pluribus

Badge of the Single Armoured Car Group of the Defence League Tallinn regional unit. The badge is extr. rare. 89 men served in the unit in 1939.

Kev in Deva, Sorry but my English is not so good to explain all the half-tones between black and white. You are not a youngster ( like myself) and it`s not my intent to change your faith. But one must remember we are all human beings and please don`t be so determined in the topic which is obviously too inpenetrable for you. ( I mean history of Baltics). pluribus

Hello, Looks like a ribbon to the Imperial Russian Order of St.Stanislaus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Saint_Stanislaus Here is the original ribbon of Imperial Russian order. pluribus

Dear Gentlemen, The Estonian national army was born in 1917. Most of the military units and institutions had their badges. The badges are rare as the right to wear the badge was enjoyed only by field officers and NCOs who had exemplary served in the unit for at least six months. The units were small and only 2000 men obtained the education of a proffessional officer between the two World Wars. So 50-200 is common number of issued badges for most of the units. Most of the military badges were made by Roman Tavast`s firm who`s output is distinguished for it`s exeptionally high workmanship and a good taste. Some famous artists, like P. Luhtein, G. Reindorff, designed Estonian military awards. Here you can see Motorized Tank Regiment badge. 450 men including 30 officers served in MTR in 1939.

Iron Cross with swastika is simply Iron Cross of 1939-1945 which was awarded mostly for the bravery. You can`t change the history scratching off or baning swastikas on the awards. Anyway, you have your point of view and I have mine. If you have even a small interest to why it is like it is in Estonia, please read the links I gave above. Best, pluribus

Estonians see them wearing bravery awards which they were awarded for the fight against Soviet occupation. I can`t see any relation between Iron Cross and nazism. Also we have no problems with veterans wearing the Red Star orders. By the way, many of Estonians were mobilized to the Red Army. Personally as a collector I like Red Star very much and I have large collection of ORS and many other soviet awards and items. pluribus

Firemedals, Very correct information. I will add some photos of badges from my collection to illustrate this topic. This is the Higher Diligence Badge. It`s extr. rare as awarded less than 100 ex. in 1927-1940. It`s made of silver, gilded, enamels. It`s big and massive and it has a multipiece construction. Made by Roman Tavast.

Thank you. It is not my purpose to ask some sympathy.Our veterans who fight on the German side do not need abroad sympathy- they need sympathy of their own nation and they finally have it fair and square after the 40 years tribulation. pluribus

...and here is a badge to the pilot-observer.

Dear Kevin in Deva, Did you ever see soviet veterans wearing their awards that have been de-sovietified? I never did. Also, have you ever heard about diference between waffen-SS and allgemaine-SS? By the way, not even one Estonian soldier belonged to nazy party. About resistance http://www.hot.ee/evlliit/okup_3.htm About resistance to the soviets http://www.balticsworldwide.com/forgotten.htm pluribus

Hello, Here you can see the current pilot badge. pluribus

Dear Sir, First, Latvia and Estonia are not former communist states. They are independent republics which were occupied by the Soviet Union. Second, this is unbelievable if somebody in the military history forum says scum to the soldiers, no matter on what side they battled. And last but not least, as you know there are always two sides of the coin. pluribus