Bulgarian Cross for Bravery / За Храбрость

[Wat05]

Greetings! I would like some advice on these medals which are currently for sale. I believe they are all original, however some seem of lower quality, as if they were made of cast metal. Is this normal for these medals? Here are the photographs, of 4 different Crosses.

 

 

 

This one below possibly looks like silver, but I could be wrong.

 

 

 

This one below in particular looks like a cast product, but it seems like an original. 
 

 

 

Lastly, 

 

 

Edited November 24, 2024 by Wat05

[Graf]

8 hours ago, Wat05 said:

Greetings! I would like some advice on these medals which are currently for sale. I believe they are all original, however some seem of lower quality, as if they were made of cast metal. Is this normal for these medals? Here are the photographs, of 4 different Crosses.

 

 

 

This one below possibly looks like silver, but I could be wrong.

 

 

 

This one below in particular looks like a cast product, but it seems like an original. 
 

 

 

Lastly, 

 

 

All are Original Because they were made in big numbers and were meant mainly to enlisted men their quality is not as good as the officers ones.

Only few make exceptions with their better quality They were mainly German made

 

Follow the link above Click on the bold text

[Wat05]

Thank you very much for this valuable link! 

[Graf]

12 hours ago, Wat05 said:

Thank you very much for this valuable link! 

Welcome

I forgot to tell you that those crosses with different quality were mainly made in Bulgaria

Here is another one which is considered by some authors as the first ever made Soldier Cross Others believe that is Geman privately made by someone with deep pockets Whatever is said it is very good quality and unusual design

Made from Silver and marked accordingly

 

Cheers

The same cross -part of an early medal bar

[Wat05]

An absolutely beautiful example!

 

[Graf]

7 hours ago, Wat05 said:

An absolutely beautiful example!

 

Thanks

[seb16trs]

Gentlemen, here is a document I got in a group of documents of the communist era...

 

 

[Wat05]

Very interesting document!

[Graf]

13 hours ago, seb16trs said:

Gentlemen, here is a document I got in a group of documents of the communist era...

 

 

Interesting Document Typical for this post WW2 period All the content is typed  I will be interested to see the other documents

Here is an awarding document from the republican period given to one of the Bodyguards of the Bulgarian Prime Minister at the time Georgi Dimitrov

[seb16trs]

Awesome! This is a kind of transitionnal award!

9 hours ago, Graf said:

Interesting Document Typical for this post WW2 period All the content is typed  I will be interested to see the other documents

 

Well, the others documents are "common" order booklet for a red banner order and jubilee medals...

[Graf]

On 08/01/2025 at 08:35, seb16trs said:

Awesome! This is a kind of transitionnal award!

 

Well, the others documents are "common" order booklet for a red banner order and jubilee medals...

Yes It is The person was awarded 4th Class from the Order During the Kingdom of Bulgaria period the Officers Crosses were awarded only to Officers This person is enlisted man (Rank  under officer -rough translation) That mean that during this period those officers classes were awarded not only to officers)

 

Here you can see the order It is interesting grouping with The Republican Emission 4th Class Order for Bravery,

Your person was awarded the same order

[seb16trs]

On 09/01/2025 at 09:52, Graf said:

Yes It is The person was awarded 4th Class from the Order During the Kingdom of Bulgaria period the Officers Crosses were awarded only to Officers This person is enlisted man (Rank  under officer -rough translation) That mean that during this period those officers classes were awarded not only to officers)

 

Here you can see the order It is interesting grouping with The Republican Emission 4th Class Order for Bravery,

Your person was awarded the same order

 

 

Thank you very much for these informations!

 

Which word, or clue, found in the document drove you to conclude he was awarded an officer cross please?

[Wat05]

It is written to ‘подоф Кръстю Петров Динчев’ (podof Krystyu Petrov Dinchev).

 

’Подоф’ is the rank of the man in your document, that was awarded the Order of Bravery 4th Class. 

Edited yesterday at 01:10 by Wat05

[seb16trs]

9 hours ago, Wat05 said:

It is written to ‘подоф Кръстю, Петров Динчев’ (podof Krystyu, Petrov Dinchev).

