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 Thursday, September 02, 2010 Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Swiss Gratitude Medals
Posted by Fred
As the Swiss learned during the Napoleonic wars; declaring neutrality is not enough unless you can defend it. By the time WWI started the Swiss were prepared. They mobilized their armed forces and were quickly ready to defend their fortified borders. Calling up about 25 percent of the population to military service for a small nation like Switzerland has some serious economic costs. Besides the obvious direct costs there were hidden costs. The tourist trade income was drastically cut as was industrial and agricultural production. Added to this is the cost of feeding and housing large numbers of refugees and military internees. This was a dire situation for a small country that needed to import food even in peace time. Fortunately for the Swiss the United States was able to prevent famine in Switzerland and the Swiss were very grateful. President Wilson as the representative of the American People, was presented with a medal on behalf of the Swiss People. The medal was funded by public subscription and every one who donated enough money got a bronze or silver medal like the two illustrated below. The design is the same as the official medal given to President Wilson featuring an American eagle flying to the left (east) with wheat in it’s talons and an inscribed reverse. The medals are not rare indicating that large numbers of Swiss participated in the funding effort.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 5:47:21 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Monday, August 16, 2010
Bruce C. Cazel RIP
Posted by Fred
I can not remember exactly when I first met Bruce. I think it may have been just a year or so before I left Milwaukee in 1974. He lived with his parents back then and was already a serious military medal collector. I remember buying an 1860s-70s Prussian medal group from him which is still an important part of my collection. Bruce was a quiet unassuming sort who loved researching medals as much or more than just collecting them. His research was so through and complete as to leave me speechless. I never would have thought it possible to find out so much about soldiers who lived and died nearly a century ago. Bruce credited his friend John B Lundstrom who was with the Milwaukee Museum back then, with teaching him his researching skills. Life took us our separate ways and we would occasionally meet by accident at gun and collectible shows. Then at the last ANA show in Milwaukee Bruce tracked me down and we had a nice but too short visit. We exchanged e-mail addresses and that was the last time I saw Bruce. I tried e-mailing him several times but nothing came of it so I thought I got the address wrong. Then this weekend at the Iola Military Show a friend of my from Milwaukee mentioned the late Bruce Cazel to my shock. His British medals were sold by Dix, Noonan and Web and I hear that his US medals went to for an equally good price so that at least his family got a fair price for his collections. Bruce left his mark on the collecting world by publishing a lot of good research. Those of us who knew him will miss him and those of us who never knew him may still eventually benefit from his research without even realizing it.
Monday, August 16, 2010 12:31:04 AM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Army Driver and Mechanic Badge
Posted by Fred
If you are anything like me you have never given this badge enough respect. I always liked the shooting badges but when I ran into the occasional Army Driver Badge I would quickly move on looking for something more interesting. As time went on my collection grew and I found it ever harder to find anything thing to buy in the many antique malls and shops that I stalked. About ten years ago I started buying the army qualification badges I ran across if the price was right (cheap). Recently I began sorting my hoard of mostly silver badges and much to my surprise I found that I only had one of these driver badges. Driver badges must be a lot scarcer than the marksman badges. Checking the regulations I found that these badges are not easy to earn; requiring at least one year of accident and violation free driving. Having been drafted by my former boss into driving some of his WWII trucks in local parades also instilled me with a new respect for the drivers who earned these badges. The more we mature as a collectors the more we learn not to dismiss the seemingly mundane.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010 10:16:31 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Collecting WW II Medals
Posted by Fred
I’m back, thanks for waiting. Lesson learned: surge protectors do not last forever. The ability of a surge protector to protect decreases with every power surge that hits it and eventually it is just a power strip without any protective capability.
