ChrisW

Wow, not only is this very nice, it's the first time I've seen the "falcon and dragon" commando logo DEFINITELY associated with Iraq. I've always thought there was some confusion between the Egyptian and Iraqi insignia, which are identical, but this proves to me that both countries used it. Thanks!

Interesting! But most of these aren't Iraqi -- two are from Dubai, one is Kuwaiti, one is Saudi. Wonder how these vehicles ended up in Iraq? The Kuwaiti vehicle could have been looted during 1990, the others may have been exported between 1991 and 2003, but probably came through Jordan illegally? I thought that vehicle shipments would have been banned under the UN sanctions.

Nice find, thanks for posting. The eagle with blue felt backing certainly looks like the Egyptian police. But the beret is strange. I've seen some Police wearing olive green wool berets, but not cotton tan berets. Could you post a better photo of the label inside the beret? Senior Egyptian police officers sometimes invent their own pieces of uniform and insignia, so it could well be authentic. Regards, Chris

Very nice collection, and well-displayed (and well-photographed) as well. Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing!

The second point you raise is the issue of Egyptian commemorative medals. In the years after the 1952 Revolution Egypt created several medals to commemorate important political/military milestones (Liberation, Independence, Evacuation, etc.) The ribbons for these medals are extremely common– indeed, the Liberation Medal is probably the single most commonly seen modern Egyptian ribbon. But the actual medals themselves are extremely rare. I've only seen a few examples of the Liberation Star, and none of the others. My suspicion is that Bichay designed these medals, and manufactured at least a small number of the Liberation Stars. But the prospect of manufacturing hundreds of thousands of full-sized medals, for distribution to essentially every active-duty Egyptian soldier, was far too expensive. A few officers may have privately purchased them if they wished. But these medals basically exist as ribbons only. Here is a very nice watercolor by Bichay, illustrating his design for the Liberation Star (top, for officers) and Liberation Medal (bottom, for enlisted men). I've don't think I've ever seen an example of the actual Liberation Medal.

The last Naguib photo for now. Here he is towards the end of his career. (Source: archive photo from Misr al-Mahroussa, Nov. 2002)

Another photo, from a little later in his career. (Source: archive photo from Misr al-Mahrousssa, Sept. 2002)

Emmanuel, Thanks for posting these. You raise a number of interesting issues that warrant further discussion: Naguib's medals specifically, and the series of Egyptian commemorative medals from the 1950s. First, Naguib's medals. I too have a copy of this postcard, and have often wondered about it. I have to say, I think it's inaccurate. It is a modern ,hand-colored reprint, sold as a souvenir. I strongly believe that the artist invented Naguib's ribbon bar (or pasted it in from a different photo). I can't find an un-retouched original version of this photo, however. There are numerous inconsistencies in this ribbon bar that make it impossible to have been worn during the 1952-54 period: - It lacks the Palestine War Medal which Naguib earned. - It has the 10th Anniversary of the Revolution ribbon, which wasn't issued until at least 1962. Naguib obviously couldn't be wearing this during the 1952-54 period. - Ditto the Evacuation Medal, not issued until 1955. - Ditto the Independence Medal, not issued until 1956. - Ditto the Armed Forces Medal, not issued until 1959. - It's unlikely he'd be wearing an Air Force medal. Naguib quickly earned a large number of ribbons between 1952-54, here are some representative photos. This is probably hand-colored as well, but more accurately depicts his ribbons. (Source: archive photo from Misr al-Mahroussa, Aug. 2002)

This is a Getty image from Aug. 1953. What's the medal that Naguib is wearing? It certainly isn't any official Egyptian one, it looks almost like a medal from a private club or association. Hope the images are clear. If not, you can find it on gettyimages.com searching for "naguib 1953".

Fascinating, and yet ghoulish at the same time. Thanks for posting!

Very interesting, thanks for posting! Two questions come to mind: 1) Since this seems to be a description of a newly-issued uniform, how did the British military obtain so much information on it, so quickly? 2) Similar intelligence documents from WWII and later often would be classified ("restricted," "confidential," etc). This isn't. Does that mean it's based on open-source, unclassified information? Or did the UK routinely classify these sort of documents in WWI? Thanks!

Just based on my casual reading of the press over the past few years, it seems like most if not all US military personnel who are killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan are awarded a posthumous Bronze Star along with the Purple Heart. Was this true in past conflicts?

The date at the bottom of the ring is 1305, and the "5" looks to me to be more Persian or Urdu than Arabic. In the Persian calendar, the year 1305 corresponds to 1926/1927. In the Islamic calendar -- used more by Arab countries -- it corresponds to 1887/1888. So I would venture that this badge is from Persia, Afghanistan or India, not an Arab country.

Good point, Lorenzo. With subjects like Egyptian (or many other countries) militaria, there is such a small market, that it must be hard to establish what the "value" for a piece is. Apart from some Egyptian orders, there probably are not enough sales on record to set even approximate prices. As you say, the value is whatever somebody is willing to pay. Chris

Linas, Interesting badge. Do you know if it's actually Arab, as opposed to Indian, Pakistani, etc? Is it possible to get a clear view of any of the writing? It's difficult to read. All the writing looks hand-inscribed, and the badge itself is rather crude, so it may be an unofficial award, or from a small institution (school, small unit or government agency, etc), or otherwise produced in small numbers. Cheers, Chris

haha. yea I saw all the buy now offers on ebay. as I mentioned in my first post, I'm waiting for a release of a ODM book which will cover egypt with expected prices and what not. should be in the next month or so. Book???!!! On Egyptian ODM???!!! In the next month or so???!!! I'm VERY intrigued. Any further information? Anyone else know anything about this? Thanks!

Khorgor, Welcome to the very, very small world of Egyptian collecting! Firstly, the hat you illustrate from Ebay is absolutely NOT Egyptian -- it's British. Several British regiments have "Egypt" in their crest. If you're looking to get into Egyptian collecting for reasons of investment, or finding lots of interesting variations and researching well-documented medals, you've chosen the wrong country. There is not much available on the market, and references are scarce. You may want to look more widely at Middle Eastern/Arab medals. If you're interested in orders and decorations, those do show up in auctions and at dealers occasionally, but they can be pricey, as with all orders. If you're interested in medals or 20th century items, Ebay is far and away your best bet. If you are able to make inroads with dealers, or with sources in Egypt, that can be invaluable, good luck. There are a number of Egyptian medals currently on Ebay (at least the US site), most of which are "buy it now" from several dealers. You'll see that few, if any, have ribbons. This is very common with Egyptian medals. I just hope I don't wind up crossing swords with you on Ebay one day! The best source of references is, honestly, this website. Owain Raw-Rees and myself have also written some articles in the Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America over the past decade. Most general reference books on world ODM will have a small section on Egypt. Because of the lack of references and small market for Egyptian medals, proceed with caution -- not necessarily because somebody may deliberately rip you off, but because very very few people know what they're talking about. I've found Egyptian medals on Ebay listed as being Indian or Pakistani or "unknown," and I've seen things listed as Egyptian that clearly are not. Cheers, Chris

A fairly typical ribbon bar from 1967 -- I bought it from an Israeli dealer, so presumably it was a "war souvenir" brought back by an Israeli soldier. UAR Commemorative, Independence Medal, Victory Medal, Army Day, and 10th Anniversary of the Revolution. What's interesting about this is that the numerals on the Anniversary of the Revolution medal are individually cut out and glued on the ribbon. It's much more common to see them on a stamped disk. Construction is the standard colored thread wrapped around metal bars, with paper backing.

Very nice collection, thanks for sharing! Could you post some information on the date/nationality for these? What language is the "Hitler the liberator" poster? Thanks!

I meant to comment on these when they were originally posted... I know nothing about these specific patches, but can offer a quick and dirty translation of the Arabic: TOP ROW (left to right): - "Civil Protection" (meaning Civil Defense, Fire Brigade) - "Border Armed Service" - "National Guard -- Entrance???" - "National Guard - Border Guard" - "Higher Air Defense School something" BOTTOM ROW: - "National Achievement? School" - "National Naval School" - "Higher School for Materiel" - "Higher School for Physical Education and Sports" - "Higher School for Flying" Cheers, Chris

I've only seen shoulder slides that say "TSA" in gold or silver thread, worn by screeners at airports. Other parts of DHS -- such as Customs and Border Patrol -- wear military ranks on their shoulder slides, and of course the Coast Guard has their own rank system. Most of the TSA screeners at airports seem friendly and chatty, so it's always worth asking them. Cheers, Chris

Great photo, thanks! These guys look like Afghan or Pakistani Pushtuns. The black and white photo, and the older leather trappings, might date it to the 1970s, but it could of course be much more recent. This photo -- young Pushtun men posing with their guns, wearing black eyeliner -- is very reminiscent of the photos in Jon Lee Anderson's very nice photobook Taliban http://www.amazon.com/Taliban-Jon-Lee-Anderson/dp/0954264851/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261169982&sr=1-6 As for the writing on the back, it's probably Pushtu, possibly Dari. Your best bet getting it translated is to go to a pub near a Military Intelligence unit's basecamp!

"Pick it up" ... no pun intended, I'm sure. The book weighs 12 pounds! There are plenty of copies on Amazon, for just over the $100 mark. Like I said, it's not always accurate, but for its overall coverage it can't be beat.

I'm not a Mexico expert, but the ever-handy and enormous (if not entirely reliable) book "DPM" by Maharishi states that Mexico used several variations of this US-style "duck hunter" pattern. There's one photo, of a similar pattern on a long-sleeved jacket.

Very nice flag! My trusty Hans Wehr Arabic-English dictionary translates the first word, "fawj", as group/detachment/troop. In Iraqi Arabic it's also been used for battalion (pre-1922) and regiment (post-1922). And I would suggest an alternate translation for "fast entrance" might be something like "rapid insertion"? Cheers, Chris