Manchurian Railroad Guards Medal

[jwburchell]

Shown here is a medal which I believe to be one awarded to soldiers of the Japanese army who were responsible for guarding the railway lines in Manchuria ("Manshu Tetsudo") following the Russo-Japanese War which ended in 1905.

At the top on the obverse side (I presume) the medal bears a nice gilded insignia or emblem of two crossed rifles super-imposed over what appears to be the form of a cross-section of railway track.

At the bottom is the image of a Hino Maru flag with Kanji letters, the meaning of which is a patriotic slogan, something like - "sacrifice yourself for your country".

In the background appears a river valley with mountains in the background and two sheafs of wheat or rice or some other plant.

The reverse (I presume) has a star and Kanji lettering at the top and depicts the course of a railway line naming the various important stops (possibly Vladivostok at one end?) and a railway tunnel at one point along the line.

The ribbon is missing.

If anyone can confirm, correct or add to this information regarding the medal, I would appreciate it.

As well, I would like to see or know about the ribbon which accompanied this award (and perhaps even, where to obtain a replacement).

And lastly, I am curious as to how many of these awards were issued and the approximate value.

Regards,

John

[GHP]

Here are some different ones on Rich Catalano's informative website.

He writes:
[quote=Rich Catalano]...The Rail Defense emblem has two varieties: One has crossed rifles superimposed on (or sometimes behind) a railroad tie and the other has axes and a tie. The former is a defense unit and the latter is an engineer unit, though their duties no doubt overlapped at times.[/url]

[/url]


He does not show or mention any ribbons.

Cheers,
--Guy

[jwburchell]

Thanks very much, Guy. Strangely enough, I had looked at that site earlier and did not see the references you flagged for me. As well, I had sent the site owner an e-mail, but have received no reply to date. Perhaps he will still respond.

I am still wondering about my specific medal which is not shown on that site, and also the ribbon and estimated value.

John

[GHP]

John,

Rich lives in Japan and is on a different timeline than we; also, well .... "work happens". Rich is a member here and has commented a few times. His "handle" is Imperialjapan. Perhaps he'll venture a comment?

Cheers,
--Guy

[imperialjapan]

I have been called out by name, which is rare. LOL! So I guess it is best if I respond…

First, my apologies for not answering your email, John. I don't seem to have got it; perhaps it went to my spam folder.

Anyway, your ID of the obverse is correct. The reverse says 'Zhejiang Province, [??] Line Protection Commemorative.' I cannot read two kanji that identifies the rail line. Nor can I get the different place names on the illustrated line. Someone better versed in Chinese would be able to help.

Here is the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang

These kind of badges rarely had ribbons. Yours is probably complete (minus the box, which was probably a simple wood case).

I suspect that few of these were made, probably just enough for the unit members. Value on these is difficult. I hesitate to name a specific figure, but if pressed, I would guess from 50 to 150 USD. I am assuming you mean ebay-listed value, which varies wildly on both ends.

[jwburchell]

Thank you very much, Guy and Rich, for your respective comments, for which I am truly appreciative.

I lived and worked in Japan for 5 years and still have Japanese friends and contacts back there - albeit non-militaria collectors. One of them did provide some comments, one of which was that it would perhaps be necessary to consult a period map in order to get the correct names of places indicated on the reverse of the medal, as many were changed after Manchuria went back to China after the war ended.

In any case, that level of detail is not so necessary for me and my main questions have been answered.

Best regards,

John

[chen]

..

[jwburchell]

Thank you for your contribution, "chen".

[Jareth]

Very interesting medal & great team effort !