JBFloyd

The last one on the 3-place bar is the Commemorative Medal for Security Operations and Maintaining Security (for Algeria). The blue/red/blue ribbonis the Medal for Volunteer Military Service.

This is an area crying out for a well-illustrated guide book. I use a number of price lists from Masonic regalia suppliers as they are the only identification guides I can find.

Toye & Co (now Toye. Kenning & Spencer) are major British manufacturers of Masonic regalia. The mottos on this piece and the Templar's cross on the reverse indicate a Knights Templar (i.e., Masonic) original.

Thank you for the information! What book is this from?

Three to choose from! But, the suckers eem to be holding back -- stunned by the history lesson!

And the reverse.

Here's a ribbon bar of a Russian who later served in the French Foreign Legion. I'd be interested in opinions on the identification of the last ribbon in the top row and the white ribbon in the bottom row (a white tri-fold ribbon accompanies the group, so possibly a Serbian Red Cross Society decoration). Unfortunately, the documents that accompany the group don't match the ribbon bar or the bulk of the medals. The documents include a 1931 Legion of Honor, chevalier, a 1934 French Colonial Medal (clasp "Maroc"), a 1934 Croix de Guerre (TOE) and a 1915 Belgian Order of Leopold, chevalier (awarded for services as part of the Russian mission to Belgian General Headquarters). I'd love to have everything in one place, but sometimes that's not possible.

Thanks, Rick. It was too much to hope that the inscription would clear up all mysteries.

This is the photo, with Russian annotation at the bottom. The photo was printed in 1964.

Can someone read/translate the Russian inscription on this photo? It reportedly relates to a Russian officer (Viktor Tikhonravov) who served in the French Foreign Legion in North Africa, including at Bir Hakeim.

The full citation is at www.gazettes-online.co.uk, with the keyword "Lavery".

Lavery received a DCM with the recommendation citation in Supp to LG 16 Jan 1919, page 856.

There are a few of us who picked up the reference. Then we forgot what we were doing.

Does anyone know the proper name for this Burundi order?

In mid-1903, Edward VII made a European tour, visiting Portugal, Malta, Italy and France. This is the sort of thing that would come in the aftermath of such visits. Getting anything out of Central Chancery is very, very unlikely. As the Victorian Order is the personal gift of the sovereign, they are even more reluctant to release data.

And a group with examples of the World War II, Korea and Vietnam Cross of MIlitary Service.

Here's an example of the Spanish-American War Cross of Military Service.

The "30644" number is probably the tailor's reference number. The stitching on the wings and patches looks sloppy to me. If he's going to pay for a tailor-made uniform, I'd expect the insignia to be attached by the tailor as well.

Many thanks.

1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian nation. Since it was issued under the Communist regime, the 1944 date ("liberation from fascism") was tossed in for good measure.

Dennis Gill, in "The Coinage of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somalia", notes that this medal was struck in gold, silver and bronze by the Paris Mint (usually Mint marked on the edge). He describes it as being "issued to commemorate the start of the French-built railway between Djibouti and Addis Ababa, completed to the capital in 1918." He makes no reference to a ribbon.

Medal for the opening of the Addis Ababa Railway. Although looped for suspension, I have never seen one mounted in a group or with a ribbon that I felt was original to the piece. I assume these were given without ribbons as commemoratives.

In the modern Royal Navy (CSM, clasp "Radfan") what is the rate "J.S.1"?

No indication of anyone playing with this. It's not the highest quality, but came out of the woodwork from a family collection 90 years old.

This comes from a substantial accumulation of medals/badges/buttons from a US doctor stationed in Paris in 1919. No data on the recipient, so any effort to narrow it down would be appreciated.