answer about the different variations of the medal, based on published information and some observations I 've made.

"Greek Medals" of George Stratoudakis show a table with the variations. 8 of the Gold and 6 of the Silver Cross. Not all of them are pictured, though. What can be considered a safe conclusion in my opinion is that both Silver and Gold Crosses made by Zimmermann and Godet are the earlier -and of higher quality - ones, awarded during the 1920s (possibly even 1930s?). Both variations come with a separate crown, made of two hollow, soldered halves. The Godet variation has a "thicker" impression of St. Demetrius on the obverse than the Zimmermann one, and it also has a "." next to "ΑΞΙΑι" on the reverse.

There is another, rare variation of an unknown -and probably foreign- maker, also of high quality and with a separate, but solid crown, the blue of the enamel being of a much lighter shade and the central part being all gold. 

The Spink and the greek-made variations (two of which are attributed to Anagnostopoulos and Kelaidis, the others still being unidentified) are of a single-piece construction, and of considerably lower quality than the earlier ones.

The "1940" clasps were instituted in November 1940, with an Emergency Law that (re)instituted the War Medals. Two types, with a slightly different font exist. Contemporary photographs of the Greek-Italian War, though, show Silver Crosses being awarded by Crown Prince Paul himself, without the clasps. My guess is that the Crosses awarded during 1940/41 were ones of an older stock and that the Greek ones (possibly even the ones made by Spink?) are post-war made, awarded for actions committed during WW2, the Civil War of 1946-1949 and the Korean War, well into the 1950s. Even then, some clearly post-war awarded Crosses do not have a "1940" clasp attached.

A badge of the Greek 3rd Mountain Brigade, awarded to all personnel of the formation after the battle of Rimini. The two suspension blades on the reverse have been broken, something usual for these badges, since they were worn on the uniforms -some of them for decades- and on this example were replaced by two soldered lugs.

I have written a short article on my website, with all information I have been able to find so far, regarding this award. I hope you 'll find it interesting! https://ww2militaria.weebly.com/3rd-mountain-brigade-badge.html

A cased Gold Cross, made by Zimmermann.

And another Silver Cross made by Godet, with a nice patina.

One more article about the Greek WW2 Air Force medals, showing the process from the institution of the first four in 1941, through the institution of five more in 1945, to the final form of the eight in total awards in 1953, as they are known today. The article sheds some light to some darker areas of the bibliography.

https://ww2militaria.weebly.com/greek-ww2-air-force-medals.html