Pre-1945 Bulgarian Police officer uniform

[Theodor]

Hi guys, I'd like to show you something very interesting, a Bulgarian police uniform from the pre-1945 era. Such condition is usually considered not for a collection, but some things are so rare, that the condition is not important! I collect uniforms for years and have a few dozens of Army uniforms, but this is the first Police uniform I ever see. Talked to a local police history researcher and he has heard of only one similar uniform, in the Police museum! After the war the Policemen were probably the most prosecuted and repressed group of people, so many /if not most// uniforms were destroyed by the men and the families.

Here are the pictures, thank you Mike, I had not even noticed there is a special Police forum! I hope it will be interesting for you:

[Theodor]

closer

[Theodor]

interesting tabs with small lions

[Theodor]

BDP - Bulgarian State Police

[Theodor]

And finally, similar uniform in use

By the way, I have the breeches, too - the same color like the tunic, with light blue line on the side.

Edited May 12, 2009 by Theodor

[Mervyn Mitton]

Do you think he was an officer - I can see a 'pip' on his shoulder boards. Did the aigulette mark him as an officer and did it have any purpose ? I don't think - as you say - that the condition is important, the item is too rare. I would advise some conservation to keep it at this level.

Theodor, this is most interesting and I'm sure that we police collectors are hoping to see more of these rare pieces. By the way, did they carry a gun, or, just a truncheon ? Mervyn

[Gordon Craig]

Theodor,

An important piece of Bulgarian uniform history regardless of condition. Thanks very much for showing it. I envy you!

Regards,

Gordon

[Theodor]

Thank you! Yes, that was an officer. The Police rank system is not very clear to me, I will just start to look for information, but yes, this tunic belonged to an officer. The different ranks had different number of pips. And the highest ranks had a line going along the board, separating it in two. From what I understand so far, this officer was equal to a Lt. or Capt. of the Army, though the comparison is very general, the systems were different and it is really difficult to compare the Police and the Army.

Yes, I think the aglets were for officers only. And I guess that like in the Army, the highest ranks would have double aglets. The aglet itself is very rare, has similarities to the Army ones, but lots of differences, too.

I will try to clean it a little /vac cleaner at lowest power, to get rid of the moth traces, the dust and animal hairs/ and will make sure it will stay in that condition.

Trying to take a better photo of the collar emblem:

[Theodor]

the Police buttons

[Theodor]

the breeches with wide light blue line

[Theodor]

aglet detail - the original fine sky-blue color is seen in the middle

[Theodor]

and finally the aglet end piece

[Mervyn Mitton]

The crown on top at the end of the aigulette almost makes it into a tipstaff - as were used in the UK. The rampant lion is also very similar to the Scottish type, with 'feathers' around the body. Please forgive my lack of knowledge on Bulgaria - but, whose Crown was this - in other words - what dynasty and how long did they have power. This new section is providing some excellent material - and ( see Korea post ) some better looking models !!

[Mike Dwyer]

The crown on top at the end of the aigulette almost makes it into a tipstaff - as were used in the UK. The rampant lion is also very similar to the Scottish type, with 'feathers' around the body. Please forgive my lack of knowledge on Bulgaria - but, whose Crown was this - in other words - what dynasty and how long did they have power. This new section is providing some excellent material - and ( see Korea post ) some better looking models !!

Mervyn,

The current Royal House of Bulgaria is a branch of the German family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the same family as Prince Albert who married Princess, later Queen, Victoria. On 7 July 1887 Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1861-1948) was elected Prince of Bulgaria. He proclaimed himself Tsar on 5 October 1908 when Bulgaria declared it's independence from the Ottoman Empire. Burgaria was allied with Germany and Austria during WW1. To save the throne, Ferdinand abdicated on 3 October 1918 and his son became Boris III (1894-1943), and then his son Simeon II (1937-still living) occupied the throne from 1943 until 1946 when he was forced into exile.

Edited May 13, 2009 by Mike Dwyer

[Theodor]

Mervin, Mike explained it very well. To make the picture more complete, the longer story is, that in 681 the Bulgarians established their country at the Balkans /coming from the East/. The country grew to a large and powerful kingdom, until the ottoman turks invaded the Balkans and in 1396 the last Bulgarian fortress was conquered. The country vanished, but the people not. There were many revolts through the centuries, but the land remained a part of the Ottoman Empire. Finally in 1878, the Russian Empire fought yet another war against the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria was re-established.

The first ruler was prince Alexander I /von Battenberg/, he was a great guy, but with Russian pressure he was sent back the Germany. And a new ruler was invited - Ferdinand Saxe Coburg Gotha... a poor choice, but I was not there to tell them

The wars of Bulgaria:

1885 Serbian-Bulgarian War. In 1878 Bulgaria was in fact cut in two. The Bulgarians secretly prepared to unite and in 1885 joined the two parts. It was expected that the Ottoman Empire, having nominal supremacy over the two parts, will attack. It did not. The Serbian Kingdom did! Attacked by surprise from the West, while the main Bulgarian troops were in the South /not that they would manage to stop the Ottomans, but were there a least to try/. The border units sacrificed themselves, holding the Serbian advance as long as possible. The forces from the Southern border managed to arrive, attack and throw the Serbian army back to its own country. Bulgaria managed to defend its right to be united

1912 Balkan war - an alliance of the Balkan countries / Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece/ attacked the Ottoman Empire, in order to liberate more of their lands, which were still in possession of the Ottomans. The war was a great success for the attackers, the Ottomans were pushed far back towards Constantinople.

