Military Awards and Decorations of the Department of Defence
(Ref: Yair Malachi)
Medals of Czec Republic (Megan C. Robertson)
Medals of Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1948)
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1948-1989)
Medals of the Czech Republic (1989 - Present)
Medal for Czech Troops involved on UN Peacekeeping Operations. (Ref: JIGSAW Nos 64 & 65 1/98 & 2/98). I recently obtained additional information on this award from Ed Emering. This is actually referred to as a "Badge" and not a "Medal". There is also more than one badge in existence. Thanks to Ed, we now have images of the Badge for service with IFOR and with SFOR. The Reverse on both badges is identical. Only the obverses change for the mission. After looking at the ribbons, it makes me wonder if there is another "Badge" with just one white narrow stripe in the centre. Does this mean that the next "Badge" in this series will contain 4 narrow white stripes?
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Czech Republic - The UN Forces Training Service Medal The UN Forces Training Service Medal is issued by the Training Base of Peacekeeping Forces in Cesky Krumlov, located in southern Bohemia near the Sumava Forest, where all Czech Army personnel receive their training prior to be assigned to peacekeeping mission.. The 36mm gilt finished old-brass obverse is inscribed on a straight line, UN FORCES, at the top, and CESKA REPUBLIKA (CZECH REPUBLIC) on two straight lines at the bottom. In the center is the UN emblem and the coat-of-arms of the Czech Republic. The reverse features a raised relief of Cesky Krumlov , a minature Prague with its Gothic castle and renaissance and baroque homes. The inscription around the edge of the reverse reads, ZAKLADNA MIROVYCH SIL OSN CESKY KRUMLOV (TRAINING BASE OF PEACEKEEPING FORCES, CESKY KRUMLOV). The ribbon is solid light (UN) blue. This is a limited, one time run, production medal. (Ref: Ed Emering) (Sep 02) |
The War Cross was instituted in 1918 and awarded in much the same manner as the French Croix de Guerre. That is, it was awarded to all military members, regardless of rank, mentioned in Czechoslovakian despatches. Emblems are worn to denote further awards. It was superseded by the War Cross of 1939.
Medal for Service Abroad - This medal, instituted in 1997, is awarded by the Minister of Defense to soldiers in active service and civilian employees in the military administration for successful fulfillment of UN peacekeeping operations, international military missions, international humanitarian missions, or for significant participation in the preparation and support of such missions. The medal may also be awarded to foreign military personnel and others for important cooperation with the Czech forces involved in such missions. The bronze medal is made by Bizuterie Ceska Mincovna in Jablonec nad Nisou (Ref: Ed Emering)
Medal for Merit in the Defence of the Homeland (Medaile Za zásluhy onobranu vlasti) (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic)
Medals of Cezchoslovakia (In Czech - Hans 2000) (Sep 02)
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Medals of Czec - In Czec Feb 04 |
Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defense - Dr. Yvonne Masakowski, has been awarded the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic for her work in developing an international scientific collaboration in the area of human factors between the U.S. and the Czech Republic, which has used the findings to reorganize and improve their military. (Oct 02)
Cold War Honours - President Vaclav Havel will present the Czech Republic's highest civilian honour to Cold War-era heads of state in a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Prague's bloodless "Velvet Revolution", November 17. Former leaders George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Walesa will receive the Order of the White Lion. (Ref: The Toronto Star, 10 Apr 99)
Ribbons of Czec Republic Antonio Prieto Barrio
Orders, Decorations, and Medals of Czechoslovakia Antiques A to Z
Klaus decorates over 20 personalities in Prague Castle ceremony President Vaclav Klaus today decorated more than 20 personalities on the occasion of the 87th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia. The highest Czech state decoration, the Order of the White Lion, 1st class, went to Rudolf Pernicky, a participant in the anti-Nazi forces in France and Britain. In December 1944, he commanded a paratrooper squad that was actively engaged in domestic resistance movement against the Nazi regime. In 1948 he was sentenced to 20 years in a show trial and he spent 11 years in uranium mines. The Order of the White Lion, 1st class, was also bestowed on Josef Bursik in memoriam. A member of the Czechoslovak army fighting on the Eastern front, Bursik was decorated with the Czechoslovak War Cross from 1939 and high Soviet decorations. In 1949, he was arrested and in a show trial sentenced to 14 years in prison. He managed to escape from a military hospital in August 1950. Then he lived with his family in England, where he actively protested against Czechoslovakia's invasion by the Warsaw Pact in 1968. The Order of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, 1st class, the Czech Republic's second highest decoration, was given to Josef Hercz, who fought in the Czechoslovak Infantry Battalion 11 - Eastern in Alexandria against the Nazis. The same order went to Stanislav Hlucka, who served as a RAF pilot, among others. He spent a year in a labour camp under the Communist regime. The Order of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, 3rd class, was bestowed on priest Martin Frantisek Vich, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and had to work in an uranium mine under the Communist regime. He was seriously wounded in a cave-in, but still saved the life of his fellow prisoner. The only Medal for Bravery was today awarded to Michal Velisek in memoriam. He was killed when he defended an attacked woman in a park in Prague. An assailant threatened the woman with a gun which he then turned against Velisek, causing him fatal wounds. The Medal for Merit, 1st class, went in memoriam to Jiri Slitr, a popular composer, singer and theatre artist. The Medal for Merit, 2nd class was given, among others. to former Academy of Sciences chairwoman Helena Illnerova, cartoonist Vladimir Jiranek, actor Josef Somr, sculptors Jaroslava Brychtova and Stanislav Kolibal, in memoriam scientists Jaroslav Koutecky, Mojmir Petran and Vladimir Vonka, expert in mycology Miroslav Smotlacha, Franz Olbert, former general secretary of the Ackermann Gemeinde's Catholic section, Czech honorary consul in Scotland Paul Millar, Protestant theologian Petr Pokorny, psychiatrist Petr Zvolsky, ex-foreign minister Jaroslav Sedivy, Zdenek Sternberg, a nobleman whose family was persecuted in wartime as they declined to adopt German citizenship and who personally helped many forced labourers at the time. Klaus also bestowed the Medal for Merit, 2nd class, on Blazena and Lubomir Rosner, a married couple who have formed a foster family having eight physically or mentally handicapped children. ceskenoviny.cz 27 Oct 05
General Pernicky buried with full military honours World War Two resistance fighter General Rudolf Pernicky was buried with full military honours in Prague. "At the end of his life Pernicky became a symbol of human bravery. He was a man of deep awareness of human rights and honesty," military historian and member of the Club of Paratrooper Veterans Jiri Solc said in his speech. President Vaclav Klaus bestowed upon him the Order of White Lion this year, on the national holiday on October 28. "He dedicated his whole life to the fight for justice. He was a person of extreme courage," General Tomas Sedlacek who knew Pernicky from exile in England said. Pernicky left Czechoslovakia abroad to struggle for its independence in 1939. Five years later, he was parachuted to the former Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, but by mistake he and his fellow soldier landed near Kutna Hora in Central Bohemia, instead of Nove Mesto na Morave in Moravia. After the 1948 communist coup, Pernicky had to spend several years in forced labour camps, including the uranium mines. He was only rehabilitated after the fall of the Communist regime in 1989. ceskenoviny.cz 2 Jan 06
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Unknown Medal Believed to be Czechoslovakia email me with details |
