Ed_Haynes

Not that there is much happening over here, but here are a couple of documentsd Baildaani gav'yaany odon sets, just to interrupt the silence. With later paper document:

Actually, I agree even more with his final paragraph than with the linguistic note.

There was a good article on in in JOMSA a while back; let me dig that out. The "Red Bible" does a decent job with this, pp. 132-33. Summary -- to surviving participants in GPW: OPW1 - --- HSUs --- Cav. of Order of Glory --- Marshals, generals & admirals --- Awarded an order or a medal for bravery, ushakov, combat service, nakhimov, or partisan --- Invalid wounded in combat OPW2 - --- Any other surviving veteran

In New Delhi, I never give to beggars (who are mostly "pros", even if under 15 years of age). In Moscow, I broke my rule when approached by GPW veterans wearing their medals.

. . . and new friends, remembering the Good Old Days on the steps of what used to be the Central Lenin Museum.

But it was also nice meeting old friends . . .

. . . and . . .

Agreed completely, Paul. I found that quite disappointing. Bad fakes at that! At least most of the medals at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, the Museum of the Revoluition ("Museum of Contemporary History"), and FSB (KGB) Border Guards Museum were real, though the armed forces museum was #1. Not sure when I'll be back, soon I hope The exterior of the GPW museum was more interesting than the interior . . .

I agree with Paul.

And a sample page . . .

As a follow up . . . . . . an interesting catalogue (of sorts) sold at the Central Museum of the GPW. Worth having if you ever see a copy.

Yes, rather disturbing.

and Big

Among some recently received ribbon bars, are two especially nice "lucite D" ones. Little

An odd, idiosyncratic, and quite original (= "wrong") mounting, but also with one unusual item and one incredibly rare item. 1233117 Havildar (RHR?) Sohan Lal, Artillery 1- Sangram Medal - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY 2- Samanya Seva Medal, "Nathula-Chola 1967" - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY - probably THE rarest GSM clasp, more uncommon than "Overseas Korea"? 3- Long Service and Good Conduct Medal - 1233117 HAV SOHAN LAL ARTY - while mounted blissfully out of order, it actually has the right ribbon 4- Sainya Seva Medal, "Jammu-Kashmir" - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY 5- 25th Independence - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY 6- 20 Year - 1233117 RHR [?] SOHAN LAL ARTY 7- 9 Year - 1233117 GNR SOHAN LAL ARTY

Thanks for these! It has been quiet -- too quiet -- and these make GREAT reading!!

See: http://www.omsa.org/photopost/showphoto.ph...368&cat=610

Can part of the problem be our focus on (= bias toward) "things military"? Linked to this is the general denigration of any civil awards. The HSU was not, and was never intended to be, a uniquely military award. While many of these non-combat HSUs may have been more important to the USSR than the military acts that won it, we tend to treat them with disrespect. True, if you want "all military, all the time", stick to the Order of Glory (or watch the History Channel on TV).

Maybe Bob is right. Maybe the "hype" is over? Maybe everyone has lost interest in Mongolian awards? The absolute, reverberating, deafening silence on this forum would suggest that. That's OK. To make space, just send all those "de-hyped", now-uninteresting, Mongolian doo-dads to me. They will find a loving home.

Plus, my grandfather almost got dragged off to the Spanish-American War. He had gotten his call-up papers, but then it was over. Close call. Same with my father who was scheduled to go off on a LST for the North Africa landings. Then they discovered his was so color-blind he couldn't stand deck duty, and he got replaced (and off to ammunition depots); the guy who replaced him was killed when the LST was hit by a Stuka while ferrying prisoners of war out of Sicily. Another close call.

I added this to the post, Dan, and you must have missed it:

Nice. The only (US) Civil War items I have are my great-grandfather's two medals. See http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3975&st=01 for those. My father had tons of Civil War stuff he dug up and out or trees as a kid, but I have no idea where that is now. Another great-grandfather's 14th Virginia Cavalry lieutennt's uniform was burned years ago by aunts who were disturbed that it "might get moths" - grrrrr.

Here's my Soviet collection. Currently "in transit", pending new quarters once we reclaim square feet from our just-departed-to-college daughter. (Hope my wife didn't see that . . . .)

Gaudy? As compared to what? Design standards died along about 1919. Case in point: the new US Army Sea Service Ribbon. This is not a joke (well, it is, but it isn't).

OK, all of us have been seeking a way to scan naming of commonwealth medals. My latest experiment. Inspired, believe it or not, by the departure of the youngest for college. 1- Take that sticky clay-like goo that one uses to stick posters on dormitory walls so you don't get charged thousands of dollars for sticking pins in the walls. 2- Make a nice flat surface in the goo. 3- Roll (carefully -- more carefully than I did in my test here) the named edge of your medal in that flat surface. (And, in this test, I only did part of the naming.) 4- Scan that impression (trying not to get the goo stuck to the scanner glass). 5- Mirror the scan, convert to black and white (unless you want a nice coloured scan -- in this case, electric blue) and adjust and fiddle the contrast (and I could have done much more than I have). If you used wax I bet it would be better! A test -- (Indian) Special Service Medal, clasp "Suraksha", named: 7237642 L/DFDR SM SHAMIM R V C And you see: