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

Thank you, Peter, for your illuminating input ! Shall we settle on either "Divisional Train Transport" or "Divisional Transport Train" for the time being and until a better description is offered ? Regards, Hendrik

Hello Gents, I've recently been able to acquire 2 campaign medals that I believe to have belonged to the same recipient : General Service Medal, bar Iraq, to "4526 DVR. ALLAH DAD. S&T. CORPS" and India General Service Medal, bars Waziristan 1921-24 and Mohmand 1933, to "O-153463 DVR. ALLA DAD,17 D.T.T. COY." Despite the missing "H" in the second medal's naming, could they indeed have been awarded to the same person ? As to the units involved, I think S&T Corps stands for Supply and Transport Corps but I have no idea as to what a D.T.T. company is other than presuming it is also transport related. I would appreciate being enlightened on the subject ! Regards, Hendrik

Hi Sampo, There's a few Belgian ones mentioned on this page : http://hmc2.pagesperso-orange.fr/en/spotl/korcitations.html Regards, Hendrik

Hi, I think that stands for "Lignes Aériennes Militaires" ... Regards, Hendrik

Hi Marius, FI/OF stands for Front de l'Indépendance/Onafhankelijkheidsfront PA = Partisans Armés MP = Milices Patriotiques All three are WW2 resistance groups. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Simon, Quite correct. The only exception, AFAIK, would have been the British War Medal 1939-45 : permission to wear it was refused by the Belgian authorities as the recipient would also have received its Belgian counterpart, the 1940-45 Commemorative Medal, for the same services rendered. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Kris, I think he would have been entitled to both the 1939-45 Star and the France & Germany Star. Depending on the date of his arrival in Britain, he may have been entitled to the Defence Medal as well. Brigade Piron members usually qualified for those. Regards, Hendrik

Hello Chris, Here's a mate of his ... I note the difference in the way their rank is rendered. Regards, Hendrik

Indeed it is - Thank you, Brett.

Thanks Chris ! Great stuff. As the medal recipient was a diesel mechanic, the article's praise of the boats' maintenance directly concerns him. Regards, Hendrik

Indeed it does ! Only recipients born in France or its "overseas territories" are in the database. Recipients of former colonies haven't been entered in it. Regards, Hendrik

Plenty of them but none with those first names : LE BIHAN Alain François Marie 1905/05/05 Finistère ; Lesneven LE BIHAN Alphonse Edmond Louis 1882/12/17 Finistère ; Brest LE BIHAN Ange Marie 1917/10/17 Loire-Atlantique ; Pont-Chateau LE BIHAN Charles Marie Casimir 1798/12/01 Pays-Bas ; Delft LE BIHAN Francis Alfred Henri 1890/11/24 Loire-Atlantique ; Saint-Nazaire LE BIHAN François Marie 1896/01/15 Finistère ; Plouégat-Guerrand LE BIHAN Félix François 1873/02/05 Côtes-d'Armor ; Saint-Igneuc LE BIHAN Gustave Jean Adolphe 1869/01/11 Finistère ; Quimper LE BIHAN Henri Lucien 1903/07/19 Finistère ; Kérity LE BIHAN Hervé Marie 1892/06/09 Finistère ; Roscanvel LE BIHAN Jacques Edouard Eugène Marie 1863/05/02 Finistère ; Brest LE BIHAN Jean Mathurin 1881/06/29 Morbihan ; Locqueltas LE BIHAN Joseph Léon 1895/07/17 Morbihan ; Port-Louis LE BIHAN Joseph Marie 1882/09/12 Morbihan ; Pluvigner LE BIHAN Joseph Marie 1880/11/07 Finistère ; Plougasnou LE BIHAN Joseph Pierre Marie 1887/04/05 Finistère ; Guilvinec LE BIHAN Léon Joseph 1882/08/05 Morbihan ; Lorient LE BIHAN Léon Victor Marie 1909/02/01 Loire-Atlantique ; Pont-Château LE BIHAN Michel Yves Marie 1900/07/23 Finistère ; Pont-l'Abbé LE BIHAN Paul Emile Casimir Auguste 1830/08/17 Nord ; Valenciennes LE BIHAN Pierre Désiré Charles 1865/06/06 Finistère ; Brest LE BIHAN Yves François Marie 1872/04/30 Côtes-d'Armor ; Lannion LE BIHAN Yves Henri 1875/11/05 Mayenne ; Laval The dates and place names refer to birth date and place. Regards, Hendrik

Many thanks Arthur for the perfect answer to my question ! Regards, Hendrik

Hello François, I've not heard of or seen one so far. Just a thought : could your man have become a Canadian national after the war and before he received the Legion d'Honneur ? Foreign recipients are not listed in the Leonore database ... Regards, Hendrik

Hello All, I've acquired a small set of medals awarded to a South African gentleman for his services during WWII. With the medals came copies of some paperwork in which two units/postings were mentioned : - a/m A.F.S. Gordon's Bay and No. 7 Motor Boat Sec. Any information on those would be much appreciated. Regards, Hendrik

INFO SEARCH FRENCH VETERAN Hi, Nobody with that name and first names combination in the Légion d'Honneur database, I'm afraid. Regards, Hendrik

Hello, The Léonore database should prove to be helpful : http://www.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/leonore/recherche.htm Enjoy going through the 5 likely suspects among the 13 listed Gardes ... Regards, Hendrik

Hi ww1buff, Far from being an expert in the matter, I hold the same opinion as expressed in your "guess" of a number of awards being made available to the US forces to distribute as they pleased. As far as I know the US forces were never actively engaged in the Belgian part of the front and thus, such awards would not be made with a very specific citation but rather more likely with a short sentence indicating "for services rendered during the war" or something of that ilk. Regards, Hendrik

Many thanks Guy ... I hoped it was :-)