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Can someone tell me whether this medal looks legit thanks

Hi John, that looks ok , however it is a zinc one which is not as desirable as the early bronze versions. We have actually just bought in a nice bronze one today which I will prioritise adding to the site, it should be online in the next 20 minutes so you can have a look

Sorry, got to this thread late, good work Leon!

Thanks James

This is probably and incomplete set. The 39-45 Star was awarded for operational service in Europe (incl North Africa) or the Far East. So it would be usual for the recipient to have one or more of the theatre stars as well; Africa Star, Burma Star, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, Pacific Star. There were the occasional exceptions.

I realise that it is a while since this post was started. Your Red Cross Medal isn't WW2 as such it is a Red Cross Proficiency medal that happened to be granted in 1944. These medals can be found named and often with dated bars for each year the recipient was re examined for their First Aid skills. I don't know when the Red Cross stopped awarding the medal - they may still award it and the bars today? Value - I think you paid about the right price for one with the box and paperwork in such good condition.

what is something like this worth out of curiosity ?

Thank you for the reply. The MG is not mine, but one I was considering buying. I was told it had all matching numbers, apart from the top cover and buttstock ring. I've attached a few more photos, but I think I will probably pass on this one.

Thank you for taking the measurements. We should be able to use this information to make a sort of dummy round since the real thing is so rare. It will be a nice addition to our veterans memorial. Thanks again!

Hi Ian, yes thanks we are very busy at the moment. you never loose the collecting bug. I've lost count the amount of times I've stopped and re-started. Yes next time you are in Glasgow pop in and say hello, we can try to work out exactly what relation we are to each other

Somewhere along the line, yes. TBH, I've never done the family history research so not sure how it all fits into place, which is sort of strange considering how much time we spend researching the family history of medals awarded to other folks families. I hope everything's going well down in your Glasgow shop, I've not visited for ages (sort of lost the collecting bug years back but slowly getting back into it), hope it's all going well. Cheers

He (Tom Caldwell) was my Grandfather's cousin, a distant relative I suppose (cousin, twice removed, or something like that?). I only found that out a few years ago from my Dad. You know what Dad's are like, they tell you nothing about family history until they're in their 90's then off the cuff come out with "Your grandfathers cousin won the VC" and "oh aye, we used to see Willie Angus all the time up the park at Carluke, watching the football".

I particularly like the bottom group where the Bavarian Military Merit Cross 3rd Class takes president over the EK2 after 1934. The group includes a 9 year service medal.

Thanks Ian and welcome to the forum and thanks for posting these pictures. You are correct I have not seen these before, only the black and white one I posted from the same day above. The colour photos really bring out the medals especially the Victoria Crosses. I think this is Carluke as I remember my mother saying uncle Tom visited from Australia, must have been around 1965 I think, when this would have been taken as he died three years later.

Very true… regardless, after this I’m feeling way more confident about the helmet and markings. Thanks guys!

Sir Winston Churchill was born this day, 30 November, in 1874. Pictured in the uniform of the 4th Queens Own Hussars and with Kaiser Wilhelm II during a military manoeuvre near Breslau, Silesia, in 1906

Sounds good- thanks again man. And yes, I know there are newly made Brodie’s (I personally own 2 PFLCO helmets)- but I was mostly wondering if there were repros and or fakes on the market that used the non magnetic Hadfield steel of the original- I doubt it cause it isn’t cheap but I’m still new to helmets, so I wouldn’t know. thanks!

The second photograph taken at the same time shows a fourth guy. I was told that he was James Martin, the officer William Angus rescued which led to the VC award (I've not conformed this so not totally sure). Cheers.

Hello Kenny, Firstly can I say thanks to you for accepting my membership of your forum. Thanks for that, it's appreciated. You've probably already seen these two following photographs of Tom Caldwell, William Angus and Donald Cameron. If not here they are... They're not mine, they were passed onto myself from a guy on another forum. I'm sure he said the photographs were taken in Carluke before the VC and GC event down in London, but not totally sure. It's nice seeing the three of them together in colour.

