Carol I

I have found some more images of Romanian fourrageres and since I do not want to 'hijack' the other threads where they were mentioned (Russian Soldiers Awards to Romanian Soldiers and Lanyard) I decided to start a new thread on this topic. I will copy/paste here the relevant posts regarding these fourrageres.

Browsing through the files in my computer I have stumbled upon this image of a certificate for this badge from an auction of La Galerie Numismatique. The decoration was called "The Distinction Sign of the National Red Cross Society". The text on the certificate reads: "National Red Cross Society of Romania Certificate for the Distinction Sign The distinction sign was awarded to [name missing] for the contribution brought to the works of the National Red Cross Society."

Paul, I am afraid that I cannot help you very much on the evaluation. The 1st class of the Queen Mary Cross appears to be a rare award and hence of high value. I have seen such pieces fetching several hundred euros at auctions, but they were not on bars. I do not know how the value of an order or a medal is influenced by the inclusion in the bar in general (I do not collect medal bars) or in this particular case when we speak about a neck badge. The Orders of the Star and of the Crown are more frequent, but not that cheap and there are three of them on the bar. You have also been offered the certificates and that would be a plus for the value and for the price. But I would add another thing. The change in regime in Romania after WWII made the royal awards obsolete and even dangerous for the bearer. There was therefore a short time window to make bars out of WWII awards and an even shorter one with occasions to wear them publicly. This means that authentic bars are rather rare and this is an attractive point for fakers. There have been reports of fantasy bars made out of genuine but generally damaged awards. The awards on your badge on the other hand seem in good condition. Better images would have helped, as would other opinions of people who handled Romanian medal bars. Furthermore, researching Romanian awards is rather difficult. Military archives include information on the awards and awardees, but this information has not yet been published (with the exception of a good, but apparently incomplete book on the Military Order of Michael the Brave) and accessing the original files seems rather difficult. Here is a link to the Military Archives if you would like to give it a try. Coming back to the lot you were offered, where is the Order of Michael the Brave? This is indeed a prestigious and very rare award which if authentic could make up for a large part of the price the seller asked.

The certificates in the images you've posted appear to be original. In general, WWII certificates for the lower classes of the Romanian orders are made of thick paper, with the stamp-signature of the Minister of Defense and the hand-signature of the Human Resources Manager (Directorul Personalului). Certificates for higher classes or higher ranked orders are hand signed.

Only now have I noticed that a lower class badge of the Order of Queen Mary Cross is indeed present on the medal bar. As Major Mavru did receive a lower class of the order on 14 April 1943, the concern expressed in post no. 13 has to be disregarded.

The full text reads: "We Minister State Secretary at the Department of National Defense certify that through High Decree No. [...] of 23 December 1943(?) His Majesty the King awarded the Order of the Star of Romania with swords in the rank of Knight to Medic Major Mavru Aurel of the 19th Infantry Division for the devotion and skills shown in the war against Soviet Russia." This is another disagreement with the medal bar. The badge on the bar is on the Military Virtue ribbon, but the certificate does not mention it. The Military Virtue ribbon denoted direct contact with the enemy and its presence was mentioned on the certificate (see below a typical example).

One more question mark here. The cross on the bar appears to be the 1st class of the Order of Queen Mary Cross, while this is an award certificate for the 2nd class. The full text reads: "We Minister State Secretary at the Department of National Defense certify that through High Decree No. 1035 of 14 April 1943 His Majesty the King awarded the Order of Queen Mary Cross 2nd class to Medic Major Mavru I. Aurel of the Ambulance of the 19th Division for the devotion and skills shown in the war against Soviet Russia."

Hi Paul! Interesting images, although rather small. In the first, one could see the 1st class of the Order of Queen Mary Cross with war ribbon, the Knight's cross of the Order of the Star of Romania with swords and Military Virtue ribbon, the Officer's cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania (2nd type) with swords and Military Virtue ribbon, the Knight's cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania (first type), 1st and 2nd class of the Sanitary Merit Cross on war ribbon, the badge for 25 years in service and the Commemorative medal for the Centennial of King Carol I. Interesting bar, but it raises some questions. 1. The 1st class of the Order of Queen Mary Cross was worn on the neck, hence I find it odd to see it on a bar. 2. I was surprised to see the Order of Queen Mary Cross before the Order of the Star of Romania (but maybe 'they' thought that the 1st class of the former is more important than the 5th class of the latter, which was actually the case). 3. As far as I know the Officer's cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania ranked above the Knight's cross of the Order of the Star of Romania, so there might be another breach of the regulations in their relative placement on the bar. I would however have to mention that the rules for making bars have not been thoroughly observed in Romania, so my comments could be just 'theoretical' ones.

