sabrigade

The 2 classes/variations side by side.

I will place some photographs of my Iraqi Orders and medals in the appropriate threads when I have the opportunities to have the photographs taken.New to adding threads so please bear with me.

Medals of the 2 Rivers in my collection:

I have forwarded a file with photographs that my wife took of the display.Internet facilities are very limited where I am currently in the Sudan but will try make up for it when I am home in December.I will be travelling to Florida in January for a company conference.The file has been forwarded to your private address.

Sabrigade

I can't Wait to see the pictures of your Iraqi ODM Collection, please make me a list of the items you want to sale or trade.

Thank you

God Bless

SSG Luna, Lorenzo

No problem.I fly back to South Afica on 17 December and will then post some photographs.The collection has been removed from the museum and is now back at my house.

There is definitely a silver version.Some examples are found mounted in a beautiful dark blue box/case and others in the more mundane plastic type bags.I will post these when I get home in a few weeks time.

There are definitely two manufacturers of this award.I have both examples in my collection which is currently on display in Johannesburg.I will be returning to South Africa next month and will also be taking back the display which has been on loan since January.I will send detail photographs when I have the means and facilities to provide quality and better inputs.

A good question. I am sure stuff is being made and invented just to sell to the occupation forces. That is one of the things that people under foreign occupation have probably always done throughout history.

It does, however, have the feel of one of those things that would have been produced after Gulf War II, during the years of ongoing sanctions and bombing, that were intended to boost flagging civilian morale. It also reflects the low quality (= sanctions) of those late-Ba'ath years.

The problem is that we may never know. One of the common casualties of foreign invasion is the archives of the overthrown government, especially those things that are of no interest to the invaders and teh government they set up. I was able to get some copies of regulations and so on from a friend in Baghdad in the weeks just before the commencement of Gulf War III (and I'm sure those packets added entries to my FBI file), but the hoped-for "many more" copies of regulations never came, as his part of Badghad was pretty heavily "liberated" and I suspect he didn't survive the invasion. Getting information on these 1991-2003 civil awards was a particular goal, and they were many and generally unknown.

As I have previously stated,the awards made in Iraq are very complex to research especially given the lack of credible material availability as very aptly described by Ed in his comments above.

Although many copies and even awards have now been manufactured to fool and entice both the souvenier hunter and enthusiastic collector,i think that this specific award is genuine and was very cheaply made as described by Ed.

Examples of this award are also relatively easy to find.

The General Federation of Iraqi Women was established by the Baath Party shortly after its ascent to power.This movement,in the opinion of various authors,played a significant role in implementing state policy.

Community centers were established and run by the organization and numbers of more than 250 centers have been quoted.Educational as well as other programs were offered and at the same time the communication of official policy was encouraged and promoted.Many of these centers became known as literacy centers and were designed to bridge the gap between male and female literacy in Iraq.

In 1997,it was reckoned that approximately 47% of Iraqi women were members of the organization.It therfore played prominent role and its impact on the Iraqi society must have been notable.

In brief,the goals of the organization were-to fight enemies of the socialist arab society,to ensure the equality of iraqi women with men regarding rights,contribution to the economical and social development of iraq and to support mothers and children within the family structure.

The organization was disbanded by the Coalition Provisional Authority{CPA} after the recent war.Membership of the GFIW also required Baath Party membership.

One of the best "rememberances" I have of my 3 years in Iraq is the woman whom I met and married there.Some of these inputs come from her experiences of living and growing up in Iraq.She now resides in Johannesburg with our daughter.

Great finds-congratulations!

I hope to do some posting in December when I return home and will have the facilities to do it properly.

There are some very interesting items out there,just takes hard work!

Hey, you will have to tell me where you have found medals! I am going to Khartoum early next week for a three week TDY. I will also likely be travelling to Juba and El Fahser, possibly even Niyala.

As in most foreign countries it takes time and a major effort to build up connections amongst the local sources and further,to also identify them.There are market places in and around Khartoum where you might find some articles.I have been in Sudan since January and travel a lot around the country.There are no dealers or sources in the South,you will have to hopefully befriend serving SPLA soldiers or people who served who possibly may have something available.It takes a lot of time and hard work and you also end up buying articles you do not really need or want in an attempt to maintain these identified sources and also too provide them with some inspiration to find what you are actually looking for.As stated by the people who know,there are not many sources available on Sudanese medals which makes it even more difficult to identify or even request specific items.

Happy Hunting!

Let me see what I can find. Should be interesting. Any chance of pictures?

With pleasure.I have also found some Sudanese medals which I have not been able to identify or confirm.The best one appears to be an Order of the Republic as described in your article.

Hi Ed,

I am interested in the local forces,Egyptian and Sudanese,who fought againdt the invasions.

I have travelled around the various sites and will also be going through El-Obeid next week.

Thanks for the interest.

I am currently in Khartoum and have had the opportunity to visit the sites of some of the battles fought in colonial times against the British army.Does anyone have any details of the weapons and equipment including armour and helmets used by local fighters and armies in these conflicts?

Yes, I am convinced that, for the right price, a foreigner in Iraq could obtain "Saddam Hussein's" awards. Probably a piece of the "true cross" as well.

There is so much mythology and disinformation around regarding his awards, that it is almost not worth offering corrections.

Thanks Ed,

Unfortunately,there are not many accurate references available regarding his personal as well as the other Iraqi awards.The best article on Iraqi Awards remains the one you compiled and,no pun intended,it is literally a minefield out there in both researching and obtaining specific items.I built up my requirements and objectives for my Iraqi collection from your article.There are citations for certain awards given to members of the Iraqi Armed Forces during his reign,some awards were even connected to additional rewards such as Insurance Policies and other special items such as pistols and special swords but these are few and very far between and are very difficult to find.My main collecting field remains militaria and medals to South Africans in France for World War 1, but I have found the Middle Eastern Awards very fascinating,especially those that were awarded to Saddam Himself.The exciting part is the gap that remains to make new discoveries and identifications and also confirm previous research.It also has given me a lot of insight into the history of both the country and the region.

Hey Bob....I founf a wall clock here in Baghdad with a picture of Saddam in uniform wearing his awards. I could not see it well enough to them all. I will try to get the guy to let me take a photo of it instead of buying it.....although it might be neat as well. More to follow as it's Friday and they are not open today......

In the interim I found these pics on the internet....it's not the greatest but might be able to start building on it.

As I can see them from left to right as you look at the picture from Bender Publishing:

Wissam al-Rafidain, GC Military Division

Medal Bar:

Unknown Medal

Medal for Bravery 1963-1990

General Service Medal 1959

Medal for the palestine War 1948-49

Medal for Crushing the Northern Uprising

Medal for 14 Ramadan Revolution 1963??

Medal for 17 July Revolution 1968

Medal for Cooperation 1967-1973

Medal for Peace 1970

Army Golden Jubilee Medal (gold class) 1971

Medal for the 1973 War with Israel

Tony

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_05_2007/post-1625-1178902055.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_05_2007/post-1625-1179046537.jpg

Still working on the clock with the full length picture in uniform

Hi All,

I am the owner of the display in Johannesburg.I am currently the Country Programme Manager for an American Demining Company and am based in the Sudan.There are definitely more than one set of orders,medals and decorations that can/have been attributed to Saddam Hussein available internationally.The give-away or possible clue,in my humble opinion,is the first award on the medal bar which is referred to as an unknown award in the various posts.This is or was a very scarce award and was known as the Order of Merit.As far as I have been able to ascertain,this award was given to a very small number of people of which Saddam was one.I will attempt to provide photographs of the display when I return to South Africa in a few weeks time for a break.