Wessel Gordon

I at last discovered the monarch to which my MC miniature can be attributed. It's known as a George VI Type 1 according to Megan Robertson's medals.org.uk.

Hugh, Thanks a lot. When I do come around to mounting mine for display I'll just convert the inches you gave into millimeters. Wessel

Alex, Thanks again.

Alex, Thanks for the link. If I understand correctly there's no stipulated length (since, as the site mentioned) ribbons of various medals vary in length. The over-riding concern seems to be that the top of the ribbons and the bottom of the medals should both form a straight horizontal line and if the ribbons are a few millimeters longer than usual the soldier/veteran involved isn't going to get court-martialled for sloppiness.

As I mentioned on several other threads on this forum I have medal collections from South Africa, UK and the US, We are in the process of moving and once the dust settles I want to mount each collection according to the relevant military specifications. In the case of South African medals I have been very reliable informed that full-size medals should be mounted in such a way that the total distance from the top of the ribbon to the bottom of the medal itself is exactly 10 centimeters while with miniatures it is 5 centimeters. The effect then is that the top of all the ribbons and bottom of the medals forms a level horizontal line. Does anyone perhaps know what the prescribed length of the ''drop'' is for US medals, both full size and miniatures?

As I mentioned on several other threads on this forum I have medal collections from South Africa, UK and the US, We are in the process of moving and once the dust settles I want to mount each collection according to the relevant military specifications. In the case of South African medals I have been very reliable informed that full-size medals should be mounted in such a way that the total distance from the top of the ribbon to the bottom of the medal itself is exactly 10 centimeters while with miniatures it is 5 centimeters. The effect then is that the top of all the ribbons and bottom of the medals forms a level horizontal line. Does anyone perhaps know what the prescribed length of the ''drop'' is for British medals, both full size and miniatures?

I am busy finalizing my various medal collections (UK, US and SANDF) and want to display them with the rank insignia of a high ranking officer of each military I have. i already have the four star insignia of a US general (four stars attached to a bar so it forms one piece) as well as a SANDF full colononel's shoulder boards. On E-Bay I am able to get the swords, ''pips'' and crowns of a British general as a set but as separate pieces. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Genuine-British-Army-Full-Generals-Rank-Insignia-Uniform-Jacket-Set/133045951415?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Db1fb8aae56784ebda393172b2390974b%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D133045951415%26itm%3D133045951415%26pg%3D2481888&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A8bbedad4-b37f-11e9-a5c7-74dbd1800c10|parentrq%3A479d7f1916c0ad31c37a596dfff03c8f|iid%3A1 My question is: if I attach it to a piece of cloth for display purposes is there a regulation distance that has to separate each of the three? As mentioned the US insignia is one piece so it's fairly safe to assume the stars are spaced at US Army regulation intervals while the SADF colonel's insignia is mounted on shoulder boards so once again I assume SADF spacing regulations was followed when the shoulder boards was manufactured.

Quick update. I have now received all the medals mentioned in the first post in this thread with the exception of the Congressional Medal of Honor, which I ordered in it's own display box. If there is overseas enthusiasts who would like images of my SANDF collection feel free to ask since I photographed every medal but the folder of all my medals is 124MB big so it's way beyond what I am able to post here. Kind regards, Wessel Gordon

And Bingo: exact match. Thanks Mike and Herman. My collection is more focused on SADF medals (circa 1945-1990's) and of those I have I would estimate 90% plus simply have the old South African Coat of Arms on the reverse or obverse so with UK medals I'm in murky waters when I run into a royal cipher that (according to which images I run into on the net) looks like one thing but when I have an actual copy in my hand the cipher looks different. For a while I thought the ''GRI'' on my miniature stood for ''Generally Really Irrelevant''.

I guess using that assumption the reverse could also apply that the miniature copy is from George V's reign and not George Vi but that would mean one of two things: 1. George V used two ciphers for whatever reason - all of his other ciphers indicate GvR so that argument doesn't hold up to scrutiny. 2. That who-ever manufactured the copy (which isn't the best quality even at first glance) either didn't know or care to use the correct royal cipher and thought ''GRI'' could refer to both Georges and who-ever bought the medal could interpret it as they wished.

Mike, Thanks a lot but that immediately leads me to the question: is it safe to assume then that GRI on the miniature (which by the way is much easier to read) indicate George VI? My thinking about that assumption is that there's only so much space at the center of the medal for a cipher and that the ''V'' COULD have been dropped to fit into that space. Obviously there's another George in line for the throne but at the age of 6 I highly doubt he's issuing military medals, lol.

