Laurence Strong

the medal

The case cover, as we will see in a bit, I believe this to be a made up set.

Order of Merit for People 3rd class

Mini and Ribbon

the rev

Medal obverse

2nd type with the Pin back case cover, it's actually a grey color

These are my latst additions, nothing special Order of Labour 3rd class

"62" Maybe....

So far: #1 Distinguished Service medal #2 Long service and Good Conduct medal #4 Kenyatta Commemoration medal #9 25th Anniversary medal #10 Unprofor

The reverse of the coins. When everyone could produce a coin....then the BS started...my tour was....we had....and tended to result in a visit to the Vehicle compound, and worked out by the rules of the "Marquis de Knuckles" In the Artillery, the #1's (Detachment/Gun Commander) are also fair game for their "Parallax shield", should a Bty Officer, especially the Bty GPO (Gun Position Officer, who's almost god on the gun position, except for the BSM) ask a #1 for his sheild and he can't produce...tend's to cost a round. A "Parallax shield" is used to bring the barrel and sight of a Gun together, a crucial piece of kit built out of the lid or base of smoke grenade can's. Hope this helps

Challenge Coins....You throw yours down on the bar at the mess....and the poor sod who does not have one buy's the round. from the left: The coin issued to me upon completion of my basic gunners course, and registred in the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery Museum located in CFB Shilo (The Home Station of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery), A Bty issued coin (78Bty 20th Fd Regt), The coin issued by 3PPCLI upon completion of tour in 92/93

how she is today, an artificial reef outside on Lunenberg, Nova Scotia.

Ships crest

The 2nd from the "St Laurent " class

The 1st one Type: Destroyer Class: RIVER Class British Displacement: 1337 tonnes Length: 320 ft. Width: 32.5 ft. Draught: 10 ft. Top Speed: 31 # Officers: 10 # Crew: 171 Weapons: 4-4.7", 8-21" Torpedo Tube (2 x IV), 2-2 pdrs. Modified to 2-4.7", 1-3", 4-21" Torpedo Tubes (I x IV), 6-20mm and Hedgehog as war began. Pendant (Hull Number): D/I79 Builder: John I. Thornycroft & Co. Ltd., Southampton, U.K. Laid Down: 27-Sep-29 Launched: 11-Jul-30 Commissioned: 22-May-31 Paid Off: 30-Jul-45 The Canadian ships HMCS Saguenay and HMCS Skeena were a slightly modified design with heavier plating around the bow so they could operate in waters where there was a risk of Ice, they were not fitted or intended to be icebreakers

Rant On "GAWD I HATE HATE HATE ANALLY RETENTIVE COMPUTERS" Rant off. 8 hours for 2 decent scans....I feel like I want to do this: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5982 Except I probably can't afford Gerd fee's HMCS Saguenay

1931 I think Manchurian Incident Manchurian Incident or Mukden Incident,1931, confrontation that gave Japan the impetus to set up a puppet government in Manchuria. After the Russo-Japanese War (1904?5), Japan replaced Russia as the dominant foreign power in S Manchuria. By the late 1920s the Japanese feared that unification of China under the Kuomintang party would imperil Japanese interests in Manchuria. This view was confirmed when the Manchurian general Chang Hs?eh-liang, a recent convert to the Kuomintang, refused to halt construction of railway and harbor facilities in competition with the South Manchurian Railway, referring Japan to the Nationalist central government. When a bomb of unknown origin ripped the Japanese railway near Shenyang (then known as Mukden), the Japanese Kwantung army guarding the railway used the incident as a pretext to occupy S Manchuria (Sept., 1931). Despite Japanese cabinet opposition and a pledge before the League of Nations to withdraw to the railway zone, the army completed the occupation of Manchuria and proclaimed the puppet state of Manchukuo

The very last one is the UNPROFOR medal issued for service in the former Yugoslavia. Here's the Award document as issued by the UN I am interested in the rest of them also, they are proving to be very hard to "google". I remember when we were there a Ghanaian troop froze at his post in the winter of 92/93, we had a week of -20 cel and lots of snow and wind

