Trendafilov

[ccj]

Lieutenant-General Stoyan Konstantinov Trendafilov

1944 - 1945 Commanding Officer 1st Armored Brigade

1945 Chief of Armored Forces

Does anyone have more info on this man? A photo would be nice to.

[Guest Rick Research]

In what army?

[Lapa]

Lieutenant-General Stoyan Konstantinov Trendafilov

1944 - 1945 Commanding Officer 1st Armored Brigade

1945 Chief of Armored Forces

Does anyone have more info on this man? A photo would be nice to.

CCI,

Could you at least provide some basic clues, such as country for instance

Marc

[Theodor]

I can guess the country

And:

Stoyan Konstantinov trendafilov

Born: 02.11.1899 in Peshtera, Bulgaria. Died 1982

Education: Military School (1922). Military Academy (1930).

Ranks:

01.04.1922 - 2nd Lt.;

06.05.1925 - 1st Lt.;

31.10.1930 - Captain;

03.10.1937 - Major;

1944 - Major-General

05.05.1945 - Lt.-General.

Military Service:

1924 - Sofia Fortified position ;

1928 - 4th Artillery Regiment;

1928 - Pleven shooting detachment;

1933 - School for company, battery and squadron commanders

1933 - School for reserve Officers;

1934 - HQ of the Army;

1934 - Chief of a Department in the Main Commissariat /Glavno Intendantstvo/

1935 - HQ of the 2nd Inspection District;

1935 - Deputy-chief of a Section in the HQ of the Army

1935 - To the Reserve;

1944 - Commander of 1st Armored Brigade

1945 - Commander of the Armored Troops

Participated in the final stage of WW2, the war against Germany.

He is a direct participant in the communist coup of 9 September 1944. As a retired major, he was a member of the political group "Zveno" and he was the one to convince some officers from the tank forces to participate in the coup

/but not as much as represented by the commies later - of 200 tanks, 14 were involved in the coup. The Regency could easily send the bastards to hell, the biggest part of the army was loyal, unfortunately the red army was already advancing through Danube - that is why the coup was left to be successful. It was not successful because of forces or planning, it was simply allowed to be.../

So, this is the story of the HQs rat, the traitor, snot, b*stard and a**hole, who participated actively in the commie coup and from a 10 years ago retired Major jumped to the /undeserved/ rank of a General and tank commander.

Edited March 31, 2008 by Theodor

[Guest Rick Research]

But tell us how you REALLY feel!

[Theodor]

But tell us how you REALLY feel!

From pure historical point of view he is an interesting figure. But my view is neither historical, nor pure I know I have seen somewhere his picture Will add it here, when remember where have seen it

[ccj]

From pure historical point of view he is an interesting figure. But my view is neither historical, nor pure I know I have seen somewhere his picture Will add it here, when remember where have seen it

Thanks Theo, that's more than I could find. Odd how he could go from major to General just because he was involve in the coup of 44.

[Theodor]

Thanks Theo, that's more than I could find. Odd how he could go from major to General just because he was involve in the coup of 44.

This was the way the commie system started and worked. At least, he was a real trained military officer and skipped "only" the colonel levels. There are much worse cases - uneducated commies, who reached with similar rocket speed the highest levels of the military and state command, with Zero culture and education. And they were no exceptions - they were the rule.

[Carol I]

Odd how he could go from major to General just because he was involve in the coup of 44.

I know of an even stranger case. On the other side of the Danube, in Romania, an army colonel was arrested in 1934 for planning an attempt to kill the king. He was demoted and sentenced to 10 years hard labour. He was freed after the abdication of the king in 1940 and as far as I know he disappears only to reappear as a General de Brigadă (Brigadier General) in 1945 after a communist government was instated in Romania. He was then appointed chief of the army department for political education and propaganda, largely considered responsible for the purge from the army of the old educated officer core. He resigned a couple of years after the abdication of the king and disappeared again from the light. His name was Victor Precup ... quite an interesting character even before these episodes.

[VJK]

Hi!

Here is a photo of Trendafilov.

Best regards,

VJK

[ccj]

Hi!

Here is a photo of Trendafilov.

Best regards,

VJK

Thank you. Its rare to see Romanian photos.

[Carol I]

Thank you. Its rare to see Romanian photos.

Trendafilov was a Bulgarian officer, not Romanian.

[ccj]

Trendafilov was a Bulgarian officer, not Romanian.

I'm sorry, I meant Bulgaria. I don't know why I was thinking Romania. I enjoy boths military history.

I like his uniform. I Haven't Seen A Bulgarian Officer wear hat style cap.

[Theodor]

Here are some commanding officers from the unit. Some with the M43 style cap /M43 is only the style, in fact it was introduced earlier!/ and the tank officers are with the German style black wraps.

[Blitz]

A very informative thread. Not that I'm surprized by the careers these guys pulled of. I've read enough of history from both Romania and Bulgaria to know what happened before, during and after takeovers in those countries. Finland, though never occupied in the sense that Bulgaria and Romania were, we were close enough for our pesky communists to cause scares of coups and real occupation during the so called "danger years" of 1944-48. Local communists did find it easy to make careers in our ministry of interior during those years.. Still, we got of easy.

Edited December 19, 2008 by Blitz

[ccj]

Here are some commanding officers from the unit. Some with the M43 style cap /M43 is only the style, in fact it was introduced earlier!/ and the tank officers are with the German style black wraps.

Please, more photos and information. This is really good stuff.

[ccj]

Here are some commanding officers from the unit. Some with the M43 style cap /M43 is only the style, in fact it was introduced earlier!/ and the tank officers are with the German style black wraps.

The soldiers in the photo look extremely close to Germans...