Kev in Deva

Picture captioned in type written Russian and Romanian handwriting to the rear :-

Victor ??

Size: 17cm X 23.5 cm

Kevin in Deva.

Some of your medal items fall under the description of commemorative regimental medals

and were of local manufacture to professional manufacture.

Number 2 & 7 looks very dodgy, sand cast copies in my opinion.

To my eyes the Order of the Crown looks ok.

Kevin in Deva.

Nice ribbon bars, Kevin! I especially like the 4th Class Star- haven't managed to snag a ribbon bar with that ribbon aboard- yet.

Hi Greg,

The Star represents a Third Class award.

Kevin in Deva.

Very nice first trio - Kevin

Many thanks AlecH,

well worth the wait, now hopefully some research will turn up some information on the man himself.

Kevin in Deva,

Came with a British Great War Trio found in Bucharest:-

Top Bar, left to right:-

1. Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic

(Ordinul "Steaua Republicii Populare Romane")

Established: 1948-66. 5th Class.

or

Order of the Star of the Socialist Republic of Romania

(Ordinul "Steaua Republicii Socialiste Romania")

Established:1966. 5th Class.

2."40th Anniversary of Foundation of the Romanian Communist Party" Jubilee Medal

(Medalia jubilara "40 de ani de la ?nfiin?area Partidului Comunist Roman")

Established:1961.

3. Liberation from the Fascist Yoke" Medal

(Medalia "Eliberarea de sub jugul fascist")

Established: 1949.

4. "20th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country" Medal.

(Medalia "A XX-a aniversare a eliberarii patriei")

Established:1964.

5. Medal of Labor, (Medalia Muncii)

Established in 1949 and issued up until 1989.

Bottom Bar, left to Right:-

1. Order of the Star of the Romanian People's Republic

(Ordinul "Steaua Republicii Populare Romane")

Established: 1948-66. Third Class.

or

Order of the Star of the Socialist Republic of Romania

(Ordinul "Steaua Republicii Socialiste Romania")

Established: 1966. Third Class.

2. "20th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Country" Medal.

(Medalia "A XX-a aniversare a eliberarii patriei")

Established: 1964.

3.10 Years Since Foundation of First Units of the Romanian People's Army" Medal.

(Medalia "10 ani de la ?nfiin?area primelor unitati ale Armatei Populare Romane")

Established:1953.

Kevin in Deva.

Another link:-

http://www.rapc.co.uk/features/wothy_down.htm

Kevin in Deva.

Possibly of modern day manufacture, with period ribbon,

a few people are making these and offering them for sale on evil-bay,

no way to track them after they get bought, or resold on.

Kevin in Deva.

I believe he was connected with Royal Naval Aviation, HMS Kestrel was a land based station and NOT a ship:-

Wiki gives this:-

The site was first used as a military establishment when the Royal Naval Air Service opened an airfield on the site of the Winchester Racecourse in October 1917 as the base of the Wireless and Observers School. With the founding of the Royal Air Force in April 1918 the site was handed over. The runways were grass and sited to the North-West of the current barracks area.

The site was recommissioned by the Royal Navy in 1939 as HMS Kestrel and used as a flying station by the Fleet Air Arm until 1942 when flying ceased due to the orientation of the runway. It was placed in a state of care and maintenance until 1952 when it was re-established as HMS Ariel and used as an engineering training school.

The site was then handed over the Royal Army Pay Corps in 1960 and became home to the Electronic Accounting Development Unit who housed their computer centre there, as a home for an IBM 705 system. The computer was used to process the 1961 UK census electronically for the first time.^[1]

With the merger of the RAPC into the AGC in 1992 the barracks became the headquarters of the AGC and training depot for members of the Staff and Personnel Support, Education and Training Services and Army Legal Service branches.

The barracks was used by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency to house the Joint Personnel Administration project team from 2002 until 2009. The building is now used by the Defence Food Services School (DFSS)

The camp was served by Worthy Down railway station to the East, on the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway opened in 1918 and closing finally in 1960. The route of the railway is combined into a running circuit around the camp.

The airfield area is now used as farmland.