1913 Second Balkan war - pressure built inside the allied countries for the liberated territories, the other countries made a secret union against Bulgaria. King Ferdinand decided to fight against his former allies. Not a real war, but mainly to make some noise and thus to backup the Bulgarian claims when the Balkan allies were planning the new borders in the Balkans. The situation at the new frontline was changing - at first the Bulgarians attacked and gained some territory, then the Government stopped the war action /the king had started it on his own/, then the Serb and Greek armies advanced, then the Bulgarian army managed to push both back and the situation turned very much in its favor..... and in this moment Romania, having been out of the hostilities so far, attacked Bulgaria in the back! The Romanian army marched through half of the country, reached the capital, there were no armies to stop it! Bulgaria was defeated by that coward attack. Using the situation, the Ottoman armies attacked and regained the lands, that were liberated by Bulgaria in the previous year.

1915 Bulgaria joined Germany in the First World War. Participated in the defeat of Romania /had some reasons to do it, I think! /, but the longest battles were at the South front, the Saloniki front, where the Bulgarian armies faced a very long trench warfare against British, French, Serbian, Greek, Russian armies. In 1918 the allies attacked an ill protected part of the front and managed to break through the Bulgarian lines. Instead of fighting, pushed by leftist traitors, many troops turned against the Bulgarian capital and tried to make a revolution. The deserters revolt army was defeated, but the country was out of the war.

In the Second World War, king Boris tried to play neutral. Close related to Germany in the economy, but politically neutral. That ended, when Germany had to attack Greece and Yugoslavia - the Germans were at the Danube, so the king had no choice, but join the Axis. Let the Germans as friends or fight them - a nice choice However when Germany attacked the USSR, the king refused to delare war - and kept diplomatic relationship with the USSR through the whole war. It was the USSR that declared war to Bulgaria in September 1944 and invaded the country, the local communists making a coup at the same time, on 9 September. The war actions in WW2 were mainly in 3 directions: air war against the Allies. The USAAF and the RAF made heavy attacks on the capital and some other cities and the Bulgarian fighter forces fought against them. Second was the fighting against Yugoslavian, Greek and later Bulgarian partisans, but these were just local actions, involving some army units. Finally, starting in September 1944, the Bulgarian army was attached to the 3rd Ukrainian Front and sent to fight against Germany. A pointless and useless war, the Bulgarians did some dirty job for the Russians, several thousand troops died for what... for nothing, because with the active participation of the USSR, the country was placed among the losers of WW2.

After WW2, the country was "given" to the USSR, communist regime established and Bulgaria became a Socialist Republic. In 1989 things turned for the better, the country started in good direction, though there is yet a long way to go.

Edited May 13, 2009 by Theodor

[Theodor]

Now back to the Bulgarian Police. It always had a lot of work After the Liberation in 1878, there were lots of gangs of robbers, it took time and battles to get rid of them. After the Balkan Wars and especially after the WW1, there were again too much robbers and gangs through the country. But after the WW1, the situation turned for the worse, as a strong commie movement appeared. In 1923 the commies tried to make a national uprising, a civil war. It ended in a bloodshed, but since then the commies were a great concern for the Police. Their criminal activities were endless - killing, robbing, plotting against the state. In 1925 tried to kill the king in a mountain pass - injured the driver, stopped the king;s car, killed his companion /a Botanics profesor/, but the king returned fire and the assassins fled. Then - plan B - the commies shot a popular Bulgarian general. At his funeral, they exploded the Saint Nedelya church above the crowd! The idea was to kill king Boris, along with the elite of the country. However, the king was late and was not there for the explosion! Still 213 people were killed, including many women and children, with over 500 injured. That was the worst terroristic attack in Bulgaria - and in fact in the world at that time! The commies were always a treat for the country - and for the Police. It was a two decades long battle. Yes, indeed many commies were shot in battles with the Police, also many were arrested, beaten and tortured /and after the 1925 terror act, many were arrested and killed/, but after all I still find excuses for the Police, it had to keep the order of the country against a hidden and mean enemy, trying to turn everything upside down. And find no excuse for the commies.

the text became too long and probably boring , but at least it reveals the reason why the Bulgarian policemen were always armed!

[Theodor]

To compensate the boring text, some interesting /I hope!/ photos

A Bulgarian Police Officer, must be the 1930s parade uniform

[Theodor]

The late 1930s, Bulgarian Policemen on official visit to their Yugoslavian colleagues in Beograd.

[Theodor]

A Police rally in the late 1930s. Notice the Police helmets with spikes :love: Fantastic pieces, seems only higher ranks had them, noone here has seen one preserved, these are HARD to find even on a photo! I will always hope that one piece has survived somewhere, but the chances are dim :mad:

[Theodor]

A portrait photo of the officer, probably a summer tunic from the same time period, like my tunic.

[Theodor]

Last for now, a bit out of focus, but he is wearing the same uniform type like mine :cheers:

[sambolini]

Such condition is usually considered not for a collection, but some things are so rare, that the condition is not important!

Wow!,

That's an understatement in this case. Great uniform and very interesting thread. Many thanks for showing this to the forum.

Kind regards,

Sam K.

[Mervyn Mitton]

I don't think you have any need to apolgise for - 'boring posts' - they were far from that, and in fact contained a wealth of interesting information. Together with the photos, I have, personally, greatly enjoyed this post. I hope you will have others.

[Theodor]

This came from the same source and most likely belonged to the same policeman! I know, this time the condition is................... but the price was symbolic, the emblems and chincord are good, rare and original, again to mention it belonged to the same man probably....

After the introduction - that's it, or what's left of it :banger:

[Theodor]

emblem