Which medal is it ?

[JPhilip]

Hi Gentlemen,
My knowledge about german WWI medal is very little and I would like somebody to identify this one which has no ribbon left
thanks in advance
regards

[JPhilip]

other side

[Dave Danner]

It is not German. It is the Bulgarian Commemorative Medal for World War One.

Ribbon looks like the one on the right (the one on the left is the Balkan Wars commemorative medal):

[JPhilip]

Hi Dave,
thank you very much for this very interesting info. This medal was in my grand grand father's stuff. Even if he survived the war, i don't the see the connexion between this bulgarian medal and him, because he was Alsacian, Landser in a bavarian infantry regiment and this medal is postwar bulgarian !
unfortunately there's nobody left in this part of the family to give some answers...
thanks anyway
best regards
ciao!

[ottomaton]

Hi Dave,
thank you very much for this very interesting info. This medal was in my grand grand father's stuff. Even if he survived the war, i don't the see the connexion between this bulgarian medal and him, because he was Alsacian, Landser in a bavarian infantry regiment and this medal is postwar bulgarian !
unfortunately there's nobody left in this part of the family to give some answers...
thanks anyway
best regards
ciao!

Hi. I believe that both this one and the Hungarian WWI medal were given away under a very loose set of conditions. Perhaps the Hungarian one more than this one, but you could have only tangential contact with things Bulgarian as a German and have it. It shows up on tons of Austrian and German bars.

[JPhilip]

Hi Keith,
as far as i know, my grandmother told me that her father did fight on the western front against french and british troops, that's for sure. But this bulgarian medal is some kind of proof that he also fought on the eastern front, beside hugarian troops. I wish i could know more about him but i don't even know the regiment he served in, i don't know what was his rank...
Born german in a french family because of the 1870 war, forced to fight the war against some french troops, i think he didn't appreciate a lot germany and germans. In his stuff, i found only french postwar papers, i think he did destroy everything dated pre-1918 to erase germany from his life.
end of story for me, i won't be able to get more info...i'm a bit
ciao!

[McCulloh]

What regiment was your Granpa in? You'd be surprised how effective some of us here are at research. The bavarian archives are also more easy to access than many others.

The Bulgarian medal was given to anyone who wore a uniform in World War as a Bulgarian ally and applied for it. Many vets applied for it in the 1930s and 1940s.

[Dave Danner]

Jeff is right that many, if not most, of these were awarded simply by applying for it, without having any connection to the Bulgarian fronts.

A number of Bavarian units did serve on the southern fronts, in the invasion of Serbia and on the Romanian front.

[JPhilip]

Hi,
thanks both for your replies, but like i said in my last post, i don't even know in which regiment he served. I know only two things about him, he survived the war, i have got his french driving licence dated of 1919, and my grandmother did tell me a story which took place in Alsace late WWII involving him (her father), a group of angry and starving SS men and some american soldiers who saved this part of my family from a certain death (the all family was standing, back against the wall, waiting for the death to come).
thanks anyway
regards

[torstenbel]

The Bulgarian medal was given to anyone who wore a uniform in World War as a Bulgarian ally and applied for it. Many vets applied for it in the 1930s and 1940s.

Correct...many Germans got the Hungarian as well as the Bulgarian commemorative medal...it is quite commonly found with German WW1 lots. Cheers, Torsten.