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    Pete A

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    Everything posted by Pete A

    1. Well, looks like there really isn't much to add. These awards seem to be quite unknown in the local literature too. Following information comes from the Book "Kunniamerkkikirja" by Juha Tetri, as well as the bad picture. Sorry about the quality, apparently I don't know how to scan. Also, I don't own a Rick Research -approved "holy Epson", but some old HP that's only good for scanning text Anyway, this should at least give you the idea. Orders of Merit of Finnish Olympic Games were founded on 21.7.1951, after the German example, as stated above. They were designed by Oskar Pihl, and intented to be rewarded to persons who had contributed in making the 1952 games a success. The regulations of bestowal were strict, and followed the "usual manners and international practice" (whatever that means). Slighty under 3000 orders and medals were bestowed in total, of which some 1/5 to foreigners. However, they did receive nearly half of the 1st class orders. Pete [attachmentid=50942]
    2. Dan, in my opinion that really is one of the nicest awards around, and by being simply much more elegant, it beats the hell out of it's German counterpart any given day. I don't have any of my reference books at hand right now, but out of memory I can tell you, that these were created for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, and indeed after the German example of 1936. The order came in three classes, 1st class neck badge, 2nd class breast badge, and a merit medal. The ribbon is light blue with white stripes, the enamel is white, everything else gold. The reverse side features a stylished "1952". The Medal is silver and features a picture of the order. If I remember correctly, the majority of the 1st class crosses went to the foreign officials of the Olympic Commitee. But I try to post more details and color pictures soon. (unless someone else does that first, of course ) Regards, Pete
    3. It looks like there is two vertical bars in his rank tab? That would make him a corporal (kapr?lis). No idea about the badge, but it sure is pretty. Pete
    4. I know nothing about WW1 german straps, but this one just looks too clean to me. Maybe later-made traditions piece? Unit in question is the Royal Prussian J?ger-Batallion Nr. 27. Is the grey(ish?) color correct for j?ger uniforms, which all the sources mention being green? And the number? Does that seem correct? As far as I know, it was ordered to be removed from the straps in the spring of 1917, when the battalion was transfered to Libau for training. The only picture I got, I'll see if I can get more. Thanks, Pete [attachmentid=49797]
    5. Hi Igor, very nice that medal for zeal! The Swedish medal is 1967 Jubilee medal for King Gustaf VI Adolf's 85th birthday (Konung Gustaf VI Adolfs minnesmedalj med anledning av 85-?rsdagen [GVIA:sMM]). Made of silver, diameter 33mm and the ribbon is that of the Seraphim order. Here's a thread on a Swedish forum where you can see a similar miniature: http://samlarforum.skalman.nu/viewtopic.ph...a1c27e81dde6c62 Pete
    6. Here's the full link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Russian-Order-FABERGE_...1QQcmdZViewItem The seller says nothing about the size, so it might be more of a unofficial jeton than a neck badge? To me this looks like something that an attending cadet might have come up, to show where he's studying. "Be true to your school" - sort of thing? After all, the official badge wasn't received until graduation. But the one thing that really bothers me with this badge, is why on earth would a high quality maker like Faberge put their stamps so crudely on the front of the badge?, instead of the empty reverse where it would be more appropriate? Pete
    7. It's always sad to see old military traditions being brought down. That has happened a lot here in Finland lately, and even though our examples aren't as old as the British, it still is quite shameful. I like animals as much as the next guy, and hate to see them being treated cruely and in a useless manner. But is this really an example of such behaviour? Are those hats really so bad? It's hard to see them resulting the extinction of the black bear population. They probably won't go out and kill a bear in extremely cruel manner every time it looks like a new hat is being needed, or do they? Don't these lawmakers have any actual, bigger, and more acute problems to be concerned of? Glad to see this happens outside Finland too! And how come they really can't come up with an effective alternative to that bearskin? Come on, it's the 21st century. Hell, the man has walked on the moon but still we can't manufacture fake-fur that has the characteristics of bearskin? When I did my military service in 1998, I was issued a 1939 dated mess-kit. And it really looked like it had gone through the war. No to mention the funny taste. But that wasn't necessarily the kit's fault. Pete
