steveBobby

4 hours ago, Igor Ostapenko said:

Very nice 👍 

can you make pictures of this cross ? 

Of course igor, I hope the photos satisfy you.

Yours

Steve

I'm also trying to collect them，I think this is one of the order or cross that best represents the history of Bulgaria.

Yours

Steve

Hi gjw！

very nice collection！

The Order of the Red Banner is also one of my favorite orders established by the Bulgarian People’s Republic in terms of shape.

I will show mine.

Yours

Steve

Very nice collection!

I will add my documents to this topic. Awarded, sergeant major of the 4th artillery division of His Majesty Tsar Ferdinand 1st regiment, Asen Kostadinov Velkov.

Yours

Steve

I may have a different opinion on this, I don't think it's made from Scheid, Because the last letter of the Order of Alexander produced by the manufacturer Scheid takes on the typical shape of the number "8". But the last letter shown in this topic does not have such characteristics. But in terms of manufacturing time, I think it may have come from the First World War, but it was not made by Scheid but from other manufacturers, possibly Bulgaria’s own manufacturers.

Yours

Setve

My collection of communist Hungary is not extensive at the moment, but I maintain a lot of interest in the subject. I will show mine.

Yours

Steve

On 3/19/2024 at 2:53 PM, Graf said:

Very nice observation Interesting photo indeed

I suspect that if his wife passed away he decided to carry on the her legacy.

As you see the ribbon is a lady version

Hi Graf！

Maybe what you're talking about is a possibility，But I saw in some materials that some men can also get the Mother's Medal by adopting war orphans. 

Yours

Steve

Greeting 

I think this order of St. Alexander, 6th Class with Swords, is original and has no problems. This type of order appeared widely from the First World War to throughout the era of Boris III. In addition, I did not see any clear manufacturer information on the hanging ring.

Yours

Steve

I have this photo in my collection.

Yours

Setve

I wanted to add this interesting photo to this thread, it's the only photo I've found so far of the Mother's Medal being worn by a man.

8 hours ago, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

I agree he is Todor Dimitrov Haidukov actually.

Look at the photo comparison. They are the same person.

Do you have more information about his career perhaps?

Хайдуков, Тодор(Теодор) Димитров
Роден: 27.07.1893 във Варна.
Образование: Военното училище в София (1914). Военната академия в София (1930).
Военна служба:
? - 37-ми пехотен полк;
? - 39-ти пехотен полк;
? - 1-ви пограничен участък;
1928 - Помощник-началник на Орханийското бюро за доброволци;
1929 - 2-ра интендантска дружина;
1930 - Преподавател във Военното училище;
1933 - Командир на рота в Пехотната школа;
1934 - Началник на секция в Щаба на армията;
1935 - Пехотната школа;
1935 - Началник на Оперативния отдел в Щаба на армията;
1936 - Комисията по Гражданската мобилизация;
1936 - Помощник-началник на Пехотната школа;
1938 - Началник на отделение в Щаба на армията;
1938 - Помощник-началник на Държавната военна фабрика;
1939 - Началник на Снабдителното отделение в Щаба на войската;
1939 - Временен началник на учебния отдел в Щаба на войската;
1940 - Началник на отдел ДГПМ към Пехотната школа;
1941 - Началник на социално правния отдел;
1942 - Артилерийската школа;
1942 - Щабът на 1-ва армия;
1943 - Пехотната инспекция;
1944 - В запас.
Офицерски звания:
22.11.1914 - Подпоручик;
05.12.1916 - Поручик;
01.04.1919 - Капитан;
31.10.1930 - Майор;
01.11.1934 - Подполковник;
03.10.1938 - Полковник.

Here are some details I found about him, I have not translated it into English for accuracy

On 2/27/2024 at 7:02 PM, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

I can give you some more information and also the full photo.

"Group photo of the Staff of the XXX. Army Corps and some Kriegsmarine officers from the Staff of the Naval-Commander „A“ in Bulgaria (possibly in Plovdiv) shortly before the German invasion of Greece, late March 1941.
1: Generalleutnant Eugen Ott, Tasked with the Leadership of the XXX. Army Corps (25 March 1941-10 May 1941)
2: Konteradmiral Hans Hubertus von Stosch, Naval-Commander „A“ (14 February 1941-20 April 1941)
3: Oberstleutnant i.G. Walter Botsch, Chief of the General Staff of the XXX. Army Corps (25 October 1940-01 June 1943)"

If the photo was taken in Plovdiv, then maybe the real colonel in the photo is not either of the two candidates I thought. I will continue to look for possible candidates.

