Talk:Milunka Savić

Query re: claim of most decorated female combatant in history of warfare

G'day. This is an extraordinary claim, but the source for it is unremarkable, a Blic article. There would be many women who might lay claim to that honour, for example; Nancy Wake AC GM, Valentina Grizodubova and Lyudmila Pavlichenko (both Hero of the Soviet Union recipients) and several others. I would want to see a claim like that justified with at least two academic non-Serbian sources, not Blic. Regards, Peacemaker67 (crack... thump) 00:20, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Hello, PM67. Since incredibly little has been written about this woman by western academics, I can't do any better than providing this book which deems her one of the most decorated, though plenty of Serbian sources (including the Serbian Government , Serbian historians and plenty of Belgrade museums) give her the distinction of being the most decorated woman soldier ever. She certainly did pick up a lot of medals, so I don't know about this one. 23 editor (talk) 01:14, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

She was obviously a highly decorated and very brave woman, but an extraordinary claim of Serbian historians etc about a Serbian hero really isn't tenable. It is very difficult to compare two Stars of KG to Wake's decorations, so the basis for the claim is difficult to understand. She may be the most decorated female combatant in WWI, as several sources state Wake was the most decorated woman of WWII. Of course we'd need a pretty damn good source for that too. The "history of warfare" thing is really ridiculous, as there are no records of the various decorations or honours awarded to female warriors earlier than say a couple of hundred years ago. How do we know that Boudica wasn't awarded several torcs for her successes in battles against the Romans in AD 60? I would suggest that it at the very least be qualified in-line as a Serbian claim, but basically, I think it is unsustainable as an extraordinary claim for which we don't have extraordinary sources. Peacemaker67 (crack... thump) 01:45, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Agree that it should be attributed inline until a reliable Western source weighs in on the matter, though I doubt anyone is denying that she was the most decorated woman of WWI. I don't know if you're aware, but other than the two Stars of Karageorge she also received two Legions of Honor, a French Gold Cross, the Russian Order of St. George, the British Order of St. Michael and multiple other Serbian decorations. So suggesting that we're comparing "two Stars of KG" to Wake's decorations is a bit misleading. 23 editor (talk) 04:11, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Wake obviously had a number of "foreign" decorations also, in addition to the AC (well above CMG) and GM, but that aside, an in-line attribution that "Serbian sources state she was the most decorated female combatant in history of warfare" should be sufficient for now. If you'd prefer, I'm happy to RfC it. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (crack... thump) 04:25, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

For the sake of reliability, lets check with WP:MILHIST and see if someone can come up with a Western source pointing to the "most decorated all-time" claim (maybe people have access to academic journals, online libraries, etc. that I don't). 23 editor (talk) 04:29, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Sure. Do you want to do it, or will I? Peacemaker67 (crack... thump) 04:32, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

A query on the talk page will suffice. I'll do it. 23 editor (talk) 04:34, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

I think we should remove the claim. There are a number of other women, especially the Night Witches, who are highly decorated. Awards, decorations, and their eligibility vary so greatly by country that many "most decorated" claims do not convey the valor of the individual that a more narrative summary provides. It would be better and more useful to lay readers to just itemize out her awards and decorations.

Additionally, I am bothered by the fact that there are no English citations for her. I checked and she is not listed in World War I: the Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Guide, published by ABC-CLIO. The Pritzker Military Museum & Library just received the Hunter Collection, a very large collection on World War I with materials in multiple languages. If I find anything useful in it as we process it, I will add it to this article. TeriEmbrey (talk) 14:51, 24 June 2015 (UTC)

– She took 23 soldiers captive? Is there a Bulgarian source?-Jotaro97 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jotaro97 (talk • contribs) 18:07, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

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