Hendrik

Hello Larry,

Not  quite I'm afraid ... try this one : http://larenaissancefrancaise.org/Les-distinctions

It's emitted by a society that basically promotes French language and culture.

Regards,

Hendrik

Thank you both !

Regards,

Hendrik

Hi,

It looks like a horn of affluence followed by the letters BR. That would be the Paris Mint mark with BR for "bronze".

Regards,

Hendrik

22 hours ago, Shots Dave said:

... something to do with a POW but the version I have has  rectangular bars like those in your picture but are smaller, so I guess they might be wrong too.

Not wrong, both "types" exist. Miniatures, and their ribbon attachments, are not officially regulated as to their manufacture. There is some similarity to this front stripe bar device on a WWI Commemorative Medal miniature :

But straight bars for the same exist there as well ... nothing's written in stone when miniature medals are concerned ...

Regards,

Hendrik

Sorry to be a spoilsport again, Dave : the "third attachment" is a set of miniature bars representing 2 years of being a POW. It has no official place on this medal's ribbon. They belong on the miniature version of this :

Regards,

Hendrik

On 29-3-2016 at 04:52, Gunner 1 said:

Sgt. Griswold:  The medal in the third image appears to be a knight of the Order of Leopold II on a British Military Cross ribbon.

Hi,

I don't think so. The first idea, i.e. a faded blue and black ribbon for this knight class of the Order of Leopold II, is the correct one for me.

Regards,

Hendrik

Hello Gordon,

Quite right, those are the officially prescribed crossed sabres for the 1940-45 Commemorative Medal.

Regards,

Hendrik

Further to the number of pilots or aircrew entitled to the clasp, I have found the following names :

Flying Hurricanes in Fighter Command Squadrons nos. 87, 213, 32, 43, 145, 46 and 229 were M. Buchin; R. de Cannaert d'Hamalle; B. de Hemptinne; R. de Hemricourt de Grunne; F. de Spirlet; G. Doutrepont; A. Jottard; D. Le Roy du Vivier; R. Malengreau; J. Offenberg; V. Ortmans; J. Philippart; E. Seghers; A. Van den Hove d'Ertsenryck and W. Van Lierde.

Flying Bristol Blenheims, in Coastal Command squadrons 235 and 236 were L. Dejace; R. Demoulin; Giovanni Dieu; H. Gonay; L. Heimes; L. Javaux; J. Kirkpatrick; H. Lascot; O. Lejeune; A. Michiels; L. Prévot; R. Roman; A. Van Wayenberghe and F. Venesoen.

A total of 29 people. Whether those killed during the war were entitled posthumously, I do not know but any medal (or medal group) that can unequivocally be linked to anyone of the above would be an important part of one's collection.

Regards,

Hendrik

Hello David,

I perfectly understand the rarity of authentic Battle of Britain clasps on the 1939-45 Star as delivered by the British government to those that qualified. The Belgian bar, however, was not issued by the Belgian government but had to be purchased by those that qualified. Only a certificate/diploma mentioning the entitlement was delivered by the Belgian government.

Hence, lots of bars were manufactured and put up for sale to anyone who wanted to buy one.

The real rarity in this context is the paperwork : the medal's certificate including entitlement to the Bat. d'Angleterre bar would be an extremely rare find indeed !

Best regards,

Hendrik

17 hours ago, peter monahan said:

It sounds as if this should be quite a rare medal, then, given the small number of pilots involved.

I wonder if the 'ovals' are the equivalent of the French stars and palm fronds - indicating a mention in despatches, second award or some such.

Hello Peter,

The medal itself is quite common. Bars and even ellipses were still being produced and could easily be found till a few years ago but since then quality seems to have detoriated. Hence, it would have been no problem to mount these devices on the medal's ribbon at the time.

The bars and "ovals" serve the same purpose : they are unit citations basically.

Regards,

Hendrik

Hello Dave,

I concur with your idea it's not an original set-up : the mixture of air force bars and land units' ellipses would point to someone having embellished the medal's ribbon. The WW1 type wound cross (the WW2 device is much smaller) doesn't help either ...

Regards,

Hendrik

Hello Gordon,

The ovals are "France 1944" and "Allemagne 1944-45" respectively. They were awarded for participation in the later stages of the war mainly to members of the "Brigade Libération" and the newly formed fuselier battalions of liberated Belgium (using the newly available manpower resulting from the liberation).

