Ed_Haynes

Hi All,

Supposedly this is a rare one :

Royal Yugoslav Commemorative War Cross - Originally instituted on 6 September 1943 (the King's birthday) by King Peter II in exile for award to those who had fought against the Germans in Yugoslavia and to those that had rendered distinguished services to the king during his exile in Britain. The obverse bears the head of the king whereas the reverse shows General Mihailovitch. Production and actual awards of this decoration only took place after the war had ended.

[attachmentid=18371] [attachmentid=18370]

As I recall, this was being "awarded" by the royal "government" in exile in the late 1960s to any veteran of any nation who had served in the European Theatre, just so long as your money order was good. Kind of a "fringe" award?

Pretty though?

So, Christophe, your turn now . . . ??

If, on close examination, it seems merely to have fallen off, then replacing the clasp might not be so naughty. Many of the usual dealers (Dixon or Liverpool, for example, and maybe Ursual) stock original clasps. While you don't want to think too much about where they came from, you should be able to "restore" this without too much trouble.

As your first group did not have the overseas clasp on his fulkl-sized medals, I, for one, would be very reluctant to add it. In doing so, you'd be "augmenting" the group to such a degree that you'd be destroying the existing group (and its history) and inventing a new fraudulent group that never existed before in its place.

Though, interestingly, he does have one on his miniatures and represented on his ribbon bar . . . ! I had missed that before, hidden in among the haberdashery.

He qualified, apparently, but never mounted one with his full sized medals. As they are originally mounted (?), I'd leave them alone.

Very very nice. I'd have to check to see how far east he had to go before being considered "overseas" and, thus, qualifying for the overseas clasp to the CVSM. I'd have thought Iceland counted, but . . . . Can anyone help?

With such a nice medal group, you should really invest in at least one basic reference book, even the much-maligned Medals Yearbook (MYB)!

What you have here is:

1- 1939-45 Star (MYB 177)

2- Atlantic Star (MYB 178)

3- Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (MYB 188) - without clasp for overseas service - looks like the chap spent the war doing flights off Canada's coast only

4- War Medal 1939-45 (MYB 186)

5- Canadian Centennial Medal (1967; MYB C27)

6- Canadian Forces Decoration (MYB 255/C32) - awarded for 12 years of examplary service - the bar represents an additional 10 years

Is the Canadian Forces Decoration named? Should be. A shame Canada did not name the others, following the faulty British precedent. There was such a desire to get the medals issued quickly that naming was dispensed with (it was not an economy measure, as some assert).

I might cross-reference to this interesting KPM group.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2324

Will put up a few more singletons in case there is any interest.

Sharma's group is with him. In India.

I have no idea how the Indian awards were worn, though I'd agree with your guess: separately, on straight suspension (though WWII Soviet awards were certainly forced into Commonwelath wearing styles, even Red Stars and OPWs).

Hope to get a photo of Sharma's group, with Ashoka Chakra, HSU, and Lenin this December or next summer.

OK, I think that is,a s we say in the US, "Close enough for government work."

The backup crew for Soyuz T-11 was supposed to have been awarded the Kirti Ckakra (earlier, the second class of a three-class Ashoka Chakra series). Awards of the Kirti Chakra were gazetted in the Gazette of India for Anatoli Nikolayevich Berezovoi, Georgi Mikhailovich Grechko, Ravish Malhotra. Indian Ministry of Defence records indicate, however, that when the actual and properly named awards were sent off to the Soviet Union, three Ashoka Chakra medals were sent and only one Kirti Chakra. Berezovoi was bestowed with an accidental Ashoka Chakra, while Grechko got the Kirti Chakra which had been gazetted. The mistake was never fixed.

Prize to Christophe!

Good try, but all three Ashoka Chakras to foreigners have been to Soviet citizens.

You may be close enough to win, but let's let it go. The third is really hard and really complex.

Give you a bit more time . . . .

It is really a tricky answer.

Almost . . . the third person is a trick question . . . .

Sorry for the delay. Trying to make it hard enough, but not too hard, obscure enough but not too obscure. And, given my well-deserved reputation for the OBSCURE . . . !

Only three foreigners have ever been awarded India's highest award for civilian gallantry, the Ashoka Chakra. All three were Soviet citizens.

1- Who were they?

2- For what act of bravery were these awards given? When were they given?

Extra credit: What other gallantry awards were given for this same incident?

In case anyone wants to know what this award looks like, here it is, below.

Extra-extra credit: Can anyone explain HOW this would be adapted for wear on a Soviet medal bar?

Why do this? What would the price "bump" likely be from having done so?

Most such folk -- especially on e$cam -- care <0% for history?

Well, as I am alternating forum fun with marking the last students' papers just before final exams . . . ?!?

Working on it, have two possibles. One easy, one not; one obscure, one not. How cruel to be . . . ??

Fascinating . . . .

The "feel" is more Syrian or Lebanese than Iraqi, but let me dig through mounds of unorganised notes . . . .

Thanks for sharing.

Yes, Jan,

On thinking about it more, I agree. The other two were the two for Soyuz 39: four candidates for Interkosmos 2, one of these flew on Soyuz 39 (Gurragcha), and one was the backup (Ganzorig). You wonder what awards (if any) Surenkhorloo and Saintsog received?

I was in a rush to get my answering post up before some other quick-fingered forumite beat me to it.

Ed

Well . . . one that I actually know . . .

Recipients of the Badge of teh Cosmonaut of Mongolia:

Gurragcha Zhugderdemidiyn - research cosmonaut, Soyuz 39 (March 1981)

Ganzorig Maidarzhavyn - research cosmonaut, Soyuz 39 (backup)

"Might Have Been" recipients:

Captain Surenkhorloo Darjaagiin, Mongolian Air Force - research cosmonaut candidate for the second Soyuz mission (Interkosmos group 2), but not selected

Captain Saintsog Sanjaadambiin, Mongolian Air Force - research cosmonaut candidate for the second Soyuz mission (Interkosmos group 2), but not selected

Two others for Interkosmos group 2?

Footnotes:

http://www.spacefacts.de

Dr. Battushig's book, of course, pp. 34, 179

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/peo...uts/gurrag.html

2435 Dafadar Partab Singh, 11th King Edward?s Own Lancers (Probyn?s Horse)

1- Durbar 1911, silver - unnamed

Awarded Durbar 1911 Medal per IA list (p. 154 of roll) as "2435 Dafadar Partab Singh, 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse)" from Civil Allottment, list from the Military Secretary to the Viceroy - 172 to the regiment.

2- Queen's South Africa Medal, 1899-1902 - SOUTH AFRICA 1902 - 2435 SOWAR PURTAB SINGH. 11TH BENGAL LCRS.

Verified on roll. Medal issued 29 December 1902, bar on 17 February 1903.

Not known if this is a complete entitlement.

"After"?

Sorry, Rusty, no offense AT ALL was taken. Didn't mean it to sound that way. I don't know, I don't know that anyone knows, we all have what we assume, these may be right or wrong, and that's one reason I put this up was for discussion. Thanks for discussing!

Rusty,

Sure? No. Is anyone ever sure of anything from Eastern Europe?

The only think I am sure of is that I -- and, I suspect, most of us -- don't know enough about Bulgiarian awards to say for sure.

Ed