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Ilja, Very nice - I think the bottom third left is a souvenir piece commemorating one of the anniversaries of the Army - I believe a medal/medalet is issued every year - so quite a series to collect. Regards, Owain

I think it is the Iraqi Women's Federation Medal Regards, Owain

Dear Lion, I have one of these medals - it came with a black, red, black, ribbon - whether this was original I do not know. The Saudi have only ever issued once commemorative war medal and that was for the Liberation of Kuwait. Regards, Owain

Off the top of my head - and I have been here in Saudi since 1989 - the Akhwan or Ikhwan were the zealous unitarian religious movement of King Ibn Saud's forces who aggressively aided in the expansion of what became the Saudi kingdom. Following Ibn Saud's retaking of Riyadh in 1902 he consolidated and expanded his rule in the Arabian Peninsula by ousting the Al Rashid from Ha'il in the north, the Ottomans from Hofhuf in the east, the Hashemites from the Hijaz in the West and the Idrisi in the South. Ibn Saud's realm was known initially as the Sultanate of Nejd - the heartland of Arabia and the forces supporting him and from whence the Akhwan hailed. With the fall of the Kingdom of the Hijaz in 1926 it was restyled the Sultanate of Nejd & Hijaz and became the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. In the aftermath of the Great War and the consolidation of spheres of influence between Britain & France in accordance with the Sykes-Picot agreement - basically Lebanon & Syria to France and Mesopotamia, Palestine and Transjordan to Britain there was a need to demarcate borders. The border with what became Iraq was agreed at the Treaty of Al Uqair (small port on the coast between Bahrain and Qatar) in 1922. The setting of such borders was not in accord with the Ikhwan's ideology who strove to spread their unitarian viewpoint in an aggressive and martial manner and indeed Ibn Saud's control over this movement lessened until they were in open rebellion. The Ikhwan conducted numerous raids across the border into Iraq, as well as Transjordan. Neither the regimes of King Faisal in Iraq nor Emir Abdullah in Transjordan had the wherewithal to repel these incursions and relied upon British Forces, mainly air power through the RAF, to repel the Ikhwan. In Iraq Faisal tried to introduce conscription to build up the Iraqi forces but was in part blocked by the British who were wary of allowing him to build up a force which would assist him to achieve his goal of early independence for Iraq. With the incursions continuing the British campaign in 1928 commenced. This pushed back the Ikhwan who had rebelled against Ibn Saud into Arabia where he defeated them at the battle of Sabila / Artawiyah in early 1930. I hope this gives an idea of the background to the campaign. Kind regards, Owain

Dear Vasqj1, Probably an official souvenir - not for wearing. There is a similar series for anniversaries of the Syrian Arab Army. Regards, Owain PS The image of the reverse is small and I cannot read the Arabic.

Dear Lion, The obverse reads, "Palestine Liberation Front - Freedom Force". The PLF was formed in the early 1960's by Ahmed Jibril, a Palestinian former Captain in the Syrian Army. Later, in 1967, the PLF became one of the constituent parts of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - PFLP. Regards, Owain

Dear Michael, Thanks for these links - the 39-45 Star is quiet clear. Some further research on Aden. The Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals circa 1942 notes in "CONFIDENTIAL H.D.4019" : H.D. 3981 - Defence Medal - Lighthouse Keepers, Red Sea. H.D. 3982 - War & Defence Medal - Aden Armed Police & Aden Home Guard. "The Aden Armed Police was on 3 February 1942 proclaimed to be a military force under Section 3 of the Police Ordinance, 1937...........until the 10th October 1945 when the Order was revoked." "Aden Armed Police may qualify for the War Medal by 28 days full-time service between 3rd February 1942 and 2nd September 1945." The Home Guard are eligible for the Defence Medal, the time qualification being 2 years 9 months service (H.W.3546). The Governor would be reminded of this, and informed that the War Medal is available only for full-time Forces." Some 77 members of the Police (inc.19 British senior personnel) were awarded the War and Defence Medal - the War Medal list was published as an Appendix to General Notice 365 of 1948, dated 16 November 1948. With regard to the Aden Home Guard the entitlement to the Defence Medal was published as an Appendix to General Notice No. 999 (date unknown) : Maj. JR Kynaston OBE Capt. AJ Borland OBE Capt. RC Bailey Lt. WL Osborne OBE Lt. FW rant Lt. SG Smith Lt. MDA de Clermont Lt. DJ Allen (later Capt.)) CSM PJ Harper (later RSM CQMS AJ Peters Sgt. JJ Colabawalla Kind regards, Owain

