christerd

Hi all, Dond I haven?t seen any of the markings you mentioned ecept for the L/ , a L/15 made of bronce and a L/11 miniature. AS in a triangle , JFS , MuK is unknown to me as HK makers Are you sure they have made Honor crosses? And Ulsterman, Yes the magnet is the first thing I test , but sorry to say so far all have been iron ones Well, there are some more millions out there so I keep on looking... Christer

And next page in the award doc with date and class noted. Christer

And, probably the hardest to find ! A document awarded to a Dragomir ?? in 1975 for a I class

And a Class III Order, no gold just silver for this one

And the backside showing the multipiece construction

Here is a closeup of a class II order Christer

Thought I would celebraty the new sub forum with a new thread Order of Civikl Valour and Merit was instituted 4th August 1966 It comes in three classes , I, II and III the first class has agolden Lion with golden rays round it, the II class has only tje lion gilded and the third class has everything in silver. This order was awarded for valour exhibited in rescuing human lives, salvaging property (!) and in combating crime. This order is not one of the more common ones and only 2359 pieces was awarded and that is for all three classes. A very nice and well constructed Order Here is a Class I with document and late plastic box. Christer

:jumping: Thanks for great Pics ! I would really like some of thoose ribbon bars.... Have a nice summer Christer

:cheers: YES! Now I looking forward to seeing a lot of interesting Bulgarian things Happy Birthday, New Subforum Christer

:jumping: Thats was a new one !! During more then 3o years of collecting I have never seen one of theese Its like the Holy Graal for Honor Cross collectors All the best from Sweden Christer

:cheers: Great Bar Mike !! When I have looked further into this I found that the Clasp -Kotijoukot -Karjalan Kannas -Ilmapuolustus All could be found on Foreigners medals, so your home front cross fit right in I think. And another discovery, in just 2 years at least 4 of the silver medals has been sold in Finland and Sweden ...... Ohh god , why isnt my name Bill Gates ...... I want one Christer

:cheers: Now I have taken a deep dive into the mysterious world of Finnish Awards and I think all the different Types of awarding for the "winter war" medal First award cert would be for a person with Both Swords and Clasp (name of clasp ) Only one clasp was to be on the band!! Next award cert looks almost the same but only say clasp ( and name of clasp) Third award cert was for someon without swords or clasp And now comes the fun part, there is a fourth award cert !! A award cert for next of kin, with another writing " in memory of ....." I have never seen such a cert or should I say havent been able to read what it says ... Have to learn Finnish. So Three different medal combos: Swords+ clasp, clasp , nothing And Four award certs ! Ahh forgot one thing !!! All types of certs could be written in both Finnish and Swedish since some people in Finland was Swedish speaking in 1940. Puhh I hope I got that right now, Next step is to get pics of all the different types of certs All the best from summer sweden Christer

:cheers: Great Award papers Rick ! If my memory don?t fool me I think it is totally correct to get a medal without any bar The swords was for anyone who had been under "enemy fire" in some way, the battle clasps was for participating in the battle . But the different Army, Airforce clasps ... hmmm I think for example woman who was part of the Lotta organisation didn?t get any clasps at all. Firefighters,civilians,police probably the same. I will have to do my homework tonight and return with a better answer. And please dont put me on the breakfast table because I disclose the award numbers on Gold and Silver medals The numbers for awarded Foreign medals (Iron & Bronce) and all other Finnish Orders is still well locked in my safe. Have a great day all! Christer

HI Mike , About the claps on medals to foreigners I belive the two awarded is Kentt?armeija or Lappi I don?t think any others where awarded to foreigners ? But I am not 100 % Hav anyone seen a Foreign medal with another clasp? By the way, the silver medal was awarded to 42 people if my sources is correct, haven?t got the names yet but still looking. Good night Christer

