oamotme

Will, Nice one! Congratulations on your well deserved award. This will look good mounted up with your RSA awards. Will you engrave the reverse with your name? From the Spink book published for the Sudanese government many years ago, this one class medal is noted as, "This order shall be awarded to Sudanese and foriegners who perform great services to the State and to officials who have spent in the Government service a long period during which they have performed their duties with honesty, loyalty and were of good character." Regards, Owain

Paul / Xtender, I am assuming that unlike the British system of marking silver and gold the Austrian system does not have a date mark? I attach images of the medal I have which is clearly related to / part of this award. No makers mark though. Kind regards, Owain

Dear Xtender, A similar piece, if not this one, was offered for sale in recent years by Kuenker. The Arabic reads as "Al Kawkab Al Ahmer Al Arabi" which could translate as "The Arab Red Star". I am of the belief, from a little research and some supposition, the arms are that of the Khedive of Egypt and I believe that the order and a medal was instituted by Khedive Abbas Hilmi, possibly after his deposition by the British in 1912, whereupon he went into exile in Constantinople. As the breast star was manufactured by Rothe in Vienna I suspect that the Constantinople post-1912 theory has some substance, as the Ottomans were in league with the central powers. Regrettably I have no documentary evidence to support my theory. Kind regards, Owain

Paul, Yes, this is the 2nd Class medal - there may indeed be a 3rd Class in bronze but not sure. The 800 silver mark may indicate it was made by BOMISA of Italy, but again no 100% evidence. The ribbon I believe is a lightish blue with a narrow red stripe inset from both edges. The suspension is correct and poorly made - ditto the Egyptian series. Regards, owain

Gentlemen, This is the Decoration of Military Duty, 1969, of the Libyan Arab Republic - modelled on the Egyptian medal. Many of the early medals of the Republic were modelled on the Egyptian series of military awards. Regards, Owain

Good afternoon from Riyadh, Is the neck badge an Orthodox patriarchal award? The two Greek letters "P" could stand for Peter & Paul - thus the Order of Saints Peter & Paul - an award of one of the Orthodox rites of Egypt / Greece / Syria? The star may be related - the crude workmanship in both instances would suggest local Middle Eastern origin. Of course I may be completely wrong! Owain

Gentlemen, The DNW auction on 29 March had a royal Rafidain breast star - Lot 1027 - est. GBP150/200 - hammer GBP380 .....good to fair price. Owain.

Dear Troy, This is the 3rd Class of the Military Duty Medal instituted in 1962. The ribbon for this class should be brown with two thin yellow stripes inset from both edges. Usually manufactured by Spink of London or Bertoni of Milan. Kind regards, Owain

James, Very many thanks indeed for this post. You have done us all a great service in correcting the Burke entry - it just goes to show that once in print fiction can become fact. Again thank you. However as a medallic tail to this saga I was going through some of my paper records and came across an old Foreman of Piccadilly catalogue of January 1986: Lot WM235 Tunisia Order of Nichan Iftikhar (Order of Glory) Grand Cross Sash Badge and Breast Star, Silver & Enamel, Rare Type in the name of King Rechad (Presently in Exile) Very Rare EF GBP325. Notwithstanding the fact that this is a completely spurious issue of the order, this is the first example I have seen of the order with his name. From your post James I would infer that the Order of the Crown is a Rechad invention, but nevertook solid form, and all he was able to do was "convert" an earlier verison of the Order of Glory into one bearing his name with a view to deceive. The Order of Independence also uses the format of the Order of Glory, replacing the Bey's name with "Independence" on a red background, and the ribbon changing from green with red stripes to red with white stripes. Again thank you James for your valuable contribution to this thread. Kind regards, Owain

Lorenzo, On looking again at this star the base of the star is a cast of a Rafidain breast star and thus it would, I think, be safe to assume it is of Iraqi manufacture. Regards, Owain

Dear 922F Many thanks for this - all additional information is most welcome. From my understanding Muhammad Al Amine abdicated without issue eligible to succeed him, and thus Husayn En Nasr who did succeed was the third son of Bey Muhammad En Nasser (Bey 1906-22). His son Rechad's mother was a Hungarian, Margit Arpad, who upon conversion to Isalm took the name Farah. Husayn did have sons from his first marriage and the correct claimant should descend from these sons, however I digress as this is not the focus of this research. It may well be that Burke's 1980 book which notes the institution of the Order of the Crown may have got the information from the same source that Col. Guyadier. Kind regards, Owain P.S. It would appear that the title claimed by Rechad was, "King of the Tunisians, and Algeria, Sultan of Mascara, of Titteri, of Constantine and Oran, Emir al-Moumenin (Commander of the Faithful)".

