jeffskea

Very interesting Mark, yes I would be interested to see what other medals have been converted and the motive behind doing so. Come to think of it I have a Victory Medal which was turned into a coin. It was awarded to an Australian, Pte W. Follows of the 20th Bn, A.I.F. and 15th Field Amb. I obtained his service record and found he served in Egypt and France after 1916 but spent most time in hospital or on court martial! Not sure his reasoning for changing his but still an interesting story.

Jeff

I found him! Guards Sergeant Ivan Ivanovich Pertseva, born 1926 - just translating the rest. Thank you Sergei!

Thank you Sergei, unfortunately I don't speak Russian but will try to translate as I go along and see what I can find.

Jeff

Hi Mervyn I agree that in some cases it adds to the story, just sad to see the medal changed like that. I knew of one instance where a veteran cut all the ribbons off his WWI trio and divided the medals up each to one of his children as gifts. I suppose each veteran does what is most meaningful in their eyes I just think it is a shame to see them broken up - much easier to displace and doesn't easily allow for telling the whole story of the recipient's service.

That is interesting that a regular circular-shaped campaign medal would be brooched, the ribbon in my opinion is more striking and easily recognizable to most. I wonder if it was the beginning of the "challenge coin" idea for retired soldiers in the club back then?

Hello,

For service on the North West Frontier in 1930 a British Army soldier would be entitled to the India General Service Medal 1908-35 with clasp "NW Frontier 1930-31".

There were no service medals for service in Egypt in 1929, the closest for operations in the region would be the Khedive's Sudan Medal 1910 however there were no campaign clasps issued after 1922. To the best of my knowledge I do not believe there were any full British Army units entitled to that particular medal, mostly Indian/Egyptian units with British officers on attachment, some RAF as well. Hope this helps.

Jeff

WO2 Finn was in the Royal Canadian Engineers - I'm grateful to a fellow Canadian member from the British Medals Forum for confirming. Still trying to research the man's story of long service.

Jeff

Although US medals are usually unnamed, you can still tell a fairly specific story of the person's service and I like that. That is a nice solid group with plenty of deep water time for a Coast Guard sailor. I learned a while back that most icebreakers, like the Polar Star, would usually do two deployments to one polar region, and one to the other during a commission which adds up to a lot of sea time for sure. Nice set.

Jeff

Hi all,

Just recently bought this nice documented set awarded to Pertsevoi Ivan Ivanovich. His Capture of Berlin and 30th Anniversary medal booklets indicated he was with the 676th Rifle Regt, still have to translate, however it includes:

OGPW2 1985 #5918446 with award booklet

Guards Badge

Mounted set of four:

Valour Medal #2609708 with award booklet dated 1 June 1945

Victory Over Germany

Capture of Berlin with booklet

30th Anniversary of the Red Army with booklet

The Valor Medal is nicely worn with some dirt/grease stains, from what I can find so far the number puts the award in the mid-1944 time period so this man would have worn it through all the fighting in Berlin, it sure looks like it! No red enamel left on the letters and the silver is quite blackened, I think the more dirty and worn the medal the better! What this medal and it's owner would have went through is fascinating to imagine.

At first I thought this man was serving after the War to receive the 30th Anniversary but just learned that all Valor Medal recipients were also entitled.

I have not researched any Soviet awards before so just wondering if anyone knows the best way to have the Valour Medal researched. Any info is very appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

Hi Mark thank you for your added information on the Star. It is interesting how some recipients felt inclined to alter their medals as you've mentioned. I understand the Khedive's Star also caused a lot of scratches mounted next to the Egypt Medal so that could have been a motive for converting it.

I wonder if there are any other medals that were often found in brooch style, maybe the Kabul to Kandahar Star?

Jeff

I've been reading "Yanks Meet Reds" and it is a fascinating insight into the historic meeting on the Elbe, especially from the Soviet perspective which I'm going through right now. So indeed Nemkov's 173rd Regt was in the vicinity of Torgau and I just wonder how many of the people interviewed in the book he knew or served with - or whether he participated himself in the celebrations that took place after the 25th of April.

