Odd WWI Polish Lancer Badge with design papers

**awmartin** · 10-05-2009, 11:26 AM

Hello, I have a Polish badge that I would be interested in selling, and have some questions.

A few days ago I was looking through a box of items that a deceased family friend had given to us many years ago. Her husband fought for the Polish army in Luftwaffeów during World War 1 and fled Poland months after the start of World War 2.

Inside of the box I found a Polish cavalry badge from the 14 Lancers Regiment (14 Pułku Ułanów Jazłowieckich) along with a signed hand-written diagram of this badge that I believe could have been used to design the badge.

From the research that I had done, this badge is supposed to have white and blue colors, but there are no colors on the badge at all. Is it true that the enameled badges were meant for officers?

The captions on the diagram are in German, that say:
“Es ist ein Polnischer Adler”  “It is a Polish eagle”
“Auf die kleiner Kreuze sind verschiedene Worte graviert”  “On small crosses are engraved different words”

On the bottom of the page it says in Polish:
“Odznaka pułkowa 14 pułku upanów Jazkiwieckich ze Lwowa”  The symbol of 14 Lancers Regiment Jazłowieckich (which is a name I believe) from Lewow (today called Lviv).

Any information that you can provide me about this badge would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You very much.

**3mk** · 10-11-2009, 05:46 PM

i think offficers would have a enameled version.
How much are you looking for?

**Gary J** · 10-11-2009, 05:49 PM

I think the badge is an O/R 14 Jazlowiecki Lancers Regiment badge.
The "exile" ones issued in WW2 were also manufactured by Spink of London.

**3mk** · 10-11-2009, 05:56 PM

Maybe a prototype?

**awmartin** · 10-12-2009, 06:49 AM

Thank you very much for your replies.

by Polski44

I think the badge is an O/R 14 Jazlowiecki Lancers Regiment badge.
The "exile" ones issued in WW2 were also manufactured by Spink of London.

What exactly does O/R mean?

I believe that this badge was not made by Spink and that it was issued prior to WW2 because the previous owner of the medal had fought for the 14tth Jazlowiecki Lancers Regiment in 1918, and had won the Virtuti Militari while fighting with them. Also, along with the medal and paper, I had found numerous unit photos of the 14th regiment from 1926 during a reunion in Lwow.

**awmartin** · 10-12-2009, 07:10 AM

Updated information:[/B]
The dimensions of this badge are 49mm x 49mm.

As for the price of this item, I really am clueless when it comes to putting a monetary value for this badge and paper. I will try to find out more about this and will later post a price.

Thank You

**Gary J** · 10-12-2009, 07:56 AM

For comparison ...
Spink "exile" O/R version WW2.

**3mk** · 10-12-2009, 02:25 PM

Its also has a pre-war nut Jan Knedler made pre-war badges and medals

**A.J. Zawadzki** · 10-22-2009, 05:47 AM

Hello awmartin,

Sorry to be chiming in so late on this thread. Thank you for posting this badge and the fascinating document.

First off, the badge appears entirely genuine. Jan Knedler is a recognized maker of this particular regiment’s badge. Judging by the design of the spinner, and assuming that it is original to the badge (which I do not doubt) this badge dates from the 1930’s.

by awmartin

What exactly does O/R mean?

“Other Ranks”

Pictured below is a genuine enameled officer grade version of this badge, also by Jan Knedler but with an earlier version of spinner. The enamelwork is white with a blue and black center reflecting the colours of the Virtuti Militari ribbon.

Also pictured is another O/R version, probably by Lwow based maker Władysław Buszek. You’ll note the one piece die stamped construction, quite different from the Knedler product. This particular badge sold on ebay in 2006 for US$260.

Over to the document.

by awmartin

. . . signed hand-written diagram of this badge that I believe could have been used to design the badge.

Although on initial glance it does appear to be a design drawing, the German text rules this possibility out. It seems to be some sort of study of the badge as evidenced by the content of the text. A fascinating document nonetheless. Thank you again for posting it.

Regards,
Tony

**awmartin** · 10-22-2009, 06:28 AM

Thank you very much for the response A.J. Do you by any chance know what the dimensions of the badge made by Władysław Buszek?

The reason why I am asking is because I measured this badge and it measured 49mm x 49mm, and from what I know Knedler's badges measure 46mm x 46mm.

Thanks