Vatjan

J27 Cantral Committee of the MYL, Virgin land claimer

J13 Outstanding Young Man of Agriculture

NIB

U06

V01 unfortunately wit severe enamel damage

Type 4 NIB Soviet made heavy badge

D18

D13

Since this question is aimed directly at British medal collectors, I think this is the good subforum for this question. Still a lot of work ahead before this project comes to an end, but will share whatever info I have. Best regards Jan

If you got her a really BIG diamond, I'm sure she would

Since the Belgian Croix de Guerre is not produced by the State Mint but rather by private manufacturers, there exist a lot of variations for this medal. Now, I have been able to distinguish, by looking through old catalogues, different models made in France. Surely some industrious british medal maker must have had the splendid idea of producing Belgian Croix de Guerre to replace lost medals or offer as duplicates. Does anyone have a catalogue of such a medallist with a pic of the CdG, or does anyone have a CdG in an original British box? In short anything that might help distinguish an English variation from a Belgian one. Thanks for your help Jan

OOOOH, up until now I've been going through your new item posts, with a "These-are-nice-pieces-I'm-happy-for-Ed" feeling, but now some serious jealousy is kicking in Only kidding, these are great items Ed, and I am very happy for you, what with this little extra on the side to make 'em even more yummy Congratulations. Jan

83 Nice ones, Ed

Just on its own unfortunately

last one

side view

Have a look at this 3-step laurel wreath

No, it is not a medal, it's just a rendition of the state seal they put on university diploma's, etc... These are nice pieces, but are not official awards. Jan

This landed in my PO box last week, it's huge Best Policeman's badge first type F01

Because you got it from me, and I took pix before sending it to you. Will post details later Jan

Here are some more examples of bad handwriting

I'm not quite as convinced as you are Dima. I see scratches at the bottom, but I'm not sure there once was another number. I agree the hand-writing is not as professional as what we are used to see, but maybe they gave the "lowly" Mongolian stuff to apprentice engravers. Anyway, here is mine which is even worse hand-writing wise, but I studied it very thouroughly and I'm convinced it has not been tampered with. Jan

Welcome to the forum Albert, that's a great way to start a Mongolian collection Jan

One central checking place is fine, but then all the info has to be there, such as names, also in the other list we have names and dates, but alas no numbers for quite a lot of SB winners, don't discard this information. It is very valuable also, but we should not have it in another list because it doesn't fit in the "One central checking list", because then we are still working with several references. I do agree with Ed the above list is not very easy to read, I would propose to use abbreviations for the names of the orders, SB for Sukhbaatar, OPS for Orderr of the Polar Star, etc... Moreover more consistancy is needed in the Typology, "Type 1970" should be avoided and be called for example Type 1.2 or Type 2.1. I propose to recap in the first post the names and type variations as a reference for the info in the following posts, that way we don't have to repeat each time: "seperately soldered loop, ..." which doesn't make the list any clearer. Also using seperate posts for each order might be a good idea. I believe that this pinned list might indeed be a great help, but we have to think about the best way to present it it the most concise and clear manner, representing all the info available Jan

Here's the sales pitch: The World War One medals of Capt. A.J. Shout : An Exceptional Gallipoli World War 1 Victoria Cross Lot No. 1078 To Capt. A.J. Shout, 1st Australian Infantry Battalion A.I.F. Victoria Cross; Military Cross (GVR); Star 1914-15; British War Medal 1914-18; Victory Medal 1914-19; Captain A.J. Shout, 1st Australian Infantry Battalion A.I.F., first medal inscribed on reverse, the group mounted in a later, custom made display case; a cap badge; an officer's pip; a typed soldier's verse by Lce. Cpl. Alex. McQueen ?A Tribute to the Memory of Captain Shout on behalf of 1st Battalion'; a sepia photograph of Shout; two non-military posthumous awards presented to Shout's widow; and two other medals awarded to Shout: Queen's South Africa Medal named Sjt A J Short Border Horse with class cape Colony Transvaal, Wittenbergen and King's South Africa Medal bars SA01 and SA02 to "359 Sjt AJ Shout SAMIF" (the latter is a re-named medal); also including an additional medal QSA with class Cape Colony Orange Free State and Transvaal named to "36449 TPR AE Howe S.A.Lt Horse" Victoria Cross citation: London Gazette 15th October 1915: ?For most conspicuous bravery at Lone Pine Trenches, in the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the morning of 9th August, 1915, with a small party, Captain Shout charged down trenches strongly occupied by the enemy, and personally threw four bombs among them, killing eight and routing the remainder. In the afternoon of the same day, from the same position gained in the morning, he captured a further length of trench under similar conditions and continued personally to bomb the enemy at close range, under very heavy fire, until he was severely wounded, losing his right hand and left eye. This most gallant officer has since succumbed to his injuries.' Military Cross Citation: London Gazette 1st June 1915: On 27th April, during operations near Kaba Tepe, for showing conspicuous courage and ability in organizing and leading his men in a thick bushy country, under very heavy fire. He frequently had to expose himself to locate the enemy, and led a bayonet charge at the critical moment'. Shout's actions that day were described by Private Charles Huntley Thompson of the 13th Battalion: "That was the bravest thing I ever saw". Notes: - Only ninety-six Australians have ever been awarded the Victoria Cross. - Capt. Shout was the most decorated soldier to serve with the Australian Imperial Force at Gallipoli; he was the only soldier to be awarded the Military Cross and the Victoria Cross - A total of nine Victoria Crosses were awarded to Australian soldiers serving at Gallipoli. - Captain Shout's Victoria Cross is the only Gallipoli VC still in private hands; the other eight currently reside at the Australian War Memorial. - The Capt. Shout Victoria Cross Group is arguably the most important medal group ever to be offered at auction on the international market. Alfred John Shout (1881-1915) was born in Wellington, New Zealand on 7th August, 1881. He was the son of London-born John Shout, cook, and Agnes, n?e McGovern. From 1900 he served with the New Zealand contingent in the South African War, as a sergeant in the Border Horse and from 1903 as a sergeant in the Cape Field Artillery. Shout and his family moved to Australia in 1905. They settled in Sydney and Shout found work as a carpenter and joiner. In 1907 he joined the 29th Infantry Regiment (militia). He obtained his commission on 16th June, 1914 and joined the Australian Imperial Force in August. He was appointed as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1st Battalion and then promoted to 1st Lieutenant on 1st February 1915 whilst in Egypt. 1st Lieutenant Shout landed with 1st Battalion in Gallipoli on 25th April 1915 and was immediately in the thick of some ferocious fighting against the Turks. On 27th April, in a conspicuous show of courage, he led a bayonet charge whilst under extremely heavy Turkish fire for which he was awarded the Military Cross, and was mentioned in dispatches for his actions between 25 April and 5 May. He was promoted to captain on 29th July. On 6th August the A.I.F. attacked Lone Pine. During the battle Shout again distinguished himself for his leadership and bravery and was awarded the Victoria Cross (see citation above). He was mortally wounded during action on 9th August and died on board the hospital ship on 11th August 1915.