Hendrik

Hello Hugh, That would mean the reverse has the year "1939" on it and thus the ribbon should be the red ribbon with 4 green stripes. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Kostas, Difficult to say, even with a couple of good pictures, but I don't think you have a copy medal there, probably a slightly later strike by a different manufacturer. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Kostas, ... and welcome to GMIC !!! Here's one : Best regards, Hendrik

Hard to say these days as price levels seem to go up (mostly) and down (less often) in a matter of days. I'd say a minimum level of 40 Euros is probably fair as the ribbon is missing. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello KDVR, Here's one on its ribbon. It's also - like yours - the "Barre" type which is the most common one. The first ones awarded were without an engraver's name and other engravers include E. Falot and F. Sacristain. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, I very much doubt the "Belgian" ribbon is indeed that and am leaning towards the Reuss Merit Cross or Medal for Art and Sciences, a civil decoration. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Hugh, Good job on the translation ! Those last two sentences merely indicate the 1962 clasp is denoted by a gold star being affixed to the ribbon bar and that some illustrations show the star "inverted". Here's one with the 1962 bar : Cheers, Hendrik

Ha ! I thought the "handle" looked very familiar Glad to see you joined up here ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello again James, I agree it is interesting : theoretically, according to the then regulations, as a foreign award it should be the last in the group. Personally I like it where it is : it shows how the recipient valued it and I find that more important than rules in the order of wearing medals. What the heck, the crossed sabres on the WW2 Commemorative Medal aren't regulations' size either ... so what, they deserve to be that size, don't they ? :-) Cheers, Hendrik

Hello James & L4h, The US medal used to reward members of escape lines wasn't the Bronze Star but the Medal of Freedom and in this context I can strongly recommend the book by Peter Verstraeten, published last year, entitled "The US Medal of Freedom awarded to Belgians for Service during World War II". It reflects the 5 years of research he did on the subject and contains all recipients and describes the activities for which their awards were made - very nicely illustrated with pictures etc. too ... Similarly, in order to find the same information on Belgian Bronze Star recipients, one would have to spend quite some time in the Belgian military archives in Brussels to compile a list of awardees. I tend to think that the Bronze Star would mostly, perhaps even exclusively, have been awarded to Belgians for bravery in a military role, i.e. while in assistance of US troops. As to the tower device on the Croix de Guerre ribbon, that was created for award to "persons who, whilst accomplishing a mission of public interest or a civic duty, showed exceptional bravery against the enemy". No need to be in the engineers corps as far as I know, in fact I think civilians (e.g. resistance members) were the most likely to receive it. Also, drawing the conclusion that 3 bars on the POW medal means a French language recipient as opposed to a Flemish speaking one, can't be considered the rule (as L4h indicated, not "ironclad proof"). Not all Flemish POW's were released within a year; some never were and as a rule officers, whatever their language, spent a far longer time in POW camps than enlisted men. I notice both groups contain the Armed Resistance Medal and am, therefore, drawn to suggest the award of the Bronze Star may have to do with bravery while serving with the US troops during the liberation of Belgium. It's a possibility but not necessarily the gospel truth Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Marco, The ribbon colours on the last ribbon correspond with the Order of Mono (knight class) from Togo ... Best regards, Hendrik

Hello Doc, Here's the medal on its correct medal as you described it : I had no idea "only" some 2,000 were awarded - where did you find that information ? Best regards, Hendrik

Hello Hugh, My information is slightly different : not bravery medals but campaign medals according to "The Medals, Decorations and Orders of World War II" by Alec Purves. He also mentions a ribbon device for actually coming under enemy fire during those campaigns. Cheers, Hendrik

Having downloaded the reverse picture and enlarged it, I can make out : ? PRIJS / DEFILE LANDDAG / ROERMOND. The last word indicating a small town in the Netherlands, it's safe to say this is a very local Dutch award. The rest of the wording suggests the medal was awarded as a prize in the annual town's parade. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, Gorgeous one !!! I'd say from the 1918-1950 period, thus definitely post-WWI in my most humble opinion ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Paul and Kev, I agree with Paul : the first 4 on the top row are the official ones. The first medal appears to be the Gold class (type designed by Roty), the other three would likely be the Silver Gilt, Silver 1st and 2nd classes (type designed by Barre). The series of "M?dailles d'Honneur pour Actes de Courage et de D?vouement" is quite complex as there are a very large number of models, types and variations that were created over the years. Cheers, Hendrik

Hehe, that's on my website but my remark is still valid. Unfortunately I've not yet found a better example of this decoration to add to my collection enabling me to replace that picture ... maybe one of these days I'll be lucky Cheers, Hendrik

Thanks Darrell ! Dowloaded these for future referencing ... Hendrik

Hello Bemed, I have serious doubts about that : no crossed swords device on the civil version of the order, I think. The crossed swords on the ribbon indicate a military recipient ! On the other hand, no problem with the award being bilingual as many WWI survivors didn't receive this decoration until after 1951 through being "promoted" from the Crown Order. Cheers, Hendrik

Excellent haul, Darrell ! Well done indeed ... if you ever get bored with No. 7, it's still missing here For the time being I'll just look at its pictures. Cheers, Hendrik

Hi Gents, To avoid confusion, I suggest calling it the Italian 1915-1918 War Commemorative Medal Cheers, Hendrik

Thanks guys, I'm learning a lot of interesting details here ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Christer, Great medal and clasps (but I think you should change the first year in the title of this thread ) ! Could you post a picture of the reverse of the type for foreigners ? I'm still missing that one in my collection as well as the Tolvaj?rvi clasp ... so if one day you see one lying around at a reasonable price, think of me Just wondering : wouldn't Kentt?armeija be the most widely awarded bar ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Megan & Christophe, It is German, the 3rd official language of this tiny country next to Flemish (Dutch) and French. Cheers, Hendrik

Dear Megan, PM sent ... ------------------- Hello Rick, I understand what you're saying but have to disagree somewhat (not entirely !) : designwise a better choice could certainly be made but what I've seen of modern manufactured medals from other countries isn't all that great either at times. Tastes differ from person to person ... personally (and chosen randomly, no hard feelings on the French at all !) I dislike this one designwise, others will no doubt have a different view : As to this Belgian cartoon-like medal, I don't like it much either but I do appreciate the symbolism of the figure's coat falling apart ... So, I'd say don't shoot the artist but aim for the politician and civil servant(s) that approved the design ! One thing I'm sure about : the award is made available far too late and is supposed to be bought by the recipient him/herself. Thank you grateful fatherland : that truly is disgusting ! Cheers, Hendrik