Tűzkereszt means “Fire Cross”, a Hungarian military decoration awarded for front-line combat service between 1941 and 1943.

Hungarian Military History Archive

An online archive preserving Hungarian and Austro-Hungarian military history through original photographs, awards, documents, and research material.

ESTABLISHED 2010

2017-03-25

" Father and Son "

Studio portrait of a Hungarian artillery sergeant-major wearing an attractive First World War medal bar.

A veteran of the Great War, he continued his military career in the Hungarian Army that remained after the reductions imposed by the post-war peace treaties. The triangle on his left sleeve indicates that he was a regular, professional soldier, distinguishing him from reservists and part-time non-commissioned officers.

The buttons on the sergeant-major's tunic are silver in color, matching the sabre knot, collar stars, rank stripe, and sleeve triangle. The artillery branch color was deep red, which was worn on the collar patches and also appeared on the shoulder boards. Together, these details clearly identify him as a career artillery NCO in the interwar Hungarian Army.