GC*

Thank you very much Kevin in Deva! The whole thing sounds much more clear now. The "crescent" behind the star seems to perfectly fit arounf the button of a uniform or jacket. I was so focused on trying to "fit it on a hat" that I missed the whole point at first! Thank you Regards, GC

Good afternoon gentlemen. I have just come across this very unusual 1 inch long Soviet star. I collect Soviet hat badges since years and I have never seen such a type of star..naturally I am not even sure if the star is Soviet, as it could come from any other communist country (even if the style kind of reminds me of Soviet stars). Any of you dear fellow collectors has any idea about what this star could be? A hat badge, a jacket-uniform badge? And which period? Given the many unusual elements on it I am thinking about a possible eraly period, Civil War or immediatly after..but I honestly have no clear ideas about this star. This is the reason why I find it so interesting!.. Thank you GC

Thank you Emanuel for your very precious comment! I am not an expert of Yugoslav hat badges although I own some. I just started to get very interested after I bought the other badge you commented about and some elements brought me to think that also this could have been a WWII Yugoslav badge. But no, as you said..no luck this time! One last question, any idea about the period-nature of this replica? I know many Yugoslav partisan movies and I saw a very interesting documentary (Cinema Komunisto - http://www.cinemakomunisto.com/ ) about the Yugoslav war cinema..as far as I know huge lots of materials were prepared for these movies and this cockade might be one of them. Is this option plausible or you think that the star is a modern replica made for..inexperienced buyers? Luckily this star was part of a big lot that I got for cheap and before my recent researches I was unsure about what that star was..so no (excessive) sadness. Thank you Regards, GC

Thank you for your comment Emanuel. So the hat badge was used by the Yogoslavian forces in the transition period between the National Liberation Army and the official JNA, am I right? I am happy that my intuition when I saw this badge was right!

You are right Gordon! And also Poland should definitely be explored in these terms. Legnica must be a very interesting place, even if I am not sure about what remains of the former Soviet Airbase (there is even a Polish movie about it, Mala Moskva - not bad one). But, sitcking to Germany, this is the book I was talking about; interesting text, however in German and many wonderful pictures! http://www.amazon.de...72&sr=8-2-fkmr0 Finally, forgive me for the delay, but finally I found the map of Kunmadaras airbase. Sorry for the low quality of the photo, I will upgrade my membership in the forum so that I will be able to post better pictures and better the quality of the topics I am debating with you Gentlemen. I have to say that I really found a very interesting and stimulating environment in this forum. Anyway, here it is! Briefly: from the bottom of the map, you will find a orizontal road and near to it a black line which stands for the pailway tracks (as you can notice there was a separate piece of railroads which entered directly into the base - that part is now completely abandoned). There are two entrances, the first was closed (I think permanently), while at the second one we met the keeper. From there, going up, on the right we find the blocks and all the other main non-military structures (gymnasium, school, hospital, theatre etc). Returning at the antrance, if we go straight we find the airport facilities and right on the left of the main road the first hangars appear. As you can see most of the remaining structures are hangars. The keeper explained us that fighters were kept in the hangars near to the entrance, while bombers more up, in bigger hangars I unfortunately did not have the time to reach. Regards, GC

Thank you for your comment Wild Car. Paul, if it would be up to me I would probably be still there, passing every room of every house, documenting with my camera all those places and trying to find something to save a preserve. I will be back for short in Budapest on the 7th of March, but I do not think I will have the chance to reach Kunmadaras. Maybe I will pay a second visit to Kiskunlachasa. I am anyway planning a second visit to Hungary entirely devoted to various vists to former Soviet bases. However, I will spend at least 3 weeks of March in Berlin and since I recently bought a very interesting photographic book about the demobilization of the Soviet Army in former DDR, I will maybe try to find some interesting places to visit also there! Regards, GC

