USA INTER-ALLIED VICTORY MEDAL (ORIGINAL ISSUE).

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gentlemen

Just arrived in the post today all the way from the Good Old USA, my first US Victory Medal with "FRANCE" bar* beautiful patina, on ribbon clip and medal, and a soiled ribbon

This original one is far more attractive than the modern official repro that has been churned out recently.

While some might sniff at just a simple France bar*, this is more believable than some of the fantasy combinations being issued on the net at the moment, genuine medals are being butchered for the bars so a seller can fabricate a fantasy bar for big bucks.

* FRANCE: For service in France between 6th April 1917 and 11 November 1918, appoximate number entitled 621,600. service clasps (country) were awarded to Army personel who served overseas but were not eligible for a battle clasp.

So far I have in my Inter-Allied Victory medal section of the collection medals from; Belgium, Czechaslovakia, France, Great Britain, South Africa (Bi-Lingual), Italy, Portugal, Romania, and now the USA and soon I hope to post them.

Kevin in Deva.

[Guest Rick Research]

Something to bear in mind is that bar(s) entitlement was made on the basis of DIVISIONAL affiliation, and some non-divisional unit members who did see combat only got this one lonely "non-combatant" bar.

My own great uncle fell into that category, in a detached Engineers unit, as did the all-Black infantry regiment my mother's first boss led a company in-- they served entirely within the French Order of Battle and came home festooned with French decorations... but only the "France" bar because they had participated in no American operations.

I can remember old veterans grousing about the "non-combatant" France bar when I was young. One veteran from my hometown (I have forgotten his unit--not the sort of thing I asked about back then) returned with a Medaille Militaire and a Croix de Guerre avec Palme earned as an NCO... and I doubt very much those were for processing paperwork in a Line Of Communications job!

There are other peculiarities, such as NON entitlement to the "Defensive Sector" bar almost always found on the bottom of an array of battle bars, but that's another story--and one I can't recall enough to explain!

[Daniel Cole]

My second cousin, twice removed (abit distant I admit, but why one does geneology in the first place) was in the 42nd Rainbow Division. Here is my example of that Unit's Victory Medal.

My relatives original medal is in the Idaho state museum here in Boise. His name was Thomas Croft Neibaur and he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was the first Idahoan and Mormon to be a Medal of Honor Recipient.

Dan

[Kev in Deva]

My second cousin, twice removed (abit distant I admit, but why one does geneology in the first place) was in the 42nd Rainbow Division. Here is my example of that Unit's Victory Medal.

My relatives original medal is in the Idaho state museum here in Boise. His name was Thomas Croft Neibaur and he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was the first Idahoan and Mormon to be a Medal of Honor Recipient.

Dan

Hallo Dan,

A very nice example and a great piece of family history

Kevin in Deva