Khaki Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 I often take time to look closely at Belgian medals which I consider some of the most attractive medals ever designed, with British medals I generally have a pretty good idea of what I am looking at (period/monarch/military/civil etc). I noticed recently on some Belgian medal photo's the description included the detail that the inscription on the medal was in Flemish and French. I suspect that this is a clue as to the period of issue, am I correct in this? thanks khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Smallhausen Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 I often take time to look closely at Belgian medals which I consider some of the most attractive medals ever designed, with British medals I generally have a pretty good idea of what I am looking at (period/monarch/military/civil etc). I noticed recently on some Belgian medal photo's the description included the detail that the inscription on the medal was in Flemish and French. I suspect that this is a clue as to the period of issue, am I correct in this? thanks khaki Hello Khaki, You're quite right. Pre 1951 medals only have inscriptions in French language. After 1951 the insciptions are French/Flemish(Dutch). Some very recent official medals even have insciptions in german language. Jef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 That's interesting Jef. Some WW1 graves of Belgian soldiers buried in the UK (which include representations of the mens' medals) have inscriptions corresponding to the language they spoke Click. Possibly these headstones were erected more recently rather than between the wars as with the original CWGC ones, or have been replaced/updated since. NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Smallhausen Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 That's interesting Jef. Some WW1 graves of Belgian soldiers buried in the UK (which include representations of the mens' medals) have inscriptions corresponding to the language they spoke Click. Possibly these headstones were erected more recently rather than between the wars as with the original CWGC ones, or have been replaced/updated since. NigelS Hello Nigel, I'm afraid these are two different things. A Royal Decree of 24 October 1951 made the insciptions on Belgian medals bilingual. Concerning Belgian headstones, inscriptions indeed corresponds to the language they spoke. This was a decision made by next-of kin. The headstone of an unknown Belgian soldier bears a text in two languages: Onbekende Militair Gestorven voor België /1914-1918/ Militaire Inconnu Mort pour la Belgique. Kind regards, Jef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 Thanks Jef, It's good to know how these things came about; I would imagine that an inscription on a medal in a language not used by its wearer might have been an issue prior to 1951, or was it something that didn't cause concern? NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Smallhausen Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 Thanks Jef, It's good to know how these things came about; I would imagine that an inscription on a medal in a language not used by its wearer might have been an issue prior to 1951, or was it something that didn't cause concern? NigelS Well Nigel, every official medal issued prior to1951 had French inscriptions. Of course lots of Flemish people didn't like this. But this is politics .....and history , today still a sensitive matter. I like discussing history but no politics. Kind regards from Flanders, Jef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 Thanks again Jef, quite understand. NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 I noticed this in Houtoulst Belgian Cemetery, when reading the headstones. There seemed to be very few Flemish ones to officers.... Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Smallhausen Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 I noticed this in Houtoulst Belgian Cemetery, when reading the headstones. There seemed to be very few Flemish ones to officers.... Bruce That's right Bruce. Lots of the officers were frenchspeaking and lots of the ordinairy soldiers didn't understand French. I'm sure you will feel the problem. Jef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted 17 January , 2012 Share Posted 17 January , 2012 So does that mean that all the NCOs must have been bilingual, so as to translate and convey orders? Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love4history Posted 25 January , 2012 Share Posted 25 January , 2012 More or less. To put things simply: officers understood 5 words of Flemish, NCO's 5 words of both French and Flemish, Soldiers 5 words of French. Together they made do..... Reckon you grasp the meaning of "hit the ground" pretty quickly when you hear a whistling sound, even when yelled in another language... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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