oamotme

Chris et al,

Great photo and as you say one of the few, if only one, with decorations being worn - taken during a visit to Belgrade:

Collar of the Nile - 1953.

Sash & Star of the Grand Cordon of the Nile

Star of the Order of the Republic.

Star of the Yugoslav Order of the Great Star.

Medals

Order of Liberation - Officers issue.

Military Star x 2 (one of these may have been isseud in 1948 and thus the royal issue - Chris?)

1948 War Medal - republican issue with reversed medal.

1949 Mohammed Ali Centenary Medal (without suspension wreath) - also reversed to obscure monarch.

Regards,

Owain

Gentlemen,

This has long been a mystery but I am pleased to advise this is the Algerian Wound Medal - the ribbon is incorrect and should be white and red.

Owain

This ia a Police arm patch for Baghdad,Iraq. It is 3.75 in. diameter and is embroidered. The number 104 is the number for the Police in Baghdad.

The translation at the bottom of the patch is: Iraqi Police.

Bob

The lower Arabic translates as "The Nejdah Police".

Regards,

Owain

Demir,

This is highly informative - with my limited Arabic I try to decipher such inscriptions . Your diagrammatic breakdown is of great value - thanks for the tutorial.

Owainl

According to one of my staff this is in Geez not Amharic and is a certificate in the name of Halie Selassie awarding the Order of the Star Knight (5th class) to a Captain Costa Ulseevich (Transliteraion?) & issued by the Defence Ministry

Hope this helps,

Owain

The inventiveness of modern Iraqi awards never ceases to amaze - the only more amazing thing is the vendors ability to price himself out of the market!

Owain

Hello gentlemen,

i have got two different decorations. I think they were from maroc.

I would like to know, what are the right names.

Could you please help me?

Thanks

Lpr19e

Gentlemen,

I have a sneaking suspicion that these medals are Algerian wounded awards - but need confirmation.

Owain[

Gentlemen,

This is a military college award from the United Arab Republic.

Owain

Dear All,

These are indeed Egyptian and the texts read as follows:

Tank : "Egypts Shield, Victory or Death"

Sword : "Infantry"

Shoulder title : "Airborne"

Cap badge " Egyptian Arab Republic"

Regards,

Owain

Lorenzo,

I believe the one on the right with a suspension "chain" is some from of official award. The one with Saddam and wings is new to me.

Owain

My late grandfather, John Edward Arnold Evans, was a banker in British East Africa with Barclays DCO throughout WW2 and at some stage was apparently appointed as a "Financial Advisor" to the Britsih Miliitary - he was to receive a military rank (Maj./Lt.Col.?) but this was decided to be inappropriate on the basis that whatever rank he held he could be overruled by a senior officer and thus he remained a civilian. He received no awards.

Owain

Gentlemen,

The sword illustrated is the sword awarded for the liberation of Al Fao and not the Qadiisiyah Saddamm sword. I would suggest that there are three swords - probably all of the same design and manufacture, but bearing different inscriptions:

Qadissiyah Saddam for the Iraq-Iran War and part of the 1980s overhaul of the Iraqi honours system.

The Liberation of Al Fao sword - specific to this particular action during the Iraq-Iran war. (Another one off award was the "Key of Liberation of Basra" - awarded in at least two classes and cast from the smelted weapons iof Iraqi martyrs!)

The Um Al Marek (Mother of Battle) sword instituited in 1991 and replacing the Qadissiyah Saddam sword - same decree as that replacing the Order of Qadissiyah Saddam by the Order of Mother of Battle.

It is possible (probable) that Will's jewelled breast badge is the medallic representation of all three of these swords., however the suspension bar/clasp states "Sword of Qadissiyah Saddam" and thus is specific to the first sword. The example I have is also gilded base metal. Lorenzo's photograph of the chain of 1980's awards has the badge second only to the Rafidain.

Regards,

Owain.

Many thanks - I'll see if I can get a copy when next in UK.

Owain

'Where Soldiers Fear to Tread' by Ranulph Fiennes

Dear Tiger-pie,

Many thanks - does this book include photographs of Nufl or Ghassani?

Owain

Gentlemen,

I am currrently researching the Dhofar Liberation Front (DLF), Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG), National Democratic Front for the Liberation of Oman (NDFLOAG), Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO) and I am endeavouring to obtain a picture of the initial two leaders of these organisations Mussalim Bin Nufl (1963-68), a former member of Sultan Saeed's household, and his successor in Mohammed Ahmed Saeed Al Ghassani (1968-1975). Does anyone have any information? I detail below a potential bibliography

? Who Dares Wins, Tony Geraghty, 1980, Arms & Armoour;

? SAS operation Oman, Colonel Tony Jeapes, 1980, The Battery Press, Inc.

? We Won a War, John Akehurst, 1982, Michael Russell;

? A History of the SAS Regiment, John Strawson, 1984, Secker & Warburg;

? Honour to the Airborne (Part 2), David Buxton, 1985, Elmdon Publishing [A5 booklet].

? The Secret War, Dhofar 1971/1972, David C. Arkless, 1988, William Kimber & Co. Ltd.

? A-Z of the SAS, Peter Darman, 1992, Sidgwick & Jackson;

? Muscat Command, Peter Thwaites, 1995, Leo Cooper.

