peter monahan

I'm afraid, despite my last name, my knowledge of Irish military heraldry falls on the scale somewhere between 'little' and 'nil'. Not even sure how one would research that, frankly.

Interesting! I wonder what qualifications, other thasn the right schools, he may have had for working with MI6 on the 'Portugal portfolio' or whatever it was called.

I can't see any reference which would suggest that the Africa Star was authorized for Middle East operations but anyone who satisfied the requirements of 'six months service in an operational command', which Paiforce undoubtedly did, should have qualified for the 1939-45 Star and War Medal, I would think. Very little information on this area partly because it was a 'bit of a sideshow' to the main campaigns and perhaps because, legally speaking, the Allied presence in an originally neutral nation was a bit dodgy, thought that latter is my guess only, not based on what little I've read so far.

A number of the bars were awarded largely to Indian Army troops. The S. Persia, for example, is known to three Indian infantry units, 30 Squadron RAF and a handful of British officesr and NCOs. The N. Kurdistan was awarded only to Iraq levies and 3 RAF squadrons, while the Iraq bar [1919-1920] was the only one awarded in large numbers, to members of three infantry divisions - about 2/3 Indian and 1/3 British, roughly - plus a Cavalry brigade and support and Lof C troops, so likely a couple thousand bars in all. My copy of Gordon's Battles and Medals [1962 edition] lists units for the bars but says in most cases that the lists are incomplete. Not sure what other sources would be better.

Thanks! The computer kicked me oput of the forum and seems to have done that in the process. Fixed now.

Presumably the same criteria and logic would apply to anyone who, say, prepped attack aircraft for action in the Middle East from a base in Italy or Katar: he did the hours/work/service but wasn't ever in a combat zone. At the risk of opening a whole can of worms, I think I detect a little bit of the modern notion that 'everybody runs the race and everybody gets a prize'. In another thread on a different forum there was reference to a 'new' WWII campaign star, for the men who did the Murmansk runs. The Arctic Star may be a legitimate way to recognize exceptionally hazardous service but it also opens the door, at least in theory, to an endless stream of 'worthy of recognition additions to the gallery of honours and awards; D-Day bars to the rance and germany Star or a Chindits bar to the Burma Star or, in the US context, clasps for specific island campaigns. While I perfectly understand the need and desire to recognize service, I'm not sure why it is thought necessary to encapsulate a man or woman's entire career in a series of ribbons and metal devices. Presumably If I wear a 'Nam era Bronze star, people who need or want to know will figure out, or ask, whether I got it for being 'shot over' or for running a great depot.

I meant to ask, regarding earlier posts, whether the bee on some of the Dahomeyan awards is borrowed from France - either a Napoleonic allusion or a reference to the bee as a symbol of industry - or whether it is an indigenous symbol. It doesn't appear on the coat of arms and I don't see references to it in a quick look for 'national symbols'.

Intersting notion! And, no not giggling at all. OTOH, Kipling was very careful to refer to the regiments in his stories by either clearly fictional names - The Princess Hohenzoolern's Fore and Fit Infantry - or unoffcial nicknames such as 'The Holy Chrisitians', which moniker was I believe meant to refer to one of the Guards battalions who went to India in the 1880s after 60 years home service. So, I suspect that the regimental standard of the 'Black Tyrones' was meant to be unlike any actual regiment's crest. [See, dear, all those hours spent reading Kipling in university, instead of writing essays, did finally pay off! ]

A quick look through Gordon's British Battles and Medals doesn't suggest any equivalent activities by Indian troops, who would have been the likeliest to be pottering about in that area, for either the IGS or MGS medals.

Well doen, to identify this, 922F! Dana, is this something you have in your possession? It would be interesting, if that's the case, to figure out how it got out of Chad, as one wouldn't expect these to have had a very wide circulation.

Michael It's not ringing bells with me and I have only one basic book on formation badges. I may get my wrist slapped for this by my colleagues - sending you elsewhere, that is - but you might try the British Badge Forum.

duplicate post.

I spent two years in Bauchi State, just north of Jos, on the edge of the central plateau. I was teaching at a teachers' training college under the auspices of an organization called CUSO, a sort of canadian version of the Peace Corps. Bauchi State was just on the edge of the savannah country in n orthern Nigeria and perhaps one third of my students were Hausa, the rest being a mix, especially because my school was Chrisitian, not Muslim. I was able to see traditional warriors and chiefs from Bauchi, Kano and Sokoto in my travels but only as a tourist and never got a close look at the weaponry. I had a very nice Turage sword which got lost in transit when I travelled out of Niger and a much less well made example which I managed to get home, but modern tourist work, as I was on a very limited budget and certainly not bididng on older pieces. Your 'extended' blade is fascinating. I can imagine that it would seem very solid but not sure I'd trust my life to it on the battlefield. OTOH, it would certainly be a prestigious thing to carry and perhaps as strong as a one piece blade - only a sword smith could say for sure. Thank you for sharing it!

Any idea what he did to earn these awards? Was he a civil servant, a scholar, or some other person of note? Just curious.

Great photos! Thank you again! I had the dubious pleasure of correcting any number of 'English' essays on Usman Dan Fodio during my brief tenure as a teacher in nigeria but must confess I didn't ever get into the particulars of North and West African warfare to the extent of looking at the armour. Rather ethnocentric of me, especially as my first love as a historian was the Medieval period! And when I did more African history it mostly began with the colonial period and focused on the impact of gunpowder on warfare. Live and learn! I now have another theme to investigate!

Fabulous, Herman! When did the event occur? Early 20th Century, I'm guessing form the costume.

I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that it is what the French call, I believe, a 'table award': a legitimate government award for some kind of service to the state but not a military award and obviously not meant to be worn. Many countries have them, for industry, arts and letters and so on. As such, they tend to be less valuable than military awards and much less well documented. All that said, this looks to be a well made [and very attractive] piece, so it might be worth your while to look out someone who deals in coins and so on from that part of the world to get a better idea of exactly what it is and whether its valuable. Not sure where you're located in the EU but many large cities will have specialty shops which deal with things Arabic. Hope this is some small help.

The Victor Buckle appears to be manufactured by Hobson & Son. of Aldershot, who do stable belts for many units. Examples on the web for Paras and other units seem to match, so I'd guess this is a good one. The finish on the reverse of the buckle is very crude, but that seems to be common to a number of the samples I saw, so I'd guess that's just the new standard. Here's a site with multiple examples if you want to compare yours to others. http://www.stablebelts.co.uk/mainpage.html

That suggests tourist item to me as well, but my experience with Masonic kit is pretty limited. The older stuff is usually marked somehow, but noi idea what the modern stuff is like.

You must spend a good deal of time looking at a wide variety of web sites to locate these lovely things, Antonio. Good for you!

I stand corrected! I wouldn't have thought, from my admittedly limited knowledge of North and West African arms and armour that such a weapon would be necessary- I was assuming it had been developed to deal with plate armour. Thanks for sharing those references and photos. I'm actually trying to recall whether on the half dozen occasions I saw traditional mounted 'troops' in Nigeria they were carrying any lances and I think the anser is 'no'. Swords, definitely, and of course the traditional Polaroids and plastic flip flop sandals to compliment the robes and head dres, but no lances that I recall.

Nice job on the mounting!

That is indeed an impressive lance head and pretty clearly - to me at least - not indigenous to North Africa. I don't recognize the style, though what you say about the armour piercing makes sense. Any other clues as to origins?

That's pretty neat!

That's disappointing!