A picture of a medal I want to share

[Arthur124]

Belgian medal given to soldiers who fought in WWI

The text reads : 'de groote oorlog tot de beschaving' - 'la grande guerre pour la civilisation'

[Pylon1357II]

Belgian Inter-Allied Victory Medal. Looks quite worn to me. Are these named? My knowledge of these is very basic at best.

[Arthur124]

It is indeed quite worn although the text on the backside is still readable with the naked eye. The front is a little less worn.

(value for me lies in the fact that it was given to an uncle of my late mother, and that I have a large photograph of the man in uniform)

The medal was given to all serving in the Belgian mobilized army between 1^st August 1914 and 11^th November 1918. (therefore certainly not very rare)

This brass medal, initially proposed by the French fieldmarshal Foch as an inter-allied medal, was accepted and introduced 15^th July 1919.

Later on it could also be awarded to participants of the African campaigns, members of the merchant fleet, fishermen etc.

Front is the Goddess of Victory with spreaded wings and standing on the globe. In her left hand a laurel, in her right hand a sword.

Back is the Belgian crest, presumably surrounded by the crests of the Allied forces and in French and Dutch the text 'the great war for the civilisation'.

The ribbon is the 'rainbow' type by all Allies for this medal.

[PhilB]

It doesn`t look very worn to me! It is, of course, the Belgian equivalent of the Victory Medal awarded to British and Commonwealth (& other) soldiers.

[trajan]

Yes, a nice example of the official type designed by P.DuBois (see his name on the rim to the right of the globe beneath Victory's foot). And as Arthur124 noted, post no. 3, not exactly a rarity... In fact apart from the initial official issue, there are a bunch of so-called 'unofficial' issues, and I understand that the medal was being awarded as late as 1951 to those Belgians imprisoned by the Germans in the GW and who qualified for the Political Prisoners Medal. That said, it is of course a rarity for the owner, given the family connection!

Not my field at all, so perhaps a medal chappie will chip in here. But, I think that the first and perhaps the only 'scholarly' guide to the various Interallied medals is A.J.Laslo, The Interallied Victory Medals of World War I, Dorado, 2nd ed., 1992... According to that, it is thought that 300,000 - 350,000 of the Belgian ones were issued.

Trajan

[Pylon1357II]

I find this quite interesting as my collecting interest is Canadian Expeditionary Force. I do a pretty good grasp on other Commonwealth Countries and their issued medals, but nothing outside that. I do understand many countries have their own example of the Inter-Allied Victory medal. I just don't see them very often.

[trajan]

... Are these named? ...

I'll stick my neck out - I think only the GB and associated territories had the recipient's name on them?

I find this quite interesting as my collecting interest is Canadian Expeditionary Force. I do a pretty good grasp on other Commonwealth Countries and their issued medals, but nothing outside that. I do understand many countries have their own example of the Inter-Allied Victory medal. I just don't see them very often.

Well, I gather these are quite a specialised area of interest... And some are quite rare and pricey these days... Any country formally involved in the GW could issue one, so they exist even for Siam (I think the rarest?), Cuba, the Philippine's Constabulary and its National Guard, and Japan! The US of A ones even have bars for areas of service, something like 20 or so, I believe, for, e.g. "Russia", "Siberia", "Aviation", "Ypres-Lys", "Cambrai", etc... .

Trajan

[Arthur124]

This medal is not named, nor do I have any paperwork regarding this medal being awarded to the late owner.

The man on in the picture is the person who received the medal.

I wonder if any of the members can identify his regiment or unit based on uniform or sleeve insignia ?

[4thGordons]

I know very little about Belgian uniforms but the sleeve badge (crossed cannons?) might indicate artillery?

Here are a couple of examples of other (common) victory medals:

Chris

[Loader]

The Belgian medals were not named. I think only the UK ones were officially named when issued. Have seen some US medls that were named by the recipients after they got them but not issued named. The US NAVY issued instructions when the medlas were issued that the recipient could have it named with his name & rank & the name of his ship engraved on the rim if he desired to do so.

[Arthur124]

In the meantime I had the opportunity to take a look at his military records in the archives of the Royal Museum of the Army and War History in Brussels.
Born in 1882, he was drafted for military service in 1902 by raffle ticket 116.

He served from August 1st 1914 till January 31st 1919 in the Corps of Engineers, first in West Flanders and later in the Calais region.

According to these records he was awarded 4 medals : the Victory Medal, the Commemorative Medal, the Yser Medal and the War Cross.

For the duration of his military service he received 75 Belgian Francs per month.

He received a 40 day leave on February 1st 1919 and definitive leave on March 12th 1919.

The Commemorative medal was awarded November 5th 1923.
The War Cross was awarded for service of more than 3 years.
The Yser Medal was awarded to troops serving in the region of the river Yser between October from 17th and October 31st 1914.
The Victory Medal was awarded to troops serving in the mobilised Belgian Army between August 1st 1914 and November 11th 1918.