paja

Imperial Russian Golden saber for bravery presented to vojvoda Milan Obrenović by prince Bagration on December 21, 1809 (January 3, 1810). Milan was Miloš Obrenović's older maternal half-brother and one of five Serbs who were honored this way. The others were Karađorđe Petrović, Milenko Stojković, Petar Teodorović Dobrnjac and Hajduk-Veljko Petrović. Gramota is also preserved and it states that the saber was awarded to Milan not only for the shown bravery but also for his devotion to Russia. After 1903 it was kept in the National museum until 1915 when the occupying Austro-Hungarian forces looted almost all Serbian museums. During the war it was kept in Budapest and after the liberation it was returned together with a certain amount of stolen objects. After that it was once more kept in the National Museum until 1953 when it was given to the Military Museum but unfortunately no one knew just what it was... It took more that 4 decades for it to be "re-discovered" in 1995. This priceless piece of Serbian history is the only surviving Golden saber from the time of First Serbian Uprising.
Information and some of the photos were found in Mr. Branko Bogdanović's article "Miloš's Saber - Pearl of the Museum" published in Politikin Magazin.

Dragomire, thank you very much for the photo and information! You mentioned Sava Grujić's medal bar, could it be the same one I posted earlier in this topic? It also consists of 9 decorations... If you have scans of it as well and if it's not too much trouble could you please show us how it looks like with the decorations?

One more photo from above, you can see the Cathedral Temple (Church of St. Trinity) on the right.

The book promotion will take place at the Moscow Book Fair on December 2nd.
Large format, 260 pages, hardcover, 200 images in full color, price around 60 euros.

There was one more German WW1 military cemetery in Niš (within the Old cemetery). Unlike the one from Delijski vis which was moved to Belgrade this one was relocated to Germany, not only the earthly remains but also the central monument. I'd like to know where exactly was it relocated, when, and how many soldiers were buried there? Does anyone have more information about it?
It can be seen on some old postcards and photos.
Serbien Nisch
Helden-Friedhof

Here's one more photo of the king wearing the same type of uniform.

This photo was passed on to me together with the one of King Milan I posted earlier.
If I'm not mistaken he's wearing blouse M1886 and based on the eagles on his braid shoulder boards I'd say the photo was made after January 1901.
According to regulations officers had to wear Order of Miloš the Great and Order of the White Eagle on every occasion. I think one was supposed to wear higher classes of Miloš only on the parade uniform, while the lowest class was worn on daily and other uniforms. Same rule applies to the White Eagle hence the two piece medal bar.

Legion of Honor 1st Class, 1936

Badge, sash and the letter of Italian foreign minister 

Order of St. Maurice and Lazarus 1st Class, 1918

Greek Order of Redeemer 2nd Class (Pomonis), 1918

Thank you, Rush! I'm glad you think so, unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to make the complete list of Aleksandar's decorations just based on the photos and paintings...

Paul, thank you as well, I appreciate your effort!

French War Cross 1914-17 with Bronze Palm

While visiting Serbian and British Military Cemetery (separate topic about it is here) in Niš I stumbled upon a new piece of the puzzle. There's a monument with a German inscription on the same lot where the Serbian collective tombs are located.

Den Gefallenen des Balkanfeldzuges 
1941-1942
zum Gedächtnis
Hier ruhten auch 1623 soldaten
des ersten Weltkrieges 
bis zu ihrer im Jahre 1942 erielgter
Überführung auf den Ehrenfriedhof 
in Belgrad.

So 1623 soldiers who died during WW1 and were buried there were exhumed and relocated by the Germans in 1942 to Belgrade, I presume on Banovo brdo military cemetery...

Just a few more details.

Great photos, thanks for sharing! 

Generals' Grand Mundir

M1861 
M1861/1870

Generals' Visor Hat
M1850 Sidearm of the Artillery Schools Cadets (?)
M1861 Austrian Infantry Officers' Saber (I'm not sure where these in use in the Serbian Army and under which name, I think Montenegrin officers used it as M1867)
M1861/1870 Serbian Infantry Officers' Saber 

Order of St. Michael and St. George 2nd Class, 1916

Legion of Honor 3rd Class

Legion of Honor 3rd Class, 1916
Order of St. Michael and St. George 3rd Class, 1915

Order of Military Merit 2nd Class
Legion of Honor
Fourth class awarding document from 1904
Third class awarding document from 1914

Zlatko Čondić, a fellow collector, asked me to open this topic about a new book by Mr. Branko Bogdanović. 
The book is written in Russian and English and it was published recently. It contains many excellent photos and information unavailable to the most of us. 
The author gave his permission to upload couple of pages as an illustration.

Bulgarian Order of St. Alexander 2nd Class (Rothe)
Bulgarian Order of Military Merit 2nd Class (Schwerdtner), 1904.
Legion of Honor 4th Class, 1904.
Legion of Honor, according to the catalog also 4th class (?)