? In the Service of the Sultan, Ian Gardiner, 2006, Pen & Sword;

There are no such pictures in Arkless, Jeapes or Thwaites books - perhaps the others may assist.

Kind regards,

Owain (OAMOTME)

Wil,

This is not the Sirdars Medal shown in your other post - the crown suspension clearly differentiates it from the Sirdar's Efficiency Medal. This looks like a full time soldier not a cadet. Possible options:

Badge of office, i.e. Corporal of the Guard / duty NCO or similar.

Passing out award - best NCO of cadre or similar.

Prize medal - shootiong, sports, etc.

Sirdar / Governor's Guard designation.

Food for thought......

Owain

Doc,

Nice piece - no makers mark thus I would suggest either a Bertrand or Huguenin piece - I suspect the former.

Owain

Lorenzo,

It appears to be a badge to commemorate the opening / rebuilding of the Saddam Bridge connecting Fao to the mainland.

Regards,

Owain

Bob,

This is a ceremony following the conclusion of the failed seccession in 1994 of the integrated PDRY into RoY and Ali Abdullah Saleh is awarding the Order of the War Wounded to the families of those soldiers killed during the fighting.

The "new" medal in the Sana'a Military Museum is the one class Order of Merit and comes in various issues:

Industry

Sport

Science (illustrated)

Art & Literature

Agriculture

Co-operation

The central design, inscription and central ribbon stripe colour varies.

Regards,

Owain.

PS I am currently working on a draft on the awards of YAR/RoY for submission to JOMSA

Gentlemen,

A great selection of the awards of the Republic of Yemen (RoY)- in the most part based on the existing awards of the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) but new manufacturer, ECC Group (German I believe) and with design variations. From the top & off the top of my head aided by labels:

Order of Unity (22 May 1990)

10th Anniversary of Unification Medal (2000) - there is a unification ribbon but no medal.

Order of 30th November (Brits leave PDRY 1967) - replaces a Soviet style PDRY Order of Independence.

Order of 14 October ( Start of Radfan Uprising 1963) - replaces PDRY Order of Revolution.

Order of Seventy (Commemorates Royalist siege of Sana'a in civil war 1967/8 and this appears to be an original YAR award by Skinner of Bond Street, London issue - only awarded at this level to senior officers present although there is now, post unification, a Medal or Decoration of Seventy)

Medals of Service (yellow), Duty (green) & Honour (blue) - there are at least three incarnations of this series.

Order of War Wounded - single class neck badge.

Order of Bravery - single class sash and sash badge

Collars of the Republic and Unity.

I was in Sana'a a couple of weekends ago and the selection of awards in the Military Museum there is not as good, but I suspect the illustrated series was used to provide new items for the Aden Museum which was looted during the post unification seccession attempt and also to demonstrate some visible symbols of unity. All good stuff!

Owain

Ed / Chris,

Similar ribbon bars for Yemen, KSA, UAE and usually covered with a thin sheet of clear polythene.

Here in Riyadh are now available plastic moulded ribbon bars - the CO British Military Mission has some for his UK awards when wearing National Guard uniform - his OBE is very bright pink and when queried by Saudi collegues on the necessity/suitabilty of "pink" ribbon this is explained and understood when they are told it is from the Queen - "Ah, if it is from the Queen then pink is OK!"

Owain

Ed is right - it is of course a copy, but in view of the naming, it is to my mind, a period copy and not a modern fake made to deceive the us poor collectors.

Owain

Chris,

Your theory is as valid as any other and in the light of no known fakes of this medal I remain convinced that this is a cast copy made locally - possibly after an orignal issue had run out. I have yet to identify the manufacturer of the original issue but as it is of good quality I would suggest it is European but to date I cannot confirm wheter this would be British, French or Swiss. Perhaps it is indeed Iraqi as the Faisal Bravery Medal of this 1926 series was locally manufactured butI am not convinced. We now have evidence of at least six varieties of this award:

Original issue 33.5mm diameter

Sigal Baghdad issue 34mm diameter

Cast issue - Owain - 32mm diameter

Cast issue - Chris - diameter tba

Huguenin issue - 35mm diameter

Republican Huguenin issue - disc 34.5mm diameter

With regard to the clasps these were all locally manufactured:

Southern Kurdistan 1930-31

Barzan 1932

Tiyareen Campaign 1933

Euphrates campaign 1935

Euphrates Campaign 1936

With the exception of the first which is today relatively scarce, the latter four are nigh impossible to find.

Kind regards,

Owain

Chuck,

Thanks for your input. I attach an image of a Shamil award - all were individually made and have different inscriptions. In this instance the inscription reads, approximately,

"In war young is the one who has control and in battle sways as the lion and he has been rewarded"

This piece is dated 1274 hijra which corresponds with 1857/8.

Regards,

Owain

Clara Semple's book on these coins is a must. They were issued in their millions by various mints through out Europe including, if I recall correctly, the Royal Mint. They spread all over Arabia, Eat Africa and even further afield. It is more than likely that the silver in the above illustrated necklace started life as coins. They are plentiful in Yemen and were even used as blanks to be restamped with the coinage of the Imams.

Regards,

Owain