Bulgaria Hungarian LOOONG Service

[hunyadi]

Picked up this photo today. Its a huge size (8.5" x 11" aprox) in a frame. The dust and grime on it was an inch thick, but the price was very good. Cleaned it up and took at look at this 1st Lieutenant's Unifrom and Medal Bar. From the bar we have the Gold Merit Cross with Crown on War Ribbon, Silver Merit Cross, 1908 Jubilee Medal, WW1 Service Medal, 1940 Return of Transylvania medal, (unkonwn - sport?) WW1 Ausrtain Medal and finaly a WW1 Bulgarian Medal. Where in the world is his long service medal? And how in the world can one do such a good job at the GHQ (or some posting similar to that and only be a 1st Lieutenenat in 1940 after serving from at least 1908??) I cant see how he might have been an NCO that moved up through the ranks and gotten the Gold and Silver version of the Merit Cross? Perhaps someone wiht more understanding of the AH times could help me to understand. Though the photo is BW - I am guessing by the tone of the tabs he is Quartermaster or Medical.

[hunyadi]

close up shot of the bar - sorry for the glare of the glass - its a nice photo and the silver is beginning to oxidize in the photo.

[KeithB]

I am not your expert, but since nobody else has answered and this has been rattling around in my head for several days I thought I would respond.

It is my understanding that after WWI the number of Hungarians who might have wanted to be in the armed forces was much greater than the number of available positions. It is also my understanding that the armed forces increased in size many times over starting in the early to mid 1930's, and that with increases in combat troops come increases in skilled support personnel.

If this man left the Austro-Hungarian forces as a low ranking officer at the end of WWI and joined the Hungarian armed forces when they expanded at the same rank, that would account for the lack of a long service medal and the relatively low rank. The primary problem with this would be his relatively old age at that point (probably nearing 50 years old in the 1930's), but if he has a specialized skill from his previous service, as one might find in a soldier with medical/quartermaster tabs, the age might not be an issue.

This would account for the relatively low rank at an advanced age, as well as the lack of any long service medal. Also, while you probably know more than I, the idea of an NCO with a silver and gold merit medal strikes me as not something that I would expect. As the award was instituted in the mid-1800's, and based on general discussions on the crosses, I believe that their status as an award for officers was not very flexible.

[hunyadi]

Keith - thanks for the confirmation of what I was thinking - but what still gets me is the lack of a Karl Troops Cross, or a Wound Medal, and some form of the Long Service Medal.

If the guy was in service in 1908, but was not mobilized in 1912/13 for the Balkans that may explain him as a conscript in 1908 (?) who then exited after his two years, then he must have jouned the military at some point before / during the war and comissioned as an offcier (Merit Medals?) Servced in WW1 then mustered out (so he has about 5 years in as an officer?) Then gets called up in 1938 /39 and is given his rank back... thats a plausable chance - but then looking at some uniforms that I own of the period there is a tendancy to throw 8 and more medals on the upper rack before starting a second row. Perhaps he is also just omitting some medals for the photo shoot. Its a great and nice photo - with an interesting maedal bar, but the true history is forever porbably lost.