Hendrik

... and it's supposed to look something like this : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello All, Today the creation of a new Belgian medal was published in the Belgian governmental "Moniteur Belge" (Staatsblad) : MINISTERE DE LA DEFENSE 10 FEVRIER 2008 Arr?t? royal portant ?tablissement d'une carte relative ? l'attribution du statut de reconnaissance nationale d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 et portant cr?ation d'une m?dailleALBERT II, Roi des Belges, A tous, pr?sents et ? venir, Salut. Vu l'arr?t? royal du 11 octobre 2006 portant cr?ation du statut de reconnaissance nationale d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 et plus particuli?rement son article 9 qui dispose que toute d?cision d'attribution du statut d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 donne lieu ? l'?tablissement d'une carte de reconnaissance nationale dont le Roi d?termine le mod?le et son article 10 pr?voyant qu'il est cr?? une m?daille d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 dont le Roi d?termine le mod?le; Vu l'urgence motiv?e par le fait que l'arr?t? royal du 11 octobre 2006 est entr? en vigueur le 1erd?cembre 2006 et que la d?tention de la carte et le droit au port de la m?daille r?sultent de la d?cision d'attribution du statut de reconnaissance nationale prise en vertu dudit arr?t?; Consid?rant que tout d?lai suppl?mentaire dans l'ex?cution de la mesure propos?e priverait un nombre consid?rable de titulaires du statut d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 du droit de porter la pr?sente distinction, en raison du taux de mortalit? consid?rable qui affecte leur tranche d'?ge; Sur la proposition de Notre Ministre de la D?fense, Nous avons arr?t? et arr?tons : Article 1er. Les mod?les de la carte d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945, de couleur bleue, sont annex?s au pr?sent arr?t?. Art. 2. La carte est d?livr?e par le Ministre qui a les Victimes de la Guerre dans ses attributions. Art. 3. Toute modification, rature, surcharge ou autre alt?ration de la carte est interdite. Elle enl?ve toute force probante ? la carte qui est r?put?e annul?e. Art. 4. II est cr?? une m?daille d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 que peuvent seuls porter les invalides qui font l'objet d'une reconnaissance officielle du statut d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945. Art. 5. La m?daille est en m?tal argent? patin? mat; elle est circulaire et a 37 millim?tres de diam?tre. A l'avers, figurent, en relief, les ?l?ments suivants : au centre, de gauche ? droite, trois ba?onnettes dirig?es vers le haut et un personnage civil se dirigeant vers le c?t? droit. Ce personnage porte un chapeau et un manteau, dont le dos, constitu? de briques, se d?sagr?ge et tombe en morceaux vers le bas. Dans le premier cercle de la m?daille figurent en relief les ?l?ments suivants : en haut, au centre du cercle, qui s'entrouvre ? cet endroit, le petit sceau de l'Etat, r?duit ? l'?cu avec lion, la couronne royale et les deux sceptres, en bas, au centre, la mention 1940-1945; ? droite et ? gauche, des rameaux d'olivier, symboles de la persistance. Au revers, elle porte les mentions suivantes : "BURGERLIJK INVALIDE VAN DE OORLOG 1940-1945", "INVALIDE CIVIL DE LA GUERRE 1940-1945", "ZIVILINVALIDE DES KRIEGES 1940-1945". Art. 6. Le bijou est suspendu par une b?li?re ? un ruban de 37 millim?tres de large. Le ruban de moire blanche, est travers?, dans sa hauteur, au centre, par trois rayures de 3 millim?tres de largeur chacune, repr?sentant le drapeau national et en ses bords ext?rieurs par deux rayures de couleur violette, de 7 millim?tres de largeur chacune. Le ruban peut ?tre port? sans la m?daille. Art. 7. Ni le bijou avec la b?li?re, ni le ruban ne sont d?livr?s par le Gouvernement. Art. 8. Notre Ministre de la D?fense est charg? de l'ex?cution du pr?sent arr?t?. Donn? ? Bruxelles, le 10 f?vrier 2008. ALBERT Par le Roi : Le Ministre de la D?fense, P. DE CREM Annexe ? l'arr?t? royal du 10 f?vrier 2008 portant ?tablissement d'une carte relative ? l'attribution du statut de reconnaissance nationale d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 et portant cr?ation d'une m?daille Pour la consultation du tableau, voir image Vu pour ?tre annex? ? Notre arr?t? du 10 f?vrier 2008 portant ?tablissement d'une carte relative ? l'attribution du statut de reconnaissance nationale d'invalide civil de la guerre 1940-1945 et portant cr?ation d'une m?daille. ALBERT Par le Roi : Le Ministre de la D?fense, P. DE CREM Publi? le : 2008-03-03 Short description as per the above : - round medal in silvered metal, patinated, matt, 37mm - obverse : from left to right, 3 bajonets pointing upwards and a civilian walking to the right; this civilian wears a hat and a coat, the latter's back being formed of bricks that are breaking up and falling downwards; around the rim is a circle which opens up for the following : at the top the seal of the nation (lion on a shield with the royal crown above and with crossed sceptres lying undereneath); along the bottom rim : 1940-1945, left and right along the rim a laurel branch symbolising persistance. - reverse : the inscriptions "BURGERLIJK INVALIDE VAN DE OORLOG 1940-1945", "INVALIDE CIVIL DE LA GUERRE 1940-1945", "ZIVILINVALIDE DES KRIEGES 1940-1945" (Civil Invalid of the 1940-1945 War) - ribbon : 37mm wide, white moir?, with, in the middle, horizontal tricolour stripes in the national colours (black, yellow, red) and 7 mm violet vertical side stripes. ... better late than never ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Rick, Indeed not a common one within a German group. It is most likely an award for a lesser degree of lifesaving (from drowning, from a fire, ...). The status of the person concerned would not be influential to the class of the decoration awarded. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, It sounds as if the picture is from before the grand officer class award : as one receives a higher grade in these Belgian orders, the "old" class is no longer worn, only the highest class of each order. I can confirm the Grand Officer class is a breast star only. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Miguel and All, First time I've seen this cross without a ball suspension ... for the sake of comparison, here's the one in my collection : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello All, 1915 - 1 1916 - 1 1917 - 2 1918 - 4 I agree with Veteran that the 1916 type is quite likely the rarest of the lot, followed by 1915, 1917 and 1918. Cheers, 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