Kev in Deva

Hallo Gentlemen, just spotted this bar: http://cgi.ebay.de/Ordensspange-Diplomat_W...1QQcmdZViewItem Seller claims it belonged to a "DIPLOMAT" but its strange as its got a Combatant EKII. followed by A War Service Help Cross, A Hindenberg NON-COMBATANT next to a German Legion of Honour for Combatant!! Followed by an Order of the Red Eagle without Crown & Swords, next to a Romanian King Carol Jubilee Medal with PRO PATRIA BAR, only ever given to Romanian civillians who helped the military with donations. And to top it off a Venezualan Simon Boliviar Medal. Surely not possible. . . . Kevin in Deva

In the graveyard of the church and the seventh of the headstones, Its to: GHEORGHE NEGRU*, Born 6 December 1908 - Died 1995. R.I.P. Hard to make out the insignia on the cap looks like a crown over a winged wheel, if so he to is a Railway man, I will make more enquires the next time I visit. * In english his name would be George Black. Kevin in Deva.

In the graveyard of the church and the sixth of the headstones, Its to: GHEORGIE VLAD, Born 1921 - Died 1996. R.I.P. As the photo on the headstone is a little indistinct he might be connected to the Romanian Railways FLOAREA VLAD, Born 1923 - 1995 (Wife?) R.I.P. Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Rick Well it is possible to drive fron Deva into the village without having to go over the river, the Road going from Deva to Lugos and Timosoara, but the train follows the river and the road beside it and rail way goes Deva to Arad, as my brother-in-law has no car, as well as being un-employed (since he lost his job at the local Romanian Arms factory ) it was cheaper to hop on the train and then sail over the river, the walk from the river to the village is about 25 mins, great excercise for an old soldier . The churches style can also reflect the influence whether Catholic, Orthadox, Saxon, Hungarian etc..etc and also depending on how much money could be raised from the locals to build it. The other church shown in this post is 600 years old and located outside Deva on the Arad road. With regards snow Romania normly gets a lot, but since I came to live here in 2002 the winter has been kind to us in the south Transylvania region, but January 2005 we did register -36? in Deva but had little snow, but over in the North East region up and into Moldova they had drifts in some place s of 3 meters and the army had to use tanks with snow-ploughs to clear the roads. Kevin in Deva.

With 1 hour and 11 minutes left on this auction its "sinnfeinwoman" in the lead with a bid at:EUR 4,150.00 The rest of the field looks like this: sinnfeinwoman ( 1 ) EUR 4,150.00 22-Apr-06 00:07:28 BST sigersons ( 7 ) EUR 4,100.00 21-Apr-06 20:50:00 BST sigersons ( 7 ) EUR 4,000.00 21-Apr-06 20:49:36 BST sinnfeinwoman ( 1 ) EUR 3,500.00 19-Apr-06 22:46:52 BST bernardk2201 ( 15) EUR 2,999.00 19-Apr-06 19:36:33 BST sinnfeinwoman ( 1 ) EUR 2,750.51 15-Apr-06 22:14:54 BST antony2005lotrs ( 21) EUR 2,700.00 19-Apr-06 19:19:47 BST antony2005lotrs ( 21) EUR 2,500.00 19-Apr-06 16:48:49 BST antony2005lotrs ( 21) EUR 2,300.00 19-Apr-06 16:48:34 BST antony2005lotrs ( 21) EUR 2,200.00 19-Apr-06 16:48:19 BST antony2005lotrs ( 21) EUR 2,000.00 19-Apr-06 09:28:55 BST antony2005lotrs ( 21) EUR 1,700.00 19-Apr-06 09:28:42 BST antony2005lotrs ( 21) EUR 1,600.00 19-Apr-06 09:28:28 BST vedelw ( 106) EUR 1,460.00 17-Apr-06 17:35:09 BST vedelw ( 106) EUR 1,420.00 17-Apr-06 17:34:54 BST vedelw ( 106) EUR 1,310.00 17-Apr-06 17:34:35 BST vedelw ( 106) EUR 1,250.00 17-Apr-06 17:34:21 BST vedelw ( 106) EUR 1,040.00 17-Apr-06 17:34:08 BST 8854martin ( 15) EUR 1,000.00 17-Apr-06 15:57:25 BST 8854martin ( 15) EUR 900.00 17-Apr-06 15:57:02 BST 8854martin ( 15) EUR 860.00 17-Apr-06 15:56:45 BST 8854martin ( 15) EUR 835.00 17-Apr-06 15:56:20 BST mcanselm ( 74) EUR 810.00 17-Apr-06 04:39:21 BST mcanselm ( 74) EUR 790.00 17-Apr-06 04:38:56 BST mcanselm ( 74) EUR 770.00 17-Apr-06 04:38:17 BST patgolly ( 61) EUR 750.00 16-Apr-06 20:36:46 BST bernardk2201 ( 15) EUR 721.00 16-Apr-06 09:53:30 BST 4029roche ( 4 ) EUR 700.00 14-Apr-06 20:39:48 BST The final five minutes should prove to be very exciting. Kevin in Deva. AND THE WINNER BY A NOSE IS: sinnfeinwoman (1) Kevin in Deva.

