January 12, 20197 yr #1 I bought this at a flea market in West Berlin in the 1980s. I am having trouble identifying the medal at the end (viewer's right). Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but from left to right, this bar has the Iron Cross 2nd Class, 1914-1918 Cross of Honor, the 1914-1918 Hungarian Combatants Commemorative Service Medal and the unknown, Any help would be appreciated!
January 12, 20197 yr Author #6 How did a soldier earn these commerative medals? Did you have to serve in their armies or serve within the borders of those countries?
January 12, 20197 yr #7 The medal was issued to Bulgarians and widely awarded to their allies. Your soldier is Hungarian. There are quite a few groups with these in them. This is one is Austrian. Remember that the medal didn't come out until 1933.... -Ski
January 13, 20197 yr Author #8 The medal was issued to Bulgarians and widely awarded to their allies. Your soldier is Hungarian. There are quite a few groups with these in them. This is one is Austrian. Remember that the medal didn't come out until 1933.... -Ski Thanks Ski! It seems to me that information, in English, on the medals of the centrsl powers is difficult to find. Most of the info that I have found has been on sales sites and not very in-depth.
January 13, 20197 yr #9 I got it from Alex Purves' The Medals, Decorations and Orders of the Great War 1914-1918. A decent book. -Ski
January 14, 20197 yr Author #10 I got it from Alex Purves' The Medals, Decorations and Orders of the Great War 1914-1918. A decent book. -Ski Thanks Ski, I see it's available on Amazon, I'll have to pick up a copy.
January 14, 20197 yr #11 These commemorative medals came out about the time the Hindenburg Cross was created. The Hindenburg Cross replaced all the unofficial and Freikorps medals German veterans were wearing, so German groups consisting of an Iron Cross and a medley of unofficial awards suddenly became pairs (Iron Cross and Hindenburg Cross). The commemorative medals were available upon application and a small charge (the Bulgarian application required a 5 Reichsmark fee), so they helped fill out groups. As far as I can tell, there was no requirement for service with (or even near) the Austrians, Hungarians or Bulgarians.
January 14, 20197 yr #12 These commemorative medals came out about the time the Hindenburg Cross was created. The Hindenburg Cross replaced all the unofficial and Freikorps medals German veterans were wearing, so German groups consisting of an Iron Cross and a medley of unofficial awards suddenly became pairs (Iron Cross and Hindenburg Cross). The commemorative medals were available upon application and a small charge (the Bulgarian application required a 5 Reichsmark fee), so they helped fill out groups. As far as I can tell, there was no requirement for service with (or even near) the Austrians, Hungarians or Bulgarians. Now that is interesting. Thanks for sharing! -Ski
January 15, 20197 yr Author #13 These commemorative medals came out about the time the Hindenburg Cross was created. The Hindenburg Cross replaced all the unofficial and Freikorps medals German veterans were wearing, so German groups consisting of an Iron Cross and a medley of unofficial awards suddenly became pairs (Iron Cross and Hindenburg Cross). The commemorative medals were available upon application and a small charge (the Bulgarian application required a 5 Reichsmark fee), so they helped fill out groups. As far as I can tell, there was no requirement for service with (or even near) the Austrians, Hungarians or Bulgarians. Jeff, Thank you very much for the information. What are the most nations that you have seen represented on s single bar?
January 15, 20197 yr #14 It's not uncommon to see the Austrian, Hungarian and Bulgarian medals all on a German bar. That was probably a mark of financial stability in the mid-1930s, when adding medals to your personal group often took back seat to putting a schnitzel on the table. The group that Teamski shows in post 7 above is unusual in that it has the Bulgarian Medal of Merit as well as two Bulgarian Commemorative Medals. Working from dim memory, the first Bulgarian ribbon is the non-combatant version (the pendant properly would not have swords) and the white stripe on the second ribbon denotes that he was wounded in action. In this case, the Bavarian recipient (probably a medical NCO) would have served with, or in close proximity to the Bulgarian forces. An odd aside -- the recipient of Teamski's group somehow got himself decorated by an ally, but avoided receiving an Iron Cross or a Bavarian Military Merit Cross. He must have served at the way far end of the logistics chain.
January 15, 20197 yr #15 To refresh my dim memory, I just looked at Purves' book on worldwide awards and he says the basic ribbon for the Bulgarian WWI Commemorative was for front-line combatants, the ribbon with the white stripe was for rear-area troops and the ribbon with the black stripe was for home front service. Petrov's book on Bulgarian awards illustrates the various ribbons, but I can find no description of who got what.
Create an account or sign in to comment