hunyadi

Except for the 1946 Freedom Medal Magyar Szabads?g ?rdemrend bronz & silver fokozata. The initial version was not a trifold and was awarded to only 500 folks in 1946. Another stirke in 1947 was with the trifold. Also firemans medals of the communist era do also come with straight ribbon. Even the first form (1951) of the firemans medal under the communist rule even came with a five sided Soviet style!

Many Many thanks Dragomir! now - where to find a ribbon??? can you tell me what type of ribbon goes for the shooting medal?

No expert - but the EK1 looks to be something that was repaired in the past, but was made from original parts at least. The appearance of paint in the inner rim of the beading suggest that the core was repainted at one point when it was whole at one time. The EK's look OK to me - but the packet and the Spange are something I would avoid. But - if it was your wife that went and got them for you - remember she is probably not an expert and its not often that they go out ther and look for stuff for you. If it were my house - I would keep them as it would remind me that I have a wife who tries to get me something that is important to me. Even if cast copies - I would porbably frame them and put them on the wall for all to see - that I have a loving wife who supports my hobby. Put it in perspective - when was the last itme you knew what type of sewing machine or kitchen gadget to get for her? She smiles on Christmas day and says thanks doesnt she?

probably e-bay. But I see these as popular leather jackets made by major clothing manufactureres trying to capture the Tom Cruse "Top Gun" look with pathces that dont mean anything. I have some doubts that real military pilots actualy wear such items that often. here is probably a close example to the real thing.... http://cgi.ebay.com/Authentic-NAVY-G1-FLIG...tem190065196775

Hi Kane - are we talking about the 'bomber jacket' with the squadron patches all over them? If you have a photo of one that might help. Merry Chritsmas!

Hi Kane - What exactly is he looking for - there are several types - is he looking for a certain period? (WW2 / Korea / Nam??) If modern then there is the dress greens with patches - also the Battle Dress Uniforms (camo uniform) have pathces on them...,materials vary....

The trifold is a common design of ribbon for the Austrio Hungarian Armies as well as the Yugoslavian and I also belive Bulgarian (?) Probably some others - but predominantly the AH empire. One major factor that these become rare are - 1) Its a Prussian (German Award) - so it clasifies as a 'foreign' award. 2) The tri-fold would be worn - uniforms simply have long loops sewn to the tunic and the ribbon and medal can be hung - no big need to make a medal bar. Also you can wear all of your medals and in some respects it more convenient for storage in the closet - so the medals hang there for years - the ribbons then get worn more often and as a result - they get damaged more often - and they become more rare as the years go on. For AH awards - its easy to find the medals - original ribbons are the tough part - and the "aftermarket" business has taken off....

Being a Cold War Kid - this was my fathers war and in a way mine as well - having nightmares about nuclear holocausts...these guys were the enemy. Now I teach their kids English and have long converstations with their parents and we all laugh... But I echo alot of the previous statements - the quality is far superior that the medals and badges dad got, the hisotry, and yes the research potential - though Hungary is a tough nut to crack the research field.

the reverse

Unfortunatly the Saint Laszlo Division was uttlerly destroyed by the end. The badges one can find are nealry all ground dug. I had this one but sold it. Tragic...

and the reverse - its quite well made. One piece and brass - too bad the paint is flaking off of it.

This one I got on Ebay a while ago - its the same type as found in Preveria's book - a propoganda EK2 with the Napoleonic crown on it.

everyone ready to start filling out the forms and paying the taxes to have a "collectors licence" or "next of kin licence" or the "hisotrian licence". How about those background checks you will have to do on peope who will want to buy your DSC at the gun show or the militaria show? Of course none of this has been spoken baout in the legislation - but from the apparent wording and the promises of some senators this new law will not affect the collecotrs or the historians. So how are you going to "regulate" between a collector and a vile 'stealer of valor' on Ebay, at the gun show?, etc....Oh yea - more legislation..... Here is what I think of your Stolen Valor Act - its in the glove box of the Chevy Malibu!

Just for refrence - the wings themselves.

