Poland group of medals-- Polish ?

[Chris Clark]

i was given this lot of medals and i have no idea at all what they are. are they polish?? any input be great or advice were to look them up

[Chris Clark]

2nd medal

[Chris Clark]

3rd

[Chris Clark]

4th.... cap badge???

[Chris Clark]

5th badge of some type. sorry for not having a clue here but definatly not my area of knowledge

thanks in advance for any input. i take it all very common . i do like the first one posted looks very nice

[Alex K]

Hi Chris, nice presents! yes they are Polish, the first is the Order Virtuti Militari 5th class in silver, Is it numbered on the reverse? they normally are, if so it can be quite rare, it is difficult to say what period it is, it can be pre-war, wartime, issued by the Polish Government in exile in London or post war, I'll try to post some more info later.

The 2nd is the cross of merit, it came in three classes, gold silver and bronze, you obviously have the gold version.

The 3rd, Polish, possibly pre-war, due to the crown on the eagle, don't know what it is yet

The 4th is a Polish cap badge, possibly post war due to the uncrowned eagle.

4th don't know, but looks more communist Yugoslavian than Polish but I could be wrong.

trusting this helps a little

regards

Alex

Edited May 18, 2007 by Alex K

[Alex K]

Here is a link to a similar question I posed not long ago with more info

Alex

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16929

[Kev in Deva]

3rd

This is a Polish Commemorative Cross for Service in WW2. Issued post WW2 but, there is a modern re-strike, the main difference the modern one has a plain sillver coloured ribbon ring.

The ribbon colours denote the Polish National Colours Red & White, Green the land Forces, Blue the Air and Sea forces, black the scrifice of Polish in War.

Off the head , I remember it can be found with the following Bars:

AXEL, ARNHEM, ANKONIA,

BREDA, BOLONIA, BITWY I KONWOJE MORSKIE / Russian Arctic Convoys (?).

FALISE-CHAMBOIS,

MONTE CASSINO, MAICHE-ST.HIPPOLYTE,

TOBRUCK,

WILHELMSHAVEN.

There are a couple more and I will add them to the list when I find my notes.

Kevin in Deva.

Edited May 18, 2007 by Kev in Deva

[Alex K]

Just picking up from Kevin's thread, I am wrong, it is post war (The crowned eagle fooled me). I believe it is called

"Polish Armed Forces in the West Military Action Cross" and was as Kevin states awarded with numerous bars

"Awarded to former members of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, subordinated to the Government in Exile in London, who participated in any of the campaigns" quote from Awards and Decorations of Poland website

regards

Alex

[Taz]

Polish Armed Forces in the West Military Action Cross

It is actually a fairly recent medal, instituted by act of Parliament of May 17th, 1989.

Here is a list of the campaign bars issued with this medal. It is the only Polish medal to be issued with named campaign bars.

NARWIK (Narvik)

LAGARDE

MAICHE-St. HIPPOLYTE

BITWA O ANGLIE (Battle of Britain)

TOBRUK

MONTE CASSINO

ANKONA (Ancona)

FALAISE-CHAMBOIS

AXEL

ARNHEM

BREDA

BOLONIA (Bologna)

WILHELMSHAVEN

DZIALANIA BOJOWE LOTNICTWA (Air Force war operations)

BITWY I KONWOJE MORSKIE (sea battles and convoys).

Eddie.

[lbsr]

Badge #5 is "Vzorn? jednotka" (exemplary squad) used for conscripts of exemplary squads from ca 1970 in Czechoslovak People's Army

[Alex K]

Hi Ibsr Thanks for the confirmation, I didn't think t was polish

regards

Alex

[Chris Clark]

wow thanks guys for in put. i add a pic of the rear of number 1. just for insurance purposes any values?? as i am totally stumped with these.

[Alex K]

Hi Chris, Values are a little bit difficult to assess, The virtuti militai doesn't have a number on the reverse, (The number incidentally is a recipients number and as such can be attributed to a specific person) for this reason they generally have a higher value very similar to British medals. Looking around, dealer prices for unnumbered crosses vary from 85-150GBP

The cross of merit, 20-30GBP

The other items, Don't know as yet

Just my opinion, perhaps someone else can add to my figures

regards

Alex

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Sorry to disappoint you, but the Virtuti Militari seems very much to be a modern copy of the pre-WWII 5th class type, consequently the value is not very high. The genuine piece should have a serial number on reverse and the central medallion should be gilt. Also the ribbon is not correct for the pre-war type, which should be darker, almost royal blue. I believe the width of this ribbon will be ca. 40 mm. If so, it is a fake. The width of the original ribbon was 35-37 mm at most.

Cheers,

Lukasz

BTW: the metal cap eagle is the type used by privates in the army during the communist era. The ribbon of the Polish Armed Forces in the West Military Action Cross is reversed - the white stripe should be on the left.

[Alex K]

Polish forces in the west medal, saw one today in a shop for 25GBP

regards

Alex