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Gentlemen, You should also include the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen. From correspondence with the late Igor Victor-Orlov he confirmed to me from his sources that the mints in either Moscow and/or Leningrad manufactured PDRY awards - he had no details but on inspection of various items and correspondence with other interested parties, these would appear to include - Order of the Revolution, Independence, 22 June, Friendship, Bravery and War of Liberation Medal and possibly a few other commenorative medals. Other awards were manufactured in Hungary and some internal security awards were manufactured in the DDR. I attach from the Arab thread a picture of Abdulfatah Ismail, President 1978-80, wearing on his left shoulder the Order of the Revolution and the USSR Order of the Friendship to Peoples - neck badge as yet unidentified. Regards, Owain

Ed, Dave, Jeff & Lukasz, As they say in Arabic "elf shukran" (a thousand thank yous) Your contributuions greatly assisted in allowing me to conclude this article which had been ticking over for quiet some time. Your input was and is greatly appreciated. Whilst I am sure the article is far from definitive at least there is now something in print and in the public domain and will provide a base for more successful reserchers to work upon. Again thank you, Owain

Lilo, Many thanks for this clarification. I am still looking for such a medal to add to my collection - no doubt sooner or later one will turn up. Owain

Lilo, A belated thanks for this image. The image looks a litte "weak" - is it a composite image of a ribbon added to another independence medal obverse? Thanks, Owain

This appears to me to be a 1st or 2nd class breast and not a commanders (? neck?) badge. Is there a maker or date mark on the reverse? Owain

Lilo, F.Y.I. Liverpool Medals have on their website a 1st Type 1st Class Breast star for sale - L17009 - it is a 1st type but in fact it is a 2nd Class star and is incredibly badly damaged - most if not all of the enamel has been removed and it appears that the two central flags have been filed down. The reverse is missing its central holding nut. To my mind it is only really fit for scrap metal but still a price of GBP795! Regards, Owain

Dear Lilo, As far as I am aware for the Order of Independence there is no 1st type or 2nd type - the design remains constant - other than manufacturer variations - placing of script, size of wreath, etc. Owain

Lilo, Both inscriptions are the same "Al Hussain Bin Ali" - I have seen a number of variations in the script and these appear to be design variants by the manufacturers - Bertrand, Bichay, Garrard, Huguenin, London Gold and Silversmiths Coy., etc. From my experience the design of this particular order remains contant from its inception in the Hijaz through Transjordan to Jordan. I know that the very early pieces manufactured locally have paint rather than enamel and some years ago I saw the 1st Class presented by King Hussain of the Hijaz to the Sultan of Lahej after the Great War - this also had a heavy weave sash. What is difficult to identify is when the Order of the Renaissance design changed from 1st type to 2nd type - 1925 when Hijaz fell or later when Transjordan became the Kingdom of Jordan or indeed any date in betweeen! Owain

Lilo, From the picture and even if I could see the award you could not tell whether the Order of Independence is Hijazi or from Transjordan - both versions have the inscription Hussain Bin Ali. ( I do know that the very early issues made locally have a painted rather than enamelled centre.) The Order of the Renaisance from its shape is the first type however as discused in separate correspondence one cannot tell from the award alone when it was awarded but as Jafaar along with Nuri Said were the senior non-royals of the Hijaz military I feel it safe to assume that the award is Hijazi. I have no picture of Jafaar wearing the sash of either of these orders. Regards, Owain

Lilo, Rick, It also appears that when he visted the Ottoman General Staff in Jerusalem in 1916 prior to the final campaign when he was captured, he was prometed to the rank of General and awarded an Iron Cross 1st Class. Apparently when he was later awarded his CMG it is reported that he wore his Iron Cross. Unfortunately I have no photo of him wearing this decoration! Owain

Rick, All good stuff for which many thanks. On looking at his autobiography - "A Soldiers Story" (2003 - English edition Arabian Publishing GBP25) there is a picture of him from 1910-12 in the uniform of the Badische Leibgrenadierregiment 109 with one award - Order of Mejide 5th Class! I will try and scan and post. Owain

Lilo, My comments are just assumption - I don't know the regulations for the award of the star - hoewever I feel it to be highly unlikley that he either received it or was entitled to it. In his autobiography I do not recall any mention being made of this award. You could infer that he was happy to wear the Liakat as the campaign for which it was awarded was not aganist the Allied Fiorces but the Senoussi in what is now Lybia. Owain

Gentlemen, If I recall correctly he wears the Liakat medal on the basis that he was decorated with this medal for his services in the Ottoman military with regard to the campaing against the Senoussi in the Western Desert. I would suspect that he never received the star nor in light of his services with the Hijaz military that he felt entitled to it. I believe the awards are still in the possession of his family. Again if I recall correctly this photo was taken in London after he was awarded the GCVO during the state visit of King Faisal in 1933 - the King died in Swiitzerland on the way back to Iraq. Owain

Ed, I'll e-mail the image to you - perhaps you can tweak it for uploading? Thanks, Owain

