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Ed, The ribbon, green, of the Order of the War Wounded in your illustration is correct. The second award is the Order of Devotion, third class I think, and the blue ribbon for the War Wounded should be be more properly with the Order of Devotion - the blue ribbon is the thrid class ribbon. Owain

Ed, This is the PDRY Medal of the War of Liberation- of Soviet manufacture. Owain

Ed, This and the next medal are from the 1964-67 period of the YAR - instituted by or for President Sallal under the recommendation of Nasser and nmanufactured by Bichay - the full series is as follows: Order of Sheba - one class sash, etc Order of mareb - five classes Order pf Bravery - medal in silver and bronze Medal of Liberation - medal in silver only With the retreat of Egyptian forces from Yemen the sereis became obsolete and the YAR instituted its "own" series in 1971 headed by the Order of the Republic. Owain

In this series there are as follows: 20th Anniversary of the YAR 25th anniversary of the YAR 30th Anniversary of the YAR - ribbon only Unification of RoY - ribbon only 1Oth Anniversary of the RoY Owain

This is the first series, second type of this award 1971 onwards - this first type has the map of the Yemen Arab Republic oulined on the medal and the script runs circular to the edge of the centrel design. Owain

This is the second series of this award - post 1990 unification - the first series is similar to the Order of Duty illustrated by Ed. Owain

Good morning from Riyadh, I hope the note below is of interest - bling indeed. Owain This Order, manufactured by Royal Insignia of Singapore, was only relatively recently instituted, becoming the UAE's highest national honour and primarily for Heads of State. The award is presented in a red leather case. A recent award was made on 27 November, 2003 when the order was presented by Shaikh Maktoum of Dubai to Joseph Sepp Blatter, President, of FIFA in recognition of his efforts in serving football. The article notes "the order is considered to be of the highest level and conferred on monarchs and presidents of countries". More recent awards have been made the rulers of Bahrain and Kuwait. Prior to the institution of this new Order the senior award of the UAE had been a single class award - the Order of Unity Collar Obverse A chain of fourteen links, of 18 carat gold, bearing various designs relating to the U.A.E. The central link from which the badge is suspended bears the arms of the U.A.E., being a twin masted dhow. The total weight of collar and badge is 800 grams. Badge Obverse A circular medallion, 85 mm in diameter, of 22 carat gold, bearing the Arabic inscription "Zayed" in precious stones. The badge and suspension link are encrusted with a large number of precious stones Marquise cut emeralds Rubies Emeralds forming the name "Zayed" Diamonds of different sizes. Total gems 1,013 total carats 33.77

Megan, Ed, et al, Off the top of my head: O.of Shaikh Issa - 5 classes plus collar and replaces the O.of Khalifa as Bahrain's premier award - maufactured by Spink O.of Abdulaziz, manufactured by Bertrand - since my JOMSA article I have "discovered" at some stage the grades of order were re-instituted as as follows: Badr Collar - muslim heads of state Abdulaziz collar - other heads of state Sash of the 1st rank - green with yellow edge stripes Sash of the 2nd rank - yellow with green edge stripes Excellent grade - green with yellow edge stripes 1st to 4th class - green with yellow edge stripes Regards, Owain

Ed & Co., The UAE presentation. Owain Nahyan_Collar_Bush.bmp

Ed & Co., The Saudi presentation. Owain

Ed & Co. GWB appears to have been awarded three awards during his recent jaunt to the Gulf: Palestine/Israel - Nil. Kuwait - nil, although his father was awared the Collar of Mubarak the Great. Bahrain - Collar, etc., of the Order of Shaikh Issa named after the late ruler of Bahrain. Qatar - nil. UAE - Collar, etc., of Order of Shaikh Zayed named after the later ruler of the UAE. KSA - Collar of the Order of Abdulaaziz - his father was also a recipient of this award. Egypt - nil. Perhaps he has already been awarded Kuwait & Qatar awards during visits by their Heads of State to DC in earlier years of his office?? Owain.

Lorenzo, At least his medal entitlement is clear: Rafidain Bravery ASM War Victory Coronation Flood Regards, Owain

Mother Lodge Apollo 357 & joining member of Eurydice 1920. Owain

Enzo, With regard to the awards of the PDRY, from my records the "Orders" appear to be as follows: Hungarian Manufacture O. of 22 June - neck badge O.of The Land (or Earth) - neck badge O.of Devotion - 3 classes O.of Science Hero of Yemen Star O.of War Wounded Soviet Manufacture O.of Revolution O of Independence O.of Friendship O.of 22 June (same as above but a breast badge.) O.of Bravery DDR Manufacture Ministry of State Security Order of Bravery In addition to these there is a vast array of medals. I have completed a draft for submission - some 40 pages without illustrations - to JOMSA possibly as a Monograph and am currently contemplating orgainsing the illustrations. Owain

Gentlemen, Some years ago I acquired a Colonial Police LSGC George VI issue named to: RSM HAMADI MTILA M.M. I had thought the name Arabic but the surname appears to be of southern African origin. To date I have had no success in identifying which Police Force he was with - is M.M. the Force abbreviation, or indeed Military Medal? The rank of RSM seems strange for such a medal. Any suggestions? Owain

Enzo, I seem to recall that Nayef Hawatemeh spent time in Aden as a guest of the PDRY government and the awards of the PDRY were procured from Moscow (most senior awards), Berlin (internal security awards), Budapest (most others). It may be that this is how such a contact was made. The PDRY had its own "Hero Star" - very cheap and tacky and I think Hungarian manufacture........but perhaps I digress. Owain

