This is a lonely little orphan Victory Medal for Pioneer James Burchell of the Royal Engineers. The medal is engraved 110501 PNR.J.BURCHELL R.E. James enlisted voluntarily on August 14th 1915 at the age of 46. While this seems old for the time he did indicate 5 years prior service with the Royal Sussex Regiment. James was retired sick and no longer fit for service on the 31st of July 1916. He was entitled to the SWB #236,996.
This is the bar issued to French service members who served in the Atlantic Theatre between September 3rd 1939 and May 8th 1945. It was intended to be placed on the Commemorative Medal of the 1939-45 War, like this example here.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “Extreme Orient” for operations (including in the Indian and Pacific oceans) between 7 December 1941 and 15 August 1945.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “Mer Du Nord” for Naval Operations in the North Sea between September 3rd 1939 and May 8th 1945.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “Mediterranee” for Naval Operations in the Mediterranean between September 3rd 1939 and May 8th 1945.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “Mache” for naval Operations in the English Channel between September 3rd 1939 and May 8th 1945.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bars are “Allemagne” for all regular forces involved in the German campaign of 1944-1945, the “Liberation” bar for the French Campaign of 1944 and the “Engage Voluntaire” bar to indicate a voluntary enlistment.
Drafted in February, 1944, this printed version of Eisenhower’s order of the Day for June 6th, 1944, was distributed to all 175,000 members of the Allied Expeditionary Force. This one came from the estate of a Birchall group I picked up. I have the President Roosevelt version here.
Shrapnel and shell fragments accounted for a large proportion of those killed and wounded in WW1. Those blown into the ether by high explosive to one side, artillery accounted for around 70% of casualties. These six balls were recovered from the Thiepval Redoubt on the Somme and are German in origin. Thiepval was a slaughterhouse on the first day of the attack and, despite early success, took a savage pounding from German counter-fire.
The Battle of Thiepval. The view looking toward Thiepval on morning of attack and showing German barrage. (IWM)
Nice simple pickup last weekend at the local antique fair. This is a souvenir belt put together from a Prussian infantry belt and the tunic buttons from a wide range of Allied and German units. This example has a predominance of Canadian buttons so I am guessing that it was Canadian in origin. The rest are French, Australian, New Zealand, German and one single U.S. General Service button. You see these in all sorts of configurations, some on Allied belts, some with cap badges and other oddments. The legend is that these were put together from souvenirs taken from dead bodies but that sounds overly complex to me and likely nonsense. More likely most of the buttons were swapped at rear area camps between bored soldiers making up a souvenir. The U.S. button suggests a late war job, 1917-19. The Empire buttons make sense as often these units found themselves together in the line. The Canadian Regiments are from different divisions so that’s why I think this is a rear area put together. Still, a great belt, in fine condition and worth it just for the buttons and belt IMHO.
Interesting bit of shyte here. This is a ticket for the visitors gallery for the 379th session of the Nuremburg Military Tribunal (NMT). This session falls within the 7th trial, the Hostages Trial, which ran from 8th July 1947 until 19th February 1948. The defendants were mostly higher commanders of the Wehrmacht accused of atrocities against civilians in the Balkans and Greece.
The ticket holder was a man named Constantine Brown who served in B-24’s in the USAAF until the end of the war when he was seconded to provide Greek-English language translation. He later served in the CIA and upon his return to the US became a policeman.
From his obituary… “BROWN–Constantine. 1927-2014. Constantine Brown passed away on October 22, 2014. His friends and family will miss his enthusiasm and active life style. In 1923, his parents and sister escaped from the forced exchange of Greek and Turkish populations, and came to New York City. He was born in Manhattan’s “Hell’s Kitchen” where his mother struggled to bring up her fatherless children while working at the Greek Orthodox church nearby. He enlisted in the New York State Guard when a teen-ager. During World War II, he joined the Air Force Cadet Program to become a flight engineer on B-24 bombers. His fluency with the Greek language was used by the C.I.A. When the war ended, he completed high school and earned a B.A. from Columbia University while working full-time with the New York City Housing Authority Police. From 1954, he rose through the ranks of the Housing Authority Police which merged with the New York City Police Department. He married Olga Boondas, a professor of social work at Columbia University. His beloved wife and daughter, Themis, pre-deceased him. Constantine was an active member of several organizations, including the Captains’ Endowment Association–NYPD, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Fraternal Order of Police, and St. Paul’s Society, NYPD. Olga and Constantine inaugurated the Themis Anastasia Brown Endowment Fund at the Morgan Library and Museum 21 years ago. He was in the process of instituting a chair for Classical and Byzantine Studies at Queens College in NYC, and provide support for the Orphanage under the aegis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.”
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bars are “France” for all regular forces involved in the French Campaign of 1940, the “Liberation” bar for the French Campaign of 1944 and the “Afrique” bar for the North African Campaign of 1941-1943..
This is a 1960 commemorative medal, issued through the Dunkirk Veterans Association (now disbanded) and subsequently managed by the French National Association of Veterans of the Fortified Sector of Flanders and of Dunkirk. This is my second example and I like it better because, surprisingly, I think the other one is an accursed fake! This one has much better quality characteristics.
This is a fascimile of the surrender documents signed by Germany on the 8th May 1945. These copies were created by the US National Archives. I have a pdf copy available here if you want one, Germany Surrenders Facsimile.
The symbol on this badge was based on the so-called ‘Moustique’ or mosquito. The badge could only be worn by men and women who had joined the Forces Françaises Libres before August 1943, when their units were amalgamated with the French Army of North Africa.
This little set of badges is numbered 29202. They came with my King’s Medal for courage in the Cause of Freedom. I believe if I could find the listings for this badge number I could find the identity of the recipient of the King’s Medal.
The Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1939–1945 (1939–1945 Commemorative War Medal) is a commemorative medal of France. It was established on May 21, 1946 as an award to all French citizens serving in the armed forces against the forces of the Axis powers and to foreign nationals fighting under the French military authority.
I have a bunch of these, this one is without a theatre bar.
This is the French medal for Resistance members who were either interned or deported by the Germans during WW2.
The Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (War Cross 1914–1918) is a French military decoration. It was created to recognize French and allied soldiers who were cited for their service during World War I, similar to the British Mentioned in Despatches. The bronze palm on this one indicates the recipient was mentioned at Army level.
This is a 1960 commemorative medal, issued through the Dunkirk Veterans Association (now disbanded) and subsequently managed by the French National Association of Veterans of the Fortified Sector of Flanders and of Dunkirk. This one is a recast.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “Allemagne” for all regular forces involved in the German Campaign of 1944-1945.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “France” for all regular forces involved in the French Campaign of 1944.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “Norvege” for forces involved in the abortive Norway Campaign of April 1940.
This is a French medal awarded to all participants in recognised formations, fitted with a range of bars depending on the type and theatre of service. In this case the bar is “Italie” for French forces who took part in the Italian campaign of 1943-1945.
This is the War Cross issued by France prior to it’s defeat by Germany in 1940.
This is the French Evader’s Medal. Given to those who fled their labour conscription in Germany.
Kiwi Medals 