The 175th Regt was stationed to the south in the villages of Kreinitz, Strehla, and Reisa which is roughly 20km from Torgau so the 173rd's area of operations couldn't have been too large an area, plus it seems by that time in 1945 Regiment strengths were probably more Battalion-sized due to the lack of reinforcements so I bet there wasn't a large amount of soldiers serving in the 173rd.

Also had a theory about his 1st Ukrainian Front Citation, I wonder if he could have participated in the Moscow Victory Parade in June representing the Front and received it afterwards. His Victory Over Germany Medal booklet has a red stamp on it, I vaguely remember reading that may have had some significance and connection with early issues of the medal if I'm correct. The Front Citation and Guards badge issue paper were both issued in July so it is plausible he was at the Parade and received these documents after. Anyhow the Guards Regt seems to have been very conscientious with their soldiers' paperwork, and I'm very thankful for that :)

I now have the complete gazette listing and citations for the 900+ British Bronze Star recipients so I can begin narrowing down the list. It's a start and will take some time but should be able to rule out anyone without an MBE and anyone who served in an operational theatre to begin with. Then eventually I can hopefully triangulate with Legion of Honour recipients from a few French resources I found. Process of elimination may just work, even if its only to attribute to the recipient

Jeff

His ribbons appear to be :

Upper row : OBE - KPFSM - British War Medal

Lower row : Defence Medal - Queen Elizabeth II Coronation (1953) - King George VI Coronation (1937).

The two coronation medal ribbons are the wrong way round, and the Victory Medal ribbon is missing. Given that these ribbon bars must have been made up in a bit of a hurry between the gazetting of the OBE and the presentation a few weeks later, perhaps the tailor got a bit flustered, or didn't have any Victory Medal ribbon in stock.

I wonder why the group of miniatures is missing the George VI coronation medal.

Something else : a Fire Brigades Long Service Medal was authorised in 1954. It was awarded after 20 years service. Your grandfather ought to have qualified for that too, once the authorities began awarding it.

I believe the last ribbon would be the Fire Brigade Long Service Medal and not the 1937 Coronation, it fits given the photo was from 1955 after the award was instituted. So I would say the ribbon set is the correct precedence, and the single BWM would be plausible as Chris mentioned.

Jeff

Just continuing with some research, while some elements of the 1st Ukrainian Front pushed north in late April and participated in the Battle of Berlin, the 58th Guards Rifle Division under the 5th Guards Army simultaneously swung west to the Elbe so Gds. Jr. Sgt. Nemkov would not have received the Capture of Berlin Medal - however I'm discovering that elements of the 2nd Bn, 173rd Regt were among the first Russian soldiers who met the U.S. 69th Div patrols near Torgau.

I'm not sure which Battalion he served in but I think it is safe to say he was in the very near vicinity of Torgau on the day of that historic occasion of East meeting West, pretty exciting stuff. I've just order the books Yanks Meet Reds and The Red Storm on the Reich to to find as much information as possible on these events and his other battles.

And here is his award booklet for his Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class from 1985 - does anyone know how it was decided whether a veteran received the 1st or 2nd Class - decorations, service, wounds?

His Order Ser# is 3415807, if anyone happens to come across it, please let me know as I would love to keep it with his group! Thanks.

Here is his birthplace, I figured out that the РСФСР stands for RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) which narrows it down a little but from what I can find as it was the largest republic. Again if anyone can please translate, thank you!

This page lists his wounds and government awards. If anyone can make out what his injuries were on 21 Feb 1944 and the first word above his list of medals (has an !) that would be awesome. I've translated the medals as his Prague and VOG.

Hi Paul it is the first time I saw these kind of documents as well, you can almost trace his service battle by battle, town by town for the last year of the War, very fascinating. The large citation looks like it has some thin strips on the back to stabilize it, but the folds are still very delicate so I think I will frame it to protect it. The smaller citations, guards badge document and award booklet are all quite fragile too so I'm handling with great care.

