ARAB MEDALS -- Oman

[geraldryan]

Gerry & Gentlemen,

I attach recently acquired, from E-Bay, small but still Omani themed miniature group - CSM "Dhofar", As Samood (Endurance) Medal and Sultan Qaboos Accession medal.

Regards,

Owain

Great looking little set Owain.

[Midway]

The cross swords and kunja on the Distinguished Service Medal (Gallantry) as shown (although correctly the crossed swords and kunja should also be in miniature) is the insignia which denotes the difference between the Distinguished Service Medal awarded for meritorious service and the one you have for Gallantry! I was wondering why the recipient does not have the Endurance Medal as he would no doubt be entitled to - unless of course he had left Oman before 1976 and as the Endurance medal was usually posted to "last know address" maybe it never arrived!  

Just bought this mini set today, can anyone explain the WW2 General service medal without Stars and the Omani medal that has like crossed daggers or swords on it. I dont normally buy mini sets into the 60s but this looked interesting so any info would be very much appreciated, Thanks everyone.

​

[Midway]

​I am able to send to you a list of names who MIGHT be the recipient (a process of elimination from the list of recipients of the WkHM against those I know, those who are too young - 1946 Medal - and those who were not in SAF land force - as opposed to SOAN or SOAF), but I am not sure about the rules of this forum! My initial impression is that the recipient may well be from the Armoured Car Squadron (ACS) who had several loan service personnel who were decorated. He will not be from BATT as they were awarded UK medals and decorations. It is possible that he is an ex-BATT man, there were several working with the Firqat, but I don't see immediately anyone who fits the bill. Intriguing! There won't be many on the list though. I am still puzzled by the lack of the Omani Endurance Medal.

Great looking little set Owain.

​

[oamotme]

Good morning from Riyadh.

To add to this Forum I am pleased to note that I have recently acquired a 1st Type Sultan Saeed LSGC - in almost 25 years of collecting this is the first one I have been able to get.  It is not in the best of condition and I think the suspension has been re-fixed but nonetheless a nice piece which is named! The recipient name , engraved in quite clear Arabic, is "3346 SAIF ISSA GHULAM MOHAMMED" - a Pakistani (Baluch?) name. Indeed the medal came from Pakistan and many Baluchis served in the Sultan of Oman's Forces over the years. I suspect that researching this will be an impossibility. The obverse Arabic inscription reads, "THE SULTAN SAEED BIN TEYMOUR BIN FAISAL" and "SULTAN MUSCAT AND OMAN". The reverse reads, in Arabic and English, "FOR LONG SERVICE". Also on the reverse is the manufacturer's name "SPINK LONDON". The ribbon is a plain dark red.

Kind regards,

Owain  

Edited June 3, 2015 by oamotme

[ilja559]

Very nice medal !!!

[Jamille]

These are some of the Oman orders I have made in the past.

[paul wood]

Impressive!

Paul

[oamotme]

From the top :

Order of Excellence

"In the name of God the Merciful, the Munificent /  Order of Excellence"

Collar of the Most Honorable Order of Oman

I cannot read the Arabic - unclear and calligraphically complex, but from Tinson's book the central 'red' is the name of the order, "The Most Honourable Order of Oman", the green is a religious/Koran inscription, "If you are determined enough and God is with you, then nothing can stop you" and the outer white reads, "His Majesty Qaboos Bin Saeed Sultan of Oman 1403".  The inscription on each link is  "In the name of God the Merciful, the Munificent ".

Order of Oman

White = Civil and Red = Military. The central inscription reads "Wissam Oman" (Order of Oman)

The top line reads "20 Jumada Al Awal Sanat 1390" - which I assume is the date of institution corresponding to October 1970.