Here is another ship in my collection. A beautiful Steamer SS Duchess of Atholl , built in 1928 by W. Beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir. She was a big ship 20.119 tons and one of the biggest ship sunk during WWII. In October 1942 she was transporting 534 passengers including woman and children when she was hit by an torpedo from U-178 at 08.19 on 10th Oct. She was in all hit by three torpedos and this could have been one of the worst disasters, but the casulities stopped at 5 crew members. All others was saved by a British ship HMS Corinthian. The German Submarine ? Well she ended up scuttled in Bordeux in 1944.... Christer

:cheers: Great Cards Vince! Here is another new card in my growing collection M. V Roxburgh Castle built 1937 by Harland and Wolff ltd Belfast. Her story ended at 08.28 hours on 22 Feb, 1943. When she was hit by a torpedo from U-107 north of the Azores. I don?t think anyone ombord was killed during the sinking and the crew got into lifeboats and reached the Azores. The submarine u-107 was itself sunk by an aeroplane in 1944 and got down with all hands... Christer

:cheeky: I got some more info about the Golden and Winter War medals ! The Gold and Silver medals could only be awarded to Foreigners who had helped Finland between the dates November 30th 1939 and March 13th 1940. Notice, that only people working outside Finland with aid was awarded theese medals. And ohhhh so few What I know the following people got an Gold medal: Crown Prince Fredrik of Denmark Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden Crown Princess Louise of Sweden Prince Carl of Sweden Amiral Nicolaus von Horthy , Hungary Ex president USA Herbert Hoover General V. G Th?rnell Sweden So if you find one of thoose lying around, don?t hesitate to send it to me for safe keeping Christer

And here is the normal issue besides the Foreign one ! The back is the obvious difference , but notice also that the Foreign one is bigger and one very important thing, look at the different connection rings. Christer

Hi Rick and Hendrik ! And you are right of course Hendrik the "Kentt?armeija" is the most common one The Tolvaj?rvi is one of the harder ones I think, but I have seen it for sale in Sweden, theese medals turns up on a Swedish Internet auction site from time to time , I keep you in mind and if a Tolvaj?rvi clasp shows up, i?ll mail you. Rick, I dont think theese where awarded after the war at all, but since there are no dates on the papers I really don?t know Maybe some member from my neighbour country Finland knows?? Here is the Backside of the Foregin Issue Christer

Here is the four Army, Airforce , Coastal Defence and Home Front + the two for Foreigners. The ones for foreigners is awarded in very small number, especially the bronce one ( for non fighters) There is also a Silver one awarded in very very small numbers to high ranking politicians for ex (saw one for sale last year for about 2000$ ) And even one made of Gold for head of states and similar awarded in extreme small number I have never seen one..... Christer

Here is a little better pic of the different claps ! One of the hardest to get is Mantsinsaari , and the most common is Karjalan Kannas I think When the swords are mounted the value is a little bit higher. As you can see , they can be made in some different materials and types. Christer

:jumping: At last I got all the different clasps for the Finnish Winter War medal . Thought I show them for you There is Eleven clasps for different battles during the Winter war They are : Kainuu Karj alan Kannas Koivisto Laatokan-Karjala Lappi Mantsinsaari Pohjois-Karjala Summa Suomussalmi Taipale Tolvaj?rvi Then we have four different ones for Airforce : Ilmapuolustus Coastal Defence: Rannikkopuolustus Army : Kentt?armeija Home Front : Kotijoukot First picture is all of the eleven battle claps + one medal issued to a woman.

Thanks Paul, I also thought until recently that the HK only was awarded to Germans, Austrians but no other but since then I have seen photos and read that at least the Finnish soldiers in J?ger Batl 27 , fighting with the Germans in 1WW was awared the HK. Concerning award numbers of Finnish Orders/medals all I can say that Finland is a rather small country and the numbers are related to that. Christer

:jumping: Thanks Thomas ! I thought the North Star band looked somewhat strange, so it is a Oinonen Group Com Cross What does that look like ? Well it explain the somewhat mystery life of a "swedish soldier" All the best Christer

And here is the backside, some different types of backings ! Christer