Hendrik

Some more pictures ... ONB on its ribbon :

Very impressive, especially the Jean Laserre medal and career details ! Keep it coming please

Ciao Claudio ! Very interesting - please continue this thread on the Risorgimento period medals And ... since you mention the St. M & L Order, an overview of its different models would be nice too ... Best regards, Hendrik

Hi, Looks fine to me - First type (oval suspension), Army model, Paris Mint manufacture. Regards, Hendrik

Hello, The "blue" ribbon would be the blue and black of the Order of Leopold II, with crossed swords indicating it being an award to a WWI veteran. The white striped red ribbon is the US Medal of Freedom I think. Regards, Hendrik

Hi, No problem with the bars, ribbon and medal but the wounded device is unlikely to be original : the official wounded device is described as having 5mm high cross arms (making the device about 1 cm high). The one on your medal is a later type as used for WW2 or later awards. See the attached picture for an original one. Just in case you're wondering : the Russia bar in the picture is a non-official type !

Foreigners would more likely receive the 1st class for "special dedication" or something similar which does not require those years of service.

Bonjour Thierry, Award criteria are 10 years unremunerated participation in Red Cross activities for the silver class. Silver bars can be added on the ribbon for each 5 years extra. The gold class is awarded to recipients of the silver class for 25 years of unpaid service. Again silver bars can be added per 5 years extra (max. 2 bars) and a gold bar is awarded in lieu of a third silver bar (thus rewarding 40 years).

Hi, Last official bar for the Libya Medal was "1931" ... so the absence of WW1 medals is perhaps not too surprising.

Quite possibly. I don't know the current regulations about opening files publicly and not enough time may have passed yet ...

That information would likely be in his military file kept in the Evere (Brussels) military base. You'd need to make an appointment and go there in person ...

Hi, Pvt. Albert Ribaucourt, S33940, departed for Korea on 18 December 1950 and returned to Belgium on 15 June 1951. Regards, Hendrik

Hello, I suggest you visit www.medals.be and read the chapter on the French Colonial Medal there.

I have no idea of the award numbers ...

Here's one on the correct ribbon :

Those look like the "Victory Decoration" but on the wrong ribbon of the "Resolution for Victory Decoration" ... Regards.

The current type as mentioned above ...

PM sent

... and if you're wondering about award criteria : Silver class : 20 years of service Silver-gilt : 25 years Gold : 30 years for volunteer firemen, 35 years for professional firemen

Hello John, I believe the full title is "Médaille d'Honneur des Sapeurs-Pompier" and there are two types : the 1900 and the 1934 models. Yours is of the latter type. That particular one was created in 3 classes : silver, silver-gilt and gold. Yours is the "gold" class (recognizable by the wreath - sometimes also described as a flame background - on top of its suspension). Below is a picture of the "silver-gilt" class which also shows the ribbon for all three classes.

I believe that this is this medal is an unofficial version and that the Corée-Korea bar was not authorised. The EENDRACHT MAAKT MACHT (along the top) L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE (along the bottom) legend and lions of both sides, means that it was issued from 1952 (?) though I'd be grateful if someone could confirm this. Also, I'm afraid that I don't know whether this is the 'good service' or the 'gallantry' type - the chevron is correct for the former, the ribbon for the latter, which type is it - or is it both? You are right in assuming the Corée-Korea bar is not authorised for this medal. The ribbon is indeed the Art.4 (gallantry) type and the chevron denotes the 1st class of this medal. For it to be a Korean War award, it officially would have to have a silver palm with the royal cypher "L" on its ribbon.The reverse centre would have no royal cypher but the same climbing lion as on the obverse. The bilingual motto on the medal was made official on 24 October 1951 but manufacturers did have unilingual medal stocks which they would have wanted to get rid off before producing the bilingual model ... Regards, Hendrik

That would be Walravens (with a V). I think Guy in the first post here started out to give the names of still existing manufacturers. In the meantime, I'm afraid Bonne-Verbeke is no longer and has been taken over by Mauquoy last year. Regards, Hendrik

Greetings ! Could I ask the forum members to enlighten me on the award criteria for the FYROM Order of Military Merit ? Regards, Hendrik

Excellent ! Thank you very much Ilja559 !

Hello, I've been told this medal is the Armed Forces Medal of Azerbaijan. Can this be confirmed as a present day official medal of that country or is it something else ? Regards, Hendrik