    8. The veteran badge is participants insignia for Finnish War Veterans Union's (Suomen Sotaveteraaniliitto) annual meetings of the local chapters. It was meant to be worn on the lapel of the civilian costume during the event. You sometimes see these with clasps denoting the year and/or the location of the meeting(s) the wearer has participated in. There's also a version with red and white ribbon (I don't know why). These seem to have been in use from the 60's to 80's, but I don't recall seeing them anymore recently. Some other examples (picture taken from a local online-auction site): [attachmentid=47142] Pete
    9. Hi Igor, 1) Swedish, hard to say what, since the observe is similar in many medals. What's the reverse like? 2) Knight's cross of Danish order of Dannebrog 3) British Royal Victorian Order (commander, I guess?) 4) Austria, 1st republic, Order of Merit (these came in red and white enamel, maybe someone else can explain their difference?) 5) Russian medal of zeal, maybe? Pete
    10. I really can't say anything that isn't already said in the thread concerning the 1st edition. First class presentation, really. While socialist Albania isn't actually in my sphere of interest, I sure did enjoy reading this wonderful guide. Also, I believe that we have many members here, who can be considered experts (or maybe even leading experts) in their own field of collecting - or research - and it would be great to see Eric's fine example resulting more publications like this. Eric, I hope this "living guide" keeps on living and evolving, and increases not only our knowledge of the subject, but yours as well. Thanks a lot, Pete
    11. Andreas' site has - once again - huge amount of information regarding this beautiful order: http://medalnet.net/brazil_rose.htm
    12. The reason behind these black enameled crosses is unknown (a lot of theories though, like the mourning of the death of Czar Nicholas I etc.), but like Daniel said, this eventually became purely a fashion-statement. These crosses are always privately made, unofficial pieces. The trend was in use around 1860-1880, and concerned orders of St. Alexander Nevsky, St. Vladimir, St. Anna and St. Stanislav. Regarding the awards to non-christians, they were the same as those awarded to christians, except that since 1844 the portraits (or the monograms, like in case of St. Stanislav) of saints or cross symbols were replaced with the state emblem, the imperial double-headed eagle. Pete
    13. At the moment I work at the local museum, and every once in a while, usually when a new exhibition opens up, the responsible department makes it possible for the staff of other departments to see it in advance. This time it was the opening of the art museum's summer exhibition, which was made up of "most requested" works in their collections. Since our art museum is also Finland's leading "poster museum", that form of art was naturally well represented. There was this one poster, that I found especially interesting. Or not the poster itself, which was just a small 1930's ad for local brewery, but the artist whose work it was. He was a German named Hans Br?ckner, born 1897 in Dresden, died 1949 in Helsinki. The curator knew very little of him, only that he had studied art in his youth, been a "combat pilot" during WW1, and moved to Finland after the war. Here he married a Finnish woman in 1924, and worked as a set decorator in theaters, and later as the art director of Finland's leading printing house. Now, can anybody tell me more about Br?ckner's WW1 service? Awards? Units? What was his connection to Finland? He isn't on my list of German airmen who participated in 1918 civil war. Maybe he was one of those "instructors" who came to build the Finnish army after May 1918? Or maybe an instructor for Finnish pilots who went to Germany for training? Or was he even a pilot at all? Thanks, Pete
    14. Thanks Steen! You're right, I found out about that excellent site couple of weeks ago (it's actually brand new). I posted the link on Finnish Awards forum, but not here, because of the language. The database, compiled by the Biographical Center of the Finnish Literature Society, gives family relations, assignments, awards etc. biographical information of all the Finnish-born men who reached general or admiral rank in the Russian service between 1809 and 1917. Also, those generals/admirals who weren't Finnish, but whose families were introduced in the Finnish House of Knights are included. That makes almost 500 biographies. It is a "living" database, meant to be corrected / completed by historians, genealogists and researchers. A wonderful thing if I may say so, and something I've personally waited for long time. The language is an issue though, especially when everything (names, ranks, units, awards) is in Finnish. However, I'm more than willing to help with the translation if you ever need. Pete
