Kev in Deva

Hallo Robert The arrow-head marking by the way is found on many British Military Items, even the stone walls of Castlebar Military Barracks (1828) have this marking, to denote Military property. Kevin in Deva

The Rear. Any comments as to the rarity and value appreciated. Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Gents, Showing some zink bloom around the profile. 40mm diameter, and a small steel ring to hang on the ribbon hook. Offered up for your inspection and comments, this large Size late WW1 era Emp. Karl of Austria, large size Bravery award in Kriegsmetal / Zink. Kevin in Deva

Typical, when the "Walter Mitty" types get caught the all plead "Guilty with an excuse your honour". Whether he helped raise money for the memorial or not the man is still a liar. I think prison time is called for. Kevin in Deva

Hallo Steve you really have some stunning examples, a great collection, and affordable too. I took the liberty of high-lighting this beauty in Post 93, a tad to show off its attributes. Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Gents, the gun looks like an "add on" and might not be part of the original pin. Made up for "Karnival" ?? Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Gentlemen To avoid any misunderstandings and confusion, perhaps it would be better in future, if, a member who is in doubt as regards a particular items originality, to give the reason for his suspicions, this way, he will avoid causing any anger or resentment. It has to be said, in all fairness, not all the items we see online, and post here for opinions, are in the hands of, or have been in the possession of G.M.I.C. members. Where a member is selling then he can answer any questions with regards the item in question, if he is inclined to do so This I feel will avoid any unpleasentness amongst our fellow members. Kevin in Deva.

This is a Polish Commemorative Cross for Service in WW2. Issued post WW2 but, there is a modern re-strike, the main difference the modern one has a plain sillver coloured ribbon ring. The ribbon colours denote the Polish National Colours Red & White, Green the land Forces, Blue the Air and Sea forces, black the scrifice of Polish in War. Off the head , I remember it can be found with the following Bars: AXEL, ARNHEM, ANKONIA, BREDA, BOLONIA, BITWY I KONWOJE MORSKIE / Russian Arctic Convoys (?). FALISE-CHAMBOIS, MONTE CASSINO, MAICHE-ST.HIPPOLYTE, TOBRUCK, WILHELMSHAVEN. There are a couple more and I will add them to the list when I find my notes. Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Gents http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDD5xfAxhXo&feature=dir Found this clip while surfing YouTube, Spitfire recovery in Croc infested waters Sentry on Croc Watch seems to be armed with a 7.62mm S-L-R 1942 and a RAAF Spitfire out of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia crash landed in crocodile infested mangroves of Western Australia. About as far from civilisation as you can get. This isn't his story. But a tribute to him and the men of the RAAF who almost 20 years ago went to those mangrove swamps and recovered that downed fighter plane. Any of our Australian members got any more info / pictures on this? Kevin in Deva

Harry Will 'Lose Credibility In The Army' By Sky News SkyNews - 1 hour 9 minutes ago. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20070517/...-a-45dbed5.html Prince's Harry's future in the military is uncertain after it was announced he would not be deployed with his regiment to Iraq. Clarence House said the prince "fully understands and accepts" the decision and remains committed to his Army career. But some military figures said he had lost credibility in the service and predicted he would ultimately resign his commission. Major Charles Heyman, editor of Armed Forces UK, said he thought Harry would almost certainly leave the Army. The 22-year-old Prince could be "kept out of trouble" in a "non-job" away from the frontline, the retired Major said, but this would distance him from his colleagues. "If he is not sent to an operational area, as a combat soldier he will have no worthwhile career in the army," he added. The Defence Secretary Des Browne defended the decision to keep Harry away from the frontline, saying it would entail "disaproportionate risk". "A judgment has to be made about the circumstances of the conflict and not all conflicts are the same," he said. "Taking on risky environments is part of military deployment, we all accept and understand that, but in these circumstances, part of the judgment was the deployment of Prince Harry would increase the risk to others disproportionately." There was anger at the way the matter had been handled by the Ministry of Defence, with some MPs complaining the insurgents had been handed a propaganda victory. Abu Zaid, a brigade commander in Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army - the most powerful of the Shia militias - said they had been circulating pictures of the prince to other insurgent groups. "We are awaiting the arrival of the young, handsome, spoilt prince with bated breath and we confidently expect he will come out into the open on the battlefield," he was quoted as saying. "We will be generous with him. For we will return him to his grandmother (the Queen), but without ears." The head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, had previously said Harry would be deployed as a troop leader with the Household Cavalry. But he said he had made a U-turn on that decision because of "specific threats". - - - - - END OF ARTICLE - - - - - Kevin in Deva P.S. There is no truth in the rumour that the next set of T-Shirts will be worded as follows: HARRY? HARRY?? WHERE THE F*@K! IS HARRY??.

