hunyadi

HFJ - I can only go off of my Hungarian book which translates it to (as the type you have) as "A Magyar Szent Korona-rend Kozepkeresztje CSillaggal, Hadidiszitmennyel es Kardokkal." In English - "The Hungarian Order of the Holy Crown Middle Cross [with] Star, War Decoration and Swords." So - commanders cross - I am sure that it may have been called that as well at some time by someone.

Hmm - with a date of 1942 on the reverse of the medal, I am going to assume then that this was an order created in 1942 but not authorised until 1943. So there were probably some very 'retroactive' awards. Much as I have seen with the Fire Cross - insituted in 1941, but can be found with the marks of 1938 and 1940 on them for the returen of Upper Hungary and Transyvania...

Hi Henry - If the officer was awarded the Order then he was probably in direct contact with the Hungarian troops in Army Group South. If you know his unit, it can probably help. He may have been an officer on the Don River Front whose unit was put in between the Hungarian and Romanina divisions (who began to fight eachother while the Russians on the other side of the river looked on with bewildered glee!) However he could not have been awarded it in 1942 as the award was not created until 1943. But there may have been some retroactive awards I am sure. As for rarity - it is very rare as the Horthy government was disbanded in late 1944 - so the award was only distributed for about a year. At this time, to my knowledge there is no concrete paperwork that tells how many were awarded, but a resarch trip to the Hungarian Military Musuem is in the cards for this week.

Never even seen a document to a 59'er... It took me three years to find my 69'. Probably most of these documents are now under a playground that was a landfill.

Hello - Dont have a photo of one. But here is a brief translation from "Nagy Magyar Kitunteteskonyv" 2005. Order of the Holy Hungarian Crown 1943 Order was insituted by Regent Admiral Miklos Horhty on March 17th 1943 to recognise the efforts of forein individuals who assisted Hungary durign the war effort. It was also intended to be awarded at the conclusion of the war to foreign individuals who further assisted the Hungarian nation. The order was broken down into 8 classes. 5 "classiscal" forms and 3 medal forms. Each class came in two distinctions. 1) with swords to be awarded to soldeirs who either through direct bravery or through battle plannning asssited the Hugnarian war effort. 2) For foreign civilains who throgh their diplomatic, economic, or personal service rendered help to the Hungarian nation. 1st class (large cross)was a white enameled cross with a central image of the Holy Hungarian Crown the cross was 56mm from tip to tip and was suspended on a red 100mm wide shoulder ribbon (sash). With the addition of a green enameled laurel wreath running between the arms of the cross gave the distinction for wartime issue (all awardd examples of this class have this feature for natural reasons) for the award to soldeirs the addtion of crossed swords and the laurel wreath are added betwen the arms. In addition to the sash order a breast star with rays that reach out 90mm from tip to tip and central to the 8 rays of the star is a white enameled cross 50mm in diameter with a central image of the Holy Hungarian Crown. This also follwos the form of having laurel wreath for wartime and the additon of crossed swords for soldeirs. 2nd Class (middle cross star) is a cross worn at the neck the cross is 52mm in diameter and also an 8 rayed breast star 80mm in diameter with a 40mm cross central to the star 3rd Class (middle cross)is a cross worn at the neck the cross is 52mm in diameter 4th Class (officers cross) is a pinback cross 50mm in diameter 5th Class (knights cross) is a 42mm cross suspended from a red trifold ribbon (these are the end of the "classical" forms) 6th Class (gold) 42mm gilded cross hung from a red trifold ribbon 7th Class (silver) 42mm silver plated cross hung from a red trifold ribbon 8th Class (bronze) 42mm bronze cross hung from a red trifold ribbon All classes follow the addtion of wreath for war, swords for solders, or without for civilain. Sorry again - no photos

Hi Fkr - Here is what I mean by the casting bubbles. I only point this out as I see alot of the one piece cast copies having this trait and lead alloy will also look like zinc. That being said there were hundreds of variations and methods of making EK's during and between the wars. Have a look at this thread to see what other EK's were made and the quality of them compared to this example http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=14086

The 'gold device' is the backing plate for the ribbon bar. It slides onto the ribbon bar and the pin backs with clutches are meant to mount the ribbon on the uniform.

