Hendrik

Thanks Gents, keep it going So, Luxemburg received the L?gion d'Honneur ... At a guess, the city would then also have received the French Croix de Guerre and possibly the Belgian one too ? Anyone who has a clue there ? Thanks too for the information on the class awarded ! Cheers, Hendrik

Gents, What about trying to establish a list of European cities with the medal(s) they were awarded ? Let me start this topic of with two of them : Vught in the Netherlands : WW2 Belgian Gratitude Medal, gold class, in recognition of its inhabitants' helpful attitude towards the Belgian prisoners in the German concentration camp there. Verdun in France : Russian St. George Cross (class ?), British Military Cross, French Legion of Honour (knight class ?) and Croix de Guerre with palm, Italian Gold Medal for Valour, Belgian Order of Leopold I, military division, knight class, Serbian Gold Obilitch Medal and Montenegro Miloch Obilitch Medal. Looking forward to what the combined brains of the forum members can come up with on this subject ! Cheers, Hendrik.

Hello Eduardo, Don't know much about this one as it is pre-20th century (and thus not my field of collection). However, the "Medaglia a Ricordo dell' Unita d'Italia" does exist in many types, especially those instituted after WWI. Yours is an earlier one, obviously ... it was instituted in 1883. I believe - but could be wrong - that it was issued to participants in the 1870 "campaign" which added the city of Rome to the then growing Italian kingdom. Cheers, Hendrik

Terrible isn't it ... but just watch it go up and up and up ... last one I heard of fetched 12,000 Euros Cheers, Hendrik

Great collection Eduardo I love the Paris Victory Parade ones, never seen any of those before. Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Eduardo, I suggest you post them in the Collector's Showcase section of this forum so that we can all enjoy having a look at them ... Cheers from Belgium, Hendrik

Gents, Thanks for the information - it all makes good sense Cheers, Hendrik

That is quite possible although it is not one of those ugly shiny gilded versions one sometimes encounters ... But without paperwork or any other indication of provenance, I cannot claim it to have been actually awarded to someone. Cheers, Hendrik

Very, very pretty one that !!! If you have a spare one ... Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Eduardo, Very interesting - thanks for the pictures ! Never seen these before ... Do you by any chance know who they were awarded to ? Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Christophe, I see no reason why it shouldn't have been awarded : governments are sometimes quite late in awarding medals (the Belgian government is currently still awarding medals for WW2 and the Korean War to veterans !). Also, medals can and are awarded retroactively (e.g. French medals only a few years old with a "1914-1918" bar ...). Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Kevin, I think it's fair to assume there was such a pre-1960 box but, unfortunately, I've no information on that. Cheers, Hendrik

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And, from the French era of things down in the southeast of Asia : the campaign medal with 1949-54 bar and its box which was good for all issues apparently. [attachmentid=55891] [attachmentid=55892]

The original and French made ones would appear to have been enameled as per the one I have in my collection. In any case, this thread has reminded me that I need to retake pictures of that part of my collection [attachmentid=55890]

Hello Alex, Your medal is the "Medaglia Commemorativa della Campagna Fascista 1919-1922", the commemorative medal of the 1919-21 fascist campaign. It was a non-official medal but recipients could and did wear it without any problem. This medal, awarded either in bronze, silver or silver gilt (the latter two quite rare) could also sport a number of dated ornated bars on its ribbon : "1919", "1920", "1920" and/or "1921". It was awarded to the first hour fascists, those that supported Mussolini from the start and you should find the maker's initials "S.J." (Stephano Johnson of Milano) at 7 o'clock on the obverse. Cheers, Hendrik [attachmentid=55886]

And here's one with the bar for the Korean War. [attachmentid=55882]

Definitely a non-official commemorative medal and ... Belgian, not French ! The wording on the medal mentions "Malines" (in Flemish "Mechelen"), a town near Brussels. From the reverse one learns that it is a commemorative award by the former prisoners held during WW2 in the Dossin barracks in that town. The Dossin barracks was one of the main gathering points from where Belgian Jews were deported to the concentration camps ...

The French "M?daille des Victimes de l'Invasion" medals series is not often encountered and as such merits to be highlighted. The medals were instituted on 30 June 1921 by the Minister for Liberated Regions, in three classes : silver gilt, silver and bronze. Serving to acknowledge both the courage and the spirit of fortitude of those that were left homeless or had suffered otherwise from the German invasion during World War I, the design of the medal depicts a handcuffed woman firmly standing upright, with a devastated town in the background. The medals are in low relief but it is possible to see the word "FRANCE" on the right. At the bottom there is the name of the designer in very small script, P. Duatel. The reverse merely has an inscription : "AUX / VICTIMES / DE / L'INVASION / LA FRANCE / RECONNAISSANTE" (To the invasion victims from a grateful France), within a wreathed border which also bears the dates "1914" and "1918". A maker's mark and the designer's mark are also present. The medals are attached to the ribbon by a mount which depicts an arrangement of chain links. The ribbon itself is blue with a thin black centre stripe and red side stripes near the edges. On 10 January 1923, to denote respectively political prisoners and war hostages, ribbon clasps were created, inscribed "PRISONNIER POLITIQUE" and "OTAGE DE GUERRE". Note that these somewhat disproportionate bars also have chain links. Numbers awarded are not known to me but the scarceness of these medals would imply that few were distributed amongst the French population thus afflicted. Pictures of the silver and gilt medals would be highly appreciated ! [attachmentid=52761] [attachmentid=52762]

Hello Jan, Excellent ! Thanks for the information ! Do let us know more on this if/when you find further details Cheers, Hendrik

Jef, I believe he was from Doornik (born and died there ... 1902-1971) and do think there's something odd about the picture : first there's the Fire Cross as you pointed out but what about the top row of medals ? Doesn't the good captain appear to be very young to have all those long service awards ? Even counting double the war years, he couldn't still be a captain with all those awards, could he ? Just an idea : original picture from 1923 and painted over with the new medals in the 1930's ??? Maybe your friend can check the original with that in mind ... Cheers, Hendrik

Jef, Forgot to mention something in my previous post : I noticed the Yser Medal in the group ... how can that be there if he saw service from October 1916 onwards ? Only participants of the October 1914 battles could receive that one ! Hendrik

Hello Jef, The Commemorative Medal should indeed have a red cross device on its ribbon - not so sure about the star device (working from memory I think that needed a change of branch due to a wound or illness but you mention he returned to his unit). Receiving the fire card (and Fire Cross) doesn't necessarily mean a minimum of one year of frontline service, e.g. 9 months in the final push (28 Sept to 11 Nov. 1918) would suffice. However, being wounded in 1916, regaining his unit afterwards and surviving the war does point towards at least one or more front stripes. I take it you don't have the actual fire card in your possession ? That would remove all doubts as all awards one is entitled to are listed on it. The lion device on the war cross (Croix de Guerre) ribbon is of a later type and might indicate a late award of the decoration itself or replacement for a lost original. This might just explain the absence of the Comm. Medal's devices : perhaps they were lost as well and never replaced by your relative ... but this is just guesswork, I'm afraid. Cheers, Hendrik

Mmm, I read that date on the box as 21 June 1946 ... am I wrong ? Cheers, Hendrik