Ships creast

Her final momments

The second one, and the one this talley would have come from was the Lead ship of the "St Laurent" class of DDE's These ships were the first major warships designed and built in Canada. They were some of the very first new designs to appear after the Second World War, and were among the most sophisticated. Known as 'Cadillacs', they had relatively luxurious crew accomodations. They were similar to the RN's contemporary WHITBY (Type 12) frigates, but relied more on American equipment than British. Designed to operate in harsh Canadian conditions, these ships looked remarkably different from other warships of the time. They were built to counter NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) conditions, which led to their rounded hull, continuous maindeck, and the addition of a prewetting system to wash away fallout and other contaminants. In addition, the living spaces of the ship were part of a 'citadel' which could be sealed against contamination for the safety of the crew. Other inovations included an operations room (CCR, or CIC in USN parlance) seperate from the bridge from which the captain could command the ship while in combat, 12 seperate internal telephone systems, air conditioning, and various other systems. Built with the latest in radar and sonar systems, they were well-equiped to detect the presence of air, surface, and submarine targets. These sensors directed modern guns and ASW weaponry. The FMC 3"/50 Mk.33 was primarily an anti-aircraft weapon, of minimal use with surface targets. It was guided by fire control radars mounted right on the gun. The twin 3" gun mounts were open to the weather when the ships were first built, but fibreglass enclosures were later added. It remained in service with the Canadian Navy until 1998. Four ships of the class were also fitted with single 40mm Bofors mounts aft of the bridge, but these were later removed. Her ASW weapons included Y-gun launched homing torpedoes and two British triple-barrelled Mk.10 Limbo mortars, which launched projectiles forward and to the side of the ship. With the advent of the nuclear submarine, however, it became apparent that even more efficient detection of submarines was needed to find submarines at greater distances than possible at the time. It was decided then to modernize the ships of the ST. LAURENT class to carry helicopters and the new SQR 504 Variable Depth Sonar (VDS). As a result, in the early 1960's all seven ships of this class were converted into helicopter carrying destroyers (DDH). In June of 1963, HMCS ASSINIBOINE was recommissioned after this conversion. This involved the removal of one of the Limbo ASW mortars and the aft 3"/50 gun to make room for the hangar and landing deck, the twinning of the single funnel, and various other improvements all over the ship. Activated fin stabilizers were added to reduce the ship's roll in heavy seas, as well as the Beartrap device which allows helicopter recovery in almost any sea state. One CH 124 Sea King helicopter was carried. The transom was altered drastically in order to allow for the placement of the new Canadian designed SQS 504 VDS. The VDS was instrumental in extending the range of the ship's sonar, then limited to about 2000 yards, and was in essence a complete sonar set that could be lowered by cable to great depths behind the ship. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, the 6 newest members of the class underwent a refit intended to extend the service lives of the ships, called the DEstroyer Life EXtension program (DELEX). The ships were initially intended for only 25 years of operation, and it had become apparent that they would not be replaced until they were nearing 35 to 40 years of service. For the ST. LAURENT class, DELEX meant that the electronics for both radars were upgraded with solid state replacements and hull and machinery repairs were undertaken so as to allow safe operation for up to another 15 years. The ST. LAURENT class served as the basis for another 11 ships, in two different classes, whose design differed only slightly. All were named after Canadian rivers, though many shared names with Second World War destroyers. ST. LAURENT herself, however, paid off early in the 1970s during the RCN's manpower shortages. Differing slightly from her sisters in her machinery, she never returned to service or underwent the DELEX refit, and was towed away for scrap in 1980. During her tow to Texas, she passed through the tail end of a hurricane, and sank after taking on water.

The first one was originaly launched as HMS Cygnet River-class Destroyer - Original; 'C' Class 1,375 tons - 100.3 x 10.0 x 3.0 meters (329 x 33 x 10 feet) Crew: 171 - Propulsion: 31 knots Armament: 4 4.7" single, 2 2 Pdr guns, 8 21" TT HMCS St. Laurent, T-83 *

Thanks James for that info on the Patricia hat badge. Well it's been a day or two since I have been here, I now have somwe time off due to "Spring breakup" which brings the oil drilling industry out here to a screeching halt, considering I have worked 75 out of the 1st 90 days this year I need the break, also gives me time to be online, work turns into a blur of 12hr shifts, sleeping, and not much time for anything else. Cap tally for HMCS St Laurent, cosidering my given name this one was a must have

Hi Ken Welcome to the GMIC forum This might make it a little easier http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,41588.0.html