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WW1 Victory Medals SHOWCASE


cwnorma
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All,

 

Here is an interesting Victory Medal. I have always liked the American Victrory Medals with combinations of bars. A person could just collect variations of these and still build a very impressive collection.

 

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I don't know what exact unit this medal represents (probably a member of the 14th Enginners--but thats just a guess), but whoever this guy was, he sure got there early (Somme Defensive) and got around!

 

Lets see some more!

 

Chris

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  • 3 months later...

I just got my first victory medal yesterday in the mail. I got this one for $14 shipped, which, from what I've seen, is pretty cheap.

 

Share some of yours! Does anyone have one of those special made ones with ALL of the clasps on it? I've seen them on the antiques roadshow more than once, so I'm sure they're out there.

 

Thanks,

Adam

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A few I had in an old cigar box.

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Never have figured out what the little maltese cross at the bottom of the ribbon is for.

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The 35th and 89th were the main gaurd and reserve units around this part of the country. The 3 clasps were awarded to them.

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The last one is a Navy mine layer. They are hard to find also.

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Never have figured out what the little maltese cross at the bottom of the ribbon is for.

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SteveR

 

The Maltese Cross was issued to Officers and enlisted men of the Marine Corps and USN Medical Corps who were atteched to the American Expeditionary Forces stationed in France between April 6 1917 and Nov. 11, 1918, and who were not entitled to a battle clasp. The Laslo book on the WWI Victory gives additional details.

 

 

 

The last one is a Navy mine layer. They are hard to find also.

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According to Laslo, the MINE LAYING clasp was authorized for service between 26 May and 11 Nov. 1918, and less than 3,300 were order produced. One of the more rare Navy clasps.

 

 

Nice to see good examples of the two pieces.

 

 

Bluejacket

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A miniature belonging to Leonard Moorehouse Thomas. At the outset of World War I, he enlisted and served as a first lieutenant in the Interpreters' Corps, attached to the 32d Infantry Division. Later he became a liaison officer in Italy and at the headquarters of Marshal Foch. He received the Croix de Guerre from the French Government for services rendered at the Second Battle of the Marne while acting as liaison officer.

 

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Bluejacket, thanks for the information. I'm not a WWI collector and I really couldn't find any information regarding a unit. Since the ribbon has the 4 stars and has been on the medal for what looks like a long time, I'm going to put it in the collection and file it in the 'anomaly' section! Thanks again, Mark.

 

I believe this one checks out to the 89th Division. Note the Silver Star Commendation. These were later converted to Silver Star Medals.

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Never have figured out what the little maltese cross at the bottom of the ribbon is for.

post-415-1183052018.jpg

 

SteveR

 

The Maltese Cross was issued to Officers and enlisted men of the Marine Corps and USN Medical Corps who were atteched to the American Expeditionary Forces stationed in France between April 6 1917 and Nov. 11, 1918, and who were not entitled to a battle clasp. The Laslo book on the WWI Victory gives additional details.

The last one is a Navy mine layer. They are hard to find also.

post-415-1183051819.jpg

According to Laslo, the MINE LAYING clasp was authorized for service between 26 May and 11 Nov. 1918, and less than 3,300 were order produced. One of the more rare Navy clasps.

Nice to see good examples of the two pieces.

Bluejacket

Thanks Bluejacket. I really appreciate the information. You are a good man. :Dthumbsup.gif

Steve

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I remember back in the 1970's, a Collectibles Price Guide (all types, not just military) came out. It was sold in most book stores and was one of the very few such books at the time. In the very limited Military section, a WW1 Victory Medal was pictured and caption below it gave a value of $3. It seemed every antique dealer had that book, as I must have picked up dozens of Victory Medals in the 1970's that were priced at exactly "$3". Too bad the antique dealers don't read that book anymore!

I'm still looking for a numbered WW1 Victory. I believe it was the first 100 issued having a #. There is the prefix "USM" in front of the number on the bottom rim.

Kurt

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Gentlemen,

 

Its been said elsewhere on this forum, but it is worth repeating here--and actually BEAST's medal above bears this out; clasp combinations are only a rough guide for Victory Medal identification.

 

There are many reasons why an individual soldier's medal would have more or fewer clasps than what the division was entitled to:

 

- Like BEAST's above, he could have been wounded, and consequently did not participate in various campaigns

 

-- Based on unit participation a 2nd Division Medal would have; Aisne, Aisne Marne, St Mihiel, Meuse Argonne and Defensive Sector (but the medals were not issued that way).

