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Gentlemen, This time a more detailed image of an already seen Omani based RAOB Lodge: Top bar - RAOB Obverse - Andrew 9898 Grainger Reverse - Plain other than the makers mark - Parry B'Ham As of writing I have no detail as to who Andrew Grainger is or was. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Purchased may years ago in London: Top Bar - Pyramid Lodge No 692 Bottom Bar - Saudi Arabia Obverse - Founder Member 1982 Reverse - Plain I am not sure which jurisdiction this particular lodge came under - not the United Grand Lodge of England - possible an American one. I believe that there were lodges on US bases which were established by personnel who had been based in overseas in Germany or elsewhere. A quick search on line comes up with 'American Lodge of Past Masters 962 / American Canadian Grand Lodge / Under the Jurisdiction of / United Grand Lodges of Germany' - accordingly this jewel was made for their members based in Saudi Arabia. Regards, Owain

Good afternoon, Two further generic RAOB jewels to, in this instance, Oman based RAOB lodges: Jewel A Top bar - Dhofar Lodge 9721 Obverse - Services Rendered Reverse (obscured by glue) - Presented to / Bro / Ducky Davies / KOM / For Services / Rendered / 1979 Maker - Parry B'ham Jewel B Top bar - Sultanate of Oman No. 1 Lower bar - Knights Chapter No. 307 Obverse - Royal Antedeluvian Order of Buffaloes / Nemo Mortalium Omnibus Horis Sabit Reverse - Mark of FC Parry of Birmingham - silver gilt & date mark 'H' - 1982 Regards, Owain

Hi, It appears to be some manner of Iraqi Army Sport (olympic) medallion. The obverse 'RCC' stands for Revolutionary Command Council - with a bust of Saddam Hussein and the reverse Arabic is 'Al Jaish Al Iraq' - Iraqi Army. Regards, Owain

Rusty, Many thanks - as you note beautiful mages - I suspect that the artwork is by Bichay and his colleagues. Regards, Owain

Rusty, The mongram on Igor's 2nd Class case is that of Fuad the First. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Yet another - this time a generic 'Services Rendered' jewel present by the Scorpion Lodge No. 8351 - see Lodge specific jewel earlier. The inscription on the reverse reads, "Presented to / Bro. / R. Finch K.O.M. / by the / Scorpion Lodge No. 8351 / For Services Rendered / 7th April 1972" There is a Birmingham silver mark and the letter 'W being the date letter for 1971. The makers initials of 'F.C.P.' are for the maker Parry of Birmingham. Kind regards, Owain

Stuka, Detailed below is a group I have of Belgian Great War miniatures which include service in the Belgian Congo. Regards, Owain Belgian group of six miniatures suspended directly, without any ribbons, from a gilt chain consisting of the following: 1. Croix de Guerre 1914-18 – 1914-18 War Cross. 2. Médaille de la Victoire 1914–1918 - Victory Medal 1914-18 3. Médaille Commémorative de la Guerre 1914–1918 - 1914-18 War Medal. 4. Médaille Commémorative des Campagnes d’Afrique 1914-1917 – Africa Campaigns Medal 1914-1917 - established 21 February 1917. 5. Étoile de Service - Service Star – established 16 January 1889. This is a civil award for service within the Congo Free States. 6. United Kingdom – Unknown Medal – the medal with a blank reverse and no suspension bar, appears to be of silver and is of continental manufacture – the obverse is the standard King George V issue and could represent the DCM, MM or MSM.

Gentlemen, A further Dhofar 9721 Lodge jewel - this one to commemorate its 200th meeting: Obverse "Dhofar 9721 / 200th Meeting 12-12-73" Reverse "Silver" on the Omani state badge of crossed sword and dagger. The ribbon is in the Omani flag colours of green, red and white. The Dhofar rebellion was over in 1975 and assuming the Lodge met in at the RAF base in Salalah - the capital of Dhofar Governate, the jewel would indicate that the Lodge met throughout the war. Regards, Owain,

Gentlemen, Three further images forwarded to me by a friend: "Bitter Lake Egypt Cyprus Lodge 8418" - as with the El Firdan Lodge above it would appear that this lodge moved from Egypt to Cyprus. "Member 1927 Canal Zone Sub Certifying Council" - this jewel recognises a specific role within the region. "Overseas Buffalo Association" - with clasp/bar "Egypt & Cyprus Branch No. 6.0.B.A." Sadly no reverse images. Regards, Owain

