Never before had I received this medal I just got.
The light blue on the band, and the fact that I am flying in Jasta 23b, a Bavarian Staffel, make me think it must be a Bavarian order.
But Bavarian or not - I like it and I'm proud of it!

Yeah, it's the Bavarian Militär-Verdienstorden (MVO), a high military order of the kingdom of Bavaria. But it was also awarded to many "outlanders", ie. non-Bavarians, in the Great War. All the top aces had one, if they were officers. The other ranks received the MVK (Militär-Verdienstkreuz) instead.

The most common was the 4th class with swords, which was awarded to low ranking officers, mostly Leutnants and Oberleutnants or similar.

It's a very popular order among collectors of old German military awards. It's also one of my favourite old German orders. The blue enamel is striking, and the golden medaillon (gilded silver in the ones awarded in 1917 - 1918) makes a great combination with the silver flames and swords.

I'm happy to have one in my collection.

Could you post a photo of it? I'd put it on my desktop then.

Nicely done, Olham, I like my medals mit as much schwertern as I can get!

Okay, as requested by Olham, here's a photo of an MVO in my collection (I don't exactly have a photo studio here, so I'm sorry about the poor quality):



This particular MVO is of the pre-1917 Great War type with a real golden medallion in the centre. The maker is Gebrüder Hemmerle in Munich, identifiable from the letters G.H. on the lower cross arm on reverse side. The case of issue is of the rare red type, the blue ones being more common. The silver has a nice patina, IMO.

Ah, wow - thank you, Hasse.
I see, that blue enamel is looking really good! Almost translucent, like a jewel.
A real beauty in that good condition - thanks for sharing!

Thanks, Olham. Yes, it's a great example of old German goldsmithing skills. IMO, the most beautiful orders in the world were made in pre-1918 German states and Imperial Russia. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I feel that those works of art have never been exceeded in later days. Obviously there have been - and still are - beautiful order designs in other countries too, but the sheer variety of beautiful orders of all the various German states is enough to keep one collector happily busy for his lifetime!

I'll presume it's no accident that it radiates kind of a "Pour le Merite" feel to it?

One of my pending hobbies is to accumulate all the Great Powers WW 1 aviation awards and hang them from my wall.
Reproductions of course. Can't imagine the cost of getting all original medals.

IMO, it looks better than the PLM.

The highest bravery award of the Kingdom of Bavaria was the Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden. However, it was never awarded nearly as many times as the PLM, making it one of the rarest and most expensive old orders of Germany. An original MMJO Knight's Cross is way more expensive than my whole medal collection!

You'd have to be a wealthy man indeed to be able to acquire all the originals. But there are many good quality reproductions available, if one wishes to collect them.

Oldham - your pilot dossier contains a detailed history of each awarded medal under "more info..." in the far right column.

Thanks, yeah, I forgot. But now I have a great photo of an original one.
Olham, by the way - no "d".

Nice job, Olham! That is a gorgeous medal, especially in real life.

Here are my father's medals - spot the only one made with real silver!

Second from the right, I guess?
The picture is quite small - which medals are they?

I am going to say the one on the far right.
Black because of tarnish? It has that look...

I have replaced the picture in post #1 with the better image WOFF brings up, when you click on "more info".

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The Bavarian Militär-Verdienstorden is a beautiful medal and one of my personal favorites from the Great War period. Congrats on earning it in WOFF Olham.

Hasse, that is a gorgeous example of the award and in it's presentation box as well! I've been after one of these for years to add to my collection but they have always exceeded what I am willing to pay. Thought I was going to score one this spring but it turned out to be a copy. A very nice copy mind you, but a copy none the less.

Jim, I am very glad to see that you have your father's medals. So often these end up leaving the family as years go by and their importance fades.

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Copies have become a bigger problem ever since people started selling stuff online. It has made it easier for everybody to buy and sell medals, but the lowlifes who sell forgeries as the real things have also tremendously increased their business.

My first advice to any newbie collector is to invest in literature and study the medals and their makers carefully. Most fakes can be discovered by consulting such works and by talking with people who have experience in the field.

Places like eBay can be great for making excellent deals, but you have to be careful. I've sometimes seen people bidding lots of money for items that I couldn't say for 100% sure that they were not fakes.

Jim, that's a nice set of medals! I'm sure you'll take good care of them.

Ok I have gone to look at the medals again. They were of course produced in great quantities during WWII. My father joined the RAF in 1922 as he was born in 1903 too young for WWI. The medals are from left to right:

1939-45 star
Africa star (as he was in Egypt/Mesapotamia in that time)
First 'silver' one is 'The Defence Medal' also marked 1939-1945 on the reverse
Second 'silver' one is the '1939-1945' medal
Third real silver one is the LSGCM Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. It has the RAF eagle on the reverse and has the name of the culprit engraved around the edge with his number rank and name. This medal was awarded for '18 years of undetected crime'

As he was a fitter IIE (engine fitter) most of this time he was on the ground all the time, as was I, although I only spent 7 years as what they then called an A.Fitt(P) which was an Aircraft Fitter Propulsion. The 'E' had been stolen by the Electricians!

My father started off on Vickers Vimy's and later Virginia's between the wars. I worked on Hunters and Harriers amongst other types.

About looking after the medals I want to find a way to display them properly - a sort of picture frame?

"18 years of undetected crime"... Jeeze, the reasons for some medals...

I have my PLM copy (won in a quiz by RAF_Louvert) in a small black picture frame.
There had been an insekft in it, and the tissue cushion was perfect for the medal.