This bronze is titled “Huszár Roham” (in Hungarian) which translates in “Attack of the Hussars”. The Hussars are the traditional Hungarian horse cavalry and has become a generic name for light cavalry units in all armies in Europe in the 19th and early 20th century. During WW1 horses bacame outdated in the course of the war and many cavalry units became “dismounted”, so on foot, without their horses. In 1915, the date of this work, the Hussars were still very much in action with their horses. Especially on the Eastern front, fighting against the Russians over large areas with relatively few people.
This original bronze (probably the only existing example) was made by the Hungarian artist Szamosi. It took me years to find this out. I always thought the first letter was a R in place of the actual SZ. Szamosi lived between 1885 and 1971 and specialized in medals and plaquettes. This one is of a formidable size, 30 cm in diameter.
When I found it I had a difficult time to establish how to display this work of art. Finally I decided to have it framed as a “painting” with the 2 screws it has on the back.
Not sure where and how is was placed originally, maybe on a wall? Before the war Szamosi was already active both as an artist and as an educator at the Arts Academy.
His most famous works are from the 1910s and 1920s. During the first world war he made several works of art related to the war like this one.
Both the medal and the regulations are a copy of the Austro-Hungarian bravery medal in WW1 as I described in my earlier blog. The medal consists of 4 grades, Bronze, Small Silver (or second class silver), Large Silver (first class silver) and Gold.
Bronze, Small Silver and Large Silver (second and first class Silver)
The medal was aimed at ranks below officer but the Gold grade could also be awarded to officers who would receive a special device to the ribbon. Officers in training could be awarded all grades of the medal untill they would get commissioned.
Officer in training with Small Silver and Bronze grade
Border Guard nco with Large Silver grade
The Bronze and Small Silver grade had the same size of 35mm and the Large Silver and Gold grade both measure 40mm. For the silver grades I have so far found three materials – real hallmarked silver, silvered bronze which also has the word BRONZ impressed on the rim and the war metal version without any markings.
It seems the silvered bronze version had a regular problem with the eyelet as I have seen several examples where it came off and I have seen several more on the market. These all seem to be the version with BRONZ stamped in the rim.
So far I have not handled a gold one personally but as far as I understand both hallmarked gold and a gilded bronze versions exist, only 60 were awarded in total so be aware the chances of finding a real one are minimal.
Two variations of the bronze bravery medal where the first one has been gilded!
Below several variations in war metal and silvered bronze of the 2nd class silver.
The front bears the bust of Regent Horthy Miklós. The reverse shows the national symbol of Hungary with crossed swords behind and the word VITÉZSÉGÉRT – bravery.
The ribbon is the standard triangular form and could have two types of devices. A bar for repeat awards (up to three bars!) and a golden device for the officers Golden medal (extremely rare, only 21 examples!).
The award paper is basically the same for all grades with the different grade being mentioned. Below a Bronz and Small Silver example.
Bronze Bravery Medal inside
Above the inside of the booklet for the small silver bravery medal. It was awarded posthumously as was the case with a relative large number. More than 3000 awardees (of the 8193) did not survive the war. A book about all decorated fallen Hungarians during WW2 states he was killed by a headshot in 1944 in the location Dubowy.
Another version of the bronze award paperAnd a regular (not posthumously) certificate for the 2nd class silver medal
The large silver grade has become quite rare and is sought after. Several versions exist as already discussed above can be seen below.
Four versions of the first class silver medal
Compiled from the same website a quick overview of the amounts awarded per year. It seems many men who died in combat also received the bronze or silver 2nd class medal posthumously.
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
Total
Bronze
244
0
1721
2299
15541
6037
25842
Small Silver
193
1
722
1725
4060
1492
8193
Large Silver
129
2
263
453
546
278
1671
Gold
39
Officers Gold
21
Small grouping to one person including the bronze bravery medal
Mounted group of medals with the 1st class silver medal. Front.