The little Church is constructed entirely of wood, and according to the local man I spoke with, was originaly transported down the river on a barge and constructed in its present location. As its getting late here I will post more tomorrow. Kevin in Deva.

In the graveyard of the church and the fifth of the headstones, Its to: HERO PETRU LUNCAN, Born 1920 - Died 1944. R.I.P. MINERVA LUNCAN, Born 1898 - 1973 (Mother? Sister?) R.I.P. Kevin in Deva.

In the graveyard of the church and the third & fourth of the headstones, Its to: HERO IOSIF VLAD, Born 22. April 1922 - Died 29. September 1945. R.I.P. HERO SANDOR VLAD, Born 1912 - Died Dec 1943. MINERVA VLAD, Born 1914 - Dec ? ? (Sister to Sandor Vlad? or wife?) Kevin in Deva.

In the graveyard of the church and the second of the headstones, Its to: HERO ALEXANDRU MARIS, Born 13. MAY 1911 - Died ? ? 19??. R.I.P. Possibly a senior Non-Commissioned Officer or Officer judging by all the braid on the shoulder. And it has just occured to me that the photo might have been printed from the reverse of the negative, I belive the braid / lanyard hung from the LEFT shoulder!! Kevin in Deva.

In the graveyard of the church and the first of the headstones, Its to: HERO IOSIF MANGA, Born 1911 - Died 1944. R.I.P. The woman in the picture could be his wife , the picture is composed from, two different photographs, strangely the family have not inscribed her date of death yet. ANA MANGA, Born 1916 - Died ? R.I.P. Kevin in Deva

Crossing the river and heading for the village, the steel stuff is a bridge thats lying there for the last 5 years as there is no money to erect it on the columns placed in the river banks . By the way, if this is not the correct place for this thread, please feel free to relocate it Kevin in Deva.

Good evening to the members of the Club, Yesterday Saturday April 22nd, I went with Mari, my Romanian brother-in-law to visit his village, called Tisa (pronounced Teeza), the village is located about a 1 hour train journey west of the town of Deva where I live. Its located near the bank of the river Muresh, a quite, sleepy place, of about 150 houses and maybe a population of 300, mainly old people. Some of the houses carry dates from the 1900s over the gables. After getting of the train, we had to climb into a boat to make the crossing to the village on the far-side of the river, which was an interesting experience as the boat used the flow of the river to power its self across, attached by a chain to a pulley suspended over a cable slung over the river, needless to say not a life jacket to be seen for those of faint-heart and limited swimming abilities , but seeing as the river was in full flood maybe the life jacket would have been of little help, after getting across the river with no mishap, we walked the 15 minutes to the village. Whilst there, I took a walk up to the local country church, on the off chance of spotting some war memorial, in this region (Transylvania) the men would have been in the Austrian-Hungarian Army in WW1 and in the Royal Romanian Army and eventualy attached to the Russians as they headed to Hungary, Austria and Czechaslovakia. (The Russian's ever mindful of the Romanian soldiers being on the opposite side a few months before, kept the Romanian troops well to the front and in the thick of the fighting.) I spotted some headstones of men in uniform and managed to take some snapshots, while talking to a local, he told me there was a war memorial to the "Heros" from the locality, with their names, etc., but being made of wood, with time it simply fell into dis-repair and now no trace of it remains. I will attach the photos of the headstones, some have a picture of the soldier in uniform and some are in civil attire. Two of what I took to be soldiers might be Railway men Next time down there I will ask around. There is also supposed to be a doctor in the village who is a WW2 veteran but in ill-health, but if its convienient I will try to get a visit to him.

