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

Hello Eduardo, It reads : Destroyed row of houses in St. Baussant As to Zeppelins ... didn't they have a few machine guns on top (and in a few other places) ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Eduardo, On the right it says (and as literally as I can get it) : German Air Fleet Society for the creation of a strong German air fleet and in support of the air crew school. Yearly fee : including the society's magazine "Die Luftflotte" (= the Air Fleet), as per your discretion, minimum 3.-- Reichsmark ... followed by (presumably) the Berlin address of the society. The bottom one goes like this : Military Air Cruiser "Hansa" in battle with enemy fliers, from a painting by Prof. Dr. Hans Rudolf Schulze, Berlin Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, You may be interested to know about this book : "De eervolle onderscheidingen van de verzameling Brouwet" by one of the forum's members, Guy Deploige. The larger part of this book deals with the collection of L?gion d'Honneur awards collected by Mr. Brouwet and which are currently held by the Belgian Army Museum in Brussels (not on display though !). It does contain measurements of the various items. Superior photographs too and I can strongly recommend it as it's price of 40 Euros is quite reasonable in view of the quality of the book. More info and "how to order it" can be found at : http://www.klm-mra.be/klm-new/nederlands/b...t_nl/index.html Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Eduardo, Here's one : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Charleroi or ... http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/charleroi.htm Some maps referring to the battle can be found at : http://batmarn1.club.fr/cartchlr.htm For a day by day account of the battle (in French) : http://chtimiste.com/batailles1418/charleroi.htm Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Thierry & All, I think the various bars are as follows : Colonial Medal : TUNESIE 1942-43, BIR HACHEIM 1942, LIBYE, ERYTHREE, AFRIQUE FRANCAISE LIBRE, MAROC 1925, MAROC. WW2 Commemorative Medal : ALLEMAGNE, FRANCE, AFRIQUE, NORVEGE. Some thoughts : 1. The Italy bar on the Commemorative Medal for the Italian Campaign should be on the WW2 Commemorative Medal. As this in effect replaces the campaign medal that one should no longer be part of the group. 2. The wound bar on the WW1 Commemorative Medal was only created in 1952. Being wounded in WW1 would have caused the recipient of this group to wear an enamelled red star and not the bar on its ribbon. 3. The Polish Valour Cross is on the 1st type ribbon as awarded to Polish military in exile ... not 100 % sure but I don't think crosses with that ribbon went to non-Polish personnel. 4. USA Legion of Merit Officer class would indicate the group belonged to a General or Admiral ... does this fit with the "only" officer class of the French Legion of Honour ? I have my doubts. And ... 5. the detail that made me unhappy about this group in the first place : the crossed swords on the Belgian Crown Order indicate a BELGIAN veteran of WWI ... These swords were created in 1939 and were only awarded to Belgians ! So, are we now looking for a French general and no doubt well-known hero but with dual Belgian and French nationality ??? I'm afraid that is too farfetched for me but I'd be happy to learn of any such person having been around ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Thierry & All, I have a serious problem with believing this to be a "correct" group ... more on that later. For the time being, Thierry, could you inform us on the various ribbon bars that are present. I can read the "MAROC" and "MAROC 1925" on the Colonial Medal but what about the two (or more) on top of those, the bar on the Italy Medal and those (at least 3) on the French WW2 Commemorative Medal ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, Export price is without the European VAT tax ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Troy, More information on the various ribbon devices for this medal can be found at http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1036...st&p=104752 Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, It isn't ... it's the Military Valour Cross as can be seen on the link Ed Haynes provided. Very nice pictures on the "northeastmedals" website and decent information even if somewhat incomplete for some of the medals there. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Henke, Feel free to explain to those that don't know (like me) what the medal is : name, criteria for its award, etc. etc. It looks as if it's connected to the Swedish Royal Order of the Sword but I guess there's more to it ... lifesaving perhaps ??? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, Further to this topic, obverse and reverse of the 2001 type : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, I have the impression those awards mainly serve to indicate membership to the organisation concerned and higher classes of the decorations or medals seem to be reflecting the length of membership, sometimes combined with the importance of the recipient within its society. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Roeland, Jeff is right : a veteran society's award and likely to be a local one as well. It would appear to be called the "French Order of Merit Overseas" (Ordre du M?rite Fran?ais d'Outre Mer) on the obverse. As the reverse bears the name Marseille, I'm leaning towards a local branch decoration and the society concerned is abbreviated A.N.O.F.O.M. (Anciens N .... O.... Fran?ais Outre Mer ???). The date might refer to the foundation of that local branch ... In any case, not an official French government award but one of the many unofficial veteran societies' awards that abound in France (and some other countries ). Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Laurence, Wish I knew ! On the one hand, one doesn't see them often but on the other hand why go through all the trouble of Royal Decrees if there's only a handful of people concerned ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Laurence, In fact there are two Royal Decrees governing this type of bar (19 Jan. 1962 and 19 May 1965). The reason for them is that in a few cases people having received a class of one of the Belgian chivalry orders for war service, also became entitled to one in the same order for long service in a civilian capacity. As only the highest class of the order can be worn, there was - prior to these decrees - no way to display both awards. The decrees dealt with that by creating a number of bars, depicting the lesser decoration, to be worn on the ribbon of the higher class awarded. In your case : Leopold II Order Gold Medal (awarded for war service) and bar of the Leopold II Order's Silver Medal (as awarded for long service as a civilian). Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Hugh, It's called "Croce Ricordo per gli Aviatori nella Guerra 1915-1918" (Commemorative Cross for the 1915-1918 War Aircrew). Manufactured in the 1920's by the firm of Pozzi in Turin and a non-official award, not a government decoration. The legend presumably derived from a 13th century Latin motto "Ibis redibis non morieris in bello" (Go, return, don't die in war). As to criteria ... I haven't a clue but being a non-official decoration, probably anyone having served as aircrew in WWI could buy one of these. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Peter, Yes, that's it ... one wonders what he did (or where he was) between May 1940 and ca. 1945. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Peter, This one is in English : www.medals.be Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Paul, I believe that to be the "Uprising and Victory Commemorative Medal" - it's related to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Cheers, Hendrik