Unknown British (?) medal - Page 2

John White · 24 July 2008, 05:05 PM

Hi Testerchild

I have shopped this around myself, and was surprised that there seems to be so little info on these ribbons. If you are able to get another close-up view of the ribbon in question (and put a scale with it), I should be able to do some exact comparisons with samples in Canberra. Either post an image here or send one to me. There would be a few arrangements to make and it might take a little bit of time, so I hope that isn't a problem.

Lesdee · 24 July 2008, 09:45 PM

John W and Frpat,
Thank you for the interest you have shown in this thread, perhaps "we" are nearing some sensible conclussion ?
I am arranging to meet Bob (Testerchild 2) next weekend. He will be able to examine the tunic and the accessories that go with it.
In the meantime I am away from this computer until the 8th August.
Best wishes Les

Testerchild · 3 August 2008, 11:38 AM

John White,

I met 'Lesdee' yesterday and was able to have a hard look at the ribbon.

Please see the attached. The colours haven't come out quite right for some reason, probably the lighting, so please note the actual colours are as follows:

Red, Gold, Blue, White, Red, Blue, White, L Green, White, Red, Gold, Black.

I await your comments with interest.

Cheers,

Bob

John White · 3 August 2008, 08:50 PM

Thanks Testerchild - the image is just fine, and shows the ribbon markings clearly. Now to do some comparisons.....

Regards

John

Jim · 4 August 2008, 07:50 AM

I am not convinced about the 'unofficial victory ribbon'. What is hold me back from jumping on this band wagon is the color do not make sense. If it were the colors of each ally's flag, they do not match up. If it were one stripe of each differnt color found in each ally's flag, why are there duplicate color stripes?

My nickel is on the theory that it is some local town or county that created a ribbon/medal to give to its hometown heros after the war. This was quite common in the U.S. for example.

frpat · 5 August 2008, 12:02 AM

Jim,

that's the very sort of "Unofficial" medal/ribbon to which we were referring. Local councils, Patriotic funds, etc created any number of "Victory Medals" at the end of 1918 and into 1919. Some were given to the returned service personnel by the local bodies that created them, others were sold by whatever organisation made them.

I think you will find that the replicated colours are due to the use of the same colours by more than one nation - Red/White/Blue, for instance, are all used by the US, Britain (& thus, the Empire) and France.

Green/White/Red - Italy, methinks. Not certain of all the combinations - and some of the colours may "wrap around" - the last colour of one being also the first of the next.

I may well be wrong, but it "feels" right.

X - his Mark

Jim · 6 August 2008, 03:15 PM

I understand there were many allies in WW I:
France
United Kingdom and major British Commonwealth countries (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa)
Russia
United States
Belgium
Japan
Greece
Italy
Montenegro
Romania
Serbia
others?

I am not sure if all of their flags are fully covered by the colors in the ribbon especially if one considers the different shades they use.

frpat · 6 August 2008, 05:27 PM

Jim,

true, there were many nations to be represented - I was just giving a couple of examples of those which immediately came to mind from the ribbon.

Local bodies and organisations might only include the nations which were in the public eye, so might easily have left off lesser known ones (For instance: at the time how many were aware of Japan's part in the War? How many of the general public right now are aware of the involvement of nations other than their own and the US in Iraq & Afghanistan today?).

I think I forgot to mention Red/Yellow/Black for Belgium.

Of course, there are still companies out there selling medals of their own design & manufacture to those who wish to buy 'em. I remember one such stating that if your unit organisation had something like 15 or more members willing to purchase, they would supply a clasp to their "Service Medal" to reflect service in whatever region you chose to specify.

Again, I could be entirely wrong, but some kind of unofficial medal, whether presented by a local body or sold to raise funds (or indeed, to simply make a profit for the manufacturer) looks like the case here. And, of course, a medal which is not officially awarded or recognised by the Government of the nation to which the service person belongs is technically Unofficial.

Maybe John's researches will throw a little more light on things - I hope so, as this really has me intrigued.

X - his Mark