Lieutenant General Ivan Kolev

Lieutenant general Ivan Kolev – “The father of the Bulgarian cavalry”

A Bulgarian officer who began his military career in his student years during the Serbo-Bulgarian war. He took part in the two Balkan wars aswell, but his most notable actions were during the First World War when he commanded the 1st cavalry division in Dobruja (under Romanian rule back then). Often faced against more numerous enemies, he emerged victorious nonetheless. During this time many military commanders considered cavalry to be a thing of the past, due to its vulnerability to modern machine guns and artillery. The reforms introduced by Kolev however, combined with his astounding leadership qualities, made the Bulgarian cavalry into formidable fighting force. He was awarded the german Iron Cross personally by Field Marshall August von Mackensen. Spending many months on horseback in bad weather, his health deteriorated in 1917. He died on the 29th of July the same year.