The reverse shows the typical “loose” mounting of Hungarian medals on a metal bar.
Collectors be aware fakes also exist and these can be very deceiving. As far as I know they only exist in bronze and a silvered version of this (so both the same 35mm size using one mold). Here you can see some details regarding the fake version.
This group of photo’s in my collection originates from a Hungarian refugee in Canada. After he or she passed away the photo’s were sold but the seller was not willing to release the name of the original owner/photographer. So here I present a group of never published photo’s of the Hungarian revolution.
Please be aware some of the photo’s are shocking and not proper for children. Some of the photo’s have captions stating the location. As far as available I will add them too. Other than that I will let the photo’s speak for themselves.
The Revolution of 1956 should never be forgotten and the participants deserve to be remembered by the current and future generations, both Hungarian and internationally. Freedom is worth fighting for!
Kalvin square with broken down street cars
Soldiers, tanks and casualties on Tisza Kalman square
A communist statue taken down!
Broken down tank with Freedom fighter in front
Canon in the damaged streets of Budapest
A badly damaged streetcar
The canon of the first photo from the other side?
Barricades in the street with the text “Russians go home” in Hungarian and Russian…
In remembrance of all participants and victims of the 1956 revolution!
This portrait was made by Robert Fuchs (signed R Fuchs Im Felde 1917) I found it in Hungary some years back. So far I have not been able to establish who this officer is.
Robert Fuchs, “Kriegsmaler”
During the first worldwar the Austro-Hungarian empire used artist to make professional paintings of the war. Not only local but also foreign artists, even a quite famous Dutch artist acted as such, but that is a different story alltogether. These painters did not become part of the army but were paid by it for their services, they were called war painters or in German Kriegsmaler. Sometimes they were attached to a specific unit or a theatre of war.
See for pictures of a war painter at work my other blog!
Robert Fuchs, born in 1896 was such a painter. After the war he went on to become a fulltime professional artist after completing his studies on the Viennese Academy for the Arts. Despite specializing in portraits one of his most famous paintings became the official painting for the 1955 Austrian State treaty pictured below (photo from an internet source):
Austro-Hungarian officer – R. Fuchs 1917 Im Felde
This portait is of a still unkown officer. Based on the awards he was quite successful in the war with at least an Austro-Hungarian Iron Crown order 3rd class. (first and highest award of the row of ribbons) which is quite rare for a mere captain. The other ribbons are of generic issue for war related medals. Probably one Military Merit cross 3rd class and two Military Merit medals, both the bronze and the silver version. Next to this he has two ribbons in the button hole. One is clearly for the German Iron Cross second class. The second probably is for the Turkish War medal. Those Iron Crescents are most often seen being worn on the breast and very seldom as here with a ribbon in the buttonhole.
The single loop on his shoulder in combination with the combination of medals hint at the possibility that he was one of the few Austro-Hungarian artillery men sent to fight on the Ottoman front with the Turks and the Germans.
More input for the naming of this officer is more than welcome!
This is adapted and translated version of an article I published in Decorare in 2011
What is this photo?
After finding the photo that is the theme of this blog I saw myself confronted with something impossible. Dutch military officers among a group of Austro-Hungarian soldiers, so probably on the eastern front in the first World War?
As you may know the Netherlands were a neutral country during the first worldwar (and they tried, unsuccesfully, to do the same in the second world war – but that is a different story). Surrounded by warring countries the war had a great impact on the Netherlands but there was no military participation of any kind so the big question that arised is: what is the story of this photo?
The photo had a Hungarian text on the back that helped to shed some light on this. It can be translated as follows: Dutch officers visiting Lieutenant Colonel Safrán. So the Dutch are not participating but visiting the front and we know whom they were visiting, a good starting points for further research.
Timeframe established!
