Here's An Item of Interest For All The Richtofen Fans

[appraiserfl 0]

Give me a few minutes and I will find my list. And I forgot to mention, Wagner of Berlin made excellent replicas of the German awards, and if you can find those you will be off to a good start. The Blue Max I presented to Olham for winning the recent "What's My Plane?" contest was a Wagner medal, and it was beautiful, and I found it in an online auction where I was able to purchase it for only $35.00. Don't dismiss eBay.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

 

Thanks RAF, I appreciate that!

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Very nice Check Six, very nice. Love that Turkish Star.

 

WM, most everyone who has served in the armed forces during a time of conflict has medals of some sort to show for it. As you know, service medals were and are presented to those who serve in a specific campaign, for a certain amount of time, for exemplary "general" service, etc. Plus there are numerous ribbons awarded as well for such things as overseas service, or for being an active member with a first-rate squad. It's when you get into the citations and even higher, the honours and orders, that things can get a bit more political from time to time. I agree that all those who willingly and faithfully serve should be honoured for it, and most of the time I believe that is done fairly in the various armies, navies, and air forces. While serving as the CoC of the virtual 209 Squadron I did get a small taste of what it must be like for real adjutants and general staff officers to sort out who should be awarded what for which action, and I'll tell you it can be a real bear trying to sift through the stacks of reports and recommendations during any given battle. Trying to maintain fairness and equity in the awards in all situations is about impossible, despite anyone's best intentions.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

 

Yes, fair point Lou..It's just a personal thing with me

 

I think it goes back to my Childhood...looking at my Dad's medals...listening to his stories about the War, and what happened to him and his comrades....It's kinda left me with weird feelings about them

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Well that's very understandable WM. We each feel how we feel about such things. I still feel badly for my father who wanted to serve with his friends in WW2 but was classified 4F and not allowed to.

 

 

appraiserfl, here are a couple of suppliers that have some relatively good quality WW1 German and Prussian medal replicas, as well as a few original items:

 

The Treasure Bunker

 

Quarterdeck

 

 

Also, as I said before, do not dismiss the online auctions. You can find not only good replicas but also the odd original at a very good price. And the hunt is half the fun, IMHO.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[RAF_Louvert 101]

appraiserfl, this is an example of what you can come across in the auctions:

 

Iron Cross and Hindenburg Cross on eBay

 

Granted, these may be WWI contemporary medals, (i.e. of WWI era vintage but likely issued sometime after the war ended rather than during the war itself), however they are none-the-less of excellent quality and condition and not much more in price than well-made replicas. Food for thought.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou