slava1stclass

Gents, A beautiful ribbon rack to Full Cavalier G. D. Kokozashvili that sold for $120.00 at auction in the former Soyuz two years ago. It was accompanied by several documents including those for his Caucasus, Warsaw, Berlin and VoG medals. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Currently available on the well-known auction site for a buy-it-now price of $3,500.00. The orders booklet and OGII only first surfaced at auction in Ukraine a couple of years back. Since then, the "OGIII" has now suddenly appeared. While I'm confident in the OGII's and orders booklet's authenticity, I can't say the same for the OGIII based on the images below. While the OGIII's "serial number" matches that awarded to the Full Cavalier in question, the likelihood of the original OGIII being found and then reunited with the OGII and orders booklet seems remote at best. The seller is in Latvia and has a solid eBay reputation. In any event, this an interesting offering as the Full Cavalier in question initially served in an airborne unit and later transitioned to duties as an aerial gunner/radio operator in an IL-2 Shturmovik ground attack aircraft. His OGIII recommendation included credit for shooting down a German aircraft. His IL-2 pilot would go on to earn the HSU title. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A group of Full Cavalier-related documents to a Guards airborne sapper. It is currently available at auction in the former Soyuz with an opening bid of slightly under $1,000.00. Among the items included are his Full Cavalier booklet, his orders booklet and his 1985 jubilee award OPWI booklet. Regards, slava1stclass

Mihai Z., In the future, please do not post such requests in this thread. This thread is reserved for discussions relating to Orders of Glory associated with Full Cavaliers. Please feel free to start a separate thread/topic when you seek opinions on a given order/medal. Thank you. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, This loose OGII to a Full Cavalier sold in April 2016 somewhere in the $700.00 to $800.00 range. Sale was in the former Soyuz. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Almost 69 years after receiving his Silver Star, HSU A. P. Voloshin still proudly wears it next to his HSU gold star medal. The fact that he wears just these two decorations is a statement in itself. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, On June 15th, 1945, in the vicinity of the Oder River, U.S. Army Brigadier General J. H. Collier, Commanding General, Combat Command A, 2nd Armored Division decorated several Red Army personnel. Among them were Senior Lieutenant I. A. Savelyev a tank company commander in the 4th Tank Regiment, 35th Mechanized Brigade, 2nd Guards Tank Army and Guards Senior Lieutenant R. Kurbangaliyev a T-34 tank platoon leader in the 64th Guards Independent Tank Brigade, 1st Guards Tank Army who each received the Bronze Star Medal. As noted earlier in this thread, an exact count of Bronze Star Medals awarded to Red Army personnel is difficult to ascertain as many were issued at the field level in the immediate post-war weeks and months. This award ceremony is one such example. Sr. Lt. Savelyev's award orders follow immediately below his photograph. His orders are a good example of how the paperwork for these field-issued U.S. Army awards was executed. Note the short citation which justifies his award. It is highly unlikely that BSM award certificates were issued either during the field presentations or after the fact. The authorizing award orders would have been the sole official paperwork accompanying the award in the case of BSMs. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Thanks to the research contributions of fellow forum members Gunner 1 (DFC and AM data) and GHB (LM Chief Commander data), I can offer an update to the chart seen in post #1 this thread. I offer it here as I'm unable to edit the original post. The following U.S. Army decorations were awarded to Red Army personnel for heroism or meritorious service in World War II: Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) - 53 Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) - 20 Silver Star (SS) - 119 Legion of Merit (LM) - 323 By degree: - Chief Commander - 9* - Commander - 35 - Officer - 85 - Legionnaire - 194 Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) - 46 Bronze Star Medal (BSM) - 40** Air Medal (AM) – 8 Notes: *Awards of the LM in the degree of Chief Commander to MSUs Vasilevskiy, Govorov, Zhukov, Meretskov and Rokossovskiy; Chief Marshal of Aviation Novikov and Army Generals Antonov, Bagramyan and Yeremenko have been confirmed via documentary evidence all of which is posted in this thread. Additionally, photographic evidence confirms award of the LM Chief Commander degree to Admiral of the Fleet Kuznetsov. As it wasn't awarded via the U.S. Army, Kuznetsov's LM Chief Commander degree is not included in the above sub-total. His award, however, represents the 10th total LM Chief Commander degree known to have been awarded to a Soviet general/flag officer during WWII. **Information available in an OMSA publication suggests the number of BSMs awarded to Red Army personnel was higher. This is likely true since many BSMs were awarded at the U.S. Army army/corps level and below. The number above reflects only those BSMs to Red Army personnel authorized by War Department General Orders. It is also very probable the number of LMs awarded to Red Army personnel may be higher for the same reason. The same OMSA publication suggested one Soldier's Medal was awarded to a Red Army servicemember. To date, no evidence - documentary or photographic - has arisen to confirm this. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Lieutenant Colonel F. I. Vinokurov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on February 27th, 1945. Colonel General (Engineer Troops) Leontiy Zakharovich Kotlyar was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on April 28th, 1945. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, His award certificate, albeit not as nice a copy, was previously listed at post # 289 this thread. Thanks to Jeff for the better image. Regards, slava1stclass