Rusty, I have a similar but earlier edition of 1936, by the same publisher - bilingual Arabic /French (sadly no pictures) and the front hard cover reads: Royaume D'Egypte Recueil des Rescrits relatifs aux Grades Civils, Ordres et Medailles Le Caire Imprimerie National, Boulac 1936 The contents consist of: Grades Civils Ordre de Mohamed Ali Collier Fouad 1er Ordre d'Ismail Ordre du Nil Ordre de l'Etoile Militaire du Roi Fouad Ordre de l'Agriculture Ordre d'El Maaref Ordre de l'Industrie et du Commerce Ordre d'Al-Kamal Medaille pour Actes Meritoires Medaille du Devoir Medaille de Bienveillance Regards, Owain

Numis, The Iraq Medal is the Order of Rafidain and the Al Nahda Medal is the Order of Renaissance of the Hejaz. Owain

Gentlemen, A last post for 2020. Just arrived a RAOB El Firdan Lodge jewel. I believe this RAOB Lodge was originally constituted in Egypt and later moved to Cyprus. Obverse "Egypt (top suspension) / Cyprus (ribbon bar) / RAOB (ribbon device) / El Firdan Lodge 8677" Reverse "Bro. / John Train, C.P. / 1966" Suspension brooch marked 'Silver' and base of badge marked with London silver marks with date letter 't' for 1974" and 'L. Simpson (London) Ltd.' Happy new year one and all. Owain

Good Morning, It would appear that the sale did not go through and this set of 'The Gongs of Saddam' is back on E-bay - see link below. Caveat emptor! Owain https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Personal-Orders-Medals-Decorations-of-Iraq-President-Saddam-Hussein/353329588505?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Dca62d342af994752a510449456badb5f%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D164591564998%26itm%3D353329588505%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ac9b56a61-4b3d-11eb-8817-ba32f58ef6cc|parentrq%3Ab7ccf5441760a9e1e8272159ffd7eb54|iid%3A1

Hi, It appears to be a souvenir medallet. The reverse reads, 'With Compliments / Headquarters Air Force / and Air Defence / State of United Arab Emirates'. The obverse script is too small / illegible. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, No pictures this time but I detail below a list of the above and other countries from which I have seen, on the internet, RAOB Lodge specific jewels: Aden Australia (Christmas island / New South Wales) Bahrain Brunei Ceylon China Cyprus Egypt Germany (Berlin / Wickraath) Gibraltar Hong Kong (New Territories) India (Baluchistan) Iraq Jordan Kenya Korea Libya Malaya Maldives (Gan) Malta Netherlands (Oude Maastricht) Oman Pakistan Palestine Saudi Arabia Singapore Sudan United Arab Emirates (Sharjah) No doubt there are more countries and each country may have more than one lodge. The foot print given by the above list reflects the extent of British RAF (& other military) bases which allowed the spread of RAOB Lodges. Kind regards, Owain

Gentlemen, This jewel may or may not be appropriate to this topic - the internet image is unclear but the disc of the jewel bears a camel and palm trees above a pair of clasped hands. The suspension bars apparently read 'Thomas Binns / Lodge No. 8314'. Around the jewel is the Latin inscription 'Nemo Mortalium Omnibus Horis Sapit' - the RAOB motto translating as, 'No Man Is At All Times Wise'. There was no image of the reverse. The camel and palm trees suggest a Middle East origin but I have been unable to find further information. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, This time back to Oman and a RAOB Lodge at Masirah - an island off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea. The RAF first used the island in 1933 and a RAF base was established in 1943 - this was handed over to Sultan of Oman's Air Force in 1977. The well made gilt base metal jewel obverse reads 'Masirah / Turtle Lodge / 9384' and bears in relief a turtle - the island is an important hatching ground for loggerhead turtles. The reverse is blank - no makers marks. The suspension is an eagle with outspread wings indicative of the Lodge being a RAF one. I also illustrate the crest of RAF Masirah which bears the blue turtle from which the jewel design is taken. Kind regards, Owain

