oamotme

Gerald, Can you send a close up scan - I wonder if the Omani DSM is a Sultan Saeed or Sultan Qaboos issue? Probably the latter if it was issued in conjunction with the Omani GSM for Dhofar. Regards, Owain

Gerald, Nice miniature group and a fair price - well done. I was going to bid but I was distracted by work! Regards, Owain

Dear Lion, The obverse is out of focus but the reverse reads "The Syrian Arab Army, Unity, Freedom & Socialism, With the compliments of the Defence Secretary" - not sure about this last phrase. From my experience I would suggest this is a souvenir medallet rather than an award. Kind regards, Owain

Gentlemen,

I appear to have missed this - the lower inscription reads "Meer Sher Ali" - the "Meer" is probably "Emir" being commander or prince - and fits in with Paul's earlier comments. The upper inscription is difficult and could be in two parts the first letter is illegible but the rest appears to be without "small" vowels "_ H - M h N A"

I attach courtesy of "W K P D A" an image of Emir Sher Ali.

Kind regards,

Owain

On looking at the one on the left again the style is reminiscent of the Order of Rafidain and thus it is of Iraqi origin and the ribbon inscription appears to read "Arab Union of X?X? Manufactures" or similar. Owain

Yes, I saw it for sale but did not bid - but even as a mystery piece $87 is OK, Owain

Ilja,

The image of the one on the left is unclear thus inscription is illegible but the imagery looks Baathist/Socialist so possibly Syrian or Iraqi and may be some federation or association.

The one on the right reads "Wissam Al Ezzat Zalah Durra'a Al Fatah" - Order of Honour Zalah (???) Shield of Conqueror - the language would infer a state award but again this may be a faction or party award.

Regards,

Owain

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