Hallo Gents please excuse what might sound like a stupid question with regards the top picture in Post Is the addition of crown and swords to the EK Ribbon an unofficial one? or does it signify some other Hohenzollen award?? Kevin in Deva

Hallo Charles, A very, very nice item and congratulations to you and your wife on your wedding aniversary Kevin in Deva P.S. if it ever gets thrown at you remember to CATCH not DUCK

Doctor Watson wants to know has it got a hallmark? Kevin in Deva

With this news I hope he has not been stuck with thousands of unwanted t-shirts Prince Harry will not serve in Iraq Prince Harry will not serve in Iraq because of "a degree of risk" that has become "unacceptable", General Sir Richard Dannatt has said. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20070516/tuk-...aq-dba1618.html The 22-year-old graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst last year and he was scheduled to travel to southern Iraq later this month to begin a six-month tour of duty, leading 12 men from A Squadron of the Household Cavalry Regiment in four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles. Sir Richard said that he had reached the decision following a wide round of consultation including a visit which he made to Iraq at the end of last week. "There have been a number of specific threats - some reported and some not reported - which relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual," he said. "These threats expose not only him but also those around him to a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable." He said that having taken this decision the risks to his battle group would be no different to those faced by any other service personnel in Iraq. He also refused to rule in or rule out the possibility that the Prince could at some stage still go out to Iraq He added: "I have to add that a contributing factor to this increase in threat to Prince Harry has been the widespread knowledge and discussion of his deployment. "It is a fact that this close scrutiny has exacerbated the situation and this is something that I wish to avoid in future." Clarence House said the Prince was "very disappointed" at the decision but he "fully understands and accepts" the situation. A statement said: "Prince Harry is very disappointed that he will not be able to go to Iraq with his troop on this deployment as he had hoped. "He fully understands and accepts General Dannatt's difficult decision and remains committed to his Army career.Prince Harry's thoughts are with his troop and the rest of the battle group in Iraq." Asked if Harry would quit the Army, a spokesman replied: "Absolutely not." It has been claimed Harry could quit the Army if he is not allowed to serve with his colleagues. In an interview to mark his 21st birthday, he said: "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country." - - - - - END OF ARTICLE - - - - Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Peter J Possibly an early model sweet-heart broach, given to a wife or girlfriend by a member of the RAF. Kevin in Deva.

Anything like any of these?? Kevin in Deva

Hallo Rick, Romanian ?? : I came across the folowing ". . . . After 1952, Romanian Military Aviation brought many Russian airplanes and it also "borrowed" their symbols. The badge for military pilots between 1952-1965 was an almost identical one with that of the Russians, but with some differences in the process of fabrication due to the fact it was produced in Romania. The averse is hard to differentiate, but the reverse is flat and not caved (curved?) and pressed as (the) soviet model. The attachment was done with a screw and on the screw nut one can read "IPMS ARAD"; sometimes nothing was written on (it). The Russian badges have "POBEDA MOSCOVA" on their screw nut, see picture: The badge was ment to represent a shield with a five corner star on it. with red enamel and two swords crossed, under it. The shield is between two stylised wings having the aspect of three knitted cords of different lengths. There are also badges of this model whose shield is blue enameled. They also appeared on the same type of stencil but in a small number. Since then on, all the badges for the military pilots have shown a "class specialist" and that of classification. We have not found any badge without a "class" criterion yet, and that makes us think there probably were only three models of classification: the 1st, the 2nd, and the 3rd. Information from: "INSIGNELE Aviatiei Militare Romane / ROMANIAN AIRFORCE BADGE by Lt-Cdor ? Iliese Marcel. 91 pages of Romanian Airforce insignia, circa 1910 - Present Day. Limited Private Publication of 300 and released at a book launch in Timisoara, 19th April 2007. Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Mike, what a beautiful and colourful pair Kevin in Deva

Hallo Michael It states in "GREEK MEDALS by GEORGE STRATOUDAKIS" ISBN:960-91397-2-8. Page 106: 128 Commemorative MEDAL of the WAR of 1940-41 (Army), II Type. In 1983 because of the political change, it was decided that the medal was to be replaced by a new form of Medal. The Crown and the head of King George II on the obverse was replaced by "NIKE of Samothrace." Kevin in Deva

Hallo Ulsterman we are not disputing the fact that in WW2 Italian awards went to Germans, what we find intreiging / puzzling is the Italian Cross is a WW1 type, by having V.E. III Cypher. Kevin in Deva

I did ebay-mail him about the fatastic cross he is selling and got the following reply via ebay: * read as: "But if in the meantime some sucker bids my asking price I will take it, and laugh all the way to the bank" Kevin in Deva

Hi Gary just a quick question is the Italian cross in zink?? "kreigsmetal", as the Germans call it?? I cant recall seeing any official Italian medals in this material before Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Gary, I took the trouble to crop the cross in your post and it has the words "VALORE MILITARE" Under V.E. III a case of not seeing the wood for the trees So to my mind that makes it a WW1 Cross of Valour, and again the question still remains how did it get teamed up with a WW2 Iron Cross?? Kevin in Deva

Buna 922F I think Janni will only be there for 3 days so he will have no chance to get down here to Transylvania Kevin in Deva.

I believe this is the Italian Valor Cross of WW2. And still the question remains is it possible for a German to get this Italian award, or even the WW1 or WW2 version of the Cross of War?? Gets confusing dosent it Kevin in Deva