Paul R

Thanks guys. I love these because they are so hard to find( I have the two I have ever heard of ) and they are not desired by anyone, so the odds are that they are not faked and very inexpensive. A Sonderfuhrer is a man who is brought into the Luftwaffe at a certain pay scale because of technical training or education that is needed by the service. Although these men are uniformed, they were not considered to hold a soldier's status. I think of them more along the lines of uniformed GS workers in the US. Although they had officer and NCO rankings, they were little more than payscales that were equivelant to the training the service needed. Regardless of their paygrades, they carried no command or authority over soldiers(LW or any other branch) or one another.

Here is the photo that came with the group. It is a different tunic, but the ribbon bar looks like the same style and is a Westwalll.

This is the second Sonderfuhrer tunic I have ever seen... and it is now with me! (Thanks Jesper Hahn). This is for an elevated career level Sonderfuhrer Oberlt equiv.

Thank you. How available are the missing pendents? Do you think that this combination is tracable?

I attended the Hayward CA BAT show today and walked away with this awesome ribbon bar; bought from Ed Anderson. What are your thoughts? I love it. What do the missing medals look like? I know that the EK2 is a standard cross. What about the others? I would like to find the missing pendents and display them on top of the bar. Is this item traceable?

That is a beautiful bar grouping. It would be awesome to find a uniform to mount it on!

Beautiful example. I need to find a few for a couple uniforms I need to decorate.

That is one awesome photograph! I do appreciate you sharing it!

You know what they say about a fool and his money.

Can you please post your medal? I have not seen a bronze version before. Congratulations on it being awarded to you.

This is one of the more impressive careers. What is the Soviet equivelant to the current Russian Order of Courage?

The two are definitely different.

Another awesome post war photo.

Wow! Great photos. I do have a question about this... why did they not receive higher awards, subsequent to the Valor Medal. From the citations I read, there was not that much difference in the magnitude of accomplishment between a Valor Medal and other orders, like the Red Star, Order of Glory, and etc.

Is there anything on the back of the photo? What are the two awards on the wearer's left?

Every Order of Glory will have a great research result. You should get it done on yours and post!

Great photos... keep them coming.

Those are some beautiful looking pins! Are my eyes deceiving me or does that first membership card have a date of birth of 1866?!?!?! He must have had some serious service time by the time the card was issued.

Very nice!! I am envious. This is one of the best SHD photos I have seen. Looks like he is wearing a Westwall medal ribbon bar. Please do post a better photo. If you ever sell it, I would love to be the new owner.

So there is no sign of the eagle on the other side? I have never heard of a single decal that consists of the Tricolor Shield.

Very interesting. I love to see awards issued from different countries. I am certain that these airmen will wear the medal with much pride.

Very interesting photos Lorenzo. Thank you for posting them. I really like this historical grouping.

Very rare and special grouping. I like the factory ID and badge quite a bit.

I posted the items from the two links so that they can be viewed after the article is removed from the website. WWII VC hero's medals fetch $1 million Belinda Merhab July 28, 2011 - 5:44PM AAP The family of World War II hero Ted Kenna will drink a beer in his honour after his medals, including a Victoria Cross, were sold to a mystery buyer for more than $1 million. The VC was the centrepiece in a collection of 10 of Kenna's medals that were displayed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra until being sold at a Melbourne auction on Thursday. A bidder, taking her instructions from a mystery caller, paid $1,002,000 for the collection - a world record for Australian medals. Advertisement: Story continues below Mr Kenna's medal, earned for single-handedly taking out a Japanese machine-gun post, is the first WWII VC to be sold publicly and is one of only 20 awarded to Australian soldiers during the war. The bidder told AAP the buyer, and what the buyer planned to do with the medal, would remain secret. Mr Kenna's son, Rob Kenna, said the record result was humbling. "I don't know what dad would say about this ... because he wasn't driven by money at all and he would never sell it and he left the responsibility to us," an emotional Rob Kenna told reporters. "His wish was to share the value of that medal in dollar terms among the four children. "The first thing I'm going to do is buy a pot for him and drink it, that's what he would want me to do. "(The family will) be having a beer together, a wine as far as the girls go, and thinking about dad." The sale might generate mixed feelings among diggers, but it was what his dad had wanted. The family has no idea who bought the collection, but Mr Kenna said he hoped the buyer would share it with the Australian public. "Of course we'd want it on public view, and that was one of the main reasons (we sold it). "If it moved down through the family then it would disappear into one person's hands and sell for $5 million in 50 years' time and one person benefits," he said. "We want all Australians to share in it and let's just hope it works out that way." "(VC recipients) represent those people that fell and they were so courageous in their actions, right through their service, not only that one action. That's what people miss, but you've got to look behind the medal to the heart." Private Kenna's exploits in Papua New Guinea on May 15, 1945 are among the most famous feats by Australia's list of VC winners. With his platoon pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire, he stood in full view of the enemy less than 50 metres away, firing a Bren gun from the hip. Return fire sailed between his arms and body. Undeterred, he fired on the post until his magazine was exhausted, before seizing another rifle and shooting dead the enemy gunner with his first round. Three weeks later, he was shot in the face and spent nine months in hospital where he met his wife Marjorie, with whom he had four children, 12 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. He died in 2009, aged 90.

I have never seen such a medal. Is there any idea on the number awarded?