• 700 Naval Air Squadron - 1945
  
• 734 Naval Air Squadron - February 1944 - 1945
  
• 739 Naval Air Squadron (BADU) - September 1943 - September 1944
  
• 755 Naval Air Squadron - 1939
  
• 756 Naval Air Squadron - 1939 - 1943
  
• 757 Naval Air Squadron - 1939 - 1943
  
• 763 Naval Air Squadron - December 1939 - June 1940
  
• 763 (FAA Pool) Naval Air Squadron - February - July 1941
  
• 800 Naval Air Squadron - 1938 - 1939
  
• 803 Naval Air Squadron - 21 November 1938
  
• 806 Naval Air Squadron - May 1940
  
• 807 Naval Air Squadron - 15 September 1940
  
• 808 Naval Air Squadron - 1 July 1940 - 5 September 1940
  
• 811 Naval Air Squadron - October 1939
  
• 815 Naval Air Squadron - 15 October 1939 - May 1940
  
• 822 Naval Air Squadron - October 1939
  

Kevin in Deva.

The British Inter-Allied Victory Medal ribbon.

This one appears to be in the best condition.

Kevin in Deva.

The British War Medal Ribbon.

Kevin in Deva.

Closer view of the ribbons

The 1914 - 15 Star ribbon.

Kevin in Deva.

Closer view of the ribbons

The 1914 - 15 Star ribbon.

Kevin in Deva.

Hallo Tony,

I also posted about this on the GWR Forum, did not yet get into Ancestry.com.,

would love to know where he was originally from, hopefully something turns up,

The biggest mystery is how the trio got here in Romania.

Kevin in Deva

Sadly the original ribbons are a bit grubby, must source some replacements, original period pieces hopefully.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

The British Inter-Allied Victory Medal for WW1. (Rear.)

First trio I have had in my collection well worth the wait,

to a Connaught Ranger, and even more so to find them in Romania.

Kevin in Deva.

The British Inter-Allied Victory Medal for WW1. (Front.)

Kevin in Deva.

The British War Medal 1914 - 1918. (Rear)

A fantastic patina.

Kevin in Deva.

The British War Medal 1914 - 1918. (Front)

Kevin in Deva.

The 1914 -15 Star (Rear.)

Kevin in Deva.

Some close-ups:-

The 1914-15 Star (Front.)

Kevin in Deva.

The rears, all named to the same man.

The Romanian lad has no idea how they came to be in his Grandfathers possession,

his Grandad had the distinction of being one of the earliest members of the Romanian Communist Party.

So far I have found this out:-

Name: Thomas McKenna

Regiment or Corps: Connaught Rangers, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Regimental Number: 4615, 48490

Posted to France on 17 Dec 1915. Later to Class Z reserves.

That he survived the war, and was under the "Z" classification

for further service if Prussia and the Associated German States broke the Armistice.

Kevin in Deva

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from a Romanian lad I know in Bucharest, he was telling me about some medals that he found in his Grandfathers house which he was in the process of clearing, what caught my attention was the description, gold medal with a winged lady Great War for Civilization 1914 - 1919, a star with a crown and the dates 1914-15, silver medal man on a horse . . . . . I then asked him was there a name to the rear of the star and the rim of the other medals . . . yes, there was:-

4615 PTE. T. MC KENNA CONN RANG.

Would I be interested in obtaining them? You bet!!

Kevin in Deva. :jumping:

Hallo johnnymac,

thanks for posting, the second partial picture is very interesting,

as its the first time I have seen a Romanian Officer sporting the Greek

Medal of Military Merit 1917.

Is he named by any chance?

Kevin in Deva.

Digital photo of the photo.

In my opinion an Unofficial version of the Romanian Inter-Allied Victory Medal.

The Romanian Cross of War is the gilt Officers version with the dates "1916 - 1918"

he has the clasp "1919" which indicates service outside Romanian proper,

possibly up into Budapest, seeing as the picture is taken by a photographer in Timisoara,

Western Romania.

Kevin in Deva.

While not the Romanian Inter-Allied Victory medal per se a nice view of a recipient,

which I recently acquired:-

Note: He is wearing the Romanian Cross of War backwards to show the dates!

Kevin in Deva. :jumping: