Michael Johnson

My take is that he is probably William's brother or son. The impressed capitals are the mark of a late claim, and although he is not listed in the "late claims" section of Thyen's book, no one would believe that he got 100% of the scattered claims for this medal. I think a little genealogical sleuthing would probably tell you a lot. A quick check of the name King in the LDS database for the 1881 U.S. census shows several Kings living in Vermont who were born in Canada.

I've run him in Thyen's book. There is a William King shown for the M.G.A., but no J.E. Could be a mistake on the roll, or it could be a late claim. What is the style of lettering? The originals were upper and lower case, rather artistic letters. Later naming tended to be block caps. An engraved naming probably means it has bee renamed. No Kings from the M.G.A. served in the Riel rebellion in 1885, in which the M.G.A. were also active.

I'm notorious on The Aerodrome Forum for atrocious puns, but have mostly held back here out of respect for my brethren and sistern. But some straight lines can't be ignored.

You mean "If the Foo shits, wear it"?

The coat of arms puts this after 1907 (new coats of arms for Alberta and Saskatchewan). I'm thinking maybe the crossed flags mean that this is part of the 1911 camapign for the Reciprocity Agreement (free trade with the U.S.). That would make it King George V.

It's all a misunderstanding. It was bearskins they were protesting, not bare skins. Sort of like that Second Amendment thing in the States about the right to bare arms.

KEV! That's cruelty to animals!

Definitely let's ship about 100 nuisance black bears over to England. Dump them in the protestors' neighbourhoods. After they have called for help, send in the animal control boys, who will put the bears down, and then the pelts will already be in England for manufacturing new bearskins.

News reports here in Canada state that there was a Canadian vehicle in the convoy which had medical personnel on board. CBC News

Add in the Africa Star. He has the maximum number of Stars possible, and if you count bars he has 6 of 8 (and for an RN sea officer the Air Crew Europe Star wasn't on). If he had been present at D-Day he would have qualified for the France and Germany bar, but even royals can't bi-locate).

My memory is a little hazy, but I believe that Egyptian Army medals were named in Arabic. Certainly the later Sudan medals bear only the recipient's unit and number. I think that the earlier medals had the name as well - but also in Arabic. I found this Arabic naming but unfortunately it gives no details.

Love that IGS 1854 Bronze! I used to have a number of Indian bronzes, including the Sudan, but unfortunately I sold/traded them as my tastes changed and marriage/children diminished my disposable income.

The uniform is that of a Colonel, Royal Artillery. The rank Crowns were in use from c. 1902 to 1953 when they switched from the Tudor Crown to the St. Edward's Crown. Usually there is a tailor's label in one of the pockets, which may give the date an owner.

I'd like to see the series of all IGS Medals with all bars up. The 1854 (23 clasps) would be about a foot long - and that's not counting the medal!

Does anyone have, or know where to get, fairly inexpensive ribbon for the M?daille de la Famille Francaise (silver - with rosette). Mouret has quoted me 21? - and that doesn't include the shipping! I only paid 10.50? for three medals: - Soci?t?s Musicales et Chorales en bronze - M?daille Communale argent? - M?daille de la Famille Fran?aise I also need a ribbon for the second, although 7? looks positively cheap compared to the Famille.

Maybe Control? To co-ordinate all those searchlights.

I have a lot of sympathy with M. Bellet. I did the same to my shoulder 5 years ago. But I doubt he fell from a ladder.

EL seems to be used for a Searchlight emplacement. "Defence Electric Light" D.E.L. 2nd component/concentration?? or maybe "Concrete"?

The British Red Cross War Medal was also white. An ex-policeman with an 1887/1897 Police Jubilee (although the ribbon should be 1.25. inches, not 1.5) and a Red Cross War Medal, perhaps? The latter was not an official medal, but I'm sure that didn't stop people from wearing them or the ribbon.