Here are some photos of his Military ID booklet, if anyone is able to translate the cursive Cyrillic that would be very appreciated.

Jeff

Hi Dan, thanks for the reply, I am very pleased with the group and really enjoy the translating and research, you never know what you are going to find

Sadly the 85 OGPW2 is not with the group, only the booklet, as well I assume he would have at least been entitled to the 20, 30, and 40th Anniversary of the GPW medals, and the 50, 60, & 70 Years of the Armed Forces ones too but unfortunately they are missing as well.

I just discovered today he first served with the 140th Rifle Regiment from Jan-Feb 44 before presumably being wounded - haven't been able to find what Front-Army-Division this unit fell under or which battles he fought in with them. He didn't join the 173rd until June 1944 but served with them until the end of the War.

I will post post more photos with his picture and some pages from his ID book, still trying to decipher his place of birth and some enlistment details (such tiny handwriting in ink is straining the eyes a bit!) Hopefully someone may recognize some of the words that would be great.

Jeff

Here are the three citations from the 58th Division listing the towns he participated in liberating. I welcome any corrections or further information anyone may have on these interesting documents. Thanks.

Here is the issue document for his Guard badge with translation.

CITATION

HKO-CCCP

173^rd GUARDS Rifle Regiment (58^th Guards Division - 5^th Guards Army)

6 July, 1945

No. 77

Issued by the Guard – Junior Sergeant Mikhail. Y. Demkov

That he [served] for 173 Guards Rifles Czestochowa (City in Poland liberated 16 Jan 1945) Red Banner Regt, 58^th Guards Rifles (or Small) Krasnogradoka – (Kraski - Polish City?)Order of Lenin, Red Banner, Order of Suvarov Division.

From June 30, 1945 No. 76 awarded the title "Guard" on the issuance of the breast badge “GUARDS”

AUTHORITY – NKO (Narodnyi Komissariat Oborony - People's Commissariat of Defense) Order No. 420 from 31 December 1942 (58^th Guards Rifle Division was formed on that date from the 1^st Rifle Division which fought at Stalingrad under the 63^rd Army)

Chief of Staff of 173 Gd. Rif. Czestochowa

Red Banner Regiment

GUARDS LIEUTENANT COLONEL

Signed MOISEEV

Here is his large citation for service with the 1st Ukrainian Front - does anyone know if everyone received one of these or do they specifically list only the individual's service?

I managed to use the Cryllic characters on my computer's word program then translated online. Took some time but worked fairly well.

CITATION

Guards Junior Sergeant Mikhail Yakovlevich Demkov

Dear Comrade! The Great Patriotic War [has] victoriously completed. [The] Red Army [fought] in fierce battles against the Nazi invaders to defend the honor, freedom and independence of our Motherland, providing millions of people the opportunity of life at the front again to return to peaceful creative labor. You return home with a VICTORY.

In the grim years of war, you honestly fulfilled your patriotic duty - adequately served in the army of [the] valiant First Ukrainian Front, and deserve [by] your feats of arms the universal love of our people.

The banners of military glory of the First Ukrainian Front forces recorded outstanding historic victory. They defeated the powerful blows of the enemy in the middle reaches of [the River] DON, [after the] Nazis inflicted unprecedented damage in the area of the Kursk Bulge, [they] heroically crossed the DNIEPER RIVER [and] liberated from Nazi occupation the ancient Russian city – the capital of Soviet Ukraine – KIEV.

Swiftly advancing, surrounding and destroying [a] large enemy group in the Ukraine, [they] liberated the cities of – ZHITOMYR (UKR, former HQ for Himmler in Ukraine), EXACTLY, PROSKUROV (UKR, later named Khmelnytskyi in 1954), VINNYTSIA (UKR, Site of 1937-38 Massacre by Stalin's NKVD and Former Eastern-most Front HQ of Adolf Hitler), KAMENETS-PODOLSKY (UKR, Hube's Pocket), KOVEL (POL, later UKR, fighting 5^th SS Panzer Viking Div), TERNOPIL (POL/UKR), CHERNIVTSI (UKR), STANISLAU (UKR, later named Ivano-Frankivsk) DROHOBYCH (UKR), and LVIV UKR).

