Bob

I know two Gootzen's who live close to Sint Odili?nberg !

Small world - of course, Sint Odilienberg isn't very big and there's quite some Gootzens in that area:)

Sweet, thanks!

Indeed, Brussels...

I'm well trained in bureaucracy in Belgium... for 2 months (!!!!) I've been trying to get cable TV installed in my house... you'd think they'd be happy to get a paying customer...

I have in my collection N 16 (mirror reverse). I not can upload my file.... Sorry, look at this: http://aaaa.MoiFoto.ru/17069/f363057

Thanks Sparks - really would be great if you could post detailed pics of your big collection here on GMIC (also of documents) - I'm sure it would help us (and maybe you as well) to learn new things and/or just enoy the great items you have :cheers:

What's your change in focus? I.e. from-to?

I second what others have said. If you don't need (REALLY need) the money, then just put it all in a box in a safe place and have another look at it all in 5 years. Odds are, you'll have great memories and fall in love again with your collection.

I recently sold some duplicates in my collection, driven by the fact that I had bought a house, was in middle of completing renovations/buying furniture and then lost my job. Needed some urgent cash and duplicates in my collection provided it - but it pains me to the day that I let these items slip away.

So again, if there's no "need", then why even consider it?

My French grandfather was awarded several decorations in The Great War (L?gion d'Honneur, Croix du Geuerre, Croix du Guerre de Belge). Some years ago, my French-Engish uncle and I secured copies of the two Croix de Guerre, which had gone missing. As I recall, we contacted the Interior Ministry, which, with the proper paperwork, sent us the missing medals, without charge if I remember correctly... You might be able to follow that route--- if you are willing to face and deal with the French bureaucracy. Btw: it is not for nothing, that the French do NOT have a word for FUN! lol

---Cartoonman

That's the encouragement I needed

Will be jumping behind my computer to write a letter with a request for a re-issue of the award + copies of any documentation they may have in their archives. Am sure, if it even comes to anything, that it'll take a while... but we're patient fellows here at GMIC:) Keeping my fingers crossed. Any update will be posted here of course.

Thanks all for your help.

Bob

Could the owner of the warm home in which this set of awards will rest share with the rest of us on GMIC the story behind it? Even though this area of collecting is not my focus area (for example), this thread certainly sparks the curiosity and it sounds like there's a very interesting story here :cheers:

... just looked up the price for the bronze 2nd model type in a 2002 (!) dealer's catalogue : 16 Euros. I'm sure its price hasn't doubled in the meantime !

Cheers,

Hendrik

Hmmm - some more googling required then. I think I read somewhere that 15000 or so were awarded which would make it not very common I guess.

Thanks Hendrik - that clarifies and narrows it down for me. :cheers:

Hello Gents,

Here's the WW2 model in bronze :

These medals were awarded unnamed ...

Cheers,

Hendrik

Thanks Hendrik - any significance to the difference with the following one: http://www.medal-medaille.com/product_info...roducts_id=3585

And would the type 1 (not on medal-medailles.com) then be the type awarded for WW1?

Bob

Great - I find "one" on medal-medaille.com but it turns out there's at least 2 types and 2 versions of the second type... things are never easy! :speechless:

PS I've heard of that F. Mitterand character.

Yeah, I understood Francois lived a life full of all the best France had to offer :cheers:

Oooo, I forget other people aren't as ancient as me-- my grandfather was born in 1894. I thought you meant 1914-18 Reconnaissance Medals.

I have NO idea what 1939-45 ones have on back!

You need a

From some quick googling I've seen a couple of pics without anything special on reverse. Now, just to actually find one for sale!

Any good French dealer site that I can frequent going forward to check up on whether they have one in stock?

Will be posting 2 more doc's in a minute:

- 1 given to him July 6th 1949 (signed by de Gaulle (facsimile?))

- 1 given to him June 15th 1974?

I have only seen 2 of these medals and they were both named on the reverse, so you'll never be able to make a "set" except for obverse display if they WERE all officially issued named.

oh well, would still like to find one just for visual perspective (and the medal / docs can keep each other company despite having been seperated from their original brothers)

makes you wish people were more careful with their own personal history - half a year ago or so I obtained (after long nagging to my Russian ex-boss to share with me the medals/name of her grandfather from St Petersburg) doc's from the archives in Moscow and shared this with her. Her husband translated, her mother was in tears touched by this info coming available... and there I was telling my ex-boss "no, i don't want your grandfathers medals, please keep them together with the research and give them to your son when he's 18"... after a while she "got it" and went back to dig in old boxes in St Petersburg and found various photographs of him in uniform... now all of it is together and kept safely as a bit of family heritage.

Oh well, I'm getting off course here - anybody know if I can research in French archives my own grandfather? (he's not French by the way)

Letter a few days later...

Document

As posted in the wanted section, I'm looking for a bronze class version of this medal to go with the documents awarded to my grandfather and make the set "complete" again.

Apparently he was awarded this for helping a French pilot evade the Germans after he was shot down in southern Netherlands.

Will be posting scans of the doc/letter in a minute.

Couldn't really find much info on this award here on GMIC - any additional insights would be greatly appreciated (e.g. can I have this researched in French archives?).

Thanks,

Bob

Just got an identical document (as part of a larger group of documents). No reason to show it, but it may be useful to record the date of award as 30 December 1954. Maybe we're seeing a narrow window here?

1954 seems to be a big Udarnik year indeed. Here another (partial) scan of a document I recently received (part of a larger group). Would appear that text on upper half indicates the reason for awarding.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3314...pid=311802&

possibly of interest

Hello ,any idea who was awarded Suche Baatar N? 127 ?

Emmanuel

Sorry, I don't. But keep your fingers crossed and some day we'll be able to find out!

OK, but only tomorrow.

Thanks - and happy new year!