Bulgarian Soldier's Cross

[graham]

A few Bulgarian Soldiers crosses. They are maybe not as prestigious as a German Iron Cross, UK Military Medal or some other Bravery awards, but I quite like these little awards. Opinions and comments are welcomed.

This is the 2nd variation, issued in 1916 with 1915 on obverse & has Bulgaria in Cyrillic except the letter 'I' which is in Latin.

1st Class:

[graham]

A 3rd variation issued later in WW1 dated 1915 on obverse & has Bulgaria in Cyrillic (with a 'N').

Another 1st Class with damaged packet:

[graham]

2nd Class, 2nd variation:

[OvBacon]

I agree that Bulgarian awards and orders are very handsome and have an appeal. I would never say that any bravery award is not "prestigious" because they are. Not all bravery awards from different countries are valued as much and some are more popular to collect and others might be prettier or uglier. There are bravery awards that are extremely rarely given and there are ones that are handed out for less than real bravery but I believe they all matter and all have some interesting history and stories to them. 

But I love these...  

[graham]

Thanks OvBacon.

Another 2nd Class, but this one is the 3rd variation:

[graham]

3rd Class, 2nd variation, I like the unique ribbon style of the 1st and 3rd classes:

[graham]

3rd Class, 3rd variation:

[graham]

Lastly the 4th Class, 3rd variation:

[Graf]

Hi Graham,

All Bravery awards are prestigious Some as the  German Iron Cross and  British Victoria Cross are most famous.

However the importance of the other countries Bravery Awards can not be ignored.

The Soldier Cross  as part of the Order for Bravery has its own place. While the Officers Crosses of the Order for Bravery are very  high quality and very handsome  the   Soldier"s   Crosses quality are not The reason is that they were awarded to the low ranks.

The Soldier's  crosses you listed is the Second Emission with the  year 1915 on them You are correct that they came in two Variations with letter  "I" and the Bulgarian Letter  "N"

This Emission was given during WW1 and the very early stages of WW2  During the late stages of WW2 a New Emission with the 1941 year was issued only to German Military Persons including officers The quality was much better. It is believed that they are produced by the German Firm of Zimmerman Some 1915 Issue Soldier's Crosses were made also by this Firm

There are two more Emission - the first one with " 7 Dots" given during the Balkan Wars  fourth Emission with 1945 year ( believed   not to be awarded -only single samples with bad qualities exist )

Here are some examples that are not as common

 -The very fist model of the 1st Emission  in silver  marked 925 on the ring - Prince Batemberg  period

- Soldier's Cross without swords awarded to Medical Persons

- 1915 Emission by Zimmerman in silver -marked "SILBER" on the ring

- 1941 Emission It is believed that they were three classes given 1st Class in Gold 2nd Class in Silver and 3rd Class in Bronze. They are mounted on German style ribbons

- some awards documents to Germans Note the last picture the Cross is the "7 Dots' Emission and is given during WW2 period

 

 

 

[graham]

Great pictures Graf, thanks for sharing.

I agree that all bravery awards are indeed prestigious, an act of valour deserves the same respect no matter whether you have received one type of award or another or no award at all. My comments were trying to highlight(looks like not too well) that some awards are a little more well known(famous as you have stated) than others. One of the reasons I really enjoy this hobby is that there is a real person behind each award/document/article.

I always remember the conversation someone once had when he was asked whether he had seen any action when he had served in the army, he replied that he had served and fought in the 'Big one'. When the comment came back to him that he must have fought in the second world war, he said "no" he had served during the Korean War. A reply then came back to him "That was not the 'Big One' ". He then said "It was for me".