During the First World War, Bory Jenő designed two cap badges for the 17th Royal Hungarian Honvéd Infantry Regiment of Székesfehérvár. Worn on the soldiers’ field caps, the badges commemorated the unit’s valour in combat.
In Memory of the Fighting in the Carpathians (1915)
The badge shows two Honvéd soldiers standing guard with fixed bayonets on a mountain ridge, with the ranges of the Carpathians behind them. The work commemorates the regiment’s fighting in the Carpathians in 1914–1915.
In Memory of the Fighting at Doberdò (1916)
The other badge depicts a Hungarian Honvéd soldier fighting two Italian Bersaglieri on the rocky terrain of the Doberdò Plateau. The close combat between the soldiers also alludes to the shortages of ammunition frequently experienced at the front, when rifle butts or bayonets had to be used in battle.
The badges were produced in bronze, silver and war metal, and today they are valuable records of Bory Jenő’s early medallic work and of the wartime history of the 17th Royal Hungarian Honvéd Infantry Regiment.