Soccer Mom from hell.....

Are you sure that its zinc? To me it looks like one of the lead / alloy copies made from the 1970's to present day. Lots of pits to the core area where the casting cooled improperly. I would have expected a zinc one piece to have been die struck - not cast?

Rick - completely agree with you - I doubt that much will happen - but doing somethign that I was taught to do way back in the 1970's as a part of my civic duty sticks with me. So doing nothing is just not an option for me. I was probably overly confident that the OMSA was going to be my voice and right the wrongs - but that was wrong thinking. If I dont do anythign - then I have no room to complain. So I can go to bed at night and sleep knowing I did my best. Soldier on. Soldier on.

Hello All US Citizens - Below is a copy of a form letter that I have made with the help of Ed's letter that he sent to his congresman. Please if the SVA upstets you as much as it does me - use this as a base and write your congressmen and women to alert them to this pice of legislation. Also to help your efforts get noticed. Place a smiliar letter to the editor of your newspapers. Apparently many politicians have individuals on thier staff who read the editorials and bring them to the attention of the congressmen/women. In the editorial you should put in that you have contacted the politicians and you are awiaing a reply. "put the ball in their court" In the letter below, I have made a few suggestions in bold that should not be put into the letter but are guidelines. Dear Senator XXXXXXX Thank you for taking the time to read my letter concerning an issue of recent legislation known as the Stolen Valor Act. I shall remain optimistic that you will help correct this issue as you have a record supporting our troops, their memory and the rights of citizens. (what politician is going to arge that they dont support the troops?) Currently as written, the Stolen Valor Act has a dreadful, and presumably unintended consequences over which I, and many others, are severely troubled. This bill was signed into law by President Bush in December 2006 and took effect on 1 January 2007. From the beginning of its inception, the sponsors in the House and Senate claimed that the intent of the Stolen Valor Act was to punish those who falsely claim to have received US military decorations and accolades, and to close the ?Medal of Honor loop-hole? as to the sale of this one particular medal. It is my firm belief that the Stolen Valor Act, as currently written is not going to accomplish its intended purpose. One such result of the legislation is that our brave men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are turned into criminals if they mail a Silver Star or other bravery medals home for safe keeping. This is of course only one of the outrageous effects of this law. I am the great grandson, the grandson and the son of men who have served this great nation in World War One, World War Two and the Cold War. My grandfather who served with the 7th Bomber Group in the China Burma India theatre of World War Two flew over 42 combat missions. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and other such awards for his bravery in the face of extreme danger. Sadly this nations hero has passed away in 2006. With the current language of the Stolen Valor Act, any of my family members or I are deemed as criminals should any of us inherit these medals that he received for his bravery as the medals would somehow have to be ?shipped? or ?mailed? for any of us to receive them into our possession. As the wording states in Section 704, paragraph A, the code reads, [it is illegal for anyone] ?Whoever knowingly wears, purchases, attempts to purchase, solicits for purchase, mails, ships, imports, exports, produces blank certificates?? (here you should probably put a personal story of how this law affrcts you!) In addition, it has damaged the ability of patriotic Americans, like myself, to preserve American history. Many people like myself, collect, research and preserve US medals and decorations. I spend my own hard earned money to purchase these medals when the family of the soldier has died off and for unknown reasons the surviving family members simply do not want to keep them in their possession. It is my desire that every family cherished these medals as much as I do, but this is simply not the case in so many countless instances. Being an individual who has these medals in my possession, it would be absolutely be the farthest thought in my mind to wear any of them or make any false statements about them being bestowed upon me by our great government and I would never associate with anyone who did so! In addition many people as well as myself take up the challenge to protect these medals in our possession and the memory of the soldier who earned them. Through a lengthy process at the National Archives and various other libraries these medals are then researched and the memory of these soldiers are preserved for the future. All of this work is now in danger because of the Stolen Valor Act. I ask you to please think of how much this law, as written, hurts the preservation of American history and the ability of our citizens to honor the memory of those who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms we all enjoy now. This law does not protect these medals from abuse, but in many cases condemns them to being literally thrown away into the garbage. Even prior to this law there have been many documented cases where individuals such as myself have literally found Purple Hearts and Silver Stars and their documentation in the garbage after estate sales. In addition to this, the exchange of such medals will now be only legal overseas and consequently foreigners will be the only ones who can legally trade in United States valor medals. This is exactly what happened to the Congressional Medal of Honor since the ban on its sale in the US when into affect. It has also come to my attention that the Department of Defense also opposes this legislation as written because it will force them to devote manpower and resources urgently need elsewhere, to issuing and tracking medals for service personnel and veterans. Organizations such as the Orders and Medals Society of America, which is made up of collectors and researchers of military medals, are actively working with the Institute of Heraldry to amend the CFR to fix this issue as well. Please help us to correct this injustice. The solution should be as easy as amending the Stolen Valor Act (Code of Federal Regulations Title 32, part 507) in Section 704. If the phrase ?with fraudulent intent? was added to paragraph A, where the code reads, ?Whoever knowingly wears, purchases, attempts to purchase, solicits for purchase, mails, ships, imports, exports, produces blank certificates, ? barters or exchanges anything of value with fraudulent intent?? the issue would surely be solved. Thank you once again for taking the time to read this letter. I look forward to hearing from you soon about the steps we can take to amend this law, yet still punish those who disgrace the memory of our servicemen and women by trying to claim unearned accolades. Sincerely,