Paul, there is no MAVRU AUREL in the published list of the Knights of the Order of Michael the Brave. The list however is not complete, so if the name is correct there still is a chance that you have stumbled upon an unlisted knight. But this means that you will have to look carefully at the awards and the certificates. "Reproductions" of Romanian orders are unfortunately known to exist... So do not be afraid to ask for images at this stage.

I'll check the name this evening. Meanwhile, can you post some images of the awards and the certificates that come with them?

What do you mean by "Michael Cross", is it the Order of Michael the Brave? Do you have the date of the award or at least the period in which the officer was active? Can you please check the name, "Mavru Aurul" sounds odd (maybe it's "Aurel")?

Sorry to hear that Matvey. Let us hope that there will be no more wars.

What is your source for identifying the red fourragere with blue stripes as that for the Order of Michael the Brave? The book by Safta and collaborators on Romanian war decorations states that the red fourragere with blue stripes was that of the Military Virtue Medal, while that of the Order of Michael the Brave was dark red with gold stripes. Anyhow, it is clear that the pairing in one of the sets above is wrong.

I am very glad to hear that Matvey. Nevertheless, I still think that it would be a good idea to let ONCE know about the find. If that is a personal ID badge, maybe they will add the information to a file. There still are tousands of "MIA"-labelled files, while such oval badges continue to appear for sale (sometimes even only halves, thus suggesting grave robbing). Remember that behind each such tag there has been a human being, with a family waiting for him. I will give you only an example, my wife's grandfather. He was a school teacher called under arms as a 2nd lieutenant in the 37th Infantry Regiment. He was wounded at Odessa in 1941 and has received two or three weeks convalescence leave to visit his family (wife, a boy and a girl). Then he left again for the front line and he never came home. He was only 30 (younger than most of the people on this forum), yet we keep referring to him as "grandfather". His children never received any veteran pension from the state as he went missing on the Eastern front (being drafted for service on the Eastern front was considered a crime during the communist regime). The cruel irony is the fact that in his last letter home he tried to encourage his wife by saying that whatever happened to him they will be provided for. Do not forget what hides behind the acronym "MIA": the uncertainty, the waiting, the endless and most of the time pointless hope. My wife's grandmother had waited for her husband her whole life. "Maybe he will be back tomorrow." "People did come back from prison camps 10-15 years later." "His own brother came back that may years after the war. Why not him?" And so on for more than 40 years. More than they have been together. More than he lived.

Another image from another auction of La Galerie Numismatique where a certificate for the fourragere of the Star of Romania is paired with a blue fourragere with red stripes.

Another image from another auction of La Galerie Numismatique where a certificate for the fourragere of the Star of Romania is paired with a mainly blue fourragere.

Interesting story, Dragomir, wherefrom did you find it? Do you have some more details? Anyhow, I do not think that this is the reason why they forced King Mihai to abdicate. They got this idea quite a long time before. And it is said that the most important fact that sped things up was the announcement of King Mihai that he intended to get married. And to make things worse, this came after he surprisingly returned from the marriage of Princess Elisabeth of Great Britain when the communist government hoped that he would voluntarily remain in exile.

I could not see any rank insignia (on the three in front at least) so I concluded they were only privates. I am curious why this picture was taken. I do not think that it is a simple snapshot, so I guess the people prepared in advance for the photo (this is why they seem freshly spruced up). But was it for a demonstration of the machine gun (with the occasion of an inspection maybe)? Was it only a martial memento of their war service?

Maybe they were new conscripts for 1927 who did not see service in WWI.

The Romanian Order of Michael the Brave was closed in October 1944, so he must have received the successor, the Order of Michael the Brave with Swords.

I forgot to mention Prince Henrik of Denmark. Quite a lot of awards for him as well.

I have never thought of that. Thanks.

Do you think the chest or at least the compartments in it are new? The way I remember it, the chest looked rather old, with leather labels with the name of each order.