- He could have been a replacement and arrived after the campaign

 

- He could have belonged to a specialty unit; Camoflauge, Railway Engineers, Disenfecting Squads, etc and could have been detailed anywhere at any time

 

- Some Medical officers were literally all over the place inspecting conditions, Malcom Growe's (Andrews AFB hospital is named after him) Victory Medal has 10 bars including "Italy" and "Russia"!

 

There are myriad other reasons why a medal won't fit a campaign list but the bottom line is that the medals were individually assembled and mailed to each Soldier, Sailor, or Marine--using his own personal record as the basis for award. They were not issued to the units en-mass for distribution. Therefore, lists based on unit participation in various battles strictly only apply to campaign streamers for the unit guidon.

 

Chris

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Gil,

 

It could also be 5th Division, 77 Field Artillery, 55th Field Artillery, 35th division, 78th Division, 80th Division, 82nd Division, 90th Division, 50th Aero Squadron, 90th Aero Squadron, 91st Aero Sqadron, 99th Aero Squadron, 4th Air Park, 56th Engineers, 65 Artillery CAC, and many other units.

 

Again, that is solely based on unit partcipation. Your individual soldier's results may vary.

 

Nice medal.

 

Chris

 

I believe this one checks out to the 89th Division. Note the Silver Star Commendation. These were later converted to Silver Star Medals.
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Here are a couple of mine. I have more, I just can't rememer which uniform pockets they reside in! think.gif

 

First off, the Victory medal to Major H. Green, a doctor with the 42nd Division...

VictoryGreen.jpg

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Finally, one to 1st Lieutenant Donald Packer, Adjutant, Headquarters Company 80th Division

VictoryPacker.jpg

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Gentlemen,

 

Its been said elsewhere on this forum, but it is worth repeating here--and actually BEAST's medal above bears this out; clasp combinations are only a rough guide for Victory Medal identification.

 

There are many reasons why an individual soldier's medal would have more or fewer clasps than what the division was entitled to:

 

- Like BEAST's above, he could have been wounded, and consequently did not participate in various campaigns

 

-- Based on unit participation a 2nd Division Medal would have; Aisne, Aisne Marne, St Mihiel, Meuse Argonne and Defensive Sector (but the medals were not issued that way).

- He could have been a replacement and arrived after the campaign

 

- He could have belonged to a specialty unit; Camoflauge, Railway Engineers, Disenfecting Squads, etc and could have been detailed anywhere at any time

 

- Some Medical officers were literally all over the place inspecting conditions, Malcom Growe's (Andrews AFB hospital is named after him) Victory Medal has 10 bars including "Italy" and "Russia"!

 

There are myriad other reasons why a medal won't fit a campaign list but the bottom line is that the medals were individually assembled and mailed to each Soldier, Sailor, or Marine--using his own personal record as the basis for award. They were not issued to the units en-mass for distribution. Therefore, lists based on unit participation in various battles strictly only apply to campaign streamers for the unit guidon.

 

Chris

 

Here is a perfect example of what Chris is stating. This Victory Medal was earned by Cpl. Neil S. Shannon, 97th Company, 6th Marines, 4th Marine Bde., 2nd ID. Cpl. Shannon was severly wounded on June 6th, 1918 during the fierce fighting for Bouresche on the first day of the battle for Belleau Wood. While 2nd ID went on to earn the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne clasps, Cpl. Shannon was in hospital recovering from his wounds and didn't earn or receive those.

 

Of special interest on his clasps is that he has them mounted bassackwards. While they should be mounted from most current to earliest campaigns from top to bottom, he has his reversed.

 

Gary

 

His medal grouping and a close up of his Victory Medal.

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Here is a group of two medals a friend found for me in the Chicago area several years ago. He won them at an auction and said he had no way of knowing if they went together. I promptly put the GCM in my GCM collection and stuck the Victory Medal in my sell/trader medals drawer and pretty much forgot about it. Last month, with the free Ancestry.com thing, I did a search on John C. Collins and it turns out that he served with 66th Guard Company, Marine Guard Battalion, Base Section # 1, St. Nazaire, France in the very early months of 1919. Am I ever glad something told me to hang on to this Victory Medal.

 

Gary

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These are from one of my favorite groupings. The veteran served with Section #598 US Army Ambulance Service (Purdue University). This section served with both the French Army and the US Army. The medal on the viewer's right is a French Victory Medal.

 

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Wow! That has to be one of the nicest Victory Medal-related items I've seen. KIA award and to a Marine!

Kurt

 

Here's another -- Vittorio-Veneto and Defensive Sector clasps as earned by a veteran of the 332nd Infantry Regiment, the famed "Golden Lions" who served in Italy. The other medal is the Italian WW1 service medal.

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