Hendrik

Hello Ed, Magnificent start of this thread with lots of useful information ! Thanks for that To continue on it, I would like to point out a few details : In the short lifespan of this medal, it was officially known under three names : the original "Commemorative Medal for Syria-Cilicia" as instituted by the French Republic in 1922, the Vichy regime's "Commemorative Medal for the Levant" (1941) and the Free French "Medal of the Levant" (1942). The medal was awarded to soldiers and sailors who served in action from 11 November 1918 to 20 October 1921. ... But also to those who after that date participated in actions which are stipulated in later decrees. In fact, it can be said that such operations extended to approx. mid-1939 as the last such decree seems to be dated 16 October 1939. I have the texts of the decrees detailing the operations for which the medal was awarded up till and including the decree of 28 April 1934. Anyone having a later decree, do give me a shout !!! Also awarded by the Free French Government in London for the actions against the Vichy French and others in the Levant from 12 July 1941 to 14 August 1943. The medal is the same as the Syria-Cilicia Medal (without clasp?). I'm afraid I have to disagree on this : to my knowledge the London medal was not for actions against the Vichy French but only for operations in the 12 July 1941 (the date the fighting officially ended !) to 14 August 1943 period (or for military personnel that had served for a minimum of 2 years in the region). There was indeed no clasp for this "Medal of the Levant" ... at least not officially, more on that later. With the addition of a bar, the same medal was reissued for operations in 1925-26 and 1941. Reissued for campaigns in the Levant 1925-26 with a bar: "1925-1926"; awarded for Jebel Druze and the taking Soueida? Not as simple as that : some 30 operations/combat actions etc. are indicated in various decrees as being valid for entitlement to this bar which should officially read "LEVANT 1925-1926" ... Operations in the Djebel Druze are indeed amongst those but also those in other areas e.g. Damascus, Aleppo, "Grand Liban", the Euphrates region. Couln't find a reference to Soueida in those though. Obverse: Bronze 30 mm (also seen in 35 mm medals) circular medal. The head of the Republic and the inscription "REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE". The official medal, as manufactured by the Paris Mint is 30 mm (different types exist but all have this diameter). The 36 mm one was manufactured by the private firm of Arthus-Bertrand, also in Paris. All show the engraver's name : Georges Lemaire at 7 o'clock. Reverse: An arrangement of flags and cannon, arrayed to attack a hilltop fort. Inscription "LEVANT" around the top edge of the medal and "Honneur et Patrie / Syrie-Cilicie" (in 4 lines) on the frontmost of the flags. Engraver's initials at 5 o'clock. -- "LEVANT" bulbous ornamental bronze bar of "oriental" design (for 1918-21) ... I've so far come across 11 different strikings of this one, including a silvered (!) oriental type and 2 silvered rectangular ones. -- "LEVANT / 1925-1926" - ornate bulbous bronze bar of "oriental" style with inscription in Roman script in two lines ... I think you refer to the type made by the firm of Mourgeon, a gilded one with specific ornaments proper to this manufacturer and missing the "19" in "1926" ... and which in view of that should, I think, be considered as "unofficial". [attachmentid=17343] Above picture : one of at least two of the Mourgeon strikings : no maker's marks on this bar whereas there is one known with two maker's marks on it : a boar's head and "L*M", both referring to this manufacturer). -- "LEVANT 1925-1926 - ornate bulbous bronze bar of "oriental" style with inscription in ornate script in a single line ... once again, this would be a gilded bar (so far I've knowledge of three strikings of this one, one being the Paris Mint type). [attachmentid=17342] This one looks like the Paris Mint type but it isn't one ... I have no clue as to who the manufacturer was. Anyone with a suggestion ? -- "LEVANT 1941" - a bulbous ornate bronze bar of "oriental" design... Always silvered bronze, some with some without a hyphen between "LEVANT" and "1941" It's obvious from the above that there may well be more strikings of this medal and its bars. More to follow, I'm running out of space for attachments on this one as the pictures are rather "heavy" ...

