Medal Bars Anyone?

Jagdtiger

Collecting medals bars is a field that I have only recently started in, focusing entirely on Imperial German bars. My aim is to try and get a medal bar with an Iron Cross and a state equivalent for each of the German states.

So basically this thread is for posting medal bars from any and all countries and your reasons for collecting them, as they all have stories to tell and bravery to hint at!

I'll start the ball rolling with a favorite of mine from the Wars of Liberation in Germany, almost 200 years ago.

A trio to what I believe was a Prussian who took part in the struggle to stop Napoleon, the bar consists of:

A Prussian 1815 war medal for combatants in bronze with square arms (possibly for the battle of Ligny or even the battle of Waterloo) the rim is inscribed "Aus Erobertem Geschütz" (from captured cannon),

a Hessen-Kassel 1814/15 War Medal for combatants in bronze, with the edge also inscripted "Aus Erobertem Geschütz",

and finally a Prussian 1863 (50th anniversary) Memorial Medal (for 1813-1814-1815) for non-combatants in Blackened iron (the combatant version being in bronze), the iron version was awarded to doctors, army chaplains, etc. and from what I have read is considered to be extremely rare.

Please feel free to post any and all medal bars from any country or era.

Step23

Great idea for a tread and brilliant 1st post Jagd.

Attached is a humble group to a South African who served in the 1st Natal Rifles and fought at El-Alamein.

Jagdtiger

Going to start posting some bars in the order in which I got them. First up

is a common set containing a 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1914/18 Cross of

Honour (Hindenburg Medal) for combatants, simply mounted, but no doubt

proudly worn.

The Iron Cross is marked with an unidentifiable maker mark (possibly a 'c' or

'j' and can be seen on the ring in the reverse shot), while the Honour Cross is

maker marked 'G1' in gothic script.

phaethon

Nice bars! I still have few left but my main interest was before imperial medal bars with some "foreign" awards. Here one example what I had... medal bar with the Belgium and Siam awards for Navy Admiral.... who was officially Jewish officer during the Third Reich.

phaethon

Bavarian medal bar with the Finnish awards. Only around 500 Finnish Cross of Liberty 3rd Class awarded.

R.Dub.Fusilier

dont know if this is what the OP was thinking about but here it is anyway. a 1915 trio to 7th Batt Dublin Fusiliers later Irish Regiment. landed in Balkans 10-7-1915. sorry the pic is not great

R.Dub.Fusilier

this is interesting , to me anyway, RDF landed Balkans 2-7-15. he later seems to have deserted and forfited his medals and the 1962 date on it is possably the date he died??

Step23

R.Dub.Fusilier wrote: »

this is interesting , to me anyway, RDF landed Balkans 2-7-15. he later seems to have deserted and forfited his medals and the 1962 date on it is possably the date he died??

Whats the guys name? I might be able to confirm his date of death.

R.Dub.Fusilier

Step23 wrote: »

Whats the guys name? I might be able to confirm his date of death.

his name is Thomas Kinsella and going by his medal card he had an address in Dublin.

Jagdtiger

Looking good R.Dub!

Here are some of my imperial pairs, I am trying to get bars that do not have the Honour Cross on them.

a) Hessen bar with a Hessen Bravery Medal in Silver (profiled; Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig) and an Iron Cross 2nd Class.

b) Reverse of the above 'Fur Tapferkeit' (For Bravery).

c) Bavarian bar with a Military Merit Cross 2nd Class with swords (appears to be a late war zinc issue) and an Iron Cross 2nd Class.

d) Revers of the above.

R.Dub.Fusilier

i put this up before but its the only one i have that fits in with any of the above.

Jagdtiger

Hanseatic States, have to love the red enameling on these!

a) Bremen bar with Bremen Hanseatic Cross and an Iron Cross 2nd class.

b) Lubeck bar with Lübeck Hanseatic Cross and an Iron Cross 2nd class.

c) 2nd Hanseatic Appeal, Lübeck 1914, a nice badge that belonged to the same veteran as the medal bar above.

Jagdtiger

Never got around to posting this one, a five-piece medal bar to a Prussian veteran of at least two significant battles in three different wars, who, by the end of his career was parading around with medals cast from the captured cannon of three different countries.


Düppeler Sturmkreuz 1864

Cast from white-bronze. Awarded to those who participated in the storming of the Düppel heights on 18 April 1864 during the war with Denmark, a victory which decided the outcome of the war. On combatants ribbon.

Kriegsdenkmünze 1870-1871 für Kämpfer

Cast from the bronze of captured French cannon. Awarded to those active in the War with France. No clasps (as officially/originally awarded), so impossible to tell which battles he was present at.

Erinnerungskreuz 1866 Königgrätz

Cast from the bronze of captured Austrian cannon. The Königgrätz version of this medal was given to troops who participated in the crucial battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa) on 3 July 1866, a battle that is viewed as having won the war for Prussia.

Kriegsdenkmünze 1864 fur Kombattanten

Cast from the bronze of captured Danish guns. Awarded to combatants in the 1864 war against Denmark. The ciphers "W" and "FJ" are reversed on the Austrian version.

1897 Zentenarmedaille, a.k.a. Apfelorden

Also cast from captured French cannon. Awarded to all serving Imperial German military personnel and veterans of the wars of 1848, 1864, 1866, and 1870-1871. to honor the 100th Birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I.