Brett Hendey

Can anyone identify the badge shown here? I was overwhelmed by the number of French badges on Internet sites and failed to find this one. Brett

Herr General Your "pride" is an amazing group and certain to be unique. I could never aspire to owning something so good. That said, I am envious of your other bars as well. Thank you for sharing with us. Regards Brett

Hi Herr General The Dutch bar was mistakenly credited to me, but it was actually the one you posted under the 'Turkish UN Korea Medal' thread. I hope that you will post it again under this thread. Regards Brett

This British Korean War pair is unusual in that the UN Medal has the text on the reverse in smaller letters than the common English language medals.

Shown here is a Royal Navy medal group to a man who had earlier served in World War II.

It is upsetting to find that Turkish UN Korea Medals are being copied. Once such medals are in circulation they are easily added into collections such as mine. This is making me hesitate about continuing to collect Korean War medals. The Turkish medal may be particularly desirable because of the reputation of the men who earned it, but perhaps the medal cheats have already spread their web wider than that. Brett

Air Corporal Tiran served only in South Africa during World War II, so his group lacks campaign stars.

This group belonged to an Irishman who served in the RAF during World War II, after which he emigrated to South Africa where he joined the SAAF.

Here are the 2 Squadron SAAF Korean War groups in my collection. All belonged to ground crew, so lack the glamour and, usually, the extra medals of air crew.

Congratulations on the Ethiopian Imperial Guard medal bar. It must be exceptionally rare. Just to set the record straight, the Dutch medal bar referred to was posted by Herr General. Perhaps he can repost it to this new thread. I am really looking forward to seeing other additions here. Regards Brett

The South Africans who served in Korea received the English language UN Korea Medal, an example of which is shown here. Benjamin Reuben Leach was a safety equipment technician who served in the SAAF in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in World War II. He remained in the SAAF after the war and volunteered for service with 2 Squadron in the Korean War. His time in Korea coincided with the periods when 2 Squadron was awarded the US Distinguished Unit Citation and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. He later qualified for the award of the Permanent Force Good Service Medal. He died in a road traffic accident in Pretoria in 1967.

Demir & Jeff Thank you both for your posts. Demir, I am very envious of your UN Korea Medals. I wonder if it is a unique collection? The Korean War and the medals associated with it have proved to be very rewarding subjects for research, but collecting such medals has turned out to be more difficult and more expensive than I had anticipated. For the time being I will have to be content with the medals already in my collection. They represent the US, UK, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Belgium, Thailand and Ethiopia. Only those from the UK, NZ and SA are named and are known to have belonged to Korean War veterans, rather than medals that may have come from unissued military stocks. Regards Brett

Jeff My timing is bad. My medal-buying fund is fully committed to a end-November auction in South Africa, so a US bid is not possible. I regret this now and will do so even more in the future if no more red-ribboned Turkish UN Korea Medals appear on the market. Thanks for your responses to my post. Regards Brett

Jeff Your picture is exactly what I was hoping to see! I am most grateful, since I now know what I am looking for. Presumably the medals you saw in Germany are now in private collections, so some could come on to the market again. Thanks again. Regards Brett

I haven't approached demir, although I much admired his posting of UN Korea medals.

Many thanks for the tip. I have started to watch eBay Korean War postings and missed a Turkish UN Korea Medal recently. I suspect that at least some of the medals which appear on the market are from unissued stock, which seems to be the case with all the non-Commonwealth Korean War medals that I have acquired so far. It would be great to find a medal (& badges) that belonged to a Turkish Korean War veteran, especially if it had a red ribbon. Regards Brett

In his excellent book on the medals of the Korean War, Kevin Ingraham wrote that the Turkish brigade "established a fearsome reputation for its offensive capability and front line conduct", a description echoed by various postings on the Internet. I was surprised to learn that after 1923 Turkey outlawed all military decorations and that the Turkish language UN Korea Medal was issued to Turkish troops as a "momento" and could not be worn openly. Also, since the UN colours (blue and white) on the ribbon are anathema to the Turks, this ribbon was often replaced by a plain red one. In my so far unsuccessful attempts to acquire a Turkish UN Korea Medal, I have only seen illustrated medals with the original blue and white ribbon. I wonder if anyone reading this post has either seen or actually owns a red-ribboned medal? A photograph and/or a description of the red fabric would be much appreciated. Regards Brett

Brian The book "Regimental Devices in South Africa 1783-1954" by H H Curzon includes the following entry under ' Cape Mounted Rifles': "Brass horse (white horse of Hanover) worn on arm above chevrons of N.C.O.'s, both Mounted and Artillery. Authority to wear the device was granted by the War Office in 1902. In the C.M.R. the horse faced to the rear. Later it was adopted by the S.A.M.R. who wore the horse facing the front." The CMR and SAMR were paramilitary police. There is a version of the white horse insignia that is surrounded by a belt on which is inscribed "Cape Mounted Rifles". A friend of mine once acquired a similar badge, but with the inscription "Frontier Armed and Mounted Police" (1855-1878), the forerunner of the CMR (1878-1913), which in turn was replaced by the SAMR (1913-1926). My friend's badge turned out to be an extreme rarity and is now in The Castle Museum in Cape Town. The 'white horse' badges I have seen or seen described were in silver, not brass. Brett

Will I will look forward to seeing the new medal boards. I am busy thinning out my police collection and, in case you are interested, I will put aside for you two single issue WWI War Medals to men of the 2nd Military Constabulary in SWA (one English and one Afrikaans), as well as a 3-clasp QSA to a 'bad egg' Trooper in the SAC, who was shot and wounded by a guard while he was drunk and disorderly (i.e the Trooper, not the guard). Regards Brett

Thanks for identifying the Landsberg group, Will. I was pleased to see the SAC Medical Section badge in a better home. Regards Brett

Will Congratulations again on a really amazing collection. It must be the best of its kind. I would be interested in knowing to whom the SAGS, QSA, KSA, Natal, CAFOD & CAFM medal group on the top row of the Boer War medal collection was awarded. It must be a unique combination, or nearly so. Regards Brett

Thanks Will. I hope that you will have your Sudan pics up before I have photos of the other medals listed above, so I will then feel happier about adding to this thread. Regards Brett

Thomas I am posting the only pic I have of the 'non-white' medals in my collection but, rather than further deviate from Will's thread, I will post others under a new subject after I have taken the photographs. Meanwhile, apologies to Will for intruding. Regards Brett

Hi Will & Thomas Very interesting medals and I am very envious. As a sideline, I have collected a few medals to non-whites awarded for service in pre-WWI conflicts in South Africa. They are: SA Medal with 1877-78 clasp - Sgt Minto, Kamas Native Levies (a very battered medal). Cape of Good Hope GSM with Bechuanaland clasp - 321 Native Pte Msabenzie, Cape Police. Bronze Queen's South Africa Medal with no clasp - 248 Syce Pannaswamy, Supply & Transport Corps. (South African blacks were not awarded the QSA. Men such as the Zululand Police saw active service and one was even MiD, but received no medal.) Natal Rebellion Medal with no clasp - Pack Leader Verasammy, Natal Mounted Rifles. - Pte Ndhlendhla, Zululand Police. Natal Rebellion Medal with 1906 clasp - Cpl John Silamlela, Natal Native Horse. - Pte Bangindowa, Zululand Police. Regards Brett

Hi Brian Many thanks for your informative reply. I have only recently taken an interest in the Korean War medals of countries other than the UK and South Africa. I had hoped that such medals would be cheaper and easier to find, but clearly that isn't so. I will have to think up a 'Plan B' for my future collecting! Regards Brett