Speaking of blunders, many members of the Club must be familiar with the History Channel / Discovery Channel Series, well in one episode the programe was about Rudolph Hess, the guy who went against Adolf and flew to GB to talk piece, getting lost over Scotland he bailed out and was captured, well the programme cuts to an interview with an "author and expert" on Hess, (as far as I can remember the interview was in a pub, near the bail-out area) the speaker goes on to say one of the author prized possesion's is HESS's original Iron Cross won in the First World War good so far, camera zooms in on the cross in the guys hand and you get a great view of the swastika on it, must be an uncataloged version of the EK from WW1 Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Paddywhack I can understand Thomas Clarkes medal getting a whopping great price, (?105,000) as, if my memory serves me correct he was one of the signatures to the Declaration of Independence, but according to page 23 & 24 of "DECORATIONS AND MEDALS OF THE REPUBLIC of IRELAND" by the late EAMONN O'TOOLE, The medal was created on January 24th, 1941 and was presented to the participants deemed to have taken part in the Rising in Dublin and to members of Rural Units of the Irish Volunteers who were involved and were later declared eiligibale for the award. . . . . . Under Number Issued it states; There were never more than 1,700 men and women involved in the Rising in Dublin, but to date 2,411 medals have been issued. The disparity in numbers may be explained by the fact that isolated rural units of the Volunteers carried out sporadic attacks against the British and the participants were later deemed to have taken part in the Rising and were later declared eligible to receive the medal. . . . . . A complete nominal Roll of the Participants, together with their autographs of most of them, may be seen in the 1916 Room of the National Museum in Dublin. Paddy, Can you remember how such an important part of Irish history as Thomas Clarks Medal was allowed to be sold off? without intervention from the Irish Government? and what proof was offered to say it was Thomas Clark's personal medal, taking in mind that all medals were issued with no engraving, this was done privately by the reciepiant in a number of styles. Kevin in Deva.

At the moment this auction of an Irish Easter Rising Medal is at 3,550 Euro (incorrectly described as a combatant medal there was no distinction between the combatant and non-combatant awards made for the 1916 Rising Medals.) http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 The current high bidder is a geezer called bravescotbarry ( -1 ) and he came in with a bid of: EUR 3.550,00 and his feedback reads: Buyer never paid or responded to emails. Avoid this person. I doubt if he will be paying for an Irish Republican item with a trade name like that. Second higest bidder is called: sinnfeinwoman ( 1 ) who started bidding at: EUR 2.750,51 and who has at least paid for the one item she bid on and won Her feedback reads: Thanks Orla nice meeting you,fast payment highly recommended AAA+++++++++++++++ Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Fellow Conspiritors Er.., I was sort of talking about the planning for the GREAT Central Bank in Ulaanbaatar HEIST! As a way of funding my medal collecting activities By the way what is the unit of currency down there? Notes or Barter, how many chickens for a Mongolian PLM Kevin In Deva

So How do we get the paper (I mean research material) out Kev in Deva

Well the lights are on, maybe their IS somebody at home Just how easy is it to get them to open up and share info? Kevin in Deva

