achern

Gents,

I came across this example of a US Air Force (USAF) Medal of Honor, in a case with a ribbon bar. The set is probably not complete.

Could anyone be so kind as to give me some feedback on whether you think this is a genuine example of the MoH? There have been so many reproductions in recent years that it is very hard for me to tell without actually having seen on in person before.

Thank you.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/News-and-Events/Latest-News/2013/March/05/130228-First-Arctic-Star-Medals-Already-In-Production

Here is my contribution:

1. A set of King's crowned Commodore boards

2. A QVC admiral's boards

Alf

Hi Mervyn, I don't know who kept it first - it came from a member of the Admiralty staff who had it for many years. I also have an enormous LHA flag, will need to find an empty wall to photograph it. Come to think of it, I haven't seen this flag in use on the staff car in photographs.

It is cut out of a separate piece of yellow cotton and sewn on.

Paul, here is the link to the small flag: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/57140-lord-high-admiral-staff-car-pennant/?p=529770

I dont really know. Is that the highest naval rank in the British Navy? I really want to see your flag! Please start a thread on it.

Here is a small, Lord High Admiral of the Royal Navy staff car pennant used by QEII in the 1960s-70s.

The highest operational rank for the RN used to be Admiral of the Fleet of the RN, a five-star rank. Lord High Admiral I think is more of a commander-in-chief sort of appointment. I think these links explain it better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lord_High_Admirals_and_First_Lords_of_the_Admiralty I have two flags - a staff car pennant used by HM Elizabeth II, and the huge flag.

Very nice one Paul. Does this equate to a Lord High Admiral of the RN? I have a flag of the LHA, a giant one which could well be a curtain for my window!

Lovely stuff. Any chance of showing us some Cuban General ranks?

Lovely. Would this be for the rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union?

Mervyn, I have the general ranks for Zimbabwe. These are swords, two pips and the crest. Definitely in the British style.

Alf

You mean, the 400 pounds to buy one! :o

Two types - one was the US type of pixelised camo with the square rank patch (I heard, but did not actually see it for myself), and the other was the SAF issued desert colour pixelised camo (you can find pictures of these on the internet).

The SAF issued uniforms have their own type of rank insignia, which is a single full size epaulette in desert colours on the chest.

Nice little mystery for all of us. Here are the factors:

1. This patch was obtained from a Singapore officer who served in Afghanistan.

2. He served alongside the US Marines

3. He doesn't know what this emblem is for either

4. The fabric is actually the US Army ACU (or what they call it, I am not sure)

5. He managed to get some tailor to manufacture the Singapore officer rank on the same fabric and wore it while serving alongside the US forces.

So, these patches could be a spoof, but they sure don't look like they were made in Afghanistan. The style of embroidery doesn't match other Afghan examples I have seen.

Help!

I think these prototypes are very interesting pieces. I have seen the "prototypes" of rank insignia for the Singapore Armed Forces made in the factory, and there are variants using many different types of thread, and fantasy ideas on four and even five star general ranks. Of course, these don't exist, but there they are in the factory display. Anybody who happened to be on the up and up with the factory owner could very well have access to these things.

Alf

Guys, I picked this up today from a Singapore Army officer who just returned from Afghanistan. He worked with the US Marines there, and brought these patches back with him.

Does anybody know what this insignia represents? It looks like an eagle carrying a rocket launcher, but I cannot really be sure.

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Alf

Donating his collection to the national archives might be a big mistake. The stuff might get neglected, abused, stolen, or lost forever, as happens in many archives like these around the world.

I have a pair of his cloth epaulettes for the rank of Brigadier - very nice ones - for sale. Let me know if you are interested in buying them.

You'll need to post a much bigger picture for us to see the differences. I have four variants of this badge, with "6000", engraved M, bar M, and nothing in the wreath. All of them have splotches just under the canopy, but my splotches are all finer than yours. Also, the blue enamel between the riser lines should be nearly flush with the surface, not sunken.

Alf

Paul, the Trident examples (I bought a set for reference) are actually stiffer, neater, and much more accurate in the embroidery than these epaulettes I just posted. They are a different shade of green and are half an inch taller too.

In fact, I would say that Trident overdid it in terms of quality. The accuracy of the embroidery is way better than any Iraqi embroidery I have yet seen, except the "German-made" ranks.

I would go as far as saying that Saddam ought to have bought his ranks slides from Trident

However, the biggest difference in the slides I just posted is that the entire inside of the slide is covered in cloth, whereas all the others, including Trident's, left the stiffener exposed. I haven't seen any other examples like these.

Some more Field Marshal epaulettes, this time of quite good quality workmanship:

And another set:

I'm wondering what conclusions we can draw from these comparisons, though.

My examples have no solid provenance as a reference point, so they're not very useful in that aspect.

Here is the back of one of Paul's Iraqi Shoulder tabs. I didn't open it up, it came that way.

Notice the lack of stabilizer? This material is heavy enough to embroider without it, but the front does show some puckering.

I must confess I got a fright when I saw the autopsied epaulette!

I have seen the latter two examples of embroidery, not the first one though.