Like most countries the Austro-Hungarian army also published rank lists with information on officers, these are a great source of information. During peacetime the lists (thick books) are almost perfect but during war time with rapid promotions, casulaties and all kinds of unregular changes they become less and less trustwothy. Nevertheless I could find (with the help of some research friends) that he was promoted to full Colonel in November 1917. So the photo must be from before that date. Another clue is the uniform the Dutch officers are wearing – it was only introduced in 1916 so the period is between 1916 and the end of 1917.
Study tours to the frontlines
Why would Dutch neutral officers visit the front of a war they are not part of? Well the First Worldwar changed the face of warfare in a shocking way. A neutral country could not learn from their own experience what this impact was. The only way to learn is by studying the experiences of others. So in that direction goes the second part of the research. There is only one publication on this subject written by Sven Maaskant. He states that between 1914 and 1920 approximately 60 tours were made by Dutch officers to study the effects of the war and the impact for the Dutch armed forces. After some research I succeed in contacting Maaskant and mail him a copy of the photo. He instantly recognized one of the Dutch officers. It is Lieutenant-Colonel T.F.J. Muller Massis who was the Dutch military aide to the Dutch embassies in Germany and Vienna between 1916 and 1920.
With that information he also can determine the specific trip out of the 60. Only one trip fits the participants, timeframe and location. It is a study tour to the Austro-Hungarian front that was made between June 25th and July 31st 1917. The four participants were: Colonel D.G. van der Voort Maarschalk, Lieutenant-Colonels T.F.J. Muller Massis and E.M. Carpentier Alting and Captain W.J. van Breen.
Carpentier Alting, an officer of the Dutch East Indies army is not in this picture, did he make it or was there another reason for his absence? The tour would have been organized by Muller Massis in his capacity of military aide in Berlin and Vienna. An officer that would raise to the rank of General and commander of the Dutch field army from 1922 until his pension in 1928 after which he would become a member of parliament untill 1948.
In 1933 Muller Massis donated a collection of helmets and gasmasks of different countries that participated in the war to the Dutch National Military Museum. He wrote about this: “The object were picked up by me during the visits I made to the battlefields. Further I still have the German gasmaks that was supplied to me in my function as military aide in Germany and that I wore on several fronts.” The donation also held his collection of Austro-Hungarian distinctives. These are the so called “Kappenabzeichen”, unofficial badges worn on the military caps by Austro-Hungarian troops which he collected during these trips. On the picture in question can be seen that the 3 Dutch officers al wear such insignia on the left breast of their uniform.
What is the unit in the photo?
Some research on the Hungarian officer in the pictures gives the specific unit, the 10th Honved (Hungarian territorial army) Infantry Regiment (HIR) which was part of the 39th Honved Infantry Division which is confirmed by a “Kappenabzeichen” on the breast of one of the Dutch officers which is of this division.
Wy this unit?
In March 1917 the 39th HID waged a very signifact battle against Russian troops on the realively new Rumanian front in which the 10th HIR of which Safrán was the commander played an important role. The entire unit was used as Stormtroops. The use of Stormtroops was a new military development of the Germans that was quickly adopted by their Austro-Hungarian allies. These troops were used mainly to force breaktroughs in the stallmate of trenchwarfare and new tactics and weapons were deployed by them. They were the first to get handgrenades and machine guns but also helmets and gasmasks which were not widely spread yet with the Austro-Hungarian army. They can be seen as an early variation of Special Forces within the army, receiving addtional training and equipment in comparison with the regular infantry.
The entire action of the 39th division would literally become a textbook example for the Hungarian (Ludovika) officers academy of a Stormtroop attack. In the fight for Hill 1504 (Magyaros near the Uz river) there were hardly any Austro-Hungarian casulaties but the Russians sufferend hundreds of casulaties and a multitude of were taken as Prisoners of War. A good reason for a visit of Dutch officers to learn from this example attack only a few months later especially a good promotion for the Austro-Hungarian army that struggled with its performance in other places.
