4th Dorobantzes Regiment “Arges”

The unit was created in January 1877 under the name R.7.D and had also frontier guard duties in the mountaineous sector from Lovistea to Vrancea. During the War of Independence 1877-1878, the unit participated in the November 7 attack on Rahova, occupied and maintained the Grivita 1 fort starting with 31aug1877, immediately after it had been captured by other units. It held the perimeter of the Susurlu heights in the vicinity of Plevna, participated in the attack on Opanez, where they were they captures 1 Pasha, 200 Turkish soldiers, 3 cannons, infantry weapons and ammunition. On the 12th of January 1878, the unit took part in the assault on Vidin, where they threw back the last attempt of the Ottoman garrison to break the encirclement. On October 8th the unit was awarded the Cross of the Danube Crossing. In 1891 the unit was renamed R.4.D. Arges. Two officers were decorated with the Russian military order of St.George cl.lV. and 9 members of the unit were decorated with the Order of the Star of Romania (classes: 1 officer, knights 8).
During the First World War, the unit was awarded the highest Romanian military order, Michael the Brave cl.lll. by ID928/21aug17, signed on 31aug17 by King Ferdinand l. The ceremony took place at Poiana Tigancei, on the Curmatura hill. This honour had been earned for piercing the German fortified lines on 11jul17, by hand to hand fighting and following through with a bold thrust through the Dracea valley, down to Campurile, capturing 3 officers, 360 soldiers, 5 cannons, 13 mortars, 7 grenade throwers , 14 vehicles, 4 machine-guns, 700 rifles, ammunitions and other war materials.

During World War II, the unit was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave cl.lll with swords by DR278/02feb1947. 10 of the regiment’s officers were decorated with the Order of Michael the Brave cl.lll. for bravery in battle, in direct contact with the ennemy (3 before 1944, 7 by 1944) of which 6 post-mortem.

> Uniform of a soldier of the 4th Dorobantzes Regiment – 1877

Uniforms worn by the dorobantzes (territorial infantry) during the Independence War of 1877-1878 have had been introduced in 1873. They were composed of the following items:

Black lamb’s fur cap, tilted to the right, adorned in front by prince Carol’s gilt cipher. On the left side it had a tricolour metallic cockade, bearing the number of the regiment in the middle, clasping a grey turkey feather plume. The fur cap had a black leather chinstrap;

Blouse in white linen, with a single row of buttons, hidden by a vertical blue stripe from the middle of the collar all the way down. It had blue collar, cuffs (shirt type) and shoulder boards, bearing the number of the regiment, “4”, in dark blue cloth;

Breeches in undyed cloth;

Greatcoat in grey cloth, single breasted with 5 visible, shiny brass buttons, with rolled off collar and cuffs. Collar patches and shoulder straps in blue cloth. On the shoulder straps was represented the number of the regiment in dark blue cloth. The greatcoat had a horizontal pocket flap, piped blue, on the left side of the chest;

Black leather jack boots or peasant style “opinkas” in undyed, natural leather;

Waist belt in black leather;

Rectangular cartridge pouches, made in black leather, carried on the front and rear side of the waist belt;

Bayonet scabbard (holster), made in black leather, carried on the left hip;

Bread bag, made in white canvas, carried, diagonally, over the left shoulder;

Water bottle, made in metal or glass, carried with a diagonal strap over the right shoulder;

Knapsack made in black waterproof canvas linen, of rectangular shape, with black leather shoulder straps.

The rank insignia consisted of thin white cotton laces (1 for “Caporal”, 2 for “Sergent”, 3 for “Sergent-major”, 4 for “Plutonier”) horizontally displayed on the collar of the blouse or of lace braid stripes, made in yellow cotton (1 for “Fruntas”, 2 for “Caporal”) or gold lace (1 for “Sergent”, 2 for “Sergent-major”, 3 for “Plutonier”), diagonally displayed on the sleeves, above the cuffs of the greatcoat.

