We’ve done several specials about the uniforms of the various warring nations, and we’ve
covered several of the major ones.
Today, though, I thought I’d look at the uniform of a nation that fought in the war
that is often overlooked or forgotten today, Romania.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to a Great War special episode about Romanian uniforms in
the First World War.
Romania joined the Entente in the war at the end of August 1916.
The standard uniform of the Romanian army when the war itself began in 1914 was the
Model 1912, made of green-grey woolen cloth, with a high collar, piping, and collar tabs
in the color of the branch of the army, or the regiment of the cavalry.
The 12 cavalry regiments each had a different color.
The collar tabs on the Romanian uniform are called "petliţe săgeata", literally "arrow
tabs".
They are unique to the Romanian Army.
Cloth regimental numbers in either branch or cavalry regiment colors were on the cap
and the shoulder boards.
During the winter, the soldiers wore a woolen greatcoat, and in the summer wore a lighter
cotton twill tunic instead of the woolen one.
These had four pockets, but they were inside pockets with buttonless flaps in the winter
coats and outside pockets with buttons in the summer uniform.
Underneath, the soldiers wore a white cotton collarless shirt and a green-grey cravat,
similar to the French.
The color of the uniform itself was the same for all branches of the army, except the pants,
which were black for cavalry, artillery, or general staff, but still with the piping in
the color of the branch or cavalry regiment.
Soldiers wore leather leggings, but as Romania’s entry into the war drew near, these were changed
for puttees.
Officers, cavalrymen, and artillerymen wore tall black leather boots while regular infantry
wore brown, hobnailed, ankle boots.
Unlike most other armies, the puttees were worn inside the boot and not on top.
In 1883, Romania had signed a secret treaty that linked her with the Triple Alliance of
Austria-Hungary, Italy, and the German Empire.
Because of this, the uniforms closely resembled those of the Austro-Hungarian army, but what
the soldiers wore on their heads changed depending on the public mood swings between Francophile
and Germanophile and back again.
From 1888 on, the standard head covering was the capela, a cloth cap that combined the
tall double pointed crown of the French callot with the lower, visored part of the German
Bergmütze, which was also used by Austria-Hungary.
The officers wore French-style kepis, while some branches of the army, like the border
guards, even wore the German spiked pickelhaube, but with King Carol’s emblem instead of
the Prussian eagle.
These were phased out in 1915, but they would reappear in the 1920s.
The Romanian army did not have steel helmets until 1917, when they adopted the French Adrian
helmet.
An interesting side note on headgear here, troops from Dobrogea, which had a sizable
Turkish minority, were allowed to wear a fez instead of a capela.
Now, just before Romania’s entry into the war, the 1916 Model uniform was adopted.
It was a bit simpler than the 1912 and the color was changed to a medium grey.
This was out of necessity because Austria-Hungary was just about to become an enemy.
The soldiers’ equipment was pretty standard for a European army before the war.
They had a leather belt, with a spade and a bayonet on the left hip and two cartridge
pouches in front.
These were pretty large and were rectangular, and could carry ten 5-round clips each.
Extra ammunition, rations, eating utensils, and a steel-enameled canteen with a cork stopper
and chain were carried in an un-dyed canvas bread bag worn on the left hip behind the
spade.
The bread bag sometimes had an external pocket for the canteen, but not always.
The rest of the soldier’s personal kit was carried in his backpack.
At first this was the model 1872, which was black canvas stretched over a wooden frame,
very similar to the French Petite Valise, but this was replaced by the Model 1916, which
was patterned after the Austro-Hungarian canvas backpack.
Tied to the backpack with leather straps was the rolled up greatcoat, a tent, a two-piece
tent pole and tent pegs.
Oh, the soldiers’ mess tins were made out of tinned steel, and were identical to the
Austro-Hungarian Model 1899 mess tins.
As for the weapons they carried...
The infantry was equipped with the Mannlicher M93 bolt action rifle.
Thing is, these were produced for Romania in Austria-Hungary, and though Romania could
produce ammunition in Bucharest, they had to rely entirely on their existing stock of
rifles when they first joined the war, since, once again, Austria-Hungary was now an enemy.
By then, they had around 330,000 modern rifles total, which was not enough, so second line
infantry and territorial battalions had to use the 1879 Pusca Martini-Henry, a single
shot black powder weapon that was 35 years out of date.
They did have 50,000 1912 Steyr semi-automatic pistols that were at first for officers, cavalry,
and artillerymen, though after 1913 some of them found their way into the ranks.
Cavalry used either the Mannlicher or Martini-Henry carbines so they could fight dismounted.
They also had lances and the Model 1863 cavalry sword, which was similar to the French Light
Cavalry 1822 pattern.
If you’re wondering about machine guns, Romania had had only 180 during the Balkan
War in 1913.
These were made at the Austrian Steyr factory, and were a standard Maxim design, the 6.5mm
1909 Model Maxim machine gun.
More were ordered from Austria and the final consignment came in August 1914, bringing
the total to 413.
Still not very many.
And that’s about it.
The basic uniform and equipment of the Romanian soldiers as they went off to war on two fronts
against Germans, Austro-Hungarians, Bulgarians, and Ottomans led by legendary German Generals
Erich von Falkenhayn and August von Mackensen.
If you think that sounds like a tough war to fight, you are not alone.
It would be a VERY tough war to fight.
Thanks to Alexandru Bucur for helping us with the research for this episode and our Romania
special which you can actually check out right here:
For some good photos of Romanian soldiers and gear, follow us on Instagram.
See you next time.