Thanks Fritz

Here is a 3 place Saxony medal bar with Saxony Military Order of St. Henry Knight's Cross and EK2 but what is the third medal?

While giving my Signum Laudis medals a quick dust I noticed that this Bronze medal is engraved round the rim - "Vom Offizierkorps des KuK Bos Herc Infanterier Regimente No 4" which refers to the 4th of the four Bosnia-Herzegovinia Infantry (Bosnisch-Hercegovinische Infanterie) Regiments and 1 Jäger regiment that were in existence at the start of WW1. I also understand that these regiments recruited from towns with very familiar names; Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Tuzla, and Mostar, and were made up of up to 30% Muslims.

Regardless, thanks for popping in! And while it seems we may have solved it, I’ll ask for another opinion! Your thought on this Gildwiller?

Thank you Sir!

Thanks Fritz, This is where my knowledge of Saxony gets hazy. I've not heard of the Principality of Reuss before which seems to border Saxony in a rather fragmented way. I can see that Reuss also includes Thüringen, (or is it the other way around?) which also seems to have it's own medals for WW1. Are these considered part of Saxony from a collecting stand point? So the bar I have shown is a Saxon bar with a Principality of Reuss, Princely Honour Cross, III Class With Swords awarded to a non-Reuss soldier or foreigner from Saxony? Have I understood your explanation correctly? And this is a WW1 era version? The Order of St. Henry Knight's Cross shown also looks a bit "crude" is this because it is a late war variant or some other reason? Every day is a school day for me. Thank you.

Not a problem, I do know another collector who has one and makes good 3D printed replicas of other ordnance. I could ask about getting one made if interested.

It is still a nice looking MG34. It would be very difficult today to find an all matching weapon. During the war, parts were swapped out due to wear or damage, and post war many were sold off as surplus to other nations who then further modified and replaced parts as needed, and you have collectors that replace parts to make the weapon more desirable and collectable as well. I would personally focus on a period correct piece versus an all matching one. Are you going for a functional or display type?

Recent addition. Training/ Ubung M17. Replica training fuze to finish the job.

The helmet looks a nice one, yes it could well be a Artillery Insignia.

I did some research too last night, and apparently the insignia may be related to the 87th artillery division: as you can see:

That is very possible! Cause if that isn’t the case, who really knows hahah. Thanks Leon! Other than the insignia, how does the rest of the helmet look to you?

After a little research the 87th Division consisted of the follow troops drawn from ( Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana National Guard. Trained at Camp Pike in Little Rock Ark. Nicknamed the Golden Acorn Division which consisted of the following. 345th, 346th, 347th Infantry. 334th, 335th, 336th Artillery. 334th 335th, 336th Machine Gun. 312th Engineers. Commanding Major General S.D. Sturgis. Supply Service at Pons. The Division didn't make it overseas until near the end of the war, it never fought as a division which makes me think that the insignia on your helmet could be one of the Regiments with in the Division that fought during the war.

Yes two Signum Laudis Medals. One in silver with most of the plating worn away and the second in bronze. The silver with a repetition clasp (the silver plate behind the swords). This Medal is known as the Hungarian type because the portrait of FJ is slightly different to the standard Signum Laudis and is attributed to Bachruch Jewellers in Budapest but I have not seen definitive evidence for this. I don't know the regulations for Austrian citizens with respect to the Ehrenkreuz. I suspect that it was never claimed. The repetition clasp on the Military Merit Cross should be coloured gold but this is probably just an oversight by the tailor who mounted these medals. Also the military merit cross is bronze which is far more rare than the usual sterling silver ones.