Hi Solomon very nice looking Cross but I can't help noticing that it suffered some damage at some time?? Kevin in Deva

Hallo Ed_Haynes, I came across this on an Australian Site DiggerHistory http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/32360/200510...ls/too-many.htm when the page opens up please click on the link under: Welcome to the PANDORA Archive as the original site has been archived for historical and preservation purposes very appropriate with regards 15 or 20 meaningless ribbons Kevin in Deva

THE IRISH SERVICE MEDAL FOR PEACEKEEPING WITH THE UNITED NATIONS. Irish soldiers (now both male and female) have played a prominent part in United Nations Peace-Keeping since their deployment to the Congo in the 1960's, an up to now, a very large percentage of the Irish Defence Forces, including Naval, and Aer Corps personel have served on the ground, particularly in South Lebanon with U.N.i.F.I.L. While being entitled to the various service medals issued by the United Nations in 1987 it was decided that they should have a special Irish medal for such services, at this time the UN was the receipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts world-wide in peacekeeping. Countries with soldiers on current peace-keeping missions at that time, designed an appropriate medal of commemoration. The Irish medals, first issues in a white metal alloy and 35mm in diameter, were made in 1989, and as awards were to be made retrospectively, there will be about 12,000 potential claimanents. Any member or former member of the Defense Forces, who was awarded a United Nations Service Medal may apply for this medal. It may also be claimed by next-of-kin of deceased personnel. Obverse; A female figure representative of Eire standing on a shoreline, releasing a dove over te sea. The dove holds and olive spray in its beak and on the horizon is a skein of wilf geese. Reverse; The Legend UNITED NATIONS FOR PEACE in Irish and English. The medal is ssued unnamed. Ribbon; 32mm wide with a 12mm orange centre stripe bearing a 3mm stripe of UN blue. 5mm white and green stripes on either side, green outer. Suspension; Straight unswivilled bar through which the ribbon is treaded. Designers; Captain W. Campbell and Mr.James Hogan. Manufactuers; P. Quinn Ltd., and Jewellery and Metal Mfg. The symbolism on the obverse of the medal is that of Irish troops going abroad on peacekeeping duties by the releasing of the dove by Eire, and the wild geese symbolize the ancient tradition of Irishmen leaving their homeland to serve in foreign armies.- "On far foreign fields from Dunkirk to Belgrade lie the soldiers and chiefs of the Irish Brigade." Also pictured is my mini medal bar. At the Unit I was attached to from my parent Unit, all attachments were fell-in beside the 18th Bn for a parade, then appears Lieutenant-Colonel David Taylor (the same officer who was my CO in Lebanon) and he proceeds to pin the THE IRISH SERVICE MEDAL FOR PEACEKEEPING WITH THE UNITED NATIONS medals on to the chests of deserving members of the 18th, as he neared the end of the line he spotted me and walked over with a medal in his hand, say "Congratulations Ryan, If I remember correctly I had the pleasure of presenting you with your UN medal in Atiri, South Lebanon" and pins the medal to my uniform and shakes my hand, behind him I noticed a certain Captain, hoping from leg to leg and looking very agitated (Weak-Bladder says you!) but no, as Lt-Col Taylor leaves the parade, the Captain comes over and says "Private Ryan, give me that medal its mine, you have no right to that one, your one is with your parent Unit in Donegal" Lt. Col Taylor has no right to present it to you (I thought he was going to cry, he was like a kid who had just had is ice-cream nicked) well being the nice guy I am I said ok say you can have it back tommorrow, I have been invited to the hotel with "Dave" for a beer ). True story honest Injun In Memory of Private's Stephen Griffen, Thomas Barret, Derrek Smallhorne, Killed in Action while on Peace-keeping duties in South Lebanon, with the 46th Irish Battalion, UNIFIL. R.I.P. Kevin in Deva, he that was 835827