The lower inscription reads "Insha'a Al Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed" - (Instituted by Sultan Qaboos bin Saaed)

Regards,

Owain

[Jamille]

Owain, there is a higher section of the Order of Oman, I saw them being made but I didn't make any, they were actually made by Asprey jewellers in Bond Street, they were the same shapes as the 3rd and 4th stars but were set with diamonds. I forgot to mention that they were all made from 18ct white gold. I was involved in the manufacture right from the start of the order in 1970 when Qaboos came to power, I worked closely with the designer and back in those days Sultan Qaboos really liked white gold and all of the original order designs by Asprey were a mixture of golds so the designer had to re paint every design into white gold only before they were accepted. Over the years Sultan Qaboos has been one of our best customers in the trade, the last job I worked on was two pairs of gold table lamps, made as a gift for his 70th birthday. I made this for his palace bedroom back in the late 1970s.

Edited September 5, 2015 by Jamille

[oamotme]

James,

Tinson's book has photographs of both the Civil and Military Collars of the Order of Oman and these are both jeweled pieces. Over the years in collecting Omani awards whilst most of the medals sooner or later become available, the Orders have proved to be exceedingly difficult to come by. Indeed the only enameled Omani order I have is a 5th Class of the Order of Renaissance. Occasionally, very occasionally, at auction more senior awards appear with groups from senior officers who served with the SOAF but they reach a price commensurate with the other medals in the group and the precious metal they may be made of. Of course the Sultan over the years has instituted a great number of awards many of which were only made in limited number and many of which appear to have fallen, quite quickly, into abeyance.

Kind regards,

Owain  

Edited September 5, 2015 by oamotme

[Jamille]

I have got one of the gold, white enamelled Order of Oman miniatures somewhere, my then boss, John Padgett gave me one as a momento of the first order that was delivered on time after us in his insignia department worked 7 days a week for a month to complete on time. I shall have to seek it out.

[Gunner 1]

Omani General Service Medal with clasp DHOFAR and Sultan's Commendation with a British GSM and two clasps to a British Army officer.

[geraldryan]

Since my last post I have added another miniature set. Would love to hear some comments on it. Also the full size medal of the GSM are these gilted? 

[oamotme]

Gerald, Your miniature image is not showing - can you repost? Owain

[geraldryan]

Sorry Owain having a bad day with uploading photos!! Put my Blackberry into a factory reset accidentally and wiped everything on it. I will have another go now and see what happens. G

IMG_20170430_125358_hdr.jpg

[geraldryan]

[oamotme]

Gerald, Nice group with a Sultan Saeed GSM. Are the Omani awards in the correct order of precedence? Should the Peace Medal come after the As Sumood (Endurance) Medal? Regards, Owain

[geraldryan]

Got me there!! Owain. Thats the way they have been for quite awhile looking at the stitching!! I bought a full size GSM this morning. Looked a nice example. to me anyway!!!

[oamotme]

Gerald, very nice - it is a handsome medal and whether Saeed issue, like this one or the Qaboos issue, represents a fascinating and critical period of Omani /Arabian peninsula history. Owain 

[geraldryan]

Cheers Owain. I was watching this in Aberdeen Medals for a couple of days and Mark Sellar gets some good medals on his website and I had been reading up about the Omani history regarding the various countries involved. I had a friend who worked on the Shorts Sky Vans out there about 1970/4 and he was given a gold Omani cap badge as a gift he gave it to me and I have been searching the house for this last few days!!! I seen it a couple of months ago and put it away for safe keeping still can't find it.!!!

[geraldryan]

Hi Owain although this is not an Omani medal I thought you might like to see it. I forgot I actually had it!! It is a miniature set but thanks to its previous own who carried out a lot of research and provided the documentation of his research I have the original owners name. As you can see see he has the Iraq Levie medal for active service awarded on the 23/30/1931. lovely little set.