From hypothesis to proof
The Dutch Institute for Military History has the archive of Muller Massis that also contains his (formerly SECRET) report from September 1917 on the “Commission sent to visit the Austro-Hungarian fronts”. It is a sort of diary of the trip with several appendices on specific military themes. In his reports he also describes how they received “Kappenabzeichen” as gifts. Here some translations relevant to this article:
“July 3rd. With this regiment we learned for the first time about regimental and other insignia which were attached to the headwear. As momento of our visit to the von Hindenburg regiment we each received a similar badge with a in white metal portrait of the “Inhaber” or owner surrounded by a wreath of laurels and a ribbon in enemal with the years 1914, 1915 and 1916 and the words v.hindenburg K.u.K. Inf. Reg. Nr. 69.”
That same badge is depicted below and is still part of the collection of the Dutch National Military Museum today.
The report also confirms date and location of the photo.
“July 7th. Guided by several officers we visited the first line of defense of the 10th Honved regiment, wich line was a very short distance away from the enemy line. Here also the hostilites had not commenced again which even made it possible to get in front of the trenches. After visiting some trenches of neighbouring 9th Honved regiment, we walked down to the customs office The starting point of a forresttrain (waldbahn) to Rumania. from here we went back to the headquarters of the 39th division.”
Without the mentioning of Safrán in the text we can date the picture to July 7th 1917. Most information was already completed when the confirmation in the form of the original report was found. This shows that with thorough research it is possible to determine much valuable information.
In order to do this I had help from several other researchers, many thanks to my friends in making this article possible!
Muller Massis Commissie uitgezonden voor een bezoek aan de Oostenrijksch Hongaarsche Fronten Verslag (1917) niet gepubliceerd origineel, collectie NIMH
The Rongyos Garda – freely translated as “ragged guard” – was a paramilitary group of Hungarian volunteers. The name was based on the chosen uniform, consisting of a simple civilian coverall and a Swiss style cap.
In 1938 they were used to pressure Czechoslovakia during the negotiations in which Hungary sought to regain territories that were lost during the Trianon treaty. These were not all territories that were lost but those mainly inhabited by ethnic Hungarians.
The Guard was used to do some commandolike clandestine actions in southern Slovakia and in the Carpathian mountains. They created unrest in the area. The Hungarian state could use “military” pressure with the Guard without using their official army. Use of the army might have ended in a war as the French and English were still heavily involved in the regional politics next to Germany of course.
Some members of the Guard were killed and also some were captured. The captured ones were not treated as prisoners of war as the were not officially military and would not treated as such.
The negotiations with Czechoslovakia were concluded with the support of Germany and Italy and it became known as the 1st Vienna Award. As a result of the treaty a large part of Southern Slovakia was returned to Hungary in 1938.
The Rongyos Garda participants were awarded the same medal for their activities as their military counterparts. The rather common 1938 medal for the “Liberation of Southern Slovakia”. The only difference I have been able to establish is in the paperwork.
In this specific case the man received two different award papers from the Hungarian army for the same award. One from the Honved (Army) Headquarters, 5th department and one from a unit (in which he did not actually serve during the actions).
Although research is now possible into the actions of that period (which was impossible during the Russian occupation period) obviously not much is left to go by as these actions were “unofficial” but clearly supported by Hungary. So an interesting period with little hard information to research.
Medal and paper group for a Rongyos Garda man (only one of the two documents for the 1938 Liberation of Southern Slovakia medals is framed top right).
And below the second award document awarded by the Army HQ, 5th department. From what I understood from a Hungarian researcher in this theme is that all Rongyos Garda men received this specific version of the award document for the 1938 action. It is dated November 22nd 1939 where the other document is dated December 6th of that year. Quite surprising they did this as it obviously left a paper trail and made the action at least semi official.
The Ragged Guard saw no further action as such during the Horthy government, most men became part of the regular army that was allowed to grow again in the years leading up to the second worldwar.
During the first worldwar the Austro-Hungarian empire used artists to make professional paintings of the war. These painters did not become part of the army but were paid by it for their services, they were called war painters or in German Kriegsmaler. Sometimes they were attached to a specific unit or a theatre of war.