Gordon, if you will have the chance in the future it would be definitely worth to pay a visit to those military bases. The photos I linked are from a gallery I found on the internet, but since I did not share anywhere on the web my own photos I chose that gallery because, as you noticed, it gives a very clear picture of the base itself. In some time I will share online my photos, taken in a gloomy winter day, which added to the already existing atmoshpere something magic and at the same time scary (it makes a sinister effect the big wooden cross which has been erected on the raceways used by riders, where one of them died some years ago..). I will surely find tomorrow the map of the base and it will make things even more clear (I myself had some problems in orienting myself in the base, even having a map of it in my hands!). I had the chance to read the book you are talking about even if unfortunately I don't own it personally. Definitely an interesting source of informations. Paul, I actually found the USSR CoA and the Airforce symbols on the ground, in the ground floor of a building near the take-off strip. The image is painted on a thick and paperboard and together in the same place, all piled up together, there were others. I clearly remember there was one I even took a picture of which was a CPSU Congress propaganda one. The original one from which the pieces I took were part of was a little bit bigger, but damaged and it prooved impossible to move it without damaging it (the USSR CoA presents also intentional damages: right in the middle of the globe there is the clear sign of a fist or a kick which broke the paperboard). All the others were already damaged and broken. I luckily made it to preserve basically all the painted parts of the one I decided to "save". Of course also now the pieces I got are very fragile. After bringing them home to Budapest I cleaned them from the dust they got in the last 20 years as careful as I could, so I would not damage the colours, but the whole thing is so fragile.. Bringing it back home in Italy meant packing them with all the due care and checking them as baggage on my flight. Now I brought them to a framer-restorer which is giving me some suggestions about how to take care of them. The basic idea would be to additionally clean them and maybe rub their surface with some special oil that would help preserving the integrtity of the colours, finally framing them behind a solid glass that would allow me to hang them on a wall and at the same time be sure that nothing but the time-passing could damage them. The sad thing is that even there were I found these paperboards there were others that would have been worth to be brought away (even if far less intact), but went to the base by train and then..on foot! And had to carry with me the paperboards for all the going back trip, which rppoved far more demanding than what I thought. Unfortunately the building were I found the paperboards was way too near to places where during the races people definitely go; I even saw some kind of sweepers doing something near there..and the sad thing is that such things, if found, would be very probably destroyed and thrown away as garbage. The way they were pilled up and the presence of quite clear footprints on the ground even suggested me that somebody already prepared them to be removed and destroyed. If they would have been in the "heart" of the forgotten zone, somwehere in a basement, I would have felt sure that nobody would have touched them. Anyway, I did put all my effort in preserving at least something of what was there. I clearly felt that if I would have come back some time after, maybe better organized, I could have not found the paperboards there anymore. Regards, GC

Gordon, I just posted some pictures of my findings in the Soviet area of the forum. Your comments would be very appreciated! Thanks. Regards GC

Moreover, here some information about the bases I visited and others, http://www.mil-airfields.de/hu/list.htm, here an online gallery of photos of Kunmadaras, http://www.panoramio.com/photo/10164478 and here the site of the museum in nearby Berekfurdo, http://www.soviet-airforce.com/en_index.html.

Found where now corn grows..

Trud! July 24, 1990.

Reviews and on the top, left a drawing found in the school.. The review down-left has no name, the one on the right shows in details the Moscow-Lisbon car trip of some Soviet motorists.

VDV!

Airforce.

Gentlemen, I would like to share with you all the photos of some of my most relevant findings coming from former Soviet Airbase in Kunmadaras, Hungary. I recently ended a 5-months long stay in Budapest and during that time I had the chance to visit two former Soviet bases, the one in Kiskunlachasa (not far from Budapest itself) and the one in Kunmadaras (..nearer to Rumania than to Budapest! Three changes to reach it by train!). These experiences have been both great and I am still astonished by how some places I visited there looked like if nobody changed anything since 1991. Kunmadaras was one of the biggest Soviet Airbases outside the SU; bunkers for fighters and bombers cover a 7x7 km area and in the former "village" you can still find everything.. The hospital, the school, the gymnasium, with its swimming pool, the theatre..and so many blocks that it would have taken ages to visit them all. Then of course all airport facilities. Luckily or sadly (make your own decision) the base in Kunmadaras is currently being used in summer for motorcycle races and there are 2-3 private small planes. Some buildings are still in use and some have been used as dump for trash. But in the deepest part of the blocks, where only the asphalt is free from trees and briars you can still ask yourself wether you are in Pripyat or not. This is not a funny joke, but a real description of how those places look. In the Kiskunlachasa base me and my colleagues found a Serbian film crew which was shooting a movie about Chernobyl.. Anyway. The experience was great and in Kunmadaras we also met the very nice guardian, which welcomed us with a loud "Здравствуйте!". We managed to have a nice conversation in Russian, being both our and his Russian definitely not so good. He explained us that before the end of WWII the area was used by the Wehrmacht, he gave us indications about twhere to find what and gave us a map (I will post a photo of it..as soon as I will find it in the mess I am living in right now..). Now, Gents, the photos of what I found. These things you will se might have a great value, but since years I have a special passion for field research..and the one I had the chance to accomplish in Kunmadaras was definitely great! Some measurements. The USSR Coat of Arms measures nearly 3 feet / half-a-meter and the Soviet Airforce logo 1-and-a-half-foot tall. I am particularly proud of these two things and of the VDV photo (found in the destroyed armchair of a paratrooper). Regards GC

