Hendrik

Hello Anatoly13, What you have there is an unofficial medal, awarded to members of the health security organization as a token of gratitude to its members. Don't know much about these unofficial ones but I suspect it probably exists in 3 classes : "gold", silver, bronze. A900 is indeed silver (the A = argent, the French word for silver, 900 indicates the silver content : 900/1000). Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Veteran, Excellent !!! Many thanks for clearing the 1870-75 period up governmentwise ... MacMahon, of course, I recall reading his name before. I'm a wiser man today than I was before - thanks to you Regards, Hendrik

Hello Veteran, Thank you for clearing up the finer points on the dates of the various "r?gimes" as well as for your too kind words ! I am quite surprised to learn that the 3rd Republic only started officially in 1875. Does that mean the 2nd Empire (officially) lasted till that year or was there some sort of interim government form set up at the end of the Franco-Prussian War ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Darrell, It's just a wee more diversified, I think : 1st Republic (1792-1804) 1st Empire (1804-1815) Restoration (1815-1830) July Monarchy (1830-1848) 2nd Republic (1848-1852) 2nd Empire (1852-1870) 3rd Republic (1870-1947, incl. Vichy & Prov. Gov.) 4th Republic (1947-1959) 5th Republic (1959-now) I would appreciate Bison and/or Veteran checking this for accuracy ... Cheers, Hendrik

And, currently residing in the Paris L?gion d'Honneur Museum : If I recall correctly, it once belonged to a chap called Joffre ... you may have heard the name before Cheers, Hendrik

Note the silver palm in the left picture (top palm) ... And now for some specials : A silver cross instead of the usual bronze one, non-official, of course.

Hello Boris and Charles, Theoretically 5 bronze palms had to be replaced by 1 silver palm. However, recipients in many cases preferred stacking their bronze palms and there seems to have been little objection to their doing so. Eight palms almost certainly indicate an ace pilot (1 palm per air victory) ... the ordinary trench warfare soldier would nearly never survive that long. I've never seen palms mounted that close together, usually they were spaced out a bit more on - if necessary - a super long ribbon. The cross and its citations are mainly bravery awards but not strictly so, exceptional war service or leadership (for generals) also led to awards. As requested, some more pictures coming up ...

Hello Brett, According to my information (K. Ingraham's book), the Laoixi province ceased to exist in 1954 when incorporated in the Liaoning Province. I think it's fair to assume the medal was issued before that time. Recipients were Chinese People's Volunteers that passed through the province en route to Korea. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Brett, I believe the medal goes by the name of ... "THE LAOXI PROVINCE MEDAL FOR STRUGGLE TO RESIST THE U.S. AND SUPPORT KOREA". Here's another one but with a not so blank reverse : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Charles, Basically, there are 3 models for the M?daille Militaire : 1852, 1870 and the post-WWII model. Among these three models, it is generally accepted that 9 types exist albeit with numerous variations, luxury pieces, etc. etc. ... a very complex award :-) Here's a 1st model (2nd type) example, easily recognizable by its eagle suspension : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Charles, Small detail : the "Indochine" bar on the ribbon group's WW2 Commemorative Medal is an unofficial one. The bar does exist for the Colonial Medal but not for the WW2 Commemorative. On the latter, an "Extreme Orient" bar is possible. It is as if they switched places :-) Cheers, Hendrik

The "Extr?me Orient" is what the French used to also call "Indochine". Today's Vietnam and Cambodia largely cover the area thus indicated ... literally it means the Far East. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Charles, I suggest you have a look on www.medals.be ... there's many an answer for you there, I think. Look under the "Spotlight on" heading. Happy reading, Hendrik

Hello Peter, Very nice Flemish model of the panel ! Great to see a group to a NCO with bravery awards, campaign medals and even a French Croix de Guerre ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Peter and Roeland, The first "decoration" is a Chaplain's Cross. As far as I know it's not an official decoration but rather a badge of office. I've no idea if there were different models of this kind of display panels. Always nice to see one though and, if you can, please post a detailed picture of the lower part with the recipient's name etc. I'm sure it's worth reading ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Doc, Allow me to make a few corrections : the medal did not replace the card - instead, the card was kept by its owner and served as certificate for the medal. And, bronze bars indicate each period of 12 months of captivity started. Hence, 48 months + 1 day would entitle one to have 5 bars on the ribbon. Looking forward to seeing more of your collection ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Vorbeste, Yes, I've seen the type before but don't know when it went into production for the first time ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Vorbeste, Your medal is a later private manufacture, similar to the original Italian Mint issue, but with the king's head facing the wrong way. The original official medal looks like this : The metal it's made of is indeed silver and below the king's effigy one can read the name of the designer L. Giorgi. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Bison, Memorable stories of your grandfathers ! Thanks for sharing them with us ... they are literally rising from the grave ! Hendrik

Hello Alex K, Belgian orders on a ribbon with 2 gold thread stripes near the edge indicate an award, in wartime, to a civilian for an act of bravery. The key word here is "civilian" : your Leopold Order on this ribbon is the military type (crossed swords in the suspension) and thus this, unfortunately, is an incorrect combination. Here's the ribbon on the proper "civilian" badge : Cheers, Hendrik

Reverse of the breast star :

The breast star, obverse :

Reverse of the sash badge :

Hello Gents, Basically, the order is a reward to officers and NCO's of the reserve forces for voluntary and meritorious services in the field of training and formation of reserve units of the armed forces. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Lion, there's also : - Medal for Family Merit - Medals for Agricultural and Artisanal Merit - Commemorative Medal for Armed Humanitarian Operations and the Orders of the Lion and of the African Star were still being awarded ... Cheers, Hendrik