Gentlemen, The list comes from a photo taken some time between the award of the GCVO and his assassination in 1936. The image I have is too large and I will try and reduce it in order that it can be uploaded. The Two Rivers is Military and not Civil. The ASM clasp is fixed to the medal and not loose - see my recent article in the OMRS Journal - from my experience the SK clasp was affixed to the ASM - all other clasps I have seen have been loose - this is not 100% but an educated guess. (At a push it could be Barzan 1932......but unlikely that Jafaar would have been involved/present at this relatively small campaign.) With regard to the Turkish (Ottoman) award the picture will allow the correct identifcation of this medal. Regards, Owain

Gentlemen, In later life in full dress uniform his mounted group consisted of the following: O. of Two Rivers (Iraq) with rosette. O. of Independence (Hijaz) with rosette. Active Service Medal (Iraq)with clasp - probably "Southern Kurdistan" . Ma'an Medal (Hijaz). Independence Medal (Hijaz). War Medal (UK). Victory Medal (UK) with MID Emblem. Imtiaz or Liakat Medal (Turkey). Plus O. of St. Michael & St. George (UK) neck badge. Royal Victorian Order (UK) breast star, sash & sash badge. O. of Two Rivers (Iraq) breast star. O. of Renaissance (Hijaz) breast star. O. of Independence (Hijaz ) breast star. Kind regards, Owain

Thanks - so the date doesn't help in dating the photo, though my feeling is it is of the man whilst President. This Order of the Revolution commemorates the traditional date of the uprising against the Federal Government and the British, being 14 October 1963. To my mind this is the senior award of the PDRY as it was this award which was presented in May 1990 by Ali Salim Al Beidh to Ali Abdullah Saleh on the proclamation of the Republic of Yemen - I have a photograph somewhere to be found. He reciprocated with the presentation of the Order of the Republic to Al Beidh. The award was also depicted on the upper right of the main newspaper of the PDRY "Al Thowra" or "The Revolution". With regard to the manufacture of P.D.R.Y. awards in the Soviet Union I endeavoured to obtain details through correspondence with the late Igor Victorov-Orlov. Igor was able to confirm through colleagues having connections with the Moscow and Leningrad Mints that both received instructions from the Government of the P.D.R.Y. to manufacture some awards during the period 1973 to 1984. As to which particular awards these details were unavailable. Regards, Owain.

Thanks Ed - two down three to go! When was the Soviet piece instituted? As it is in a prime position it may imply the picture was taken during a visit to Moscow. The Order of the Revolution was a Soviet manufactured award from the state mint in Moscow so in theory he could have got it whilst in exile. Owain

Gentlemen, I am currently working on a draft on the awards of the PDRY and have come across this image of Abdulfatah Ismail. The only award I am fairly sure of is that on the right of the photo being what I believe to be the senior state award of the PDRY - the Order of the Revolution. The awards on the left are too indistinct to even hazard a guess, however somebody may be able to identify the other breast badge and neck badge. He was very much in the Soviet camp thus they might well be Soviet awards. Following his deposition in 1980 he lived in exile in the USSR to return only to disappear in mysterious circumstances in 1986. I have no date for this picture but would suggest it is from his period of office as President. Of course the neck badge and sash my be simply the badges of office of the President. All suggestions welcome! Owain

Gentlemen, On further inspection: Badge & star both have the synthetic ruby star not enamel Ther reverse of the badge has five flaming torches. There is a small makers mark on the reverse of the star and on the suspension loop of the badge. Based on the above information and the correspondence on this thread the set is pre-1963 when the reverse was amended to have six flaming torches. Is there any way to further narrow the date by knowing the when the enamelled red star was changed to the synthetic ruby star - e.g. when the name of the order was chaged in 1961? ..and by the way I have negotiated down to $980 and I will be collecting the set tomorrow. Thanks for your invaluable advice - it is much appreciated. Kind regard, Owain - in a hot Riyadh - yesterday the temperature reache 46C!