I received a full sized copy of the above medal and it has a Royal cipher on it I can't decipher. I'm guessing it could be ER for Elizabeth Rex but that's sucking on my thumb and wishful thinking. I also have a miniature copy with the Royal cipher reading GRI. I am assuming GRI is George Rex Imperator so the only two possible King Georges it could refer to is either George V or George VI. According to research on Wikipedia it was instituted in 1914 during the reign of George V so (in theory) there's only four monarchs in who's name it could have been issued: George V, Edward VIII (since he reigned for roughly 11 months i think he can be discounted for practical purposes), George Vi and Elizabeth II. I am only uploading the image of the full-sized version since, as I mentioned, GRI seems to indicate to me only two possibilities.

Paul, Thanks for the reply. Afterwards I did some further reading and realized that the 5 that was awarded was for actions over a two year period only (1973/1974). The only higher decoration for bravery in that period, Louw Wepener Decoration, had only 7 recipients over a period of 13 years (1961-1974) so it seems either our military didn't take too many foolhardy risks or the officers authorizing these awards put them under severe scrutiny before awarding either the Honoris Crux (1952) or the Louw Wepener Decoration

Paul, That could be but the question then is why manufacture 6 times the number of medals issued in a 23 year period. Then again the government could have manufactured a certain number especially aimed at the collector's market. The asking price of R 25 000 (roughly 1 400 British Pounds or $ 1 770) definitely points to it being an original or else someone is taking a fat chance.

I just ran into something interesting on an auction site regarding the above medal. The medal (according to the seller) is numbered 43 and yet according to all the sources I could find definitively states that only 5 were ever awarded. The ribbon is the green, red and white of the 1952 decoration and the suspender also matches the 1952 decoration perfectly. I double-checked the 4 classes of the 1975 decoration thinking that maybe it's a 1975 medal on a 1952 ribbon but none of the 1975's four classes resembles the item for sale. Any ideas on this mystery?

That's what I thought. All pictures that I've seen of Pour le Merite recipients shows the recipient wearing the medal but then again as far as I can remember those were all military men so they were photographed in full uniform.

Marcon1, I received an order of the De Wet Decoration this week and under 30X magnification with a jeweler's loupe on the miniature it was clearly stamped ''Medal'' and not ''Decoration while the full size medal is stamped ''Decoration''. I also have the De Wet Medal set and if you ignore the ribbon differences and the bronze/silver color difference my miniature de Wet Medal and Decoration is exactly the same thing. But as i said that was under 30X magnification and if you give my collection a casual glance you will never see the mistake. So it seems these things happen and for some reason it slipped through quality check, assuming there ever was a quality check.

I apologize if this is in the wrong section but I was wondering if the medal mentioned above had a ribbon (such as those US soldiers have on their uniforms instead of the actual medals) or if the medal itself was worn on suitable occasions.

I finally received my Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Distinguished Cross after an epic 117 day Mexican stand off with our local postal service. Better late than never, I guess.

Marcon1, I have both the full size and miniature of both the John Chard Medal and John Chard Decoration. The medals are bronze while the decoration is silver. As Graham mentioned those two links are very informative. I am from South Africa and if you want more info than what's available on Wikipedia I'll try and dig it up for you. Wessel

Exactly my point. I have a miniature Honoris Crux medal that was the highest military medal for bravery in South Africa from 1952 to 2003. I chanced on a regular one on a website that got sold for R 26 000, not sure how much that is in Euros but it's way over what I'm willing to pay so I guess I'll never have a full sized one. If I see a reproduction medal on Ebay or some other auction site that I'm missing for part of my collection I'm willing to bid on it as long as the seller doesn't try to tell me it dates from 1250 and the paint and metalwork is immaculate. At the moment I have a Air Force cross (regular size and miniature), Bronze Star (regular and miniature), Congression Medal of Honor, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart (all regular size), Distinguished Service Cross & Order (regular sizes), Military Cross (regular size) and Victoria Cross (regular size) that is somewhere in the postal mayhem (oops, I mean services) of at least 3 countries so I hope they arrive while I'm gone. Will have to leave strict instructions at the post office to hoard all my post and not deliver till I personally go to pick it up after the trip.

I have several US medals (full size and miniature) that I want to mount for display. What is the regulations regarding mounting them?

I have several UK medals: MBE, Victoria & George Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Cross that I want to mount. What is the UK regulations for mounting full size and miniature medals?

I have several SADF medals that is numbered and I'm curious about the soldiers the medals was originally issued to. I have been told the military did not keep records of which number medal was issued to which soldier although I suspect there would be a mention in the soldier's personnel file. Is it true that there is no such database publicly available and if there is where can I find it? Kind regards, Wessel

I hope I'm posting this in the right section so any admin or mod please feel free to move to the appropriate section if it doesn't belong here. I have a reproduction of a Pour le Merite and might buy other Prussian/German medals in future. My question is: I have never seen any picture of either a Prussian or German officer (including the Third Reich era) that wears a ribbon bar on the left chest above the pocket as is the case with US and UK uniforms; all the photos show soldiers wearing the actual medal...did Prussia and later on Germany ever issue ribbon bars to their military? Kind regards, Wessel