 

’Подоф’ is the rank of the man in your document, that was awarded the Order of Bravery 4th Class. 

 

Hello, but what is this rank? I am totally stuck with this word.

 

Following his photo, he was a starshina within the communist army...

[Wat05]

Here is a link to Bulgarian ranks from 1879 to 1944. The rank ‘Подофицер’ is located in this article. Clicking on it redirects you to the Bulgarian article for Sergeant. 
 

The rank is like an under-officer, sub-officer, something like this. It seems to be the old term, and it became ‘Сержант’ (Sergeant) after 1944. And of course, ‘Старшина’ is the rank just above ‘Сержант’.

[seb16trs]

Thank you very much, impressive erudition, appreciated.

 

So this rank would deserve an enameled officier cross and not the white metal one?

[steveBobby]

2 hours ago, seb16trs said:

Thank you very much, impressive erudition, appreciated.

 

So this rank would deserve an enameled officier cross and not the white metal one?

Greeting！

Based on common sense and past experience, the recipients of this rank are usually awarded the Soldiers' Cross of Bravery rather than the Officers' Order of Bravery. But perhaps we can make an assumption that the recipient may have performed an extremely heroic act, which led the commander to believe that he should be awarded the Order of Bravery to recognize this behavior. Or another assumption is that all the machine-printed documents were prepared in advance, but no changes were made to some recipients, and he actually received the Soldier's Cross of Bravery. Of course, given the many chaotic issuances between 1945 and 1950, both possibilities are worth considering further.

 

I will show  a two similar document from my collection.

 

Yours

Steve

 

Just now, steveBobby said:

Greeting！

Based on common sense and past experience, the recipients of this rank are usually awarded the Soldiers' Cross of Bravery rather than the Officers' Order of Bravery. But perhaps we can make an assumption that the recipient may have performed an extremely heroic act, which led the commander to believe that he should be awarded the Order of Bravery to recognize this behavior. Or another assumption is that all the machine-printed documents were prepared in advance, but no changes were made to some recipients, and he actually received the Soldier's Cross of Bravery. Of course, given the many chaotic issuances between 1945 and 1950, both possibilities are worth considering further.

 

I will show  a two similar document from my collection.

 

Yours

Steve

 

Another similar recipient, who held the rank of senior captain in the Communist army, but only received the Soldier's Cross of Bravery.

On 1/14/2025 at 6:01 AM, seb16trs said:

 

Hello, but what is this rank? I am totally stuck with this word.

 

Following his photo, he was a starshina within the communist army...

I have seen some archives, and the same rules as in the Soviet Army were applied in the Bulgarian People's Army to award orders based on years of service. To receive the Order of the Red Banner, one must have served in the Bulgarian People's Army for at least 20 years, which may explain why his rank could not be changed to officer. Because he served in the Kingdom Army as a soldier until the Communist period, until he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in the 1950s for his years of service.

[Graf]

6 hours ago, steveBobby said:

Greeting！

Based on common sense and past experience, the recipients of this rank are usually awarded the Soldiers' Cross of Bravery rather than the Officers' Order of Bravery. But perhaps we can make an assumption that the recipient may have performed an extremely heroic act, which led the commander to believe that he should be awarded the Order of Bravery to recognize this behavior. Or another assumption is that all the machine-printed documents were prepared in advance, but no changes were made to some recipients, and he actually received the Soldier's Cross of Bravery. Of course, given the many chaotic issuances between 1945 and 1950, both possibilities are worth considering further.

 

I will show  a two similar document from my collection.

 

Yours

Steve

 

Another similar recipient, who held the rank of senior captain in the Communist army, but only received the Soldier's Cross of Bravery.

I have seen some archives, and the same rules as in the Soviet Army were applied in the Bulgarian People's Army to award orders based on years of service. To receive the Order of the Red Banner, one must have served in the Bulgarian People's Army for at least 20 years, which may explain why his rank could not be changed to officer. Because he served in the Kingdom Army as a soldier until the Communist period, until he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in the 1950s for his years of service.

Very nice information thank you