Antonio, Thank you for your invaluable contribution to this particular topic. I will need to update my records and cross reference what I have to what you have provided. My OMSA article of some years ago needs to be thoroughly revised and updated. Yet another project to start upon! Again thank you. Kind regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Many thanks for your input and please accept my apologies for the delay in responding. In summary I would suggest that such locally enlisted men in the afore mentioned units if they remained within their local areas/territories would qualify, subject to the qualifying periods, only for the 39/45 Star & War Medal. If they then entered another Star theatre on service - Africa or Italy, they could then qualify for such stars. However I note from my records with regard to Aden that members of the APL serving during WW2 - see below - only received the Defence and War medals, presumably because Aden was not an operational command. (Lt. Col. Nadir Ali Pakistani joined the APL on 12 January 1943 and served until 1961 when he joined the newly formed Federal Regular Army. He saw garrison duty on the remote island of Socotra during the later stages of the war - his full entitlement - MBE July 1991 for service to FCO at the British Embassy in Aden, Defence & War Medals, GSM 1918-62 Clasp "Arabian Peninsula" named to Mulazim A. Nadir Ali Pakistani A.P.L., Meritorious Service Certificate British Forces Aden 1953, Meritorious Service Certificate Federation of South Arabia 1965.) Thus subject to regulatory time periods: Aden - not operational command - Defence & War Medals - I think that members of the Aden Police also qualified for these medals but am not 100% sure. Cyprus - was Cyprus an operational command and if so what star in addition to the 39/45 could have been applicable - if any? Ethiopia - locals attached to Gideon Force - 1939/45 & Africa Stars. Iraq - operational command (Rashid Ali Revolt) - 39/45 Star & War Medal. Africa Star for service in Malta. Could the Levies qualify for a Defence Medal? Palestine - er, don't know - need to look this up. As ever more questions than answers! Kind regards, Owain

I note that the badges and medals follow the same format as the current military awards of Egypt - not surprising when one bears in mind the long standing relationship with Egypt. Owain

Great stuff Antonio - many thanks for posting this - a valuable contribution to research - thank you. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Can any one advise what WW2 Star, if any, other than the 39/45 Star would a locally enlisted service man - e.g. Cyprus Regiment, Palestine Regiment, Aden Protectorate Levies, Iraq Levies, qualify for their local service during the war? Am I correct in assuming that their service in such locations would, subject to the regulatory time periods, entitle them to the 1939/45 Star (6 months operational service), Defence Medal (12 months non-operational service) and War Medal (28 days operational service). I have seen Ethiopian medal groups including the 1939/45 and Africa Stars (presumably service with Gideon Force involved in the liberation of Ethiopia from Italian Occupation) but not War Medals - would this be because the recipient were not on Commonwealth strength but added locally to an operational unit of allied forces? Is there a record of the distribution of these stars? Many thanks for your assistance, Kind regards, Owain Raw-Rees

Dear Ilja, From my notes, Regards, Owain Instituted in April 1987 and awarded for: Displaying distinguished leadership during combat or security operations. Professional command and control during combat operations.

Ilja, This is the scarce Derg issue Resistance medal - see earlier in this post and other posts - I don't think the ribbon is correct. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, A fellow collector has sensibly suggested that all Haile Selassie I era awards have some form of imperial device or imagery and thus as this piece is devoid of such imagery attribution the to HSI era may not be wise. Regards, Owain

Ray, From the regulations it is noted that the medal comes in 3 classes and is awarded to Sudanese and foreigners who "perform distinguished service in furtherance of security and public order". Kind regards, Owain

Ray, Yes this is the 1st type with a rhino and the word "Al Wajib" (The Duty) on the obverse and "Jumhuriyah Al Sudan" (Republic of Sudan) on the reverse. After the military coup in 1969 (??) the reverse changed to "Democratic Republic of Sudan" and the rhino was replaced by a bird (hawk/stork (?). Regards, Owain

Dear Ilja, The open book reads "The Green Book". The reverse central inscription reads, "The Great Fatah Decoration" and is surrounded by, "The Socialist Peoples Lybian Arab Jamahariyah". Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Perhaps a silly question but why would Cravanzola be making an award for Burkina Faso? I know the company made Somali awards - could this be one - five pointed star with a single star device on the shield - admittedly no blue and white colours. Did Somalia have a cotton industry? As noted the sash may not be appropriate. Perhaps a long shot I know? Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Obtained from an European dealer some time ago. The inscription reads, "For Service in the Petroleum Industry" or similar - to be confirmed. Presumably from the Derg period as there are no imperial symbols and the quality is relatively poor. As it is industry specific, and I am assuming the oil/petrol industry was nationalised, thus it may have some official status. The reverse is blank and the green ribbon came with the medal and I have no evidence that it is or is not the original ribbon. Kind regards, Owain

More than likely, as with other Iraqi medals of 1960'2 and 1960's, the Victory Medal was manufactured by Huguenin of Le Locle in Switzerland. The inscription reads "The Victory 1945". Regards, Owain.

Looks OK to me too - demand is low, prices are low and there are enough about not to warrant faking & I've not seen a fake in 25 years of collecting. Nice to get original ribon with possibly original brooch although image is very small. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, I belie that are up to five different versions: Military - Silver Military - Cupro nickel or similar - at least two different strikes Military - 1/3 size (possibly a very large miniature but disproportionate in comparison with normal Ethiopian minaitures) Civil - 2/3 size Known makers are Mappin & Webb of London and Sevadjian of Addis Ababa. Regards, Owain

Lukasz, I have visited Beirut a number of times in the past few years, most recently last July, and there are no shops with militaria of any kind for sale. I know an avid Lebanese Lebanon collector and he lives in Beirut and he is challenged to get anything. There used to be a collector /seller - mainly coins - in the south of Beirut (not now the safest of places) I met him with his bag of wares in his car on the Corniche - not an auspicious occasion, but from what I saw he had nothing special and all was infinitely over priced - I don't know even if he is still around. I do know of some good restaurants...... Kind regards, Owain

Good morning from Riyadh. I think it is the 2nd Class of the Medal of Economic Prosperity of Morocco. Kind regards, Owain