Carol I

The Romanian medals most likely are the Faithful Service Cross with swords (light blue ribbon) and the Medal for Steadfastness and Loyalty with swords (yellow ribbon). The Bulgarian one could be the Bravery Cross.

From the "1914-1918" exhibition at the Army Museum in Brussels

CAROL I KING OF ROMANIA 20 APRIL 1839 - 27 SEPTEMBER (OLD STYLE) / 10 OCTOBER (NEW STYLE) 1914 ELECTED TO THE THRONE OF ROMANIA IN 1866, DURING HIS 48 YEARS REIGN (THE LONGEST IN ROMANIAN HISTORY) HE OVERSAW A PROFOUND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ROMANIAN STATE, INCLUDING FULL INDEPENDENCE FROM THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN 1877 AND PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM IN 1881. FEARFUL OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION, IN 1883 HE SIGNED A SECRET TREATY LINKING ROMANIA WITH THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE TO PROTECT IT FROM A POSSIBLE ATTACK. WHEN WWI BROKE OUT, CAROL DISCLOSED THE DETAILS OF THE TREATY TO THE CROWN COUNCIL CONVENED ON 3 AUGUST 1914 CONVINCED THAT THE HONOURABLE THING TO DO WAS TO ENTER THE WAR SUPPORTING THE GERMAN EMPIRE AND HIS RELATIVE, EMPEROR WILHELM II (CAROL WAS A HOHENZOLLERN-SIGMARINGEN BY BIRTH). THE CROWN COUNCIL MEMBERS STRONGLY DISAGREED AS GERMANY WAS NOT THE VICTIM OF AN ATTACK, OPTING IN THE END FOR NEUTRALITY. KING CAROL CONCEDED DEFEAT AND DIED TWO MONTHS LATER, ON 10 OCTOBER 1914, ALLEGEDLY OF A BROKEN HEART FROM BEING OVERRULED IN THE CROWN COUNCIL. FERDINAND KING OF ROMANIA 24 AUGUST 1865 - 20 JULY 1927 FERDINAND SUCCEEDED HIS UNCLE ON THE THRONE OF ROMANIA FOLLOWING THE LATTER'S DEATH IN 1914. HE OVERSAW ROMANIA’S ENTRY INTO WORLD WAR I ON 27 AUGUST 1916 ON THE SIDE OF THE TRIPLE ENTENTE AND AGAINST HIS GERMAN RELATIVES, THUS GAINING THE NICKNAME ‘THE LOYAL’. THE END OF THE WAR FOUND FERDINAND THE RULER OF GREATER ROMANIA, FOLLOWING THE UNION OF BESSARABIA (OCCUPIED BY RUSSIA IN 1812), BUKOVINA (OCCUPIED BY AUSTRIA IN 1775) AND TRANSYLVANIA (WITH A MAJORITY ROMANIAN POPULATION) WITH ROMANIA IN 1918. HE RULED UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1927.

Romanian uniforms in the WWI section of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History in Brussels.

... and with the ribbon of the Military Virtue Medal.

Thanks Pieter. The orders and sceptres are in the Imperial Treasury in Vienna together with other amazing items.

X-ray images of WWI wounds from the "1914-1918" exhibition at the Army Museum in Brussels

Thanks. I know where Khotyn is. In Romanian is known as Hotin and it has an old fortress of the Principality of Moldavia.

Thank you for the translation. Too bad you could not read the town or the addresses. M. M. Glovetz lived in Romania after the 1918 union of Bessarabia and Bukovina with the country and used the name Mihail Glavatzchi. It would have been interesting to see whether he was a native of Bessarabia or of another place.

There was indeed a visit of King Carol to Brussels between 4 July/22 June and 7 July/25 June 1892. The award must be related to this because 12/24 September was a quiet day for the king according to his diary.

What kind of uniforms are these? High school? Civil service?

I would appreciate your help with translating the text on these old photographs, as well as any other details you could provide. Thank you in advance.

Do you have any details on the circumstances of the award? The certificate only says "as a sign of Our goodwill".

I have found another image of the 3rd class cross in the collections of the Royal Military Museum in Brussels and this one also has opaque enamel.

Leaving aside the enamel, the images are of two different crosses: the one to the left is the reverse of a 1941 model and the one to the right is the reverse of a 1916 model. Furthermore, the crowns surmounting the cross are quite different in the two images. Sorry.

I have taken a look in my picture archive and I have found some images of badges exhibited in the National Military Museum. Although there appears to be some variation in the shades of blue of the various crosses, they all appear to have opaque enamel. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_08_2014/post-2129-0-97498900-1408834627.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_08_2014/post-2129-0-53460700-1408834614.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_08_2014/post-2129-0-41062600-1408834605.jpg

Mobile X-ray equipment exhibited in the Italian War Museum in Rovereto.

I would not think so. The Order of the Crown of Romania was only established in 1881, it did not have a crown above the cross and it had no degree without ribbon.

One more piece of information for dating the photo. The writing on the back says "F Duschek / Strada Noua / langa Sala Slatineanu / Bucuresci" which would translate as "F Duschek / Strada Noua / by Slatineanu Hall / Bucharest". Strada Noua is the old name of Edgar Quinet Street in the centre of Bucharest and Slatineanu Hall was a reception hall which was bought in the 1870s by the Capsa brothers to expand their restaurant business. Their restaurant and coffee house soon became famous under the name "Casa Capsa" and this would date your photo not later than about 1880s.

Franz Duschek was one of the first photographers in Bucharest and official photographer of the princely court since 1867. His studio was taken over by his son, but I do not know whether his first name also started with an "F". One of the awards appear to be Ottoman and the other at least not Romanian.

Here is an image of the reverse of the commander's cross of the Order of the Union from the collections of the National Military Museum. For more images of this order, please take a look at this thread on a Romanian forum: Ordinul Unirii.

Thanks again.