sambolini

Hi Rick, Thank you for your thoughts on this bar. If only the Germans had engraved at least some of their medals/orders as in the U.K. , It would certainly have made finding the stories behind some of these bars a little easier to discover. Then again, the search is part of the fun of collecting, also, They would be much less affordable. British groups have always been sooooo expensive (and usually, but not always, less attractive ) Sam

Hi Paul, This is the best pic I can get of the Star. It has seven red stones embedded in the crescent. I wonder if the number seven had some meaning to the fellow? Regards, Sam

Hi Paul, Many thanks for the information. I'm at work now, but will post pick of the AH 1333 War Medal later this evening. Kind regards, Sam

Hi Ulsterman, Thanks for your thoughts. I have to assume by odd mounting you mean the precedence the awards are mounted in. I too thought about this. I have seen such "out of order" bars before, especially those assembled post 1918. The bar I mentioned to Chris B. was also assembled oddly. It had a Red Cross 2nd in second place after the EK2 and before the Hindenburg, Red Eagle, etc. I no longer own the bar, but believe I have a pic around here somewhere. I'll post a scan if I can find it. Sam

Hi Rick, Thanks for the info. I see your point. A junior officer getting demobilized shortly after the war and then melting into the oblivion of the Weimar Republic. Too bad as I think this bar has an interesting story. Regards, Sam

Hi Chris, Many thanks for the input. I had a bar some years ago that was similar in that it had all N.C. awards (i.e. Hindenburg, Africa, China, all N.C. versions) but with a combattant EK2 like this bar. It ended up being potentially traced to a Navy doctor I believe. It certainly makes for some interesting speculation. Regards, Sam

Hi, I got his bar from D.N. this week. What really strikes me about it is that every award on it is noncombattant with the exception of the iron cross. In fact it almost looks to be a bar of a civilian beamter with the Hess Phillip Silver Cross and Austrian Merit cross on civilian/N.C. ribbon. However, the fellow was a reservist as indicated by his L.S. award and he also has the Centenary medal. Could he have been working close enough to the front to get an EK2 on war ribbon (i.e. transport, supplies, etc.) or perhaps sat at a desk back in Germany? Regards, Sam

Hi, I had already posted this thread at the Imperial German section, but it was suggested I post it here as what I thought really interesting is the Turkish Life Saving medal in last place. I've read that it was for rescue at sea and the number of rescues was indicated by the ribbon color, green in this instance, meaning two rescues. I've also read that this was a somewhat rare award, but I don't know as my interest mainly lay with Imperial German. The Rescue medal and blue backing lead me to believe this may have been a junior naval officer ( the Wurttemburg Friedrichs order Knight 2nd class was given to leutnante and oberleutnante). This group also has an unusual Gallipoli Star with seven stones in the crescent. It was on D.N.'s update Friday. Any insight is appreciated. Sam K.

Hi, Thanks for the advice SPM.Will post there as well. Sam

Hi, This interesting bar was on D.N.'s update today. What I found interesting was the life saving medal in last position. I have read on another site that it was awarded for resue at sea. Also the ribbon color changed for additional rescues, green in this case, being for the second action. Does it stand to reason that this bar belonged to a Navy officer? The group also came with an unusual Eiserner Halbmond with 7 red stones. A curious sprucing up by th owner perhaps? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Regards, Sam

Thanks everyone for taking time to provide your individual insights/ideas. Sam K.

Hi, I was the "lucky" fellow to get this bar from Detlev's update this Friday. I bought it because I liked the combination of awards. I also suspected the bar as having belonged to a sanitater/arzt type. Now the rub. In my haste (as we all know how fast items go on the Friday updates), I had no time to research the foreign Red Cross award ( at least thats what I thought it was at the time). I later find out on my own that it is a Rumanian Medical Merit award. I also find after consulting with two of our forum experts ( one who suggested I post my questions here for more opinions) that it is on the war ribbon for a Rumanian type II Crown Order. I suppose my question's are: Have any of our members seen such ribbon mix ups before on foreign awards, as I'm told sometimes happened or feel more that perhaps the Crown order was swapped out? Kind regards, Sam K.

Hi, I always understood that the rank under discussion in this thread was the equivalent of what in most armies is a warrant officer. Regards, Sam

Hi, This just goes to prove the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that monstrosity had shown up on ebay, I would never have believed it to be a period piece. It's really wonderful the things being brought to light on this forum by many eagle eyed members. Surely the fellow must have been poked fun at by his fellow HV beamten . Regards, Sam K.

Hi Rick, Thanks for the update on the trap. bar, the lack of an EK2 ribbon certainly is strange. One thing I've learned from the period pics posted on this forum is that things are not always what they seem or "incorrect" simply because " I've never seen one like that". Case in point is the current thread on the upside down swords. Hi Peter, Thanks for posting your trap. ribbon bar. It's a very nice example. It's also always good to have as many variants as possible for the old archives Regards, Sam

Hi Rick, That's the nicest trapezoidal style ribbon bar I've seen. I've never seen one in this size, usually it's the "large" versions that are basically medal bars sans the medals. Also, what was the Mecklenburg award on this bar, seeing as he was a. d. before the war? Regards, Sam K.

Hi, I agree, very nice indeed. The cartonage really makes it special. Red cross awards are a whole field of collecting in themselves. Most especially the imperial era awards. Some can be extremely attractive. I've always had an eye for the Prussian 1st class Steck kreuz. Regards, Sam

Hi Claudio, Thanks for posting the pic of Keital. I've never seen this photo before or a close up of his medal bar. Also very interesting subject. Regards, Sam

"no more than 1 in 10 members being allowed to have one at any given time." Hi Rick, Where on earth could you have possibly found this out? I didn't think anyone knew anything about these veteran organazations! One of the reasons I love this forum Regards, Sam

Hi chip, Thanks very much for the info.The date is impossible to read, however there is a staue in the background with a device that has the number "107". Regards, Sam

PIC 2

Hi, Is the badge oin this photo for marksmanship?Looks like two crossed rifles, wreath, surmounted with a crown. Thanks, Sam

Hi, The one you posted looks pretty good to me. Please post the other if you would. I only saw the one I purchased. Regards, Sam

Aha Ulsterman, you speak the truth! I did not realize there was more than one. Do you have the others? Regards, Sam

Hi all, Thanks for all the insight, although I really enjoy imperial awards , I'll never understand all the unit affilations, etc....amazing the knowledge here. I have a lot of studying to do. Regards, Sam