In an album from my collection there are is a picture of a Kriegsmaler at work and also two pictures of the results of his work. Such pictures are hard to find.
For a portrait of an officer (in my collection) made by a Kriegsmaler go to this blog
Karl was a well known visitor to the front like many others from the royal family. There are many photo’s of him visiting the front. Especially from the period before he became the Austro-Hungarian Kaiser so up to 1916.
These few all come from one album of an officer in the 306th Honvéd Infantry Regiment (Honvéd Gyalóg Ézred)
And below my favorite of this small series. Karl needs a table for his map so he uses a decorated Huszar officer for this….
Sometimes as a collector you find unexpected treasures. Years ago I bought some paperwork with which came a group of namecards from the Pehm family. Going through the cards one stuck out:
Feldmarschallleutnant Arthur Freiherr Giesl v. Gieslingen
Based on the rank the card dates between November 1907 and Oktober 1912. He used this card as a quick thank you note/letter to a Pehm, referring to him and other students he comes across in the field and that are doing well. He was the commander of the Theresian Officers Academy between 1905 and 1910 so this must refer to his activities there where this Pehm (and a Krainz he mentions) were his students.
In the collection there are two Pehms with officers ranks so I am not sure which one is adressed here?
Mayerling and Redl
Von Gieslingen had a long career but two incidents are notable. He was attached to Crownprince Rudolph at the moment he commited suicide in the Mayerling hunting lodge. The whole affair was handled by Von Gieslingen.
His impact in the Redl affair could be even greater. He brought Redl as a young Russian speaking officer into the Evidenz bureau (Military Intelligence) of which Von Gieslingen was the commander at that moment. Later he made him his Chief of Staff of the 8th Corps in Prague. Redl as spy for the Russians probably gave all detailed plans for war to the Russians. The poor handling of the Redl case might even have been a main reason for the extremely poor performance of the AH army in the first war year. The plans most likely fell in the hands of the Russians but were not altered as Von Gieslingen claimed they had not been compromized. His own relieve of command in 1914 due to poor performance might have been a result of this too.
A great short bio about Von Gieslingen can be found here:
Three earlier blogs now combined into 1 complete blog covering medals, paperwork, amounts awarded and equivalents.
History before WW1
The basis for this medal was made in 1789 in the form of the Ehren-Denkmünze für Tapferkeit (honor remembrance coin for bravery) by the Habsburg emperor Joseph II. In its original form it had two classes, gold and silver, for ranks below officer who had distinguished themselves in combat. In 1809 by Emperor Franz II the form was changed to make it a wearable medal that was also renamed in Tapferkeitsmedaille – Bravery Medal. Then again in 1848 the silver class was split into two classes. Next to the original Silver class (40mm in diameter) a second class was added that was smaller in size (31mm in diameter). Emperor Franz-Joseph I in Februari 1915 added a Bronze class with the same size as the silver medal 2nd class (also 31mm in diameter).
The four classes with FJI with his last variation of the observe
A last change was made by Emperor Karl in 1917 in making the Golden class and the Silver 1st class medal available to officers. Until then officers had no specific gallantry medals apart from the Military Maria Theresia order that was only very rarely awarded for extreme examples of gallantry. Most officers received the regular medals that were available for officers that were awarded for gallantry but also other other forms of distinguished service.
Three classes with Emperor Karls’s head
In all these periods the medal would have the ruling Emperor of that moment on the observe and the words “Der Tapferkeit” (The Bravery) on the reverse. Karl would change the text on the reverse to the Latin text “FORTITVDINI” as that language was neutral in an empire where the first languange of many people was not German.
The two reverse variations
The Bravery medal in WW1
With two emperors during the war there were also two versions of all medals from gold to bronze with either Franz Joseph I and from 1917 onward Karl on the observe of the medal. Franz Joseph had 3 versions of his head on the medals during his very long reign. The third version was the regular one for WW1 but the 2nd and even the 1st version could still be awarded if available. This was mainly the case with early awards of the Golden Bravery Medal.