I agree. A professional engraver would have worked it all out before he began. Looks like a local jeweller's job to me. Here's a couple of examples of engraved crosses. [attachmentid=42262] Pte Bellamy's is unusual, as he was serving in he Canadian Militia as part of the Welland Canal Force, and was found drowned. Foul play was suspected, but not proved.

If you run a Google search on "John Ormond Aitkens" there are a couple of postings given for post-war. He was a Lieutenant(E) on the Magnificent (aircraft carrier) 14/01/1948, and the Ontario (cruiser) 21/01/1949. There can't have been two J.O. Aitkens in the R.C.N.

I'm not sure on this one. As Peter says, thestyle looks correct, but I have concerns about the irregularity. I will try to post a scan of one of my Crosses for comparison. It isn't unusual to find the Crosses in the U.K., as a very high proportion of the C.E.F. were British immigrants, and their mothers, if living, would have been sent one, as well as one going to the widow.

Several reasons. It was a service offence to sell your medals. I'm not sure whether this applied to reservists or not. I do know that there are a lot of groups with First War medals and renamed "colonial" medals - once they were recalled to the Colours in 1914 they were expected to have all their medals. And otherwise - pride. These men didn't want to sell their medals, they needed the money. See Kipling's poem Back to the Army Again I wouldn't try, just let them go gradually. If you use gas for cooking you might leave them near the stove(the sulfur tarnishes silver). Turn the medals in different directions in differing lights. Get a good magnifying glass. Erased or renamed medals still command a fair price. See Liverpool Medals. It's a hard call if a renamed is worth more than an erased. It depends what you want it for.

"British Battles and Medals" Maj. L.L. Gordon, copyright now owned by Spinks. No, I think this combination is most likely infantry, (Nothumberland Fusiliers, Warwickshire, or Seaforths) given the units that served on the NWF in 1908, and those that were at Khartoum. A couple of things to bear in mind, based on my experience with "replacement" groups. 1. There are two reasons for erased naming: the man or his family didn't want it known that the medals were being sold OR the replacement group was assembled from various sources (and names). Sometimes the man would have them all named (usually, but not always, engraved). 2. A replacement group may or may not exactly match the recipients entitlement. Two groups I used to own come to mind. The first was and IGS 1854 (Hazara 1891) IGS 1895 (Relief of Chitral) QSA (6 bars) KSA, WWI pair to 75th Can. Inf. All except the last two were impressed, which is not correct for the IGS issues, and the style was not offical for the South Africas. Nevertheless, when I got his papers they were the correct entitlement. The second was a Queen's Sudan, QSA, KSA, 1914-15 trio, Khedive's Sudan. He was Guards on the Sudans, AOC on the South Africas, and 5th Can. Inf. on the trio, where he had reached commissoned rank. When the papers arrived he was not entitled to the Sudans (although he had been in the Guards), and he was only entitled to a Cape Colony on the QSA. Yet the dealer told me that the regimental history had a photo showing him wearing these medals. Given the combinations of bars possible on the QSA, it is possible that not all the bars are correct for his entitlement, but then again it is possible that they are. And "regimental entitlement" is not the same as personal entitlement. So just because the Blankshires weren't there doesn't mean that Pte. Bloggs wasn't either. I would pursue trying to recover the naming. You can also try letting at least the rims tarnish, as sometimes you can get a ghost image of some of the lettering. Pursue your source. Maybe the stepfather's name will give some clue. As to valuation, it is a hard call. Purists wouldn't touch them, but given the incrasing scarcity of Victorian material, they are still quite valuable. Probably 75% of the face value would not be far off the mark.

When a medal is impressed, the areas behind each letter have a denser metal. I've read that it is possible to x-ray the medal rim and you get a ghost image of the naming. I've never tried this myself. The same unfortunately doesn't hold for engraved medals. It just occurred to me that the Seaforths were also in those campaigns, and they were at Paardeburg. On the other hand they also qualified for the India General Service 1895, "Relief of Chitral", which could be the missing medal. But they aren't listed in Gordon for some of the other clasps. In fact that combination doesn't seem to match any of the infantry units that were in the Sudan and NWF 1908.