[oamotme]

Gerald, Nice group - although perhaps for another thread. The Iraq ASM is a great medal and often the full size issue was awarded with a clasp however in very many years I have only ever seen once clasp in miniature. Should the TWM be before the GSM? Owain

[geraldryan]

Hi Owain just been checking the paperwork from David L Seeny who researched the group and who owned them, he states Arrived in France 10.12.15. Iraq Active Service Medal 1930/31 awarded 29.30.31.  GSM/Iraq/1 Page 26. TFEM awarded army order 332. 01.11.17   Mentioned in Despatches Emblem issued 11.03.31. Medals Issued, He lists the display order as. MBE.15ST.BWM.VIC/MD.GSM/IRAQ.TFEM.WM-IRAQ.  He apparently owned the full size set, so not sure if the mounting is due to the dates of issue. I have noticed the obverse of the TFEM is for vol service overseas 1914-1919.

[geraldryan]

Hi Owain, just looking closely at my GSM medal, how was the disc attached to the suspender part? were they one complete stamping? if you look closely at the photo of mine you can see what appears to be a very fine soldered joint between the disc and the straight ribbon holder, is this normal??

[Herr General]

Meet my friend Lt Colonel Harold Wallace Dee MBE who passed away in 2013.

 

Lt Colonel Geordie Dee was a true soldier! He served more than 50 years in the British Army. A few years ago he send me a list of his medals. Together they give a good overview of his military carrier.

 

He fought and served in many wars and theatres of operations. During the Second World War he joined the Home Defence at the age of 15. In 1944 he enrolled into the No. 6 Commandos. In the Netherlands he saw (among other places) action in the Osen (Bell Island) river crossing near Roermond. His unit finished “their war” in Germany.

 

After the Second World War he stayed in the army and served as a sergeant in the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry Regiment during the Korean War. After the Korean war he was send to Kenya to help during the Mau Rebellion and the Kenya Emergency. During this conflict he gained the rank of company sergeant mayor. He was air lifted from Kenya for the Suez channel crisis in 1956.

 

He stayed in the Arab world and was enrolled as a Regimental sergeant mayor in the Trucial Oman Scouts. This unit was a paramilitary force raised by the British to serve in the Trucial States. The troops were mixed Arab and British. Due to a disagreement about land and associated oil rights, the Imam of Oman rebelled against the Sultan of Muscat.

 

“To sum up Geordie Dee he had a magnetic personality, a brilliant sense of humor,” said Terry Ward, a TOS who first met Dee in the early 1960s. “Rank meant little do him as long as you got on and did the job. If you didn’t do the job he might pull some rank on you. He retained that attitude right throughout. All he wanted was efficiency.”

 

His next posting was in Asia. As Regimental sergeant mayor in the The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in 1962.

 

In 1969 he returned to the United Kingdom and served multiple tours in his beloved KSLI regiment during the conflict in Northern Ireland. He rose to the ranks as a captain, major and lieutenant colonel between 1969 – 1980. In 1973 he was invested as a Member of the British Empire for his leadership in the Northern Ireland conflict.

 

His last posting was in Cyprus in 1979. He retired fully in 1990. In 2002 he was awarded the Tower of Al-Qasmi 2nd class medal by the government of the Ras Al Khaima - United Arab Emirates. This for his loyal and distinguished service to the Trucial Oman Scouts in their formation years. (he was the honorary president of the Trucial Oman Scout Association)

 

 

His full medal entitlement:

 

1 Member of the British Empire (MBE, Military division)

2 The France and Germany Star

3 The Defence Medal

4 The 1939/45 War Medal

5 The General Service Medal 1918 version with clasp Malaya, Arabian Peninsula and Mentioned in Dispatches

6 The Korea Medal

7 The United Nations Service Medal for Korea

8 The Africa General Service Medal with clasp Kenya

9 The General Service Medal 1962 version with clasp Northern Ireland

10 The United Nations Cyprus Medal

11 The Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with clasp Regular Army

12 Tower of Al-Qasmi 2nd class medal from the Ras Al Khaima - United Arab Emirates

Does this count as an Omani medal?