JBFloyd

Many thanks for the explanation. It helps a great deal.

I know very little about the internal workings of the Greek Army in World War II, so I hope someone can enlighten me with some information.

1.  How common was it for a man to be commissioned from the ranks?

2.  How long would a second lieutenant stay in that rank during wartime?

More information is always good.  Thanks.

PPCLI - Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Reynolds was with 102 Squadron, RAF, when he died (27 June 1918). He had previously been wounded (1916)

Comoro Islands. Order of the Star

Paul,

Yes, named medals were issued to the next of kin.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (www.cwgc.org) has a searchable data base.

Medal Index Cards can be acquired through the British National Archives:http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-army-medal-index-cards-1914-1920/

Ancestry.com worldwide services also provides access to MICs.

Uniforms are not my area of interest, so can someone identify the items in the attached images. I assume, based on the bullion parts, that this relates to the Palmes Academiques, but who would wear this and under what circumstances?  Age?

A better image of the cap.

Is there anyone who has copies of Thies and Johnson catalogs for their sales 3 and 4, and who would be willing to spend some time extracting some estimates for me, please?  I need about 100 prices.

T&J don't have these catalogs posted and the Invaluable archives don't include estimates for the unsold lots.  

Is there anyone who has copies of Thies and Johnson catalogs for their sales 3 and 4, and who would be willing to spend some time extracting some estimates for me, please?  I need about 100 prices.

T&J don't have these catalogs posted and the Invaluable archives don't include estimates for the unsold lots.  

Owain,

Thanks for the info.  I am functionally illiterate in several languages.

From a hot and humid Washington, DC area.

Jeff Floyd

Can anyone tell me what this is? And its country of origin?

A Legionnaire to Colonel Nickolai Nickolovitch Gladkoff, 20th Budapest Guard Infantry Corps. The citation and Col Gen Kotlar's were obviously written by the same person..

And his certificate.

I now see that Gladkoff's documents have already been posted.

The officer grade to Colonel General Leon[id] Kotlar, who received the HSU as chief of engineering troops in the capture of Berlin.

And Kotlar's certificate.

And another, Legionnaire grade, to Lt Colonel Fyedor Ivanovich Vinokurov, 117th Regiment, 23rd Infantry Division.

And Vinokurov's certificate.

A Legionnaire to Senior Lieutenant Kinlai Petrovitch Martinoff, Fourth Guards Army.  This one at the low end of descriptive content.

And Martinoff';s certificate.

To add to the archive of Legion of Merit documents to the Red Army, here's the Truman citation to Major General George Matviyicha Solovyov, 38th Infantry Guards Division.

And his certificate.

Chris is now on the short list for joining the Committee On Naming For United States Excursions (CONFUSE).  Some of these things get out of hand, especially when used outside of military channels.  Military folks get used to these code names and nicknames, so they think of them as normal.  

There is actually a website that lays out the basic structure of the US system (http://www.designation-systems.net/usmilav/codenames.html).  I was at the meeting where some planned operations were first discussed.  It's amazing how time was spent getting a code name that hasn't been used before, has the right number of letters, doesn't have a secondary meaning, isn't translated into the local language with odd results, and meets the general's personal whims. 

With all that said, the term "Inherent Resolve" is lipstick on a pig.

Paul,

Thanks.  A machine translation of the motto brings "Gentle World of Viking Brotherhood", which hardly matches my image of Vikings.  Of course, an equally odd image is Hagar the Horrible sitting in a Birmingham pub in 1915 longing for the good old days when pillaging wasn't so hard on his back..

Does anyone recognize this badge?  I'm trying to identify the organization it represents.

The "scandal" aspect has been known to play a part, but it may also be that the case against Captain Jarofwasps is not air-tight. The service wants him gone and he sees the benefit of departing without making ripples, so he may be permitted resign to save time, money and uncertainty. The service wins by not having to prosecute a weak case and he wins by not having a court-martial conviction to explain.  All claim victory and carry on.

Does anyone have a proper name for this?  (The swords are a single piece riveted to the reverse center; the cross is marked "El Oro/J. Tupaz Jr" on the lower arm

Owain,

Thanks.  My leaky memory was pointing me toward a local issue from the Dutch Indies, so this sets me on a better path.

I've seen this one somewhere, but cannot recall the proper name for it.  Can anyone help?

We've gone stark-raving mad on medals.  It seems we create campaign/service medals before any campaign/service begins.  

Stop the madness!

"Unofficial Type" would work fine for me.

I have no problem calling the French-made version a Type 4, although that gives it more official status than it ever appears to have had.  Numismatically, it clearly is different from the other types and is familiar to the collecting community.  Maybe "Repro Type1", like Laslo's classification of Victory Medals.

While Delande showed an illustration in his 1934 book, it was a drawing and not a photograph.  It is entirely possible that Delande's illustration was the basis for the production of the medal and not the result of Delande having a Type 4 medal.  Can anyone document the existence of this medal prior to Deland's 1934 publication date?

I don't know the size of the medal-collecting community (probably more coin collectors than true medal collectors), but their presence brought the production of a wide range of copy US Victory Medal clasps. There certainly weren't enough US soldiers in France in the 1920s to justify production of every Victory Medal clasp, plus several that never existed officially.