Hungary What Do I Have Here?

[hunyadi]

What do I have here? - besides a ratty old Hungarian M51 Uniform???

Edited October 13, 2010 by hunyadi

[hunyadi]

interior

[Ulsterman]

Ohhhhhh... something VERY cool.

[hunyadi]

Yes its very very interesting - anyone got any idea as to why its so interesting..... :whistle:

Edited October 14, 2010 by hunyadi

[Greg Collins]

Jeez Charles, I dunno... Infantry Communications collar tabs, fitting loops for the shoulder boards- indicating '51 rather than a later modification and a full set of Rakosi seal buttons... looks pretty standard to me. Overall uniform colour seems gray rather than olive/khaki, but this could just be either fading or my monitor. What am I missing?

[hunyadi]

It has everything to do with the color - now it could be mundane and someone messed with the collar tabs (but from the photos I like what I see) or it could be phenominal....

[hunyadi]

Well - I'll let the out of the bag on this one - saw it on Ebay - it had just posted with a buy it now and after thirty seconds of deliberation I pulled the trigger...

Its a winter weight tunic with the interior padding that is custom - not the standard factory style (this is a good sign...). The summer tunics were camp green and could shift to a shade of gray when exposed to the sun - but look at the interior.

Secondly it has an interesting custom feature of elastic bands and a button for the upper pocket flaps. (just the right touch for those who want the uniform to look smart and who needs to stuff things in your pockets when you hold the rank of...)

The dual set of loops for the shoulder boards are also a nice "custom" touch...

Now when it arrives another thing to consider are the inspections stamps in it - it may or may not have them - will have to see when that one arrives. If it is stamped with "HR" or some other "H" prefix - it’s a slam dunk...

In 1951 with the rapid expansion of the Hungarian military in anticipation of World War Three, combined with the recent purges of the officer corps in the late 1940's the Nephadsereg was pretty short of upper officers - namely generals. So with the massive expansion and the creation of new units - it was authorized that certain individuals with the rank of Colonel could take the position of a General. To distinguish these officers as different from other Colonels, they were authorized to wear the "pigeon gray" uniforms of the Generals. The Colonels did not wear the traditional sprig of oak leaf collar tabs on a red background - but instead still retained their service branch colored tabs with devices.

Now for the other possibility - this could be a messed with tunic - the collar tabs added out of ignorance, or to swindle the unsuspecting.... but at the price I paid for it I would go with ignorance... this thing was a steal... anyhow there is the chance that this is just a penal system uniform with used an off gray tunic. Just have to wait and see...

[hunyadi]

Turned out to be a total dud... :mad:

[Ulsterman]

a total dud? As in it was faked?

[Gordon Craig]

Charles,

Ah the price we pay for collecting. I saw your other post on this tunic and between the two there is a great deal of information that doesn't appear anywhere else. Glad the tunic didn't cost you much. Were there any markings on the inside? Were the loops original to the tunic? If so, it would still be interesting as a Prison tunic to those, like me, who collect this kind of esoteric stuff.

Regards,

Gordon

[hunyadi]

There were no markings what-so-ever on the interior. The loops for the boards were original to the tunic - but what you didnt see in the photros on Ebay was the glue residue where somewhere at some time had used wood glue to afix boards to it and the collar tabs as well. This thing had been around the block several times so to say. The condition and the modifcations to the tunic (which the seller also managed to keep out of the photos!)were to such a point that I doubt you would have apreciated it in your collection. Thankfuly I am able to return it and get a full refund for the item.

[Gordon Craig]

Hunyadi,

Thanks for the description of the problems with this tunic. Worth keeping in my files though for future reference.

Regards,

Gordon

[SteveKo]

charles, i have a question but not about this uniform. i just joined the group, and i've read about the book you wrote about a year ago that others

in the group have a copy of. Apparently, it's written in English and it helps those who collect Hungarian Militaria from WWII. what is the name of the book,

and where can I get it? the link to it from your post on this website does not work. please let me know. thanks. BY THE WAY, I HAVE TOTALLY ENJOYED

READING EVERYBODY'S COMMENTS ON THE PARTISANS MEDAL. IT'S 2010. IS THERE ANY UPDATE? The last post on that thread was from 2009

or 2008, I think.

[hunyadi]

Hi sent you a PM

[Gordon Craig]

SteveKo,

Since Hunyadi and I no longer live in Budapest we don't get a chance to pick up this kind of award very often any more. Hence no new ones to add to oour collections nor to post pictures of. We will have to depend on new collectors to collecting HUPR items and having them post their awards. I know that you will enjoy Charles' book. As well as medals and awards it contains a good over view of things in the HUPR which gives a good background as to why some of the awards were created. Welcome to the world of Hungarian collecting. We need people with mor interest in this area.

Regards,

Gordon

[Ulsterman]

sigh....it's been a long time since I saw a partisans' badge with a number on it.