On 2/19/2024 at 8:17 PM, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Another unknown Bulgarian officer I need help identifying.

Thanks!

Greeting！

I currently speculate that there are two candidates，one is Todor Dimitrov Haidukov（Тодор Димитров Хайдуков），He was promoted to colonel in 1938 and served at the First Army Headquarters ans Infantry inspection in 1942-1943.

another one is Mikhail Stoyanov Mihaylov（Михаил Стоянов Михайлов），But he might just be a military school instructor.

Sincerely

Steve

Maybe not. In the early days of the Soviet Union’s annexation of the three Baltic countries, former Wehrmacht officers from the three countries should have been allowed to wear their own badges. I've found some examples of this on photos of Red Army officers from Estonia and Latvia. 

Sincerely

Steve

Add more photos of people wearing Estonian pilot badges under this topic.

Greeting Graf and all members！

Wish all members have a happy holiday.

Sincerely

Setve

These are very rare photos! Very beautiful collection! ！

43 minutes ago, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Thank you Steve.

 

Do you agree number 2 & 5 at the top is the same person (Lieutenant General Nikola Markov Totev)?

yes, I agree. I may not have noticed at the time that it was the same general in the photo. glad to help you.

Yours

Steve

2 hours ago, Kriegsmarine Admiral said:

Thank you.

 

So number 2 & 5 is definitely Lieutenant General Nikola Markov Totev, like Steve said.

 

Number 1 & 4 (same person) is unknown.

 

And number 3 is unknown. Possibly Atanas Pavlov Zhilkov like you said.

 

I think Steve meant that #2 in the first photo could be Major General Vasil Tsankov Balarev, and not #3. I guess he didn't notice #2 is the same officer as #5 (i.e. Lieutenant General Nikola Markov Totev).

 

By the way, here is another General from the same photo.

He is supposed to be Lieutenant-General Nikola Nikolov Hadzhipetkov. Is that correct?

Judging from the uniform, medals and facial features, this is indeed General Nikola Nikolov Hadzhipetkov，But the contours of the ears are somewhat different.And whether he is wearing a graduation certificate from the War College? It can be seen that in the photo of the general below, he is not wearing.

Sincerely

Setve

Regarding the general in photo No. 5, I think he is Lieutenant General Nikola Markov Totev（Генерал-лейтенант Никола Марков Тотев (1888-1974)）.And the rewards he received are also consistent.I will attach a photo of the general below.

Sincerely

Steve

I can't make a very accurate guess about the general in photo No. 2. Because only the side of his face is shown. All I can say is that I guess he is Major General Vasil Tsankov Balarev（Генерал-майор Васил Цанков Баларев）. 

6 hours ago, Argento said:

Thank you!

And something about the ribbon bar?

first row：1.Workers and Peasants' Rule Comm. Medal；2.Order of Labor or Order of the Red Star；3 and 4.Dist. Service Order；

second row：1,2,3.Medal of Service，4.Medal for Service to the Country - gold 

third row：1, 2,3,4.defense service medal（for 35years/30years/25years/20years）；

fourth row：1.Distinguished Labor Decoration；2.Hungarian Communist Youth Council Medal of Merit

The uniform of a Hungarian People's Army tank corps colonel,

The colonel holds two school graduation badges. One without an inscription indicates that he graduated from the Military Academy (the interior contains the civil education section，known in Hungarian as Katonai Akadémia Polgári végzettséget igazolós jelvény)，Another badge with an inscription indicating that he graduated from the Miklós Zlini Military Academy.

I checked two commonly used silver mark websites,I think the timing regarding the use of the swan logo is correct. 

This is truly a very rare and beautiful piece！

Sincerely

Steve

I would like to share a related article that I found earlier. Although I am not proficient in Hungarian, I am still very interested in the awards from the President Tildy or Rákosi regime.

At the same time, I also have a question. I have not found any information about this parachute badges. But I found a picture of the wearer. I hope I can find the answer here.

Sincerely

Steve

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, a nice collection！