oamotme

Eric,

 

The medal on the top right is the Syrian 1948 Arab Israeli war medal.

 

Regards,

 

Owain

Eric,

 

The medallion in the blue box, issued by the Central Bank of Iraq is to commemorate, in 1971, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Iraq Army. The green and gold ribbon is for the military issue medal but it appears that you have 1st class ribbon (gold) on  second class medal (silver).

 

The bronze medallion appears to be Ba'ath Party issued piece commemorating the 1968 revolution/coup when Saddam's cronies took power inscribed with such phrases as "One Arab Nation" and "Unity Freedom, Socialism".

 

Your medals are a basic mix of royal and republican medals and a few Syrian ones to. The red and black ribbons are the republican bravery medals which were amended to the red, white, green and black ones for the Gulf War and have the added script "God is Great" and "Mother of Battle".

 

Regards,

 

Owain

 

P.S. The first word on the box is "Bulgarski......

Alice, I have seen a similar piece before and the inscription is not in Arabic thus ruling out any Arab country. I think it is in Farsi (Persia) or Urdu (Pakistan) or Dari/Pushtu  (Afghanistan). If pressed to choose I would suspect it is Persian in origin but would not bet on it! Regards, Owain

Gro,

Not sure if this is an official piece or more likely an unofficial commemorate jetton, "Commemorating the Seventh Anniversary of the 23 July Revolution" (1952-59).

Regards,

Owain

Chris,

In the early 1990's I had the good fortune to visit twice Tewfiq Bichay at his home in Quebec. In discussion I recall him mentioning that whilst Sadat took an interest in the design of some awards he was very keen on the appearance of his uniform and was quite vain in this regard. Indeed images of him in uniform wearing the Sinai Star neck badge - only awarded to him in memory of the combat death of his brother, have him looking quiet smart. Incidentally I gather from a book on wartime Cairo by Artemis Cooper that Sadat was implicated in a spying case on behalf of the AXIS powers and the reason the two German/Egyptian spies were not executed was because Sadat would also have had to have been shot and this was an unacceptable course of action to the British authorities at the time when relations with the Egyptian authorities were strained.

Regards,

Owain

Dom,

Without sight if any inscription - the badge appears to have loaded incorrectly - I could suggest a Jordanian crown but the crescent style also suggests a Malaysian heritage.

Regards,

Owain

Dragomir,

Sorry I missed this but the two sash badges and two of the stars appear to be the Ottoman Orders of Medjide and Osmanie but as the picture is so heavily touched up the detail is not at all clear.

Regards,

Owain

Lion,

The Arabic reads,

60mm Mortar

Sh - F - T

63/1 - 81/9

Regards,

Owain

John,

My Bronze BWM is in UK although recently I was contacted by a Yemeni based in Jeddah who was enquiring whether his late father's service on the ALC (and medal) would entitle him to a pension - hope springs eternal!

Regards,

Owain

Paul,

At this distance from London the green fades.........

I thought "Sarwan" was a name - what rank does this translates as?

What do you think A.H. Corps stands for? Army Hospital Corps or hope against hope Aden Hospital Corps, or ??

Regards,

Owain

John,

I seem to have missed this post. I detail below what I have - not all mention Aden, but all bar one purchased in Aden, Sana'a or Ta'iz in Yemen.

Kind regards,

Owain

1914-15 Star Bnz Aden Local Transport Sarwan Munasir Othman WWI War Medal Silver S. & T.C. Agent Hussein Noor Silver A.H. Corps 1-Asst. H.S.K. Abdullah Chotoo Silver No unit Ali Mushed Silver No unit Cassim Hassin Silver Aden Troop Sowar Saleh Fadthl Silver Aden Troop 529 Sowar Ahmed Khan (DNW auction) Bnz Aden Labour Corps No name - only unit - "Aden L.C."

Gro,

Not very clear but I think, "National Company for ------ Oil and ----- in Algeria".

I'll get back with a full translation.

Regards,

Owain

Something else????? Thanks to searching in Arabic and Google Translate - beware of errors, but......

"His Holiness Patriarch imitate His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, the Grand Cross of St. Ignatius of Antioch Mar

A token of love and loyalty and honor, bestowed upon His Holiness Patriarch holy Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I was total beatitude, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, the holy and the Grand Cross of St. St. Ignatius of Antioch, which is the highest honor in the Syriac Orthodox Church, has held the ceremony after he delivered His Holiness Patriarch Speaking at the official ceremony in the presence of mass tens of thousands of Coptic worshippers"

Sadly the definition of the image is not good.