Good afternoon, Two more examples from the internet - both apparently from Libya. The first has a ribbon of the colours of the Kingdom of Libya Red, Green & Black. The badge consist of a central depiction of ruins superimposed upon a flaming torch (Royal Army Education Corps?) and crossed swords (Army Physical training Corps?). Whilst Benghazi is in Libya I have not been able to ascertain the significance of Sharaan. Obverse - 'RAOB / Sharaan Pride of Benghazi / 8368' Reverse - no image available The second medal would appear to be of the same Lodge with the badge but without the circular background however the Lodge number has changed from 8368 to 9197 - perhaps it lapsed and was reconstituted? Obverse - 'RAOB / Arabic script (Sharaan) / Sharaan / Lodge 9197' Reverse - ECP (Parry) Birmingham silver mark - letter 'R' for 1966 Regards, Owain

Good Morning, Some more images from two internet sources. This time the Aden Phoenix Lodge. The Lodge specific jewel - sadly not high definition, depicts a phoenix over the barren rocks of Aden. The crown and eagle are, I believe, symbolic of the RAF. No image of the reverse was available. The second jewel is a generic RAOB jewel for a treasurer. Obverse - 'Treasurer / Aden Phoenix 8506' Reverse - 'Presented to / Bro. / W.H. Adams CP / by the / Aden Phoenix / Lodge No. 8506 / For Services Rendered / As C Treasure / 1953-54' The latter jewel is hallmarked silver - Birmingham made, but the date mark is unclear. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Another this time, courtesy of Worthpoint, a silver RAOB jewel from Sudan - it was part of a group of three - the suspension bears the word 'Sudan' - the other two generic RAOB jewels were engraved on the reverse, "Blue Nile Lodge 6310". It has a London silver mark by 'L. Simpson' and the date letter 'S' which is 1953. Sadly the images are not high definition. The obverse design of a camel is common to the Sudan Defence Forces of the period. The ribbon colours are symbolic of the Blue Nile and White Nile that meet at Khartoum. See also my post of 8 July where this Lodge's predecessor jewel - Khartoum Temperance Lodge 6310, is illustrated. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Another image from the internet - this time for a RAOB Lodge in the north of Saudi - Tabuk - where a British Aerospace operation was/is based. Obverse - "Tabuk / Saudi Arabia / Northern Border Lodge / 10537" Reverse - Blank The gilt base metal jewel bears a map of the outline of Saudi Arabia in yellow (sand), the Red Sea in red with a gold star on the location of Tabuk. Many years ago I had the good fortune to visit Tabuk and its location provided easy access to the remains of the Hijaz Railway up top the border with Jordan and also to the Red Sea coast north of the port of Dibba - miles and miles of wonderful pristine beaches and not a soul in sight. Regards, Owain

Paul, Not the kalima but probably some manner of religious quotation or invocation - the word 'Allah' is just below 3 o'clock. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Further to my post of 8 July I detail below a Delegates jewel of El Firdan Lodge 8677 of Egypt. The reverse is engraved : "Presented To / Bro. / W Heaps / C.P. / For Services / Rendered as /Delegate" Silver-gilt with Birmingham mark (F.C.P.) & date letter 'B' for 1951 In addition a RAOB Latitude Zero Gan jewel. The reverse is engraved "Bro. C. W. Heaps, C.P." Silver gilt with London mark (maker unclear) & date letter 'n' for 1968 RAF Gan was situated at the south of the Maldives islands and established as a military base in 1941 - used as staging post for RAF flights and closed in 1976 and handed back to the Maldives Government. Kind regards, Owain

Gentlemen, Whilst looking for something else in my 'archive' I came across this image of an Aden jewel - it appears to be from a common die as a RAOB India jewel - neither in my collection - images ex-internet - see below. Aden Obverse "R.A.O.B. G.L.E. Aden Province" (with traditional Aden Dhow used on coinage and postage) Reverse "Bro. E.C. Stoch / Aden Lge /No. 6797" No manufacturer's name but the detail 'Regd No. 731578' - probably a patent or design number. India Obverse "Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes S.T.B. India" (unsure as to what S.T.B. stands for) Reverse "Presented to / Bro. Albert Wright / by the / Heart of Baluchistan Lodge / No. 6262" As with the Aden jewel no manufacturer's name but the detail 'Regd No. 731578' - probably a patent or design number. Kind regards, Owain