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04-06-2014 05:34 PM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
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From what country friend ?
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Nazi Germany. The Azad Hind were a volunteer unit from Indian troops captured in N. Africa, and Indian volunteers who wanted to free
India from British rule. They were a Waffen SS unit. Small I believe about 2500 troops in total. I have had the pieces for 17 yrs, and have forgotten some info about the unit.
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by
humble collector
Nazi Germany. The Azad Hind were a volunteer unit from Indian troops captured in N. Africa, and Indian volunteers who wanted to free India from British rule. They were a Waffen SS unit. Small I believe about 2500 troops in total. I have had the pieces for 17 yrs, and have forgotten some info about the unit.
Basically correct......although the "Azad Hind" was the Provisional Government of Free India ( founded 1943), its leader was Subhas Chandra Bose. The government of Azad Hind had its own currency, court and civil code, its army, the Indian National Army (INA) fought the Anglo-American armies in Burma, alongside the Imperial Japanese army. The organisation was disestablished in August 1945.
The Legion Freies Indien (Azad Hind Legion) or Indische Freiwilligen-Legion Regiment 950, often referred to as the Indische Legion.
It was initially raised in 1941, conceived by Subhas Chandra Bose, it was attached to the German Army and later in August 1944 transfered to the Waffen-SS. Initial recruits were Indian student volunteers resident in Germany at the time, and a handful from the Indian prisoners of war captured in North Africa, it would later recruit from larger numbers of Indian POWs. In May 1945, the Indian Legion attempted an unsuccesful escape to Switzerland, and enroute were captured by US and French forces, being returned to British and Indian forces in Europe.
The Azad Hind decorations were instituted by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1942 while in Germany, initially for Legion Freies Indien (Azad Hind Legion), to be awarded for gallantry in the field of battle. Both Indians and Germans were eligible for the decorations, the same awards were instituted by the Azad Hind government for the Indian National Army during its campaign in South-east Asia.
The awards were as follows:-
1) The Grand Star "Sher-e-Hind" (Tiger of India), was a neck order medal with swords for valour in combat, and without swords for non-combat awards.
2) The Sardar-e-Jung (Leader of Battle) a 1st Class Star with swords for valour in combat, and without swords for non-combat awards.
3)The Vir-e-Hind (Warrior of India) 2nd Class Star order.This award was a medal with swords for valour in combat, and without swords for non-combat awards.
4) The Shahid-e-Bharat (Martyr for India) an Azad Hind's medal to its fallen soldiers. It was awarded in gold or in silver and was only awarded with swords.
5) The Tamgha-e-Bahaduro (Soldier's medal) with swords for valour in combat, and without swords for non-combat awards.
The only contract for production of these awards went to the firm of Rudolf Souval of Wien (Vienna) in 1943, this firm continued to supply the Azad Hind committee until 1961, when the committee was stood down/disbanded.....all award's made and supplied between these dates are considered "original" awards.
Souval continued to produce the awards well into the 1970's/80's for the collector market....these are considered copies.
How to tell the difference.....apparently Souvals decided that after the contract was stopped in 1961, they would no longer affix the "Rudolf Souval" maker plaque/disc to the rear of the awards, to show that these pieces were no longer "official", and produced for the collectors market.
I have just added a Tamgha-e-Bahaduro (Soldier's medal) without swords to my collection, hence the above research that I undertook to educate myself on the subject, the crux of the above information was sourced at various sites on the internet, including Wikipedia/WAF and other sites of interest, a big thanks to them for my newly found knowledge.
Back to your awards humble collector ! a fabulous set of boxed originals ! I would love to have those in my collection !
Thanks for showing............Prost ! Steve.
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If Chandra Bose had not died in the plane crash, he was poised to become one of the Great men and a World Leader...Cut short by a sudden crash...A Great Man that almost Was....
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
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Hi Steve, Thank you for the refresher about the unit. Its been a great while since I looked at the pieces, and had information written down,
but lost it information over time. I will probably part with them sometime in the near future. I have a collector who has been hounding me for them for the past 9 years.
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by
humble collector
I have a collector who has been hounding me for them for the past 9 years.
I will hound you for the next nine years
................pm if you ever wish to sell !
William, I am not interested in the politics.
Prost ! Steve.
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Good to hear from an honest collector! Their are so many who d not want these pieces for they do not bear the swaz! They are very rare pieces to get one hands on. Best to you, and I hope you can continue to build on your collection of Azad Hind medals. I know the order of the "Battle Leader" is an exceptionally rare piece to acquire.
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