Romania Is this Medal Bar Possible?

[hunyadi]

I have run across this medal bar and I am really considerign buying it, but the thing does strike me as a little odd? Is / was such a combination possible?

[Carol I]

Is this supposed to be a Romanian bar? One of the most puzzling is the Order of the Crown of Romania on the bar. The orders awarded before 1947 were disbanded in 1948. I have read stories about holders who were forced to give back the old awards after that date or who had them changed to RPR awards. Even neglecting the Order of the Crown of Romania, if this is a Romanian bar, I think it unusual to have the Soviet awards before the Romanian ones, but I am no expert on these matters.

One more thing, the Order of the Crown of Romania is unusual, being made out of a type II body with type I center disks.

[Kev in Deva]

My thoughts would be:- Its possibly a WW2 veterans put together, after the communist period,

by that I mean, first he has the bar with the communist medals, worn in

the order he received them, after the communist times ended, he added the Imperial Order with Military Virtue ribbon as a possible replacement for an award he received when fighting against the communists and forbidden during communist times.

So we have a man who served in the Romanian Royal Forces and then went on to serve in the Romanian Communist Forces.

As can be seen from Communist period ribbon bars the regulations with regards ribbon placement were extremely lax.

Of course without documentation its hard to prove anything conclusive.

As for the odd discs I have seen such dealer repairs being offered for sale here in Romania

of course they cannot be considered official, but the idea being a complete medal is better than an incomplete one.

Kevin in Deva.

[hunyadi]

To me it did look rather hodge-podge, but it still has some "character". Thanks for the update on the centers of the Order of the Crown. So I assume it would be a repaired item at best? :unsure:

[Carol I]

My thoughts would be:- Its possibly a WW2 veterans put together, after the communist period,

There could be several inocent explanations for this bar, this one included, but there are also many crooks around, so to quote you again:

Of course without documentation its hard to prove anything conclusive.

To me it did look rather hodge-podge, but it still has some "character". Thanks for the update on the centers of the Order of the Crown. So I assume it would be a repaired item at best?

Take a look at the image below to see a complete piece.

Source

[hunyadi]

This is the supposed documentation for the grouping...

[hunyadi]

interesting career?

[Carol I]

This is the supposed documentation for the grouping...

The documentation appears to confirm the scenario advanced by Kevin.

[Carol I]

interesting career?

Quite, prisoner both at the soviets and the germans, member of the Tudor Vladimirescu Division (his ticket out of soviet prisoner camp), editor of an army magazine after the war. Could you please send me his name?

[hunyadi]

Here is the cover -

[Guest IMHF]

I have run across this medal bar and I am really considerign buying it, but the thing does strike me as a little odd? Is / was such a combination possible?

Looks great!!!

Did you buy it from E-bay??

Lorenzo

[Carol I]

Here is the cover -

Thanks!

[hunyadi]

Lorenzo - yep - I found it on eBay, will have to see when it comes in. I like the factor that he was captured by both the Soviets and then the Germans and then went on to have a fairly successful career. Quite unique - what I like about Romanian is that you can almost read it and understand what it is about. I only wish Hungarian was the same.

Carol I - is there a way to research the individual?

[Carol I]

Carol I - is there a way to research the individual?

Sorry, I have no experience about this.

[Ulsterman]

Hmmmmm... no list of crown orders in the archives? Kev, I see a research opportunity!

Think of the story there-captured by the USSR, released and then recaptured by the Germans 9 months later.

[Carol I]

Hmmmmm... no list of crown orders in the archives? Kev, I see a research opportunity!

There might be in the military archives, but as fas as I have heard, research there is not easy.

Think of the story there-captured by the USSR, released and then recaptured by the Germans 9 months later.

Not released by the soviets. He became part of the soviet-sponsored Tudor Vladimirescu Division. The Romanian Wikipedia page mentions that 58 officers of the division received the Victory Medal on 09.02.1946. Probably Alexandru Antoniu among them in that February day.

[hunyadi]

Now I am really excited about the Hungarian connection for obvious reasons - It would seem that he was captured during the battle of Debrecen. This is also where the future leader of the Hungarian Communist Party arrived in Hungary after the battle of Debrecen. If anyone can do some more research on the individual, that would be apreciated. :jumping: