Jef

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Hello Avitas,

Regarding your artillerybadge. I have some badges which were found in the area of Ypres. 200% WWI. Grandparents were living on historic places. If something was found, a badge, button.... it was put into a box....almost 50 years long. Ten years ago, I got the box. I couldn't believe my eyes.........

Everything was very oxydated and I cleaned it with nitric acid.

I also would like to add, sometimes we see badges as a collecting items, but let us also show respect for the owner. These badges were lost in battle, in many cases the owner lost his life.

this item has a closed part between the spoke's

Jef

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Grrrrreat.

let's hope you won't try to sell them on!!

But that would be an other thread

Don't worry, Jacky. They are framed as didactic items, and that's attractive too.

Jef

Wonderfull Jeff,

let's make our own orders of Leopold

But one should be able to enamel them, otherwise we obtain quite blunt medals.....

OK, Jacky, let's have enamel it . Jef

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another step

[attachmentid=41696]Hello Gents,

Only to give an idea how such a medal is made. Of course there are more steps, but I'm afraid I only have three items.

Jef

Hello Dave,

Thank you for the nice photograph.

Jef

The only commonwealth badges with snakes are the Medical Corps (R.A.M.C., R.C.A.M.C., etc.)

The caduceus staff is encircled by two snakes. But in this case the source is Greek mythology.

I can see the origins of the snake clasp as being Saxon or Viking in origin. They liked to make utilitarian objects works of art.

Yes, of course, Michael. The rod and serpent badge, the badge with the international medical sign, symbol of medical sience. Used by lots of armies for medical units.This badge was completely out of my mind But I agree, don't think origins of the snake buckle are in Greek mythology.

There was a time I believed the snake was of celtic origin... Saxon, Viking...Again, we are in the dark middle ages. A hundreds of years earlier we meet the Romans like Peter suggested. Here we go again...

Thank you for your help.

Kind regards,

Jef

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Hallo Jef

now you mention it I have seen the crossed sabre type on pictures of the large medal, but can't recall off the top of my head, what was on the mini version

On my mini version the crossed swords have long wire type fixing prongs to the rear, if thats any help to identify them.

The medal came via Germany but the swords dont seem like the normal German ones encountered on medals, any comments would be appreciated.

Kevin in Deva.

Hello Kev,

Above I add my mini. I suggest we wait and hear what specialists like Hendrik, Stijn, Guy or Vatjan will say. I might be wrong.

Jef

Hallo Gentlemen

Little brother reunited with a big brother

Now to find a sword device for the ribbon, which originaly had one as denoted by the holes in the ribbon, anybody got one to spare??

Kevin in Deva

Hello Kev,

Never saw such type of crossed swords ( Roman type) on the Belgian "Commemorative medal 1940-1945" before. I know the medal with crossed sabres, large or small ones. Maybe Hendrik, Stijn or Vatjan may assist?

Jef

Hello Ed & Peter,

I suppose you are right it must be copied from earlier days. But why? . That's the reason why it confuses me....Almost every part, main part or additional part in a British badge can be explained and refers to the kind of unit, its origins, the person who raised it or its merits. The other parts of their uniform: collar badges and other insignia can be perfectly explained.... Only the snake clasp is copied and has no signification! It doens't make sense. But I accept you're right.

with kind regards from Flanders,

Jef

Dear Bob, Ed, Michael, Peter and Tony,

Thank you for your help. It seems more complicated than I thought.

If you are using a snake in your equipment, you might think it has a symbolic or heraldic meaning. As far as I'm concerned there are no British regimental badges which displays snakes. Or am I wrong?

again, thank for any help,

Jef

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Snake 5: attached to Belgian belt. I think it's the same snake as n? 2.

There are no markings on any of the snakes.

Thank you for any help

Jef

[attachmentid=40788]snake 4: type? . Bought on a military fair. plain back

[attachmentid=40786]Snake 3: Belgian type. Found in the Houthulst area( Belgian sector)

By the way, the back of snake 1 & 3 are identically of the front . The back of snake 2 and 4 are plain.

[attachmentid=40785]Snake 2 British type. Found in the Ypres area

Dear Gents,

In the past I tried to find information about the British "1914 Leather Equipment", especially about the snake clasp. So far nobody was able to help. I'm about 5 month's member of GMIC now and I noticed, in fact I'm perplexed by the knowledge of the members. I must admit I don't know a similar forum like GMIC. The way it gives information, the way the members are sharing their photographs and knowledge. Really great. Thank everyone of you.

Back to the snake clasp now. Have 5 snake clasps, and 4 are totally different. The snake buckle belt (1914 Leather Equipment) was used by the British Army. Later the Belgian army also used this type of belt for a period (more narrow; about 4 cm = 1,5 inch, the British belt is about 2 inch broad)) Maybe other armies also used this type of belt? I saw photographs of British policemen and photograph's of Belgian members of the fire brigade with a snake belt as well. So I was wondering, what are the origins of this type of waistbelt. I was told it was used since the 19th century by the British Forces and the origins are from India (?). But that's all I know. I will enclose some pics. The shape is the same, a horizontal S, but 4 of the snakes has a different engraving. Perhaps because of the different manufacturers? Is there anyone who can trow a light on this, or recommend me a good book on this topic.

With kind regards,

Jef

PS. snake 1 was found in the Ypres area. British type

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WOW! Thanks Claudio, dond, and Paul for sharing your examples, fantastic crosses! Amazing groups Claudio! A quick question, on the "Vor dem Feinde" bar there seems to be some variation, from the black version to silver. Are both types accepted as wartime, or like the 1st class is one the "war version" and the other "post war version?"

Hey Jef, I'm not an expert, but on conservation personally I only go after the active, orange rust. There are a few ways to do that, and there have been some great postings on conservation, I'll try and find some for you man! Here's a post of an amazing 1813 EK II, and towards the bottom of this page rust treatment is talked about, hope this helps man,

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3650&hl=rust

Kind Regards,

Steve

Thank you Steve,

Thank God, my rusty FA kreuz isn't that bad as that 1813 EK, I cleaned it with a non-aggressive oily liquid. When I look with a magnifying glass, I see tiny holes but I hope oxidation will stops.

kind regards,

Jef

Thanks Mike!

That's an FA Cross collection! Thanks for sharing it man! That's the first Prinzen FA cross I have seen, a truly impressive collection of FA crosses!

Thanks for sharing all your FA crosses guys, love seeing them, and keep them coming please!

Kind Regards,

Steve

Hello Steve,

Mine is a bit rusty. Was wondering how to preserve it?

best regards,

Jef

Dear Rick and Ed,

First of all thank you for your reaction and offer to help.

Rick, I would be glad if I could find new replacement ribbons of the Bronzene tapferkeitsmedaille Kaiser Karl and das Eisernes verdienstkreuz ohne krone. I guess these are the same ribbons.

I'm also looking for the ribbon of Milit?rdienstzeichen fur Unteroffiziere ( 6 jahre) and for the blue ribbon of das Oestereichischer Ehrenlegion kreuz.

Ed, concerning OMSA, I'm afraid I'm not a member but I will visit their website very soon.

Again, thank you both,

Jef

Dear friends,

I was wondering if anyone of you knows where I could buy some Austrian ribbons. Have some medals without any ribbon, and I would like to complete it.

Kind regards from Flanders

Jef