Guest trenchmouth Posted 18 October , 2007 Share Posted 18 October , 2007 this is my great greatgrandparents and i was curious what country he fought for. My grandma says ukraine, i was just curious and maybe thought some of you guys would know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
findabetterole Posted 18 October , 2007 Share Posted 18 October , 2007 this is my great greatgrandparents and i was curious what country he fought for. My grandma says ukraine, i was just curious and maybe thought some of you guys would know. At a guess 'trenchmouth', I would say the chap is either Serbian, Hungarian or Austrian. Seph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armourersergeant Posted 18 October , 2007 Share Posted 18 October , 2007 When I saw it my first instinct was Austro-Hungarian, though the lady reminds me more of an eastern european woman, possibly in line with Ukraine. Not much help I am afraid. Arm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grantsmil Posted 18 October , 2007 Share Posted 18 October , 2007 The soldier is wearing the standard uniform of soldier's of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 - 1918. The cap he is wearing has no peak, and these peakless caps were worn by the Cavalry regiments and the Ulan, so this would indicate that he is most probably a member of one of those units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted 18 October , 2007 Share Posted 18 October , 2007 At the time the area of 'Poland' was divided into three between Germany,Austria Hungary and Russia. Ruthenians an ethnic group now called Ukrainians, overlapped into the Russian and Austro Hungarian empires so it is possible that your grandmother's story has a basis of truth, particularly since a Ukrainian state independent of Russia was set up briefly after the Great War. ie he could have been an Austro Hungarian cavalryman with Ukrainian antecedents and then actually been in the successor state briefly.The latter service,given the nationalistic pride of the time may have been the one he preferred to remember. Given that he appears to be wearing puttees and breeches it would suggest middle to late war since cavalry regiments in the early part had coloured uniforms often pale blue (as opposed to pike and field grey) and wore riding boots. This may indicate he was serving in a regiment which was dismounted. There is a useful Austo Hungarian Forum at www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk . Regards Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted 18 October , 2007 Share Posted 18 October , 2007 Looking at the Austro Hungarian website the medal could be a Karl Troop Cross-if the medal ribbon colours can be trusted- this would presumably mean late war since Franz Joseph died in 1916 and Karl became Emperor at that point Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmf Posted 18 October , 2007 Share Posted 18 October , 2007 Trenchmouth, Can you blow the picture up, especially around the head, neck and shoulders area? His cap-cockade and collar-patches, with or without rank or other insignia, can be useful in determining his rank and whether K. u. K. or K.K. I'll assume the photo colouriser didn't reproduce the correct colour of his collar-patches! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Blonde Posted 22 October , 2007 Share Posted 22 October , 2007 Hallo trenchmouth Is a larger picture possible?? with regards the way the lady is dressed it could reflect any woman in Eastern Europe who is not wearing a traditional village dress, I have seen Romanian Country Ladies dressed like this in Transylvania even today, and it must be remembered that there were various ethnic groups in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Transylvania was even part of it up until the end of WW1. The medal could possibly be a Service Cross in the Austro-Hungarian Military, I attach a picture showing 3 service medals: The 1912/13 Balkan Campaign. The Karol Troop Cross, And the 6 year Military Service Cross. Connaught Stranger (in Transylvania) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Blonde Posted 22 October , 2007 Share Posted 22 October , 2007 Looking at the Austro Hungarian website the medal could be a Karl Troop Cross-if the medal ribbon colours can be trusted- this would presumably mean late war since Franz Joseph died in 1916 and Karl became Emperor at that point Greg Hallo Greg, The Karol / Carol Troop Cross was issued before 1916, and the Cross has an integral wreath that forms part of the design, please see my picture (above). Connaught Stranger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted 22 October , 2007 Share Posted 22 October , 2007 Many thanks -I know Karl did try to get involved in things even before the death of Franz Joseph but not that he was able to issue a medal. Looking at the picture the general shape of the arms of the cross were much more similar to the Karl Cross than others and I wondered if in the colouring process the wreath had been obscured. Fabulous collection of medals-oddly I had the opportunity years ago to take photo graphs of medals and portraits of the von Schamsula family in Australia but did not get around to it They had cases in their home full of medals and decorations. I am still kicking myself! Have you had a look at the post by AWeber? There are some AH medals there as well Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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