Hello Paul, Thanks for the words of welcome. The Order of Leopold I is primarily a long service award. The one Laurence has is of the military division, recognizable by the crossed swords under the crown suspension. The civil division has nothing there, the maritime division sports crossed anchors. More on this subject and the other Belgian orders etc. can be found on my website at www.medals.be

Thanks Christophe ! Seeing you are based in "la belle France", you might wish to have a look at the thread on the Syria-Cilicia Medal (aka the Levant Medal) ... I can do with some more information on that one

Hello Markus, I'm not at all into "unofficial" awards such as these King Albert Veterans' Crosses but the abbreviations on the reverse refer to the name (in French and Flemish) af a Belgian veteran society and can be translated as "Royal Federation of Veterans of King Albert". I suppose it is an award for service to that federation. The small palm device on the King Albert Commemorative Medal doesn't belong there at all : it's usually seen on the King Albert Veterans' Cross in the left of your picture. No clue as to what it represents as, once again, it's a non-governmental award. Cheers, Hendrik

Laurence, Go and take a magnifying glass to have a look at the suspension ring when you have a minute : you might find a "850" or "950" silver mark denoting the cross is silver ... if not, no worries : silvered bronze ones are nice too ! Cheers, Hendrik

Hello Stijn, Nice to be talking English with you for a change Yes, see you tomorrow but the may go wrong as I have guests at home in the evening ! Raincheck seems to be in order there ... C U Hendrik

Marcus, Ed, ... bars and devices are difficult ... I'm afraid I have to agree although I suppose they would be slightly easier to find here in Belgium locally then elsewhere. Also, more specifically on the Korean War medal that you show a picture of, battle bars for those (or for the WW2 commemorative medal) are not available very often. Took me years to find the cute one you'll see below ... Similarly WW2 bars only come up very occasionally. I was lucky years ago to be able to find a number of those with a manufacturer that stopped producing and got rid of his stock. The result of that haul is on my site :-) Marcus, you are quite right on those Military Long Service Medals and the ribbon change for the Art. 4 bravery types. The two you have there are types from the reign of King Albert I (the unilingual French one with the "A" cypher on the reverse - very much pre-1950) and the current type (bilingual, lion on both sides, post 1950) which was started under King Baudouin and has been maintained till the present day. Prior to the Baudouin type there are 3 others : Leopold II, Albert I and Leopold III but the number of variations due to various manufacturers making all of these is enormous. A couple of fellow collectors here in Belgium have managed to make a complete book on just those ! "Only" took them 5 years to compile it Ed, re : How close to correct am I? ... very close in my opinion. The whole topic of "official" versus "non-official" is quite complicated especially where French medals are concerned. Maybe that warrants a new thread on French medals ? Sticking with the Belgian stuff for the moment, there's even no Belgian Mint making them : all are/were manufactured by private firms and indeed - except for "special" awards to foreign or domestic politicians, heads of state, VIP's of all kinds, etc. - the "common" recipient merely received a certificate from the grateful government and had to go about purchasing the award ... only the wealthy get them for free With Belgian medals I take the view that if they have been instituted by a Royal Decree they're official, if not (e.g. created by veterans' or patriotic societies, etc.) they should be deemed non-official ...ahem, the Belgian Red Cross then being semi-official, I guess ??? Very useful things those emoticons ! Ed, as an aside : interested in the French "Levant Medal" aka the Syria-Cilicia Medal, it's a bit in your area I think ? I've so far come across 7 medal types and some 27 ribbon bar types (official and non-official !!!). Hence my previous remark on starting a new thread. I'm currently looking for the original texts on the institution of the Vichy France and Free French types... feel free to let me have any info you may have on those ! [attachmentid=17083]

Thanks to all for the welcome - Glad to come across you again Ed, it's been a while

Here's one with a few bars ... [attachmentid=17068]

Yes, the second type was primarily used for the Korean War (with a bar denoting service there) but also as a retroactive award to those entitled to the WW2 medal that had never received it before the application date for it expired (3 July 1951). In the latter case a "1940-1945" bar was added on the ribbon. The same goes for WW I volunteers ("1914-1918" bar) although there can have been only a very few of those that hadn't received the proper WW I medal at the time. Volunteers that had seen combat action received a bar "PUGNATOR" (originally in bronze, later in silver). [attachmentid=17066] [attachmentid=17067]

Hello Marcus, Officially bars would have a maximum of 4 stars (denoting 2 years of imprisonement) and medals would have supplementary bars on the ribbon to indicate longer periods. However, manufacturers in Belgium (and a few other countries) don't always follow the rules ... Similarly the crossed sabres on your WW2 Commemorative Medal appear to be a bit too large as would befit the official standard of 6mm wide. Nothing to worry about though as I've seen veterans wearing this medal with huge crossed sabres ... Cheers, Hendrik [attachmentid=17062]

Hello Laurence, Just joined the forum and came across your Leopold II knight cross. I don't think the gilding wore off : knight crosses are silver/silvered bronze ... more likely to be patina. Cheers, Hendrik