Saddam medals on show in SA
2007-01-16 20:08
Johannesburg - A South African soldier's passion for military memorabilia led him to buy a set of medals belonging to executed Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein - and they are now on display in Johannesburg.
"Medals tell the story of a country. The medals are very, very colourful and the medals and medallions tell a story," said William Endley, a retired national defence force colonel now working for a United States de-mining company.
"The Middle East has its own way of doing things... ours are much more formal."
Endley was speaking from southern Sudan, where he is clearing explosives and landmines so food aid can be transported, and teaching locals to do the same.
Wanted only to be a soldier
He started collecting military memorabilia at the age of 14 with items left to him by his grandfather.
"I was five years old when I decided to become a soldier. It's all I ever wanted to be."
In mid-2004 he was working in Iraq when he was offered a set of Saddam's awards by a former soldier who probably bought them from a Baghdad medals dealer. Endley immediately bought the collection.
"It was quite an expensive little exercise."
In January, he loaned Saddam's medals to the SA National Museum of Military History where they are on display to the public.
The collection is in excellent condition and includes sashes, medals and orders.
There is a photograph of Saddam, taken more than 20 years ago and wearing full dress uniform with his awards.
Museum staff say there has been great interest in the collection, particularly from military experts.
"It's quite a coup," said museum spokesman Allan Sinclair.
Museum acting director Sandi MacKenzie said it was unusual to get such a collection so soon after the original owner's death or fall from power.
"It normally takes us 100 years to get something like this."
Experts believe the collection is genuine.
MacKenzie explained that heads of state often have duplicate sets of medals and orders, for travelling.
MacKenzie said the first four medals Saddam was awarded were for gallantry and these he got before taking power. "He earned them as a soldier would earn them."
His awards include the rare Wisam al-Jadara or Order of Merit - awarded to only three or four Iraqi rulers - and for the 1948-'49 Palestinian War, for crushing the Kurdish rebellion, for the 1963 and 1968 revolutions, for co-operation with Syria, for peace in 1970, and for the 1973 war with Israel.
Pride of place
His Order of the Mother of Battles has a star and a sash in the red, black and white of the Iraqi flag with "Allah Akbar" (God is Great) on it, for the 1991 Gulf War against Kuwait and the US.
Saddam received the Order of the Two Rivers, which Endley described as the piece of which he was proudest.
This was a civilian and military award, and had republican and royal versions. Saddam wore a military version.
- SAPA