Interesting photographs of decorated people

[ilieff]

Hi all,

I thought we need a separate thread for interesting photographs and portraits, rather than putting such images in between discussions of other threads. I hope you'd agree. 

Here's the first one: 

Prince Alexander I of Bulgaria (probably photographed after his abdication) wearing a modest set of three decorations on his chest:

• bravery order (4th class) - interesting example - perhaps one of those mythical French-made ones (due to the swords)
• Voluntary corps medal of 1881- interesting because the Prince wasn't really eligible to be decorated with it but apparently he was
• medal for the war with Serbia (1886) - not sure whether this is indeed this particular medal (could be something foreign). This fact poses the question whether the Prince received a 'replacement' 2nd type medal (like the rest) or stuck with the 1st type. The answer to this question would perhaps solve the myth of the 'ribbon of different colour'  for the 1st type.

and

• The star - Order of Leopold with swords (not that interesting but very untypical), though at first glance I took it for a Bravery order star

 

Thanks

Ilieff

 

 

Edited November 15, 2017 by ilieff

[Graf]

Hi,

 

The Order for bravery looks like the one with the lilies

 

The The Order of Leopold Grand Cordon Star -Military Division is a very nice an early model It is typical shape

here are pictures of similar Star

Also some unusual pictures of French generals wearing Bulgarian Order for Military Merit -not very common

 

Graf

 

 

 

 

[ilieff]

Here's another one: 

This is how some Bulgarian priests used to wear their medals - suspended at the neck

[Great Dane]

Interesting that they misspelled General Hirschauer's name... 

[Igor Ostapenko]

On 15.11.2017 at 21:29, ilieff said:

Hi all,

I thought we need a separate thread for interesting photographs and portraits, rather than putting such images in between discussions of other threads. I hope you'd agree. 

Here's the first one: 

Prince Alexander I of Bulgaria (probably photographed after his abdication) wearing a modest set of three decorations on his chest:

• bravery order (4th class) - interesting example - perhaps one of those mythical French-made ones (due to the swords)
• Voluntary corps medal of 1881- interesting because the Prince wasn't really eligible to be decorated with it but apparently he was
• medal for the war with Serbia (1886) - not sure whether this is indeed this particular medal (could be something foreign). This fact poses the question whether the Prince received a 'replacement' 2nd type medal (like the rest) or stuck with the 1st type. The answer to this question would perhaps solve the myth of the 'ribbon of different colour'  for the 1st type.

and

• The star - Order of Leopold with swords (not that interesting but very untypical), though at first glance I took it for a Bravery order star

 

Thanks

Ilieff

 

 

Great photo !!!  

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Few photos with medals 

[Igor Ostapenko]

from eBay 

[Graf]

[ilieff]

Nice one Graf.

This is General Draganov just a year priot to his death.

Edited November 21, 2017 by ilieff

[Bayern]

On 18/11/2017 at 11:43, Igor Ostapenko said:

Great photo !!!  

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Few photos with medals 

Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon Parma ;first wife of the then Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria . mother of King Boris and Prince Kyrill.

[ilieff]

Portrait of a lady, wearing some of her awards as men usually do. Not too sure why

Edited November 25, 2017 by ilieff

[922F]

 Image below, among many others, suggests that Post 10 appears to be a portrait of the formidable Princess Clémentine of Orléans,  Ferdinand's mother.   He is reputed to have composed  the inscription on her gravesite memorial, "King's daughter, no Queen herself, yet King's mother."  This may explain her award display.   

Edited November 25, 2017 by 922F
spelck

[new world]

922F,

Portrait on Post #10 is not of King's mother, but of Anastasia Tosheva. She was famous Bulgarian teacher, volunteer during Russian-Turkish war, director of girls school Stara Zagora and mother of famous WWI General Stefan Toshev.

https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Анастасия_Тошева

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by new world

[922F]

Thanks for the correction--Princess Clémentine probably would have worn other awards as well...

[ilieff]

The King in a Nazi fieldmarshal's uniform.

By the way, note the large Maltese cross at the bottom - this is the decoration which I still cannot identify. 

[new world]

12 hours ago, ilieff said:

The King in a Nazi fieldmarshal's uniform.

By the way, note the large Maltese cross at the bottom - this is the decoration which I still cannot identify. 

That's very unusual photo!

Ferdinand was promoted to the Fieldmarshal rank on 18 January 1916:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_field_marshals#cite_note-Matthews-95

Here he wears WWII period Fieldmarshal uniform. This means his Imperial rank was transferred to and recognized by Nazi period German army.

Edited November 27, 2017 by new world

[ilieff]

11 hours ago, new world said:

This means his Imperial rank was transferred to and recognized by Nazi period German army.

Perhaps yes, perhaps not.

Either way, it was more of an honorary title in these years, as opposed to WW1 period.

[new world]

that Nazi uniform looks odd on him

[ilieff]

3 hours ago, new world said:

that Nazi uniform looks odd on him

I agree.

 

By the way, here's another image of a person with a 'lily' order for bravery (looks like the lower-quality variation).  This is a Petar Baklov, commercial trader.

[Graf]

Here is a nice photo of Queen Eleonora wearing her Red Cross Badge Look the size of it

Plus a man with decorations The man is not known to me Any idea?

 

[Bayern]

On 27/11/2017 at 12:37, ilieff said:

Perhaps yes, perhaps not.

Either way, it was more of an honorary title in these years, as opposed to WW1 period.

Some old Austro Hungarian Generals received honorary ranks in the German Wehrmacht .for example Eduard von Bohm Ermolli who was granted the rank of German Feldmarschall. anther example was Freiherr von Balldorf promoted first to wehrmacht lieutenant general and then to General der infanterie . King Ferdinand must have received the same recognition .Hitler during his table conversations expressed his high steem for the King.who after WW1 returned to his ancestral home in Germany. Ferdinand was roman catholic . so the cross over his left lower side must be a Maltese Order one and not the Cross of the Johanitter Order common among lutherans.

[ilieff]

Nikola Kostov - I presume he's the youngest 'soldier' to be decorated with a bravery cross (just 10 years old at that time). 

Supposedly, he was decorated with the 3rd class but my suspicion is that it's actually the 4th class.

http://img.bg.sof.cmestatic.com/media/images/600x/Nov2017/2111504043.jpg

Edited December 11, 2017 by ilieff

[Carol I]

Can anyone identify the collar worn by PM Petru Groza in this photo?

[ilieff]

Gen. Racho Petrov with nice early examples of orders and [what appears to be] a gold grade of the Order of Merit [Ferdinand]. 

[new world]

awesome photo! What award is his shoulder sash for?

[ilieff]

4 hours ago, new world said:

awesome photo! What award is his shoulder sash for?

I assume it's the St. Alexander Grand Cross