Ed_Haynes

An interesting group, and very much worth researching, especially with the MSM. He surely went through some times, first in the Great War and then, later, in Iraq where things were as bad as they are today. Some things don't change.

In India, the very ribbon for the GSM associated with Iraq became, by the late 1920s and early 1930s, an object of terror and recruiters going out to snag new soldiers were told to take it off when they went to villages lest the locals spy the ribbon and hide their sons away out ot reach. WWI ribbons were OK, and would actually help in recruiting, but not THAT ONE.

Well done, Tony!

It is amazing and inspiring how research can breathe history and life into a dead chunk of metal and cloth.

Thanks for posting this.

They (like other dealers) also very often link the wrong images to their text. I must assume this is what happend here. When you get some pre-pubescent computer geek doing your websites, . . .

So, to summarise (and working from my favorite site on Polish awards -- yours, Lukasz!):

Order of Combat Valor

1- POLAND - Polish Army Medal (Medal Wojska Polskiego) in silver

2- POLAND - Multinational Division Central-South Commemorative Medal (Medal pamiatkowy Wielonarodowej Dywizji Centrum-Poludnie) - unofficial commemorative

3- UNITED NATIONS - UNMIL (United Nations Mission in Liberia) - where I was unaware Mongolians had been deployed??!!

4- The Mongolian medal for overseas/peacekeeping operations, but who knows what the proper name is.

5- Unknown Mongolian.

While I have both the badges (above his right pocket and below the medals), they have so far eluded identification (well, I've never asked -- shall do so now ).

Thanks Ed, it is interesting that the enamel on Sgt. Azzaya's medal is much darker.

I suspect it is intended to be "UN blue" but, as other countries have discovered, that seems to be a hard color to get right consistently.

And I wonder what his other medal can be.

Best,

Lukasz

Have already sent an e-mail to Ulanbaatar!

He obviously just wears his medals in an order based on size. Inventive, but non-standard.

The last two are his Mongolian awards:

4- The Mongolian medal for overseas/peacekeeping operations.

5- Unknown, something new. The first time I have seen it! The design would suggest it is Mongolian, though. Shall shoot a query off to Ulanbaatar!

And, above, the Order of Combat Valor.

See also: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=20021

See: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16218

Yes, as with most dealers, the more removed they become from their arena of maximum comfort (in this case, British ODM), the more ragged their identifications become and the more random their pricing gets. I think this is true for all professional dealers and becomes positively laughable when you delve into the festering swamp of eBay.

We could post dozens of laughable examples, from a wide range of dealers. This is why it is vitally important for the collector to have their books and journals as ready reference.

There has to be a way... Maybe someone with a bit more computer skills can help?

Normal procedures don't work, they rarely do. If someone wanted to contact the chap who did the story . . . ??

1936:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution

http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russia...st/1936toc.html

1977:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution

http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russia...st/1977toc.html

WOW! There is a Belgrade vet in there! Also a vet with the Victory over Japan AND Germany medals! Thanks for sharing these, Ed. I would love to be able to sit down with these men! The stories they could tell. I hope that someone took them down at some point.

Well, they are in Hartford, Connecticut . . . hint hint.

PRI radio just had a nice (short) piece on Red Army veterans.

Listen to http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=0711074

And photos (poor phaleristic quality) at http://flickr.com/photos/pritheworld/sets/72157600766392901/

Not exactly glamorous, so even MORE interesting. For lifesaving, perhaps? l

When I post it you'll see, but far more mundane, but with documents rarely seen.

#s 7 and 8 are Japanese Red Cross, though these rosettes always confuse me as to class.

The Ottoman one is the Nishan-i-Osmania / Order of Osmania - the device is invented though.

A measured and well-explained response, Nick. It is important for people to understand our forum's focus and the rules by which that focus is nurtured. It is also important to bear in mind that those applying the sometimes vague rules are a group of human beings with all the pressures and foibles that accompany that state.

(DISCLAIMER: I possess almost none of the divine powers to which Nick alludes, being a lowly worm of a creature in the greater food-chain of GMICdom.)

And, all, please be aware how very very dangerous it is ever to open a discussion of contemporary or near-contemporary conflicts, even in terms of our focus on medals and other militaria. All need to be especially careful when tap-dancing on that very thin ice.

What about any British MC or DSO group from WW2

I wouldn't know, I only collect groups to Indians where the WWII medals (most of them in most groups) are named. No medals to natives (of the British Isles) for me! Few DSOs though, as Indians weren't allowed those lofty ranks in any numbers until they became free. I do have several solid and researchable MC groups, though; most are shown on this forum, I think.

Yet it is true in these corrupt dangerous days that any unnamed/unnumbered medals must have their research value questioned, as there are too many unscrupulous folks who will add anything to anything to make their profits. Provenance, provenance, provenance must remain the guide. However interesting unnamed/unnumbered items may be in numismatic terms, their research value is limited.

"Fighting for peace is like f*****g for virginity."

-- The 1960s

Under the last queen (Victoria) it was surely worn. Can't say how it is done now.

How hard is it to tell what is a fake when those made by the awarding government are generally discounted by collectors of German medals and most of what is focused upon are postwar European jewlers' recreations of the Ottoman original?

But -- and please excuse a novice's question -- how can a decoration that is (1) unnamed, (2) unnumbered, (3) undocumented, and (4) has only the most filmsy merchant's tall tale to support it be considered in any way 'researchable'? You can ask whether the RK is real or not, but 'research'??

Probably a lot, Doc. Unemployed/deposed descendants of former royals have a life style that takes much money to keep up, as the plunder of their ancestors is long gone. It may cost more to pretend than it did to be a king?

I'd guess embassy/attache stuff.

But that is merely a guess.

Just to 'bump' this and remind us it exists.

Or have we all been caught with a monster question that even WE can't answer??

I couldn't possibly say about parallels to Dutch (or other awards). My latest information from Cairo is that it is still awarded at least in the Collar and Grand Cordon classes. The fate of the lower classes is less clear. It did continue after the revolution, but has, I believed, been pared back in recent years, as other orders took over its role and the old monarchist heritage became increasingly cumbersome.