Dienstauszeichnung 1. Klasse (1825-1913) Dienstauszeichnung 2. Klasse (1825-1913) Top quality fire gilding on bronze, ribbon backing was missing. Silver with maker's mark Wagner and 15 Loth silver content, original backing plate still in place, ribbon to be stitched on

Very true Ian, so we must be related too, strange days indeed

This is a very simple and ordinary medal bar to an "old warrior" who fought for the State of Bavaria in both the 1866 War and 1870/71 War. What makes this bar interesting is that it is in the original form that was used before the use of the needle and catch attachment style was adopted. This one was attached to the breast pocket using a sprung clip at either end of the bar. One still exists (arrowed)

Hey everyone- I’m relatively new to collecting, so bear with me. yesterday I bought this WW1 Brodie helmet because of a significantly better price than normal (Black Friday and all). In their description they mention that the helmet insignia is not known to them, but appears to be US. It is evidently a British manufactured helmet, which means that this is either an “added later” paint scheme or is one of the 400,000 given to the US on arrival. the insignia appears to be related to the 87th “golden acorn” division, by the extremely evident acorn in the middle, yet the black leaf and red circle elude me. Any ideas? ALSO, extreme newcomer question: do people make fake Brodie’s? I don’t mean the pain and insignia, I mean the helmet itself. Like are there people out there stamping helmets with manganese non magnetic steel, painting em, beating em up and selling them? Sorry for such a dumb question, I just am curious, seeing as German helmets are rife with ACTUAL fakes. thanks everyone for whatever help you can provide!

I am not aware of anyone using the non magnetic steel, but anything is possible today.

As a correspondent during the Anglo Boer War 1899 - 1902

Yes your helmet is original and British made, which was quite common for US troops to have. The painted insignia looks good as well. These were typically done after the war. For parades, homecoming, etc. Yes there are also newly made Brodies on the market, various vendors sell these for reenactors and as historic reproductions as well as offering spare parts for repairs. As far as the insignia goes, the 87th division made it to France and underwent training, however did not see combat before the war ended. The red background typically meant it was from one of the Division's artillery regiments.

Hi guys, a few years ago i bought a box full of cloth patches from a friend of mine who was moving to Thialand. He bought them back in the early 70s, I came across this sleeve eagle and thought at the time that it was just abad repro. That was untill i came across an article of the last model of the enlisted ranks/NCO SS sleeve eagle, being produced in a printed form. These appeared in late 1944 and were intended to be worn on the M-44 short field uniform. These sleeve eagles never reached a high degree of useage. The article had a picture with it and as soon as i saw it i new it was the same. Ive never seen a real one only pictures so ive nothing to compare it with, Its past the black light test but not sure what the burn test is. ( I need your help with this one guys )

An Austro-Hungarian Red Cross Bronze Merit Medal with war decoration. These medals were awarded for meritorious service in time of war and were subordinate to the Red Cross Decoration which was in the form of a cross as shown in the 3rd Pic (not mine). Recipients were usually volunteer health workers, members of the Red Cross, or staff of the War Help Bureau.

Here is a helmet I found with the 87th Insignia on it, the Insignia was applied by scraping the pebble finish away in a circle leaving the inner pebble in the shape of a acorn, then painting the scraped area blackish green to highlite the acorn. photo's and info from other sources.

Yep here you are!

Yes Manufacturer is W. Hutton & Sons, Steel Supplier is Vickers Ltd both of Sheffield, with Batch No 504 of steel used. Could you post a photo of the liner for me.

I would have doubts about the originality of this piece, as with most SS items.

Twice the Signum Laudis Medal? Two variations? Note, the 1914-18 Ehrenkreuz is not present, which was given after 1934.

Absolutely makes sense- I’m real sorry for not seeing that rule, my mistake.

For Service use only Military and geographical details about England. South Coast Text and picture brochure with map section 1. and 2. supplementary Completed on 15. August 1940 Military Staff of the Army Section for war maps and topography Berlin 1940

Thanks for the info kenny, will try that.