Aaaaaaaaaarrgh - as ever when you think you've seen it all something else appears. To be honest no idea what this is although at a guess the JD could stand for Jibha Dimocratiya - Democratic Front and thus indicative of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) - founded in 1969 by Nayef Hawatimah. I will need to look up my notes to see if my background research to the article gives me something more substantive to go on. A wonderful piece and as indicated probably of East German manufacture. Despite the wear it is obvious that care and attention was lgiven in the design and manufacture. Usually awards instituted by the various Palestinian factions clearly and in full indicate which faction they are - PLO, PLF, PFLP, PFLP-GC and DFLP, plus others. I attach another unrecorded award - this time from FATAH - on Ebay quite a while ago which I missed! In frustration.......... Owain. Obverse FATAH & "Movement for the Liberation of the Nation of Palestine" Revers - as above and also "Revolution to Victory" Of course I have no idea if the ribbon actually goes with the medal....

According to the PRO Medal Roll 942 medals were issued to the ALC - this is the first one I have seen and despite its condition I suspect a scarce piece. The incorrect suspension and clasp will be added to a correct disc - I have a number of these. Owain

Gentlemen, I have just returned from a weekend in Sana'a, Yemen and amongst various bits and pieces purchased in the souk in the old city was the disc of an Egypt Medal, undated, and engraved to: 366 DRIV. SELAH FOSS As an Arab (or so I thought but now not so sure) recipient this falls nicely into my collection and at $80 an interesting purchase. I would suppose that with some application I should be able to find out whether FOSS was with either British or Egyptian Forces and whether the medal was issued with or without clasps. The lack of unit does not make such research easy, however I am sure that it can wait until a rainy day. Regards, Owain. P.S. Other purchases include General Service Medals, clasp "Arabian Peninsula" to Aden Protectorate Levies, Tribal Guards, Mukalla Regular Army & Qu'aiti Armed Constabulary, a Great War Medal in Bronze, with wrong suspension to Aden Labour Corps (impressed ADEN L.C. - no name) and a QEII large bronze medal, Aden issue, of the Certificate of Honour. All in all a good haul.

Drew, This translates roughly as "Directorate of Morale Guidance and Public Affairs Kuwaiti Army". Hope this helps. With regard to Saudi insignia these were once fairly freely available but since the security clampdown in 2003/4 it is now very difficult to come by any insignisa - I have contacts with the Britiah Military Mission attached to the Saudi National Guard (separte and disticnct from Minitry of Defence & Aviation) - I will ask if they are aware of such a department. Owain

Reading right to left "rukn al-towjiah........." third word is unclear, but the first tow words can be translated as "place of advice...." . This is, to my mind, not Saudi as the quality does not appear to be up to Saudi standards nor does it include the inevitable KSA emblem of a palm and crossed swords which from experience is present in most KSA items. Regards, Owain

Good morning from Riyadh, I believe following discussion, some time ago, with Gustav Tammann that No. 6 is actually the junior class of the Order of the Alijieh - a three class order - a breast badge and graded 3rd Class - I do though need confrimation of this. ( I have an example with the reverse engraved with the recipients name). No.9 is, I think, the medal of the Order of the Brilliant Star. Regards, Owain

Lorenzo, How about ......... Published in IGG No.15 of 9 April, 1927 99. THE AL RAFIDAIN? MEDAL LAW No. 29 OF 1927 WE, KING of IRAQ With the approval of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, do hereby order the enactment of the following Law:- Article 1 There shall be created a medal under the title of ?Al Rafidain Medal with 5 classes, the 1st being the highest. Article 2 This Medal shall be granted by a Royal Decree. Article 3 The shape of each class of the Medal, the colour of its ribbons, the time and manner of wearing and all questions connected with the manner of its grant and possession shall be defined by regulations. Article 4 The following fee shall be levied on Iraqis granted this medal: Class of Medal Rs. Class I 120 Class II 80 Class III 60 Class IV 40 Class V 15 This law shall come into force from the date of its publication in the Government Gazette All Ministers are charged with execution of this Law Made at Baghdad this 22nd day of March, 1927, and the 19th day of Ramadhan, 1345 FAISAL JAFAR AL ASKARI RASHID ALI YASIN AL HASHIMI Prime Minister - Minister of Interior - Minister of Finance& Minister of Foreign Affairs NURI AL SAID MUHD. AMIN ZAKI Minister of Defence inister of Comms. & Works ABDUL MHADI AMIN ?ALI Minister of Education Minister of Awqaf Published in the Waqayi al Iraqiya No. 527 dated 31-3-27 Published in IGG No.24 of 23 June, 1928 I hope this helps - see also my JOMSA article on the awards of the Kingdom of Iraq. Regards, Owain P.S. You can buy me a beer.....

Drew, Here in Saudi the local bearded mystics who are employed by the Morality Commission or "Department for the Propagation of Virtue and the Suppression of Vice" (mutawin) wear everyday clothes and are usually accompanied when prowling the shopping centres by uniformed civil police who perform the dual role of validating the authority of the individual Mutawa in question, but also at times protecting him from any outraged victims. In 18+ years I have yet to see a uniform for such personnel and indeed wearing a uniform which would smack of nasty pervasive western dress, i.e. trousers, would not be in keeping with their world viewpoint. In visiting over the years the rest of the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE), Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Syria I have seen no evidence of any such uniformed civil personnel. Iran of course may be different. Regards from Riyadh, Owain.

Thanks Ed - if you ever get to Riyadh I'll buy you a beer, well at least a glass of Chateau Home Brew! Owain