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    Jef

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    Posts posted by Jef

      Great War medallion

      in France

      Posted

      Thanks for the replies.

      Don't suppose I'll ever find out if these were given out at the soup kitchen as a commemoration for those who couldn't work anymore, or just a regional/town commemoration piece.

      It actually appears to be made of genuine imitation gold :D

      Cheers

      Tony

      Lovely medallion you are showing, Tony. I agree with Kevin and Christophe.

      I remember as a kid, lot of veterans wore medallions on the chain of their pocket-watch. Attached are two French medallions, but I have a lot of Belgian similar ones as well. It seems every town or veteranassociation made such souvenir medallions.

      The difference with your medal is, it doesn't have an eyelet.

      kind regards,

      Jef

      0

      Austrian medal

      in Austro-Hungarian Empire

      Posted

      Dear Gents,

      When I found this medal, the ribbon was poorely sewn onto the cross. Normally another ribbon suits the medal. I have been looking in ribbon charts, but I wasn't unable to ID the ribbon ( colours of Hungaria??). Is there anyone out there who knows this ribbon?

      Wish you all a pleasant Year's end, and a great start of 2007. :beer:

      jef

      0

      My Collection of RAF Gallantry Awards

      in Great Britain: Orders, Gallantry, Campaign Medals

      Posted

      Hello,

      I'm really impressed by your collection. Congratulations.

      Concerning the logbooks, I have a question. Have two logbooks from the same person, and their contents are almost identically. The first is an Observer and Air Gunners Flying Log Book. The second one is a Navigator's Air Bombers and Air Gunner's Flying Log Book. So the books are almost identically. The titles of the books differs and the first log book is more detailed. An example: F/Sgt Nicolson's dog Rex regurlarly flew together with the crew on training missions. Every flying hour of Rex is mentioned.

      The second book is mentioning the same training missions, but Rex isn't mentioned.

      My question: does a member of the aircrew had an official logbook and a more personal one? Or what should be the reason of these two different log books which are covering the same period.

      If want you to know more of that Lancaster see http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9086 and http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9167

      With kind regards, merry Christmas,

      Jef

      0

      Luxembourg/Belgium border question.

      in Northern European & Baltic States

      Posted

      Hi,

      No such camps in the Ardennes to my knowledge. In fact, the only real camp that I know of in Belgium is the one at Breendonk (between Antwerp and Brussels). The fortress of Breendonk originally was part of the fortress ring around the town of Antwerp. The Germans converted it to a "Durchgangslager", a gathering point for prisoners to be transported to concentration camps in Germany or occupied Poland. Quite a number of executions took place while other inmates died from the combination of starvation and forced (useless) labour. Its "interrogation room" (aka torture chamber) there is a particularly ugly place.

      Hendrik

      Hello Hendrik,

      Would be grateful if you could give some advice about this medal. Was this medal issued to former prisoners. When?

      With kind regards,

      Jef

      0

      Is this badge British?

      in Great Britain: Militaria: Badges, Uniforms & Equipment

      Posted

      Hi Dave,

      Just my opinion, but this strikes me as being more masonic than military. I did a quick search and the double-headed eagle came up as an emblem of Scottish freemasonry - some of these images are a reasonably close match: http://altreligion.about.com/library/graph...doubleeagle.htm

      Hope this helps, let me know what more you discover, as my curiosity has been aroused now!

      Cheers

      Gilbert

      Hello Dave and Gilbert,

      Recently I published a study in the journal of the Belgian Western Front Association about tradition, heraldry and symbolism in British World War I badges. In this way this thread interest me and I would like to learn more, cause I know the study isn't complete, and it never will.

      When I look to Eagle, you have one-headed and double headed eagles. I found two badges ( during WWI !) with a double headed eagle. The first was the badge of the 1st King Dragoon Guards which was used till 1915. It has Austrian origins. The second badge was used by the Lanark Yeomanry. It's not the same eagle, but i found that arms on official seals of Salisbury, Perth, Airdale and Lanark also shows a double headed eagle. It's origins came from the Romans.

      If no-one of the Fattorini employers knows about the badge, you might look in the direction of Salisbury, Perth or Airdale.

      Hope this was helpful,

      Jef

      0

      Luxembourg/Belgium border question.

      in Northern European & Baltic States

      Posted

      A little info on the 2 camps

      Vught is known for its concentration camp (Herzogenbusch) built by Nazi-Germany during World War II. It was part of camp Herzogenbusch, but usually better known as "Kamp Vught" (Camp Vught). The camp mainly held Dutch and Belgian political prisoners, both men and women. Like any other Nazi concentration camp, Vught had its own gallows and crematorium. In September 1943, the gallows was used for the executions of 20 Belgian prisoners.

      It is now known as National Monument Camp Vught. The 4th Canadian Armor Division, and the 96 Th Battery of the 5th Anti -Tank Division were the first in liberating Vught concentration Camp.

      Known as Le Struthof to the French, this was a Nazi concentration camp, located in the Vosges mountains in Alsace. It was a prison for Resistance fighters from Norway, Belgium, Holland, Poland, and France. General Charles Delestraint, leader of the Secret Army of the French Resistance, was an inmate there.

      It was operational between May 21, 1941 until the beginning of September 1944 when the SS evacuated the camp. The camp was liberated by the Americans on November 23, 1944.

      Among those who died here were four women executed together on July 6, 1944. The women were SOE agents Diana Rowden, Vera Leigh, Andr?e Borrel and Sonya Olschanezky

      Thank you Laurence for your interesting details about Camp Vught. It's giving a lot of background information about a commemoration medal in my collection.

      Kind regards,

      Jef

      0

      Why is it that the most rare are the ones to suffer?

      in Coins & Commemorative Medallions

      Posted

      Some amazing pieces here. Love the Belgian cut out, Jef!

      At the risk of being off topic , I would like to add this coin that I got with a wonderful grouping to be shared with you all one day.

      Although not a cut out like the others in this thread, the head of Napoleon now has a rather fine lid and uniform engraved into the coin surface...which appears to be patinated to a darker colour. To the reverse is a post attachment for a button hole mount. Looks to be welded on somehow. My understanding of world events at this time (1855) are saddly neglecting and I hope someone can shed a little light on this coin as well.

      [attachmentid=62205]

      Beautiful piece, Henri.

      I was told that the pickelhaube was engraved on those coins as a protest because France lost the Franco- Prussian War ( 1870-'71). Thank you for sharing

      Jef

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