erikscollectables

I have the same one but in this case for the 1st class Silver Bravery Medal.

It belongs to a complete set I have including the medals.

Maybe interesting to share some research into numbers awarded of these and their relative scarcity compared to the German EKI and EKII. I have made this for a small article I am writing but the numbers are discutable in some regards so please view this as a comparison and not (yet) sound scientific research.

Silver Bravery Medal 1st Class Equals EKI officially but also very close in their relative number of awards, STM1 1 of every 55 people that were mobilized during the war would have one compared to 1 of every 63 men for the EKI

The Silver Bravery Medal 2nd class officially equals the the EKII but in reality was awarded relativley much less.

I just saw the pictures does not work out will change it asap

Austro Hungarian Army Number of mobilized 7.800.000 1914-1918 Award Number Perc. Op people Aw/Mil GTM 5000 0,06% 1560 STM1 143000 1,83% 55 STM2 581000 7,45% 13 BTM 1200000 15,38% 7 Total 1929000 24,73% 4 German Army Number of mobilized 13.400.000 1914-1918 Award Number Perc. Op people Aw/Mil EK1 218000 1,63% 61 EK2 5000000 37,31% 3 Total 5218000 38,94% 3

Regards, Erik

Looks like a correct Kautsch example.

Weight of the 1st and 2nd Class silver bravery medal are the same so obviously the 1st class has to be quite a bit thinner.

Should have a silver mark on the rim somewhere, sometimes hard to see but real silver examples from the war period should have this.

Regards, Erik

He must have been at least an officer as this is the officers belt and dagger.

Very nice and quite rare with a lot of copies floating around.

No pictures of himself in uniform? That might help!

Erik

Merit Order

Do you think this is an original?

unknown to me patch

RAF insignia for use on the arms I think?

Early badge ?

A good badge but hard to say how early - can you see a makers mark beneath the prongs?

Very interesting study on the 1944 badges and the book seems very promising too! Just one question: where is it available from?

Now some illustrations and identifications from the Zeidler book I have mentionned: as you can see austere line drawings from the 80's.

Three words of caution:

1) the period covered is 20's and 30's.

2) As is is a book in landscape format, I post the images so that they are not cut. I disclaim liability for stiff necks

Nice, thanks. I thougth no 77 was of a later date. I have a very nice picture of that one being worn - will look it up.

Erik

By the way the book I mentioned is by the same author:

Sallay Gergely Pal - seregszemle femben, zomancban - a Magyar kiralyi honvedseg es a leventemozgalom jelvenyei - 1938-1945

An article about the M 1944 Qualification Badges:

http://lweidemannhv....FALL%202009.pdf

Very nice article in English - did not know this one - very nice!

Very interesting pics, thank you for sharing.

The whole range of Hungarian badges prior to and during WW II have been described and illustrated in a kind of "fanzine" pamphlet by someone called Sandor Zeidler under the title:

Leistungs-Ehrenabzeichen der österreichisch-ungarischen Armee .

As the title suggests, it covers also the WWI and pre-WWI badges of the Austria-Hungary Army.

Sometimes, it appears on e-bay or in Abebooks sells. I may post some pages, just in case someone is interested.

There is a very good, recent book about all the Badges in use in the Hungarian army between 1922-1945.

Will find the title and add it here - it is a must have for those interested - unfortunately the text is in Hungarian but captions are in English so at least you get a name for each badge in English.

Hi Markgraf,

Thanks for the info!

Regards, Erik

Not so long ago I bought this belt.

The seller thought it is a Rakosi era Hussar belt (for officers or enlisted men?)

Is this correct?

Probbly a few of these were found somewhere in storage as there were multiple for sale at different places, all in unused condition. After that (about a year ago) I have not seen any for sale anymore....

Who knows more?

Regards, Erik

I am trying to get a complete set of the M1944 Hungarian qualification badges but it seems they are quite rare.

This is what I got so far (I do not live in Hungary which certainly does not make it easier...).

Here anothe one - without date but same period based on the style

A 1947 Military Sports price.

At first glance it looks very much pre 1945.

But on the front the crown is missing and on the back you can find a year - 1947

It took me me some time to realize this Soldbuch was special.

On the first page it mentions religion - in this case it says ISR - so somebody of the Jewish faith.

On another pagy you can see he was part of a Military Labour Unit.

In the beginning of the war these units were seen as a big risk of dying (especially by the Jewish who could no longer be in regular units). Later in the war it was seen as one of the few ways not to be deported so a chance of surviving.

By the looks of this booklet this is one of those persons. He joined in 1943 and the booklet is filled up to March 1945 which makes it very probable that he survived the entire war!

So I bought it as regular Soldbuch but it indeed was a rare find!

Regards, Erik

For more info on this order in English you could visit my website on the them

Www.vitez.6x.to

It would seem that the correct translation of the certificate depicted above is in order.

The certificate states that the recipient is entitled to wear the Jubilee Merit Cross which commemorates the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Vitez Order.

It in NO way confers the title of VITEZ upon the the recipient of this document.

Yep I would agree with this.

In the original Vitez order no foreigners were accepted - so you will see no German in WW2 with the order.

There are multiple current day Vitez orders none of which are state orders but "private" chivalric orders - there has been some competition between them. I know some bestow a variation of the Vitez order without the sword to Foreigners for services rendered.

The Hungarian state Order of Vitez was ended by the "Socialists" in 1945.

Erik - www.vitez.6x.to

The two booklet to the right are end of the 40s and 1950 respectively but rare so I kept them as well....

Forgot to mention the top right one is the Hungarian - Russian Friendship group membership card, 1950

And the one below the National Farmers association membership card from 1950

This does not really qualify as an document - it is a voting paper.

Interesting because of the name on the top left - the upcoming Kadar Janos....

Regards, Erik

I like documents a lot too (although I collect pre 1945, especially the vitez order) I have a soft spot for early Party Documents.

Here are mine from 1945/46.

The Red booklet is interesting as it was made out to a vitez - the title still being named at that time - clearly not a communist title

The two booklet to the right are end of the 40s and 1950 respectively but rare so I kept them as well....

Regards, Erik

Dear all,

I am new to this forum but am enjoying it greatly!

Just added my partisan booklet and badge numbers and pictures although I do not collect anything after 1945 some items came into my hands and stayed.

This medal is one of these.

A few questions:

*Is there anybody with something similair from the earlier Congresses (this is the 3rd according to the text)?

*Would this have been handed out to all participants or only to some - or even purchased privately?

Regards, Erik

Dear Jeff,

This is a superb piece. Is it in private hands?

I run a small website on the Military Order of William (in Dutch I am afraid) - can I use these photo's for that website (www.mwo.6x.to)?

Officially the breast star was an embroidered piece of cloth. The neckribbon would have had a gold cross.

Most recipients had the means to have a gold breast star made and did so and as these tended to survive better they are the only ones you see. Even the King had examples made in metal to be handed out by himself as he did not seem to see it fit to hand out embroidered crosses to high ranking officials outside of the Netherlands.

Best regards, Erik Naberhuis