Hendrik

Hello Chris, No, that's not the way it worked : most Colonial Medal bars were silver(ed) but a few of the Maroc bars (around 1925-26) were made in gilt from the start. The same goes for the "special operations" bars who originally were in genuine gold. The Overseas Medal bars are all gold coloured. Cheers, Hendrik

... and isn't the palm usually affixed to the CdG ribbon the other way (palm's stem to the viewer's left) ? As Dave indicated, it's probably missing one more row with the Victory Medal and another. Nice set anyway as the 1914-16 CdG are increasingly more difficult to find these days. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Miguel, Nice to see you posting here ! 1939-1940 is the only correct reverse for the Vichy War Cross ... but I agree with Kevin : pictures would be nice ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Snoopy, Only some minor typos : it's Croce instead of Crose and Commendatore instead of Commandantore and also Valore instead of Valor Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Rittmeister, I think that at this point it would be useful if you also posted the complete picture of the man in his uniform ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Kevin & All, For the sake of correct nomenclature, the three medals are Military Valour Medals. The 2 crosses are resp. The Cross for Military Valour (1st type as created in 1941) and the War Merit Cross. The variety that exists for the Military Valour Crosses is quite extensive and complex with several different inscriptions found on the reverse. Cheers, Hendrik

Oops, I somewhat overlooked that ! It's guesswork, no telling which one it is, but I think the most likely candidate is to be found among these : Sahara, Tchad, Afrique or Afrique Occidentale Fran?aise ... but it may still well be another one. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Jan, The "Maroc 1925" and "Maroc 1925-26" spring to mind ... These replaced the original "Maroc" bar for a short time. Assuming, of course, the man remained in the area. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, I think Kev's Colonial Medal is one manufactured by the firm of Delande : 5 chevrons on the shoulder piece of the harness. Some of these have the word "metal" on the reverse of the suspension ... The Overseas Medal is IMHO of Mourgeon manufacture. As to the Somali Coast bar : once the French surrendered in 1940, the British sought to neutralize the Somali coast. Though the local population was predominantly pro-British, it wasn't in favour of the Free French and chose to be loyal to the Vichy government. A fairly successful blockade was put in place but the governor and troops present refused invitations to join the Free French. The Vichy government created the bar on 13 September 1941 for those that were in the region for 6 months between 25 June 1940 and "a later date". Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, The first ribbon looks as if there's only one colour present, not the blue and black of the Leopold II order, so more likely to be either the Crown order or the Leopold order. After that the War Cross, Yser Medal, Commemorative Medal 14-18 and Victory Medal as Love4History suggests, make up the remainder. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello TerryG and all, The picture shows a WWI veteran wearing : top row, - War Cross 1915 with palm (Croix de Guerre) - WWI Volunteers Medal - Military Decoration, Article 4, 2nd class (= for act of bravery) - Fire Cross bottom row, - Civil Decoration 1914-1918, presumbly the gilt medal (= 1st class medal) - Military Decoration, 2nd class (= long service) - Commemorative Medal of the 1914-18 War with (presumably) a gilt bar (equals 5 silver bars = 3 years of front service) - Victory Medal It is quite customary in Belgium for civilians to wear their medals not mounted on a bar but spread all over their chest. At least this veteran did his best to align them although, as per usual, not in the correct order of precedence. Nice picture indeed ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Saschaw, A 2nd Empire cross with 1st Empire obverse central medallion, I think, and as such perhaps a less common "hybrid type". The regime changes prior to 1870 in France (monarchies turning into republics and empires or vice versa) caused some alterations to already awarded crosses : it didn't look well to wear an imperial cross when there was a king on the throne etc. ... On your cross, strangely enough, one imperial medaillion seems to have been changed into an older one - it may be a case of the original centre having too much damage and being replaced by an old one that was still in stock with a jeweller. Nice one with not too much enamel damage for its age ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Love4History, An odd combination of medals for a French sailor ... but first to your question on the Colonial Medal : that is normally made of silver or silvered bronze. However, locally manufactured types do exist (mainly Indochina made) and that may account for the one you have there. Having travelled so extensively around the world, I would have expected at least one bar on its ribbon. Some other remarks : - in the picture the sailor wears the M?daille Militaire and his Croix de Guerre seems to be showing a palm device ... the Military Medal is not in the group and the CdG you have has a star device instead of the palm. - The Serbian War Commemorative Medal is present twice : once to the left of the CdG, showing the reverse and once on the bottom row, left. Only the latter has the correct ribbon but it's the other way around : red, blue and white. A bit strange to see it in this group as it would mean the sailor was part of a French military mission in Serbia - possible I guess ... - The Italian War Commemorative Medal is a surprise within the that group : I don't think foreigners received it from the Italian government but am not 100 % sure on that. Maybe someone else can confirm this ? - The Orient and Dardanelles medals to the right of the CdG look just fine ! I like those Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Leigh, There are two possible ribbons for this medal : the yellow striped one for Headquarters and Forces, the white striped one for Planning and Support. I agree the designer had a bad off-day when submitting that but what about those that in the end approved it ? Cheapness must have been the main concern Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Paul and Kev, Thanks for your reactions. My first idea on this medal was "masonic" as well but with the multitude of "american societies" in past or present existance, I wanted to make sure. The picture is indeed fuzzy and one asumes photographic standards in the 1880's weren't all that high . If nothing further is found out in this section, I'll post the question in the masonic section of the forum Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, I was sent a picture of an American in civil clothing wearing the medal in the picture below ... the wearer was born in 1850 and it's assumed the picture dates from 1875-1880 or thereabouts. He lived in Mississippi throughout his life. Any information on this medal would be helpful ! Thanks & regards, Hendrik

Hello Robert, I can confirm he died as a POW ... "In memory of Artillery Major Maurice Soupart, - Died for the country in the camp of Prenzlau (? - not sure I read that right) ... after a long and painful captivity" Hendrik

Hello Gordon, Although it's near impossible in most cases to exactly match different countries' medals (and I'm not an expert on Polish medals anyway), I think it's close to the British Military Cross although the criteria for its award may well be indicate a somewhat lesser degree of valour is needed to obtain the Polish cross. My 2 Eurocents worth ... And just for the fun of it, some pictures : Obverses dated resp. 1920, 1943 and 1944 - Can someone tell me more about the 1943 version ? I'm not sure what that one is about ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, More on this medal can be found at : http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=6162 Cheers, Hendrik

Thanks, Jan, for confirming the Lourdes angle ! Glad to have learned something today Hendrik

Good point, Jef ! Until further notice, "Notre Dame de Lourdes" it is ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Jef, So there is a medal/cross associated with this after all ! Great to see it ... I never got an answer from Loek on this so I'll now send him your picture. Maybe his penny will drop this time. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, Non-official medals as this one is not my field at all but at a guess : Nationale des D?fenseurs de Li?ge (National Society of Li?ge's Defenders) ... may well be quite wrong and hopefully someone will correct me then ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Kevin, The reverse reads (I think) : ANCR (= National Society of Combattants and Veterans), Venice Federation, 1st Provincial Reunion, Combattants and Veterans, Mirarto 11-11-1984. Mirarto, I take it, being the gathering place, they did leave it a bit late for their first reunion ... Cheers, Hendrik

Congratulations Olivier ! What a GREAT little one and, as you say, extremely rare ! Cheers, Hendrik