Baton of Fieldmarshals

[Alexandre]

Hello Gentlemen,

Im doing a research about Fieldmarshal?s Baton of period WW1 and WW2

Im looking for informations and pics of Batons of FieldMarshals of these countrys :

France

Yugoslavia

Russia

Poland

Thx in advance

Regards

Alexandre

Edited September 5, 2006 by Alexandre

[Carol I]

Im doing a research about Fieldmarshal?s Baton of period WW1 and WW2

The National Military Museum in Bucharest has printed a 'folded poster' on the insignia of Marshal of the Romanian Army. Here are some images from an old eBay auction.

[Carol I]

And the full poster:

[Carol I]

In the treasury of the National History Museum of Romania there is this baton identified as "Marshal baton offered to King Ferdinand by King Alexander of Yugoslavia". Was it the official model of the Yugoslav marshal's baton or only a personal gift?

[Carol I]

In the treasury of the National History Museum of Romania there is this baton identified as "Marshal baton offered to King Ferdinand by King Alexander of Yugoslavia". Was it the official model of the Yugoslav marshal's baton or only a personal gift?

Another database identifies this marshal baton as being offered to King Carol II. Carol II made Alexander of Yugoslavia a marshal of the Romanian Army in 1933 so it is quite possible that he was made in turn marshal of the Yugoslav Army. Is there any confirmation of this promotion in the Yugoslav sources?

[922F]

Sometime in the 1970s-80s, Frank Dennis wrote a series of articles about marshal rank officers published in OMSA's "Medal Collector". I recall for sure that one discussed Polish field marshals, am fairly sure some described French marshals, and he may have written on Romanian and Russian marshals. At least the Polish article illustrated a marshal's baton. Unfortunately, I do not have access to those journals or the various "Medal Collector" indexes--perhaps someone else can find the exact cites for Dennis' work?

[Bob]

I've always wondered, was there any real practical point towards these batons? I can only imagine it being annoying to walk around with such a "stick" on one hand all day. Any thoughts?

[Dragomir]

Sometime in the 1970s-80s, Frank Dennis wrote a series of articles about marshal rank officers published in OMSA's "Medal Collector". I recall for sure that one discussed Polish field marshals, am fairly sure some described French marshals, and he may have written on Romanian and Russian marshals. At least the Polish article illustrated a marshal's baton. Unfortunately, I do not have access to those journals or the various "Medal Collector" indexes--perhaps someone else can find the exact cites for Dennis' work?

EJ is, as usual, quite right!

I coauthored some of these articles with late General Dennis, particularly those dealing with orders, decorations and medals of the field-marshals of Kingdom of Serbia and the single one of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Franchet d'Esperey). In fact, Serbian and Yugoslavian field-marshals never possessed an insignia in the form of baton. That is why I find the attribution of the mysterious baton from the Romanian museum rather amazing. It would be nice if somebody could provide more detailed photographs of the artefact. I have excellent photos of the Romanian baton presented by King of Romania to King Alexander of Yugoslavia, but - as always - I have problem with scaling down to the required limit. Therefore, anyone that can do the scaling down for me is welcome.

By the way, field-marshal's baton is a hollow container protecting written appointment and warrant giving the authority and command to a chief commanding officer in the field.

Dragomir

[Carol I]

EJ is, as usual, quite right!

I coauthored some of these articles with late General Dennis, particularly those dealing with orders, decorations and medals of the field-marshals of Kingdom of Serbia and the single one of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Franchet d'Esperey). In fact, Serbian and Yugoslavian field-marshals never possessed an insignia in the form of baton. That is why I find the attribution of the mysterious baton from the Romanian museum rather amazing. It would be nice if somebody could provide more detailed photographs of the artefact.

It's a 32-centimetre long ivory baton with gold, diamond and enamel ornaments. I'll look if I have some better photos.

I have excellent photos of the Romanian baton presented by King of Romania to King Alexander of Yugoslavia, but - as always - I have problem with scaling down to the required limit. Therefore, anyone that can do the scaling down for me is welcome.

I could try to scale down the images. Contact me privately.

[Dragomir]

It's a 32-centimetre long ivory baton with gold, diamond and enamel ornaments. I'll look if I have some better photos.

I could try to scale down the images. Contact me privately.

Hello Carol I,

The photographs are HR, one is 29,2 MB, the other 29,8 MG.

I can reduce them to about 1/3 without damaging the quality, but after that...

Best regards,

[Carol I]

Here are Dragomir's images (click on the thumbnails for the full-size images).