> Uniform of a soldier of the 4^th Infantry Regiment “Arges” – 1916-1918

Uniforms worn by the Romanian infantrymen during WW1 have been introduced in 1912 and modified in 1916. They were composed of the following items:

Field cap “capela” made in grey-blue cloth with red piping, having in front the number of the regiment, “4”, in red cloth;
“Adrian” helmet with the overlapping cipher of King Ferdinand I;
Tunic in grey-blue cloth, with a single breasted fly-front. It had 4 rectangular pocket flaps, 2 on the breast and 2 on the hips. The collar was rolled off, piped red, adorned decorated with red pointed collar patches. Shoulder boards in grey-blue cloth, piped red, adorned by the regimental number, in red cloth. Sewn On the outer edge of the right shoulder board was a small cloth roll serving the purpose of preventing the rifle strap from slipping off the shoulder;
Breeches in grey-blue cloth with red piping;
Greatcoat was in grey-blue cloth, doublebreasted, with two rows of visible 4 black metallic buttons. It had 2 side pockets with rectangular flaps. The collar and cuffs were rolled off. The collar was piped red, with red pointed collar patches and the shoulder boards were piped red, adorned by the regimental number, in red cloth. Sewn on the outer edge of the right shoulder board was a cloth roll as for the tunic. At the rear, the greatcoat had two vertical false pocket flaps, piped red, with two metallic buttons, and a rear-belt piped red;
Puttees in grey-blue cloth;
Laced boots in black or undyed, natural leather;
Black leather waist-belt, fastened with a buckle or plain belt plate;
Black leather rectangular cartridge pouches, fixed on the waist-belt, framing the belt plate. Infantrymen could also optionally carry Austro-Hungarian, Italian or Russian WW1 cartridge pouches;
Bayonet scabbard holster, made in black leather, carried on the left hip;
“Linemann” shovel spade holster, made in black leather, carried on the left hip, below the bayonet holster, fastening with its lower strap the bayonet scabbard;
Bread bag in undyed canvas, with a lateral outer pocket for the canteen, carried diagonally, on the left hip;
Canteen, made in enameled metal, carried in the bread-bag’s outer pocket. Optionally, other WW1 canteens of German, Russian or Austro-Hungarian origin, could also be used;
Romanian gas mask (M.1916), French (M-2), or Russian (Zelinsky-Cumant);
Knapsack made in black waterproof canvas, of rectangular shape, with black leather shoulder straps.

The rank insignia consisted of lace braid stripes, made in yellow cotton (1 large for “Fruntas”, 2 large for “Caporal”) or gold lace stripes (1 large for “Sergent”, 1 large and 1 narrow for “Sergent-major”, 2 large for “Plutonier”, 2 large and 1 narrow for “Plutonier-major”, 3 large for “Plutonier-adjutant”), edged red, displayed on the shoulder boards of the tunic and greatcoat

> Uniform of a soldier of the 4^th Dorobantzes Regiment “Arges” 1941-1945

Uniforms worn by the Romanian infantry troops during WW2 have been introduced in 1939. They were composed of the following items:

Field cap “Capela” made in kaki cloth;
Dutch style steel helmet, “Adrian” helmet or German WW2 helmet;
Tunic in kaki cloth, with a single breasted fly-front. It had 2 breast pockets with rectangular flaps. The collar was rolled off and had shoulder boards made in kaki cloth;
Breeches or trousers in kaki cloth;
Greatcoat was in kaki cloth, fastened by two rows of 4 kaki metallic buttons. It had rectangular flaps on the inclined side pockets. The collar and cuffs were rolled off;
Puttees in kaki cloth, worn with breeches;
Leggings in black leather, fastened with three side straps and buckles, worn with trousers;
Laced boots in black or natural leather;
Natural leather waist-belt, fastened with a belt plate plain or adorned by a crown;
Natural or black leather Y suspenders;
Natural leather square cartridge pouches, fixed on the waist-belt, framing the belt plate. Infantrymen could also optionally carry Austro-Hungarian WW1 ammo pouches;
Bayonet scabbard holster, made in natural leather, carried on the left hip;
“Linemann” spade holster, made in natural leather, carried on the left hip, beneath the bayonet holster, fastening the bayonet scabbard with its lower strap;
Bread bag in kaki canvas, carried diagonally, on the right hip;
Romanian rectangular mess tin, made in enameled metal, fastened by a strap on the outside flap of the bread bag, or German mess tin;
Romanian, German or Russian canteen, suspended on the waist belt;
Romanian gas mask (M.1932 or 1939B), carried in a kaki bag, diagonally, on the left hip, or a German WW2 model;
Knapsack made in kaki waterproof canvas, of rectangular shape, with natural or grey leather slings. the Dutch helmet was carried on its flap, fastened with 2 leather straps.

The rank insignia consisted of lace braid stripes, made in yellow cotton (1 large for “Fruntas”, 2 large for “Caporal”) or gold lace (1 large for “Sergent”, 1 large and 1 narrow for “Sergent-major”, 2 large for “Plutonier”, 2 large and 1 narrow for “Plutonier-major”, 3 large for “Plutonier-adjutant”), edged blue, displayed on the shoulder boards of the tunic and greatcoat.