MEET THE AUTHORS

Jack Boddington served in the British Army as a Lieutenant in

India in 1946-7 and, after immigration to Canada in 1956, with

the Canadian Army Militia retiring as a Captain. He has been

retired for some 26 years from the position of General Manager

of Parks and Recreation for the City of Edmonton, Alberta. He

is a long-time member of OMSA, OMRS and MCCofC and

is presently the President of the Life Saving Awards Research

Society (UK). His collecting interests are eclectic with an

emphasis on life saving awards. He is a Governor of the Royal

Humane Society and the Royal National Life Boat Institution;

Life Governor of the Royal Canadian Humane Association

and a Commonwealth Vice President of the Royal Life Saving

Society. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Numismatic Research

Society and of the Canadian Guild of Authors and has written

over 80 articles for OMSA (Literary Medal with two stars). He

was appointed a Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of the

Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in the British Realm in 1992

and a Member to the Order of Red Cross (Canada) in 1993.

Now he swims to keep in shape and plays with his medals to

retain his sanity.

Ed Emering is a Chicago-based author, researcher and

collector. He is a frequent contributor to JOMSA on a

wide variety of topics and last year received two OMSA

Commendation Medals for his OMSA monographs. Ed also

maintains the free research site (www.themedalhound.com),

which welcomes comments and submissions.

Emmanuel Halleux was born in 1968 and was always interested the Napoleonic era, until he discovered how expensive it would be to form a complete collection of orders, decorations and medals from the period. In the 1970s he went to the French Riviera for the summer where his father bought him a French Croix de Guerre and Medaille Miltaire at a flea market and later bought him some medals at the Paris Palais Royale shops. When he began his university studies in Brussels in 1991 he went to the Rue du Midi near the stock exchange and found a junk-gold shop where there were plenty of medals and then began adding medals to his collection. Later he added medals in Geneva, Cologne and London. Beginning in 1995 he began to go to medal shows in France and in 1996 he attended his first auction. These were the good times when most prices were very inexpensive. He has a very wide range of interests, but prefers to research and buy medals from countries in which almost nobody else is interested.

Ellis Joubert was born in Stuttgart, Germany while his father was stationed there in the early 1950s. One of his earliest memories was reading his father’s copy of the Officer’s Guide and being fascinated with the illustrations of the insignia and decorations, and learning to read some of his first words that way! He believes the fact that he has been a collector for most of his life stems from his early exposure to this imagery. His educational experience covers everything from aircraft

maintenance to architecture, history to the Chinese language, and fine arts to machine shop, so it is fortunate that he was finally drawn through his fine arts studies in metalsmithing to the conservation of fine and historic metalwork. So far he has utilized skills acquired from every stage of his education in his work. He enjoys the challenge of rediscovering ancient or lost techniques and recording them for posterity. Throughout the discipline of decorative arts maintaining the original surface is key to maintaining value. He believes that good restoration follows this principle. No harsh mechanical techniques are tolerated, and any time spent in understanding the basics of each piece is well spent.

Tom Kullgren is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Saginaw Valley State University where he has taught for 25 years, 19 of which as the Dean of Science and Engineering. Prior to his academic career Tom completed 20 years as an Air Force pilot in helicopters, transports, executive jets and trainers. He also spent 12 years on the faculty of the USAF Academy. He holds engineering degrees from the USAF Academy, Stanford University and Colorado State University. His collecting interests for 45 years include early aviation and the Vietnam prisoner of war experience.

Owain Raw-Rees, M.A. (Oxon) was born in Aberystwyth, Wales, educated at Christ College, Brecon and read theology at Worcester College, Oxford. Subsequently he was commissioned into the Royal Welch Fusiliers. Since leaving the Army he pursued a career in insurance and has lived in the Middle East since 1989. His interest in awards began during his military service and upon moving to the Middle East he specialized in the awards of the Arab world. He has had a number of articles published in the Journals of the Orders and Medals Research Society of Great Britain and the Orders and Medals Society of America, which has awarded him six Literary Medals. He is

a holder of the Qu’aiti Sultanate’s Order of Excellence and is an Honorary Life Member of the Association of Round Tables Arabian Gulf. Owain is married to Helen, and has two teenage daughters, Fflur and Rhiannon.

Steven Watts has had a general dental practice since 1978 in Warren, Ohio. He was in charge of small boats (six and eight) ca~xying supplies and troops on the Cua Viet River in Vietnam and then as a salvage diver in the Navy aboard the USS Current. He went to dental school at Ohio State University, graduated in 1975, and served two more years in the Navy Dental Corps at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He is active in the local dental society and has served as their president in 2003. He is an Eagle Scout and has been active in scouting over 50 years. He teaches dental assisting one day a week in Youngstown. He has been collecting since the age of 11, when his uncle gave him his patches. His interests are United States medals and dental corps insignia. He also sells OMSA publications.

