Digging up the past..., Knowing my grandfather

In his 'Livret Militar' I could find that he was moved to several divisions.

He was in Regimentul 1 Rosiori, Divizia Cavalerie Moto-Mecanizata (I guess 'Divizia 8 Cavalerie Motorizata from the link below), Divizia Blindata (perhaps 'divizia 8 Cavalerie Blindata').

I looked here: http://www.worldwar2.ro/oob/?section=13 I don't know if there are all of them.

Do you think you could please look again in your books?


Thank you

I'm now almost sure that he was part of this: http://www.worldwar2.ro/oob/?article=72

That should be correct. The photo, however, is of soldiers from the 2nd Rosiori Regiment of the same division.

Hmm, I just got to my hometown and was able to check his "Livret Militar" personally.

Seems like he wasn't in Regimentul 1 Rosiori after all, it's just written "Regiment Rosiori", doesn't say which one. Could be any. No numbers are given, just the names of the units he's been in, like "Divizia Cavalerie", but that shouldn't be something odd since this is his last "Livret Militar", from 1957, and this was issued during the communist era...

Also: looks like he was lower than "Locotenent" during the war, he got promoted all the way to "Capitan" after the war. But he was "Comandant de escadron" in "Divizia de cavalerie" from January to May 1945, this is all I could decipher because the handwriting there is difficult to understand.

I feel like I'm looking for the needle in the haystack... Do you think I could find a list of all squadron commanders from this period? I feel like I'm close to getting on a track...

Thanks

He was trained in a German Cavalry school. I read that only about 900 men were selected each year and sent to German Military schools.

He was awarded the "Steaua Romaniei" medal, which I heard was the highest distinction at the time.

Is there nothing written about him anywhere? I was able to find things about my grandmother's brother, who was an aviator, but nothing about my grandfather who was awarded that medal? He must have done something special to get that medal, isn't he remembered anywhere?

Steaua Romaniei Order was not the highest military award. If you want more details you could ask for information at the Army's Historical Service:http://www.mapn.ro/smg/SIA/index.html

The information about Constantin Manaila was available because he was an aviator. There were only several thousand of them during WW2 and the high interest in aviation means that there are more people that have studied the subject and moe chances to find out information about certain pilots.

There were hundreds of thousands of men who served in the ground forces and the subject is less glamorous than aviation, which means less people studying it. Unless he was one of the few recipients of the Mihai Viteazul Order, chances of finding out more details about him are very slim, unless you ask for information at the military archives.

Thank you Victor... I guess I have a clearer picture now.

I'll continue this research on my own, as there are no significant books about the Cavalry... still looking for the needle in the haystack. However, I was able to find some books about the German Cavalry (Deutsche Kavallerie), written in German. I can study them, since I know German.

Ironically, they made reference to the Romanian Cavalry as well. Too bad we don't have books about our own Cavalry. Though it may not be such a 'glamorous' subject, they were still there to fight for our country and should be remembered...

I will get back here if I find anything new.

There is one book written about the Romanian Cavalry and Tank troops.

Can you please give me more details? Name, author, where I can find it (if you know...).

Thank you for this info.