Regards,

Hendrik

Hello Dave,

The "Bat.d'Angleterre" bar reflects the citation (dated 1 Nov. 1945) awarded to the Belgian Military Avation for courage and good conduct displayed by its personnel during the Battle of Britain between 28 August and 15 September 1940. The handful of Belgian pilots flying with the RAF had 21 enemy planes shot down and a further 9 probably destroyed.

The "Flandres 1940" bar was awarded (1946 citation) to the 1st, 5th and 6th groups of the 1st Aeronautic Regiment for heroism and dedication by its air crews while performing reconnaissance flights without fighter protection and opposed by enemy aviation and anti-aircraft fire.

My source : Emblèmes et Citations des Unités" by L.A. Lecleir (1971)

Regards,

Hendrik

7 hours ago, Laurence Strong said:

Well here is my issue and I am not saying you are incorrect, however on Hendricks page it shows a different ribbon than the one posted.......Could the ribbon be different between the cross and the medal?

The answer to that question is a definite "yes" as 3 different colour patterns have been described :

a. green with a purple side stripe near both edges (30 mm or 37 mm ribbon width),

b. purple with a green side stripe near the edges (30 mm or 37 mm ribbon width), i.e. as the ribbon above in this thread,

c. same as b. with an added green stripe down the centre (36 mm or 40 mm width).

Source : Distinctions honorifiques de la Belgique, André Charles Borné

Regards,

Hendrik

Hi Nick,

I can confirm the Médaille d'Afrique du Nord does not have any authorized bars at all.

The similarly looking Médaille de Reconnaissance de la Nation (Medal of National Gratitude) has 5 official bars : 1914-1918, 1939-1945, INDOCHINE, OPERATIONS EXTERIEURES and AFRIQUE DU NORD.

Regards,

Hendrik

From the same London maker, the Commemorative Medal for Syria-Cilicia and its pre-WW2 French manufacture with the WW2 Vichy regime bar "Levant 1941" :

The Medal of Honour for Epidemics, Algerian model, bronze class. This one is named to a R. Hermitte.

One of my favourites : Colonial Medal with bars, made by the firm of Robert Gaunt, London, during WW2.

Hello Nick and welcome to this forum !

The 1956 Suez War medal you refer to would be this one, I think :

Its official name is "Médaille Commémorative Française des Opérations du Moyen-Orient" (The French Commemorative Medal for the Middle-East Operations).

I'm not quite sure which is the medal for service in Lebanon that you refer to. Perhaps the Overseas Service Medal with "LIBAN" clasp ?

Regards & Best wishes for 2016,

Hendrik

Yes indeed, intertwined L's for Leopold II.

Regards,

Hendrik

Nope. The obverse shows the royal cypher "A" for Albert I.

Regards,

Hendrik

Hi,

I believe it's the "Order of Guadeloupe", a Mexican award created in the early 1820's.

Perfectly fine ...

This enameled cross was created on 20 October 1921 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first telegraph line exploitation in Belgium, on 9 September 1846. It was awarded to employees and workmen of the Belgian Telephone and Telegraph Services who had completed, on 9 September 1921, 25 years of good and loyal service.

Hi,

To give it its full name :

The Commemorative Medal for the Italian Campaign 1943-1944

Upon the creation of this silvered bronze medal on 1 April 1953, the bar "ITALIE" for the War Commemorative medal fell into disuse.   The medal was awarded, as was the bar previously, to all members of the French Expeditionary Corps (CEF = Corps Expéditionaire Français) serving in Italy and on Elba between 1 December 1943 and 25 July 1944. The CEF is perhaps best known for its participation in the Battle of Monte Cassino. The ribbon with its red and white stripes is reminiscent of the one for the French 1859 Italian Campaign Medal.

Regards,

Hendrik

Hello all,

Troy, you have the 2nd type of the cross, 1st class. The 1934 type, i.e. the 1st type, looks like this :

Next to the Army version, there are also version for the Navy and the Air Force. All of these crosses were rendered obsolete in 1957 when they were replaced by the award of the Order of Military Merit.

That order didn't last long as it was abolished in 1963. Finally, in 1975, to fill the void the Medal for Voluntary Military Services was created in 3 classes.

Regards,

Hendrik

Each volume lists the recipients that collected their fire cross/fire card book that particular year and thus is not a supplement but an entirely new book. To have all the recipients listed, you need all books.

ch.fr. is indeed "chevrons de front", front stripes and ch.bl. is wound stripes (chevrons de blessure).

Regards,

Hendrik