Megan, Thanks for this additional detail. According to my source Muhammad Al Amine's title upon his accession in 1943 was "Bey and Possessor of the Kingdom of Tunis" (this title was of long standing and dated back to Husayn Bin Ali 1705-1735), and upon Tunisia gaining independence in 1956 it became a Kingdom, however the title change from Bey to King would only take effect upon the death or abdication of Muhammad Al Amine, and thus it was his successor Husayn En Nasr who assumed, for a day, the title King of the Tunisians. Independence from France was proclaimed 20 March and the Republic proclaimed on 25 July, thus the institution of the new order must date from this period. Somewhere I am sure there must be a decree.........I wonder if Arthus Bertrand were contacted to produce designs? Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, I recenty obtained a copy of Burke's Royal Families of the World, Volume II, Africa & the Middle East - published in 1980. In the chapter on Tunisia under the reference to Bey Muhammmad Al Amine (Lamine) Bin Muhammad Al Habib 1943-1957, who abdicated 24 July 1957 it notes that he "founded the Order of the Crown of Tunisia (never awarded)". He was succeeded by Husayn En Nasr who assumed the title of King of the Tunisians and who abdicated the following day, 25 July, due to ill health in favour of his young son Rechad Al Mahdi (b.1947) who was crowned 23 August and left Tunisia without having abdicated on 12 October 1957. President Bourgiba had proclaimed the abolition of the monarchy on 25 July 1957. I write to enquire if any member has seen any other references to this Order of the Crown? Kind regards, Owain

Gentlemen, I attach an image of the medal - with disc reversed. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, I attach an image of the group - poorly mounted and in the incorrect order. Regards, Owain

Dear Mervyn, Many thanks for this interesting observation - I am encouraged, if cost effective, to follow up Brett's suggestion of obtaining service details from Pretoria. Regards, Owain

Dear Archer, Many thanks for the information. Brett, The medal has not been cleaned for many years and has a dark patina and is in good condition - I wonder where it has been? If it can get "home" to a nephew it would be a good result. I'll keep you and GMIC posted. Thank you for your assistance which is much appreciated . Regards, Owain

Dear Brett, Thank you for this information. The medal is outside the scope of my collection - Arabia and Ethiopia, and thus if it is something that should be back with the family then I would be happy to facilitate this. Currently the medal is in UK and I will not have access to it again until late August / early September. Perhaps you would be kind enough to explore this possibility with your contact. What a round about saga. I search auctions on line in Riyadh, find a lot in Cape Town, successfully bid, the medals get sent to UK and the story reverts back to Kenya and Natal..... Regards and thanks, Owain

Dear Brett, Many thanks for you prompt response - nice to know that it is indeed a South African medal group. For the time being I will bide my time as the medals are in UK and I am back in Riyadh until late August / early September. With kind regards, Owain

Gentlemen, In a recent auction I obtained in addition to other medals, a WW2 group : 1939/45 Star Africa Star Italy Star Defence Medal War Medal Africa Service Medal All medals are impressed with the details of the receipient are as follows: 578417 L.G.SMITH I would be grateful if any member could advise whether it is possible to identify the unit and designation of the receipient. It may be of relevance that the group was obtained in South Africa. This is not my field of expertise and it may well be that this group can find a new home. Thank you in advance, Kind regards, Owain (OAMOTME)

Gentlemen, In a recent auction I obtained in addition to other medals a lone AGS with the clasp "Kenya". The details of the receipient are as follows: E.862 1/P. ( R ) E. RUNDGREN I would be grateful if any member could identify the unit and designation of the receipient. It may be of relevance that the medal was obtained in South Africa. Thank you in advance, Kind regards, Owain (OAMOTME)

Greetings from a dusty Riyadh - apologies for the delay in getting back - been in the midst of hosting a St.David's Day dinner with choir of nine flown in herer from North Wales! Anyway with regard to the above six badges - the top half in all instances reads "Nation Honour Loyalty (or Devotion)" and the lower halves read left to right: Communications (Signals) College Training College Maritime (Naval) College Republican Guard Civil Artillery College Technical Affairs I hope this assists. Kind regards, Owain

Good evening from a 12C Riyadh - almost winter! Left Top "Nation Honour Devotion" (I think grammatically the word is devotion although in this context it may be interpreted as loyalty) Bottom "Military Driving (?) School" Right Top " Nation Honour Devotion" Bottom "Engineers or Engineering" Regards, Owain

Good morning from Riyadh, Top line - Naval Forces Bottom Line - Martyrdom is the Road to Victory Regards, Owain

Good morning from Riyadh, I think the bottom line of the label reads "Shami Bazar Jalalabad" - not 100% sure though - Ed, would you concur? Regards, Owain.