paul wood

There was another auction of Ferdinand's Orders held by Mars and Merkur of Munich a few years earlier. It was material from the Saxe-Coburg side of the family. I have a severely distressed copy of that catalogue somewhere, Yes there were certain bits of Bulgarian especially that were left overs from 'stock' Paul

Ilieff it was given the usual production run and after the sale there were probably a couple of boxes spare but with in a year or two they had all evaporated due to collector's requests. I will keep my eyes peeled in case one turns up, if so I will let you know. Paul

Ilieff, As the cataloguer of collection I can tell you the catalogue is as rare as hen's teeth, I have only my own personal copy and no spares. One of the few catalogues that was basically a sell out. Paul

Absolutely fine 1985 numbers for the first class run from 495139 to 2487098, second class from 972792 to 6688497 Cannot see anything obviously wrong with the book. Paul

The Third medal looks like the Medal for Merit, Prince Ferdinand type 1. Paul

Of course, I was misreading the ribbon details, another, more frequent, senior moment. Paul

use 'cafard' as the motive for anything from drinking binges I don't need 'cafard' as a motive for that, any excuse will do (there is a Y at the end of the day, that will do) Paul

They could be suspended from either the St Vladimir or St Andrew Ribbon. Paul

I know Ferdinand's sexuality was somewhat ambiguous but I somehow doubt if he received the Order of St Catherine as that was only awarded to females. Paul

Excellent, all you need now is to find which camp he was imprisoned in and cause of death. A real bargain for 40 euros, one decent victory out of three is good going, maybe beginners luck. Paul

Unless he served in the forces in the UK during WWII and was late discharged or wounded or was enlisted and working in the War Office and was also an ARP warden, he would only be entitled to the Defence medal. It is a possibility that it could be a correct entitlement, Paul

The 1915 is the date the order was founded and is on all orders, the crossed sword were not added until 1921 a year before Constantine got the Order of the Boot 1st class. When there are with other medals it is easier to date them or from the case of issue. For a Constantine I period issue one would expect to see Great War and Balkan War medals in the group. A large number of issues are WWII vintage. Paul

I thought he was the original lead singer for Manfred Mann until the medal came into our possession. Paul

Both his 14-15 Star and War Medal would be officially named. One can get erased or renamed medals for very little money (although a War medal will cost about 20 euros purely because of the silver it contains). It is possible that the Red Cross may have details of him on their site re his status as Prisoner of War. Given the date of death very likely he died of Influenza. Paul

Here are the full details for James Richardson Rank: Private Service No: 60346 Date of Death: 24/10/1918 Regiment/Service: Northumberland Fusiliers 22nd (Tyneside Scottish) Bn. Grave Reference: IX. G. 18. Cemetery: COLOGNE SOUTHERN CEMETERY

Uffz. Charles W Parker (DM2-154135), I think you read the 5 as a 6, entitled to BWM and Victory Albert G Davies 204 and 291745 Royal Garrison Artillery, entitled to BWM and Victory James Richardson 13-202 E. Yorkshire Regiment and 60346 Northumberland Fusiliers 22d Battalion Tyneside Scottish (some records say 23rd battalion), Served in Egypt and presumably France and Flanders, entitled to 1914-15 Star BWM and Victory, He was a Prisoner of War and Died 24 October 1918 he is Buried in Cologne South Cemetery. So the last one makes it not a bad purchase for 40 euros Paul

Tim, Having a case for these is always useful in helping to date the piece, my gut feeling is post 1935 (a fair number were given out in WWII) Paul

There were large numbers of Hungarian sailors with various merchant ships as Fiume was a major port with a large Hungarian population (several members of the Carpathia's crew (the ship which rescued survivors of the Titanic) were registered in Fiume). It is conceivable that he was on a merchant ship in a German port at the outbreak of hostilities and therefore joined the Kriegsmarine Paul

Queen Victoria's Uncle Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, he married George IV's daughter Charlotte in 1816, she died the following year in childbirth, his nephew Albert married Queen Victoria in 1840. Well spotted Hermann Paul

Nice research, he seems to have a veritable chest full, including a Czech war cross. Paul

There's one in every pub ("I was rejected by the S.A.S. because I was too hard.") Paul

Radmilo, Werlich translates it as the Order of Glory. Paul

Radmilo, I would agree with your attributions. Paul

Yes Radmilo I agree, I am 90% certain the bottom decoration is the Lion and Sun. It could also be he's looking like this because it is about the eighth exposure and there is some nice wine waiting for him when he finishes. Paul

By the look Milan's face in the photo he didn't seem too comfortable in the Pickelhaube. He certainly looks totally fed up. Paul