I can find a diamond at the corner jewlrey shop every day. But I know what you mean. Its been five years of looking to find such a group as this. Sometimes you can find buts and pieces - but this thing is so amazingly complete. Will post more pictures later.

Thanks Ed - With that letter as a base, I think that I can calmly write an apropriate letter.

Spot on Gordon! I will see what the Blue Bible says as it has many references to the Socialist Brigade and was published in 1977 - so it should have the post 1964 infomration.

And the most rare item. Here is his offcial Hungarian documnet certiying that he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class! Becuase of the stigma and fear of reprisals after the fall of Hungary to the Red Army - almost all of such documentation was destroyed during the war. The only other document that I have encountered in the last 5 years was an Ostfront Medal.

Ormester Joseph was not only a good shot with the flack gun - but not too bad of an artist either! Some letters he sent home to his family and some letters from a girlfriend!

the cut out photo is supposedly that of hanged partisans (not a good thing to have during the commnist times of Hungary - probably fear of someone finding out that he might have participated in such activites.)

More KIA's and a reare treat during Christmas of 1941 - a fully butchered pig!

more photos of downed aircraft and KIA's (lower left is a body in the road with men walking by)

One of the interesting momentos - what appears to be an identity photo of a Soviet naval man. From what I can translate - its not a town next to the date, but a slang term for 'frozen'.

Photo of the grave marker of a fallen comrade - plack verifies the same unit as the paperwork of the lot.

The rest of the first album is filled with more photos of the occupation - even a photo of Nazi Party members on parade in Eszek about 10 km west of the Danube in Bacska! Here is the next photo album that begins with Army Group South during the fall of 1941. Photo of a downed Soviet light bomber and a series of photos of a funeral.

One of the more disturbing photos - it would appear to be either partisans or a 'reprisal' against Serb nationalists who would attack the occupying forces. In January of 1942 at Ujvidek/Novi Sad the Hungarains rounded up 7000 individuals for suspected pratisan activity and excecuted nearly 2000 before the acting officers were stopped. The two Hungarian offciers General Feketehalmi - Czeydner and Col Grassy were indicted on war crimes - the first war crime of WW2. The trial never finsihed as the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944 and the preceedings were canceled. This photo is from Zombor about 60KM from Ujvidek and is probably from 1941 as by 1942 this unit was already in the Soviet Union.

Here is some photos of the border crossing during the Balkan campaign. Also in the upper right is a photo of a 'Burned out Jewish Temple'.

some great shots of the prime movers as well. Both photo albums have photos of them 'testing' the limits of the half tracks by putting them in teh ditch and drawing them out. The Citadella refers to the Citadel on the Buda side. There is a fortress from the 1800's built there. Prior to WW2 a flak pad was built there to defend the skies from enemy bombers. During the war the Allies bombed it several times as the flack center was pesky to the bombers.