Alex K Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 Hi all, thanks for the comments, been away on vacation, just got back, so to answer a few questions, the time taken depends on the complexity and number of gongs, etc, in terms of work -hours, Oskar Schindler, head and shoulders (Quite like that one!) 2 hours, I don't always work in one sitting as I'm not financial/time constrained, so on the more intricate one's I may do an hour, leave it and come back to it later, sometimes days/weeks later and do another bit rather than one sitting, I suit myself basically. Paul (R) thanks for the input, I appreciate if mistakes are pointed out as I prefer to get things as correct as possible, a simple tweek will alter the stars, thanks This one took a little longer due to the quantity of scrambled egg spread over his uniform! (Don't think I've posted it before) Continuing, I've started to look at the story behind some of the colourisations to add a little history where I can, one I came across deserves to be remembered, so a little narrative to go with it, I collate the information from various sources and credits are indicated " Flying Officer Robert Fitzgerald Conroy 429 (Bison) Bomber Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, 6 Bomber Group, RAF Bomber Command Killed in Action over Germany on March 24, 1944 “Robert Fitzgerald Conroy was born in a small rural Nova Scotia community and developed an affinity for the country way of life at an early age. After graduating from a one-room, multi-grade school, he began his adult years working for a forestry company and then enlisted in the Canadian Forestry Corps with his friends. He was anxious to be a pilot and was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force after barely a year with the Forestry Corps. Following extensive training in Canada, he proceeded overseas to continue to continue his bomber pilot education and training. In June of 1943, as a member of 429 (Bison) Bomber Squadron, he was shot down on a bombing raid to Dusseldorf, Germany; all his crew was killed. However, he survived, evaded capture and made his way to Spain and eventual repatriation to England. After leave in Canada, he returned to his squadron as pilot of a Halifax bomber. While part of Bomber Command’s last big raid of the war on Berlin, he was shot down and killed –this time all his crew survived. “Get Out, Get Out Now”, were the last words spoken by Flying Officer Gerald Conroy as he piloted his flaming and wrecked Halifax bomber to the ground over Southeastern Germany near midnight on 24 March 1944. He was on his second operational tour of duty and was participating in what was the last major Allied raid on Berlin, also known as “the night of the strong winds.”” He is buried in the Commonwealth war grave cemetery, Berlin Narrative extracts credits Robertconroy.com Grave image findagrave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 Kaiser Wilhelm II always seems to make interesting colourisations, three of a number, hunting at Balmoral in Scotland (I think), 2 others with all the work clothes but without a job, at Doorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Alex Albert Victor was duke of Clarence and Avondale not Connaught, that was Edward VII's younger brother Arthur (1850-1942). Paul, nice picture though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted September 23, 2016 Author Share Posted September 23, 2016 (edited) HI Paul, Have I goofed? (I do but normally manage to catch them early before they get out), I'll check my info database regards Alex Got him mixed up with this dude I think, looks quite similar, (Or am I fooling myself and they are both the same person!!?) I have the as the Duke of Connaught Edited September 23, 2016 by Alex K additional info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 That's Connaught aged around 40 Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 I should have known really, I did this of him many moons ago, they do look similar though (To me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Same blood coursing in their veins, Connaught was Edward VII's younger brother and Clarence was Edward VII Eldest son. Hence the similarity in fact most of Queen Victoria's sons had many similar features and Alfred Duke of Edinburgh(later Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) looked very similar to Edward VII in later years. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 all that inter-marrying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 (edited) Hi all another interesting one (For me), Gustav Mannerheim (are those 2 flatscreen TV's in the background) Edited September 30, 2016 by Alex K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Fascinating, does anyone know what the sword insignia above his Mannerheim Cross signifies? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieter1012 Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Paul, Hieronymussen in his book on European orders writes that the Swedish order of the Sword also had special ranks that were only awarded in war time. One of them was Knight of the Grandcross of the Sword First Class, which wears a neckbadge of the size as the Grandcross badge and a single upright silver sword on the left breast. I guess Mannerheim was awarded this rank, but our Swedish forum members may have more information. Pieter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Pieter, Thank you for that information. I had assumed that the sword decoration was only awarded in the 18th or early 19th century Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieter1012 Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Paul, I checked a bit more and indeed Mannerheim received the Knight of the Grandcross First Class of the Order of the Sword in 1942. He must have been one of the very few who got this in the 20th century. Pieter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Pieter. Thank you so much for the information. Here is an example I handled in June last year Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 (edited) Hi Pieter/Paul, my thanks also for the info you supplied, I was also unaware of the swords significance but assumed it would be gold/silver, however I have a copy of Paul Hieronymussen's book "Order, Medals and Decorations of Btritain and Europe" 2nd edition 1970 and it states "Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Ist Class, which wears a Knight's Cross of the same size as the Grand Cross on a necklet and an upright silver sword on the left side of the chest", no picture unfortunately, this sounds the same as your info, maybe I should check the information I have sitting under my nose Ist!! regards Alex Edited September 30, 2016 by Alex K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieter1012 Posted September 30, 2016 Share Posted September 30, 2016 Paul, thanks for the beautiful picture, this must be an early 19th century example of this rare class of the Sword order. I wonder if Mannerheim's order is present in the Mannerheim museum in Helsinki. Would be nice to see a photo of it. By the way Alex, I have nothing against women, but I liked your avatar of king Kalakaua better; looked more impressive Pieter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted September 30, 2016 Author Share Posted September 30, 2016 Hi Pieter, I can always put it back, I have many, many more colourisations than I post, so I like to rotate occasionally, I'm sure King David will make a re-appearance, how about another King, posted before but different uniform regards Alex May be of interest http://mannerheim.weebly.com/mannerheims-decorations.html#.V-6bZnn2ZhE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieter1012 Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 Alex, thank you very much for the link to the Mannerheim collection. Under nr. 82 is a picture of his rare Swedish Sword order, really beautiful. I realize you can choose among many royalty for your avatar, but I have some good memories about king Kalakaua. I visited his Iolani palace in Hawaii many years ago and liked it very much (actually enjoyed my whole stay in Hawaii). I then bought a book about his life which has a nice painting of him on the cover in tropical uniform. Regards, Pieter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted October 1, 2016 Author Share Posted October 1, 2016 (edited) Hi Pieter, I'm sure your stay and visit was an extremely enjoyable experience, does the palace have any personal artifacts such as uniforms, decorations etc of King Kalakaua on display, if so would be interesting to see. BTW I actually like the colourisation I did of him so with regards to my avatar, I given him a reprieve for the time being regards Just for future info, from the Mannerheim museum Edited October 1, 2016 by Alex K additional information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieter1012 Posted October 2, 2016 Share Posted October 2, 2016 (edited) Alex, many thanks for the nice picture of Mannerheim's Sword order. I don't remember King Kalakaua's uniforms being shown at Ioliani palace, but in the Throne room a number of his orders and perhaps also some of Queen Kapiolani's orders were displayed. Unfortunately it was not allowed to take any pictures. However, in the museum shop I bought a postcard of the ultra rare collar of the order of Kamehameha, which was displayed in the palace (copy enclosed) regards, Pieter Edited October 2, 2016 by pieter1012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex K Posted October 2, 2016 Author Share Posted October 2, 2016 extremely nice, great postcard also, thanks for posting Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Remember that collar well it was sold by Sotheby's Geneva in 1991 and bought by the palace.. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pieter1012 Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Paul, the backside of the postcard indeed says; acquired by the Friends of the Iolani Palace in 1991. As you mention Sotheby's, do you think this is the collar which was given by the king to French President Grevy in 1881? The other known ones were to Tsar Alexander III, Emperor Meiji and Queen Victoria (hers is shown in the book Royal Insignia, and I presume the other two are in the Hermitage and the Imperial Japanese Household). I always thought that it was the king's collar and acquired from the former Royal family of Hawaii. It means then that the collar of king Kalakaua would still be missing. Pieter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 I had assumed that it was likely to be Grevy's Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul wood Posted October 3, 2016 Share Posted October 3, 2016 Grevy is unique in being the only person to have received the collar of Kalakaua as well as a live zebra from the Emperor Johannes of Ethiopia of the type which was to be known as Grevy's Zebra. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now