Jeff, A great addition. This excellent citation to Guards Major General Georgi Matveyevich Solovyov is certainly one of the most descriptive ones posted to date. If only they were all this good. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, Five years ago, this HSU gold star medal was in the collection of a respected and currently active forum member. Uncertain if it has since changed hands. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, The President Roosevelt-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) citation to Lieutenant Colonel N. P. Murzin. Regards, slava1stclass

Christian, The two-week auction's opening bid was set at 400,000 Hryvnia (the Ukrainian currency) and ended at that amount with two total bids placed. I can only assume the set sold. This particular Ukrainian online auction site assesses a 1% commission on all sales greater than 8,000 Hryvnia. In this instance, that would have amounted to a $160.00 commission. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, While not the best image, this very crusty Category 7 Full Cavalier set to Ya. L. Gladkiy was up for auction this past April in Ukraine. The opening bid was set at just over $16,000.00. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, The President Roosevelt-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander) award certificate to the aforementioned Guards HSU Lieutenant General I. I. Lyudnikov. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A President Truman-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Legionnaire) citation on White House stationery to Guards Lieutenant Colonel S. S. Sergeyev. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A President Truman-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander) citation on White House stationery to HSU Guards Lieutenant General M. B. Anashkin. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A President Roosevelt-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) certificate to then Colonel M. G. Machin, head of the Red Army Air Force military representative office in Alaska. Awarded the HSU title on June 29th, 1945, as a Major General, he retired as a Lieutenant General in the 1970s. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, As noted in my original post, while the OGII order itself appears legitimate, its serial number was altered to match this Full Cavalier's awarded OGII serial number. As also noted in my original post, the $4,400.00 purchase price dates to the early 2000s and is not reflective of current market asking prices for a comparable set. Said prices tend to range from $12,500.00 to $18,000.00 depending on the orders' condition and any accompanying documentation; the point of sale i.e., in the former Soyuz or in the West; and the Full Cavalier's combat pedigree which is a combination of the awardee's military occupational specialty, Guards status and the actual OGI award recommendation write up. As an example, a knock-you-off-your-feet OGI recommendation that is very fact filled and descriptive - regardless of MOS, Guards status or location of cited action - will always command a premium as will Full Cavalier sets whose OGI is based on a late-war descriptive recommendation for action in Koenigsberg or Berlin. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, As things have been relatively quiet of late, I thought I'd post this set from days gone by. Its $4,400.00 purchase price suggests it was on the market sometime in the early 2000s. One of the other NYC-area dealers had offered it. While all the orders appear good, the OGII's number appears to have been altered to match the set. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, With no takers thus far, the opening bid was recently lowered to $12,500.00. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A very interesting image. The British Military Medal as awarded to HSU Guards Major T. M. Shashlo. Normally, the MM was a designated award for British enlisted personnel. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, With no takers thus far, the opening bid was recently lowered to $16,000.00. Regards, slava1stclass

Gents, A solid Category 7 Full Cavalier set with a minimum opening bid of $11,100.00. Regards, slava1stclass