Hendrik

and finally, the dated bars : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello PK, To my knowledge and unless I'm mistaken, the INDOCHINE clasp is not part of the series of official clasps for the 39-45 Commemorative Medal. For WW2 in those parts, an EXTREME ORIENT clasp existed, same as on the Colonial Medal. Here's some more clasps for the Commemorative Medal (the AUTRICHE (Austria) one being non-official !) :

Couple of details :

Its reverse :

Hello Gents, I'm curious to find out where this breast star of the National Order was originally produced. Not good enough qualitywise to be French made and I doubt it was manufactured in South Vietnam ... It's lightweight : 110 grammes only ! Could be a reproduction ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Paul, They are described as such in French reference works on the subject. Perhaps a little background history would not go amiss : Maurice Barr?s, president of the "Ligue des Patriotes" is the instigator of the French Wounded insignia. Already in 1914 he was thinking about a distinctive badge and on 28 March 1915 he launched a first appeal in a Paris newspaper (L'Echo de Paris) for the creation of a badge to recognize "men whose wounds, infirmity or illness were caused by an act of war". He would renew the appeal on 10 June of the same year. After long debates in the French Chambre of Representatives (equivalent to the House of Commons in Britain), the Insignia for the Military Wounded was approved on 11 December 1916. However, manufacturers anticipating the eventual result of the debates and the official texts and regulations that would emerge, produced two badges which were distributed from 1915 onwards ... the round and oval ones above. I have no information on the designer(s) of these nor on why the rooster is in the place it is ... One French publication worth reading in this respect is "Petite Histoire de la Grande Guerre au travers des D?corations attribu?es aux Poilus" by Andr? Pascual. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Butch, Perish the thought ! What about saying it's the star as used on French War Crosses to denote a citation but red enameled to indicate the blood spilled ... ? Cheers, Hendrik

Gents, Originally there was a Western European section ... due to the large amount of posts therein, it was decided to split those up through creating a number of new geographically based sections. Among the posts at the time, the majority were on French and Belgian medals and this caused separate sections for those two countries being created. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Peter, Nice "bunch" of badges you have there ! I think I'll stick to collecting medals for the time being though Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Peter, Many thanks !!! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Peter and Kim, Many thanks for your quick reaction and interesting information ! The badge is indeed 18 carat gold and next to the 18K mark, I seem to discern "R7" (= 1904 ?). On the left side of the reverse are some letters which I think are "E Lh." and "M" ... I hope those ring a bell with you ! As this is a gift from a friend, I wouldn't dream of parting with it but I would appreciate an idea of its current value/rarity to military collectors. Cheers and thanks again, Hendrik

Hello Gents, I've been given this badge which I believe to be Swedish ... possibly a shooting or markmanship badge ? I'd appreciate any information on it ! Thanks, Hendrik

Yikes, that comes to about 33 Euros per picture ... Never in the field of human photography was so much asked to so many for so few. There is, admittedly, a nice reference to its origins : given as a birthday present to a retired colonel, former regimental CO and severely wounded at Gravelotte in August 1870... if true (and I'm not arguing), that's a nice provenance. Very nice but beyond my meagre purse Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, This one came in the mail the other day ... not an official Belgian medal but one "awarded" by the village of Halen (formerly written as Haelen). I'm not usually into those but this one has a nice historical background : it commemorates an early WWI battle (12 August 1914) in which the Belgians, using an unmounted cavalry unit as infantry, caused a fair number of casualties on the repeatedly charging German cavalry. Details on the battle itself can be found at http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/haelen.htm Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Kevin, Have a look at this one : http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=3770&view=findpost&p=37086 The one you have the ribbon of is the second award in the top row of that group. I notice now I made a mistake in calling it the War Merit Cross : The War Merit Cross is the same cross but without the sword device ! With the device, the name changes to The War Cross (or the War Cross for Military Valour) and as such is a bravery award rather than a decoration for meritorious war service. You'll also notice another War Merit Cross in that WWI group, 3rd one in the top row. It has a small crown on its ribbon denoting a subsequent award of same ... All rather confusing, I know, but it gets worse when you add the WWII variations and a new ribbon to the above Cheers, Hendrik

Gents, Many thanks for the identification ! Firemedals : you are 100 % right of course ... must be another medal's ribbon there ! The man in the picture is a Belgian who a few years prior to WWI had emigrated to the US; his name is Henri Van den Borre. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, I've come across this picture of a Belgian whom I think served with the US forces during WWI. It would interest me to learn more about what unit and/or branch of service he served with at the time. First the picture itself : And some details : - shoulder patch - collar button - jacket button - medal ribbons, my guess on these : US Victory Medal with two stars indicating bars received, French Croix de Guerre US Medal for the Occupation of Germany Underneath the ribbon bar is a device with US on it ... a discharge badge perhaps ? Looking forward to your reactions & Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Jaybo, I happened to stroll that way last Saturday and this one might interest you Cheers, Hendrik

Is Joannes Degezelle one of those 7 you found ? If not, check out www.medals.be under "Hall of Honours" ... he received the British Empire Medal as well BTW, your database is a great project ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello PK, I had a look to determine what is the medal depicting the warrior (top right in your picture in the first post) as I wasn't familiar with it. I've now found it is a non-official award for the Spanish Campaign as manufactured, in 1938, by the firm of Lorioli well before the official Volunteers Medal was created in 1940. Its ribbon should be crimson with thin white-red-yellow-red-white stripes in the centre. Between the warrior's feet should be the designer's name AFFER. Here's pictures of the official type for Spanish Civil War Volunteers : Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Jacques, You're probably thinking of the War Merit Cross ... this one is on a ribbon with red, blue and yellow : Cheers, Hendrik