Kvart

Volunteer members of Force Publique, were they awarded this medal?

Was this cross awarded to members of Force Publique who saw combat action in Africa during WW1?

Yes, a very nice Belgian Congo group indeed!

Very interesting to see the die for the service star medal. Thank you for posting.

I don't think reproductions of the Norwegian War Cross have been made, a part from a few horrible movie medals. But they are even rarer than the original cross.

A miniature cross can be found on ebay from time to time. You could also try Mørch & Søn, they have some Nordic miniatures: www.mwmorch.dk

Thank you so much, Aberdeen Medals.

You answered my question completely. Very nice to get the clasp identyfied.

Guys,

I would like to say thank you for all your help in this thread. I will try angloboerwar.com, thank you Hendy for making me aware of that forum. Also thank you to Great Dane, I guess we now can say that the two men pictured above are not the same person.

A very nice and full citation, does the ceremony occur in an fanfare of trumpets etc or is it done in private?

Once again ignore my ignorance, but genuine interest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUjM7zxHpeI

Thank you for your answers. That is a really wonderful group, QSAMIKE!

I agree that the medal looks like the QSA, but the ribbon does not.

Was the China war 1900 medal issued with clasps? If not, I guess we can rule out that medal.

I did a search in a book about military officers from 1929, and this guy turned up. To me it looks like the same man, but his name in the book is Dahl. There is no Grüner in the book. The text says he became lieutenant in 1894, captain in 1903 and major in 1918. If it is the same guy (and the book is right), the first picture cannot be dated 1911 since he was still a captain then and the above picture clearly shows rank as major.

The text also says he participated in the "Matabile war" in South Africa in 1896.

Amongst his decorations are, apart from knight (2^nd class) of the order of Dannebrog, a medal called "Rhod. med.", which I guess is the British South Africa Company medal (1890- 1897). In the small picture, he seems to be wearing this medal, cf. the suspension of the two British medals at question. There is no mention of any QSA or further service in the Boer war.

If it is the same guy, perhaps he lost his British South Africa Company medal and privately replaced it with the QSA? The ribbon on the above picture, might be the closest he got to the yellow-blue-ribbon of the British South Africa Company medal.

Or was the QSA issued with clasps for the "Matabile war"?

Gentlemen,

This is a picture of major A. D. Grünner of the Norwegian army. The picture is dated 1911. We can see to awards: first the Dansih Order of Dannebrog, and second a medal I think is the Queen's South Africa medal. But because of the grey shades on it's ribbon, I'm not quite sure.

What do you guys think, is it the QSA?

Thank you for posting the picture. I think this medal is horribly rare.

I see they are all over ebay now. Is there any way to distinguish a replica medal from an original and official awarded medal?

Very nice group!

Forgive my ignorance, but I don't know the Norway Commemorative medal. Could you please post a picture?

This is what the Norwegian medal looks like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Medal_1940%E2%80%931945

Nice medal!

What did Westphalen Mathiesen do?

Of course you can see the reverse of the medal. Here it is.

Hello Danny70.

Thank you for your answer. Now my next question, is it worth anyting? What would a medal like this normally sell for?

Good evening.

I've come across this medal, which I understand is Irish. But I don't collect Irish medals, and have no knowledge of it. Perhaps some of you can help me out here?

Nice bar! It must have been made after 1945, since the Participation medal was instituted in 1945. Perhaps the guy continued in the armed forces, and thus needed a ribbonbar for his two medals.

You are right about the device. This guy fought/served in Norway April-June in 1940, but found himself in England i August 1942.

I guess it will be worth around £10-20.

Interesting Danish groups, thanks for posting.

I think Herman Göring was awarded the grand cross of the Order of the Sword in February 1939.

Here seen with Swedish king Gustav V.

Didn't a UK group of soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan attack with bayonets a couple of years ago? And wasn't the squadleader awarded a medal for that? Was it the CGC?

The medal is not Norwegian either. Could it be Dutch?

Hello Scot.

Thank you for your reply, and thus demonstrating one of the biggest advantages of a forum like this

I think you are right; your father is most likely the only British subject to recieve this medal. About 200 awarded so far, less than 5 % to foreigners and only one to a member of the UK armed forces.

Did your father mount the medal in a group with any other medals? Or the ribbon together with British ribbons? If so, do you think it is possible to see a picture of this? It would be a very interesting and unique picture!

Regards

Kristian

Hello Greg.

Thank you for your reply.

So they are that hard to get? Then I better settle with a replica of the OoA and make obtaining them a life time project... The price itself indicates it will be hard.

Since you are an Aussie and interested in ODM, I guess you pay attention to awards published in the media or so. Do you think they are awarded rather freely? Since both of the orders are quite young, many awards may not have found their way to the collector's market yet. Maybe that will change during the next 10-15 years? They are not to be returned after death, are they?

Hello.

I would like to have in my collection Order of Australia and Queen's Service Order and Queen's Service Medal from New Zealand. However, in my corner of the world I have never seen them for sale. Nor can I find anyone for sale online at the moment.

How rare would you say they are? Must one live "down under" to find anyone for sale?