Can anyone identify this possibly Czechoslovak uniform?
score:9
This summarizes my since-deleted comments into a slightly more coherent form. It is only a partial answer to the originally posed question, and relies on the photographs the OP added after their original post. The uniform is Czech; the bearer was at some point an NCO.
The cap badge has the overall shape of a tilted square containing a smaller square region, as does the badge of the Czechoslovak army, as illustrated on the cited wikipedia article. The image on the knife hilt matches this badge: this is indeed a Czech uniform & gear.
The diploma, or certificate, is the award of a "Victory Medal", as illustrated on various vendors' and collectors' pages (such as this, which has an explanatory essay) and history blogs, for example, this one. This last item transcribes and explains some of the text on a similar certificate. At the end of World War I all allied veterans were given a Victory Medal by their governments. The case of Czechoslovakia was different, because there was no such country during the war, even though many of its future citizens fought on the allied side in what was called the Czechoslovak Legion, whose name predates the creation of the Czechoslovak Republic. After the Republic was founded a Czech version of the victory medal was created, and apparently awarded to your great grandfather. At that time he was presumably in the Czech army, as evidenced by the uniform and repetition of the badge on the hilt of the knife.
One of the web sites above translates another person's diploma reading
President of the republic of Czechoslovakia Number of decret
to Captain of rus.(sian) legions ?V.? Hladky
As per Minister of Nationals Defence’s proposal I award you The medal of Victory
To rememberance of your part in world’s war for civilisation. This medal was vindicated by your volunteer entry into Czechoslovak foreign corps.
In Prag 8th December ?1922?
Minister of national defence (empty)
(Signature is of President T. G. Masaryk, 1st Czechoslovak President)
The handwritten bits of your diploma are the certificate number "2574", what I read as "rotmistru franc legii", the name "Antoninu Hoszovi" (in what I suppose is an inflected form of your grandfather's name: I do not know Czech), and at the bottom the date "15 zari 1922", (that is, 15 Sept 1922) and the president's signature "T. G. Masaryk".
Another site mentioned above explains "war for civilization" means the Great War, which we now call "World War I". The only problematic item is the line with rank and service. There was a French branch of the Czechoslovak Legion, analogous to the Russian branch mentioned on the other certificate. So "franc legii" is understandable. The rank seems to say "rotmistru" which seems to be an inflected form of a word for sergeant major, a kind of senior NCO. (The word itself is probably derived from German Rittmeister, meaning cavalry captain.) It's not clear to me if that refers to his war-time rank or to his 1922 rank.
The web page gives rank insignia for ceremonial uniforms in the period 1925-1929. A rotmistr's epaulette had a row of plants snaking its length, and a single round "pip" at the end farthest from the button by the neck. What I see in the portrait photo is what looks like a twisted braid running the length of the epaulette ending with a single pip of indistinct shape. This is consistent with rotmistr, but if the pip is actually a narrow rectangular bar or a rotated square, the rank changes.
More post
- 📝 When was it discovered that the stars are not all lying on the same plane?
- 📝 What did ancient Romans use instead of shampoo?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this military uniform?
- 📝 Did Martin Luther ever say "The prosperity of a country depends ... "?
- 📝 Was it widespread during the 17th and 18th Century for British country people to be evicted and replaced with more profitable agriculture?
- 📝 What would slaves in the Roman Empire call their masters?
- 📝 Where can I find historical statistics about Catholic monasticism?
- 📝 Was the attempt to take Stalingrad a distraction to the original objectives of the German Sixth Army during Case Blue in 1942?
- 📝 Has any country ever voluntarily admitted to genocide?
- 📝 Abraham Lincoln Quote Background
- 📝 What was the first documented mention of American English different from British English?
- 📝 How to make a proper chiton and himation?
- 📝 What sources could Tacitus or Appian have used that have since been lost?
- 📝 Were there political parties in ancient Greece?
- 📝 Why didn't the Ottomans besiege Malta after 1565?
- 📝 Why was the shape of German states pre-WWII (especially Prussia) so complicated?
- 📝 How did Southern slaveholders in the United States relate to the Caribbean and Latin America?
- 📝 Why did Hitler send Manstein's army (and not some other) to Leningrad in the summer of 1942?
- 📝 Did any black athletes other than Jesse Owens win any medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
- 📝 Are there any contemporary references to the Battle of Badr outside of the Qur'an?
- 📝 Who believed the earth was flat?
- 📝 Did Japan ever retaliate for the Russian attacks of 1806?
- 📝 Were the Spanish aware that American mainland existed after discovering the Caribbean?
- 📝 How does one wash with sand?
- 📝 Did vikings really travel as far as the Middle-east?
- 📝 Where was the Church of SS John and Phocas in Constantinople?
- 📝 Who was the first to point out that transmutation of gold would be mostly useless, since it would simply lead to inflation?
- 📝 Who flew the T-38 "Missing Man" formation at the Challenger Memorial service at JSC, 31 January 1986?
- 📝 How did Taiwan participate in the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58?
- 📝 Was Crassus's fire brigade composed of slaves?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Can anyone identify this possibly Czechoslovak uniform?
- 📝 Can you identify this possibly Austro-Hungarian military uniform from either WW1 or before?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this uniform jacket?
- 📝 Can anyone identify what uniform this child soldier from Switzerland c1870 is wearing?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify the country, rank, and unit this WWI uniform is from?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this uniform from SE Asia?
- 📝 Can anyone help to identify and date this uniform or the medals?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this uniform /person?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this European ?naval uniform from photograph and likely date (belle époque)?)
- 📝 Can anyone identify this military uniform (1900-1915)?
- 📝 Can anyone identify the military branch and rank of the man in the front row? This is from Germany @1932
- 📝 Can anyone identify this warship?
- 📝 Can anyone identify the regiment and rank from this WWI photograph?
- 📝 Can anyone tell me what this coin was used for, an approximate date and possibly what it’s worth?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this tank?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this sword guard?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify the name of the white vessel in this photo w/the masts and funnel?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this Union commander?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this passenger steamship with double funnels and two masts?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this woman’s uniform?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this (circa 1841) uniform?
- 📝 Can anybody help identify this uniform ? Circa WW1
- 📝 Can anyone identify this uniform?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this soldier's uniform?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this uniform, the rank and if possible the date?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this French military uniform?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this World War One uniform?
- 📝 Can you help identify this European military uniform and medals?
- 📝 Can anyone help me identify this Coat of Arms?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this coin found in Spain?