Hendrik

Hi Nick, Not German but Belgian : Military Chaplain's Cross, a badge of office rather than a decoration. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Gordon, French manufacturers have a long history of producing unofficial medals and bars. I think the motive is financial gain rather than veterans wanting to embellish their members' medal displays but that is just my personal opinion. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Gordon, No bars were authorised for this medal. The Dien Bien Phu bar is, to my knowledge, unofficial and the Légion Etrangère bar belongs to the "National Defence Medal". Below an example of the latter on a 1st class medal : Regards, Hendrik

Bonjour Patout ? Excellent ! It may be of interest that the "Médaille d'Honneur" the good captain received was of the highest possible class : he was awarded the rare gold class of the Interior Ministry's Medal of Honour for courage and dedication. It would perhaps be interesting to know which "difficult events in several counties in the months of February, March, April and May 1906" caused such awards to be made ... Link to the entry in the Journal Officiel de la République Française : https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6542783t/f2.image Regards, Hendrik

Hello Jeff, There are "Journal de Marche Officiel" of some of the batteries of the 68th Artillery Regiment available on line : https://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/arkotheque/inventaires/ead_ir_consult.php?fam=3&ref=6&le_id=12831 Time to brush up your French ? Regards, Hendrik

Adrian, As the citation for the Officer class of the Légion d'Honneur mentions the Croix de guerre in December 1915, it is indeed a 1914-1915 reverse one that Laborde would have received. In the end, he would have two ribbon devices on its ribbon as will be seen on his LdH Commander citation ... The latter can be found in the Journal Officiel de la République Française (JORF) at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65378717/f28.image.r="laborde" Chronologically, he received three classes of the Legion d'Honneur as follows : Chevalier (Knight) per Decree of 11 July 1908, published in the JORF on 13 July 1908 Officer per Decree of 7 November 1915, published in the JORF on 9 Nov. 1915 and, Commander per Decree of 25 December 1929, published in the JORF on 28 December 1929 - a nice Xmas present. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Adrian, The citation you have was not for the Croix de guerre but for the Légion d'Honneur, officer class. It would fit the award made to Captain Marcel Victor Laborde ... He was made Commander in the same order in December 1929 when, with the rank of Colonel, he was commanding the 9th Zouaves Regiment. Regards, Hendrik

Hi, The 1870 date on the obverse and the hinge suspension points to the medal being awarded in the 1910-1950 era ... Regards, Hendrik

Hello Pepe864, Original "Isles Marquises" bars are indeed quite rare (most if not all Colonial Medal bars have been remade over the years). Some more information can be found on Hendrik's Medal Corner :-) The "Levant" and "Casablanca" bars belong to other medals (Commemorative Medals of Syria-Cilicia and of Morocco resp.). The "Sud-Oranais" bar is a nice unofficial bar which is not too common either, I believe. Regards, Hendrik

Hi Yank, It's the 3rd Republic model which was awarded between 8 Nov. 1870 and 27 Feb. 1951. Regards, Hendrik

Thank you very much BalkanCollector for your quick reaction to my question. The suspension inscription with its two names remains a bit of a mystery then ! Some pictures of the medal itself : Best regards, Hendrik

Hello Gents, I'm in need of a translation of both a document and the reverse inscription on a suspension plate of an Order for Bravery I recently acquired : Thank you and best regards, Hendrik

Hi, A very nice T'ai Federation Order of Military Merit you have there or, to use its French name, the "Ordre du Mérite Militaire des Sip Hoc Chau". The inscription stands for "T'ai Federation". The T'ai Federation was an autonomous zone in Northern Vietnam and Northern Laos and its people were allies to the French in their war against the Viet Minh. Regards, Hendrik P.S. Could someone move this topic to either France or Asia ?

Hi, It would appear Marsoliau's first name is "Léonce" and he did receive a 2nd class silver medal prior to the 1879 fire ... In the "Journal Officiel de la République Française" of 15 November 1875, Léonce Marsoliau is mentioned as having been awarded the 2nd class silver medal for his actions on 31 July of that year : I haven't found anything on Hacala nor on the award of the 1879 medals. Regards, Hendrik

Hi, I beg to differ : to my knowledge, the various types that saw the light of day in that short period had either no crown suspension or, again, a little cross on top of the suspension ball. The motto in the central medallion referred to Napoleon as 1st Consul on those crosses. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Ken, The absence of a little cross on top of the suspension ball seems to make this a "July Monarchy" type with altered central medallions ... Your No. 2 is a 2nd Empire type as you rightly observed. Regards, Hendrik

Many thanks Owain for your expert answer ! Regards, Hendrik

Hello ! The badge below has been described on commercial sites as a long service badge awarded to members of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie's bodyguard. Is there any truth in that and, if so, what number of service years would this light green coloured badge stand for ? Regards, Hendrik

Hello Rav, I wish ... haven't come across any yet. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Ravenft, The Belgian government went into exile near Le Havre (France) and some medals were produced by French firms at the time. Their job was taken over by Belgian manufacturers after the war's end. Regards, Hendrik

Very nice, Mark ! The silver mark is from the Paris Mint and indicates 1st grade silver (0.950). Regards, Hendrik

Thanks Nick, much appreciated. Regards, Hendrik

Thank you for that information ! Do you think it is of Japanese manufacture ? Regards, Hendrik

Hello, I'm looking to find more information on this breast star which seems to have elements of both the Orders of the Golden Kite and of the Sacred Treasure in it. Its reverse suggests Eastern European manufacture to me. But then again, I could be completely off ... Any help on identifying it etc. would be welcome. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Noor, Portuguese Order of the Tower and the Sword, I think. More often seen on a blue ribbon ... Regards, Hendrik