Collecting WWII medals can be more of a challenge than most of us would expect. Collecting every medal of every country involved in WWII is not what I was thinking of. I am thinking of collecting only one medal from each nation that was involved in the war in any capacity. Even just putting together a list of all the countries involved will take time and a bit of research. For example getting a medal from each of the major combatants (USA, USSR, UK, Germany, Japan, etc.) would not be a problem. Most of the smaller countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia, etc ) over run by the main contestants would also not be too hard to find. For example Norway issued a medal to “Participants” which includes members of the military and the civilian resistance forces. Then there are the other countries like those of South America which had very limited involvement and therefore would have issued very few medals. Next are the neutrals like the Swiss and Swedes who called up their troops to protect their borders. This could be a very interesting and historic collection theme.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010 8:27:57 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, July 26, 2010
Computor Down
Posted by Fred
Greetings everyone! My computer is down. Took it to a local repair shop last Monday and on Tuesday the poor guy was served with divorce papers so it will be about one more week before I will be up and running. Fred
Monday, July 26, 2010 4:49:59 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
GAR and BSA
Posted by Fred
I have never thought of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Boy Scouts of America together in the same thought. With this group however that has changed. Illustrated below left is a delegate’s medal from the Department of Wisconsin’s 63rd annual encampment held in Beloit in 1929. This medal features the Wisconsin Commander George H. Pounder’s portrait. During the Civil War he was a blacksmith with Co k of the Wisconsin 2nd Cavalry. 1929 was sixty-four years after the Civil War ended and the surviving GAR members were getting on in years with most being in their eighties. Many would have mobility problems and needed assistance. Here is were the second medal comes in. It is a five armed cross design used for many local WWI service medals. The reverse is blank except for the makers mark (Whitehead and Hoag, just like the GAR medal) so nothing on the medal indicates the reason it was issued. In this case fortunately someone attached this medal to a piece of 3x5 card on which is written “issued 1929 by G.A.R. to L. Raymer scout as Aid to C.W. Vets. At conv. At Beloit Wis.” This is the place a research project could begin, I would start looking in the Beloit newspapers from the time of the convention.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:16:41 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Bavarian Medal For Austrians Only
Posted by Fred
On may 18, 1915 the Bavarian Body Guard Regiment stationed in Munich which was part of the Royal Bavarian Jaeger Brigade became the core unit of the Bavarian Alpenkorps. During WWI the unit saw action in the Dolomite Mountains, France, Serbia, Verdun, Romania, Caporetto, Italy and France again in 1918. At the start of WWI, Italy was allied with the Central Powers and therefore Austria didn’t feel the need to defend their Italian border and sent their troops to other fronts. In 1915 Italy suddenly changed sides and invaded the Austrian Tyrol. The newly formed Bavarian Alpenkorps was rushed into Tyrol to fend off the Italians until the Austrians could get their three regiments of Kaiserschuetzen (Imperial Infantry) back into Tyrol. These were Alpine units that used the Edelweiss Flower as their insignia. The Austrian Kaiserschuetzen then honored the Bavarian Alpenkorps by awarding them the right to wear their Edelweiss insignia. The Bavarians in turn had an oval silver washed medal made up which they awarded to their Austrian counterparts. The medal is illustrated below. The obverse has an Edelweiss on a cross with crossed swords. The reverse has the Bavarian Guard Regiment’s monogram at the top dividing the date 19-15 and an inscription roughly translating as: from the Royal Bavarian Life Guard Regiment to our brothers in arms in the defense of their Tyrolian homeland.”
By WWII the unit was renamed “Gebirgsjaeger” and still retains the Edelweiss flower insignia to this day.
 
Tuesday, July 06, 2010 10:12:50 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Second Bavarian Ersatz Pioneer Company Fob
Posted by Fred
In German the word “ersatz” is used to describe an inferior substitute item used only when the normal quality item is not available usually in time of need or war. Ersatz in the military usually means a replacement unit made up of partially trained new recruits, recovering wounded and older men generally considered to be of second string quality.
“Pioneers” are like engineers. The engineers do the planning and the pioneers carry out the engineered projects by doing the actual work.
The Second Bavarian Ersatz Pioneer Company was part of the First Royal Bavarian Mixed Ersatz Brigade which was one of three such brigades that comprised the Bavarian Ersatz Division in 1914. Verdun is among their many battle credits so the unit had a respectable combat history by 1917 and the bragging rights to go with it. As an ersatz unit they didn’t have the glorified history and regalia of the more established units which may explain the reason that the fob illustrated below was issued.
Often when a fob is encountered there is the question of whether the flat fob loop is really a medal that looks like a fob or if it really is a fob. In most cases one would have to know how the item was issued but in this case there is no doubt. With it’s massive weight this cast bronze item can only be a fob and as of 1917 that would have been the only way it could have been worn or carried legally. The design shows a soldier throwing a potato masher grenade with the inscription “1914-1917 2. BAYR. PIONIER ERS. K.” Interestingly the soldier is wearing his round cloth hat and not a helmet. The reverse is blank within a thick rim.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 11:42:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, June 21, 2010
St. Johns Military Academy
Posted by Fred
St. Johns Military Academy in Delafield Wisconsin is one of the few military style boarding schools still in existence. Founded in 1884 as a military college prep. school combining military virtues with Christian principles it is more than just a place for the rich to dump their teenage sons. The school is so good that graduates are qualified for the rank of second lieutenant of infantry in the U.S. Army Officers Reserve Corps. Since the 1800’s the school has awarded an extensive series of prize medals named after each medal’s donor to the outstanding cadets in the various subjects, sports and other areas of school life considered important enough for medallic recognition. Early medals are gold, later medals are partially gold and other metals while the more modern medals that I have seen are base metal. Some medals that I know of are the Precentor’s Medal, the “Precentor” in this usage would have been the Choir Director. The Bloodgood Medal for the year’s best athlete. The Bishop Nicholson Medal for the best grade average in Advanced French, and the Strotz Medal for General Science, illustrated below. Many of these medals have a length of ribbon extending above the brooch which I assume is there so that the medal can be pinned to the uniform during the presentation ceremony and that day is the only day these medals are actually worn.
Monday, June 21, 2010 9:10:36 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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