Strip of French and Serbian medal ribbons
This is a set of French and Serbian medals which show: Top row, from left: French War Cross for 1914-1918, French Combatants Cross, and the 1914-1918 Inter-Allied victory medal; Middle row, from left: French 1914-1918 Commemorative war medal, French Orient Campaign medal, and the Serbian Order of Saint Sava; Bottom row, from left: Serbian Commemorative medal for the War of 1914-1918, Serbian Gold Milos Obilic medal for Bravery, and the Serbian Order of the White Eagle with Swords. Reading ‘between the lines’ on this set, it would have belonged to a Frenchman, as the French medals a ordered in priority, left to right, over the Serbian ones. If they belonged to a Serb, then the Serbian orders and medals would have been first in the ordering, as per regulations, and then the French. However, for example, the French War Cross/Croix de guerre was also awarded to non-French soldiers, but the ordering gives the nationality away. Also, the ordering of the Serbian awards is incorrect where, for this set, the White Eagle with Swords should be the left-most, highest ranked of the Serbian ones, then the Saint Sava, then the Milos Obilic medal for Bravery, and then the 1914-1918 Commemorative medal, which is mistakenly upside-down on this set. The Orient Campaign medal indicates that the recipient was a member of the Armee d’Orient which fought on the Macedonian Front between 1915 and 1918. The Order of the White Eagle with Swords would have been awarded by Serbia from 1915 onwards. The Saint Sava award is interesting in this context because it was originally created for recognising civilian merit towards the Serbian state, royalty, the Church, and the arts and sciences, though in 1914 the regulations were changed to allow it to be awarded to the military for meritorious achievement in that field. The Serbian ribbon bars with metal decorative features are rare in that, for example, the non-French version of the Obilic bar is more common and does not feature a ‘rosette’ around the gold coloured miniature version of the medal that is attached to the bar. Also, a ribbon bar for the Order of the White Eagle with Swords is extremely uncommon. The ribbon bars are fixed to a cloth strip with 4 hooks on the back, each with the French word ‘Depose’ on them, and which would have been attached to a uniform or blazer.