With fierce fighting taking place in the south of Poland, crossing the Rivers SAN and the VISTULA, [they] liberated the second Polish capital city of KRAKOW and the most important industrial region of Upper Silesia.

Storming into Germany – the facist beast's lair, [they] crossed the Rivers ODER, NEISSE, SPREE and went out to the River ELBE in Germany to join forces with our Allies.

Together with the valiant troops of the First Belorussian Front [they] routed the Germans, the Berlin group and raised the flag of victory over Berlin.

[With] shattering blows, destroying the remnants of enemy troops [they] occupied the city of Dresden and completing the final defeat of Nazi Germany freed the capital of our ally, Czechoslovakia – Prague.

Seventy-four [mentions] of gratitude [have been] announced in his Order of the Day - The Great Stalin [to] troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front for excellent fighting.

I am confident that the infinite love of the Soviet Motherland, inspired you in the Great Patriotic War, will be an inexhaustible source of your labor feats in the days of peaceful labor.

Many thanks for excellent service in the armed forces of the front I wish you health and success at the front of the peace for the benefit of socialist labor and happiness of our country, in the name of the great ideas of Lenin – Stalin.

Signed – Commander of the Troops of the First Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union I. KONEV

- A Member of the Military Council of the Front, Lieutenant-General K. KRAYNYUKOV

- Front Chief of Staff Army General I. PETROV – July 1945

Hello,

I am new to this forum and this is my first Soviet medal group - I'm fascinated now with these awards and how well documented some of the recipients can be.

This group includes the Liberation of Prague and Victory Over Germany Medals with award booklets, Guards badge with issue document from July 1945, three citations for participation in taking cities through German Silesia including Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia, and a large citation for service in the 1st Ukrainian Front. There is also his Military ID with picture and the award booklet for his 1985 Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class.

Guards Jr. Sgt Mikhail Demkov served with the 173rd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 58th Gds Rifle Division. I discovered his sister regt the 175th of the 58th was the first Red Army to meet up with the Americans after crossing the Elbe in Germany. It appears his unit served in taking Berlin but his Military ID only lists the two service medals for Prague and VOG, no decorations.

From his military ID under injuries and concussions there is the date 21 Feb 1944, and words that I could only make out to say "objects in the grass" and "severe" so will try and post an image to see if anyone can read what it actually says.

The towns listed in his 3 certificates are:

Krayburg, Rosenberg (Olesno, Poland), Pitshen, Lenpberg, Gutentag, Prague, Otspeln, Ravich, Trakhenert.

I will post his large citation with the translation as well. I'm still in the process of translating and researching, the cursive cryllic is quite difficult to make out but will work at it.

Jeff

QUOTE (Lapa @ Jun 15 2008, 19:12 )

Is that a US Silver or Bronze Star he's wearing at the bottom?

Marc

It US Silber Star.

Roman

Just noticed It is actually a U.S. Bronze Star, you can see the very bottom of the ribbon has the blue centre with white edges, and the star itself is raised with the rays down the centre of each arm. The Silver Star has a wreath around the centre star.

Jeff

I believe his rank epaulettes are those of a full Colonel (one crown, two bath stars) and I agree that it is most likely the man from the obituary - he is Canadian as his ribbons include the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Maple Leaf representing the overseas clasp, and the Canadian Forces Decoration. Having only the 1939-45 Star and F&G Star also lines up with his service from the obituary and he was the attache in Germany around the same time.

Jeff

Hi Herman, thanks for the info, it has 1870 at the 6 o'clock position with some chipping to the enamel so it must have been before 1951, I still strongly believe it was given either during or shortly after the War.

Jeff