A novelty in WW1 was that all classes could be worn next to each other. Before that period only the highest award of the medal would have been worn. For each next award in the same class a clasp (introduced in October 1915) could be worn on the medal ribbon with 4 bars as the maximum (which obviously was extremely rare in any class).
Version of a single and triple bar (so for second and fourth award)
As officers also could get an award of the Golden and 1st class Silver medal from late 1917 onwards a difference had to be made. This was done in the form of a capital K letter on the triangular ribbon. These existed in both gold (gilded) and silver. An officer could wear both medals of the same class, one with the K device and one without the K device (so awarded as an officer and nco for different occasions).
The official announcement of the K device for officers bravery Medals
As all officers in training went through the non-commissioned ranks before becoming commissioned they were during this training period also eligible for the Bravery Medals. So WW1 Austro-Hungarian officers groups often have Bravery Medals in the group. This is just a sign that the officers was not yet commissioned when he received the medal. The ones with the K on the ribbon are much rarer.
Nice selection of Bravery Medals to officers (all without K device)
Payment
The winners of the Gold and both classes of Silver medals also received an additional monthly payment. The Bronze class was excluded from this so it was also of financial interest to soldiers to receive the highest possible level of Bravery Medal as the payment was doubled for each higher class. Only the highest class was paid and only for one instance of the award. Multiple awards did not multiply the amount received.
Announcement of the amount paid per class
Variations
Before WW1 all medals would have a fixed eye for the ribbon. Only during the war this was replaced with the more standard moveable eye for the ribbon fixture. The only exception to this would be the Golden Bravery Medal that would remain using the fixed (Henkelöse) version. This makes it relatively easy to recognize the non official version of the Golden version. Private/non-official versions of all medals would be made during and after the war. These are not “fake” but bought examples of these medals. Especially real Golden Bravery Medals were often sold for the gold value in the post war period and replaced with a privately purchased gilded version.
Well worn example of the Golden Bravery Medal (gilded bronze, stamped BRONZE on rim. The majority of FJI examples were gold (14/15), the majority of Karl examples were gilded bronze (17/18). Gold versions of Karl are the rarest and gilded bronze versions of FJI (16/17) are the second rarest.
The official versions can also be recognized by the name of the artist below the head of the Emperor. On most private versions this name was not copied! Three names can be found. Two for the FJ versions: Tautenheyn and Leisek. The Karl versions all have Kautsch. The official silver versions would be marked with an A in a circle on the rim (for the Vienna Mint).
Below an example of a private production version of the Gold Bravery Medal without the artists name Kautsch below Emperor Karl. Interbellum period replacement for Horváth János.
From 1916 onward the Golden version became to expensive to be awarded. A gilded bronze version was made that would have BRONZE stamped in the rim of the medal. These medals were planned to be exchanged for real gold after the war. As the war was lost this never happened nor would the winners get their additional payment for the new Governments in the countries that would come into being after the war. Karl was on the front often, also for award ceremonies. He only handed out real gold versions. These Karl examples in real gold are the rarest variation of the Golden Bravery Medal.
It was also possible to replace the golden medal when lost or to get a second version. These are marked with the HMA (Hauptmunzamt) stamp next to the material stamp.
Award Certificates and other paperwork
The Austro-Hungarian army was well organized in its paperwork. Each request for a medal would go through the hierarchy and be kept in the personal record when awarded. It would depend on the level of the medal in which stage of the hierarchy the decision would finally be made. For the Golden Bravery Medal a separate register was kept that still is available as a reference in the Vienna Military Archives.
After the medal was awarded the person would receive an award paper (Legitimation) confirming the award which should be worn on the person (to be able to proof the medals that were actually worn in the field). The standard place to keep these papers were the small ID capsules each person would wear. This made it necessary to make the documents very small. Here are some examples.
