Hendrik

The Freedom and Independence Star,

The Military Merit Medal,

Continuing with the North Korea - China Friendship Badge

And the 2nd class reverse ... Question : would the screwback reverse indicate an "older" award ?

Gents, Adding a few not displayed here so far ... Firstly, The Soldiers' Honour Badge 1st and 2nd class :

Hello Paul, Haven't a clue (I thought most, if not all, French received unnamed ones ...) but have you contacted these people yet : http://www.crimeanwar.org/ ? Good luck, Hendrik

Sorry Jef, never seen that medal before ... very nice one indeed, thanks for posting the pictures ! Hendrik

Hello Paul, I'm not good at Vatican awards either but the legend on yours seems to stand for "Lawyers of St. Peter" ... hence, possibly a badge of office for the Vatican's lawyers. Cheers, Hendrik

In relation to this it may interest forum members to know that the town of Vught was decorated after the war and received the Belgian Gratitude Medal 1940-1945, gold class, in recognition of the town inhabitant's attitude towards the Belgian prisoners in the camp. I don't have a gold class to show you but here's a silver one. Cheers, Hendrik

Hi, No such camps in the Ardennes to my knowledge. In fact, the only real camp that I know of in Belgium is the one at Breendonk (between Antwerp and Brussels). The fortress of Breendonk originally was part of the fortress ring around the town of Antwerp. The Germans converted it to a "Durchgangslager", a gathering point for prisoners to be transported to concentration camps in Germany or occupied Poland. Quite a number of executions took place while other inmates died from the combination of starvation and forced (useless) labour. Its "interrogation room" (aka torture chamber) there is a particularly ugly place. Hendrik

Many thanks Jan for the gorgeous pictures !!! Hendrik

Hello Lukasz, Thanks for that information ! Apparently Verdun did not receive the Virtuti Militari but the War Cross (see the earlier post in this thread). Cheers, Hendrik

I'm not at all sure but I somewhat doubt it : London manufacturered Resistance Medal, Croix de Guerre, Liberation Order ... never seem to have maker's marks on them while, on the other hand, the Free French Levant Medal does bear the JRG mark. Cheers, Hendrik

If so, the medal's reverse should have the letters JRG (maker's mark for John Robert Gaunt) at the bottom ... The bars on the ribbon, however, do not appear to be of London manufacture. Paul, could you check for the reverse mark or, even better, post a detailed picture ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hi Gents, Here's the Nato Non-Article 5 Medal with the new Pakistan bar which will be awarded to those that served for minimum 30 days (continuous or accumulated service) between 8 October 2005 and 1 February 2006 in the Pakistan eartquake relief operations. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Gents, Here's the latest Italian medal to join my collection : Medaglia Commemorativa della Guerra 1915-1918 per la Marina Mercantile (as created on 15 July 1923) - it's exactly as the earlier WWI Commemorative Medal (1920) but for its blue and white striped ribbon. Cheers, Hendrik

Very nice - thanks for posting ! With the one in the other thread, we now have pictures of 4 variations plus the original ribbon only award ... keep them coming ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Chris, According to the certificate it's to a Spanish national. However, the same type (red enamel) was no doubt awarded to a number of Legion Condor members. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Chris, The picture of one in my collection is already in the theme thread. I'm not sure how many recognized variations there are but at least 12 according to an old dealer's catalogue - I too would like to see pictures of them but fear the forum members can't come up with them ! Prove me wrong gents ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Darrell & All, See also : http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop... on this topic ... Originals will pricewise probably fetch about 80 - 100 Euros when in undamaged condition, quite possibly more if in genuine silver. As always, a lot depends on quality of the item and collectors' interest at the time but I'd say any original purchased below that level is a good deal indeed ! And, it would appear some of the Lorioli crosses were also executed in "900" silver ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Erik, Post no. 1 of this thread, bar the first paragraph, will already do nicely for that medal's English version ... and I'd be happy to make translations of the odd pages to help you along. As a start and if you haven't a translation of it yet, just mail me your text on say the "Oorlogsherinneringskruis" as a Word document and I'll return the English version of it. Perhaps someone else, with command of both languages involved, may follow suit ... even for just one page ? Cheers, Hendrik

Chris, Thanks for the reminder ... it is now and I've added a couple more for good measure Cheers, Hendrik

Gents, in my next year's agenda : Sat. 21 April, visit to L?gion d'Honneur museum - Sun. 22 April, Militaria Sale at Rungis ... nice combination package and getting to spend a couple of days in Paris at the same time No reason why like minds shouldn't meet ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Darrell, Nice ones and the pictures show the Paris Mint silver marks well. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Joe & Tony, Many thanks for your quick and useful comments - I'll pass the information on ! Hendrik