2 JOMSA

MEDALS OF THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, PART 1: THE EARLY YEARS AND EMIRATES.

OWAIN RAW-REES

Introduction his death on November 3, 2004. In the thirty-five years following its independence the country has prospered at an incredible rate by capitalizing on its oil-rich resources to create a transformation. From an essentially subsistence economy with a population of less than 250,000 it has grown to a successful and prosperous nation state with a population which now exceeds three million. The awards of the United Arab Emirates accordingly reflect the composite nature of the country and its development from colonial outpost to a confident member of the international community. Please note that unless otherwise stated the majority of the awards of the United Arab Emirates have been manufactured by Spink & Son Ltd. of St. James’s, London.

Figure 1: Location of the United Arab Emirates.

Loyal Service Medal of the Trucial Oman Scouts

The United Arab Emirates, situated at the southeastern end of the Arabian Gulf, was founded following the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the region on December 2, 1971. The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven previously independent sheikhdoms, which formed part of the Trucial States. These sheikhdoms consist of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras A1 Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm A1 Qwain (Figure 1). The two other members of the Trucial States, Bahrain and Qatar, decided on total independence.

OBVERSE

Figure 2: His Highness Khalifa bin Zayed.

The rulers of the seven sheikhdoms govem the federation through the Supreme Council of Rulers. The current President is the ruler ofAbu Dhabi His Highness Khalifa bin Zayed (Figure 2) who succeeded his father, His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan A1 Nahyan, upon

Figure 3: Original Artwork for the Loyal Service Medal

This award actually predates the independence of the UnitedArab Emirates. The Trucial Oman Scouts (initially Trucial Oman Levies) were established in 1951 as a levy force to "maintain peace and goodwill.., prevent or suppress any traffic in slaves; and to provide an escort for any British political representatives travelling in the Trucial States. "After independence the unit was handed

Vol. 60, No. 6 (November-December 2009) 3

over to the United Arab Emirates on December 23, 1971 and thence became the Union Defense Force. Prior to this handover in 1969 the commander of the Trucial Oman Scouts, Colonel K.C.R Ive, O.B.E., instituted, with the approval of the rulers of the Emirates, the Loyal Service Medal as a reward for loyal service within the Trucial Oman Scouts. The initial artwork was completed (Figure 3) and the first medals were presented at Farewell Parades in 1970. With the formation of the Union Defense Force in December 1971 the obverse was then altered to reflect this, and again in 1976 the obverse was altered to reflect the formation of the Federal Armed Forces.

First Type (1969 - 1971) (Figure 4)

Obverse: A 35ram diameter silver medal with the design taken from the Trucial Oman Scouts insignia consisting of two crossed khanjars (daggers) above which is an Arabic inscription meaning, OMAN COASTAL FORCE and below which is the inscription, DEVOTION. (Interestingly while the translation of "devotion" is perhaps more grammatically correct the word "loyalty" is more appropriate as the medal in English was designated as the Trucial Oman Scouts Loyal Service Medal). In all three types the design is similar to the headdress badge worn by the officers. The other ranks badge consisted of a single khan jar).

Figure 4: Obverse (left) and reverse (right) of the first type of the Loyal Service Medal

Reverse: A desert scene depicting a camel with rider and a palm tree to the left. This scene is common to all three versions.

Ribbon: 32mm wide with 3mm diagonal stripes of red on white, with 1 mm white borders. As the various standards of the Trucial States all contained red and white, the ribbon echoes these designs.

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Suspension: A straight bar suspender.

Second Type (1971 - 1976)

Obverse: A falcon with wings extended upon a pillar before which are two crossed, khanjars (daggers) surmounting a plaque with the Arabic inscription UNION DEFENSE FORCE (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Obverse of the second type of the Loyal Service Medal

An example of this type, but with a loop suspension and awarded with a Faithful Service ribbon, is known (Figure 6). The provenance is sonnd as it was obtained from the officer to whom it was awarded in this manner. It may be that the medal was issued locally but with the incorrect ribbon.

Figure 6: Obverse (left) and reverse (right) of the second type of the Loyal Service Medal with loop suspension.

Third Type (1976 - 80)

Obverse: A falcon with wings draped and bearing upon its chest a dhow (traditional craft) (Figure 7). The falcon

JOMSA