    15. On the subject of reference books.. Being constantly on the lookout for (free) online references, I recently came upon this site, http://www.regiment.ru/Limited/Limited.htm, which among others has Adolenko's 2002 and Sheveleva's 1993 books on Badges of the Imperial Russian army. Adolenko's book has drawn color pictures, while Sheleva's plates have some actual color photos, but some drawings in color and b/w too. Sheleva also gives some information on weights and dimensions. Both books are in Russian language, but babelfish - even though it sometimes comes up with the usual weird sentences - works quite well, and the rest can be easily figured out. Not as preferable as the actual book in your bookshelf, but hopefully the link is of some use. Regards, Pete
    16. Nice additions there, Rick! There are couple of mounting mistakes, though. 1st from top: the commander's cross of Lion of Finland should be ahead of Crosses of Liberty. Also, this seems to be a upper row only, and so is the one in the middle. 1st from Bottom: the Summa commemorative should be after the 1939-40 commemorative. Pete
    17. Of course they are wound stripes, I should have known that right away! But I always thought that they were those angled ones? So what's the case with that? Horizontal for the officers, angled for other ranks? Pete
    18. Hi Chuck, and thanks for your input. No, personally - and for the same reasons as your friend - I doubt there was such a requirement, that's why I started this topic. The question originally came up in this thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8217. But there must be at least some partial truth behind that claim, since after all, the orthodox religion (in particular) played a big part in the imperial Russian military life. Pete
    19. Very nice uniform! And no doubt a rare one too. I found these old scans about Russian WW1 field uniforms lying around in my hard disk, saved ages ago from a Russian forum. In one them those sleeve stripes seem to be explained. I did some cut-and-paste with the parts I think are relevant, and enlarged the text a bit to make it easier to read. (for someone who actually reads Russian.. Rick?) [attachmentid=40559] Hope this helps, Pete
    20. Stepanoff probably was an imperial officer. (or should I say "provisional government" officer at the time? ) To me the gravestone looks like it's erected much later than 1918, and since the inscription is in english, this was done by the British. Then the term Soviet seems plausible. There sure was no "Soviet colonels" at the time. Just my thoughts. Pete
    21. Thanks, Rick. Based on that, it looks like Hintersatz got maximum amount of glory and gongs with minimum possible work. On 25. February the first 55 Finns arrived at Lockstedt barracks to form a top-secret "Pfadfinderkursus", but before that.. "By the mid-february 1915, some 15-20 Finns in need of military training had already arrived to Berlin, and to make the best out of their waiting-time, it was decided to give them a brief, unofficial course on military basics. On 15. February 1915 the opening ceremonies of this course were held in the apartment of mr. von der Heyden, at L?tzowstrasse 109-110. Leader of the course was his son, Oberleutnant von der Heyden, who was assisted by Leutnant Hintersatz. The most important aim of this course was to give the Finns a general view of military and warfare. The participants got lectures on military discipline, different arms-of-service etc. Oberleutnant v.d. Heyden lectured about the organization, armament and usage of artillery, and famous military author Lt. Col. Frobenius gave an overview of the current war. In addition to this, the course visited in some of Berlins military institutions and did some outdoor exercises on field fortification and map reading. The course ended on 23. February." .. and that is the sole mention of him in the official history of the K?niglich Preussisches J?gerbataillon nr. 27! Too bad my roll of SVR awards to Germans only covers the years 1940-44. I didn't spot his name (whatever it might have been ) there, so he probably got it between 1919-1939. Pete
    22. Even with all those voices, this is pretty amazing! Congratulations to Bob, and awe-inspired respect to Rick and Daniel. It's always nice to see a piece of history being brought alive again. Pete
    23. Very Interesting man, indeed. Thanks for sharing this, Carlos! Could somebody with more language skills than I translate that part about Finland for me? Pete
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