IrishGunner

"Boy! You grab them titties... ""

Hell, I'm too distracted to think logically or argumentatively. :speechless:

Serious and honorable looking chaps.

Thanks for posting; I wasn't familiar with this medal. RASC and a Burma Star might turn-up something interesting - good luck in your BEM research.

I don't have a lot - a few medals, some Grenztruppen cuff titles and insignia; my interest is connected to having served in West Berlin during the early 80s. Now I wished I had made more trades back then! ;)

During the War they would not let him fly operationally - since he was such a good pilot they had him on training - hence only Defence and War Medals.

Pure speculation; but had he flown operationally, he would have earned campaign stars, but perhaps nothing as significant as the AFC.

Nice group.

I'm no expert, but to me that looks like a Gordon Highlander tartan.

Nice document; will have to keep my eyes out for one of these. I have this medal in my collection; but it's locked away in the US. Maybe soon I can post.

I've ridden in both Slovenian and Polish military models; a decent little 4x4 - but I wouldn't call it anything special. Rides were both off-road in hilly sandy terrain (but not serious 4-wheeling) and paved streets. Would make a decent farm vehicle I would think, but it wouldn't be my first choice for an off-road vehicle.

These are also related to the Mercedes G-class.

I recently visited this fortress in the mountains near Mount Aragats (highest mountain in Armenia); the fortress is at 2,300m. There also is an ancient church next to the fortress.

Here's the wiki link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amberd

And finally, a BMP1

An SA-2 SAM and a MiG 15 (I might be wrong on the MiG - I'm a field artilleryman, not a duck-hunting air defense artilleryman).

An unknown type armored car and a Katyusha on a Soviet-built ZiL 151

A T-34 tank:

Outside the building are pieces of old Soviet military hardware; there are two 76-mm M1942 (ZiS-3) anti-tank guns guarding the doors.

Leading up to the Mother Armenia are stone tablets with the names of "Armenian martyrs" killed in WW2. There clearly are not enough tablets to account for every Armenian killed in WW2; so, I have no idea what criteria got your name on the tablet.

Also around the building are stone carvings of the Soviet Army branch insignia; of course, this example is artillery.

Unfortunately, I don't speak or read Armenian; so, I have no idea what the sign above the door says. However, there is a "9" and a black and gold ribbon; so, I am suspecting it has something to do with 9 May Victory day since this is in Victory Park. The Hammer and Sickle symbol above the sign is interesting because it combines the Soviet national symbol with a traditional symbol of Armenia - grapes. (Unlike other former communist countries; Armenia still proudly displays former Soviet and Communist symbols. Russian is spoken freely and openly.)

Today is Armenia's Independence Day and I made a visit to the Mother Armenia Monument which sits on a hill overlooking Yerevan in a park called Victory Park. The statue at the top of this building (meant to look like an Armenian church) represents the protective mother. When the monument was built it had a huge statue of Stalin on top - this was replaced in 1962 by Mother Armenia. Inside the building is a military museum; I had hoped to visit, but since it was a holiday - it was closed. I'm not doing too well with times on this Independence Day - there was supposedly a military parade this morning, but I slept through it because it was a late night of cigars and whiskey last night! :rolleyes:

Understood; representative sample. While not exact totals, it seems logical that the proportions are close. SAFA and SAHA should be large numbers and the territorial units much smaller.

Heck, I'm just happy for the unit names - regardless of numbers. :catjava:

Thanks for this Chris; puts some things in perspective. I have a Cape Garrison Arty BWM - interesting to see the low numbers for this unit. Some of those other arty units would be darn near impossible it would seem - ie Nairobi Howitzers.

Silesian Eagle is on my Want List; now I know how I want it to look! Thanks for posting guys. :beer:

I really like the bar a lot - I like these NCO bars much more than an officers! - and with the two Vics an incredible bargain IMHO :cheers:

Well done my young friend.

But I hope you didn't spend all your time in those wonderful countries hunting down researchable groups! I hope you met a lot of young Russians, Estonians, Finns, and Swedes.

And just think you can go back and hit Norway, Latvia, and Lithuania! :cheers:

Now any Silesia veteran would be quite proud to wear that to the bierkeller. :cheers:

At some point, I will have this one researched; the Berlin connection is just too tempting to me - I need to know more.

And you know, I hadn't thought about scouring the Bravery Medals at the market to see if it drifted down-stream. Now I have a reason to return to the market today!

Funny thing is that this particular dealer has some Bravery Medals... You don't think he missed it himself do you? Nah. But worth a look... :P