Bulgaria, medal bar for an bulgarian officer.

[Bretzen]

Hello gentlemen,

is there any chance of naming the officer?
I am grateful for any information. 

Many thanks Uwe (Bretzen)

[ilieff]

Next to impossible task, I'm afraid. 

 

 

To point out the obvious, we see a Balkan Wars-era (or early WW1) type Bravery order. This gives us a clue that the person was already an officer by 1912-1915. However, we do not see Cross for the Independence (1908) which would narrow down the start of his career to the period 1910-1916. That is 6 years, so 6 alumni classes of the Military school but we also have the 'fast-track' military training camps for officers which also yielded a number of officers. I am inclined to dismiss the latter option though, as the 20 years of service cross (Boris III issue) means the person was a career officer, as he hasn't been dismissed after 1919, unlike many others.

 

So, to sum up, we are looking for a person who [probably] graduated from the Military school in Sofia between 1910 and 1915, fought in both Balkan wars and WW1, then retained his employment within the heavily reduced armed forces and eventually reached a senior officer rank - perhaps colonel or even major-general.  

 

A large number of people fall under the above criteria. 

Here is one real-life persona who fits the above narrative:

 

Major-General Anton Ganev

Graduated in 1912, participated in two Balkan wars and the Great war. Retained his army post after the end of the war, eventually reaching a general's rank (Chief of the so-called Construction Corps branch of the army). 

Even the awards he is pictured with below are a close match to the above bar. 

 

[Igor Ostapenko]

Един от най-смелите и най-достойни царски офицери – генерал-майор Димитър Айранов (1893–1950). Служи в свитата на Н.Вел. Цар Борис ІІІ (от 1929 г.) и заема длъжностите командир на Автомобилната дружина (1932), командир на 2-ри инженерен полк (1935), началник отделение в Инженерна инспекция (1935) и командир на 4-та пехотна дивизия в Шумен, с която влиза във възвърнатата ни Южна Добруджа (септември 1940 г.). От 11 август 1941 г. до 9 септември 1944 г. е командир на Военновъздушните на Н.В. войски. Уволнен от армията веднага след преврата на 9.09., осъден е на 15 год. затвор от "народния съд", умира при съмнителни обстоятелества през 1950 г. Когато идва време да излезе от затвора, семейството му го очаква, но той така и не се появява на входа. Вместо да бъде освободен, той е бил убит в затвора. Официално се води безследно изчезнал!

But … 

WITHOUT Order of Bravery  

[Graf]

On 16/12/2022 at 07:34, ilieff said:

Next to impossible task, I'm afraid. 

 

 

To point out the obvious, we see a Balkan Wars-era (or early WW1) type Bravery order. This gives us a clue that the person was already an officer by 1912-1915. However, we do not see Cross for the Independence (1908) which would narrow down the start of his career to the period 1910-1916. That is 6 years, so 6 alumni classes of the Military school but we also have the 'fast-track' military training camps for officers which also yielded a number of officers. I am inclined to dismiss the latter option though, as the 20 years of service cross (Boris III issue) means the person was a career officer, as he hasn't been dismissed after 1919, unlike many others.

 

So, to sum up, we are looking for a person who [probably] graduated from the Military school in Sofia between 1910 and 1915, fought in both Balkan wars and WW1, then retained his employment within the heavily reduced armed forces and eventually reached a senior officer rank - perhaps colonel or even major-general.  

 

A large number of people fall under the above criteria. 

Here is one real-life persona who fits the above narrative:

 

Major-General Anton Ganev

Graduated in 1912, participated in two Balkan wars and the Great war. Retained his army post after the end of the war, eventually reaching a general's rank (Chief of the so-called Construction Corps branch of the army). 

Even the awards he is pictured with below are a close match to the above bar. 

 

That is correct nearly impossible to get the awarded person with no any additional information to give a hint

 

Cheers

[Bretzen]

Hello gentlemen,

I am very pleased to have received a reply at all. And then also from three proven Bulgaria specialists.
Maybe in the future there will be a possibility for a research in a Bulgarian archive. This is probably the only possibility.
A German order buckle with this number of medals would be probably no difficulty - of course also only with archive research.
Thank you for the effort of writing your text. I am grateful that my terrible English with the help of translation programs allows me to write here in this forum more often in the future.

 

cheers
Uwe Bretzendorfer

 

[Graf]

I saw this one It is nice, a bit different from the medal bar presented, however iit gives us a hint that the owner of the Uwe Bar was high ranking officer