Gentlemen, I detail below a translation I obtained of the Arabic Laws concerning this award and which was used alomg with other translations as the basis for my JOMSA article on the awards of the Kingdom of Iraq - published inthe January/february 2006 issue. I hope this helps. Owain Iraq Child Welfare Medal Iraq Government Gazette No.17, 27 April 1941 182. IRAQ CHILD WELFARE MEDAL LAW NO. 21 OF 1941 With the approval of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, I hereby order the promulgation of the following Law:- Article 1 A medal to be called ?Child welfare Medal? shall be created. It shall be of three kinds (1) Gold, (2) Silver, and (3) Copper. The designs, colour of ribbons, and the manner of earning and wearing shall be defined by regulation. Article 2 The medal may be awarded by Royal Irada in the proposal of the Minister of Social Affairs. Article 3 Iraqis awarded the Gold or Silver kinds of this medal shall pay a fee to be determined by regulation provided that such fee shall not exceed three dinars. Article 4 This Law shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. Article 6 The Minister of Social Affairs is charged with execution of this Law. Made at Baghdad this 14th day of Safar, 1360, and the 12th day of March, 1941. ABDULILAH TAHA AL HASHMI HAMDI AL PACHACHI Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs Ag. Minister of Defence (Published in the Waqayi? al ?Iraqiya No. 1888 of 22-3-41) ----0000---- Iraq Government Gazette No.40, 5 October 1941 615. CHILD WELFARE MEDAL REGULATION NO. 44 OF 1941 After perusal of Article 1 of the Iraq Child Welfare Medal Law No.21 of 1941, pursuant to the proposal of the Minister of Social Affairs and with the approval of the Council of Ministers, I hereby order the promulgation of the following Regulation:- Article 1 The Medal in its three classes shall be composed of a seven-pointed star of one millimetre thickness and a diameter (the circle passing around the apex of the points) of four centimetres. Directly underneath the top point there shall be engraved an enamel seven-pointed star in red and inside it an enamel seven-pointed star in white. There shall be inscribed under this star the words ?Iraq Child Welfare Medal? in the form of an ellipse semi-circle. Beneath these words there shall be engraved in red enamelled figures the year in which the medal was created and beneath these figures there shall be engraved two ears of corn intersecting one another. The medal shall be suspended by a red and white ribbon. The white will be one third of the total width and shall be in the centre with equal widths of red on either side. The ribbon shall be threaded through a rectangular strip of the same metal six centimetres long and three and a half centimetres wide which shall be attached to the apex (of the medal) by a small link. Article 2 The medal in its three classes shall be worn on the left side of the wearer?s chest. Article 3 The owner of the medal may wear it on the occasion of formal and public holidays and ceremonies. Article 4 This medal is awarded on the proposal of the Minister of Social Affairs following recommendation of the Administrative Authority of the General Headquarters of the Iraq Child Welfare Society to persons rendering a service beneficial to the aims of the Iraq Child Welfare Society, and it is conditional when awarding the golden class thereof that the service should be a distinguished and specific one. Article 5 There shall be recovered from those who are awarded the medal a fee of I.D 2/- fro the golden class and I.D.1/- for the silver class. Article 6 This Regulation shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. Article 7 The Minister of Social Affairs is charged with execution of this Law. Made at Baghdad this 26th day of Rajab, 1360, and the 12th day of August, 1941. ABDULILAH JAMIL AL MADFA?I ALI JAWDAT AL AYOUBI Prime Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs MUSTAFA AL ?UMARI IBRAHIM KAMAL Minister of Interior Minister of Finance & Ag. Minister of Justice NADHAF AL SHAWI JALAL BABAN Minister of Defence Minister of Coms. & Works NASRAT AL FARISI MUHAMMAD RIDAH AL SHIBIBI Minister of Economics Minister of Education JA?FAR HAMANDI Minister of Social Affairs (Published in the Waqayi? al ?Iraqiya No. ?? of ??-41) ----0000---- Iraq Government Gazette No.46, 14 November 1954 1702. REGULATION No.5 of 1952 AMENDING THE CHILD WELFARE MEDAL REGULATION NO. 44 OF 1941 After perusal of Article 1 of the Iraq Child Welfare Medal Law No.21 of 1941, pursuant to the proposal of the Minister of Social Affairs and with the approval of the Council of Ministers, I hereby order the promulgation of the following Regulation:- Article 1 Para (20 of Article I of the Child Welfare Medal Regulation No.44 of 1941 shall be deleted and substituted by the following:- The medal shall be suspended by a red ribbon with a white stripe, provided that the white stripe shall make up one third of the total width of the ribbon, and the other white stripe shall make up one third of the total width of the ribbon, and the other two stripes, on either side, shall make up the other two thirds. The ribbon shall be threaded through a little ring fixed to the upper point of the seven-pointed star. Article 2 This Regulation shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. Article 3 The Minister of Social Affairs is charged with execution of this Regulation. Made at Baghdad this 18th day of Rabi? al-Thani, 1371, and the 15th day of January, 1952. ABDULILAH NOURI AL-SA?ID MUSTAFA AL-UMARI Prime Minister Minister without Portfolio OMAR NADHMI MOHAMMED HASSN KUBBA Minister of Interior Minister without Portfolio MAJED MUSTAFA SHAKIR AL-WADI Minister of Social Affairs Minister of Defence and Act. Minister for foreign Affairs JAMIL ABDULWAHAB DHIA? JA?AFAR Minister of Justice Minister of Coms. & Works & Act. Minister of Finance KHALIL KANNA ABDULMAJID MAHMOUD Minister of Education Minister of Economics (Published in the Waqayi? al ?Iraqiya No. 3062 of 11/2/1952) ----0000----

I picked up a similar piece in the Khan El Khalili in Cairo some years ago - slightly less worn than yours but at least you have the ribbon! Owain

Thanks Anatoly. It seems I have the correct suspension but the wrong ribbon and of course getting some ribbon will be a challenge! Owain

I also attach image of the obverse of the Dunav Bridge Medal. I think the suspension is correct but not sure. The ribbon is incorrect and I believe is the Soviet Liberation of Belgrade ribbon. The reverse of the 'nut' has * E (Reversed). H. b. * and KOVNICA in cyrillic script. Owain

As requested by Explorer I attach image of Solvenia Partisan Medal - reverse is blank other than the number 2895. Owain