Here is a nice feature - the holes for the prongs of the paratrooper wings. Also notice the nap wear to the region.

the stamp

Here is the shot of the interior. Notice the padding and the manufacture stamp on the lower skirt

Though it has been posted before this is my ultra rare Paratrooper combat grade uniform to a Corporal. This is a government issued piece and is stamped for the year 1938. It has been modified for the 1939 regulations and the wearer at the same time had it modified for comfort by the addition of the breast and shoulder padding. Combat grade uniforms are devoid of this feature. There are only a handful of such uniforms in existence. (less than probably 20-25) It is beleived that this uniform was used by an individual as a parade and combat tunic and that the individual was perhaps killed in training or perhaps during the one and only combat jump made by Hungarian paratoopers during the invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. The tuic was a "closet find" with the wings. One factor for these being so rare is that in order for an individual to retain ther jump wings, they had to make a yearly quota of jumps to maintian the priveledge of wearing the wings. Many simply trnsfered out of the paratroopers and were put into the infantry (where they served valiantly) The wings on this are the early style and have been on the tunic for a long time.

Here is a detail shot of the collar. Notice how the material for the laying down collar is grafted on - professionaly though.

Though the photo's dont show it very much, the background 'green' color of this forum is more like the actual color. Here is the back of the tunic

Going to start a thread about Hungarin WW2 tunics. Several factors need to be noted. 1) Hungary was a "poor nation" and subsequently had a very small garment industry that was not able to cope with the huge demand of unifomrs required when the military was mobilized. As a result one can find a huge variety of uniforms manufactured in various ways. It was not uncommon for a soldeir to be required to manufacture his own uniform (IE - go to the tailor and get one made) This included some combat grade uniforms. Most uniforms that survive today are dress uniforms for officers as they were only brought out on rare ocasions and worn for the parades and such. However as the war progressed the demand for uniforms increased and the availability of combat uniforms decreaesed and many offciers and NCO's were sent to the front in modified (mostly by the soldier himself) dress uniforms. 2) The government of course did manufacture under licence combat grade uniforms. This consisted of a heavy wool dark brown material similar to design of the dress uniform and they are usualy stamped with manufacture marks (which thankfuly include the year of manufacture) Though this was a combat uniform and was normaly worn without any imbellishment save for rank - it is very common to find examples that have been modified to hang badges and medals on for parade use. For the summer grade uniform there are examples made of a light blue (almost faded denim shade of hue) HBT material. Again the cut is similar to the dress uniforms and again soldiers would convert these for use to wear during parade (but less often as the blue shade was not the traditional brown) 3) as stated before one can even find the combat grade uniforms that were custom made by soldeirs! Below is a recent pinacle of my collection, a Lt. Col Csendor uniform. This one was originaly a stand up collar (originaly tailored in Debrecen before 1938) and as per the 1939 regulation was converted to a laying down collar. The Csendor (Genarmerie) unfiroms are also supposed ot be a green shade (rather than the brown of the regular army) but it is not uncommon to find some very rare Csendor uniforms made from the regular army brown stock. Csendor uniforms are rare - probably one step down from Arrow Cross as they were the equivalent to the Algimenie SS (spelling?) They were used to keep the peace and quiet within the borders of Hungary and as Hungary joined in operation Barbarosa they were sent to keep the peace there as well and as a result engaged in fighting partisans - for which this Lt.Col was doing alongside German troops. He was awarded the EK2 and the EK1 for his 'acts'.

I can find at the military shows occasionaly the left-over stock for farily cheap. But when you find number 091 - you cant pass it up...

This is a 1992 era "Distinction of Merit" first Class. The medal came in three grades: 1st grade in gold with an oak leaf suspension ring and red ribbon, 2nd class in silver without the oak leaf and white ribbon and 3rd class in bronze with green ribbon. The medal was intended to reward the merits and duty of individual soldiers for their work and dedication to the Hungarian Republic (1990 to present) In 2002 this medal was replaced by the "Distinction for Service for Merit" medal. According to Large Hungarian Book of Medals Bodrogi P, Molnar J and Zeidiler S Rubicon 2005. the medal of all grades was bestowed only 300 times between 1992 and 2002. In adition issued examples were engraved with a sequential serial number.

Here is a photo that I found of a Brig General wearing a partisan badge...

Sorry - bad photo - how about this one -