THE UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING MEDAL FOR U.N.I.F.I.L. More than 15,000 Irish soldiers have served overseas on UNO peacekeeping missions since 1948 and I served with No. 6 platoon, "C" Company, 46th Irish Battalion (IRISHBATT), United Nations Interiem Force In Lebanon. In one of the pictures I am seen receiving my UNIFIL Medal from the then Commandant David Taylor O/C of "C". Company, 46th Irish Batt. (see http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/medals/unifil.htm for Mission Information.) All Irish soldiers are volunteers for service with the United Nations, The Republic of Ireland is not a member of N.A.T.O. Personal photos from my time in Lebanon with the U.N can be found at: http://community.webshots.com/album/19736639GtLrLfQGOC The type of the UN medal presented to the Irish is a thinner version of the one often seen on a short ribbon and broach style pin in the American style and without such a pronounced rim line to the rear. Irish United Nations Medals are issued un-numbered, but some have been privately engraved by reciepiants. In Memory of Private's Stephen Griffen, Thomas Barret, Derrek Smallhorne, Killed in Action while on Peace-keeping duties in South Lebanon, with the 46th Irish Battalion, UNIFIL. R.I.P. Kevin in Deva, he that was 835827

Hallo Gentlemen I would like to take this moment to post pictures of the service medals I was personaly awarded with for my service with the Irish Defence Forces and the United Nations. My period of service was from 6th May 1976 to the 24th October 1997. In total 21 years and 174 days . Military Conduct Rating: EXEMPLARY. The PERMANENT DEFENCE FORCES SERVICE MEDAL / An Bonn Seirbise. The long service medal for Non-Commissioned ranks of the regular defence forces was instituted on December 13th, 1944. It may be awarded after ten years satisfactory service, and a bar may be awarded after a further five years continuous service. On November 23, 1983 retrospective legislation permitted the medal to be awarded to Officers, Chaplains and members of the Nursing Services for fifteen years service, with a bar for twenty years. All medals are in a bronze alloy, 35mm in diameter. Obverse; A symbolic female figure of Eire placing a laurel wreath on the head of a kneeling soldier. The inscription "AN BONN SEIRBHISE" partly surrounds the form of the soldier, with a small spray of laurel to the right of Eire. Reverse; Around the top the words "THE SERVICE MEDAL" with particulars of the recipient engraved in the centre, service number, intials, and name. Officers medals have the letter "O" in front of their number. Ribbons; The ten years service medal has a 32mm plain Saint Patrick's blue ribbon, while the fifteen year ribbon has a 5mm gold stripe in the centre. This latter ribbon is used on the office's medals as well. Suspension; Ring and pin back broach with the word "SEIRBIS / SERVICE" in raised letters. Bar; The bars are sewn to the ribbon and are bronze with two laurel sprays on either side of a central cruciform design. Designer: D. O. Murchadha. Manufacturer's; P. Quinn Ltd. and Jewellery and Metal Mfg., Co., Ltd, 17 Wood Street, Dublin 8. Issues are made half-yearly and presentations are usually made by Commanding Officers at ceremonial parades*. The medal may be awarded posthumously and may be forfeited for certain offences. There are considerable varities in strikings, as is to be expected in a piece which has been in issue for over 60 years and made by two seperate firms. *On a visit to my Parent Battalion from the Unit, I had been attached to the Company storeman collared me near the Guardroom, produced a slip of paper and with a quick "Sign there, and there" I was then handed my service medal so much for a ceremonial parade. Kevin in Deva, he that was 835827

Hallo Paul R, Shame, Shame, on a guy of 22, getting stopped for drinking and driving then he deserved to get nailed both by the Civil police and the Military for doing something so stupid. And then if losing his precious good conduct medal is part of the procedure then though, he obviously was not thinking about his GCM while filling his face with booze. Self-inflicted incident. Dont get me wrong in my time in the military over 21 and a half years I sank a lot of booze, but never when carrying a weapon, and it was common practise for us to remove the car keys from any comrade who was over the limit, there being enough taxis to get us back to base after a night out. Kevin in Deva