Regards,

Owain

Dragomir,

See image below of an award of the Golden Medal of St Peter and Paul of the Patriarchate of Antioch and All East made in 2001 to Mahmoud Darwish, the Palestinian poet. Unfortunately this is the highest definition I can get and I cannot read the text of the certificate.

http://darwishfoundation.org/ephotogallery.php?id=21

Kind regards,

Owain

Dragomir,

I have amended the St. John Order translation - see above.

The script on the star is not wholly legible, but something along the lines of,

"The Great Saints, Worthy Messengers, Peter and Paul, Founders of the Antioch Church"

The words 'worthy' and 'church' may need amending - I did have a proper translation but have misplaced it - if I find it I'll confirm/amend this translation.

Kind regards,

Owain

Dragomir,

It appears to read,

Top, "Order of St John of Damascus"

Bottom, "Patriarchate of Antioch and Whole (not 'near') East"

......but I'll check with my Arab colleagues tomorrow - I'll also confirm the star inscription.

Kind regards,

Owain

P.S. The purported head of John the Baptist is held in a shrine in the Ummayed Mosque in Damascus - he is honoured as a prophet in Islam

Dragomir,

I tried to buy this or one like it in 2010 but it had already been sold. Off the top of my head and as the heading notes it is a breast star of the Order of Saints Peter and Paul of Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch. The names Peter, Paul and Antioch are in the inscription. I need to find my notes on this to make sure.

Kind regards,

Owain

Dear Gro,

I have not seen this medal before but the fact that the country's title is noted in full and the name of the award is also noted as a Decoration I would accept this as a genuine state award.

Kind regards,

Owain

Dear Gro,

The Inscription , in three lines reads,

"The Great Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahariyah

Decoration of the Security of the People (or People's Security Decoration)

General Security."

This dates from the period 1986 onwards.,

Kind regards,

Owain

Goo,

Thanks - much clearer - the script reads "National Unity, Patriotic Mobilization, Liberation" - a PLO slogan. The text beneath the badge remains unclear, but following discussion with some of my Arab colleagues the consensus is that it reads Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) which was founded in 1961 and merged in 1967 with other Palestinian groups to become the Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). From some quick on line searches it appears that the date 10 September 1964 refers to the date that the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) was formed. So this medal is linked to the PLO, PLF and PLA! As with all matters Palestinian further research is needed.

Kind regards,

Owain

Dear Gro,

An interesting piece. The images is too blurred to read the logo on the central badge but the lower obverse script appears to read "Unity, Nation, People, Community, Liberation", but to be sure a clear image would be useful. The reverse reads, I think, "Established/Instituted on 19/9/1964". 1964 was the year the Palestine Liberation Organization was established but I recall this was in May during an Arab League Conference so I am unsure as to what this specific date alludes to - further research.

If it is for sale I would be interested and please contact me off line.

Kind regards,

Owain

Sorin,

The top of the obverse is from the Koran and means something like "God increase knowledge". In the centre, "Qaryounis University" which is, I believe, in Palestine.

The reverse reads "Qaryounis University Degree/Award Ceremony 1977"

Kind regards,

Owain

Gentlemen,

In yesterday's on line Daily Telegraph there was a series of images concerning 11 November:

"In pictures: acts of remembrance since 1918

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatpicturegalleries/11219818/In-pictures-acts-of-remembrance-since-1918.html?frame=3101436

This picture shows a wreath from the 'Camberwell Organised Unemployed' being presented on November 11 1921. Some of the men are wearing pawn tickets behind their medals.

Picture: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images"

This is the first time I have seen such an image. I wonder how many of these pawned medals were never redeemed and ended up in the melting pot - far too many I suspect.

Regards,

Owain

Gerry & Gentlemen,

I attach recently acquired, from E-Bay, small but still Omani themed miniature group - CSM "Dhofar", As Samood (Endurance) Medal and Sultan Qaboos Accession medal.

Regards,

Owain

Gerry,

Now I am kicking myself for not bidding! Both Omani miniatures are the very scarce first types in the name of Sultan Sa'eed bin Teymour which means they were awarded for service in the period ending in 1970 when he was deposed by his son, Sultan Qaboos. It may be a long shot but if you can match from Tinson's book list of British recipients of the DSM for the period 1967, when it was instituted, to 1970 and then cross reference against Mention in Dispatches list for the Campaign Service Medal campaigns of Borneo &/or South Arabia you might get a match.

Yours in frustration,

Owain