Belgian medal group
This is my only set of Belgian medals I have in my collection, but what a set to have! These were given to me as a gift by Kris (stuka f) a few months ago after I gave him a bit of help with his Belgian Congo collection. There are 14 medals in total... one being partially obscured by the medals either side of it. The main set of medals (WW1) are 11 in total, and are fixed to an extending brass rod. Even a casual glance reveals that these medals have been together for many years, the portion of ribbon covered by the preceding ribbons are very strong in colour while those exposed to sunlight are faded. The medals are... from left to right, the Order of the Crown... Military Knight of the Order of Leopold 1... Knight of the Order of Leopold 11... Golden Palms of the Order of the Crown... Croix de Guerre with bronze lion motif affixed to ribbon... Volunteer Combatant's medal... Long Service medal first class... Cross of Fire... Yser Cross*... National Independence medal... Inter-Allied victory medal... 1914-1918 commemorative medal... and the 1940-1945 commemorative medal.
The Yser Cross medal is extremely rare. It was brought out in 1934 as a replacement to the 'Yser Medal', but as all those who qualified for it were expected to pay for it, hardly any were issued. Most of the examples being sold as genuine are almost certainly fakes, but the authenticity of this example is beyond doubt.
Although there is no name attached to the photograph, I thought that someone who had won so many prestigious awards would have his name recorded - perhaps in the: 'LIVRE D'OR DE LA CARTE DU FEU.' This is a rather large tome containing the details and photographs of more than 7,000 soldiers who were recipients of the 'Fire card'. So far I have had no luck in tracing my elusive soldier, but I have not yet given up hope. Click on photograph's to enlarge.
Cheers,
Steve.
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