Bronze
Silver IInd Class
Silver Ist Class
Some units made more elaborate documents available for their men in a larger size. These are not standard and not official but relatively rare and desirable.
Full size award paper for a Ist Class Silver Bravery Medal
Personell files were partially lost in the 2nd world war and also these were split between the different states that resulted from the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Honvéd related files are mostly in the Hungarian Military Archives in Budapest and most others in Vienna and some in the other states. Here an example of Bravery medal related request as found in the Hungarian archive.
An interesting secondary source for Hungarian WW1 bravery medals related info are the Vitezi rend yearbooks in which also medal lists are published.
Amounts awarded and exchange with the German Iron Cross
The German Iron Cross is probably the most iconic award in the world. As part of the same coalition an exchange agreement between Germany and Austro-Hungaria was made for their armies. Were the German award system is the same for all ranks this is not the case in the Austro-Hungarian (AH) award system were there are specific medals for officers and different medals for the nco ranks. For the Germans the Iron Cross was the most general medal for gallantry so a good basis for exchange. But this would not fit the AH system. Therefore the choice was made to make the German Iron Cross only available to the officers in the AH army. The 2nd class for troop officers and the 1st class only for high ranking officers which can be seen in the extreme low amounts awarded. This only began to change slightly in the last year of the war.
For the ranks below officer a different solution had to be found. This came in the form of the Prussian Warriors Merit Medal (Krieger Verdienstmedaille) that always had been intended for foreign soldiers of ranks below officer. It was worn on the same ribbon as the Iron Cross which made the distinction between officers and men a bit more tolerable.
The Iron Cross could be awarded to the lowest rank of officer (Fahnrich) and also to Officer replacements. Most officers that became an officer during the war had gone through the nco ranks as part of their officers training and often had been awarded medals for the nco ranks in that period. As soon as they were officers they would be eligable to receive the German Iron Cross. So in mixed groups (officers that had been a nco before) both officers and nco medals can be found. This often leeds to the misunderstanding that the German Iron Cross could be awarded the nco’s as well in the AH army – which is not the case.
Officers medals, Bravery Medals for NCO and Iron Cross in a mixed NCO/Officer group
Statistics
The award criteria for gallantry medals are very different in each country as is the structure of the army and the processes to award medals. So a comparison of “level” is not possible. But a comparison of relative numbers of awards should be possible.
To do this I have taken some data from online sources and combined those. I have taken the number of men mobilized between 1914 and 1918. Further I have taken the number of awards per class and compared these with the number of mobilized men. Both as an percentage and as 1 decoration awarded per how many mobilized men.
There are several reasons why this comparison is not “fair”. The AH Bravery Medals were aimed at the men below the rank of officer. No other gallantry medals could be given to them. The German Iron Cross in the German army was open to all ranks. Next to this there were many other awards for gallantry/bravery from the different states within Imperial Germany. Those facts are not taken into account – it is a simple, straightforward comparison of numbers only!
Nevertheless I have made the comparison in numbers and found to my surprise that even the total relative amount of Iron Crosses is way bigger than that of Bravery Medals. Even the “unpopular” Bronze Bravery Medal is relatively rarer than an Iron Cross 2nd Class. And the Silver Bravery Medal 1st class can be compared to the Iron Cross 1st class in relative amounts.
The last part of the statistics show the numbers I have taken from the reference below and state the amount of German Iron Crosses (IC) and Prussian Warriors Merit Medals (WMM) that were awarded to members of the Austro-Hungarian army.
The overview below is based on the information from the website of Dr. János Szentváry-Lukács, see the reference below. It gives the specific amounts for the Bravery Medals to the Honvéd part of the Austro-Hungarian army!
The award was continued after the war in Hungary (could be worn on the uniform) and a new version with Regent Horthy also came into existence. You can read more about those in this blog.
Reference: Steiner, J.C. (2010) Heldenwerk 1914-1918. Vienna, Austria
