Kingdom of Belgium: Honorary Distinctions for the Great War
by Wim Martens
Profusely illustrated, packed with detail, if you have ever wondered what all those bits and bobs adorning Belgian WW1 medals signify, you can find out here. Starting, as the author tells us in his foreword, with a handful of family medals he came across as a boy, he has built up a comprehensive knowledge which he shares in these pages. It's a specialist work, but absolutely fascinating. If you didn't like Belgian medals before, you might by the time you've finished!
The book is made up of several sections. The first and largest covers official orders, decorations, and medals awarded by the Belgian crown for war service both civilian and military. Each item, some 34 in all, is given a very detailed description of both the core award and the various augmentations that might be bestowed for particular services. These include variations in the regular ribbon as well as insignia pinned to the ribbon. Certificates and examples of awards made are also included, along with many recipient photographs. These are all presented in a sequence based on the date of institution of each award, rather than the order of precedence in which they were worn. The index in the front should let you find the award that you are looking for, however.
The second section covers what are described as "Service badges and non-official distinctions". Although Belgians are given to a plethora of unofficial awards from societies and associations, the ones presented here have been chosen due to their being permitted (or at least tolerated) for wear in uniform. These include Chaplains' Crosses for both Catholic and Protestant chaplains, which were more badges of office than awards, and the Tolstoy medals which were sent from Russia early in the war and used to mark acts of bravery before official decorations became available. Despite originally being table medals, many recipients converted them to wearable medals. Once the War Cross was instituted, recipients of the Tolstoy medals were awarded an additional bronze palm to add to the ribbon! There's also the Liège Defence Medal, awarded by the City of Liège to nearly 40,000 servicemen involved in the 1914 siege if the city as well as those civilians arrested by occupying German forces and others. Finally the Flemish Cross of the Three Cities, awarded by the cities of Ypres, Dixmude, and Nieuport to both Belgians and foreigners who had fought on their territory.
Next comes an array of miniatures and medal groups. These demonstrate the many ways in which recipients displayed their awards, including various bows and ribbon loops to be worn on the lapel of a civilian jacket.
The work rounds off with an offical publication of 1920 giving an order of precedence and detailed notes of where on medal ribbons augmentations should be worn, a bibliography covering both books and websites, and finally a tribute to the author's grandfather whose medals original sparked his interest in medals.
The detailed research is outstanding and the visual presentation and layout excellent (provided you like black pages with white text). There are a few typos and odd expressions, understandable as English is not the author's first language, and you can usually figure out what was intended. I'm certainly going to be digging into this when working on the Belgian section of my website... it's just a shame that only some 160 copies have been printed. This information is too precious to lose. Perhaps a PDF/Print-on-Demand option might be considered once the last few books are sold.
Page last updated: 5 October 2024