Gentlemen, Thank you very much for these very valued informations. Gordon, actually looking at the details of my badge and at the one you posted I came to the conclusion that probably they are of the same type. All the elements coincide: the two crossed submachine guns PPSH-41, the two little hungarian flagsright over their barrels, the larger "rainbow-style" hungarian flag right under the star and partially on the light-blue color centre, the little white qsquares, then enclosed by the green leaves wreath. I would say that the particular colour of the hat badge you posted might be the result of age (I am asserting that due to the fact that the little white squares - on this hat badge nearly invisible - and the white stripe of the hungarian glag look quite gold as well, a thing that makes me think that originally the badge probably looked exactly as mine). Moreover Gordon, thanks for the detailed pictures of the uniform. Finally, combineus, thanks for having provided us an historical background for this before quite unknown type of units. Regards, GC*

The color of the pictures of my cockade is actually different than the one showed by the first two photos. My star's color looks exactly like the one of the other one, showed in the thirs picture. I am sorry, but I just noticed this difference now. Regards GC

Good afternoon to everybody dear fellow collectors. Once more I submit to you a possible Yugoslav partisan WWII-post war cockade, this time a star. I bought the star that you can see in this message (first two images) some times ago, believing it was a Soviet WWII one. Given the big amount of- "non-textbook" stars I just thought this was the umpteenth atypical Soviet star I found. But since that moment many collectors questioned the origin of the star and some said they were quite sure it was actually not Soviet, or, to be more precise, it was not in use in the RKKA. Then a friend told me he saw a similar star on sale as "Yugoslav partisan star". Since I know, if I am not mistaken, that in the last 40s the USSR supplied Yugoslavia with various types of military gears..the topic started to interest me a lot! I finally found an ebay auction where a similas star is on sale as Yugoslav. What is your opinion about that? The first two photos show my star, the third one the one listed on ebay. Thanks and regards, GC*

And finally here a more detailed photo.

Here the back of the Eagle.

Good afternoon dear fellow collectors. I would like to submit to you one of my last findings. Actually this eagle is my first Imperial Russian find, as I am a collector of Soviet-modern Russian hat badges. I bought this eagle just because I found it beautiful and I wanted to give it a closer look. I am planning to resell it, but before I would like to be sure about what it actually is! Thank you. GC*

Gordon, A great city indeed! In terms of militaria then, I was astonished by the number on militaria shops, but also by the fact that various sellers at flea markets do sell absolutely interesting militaria, original and cheap (for cheaper prices than in shops I had the chance to buy a number of hat badges, medals and other very intereting militaria and memorabilia). Then of course I found also tons of replicas, high and low quality, but in some time I made it to star some kinf of relation with two sellers, hungarian and russian, who never disappointed me. Finally, in Hungary, as I am sure you know, there are also a big number of former soviet bases that I had the chance to explore..also finding several very interesting things! I will show them soon here on the forum. I do hope than soon I will be able to enrich my collection with a Hungarian Sovietr Republic cockade like yours, Gordon! Regards, GC

Oh Gordon, what a wonderful hat star! I always loved the hammer and plough design and it took me definitely some time to find an RKKA star which I can be quite sure is an original (the one showed in my profile pic). So many copies are circulating of it and so many actually original types and variants of that star have been produced that nearly everybody told me it is quite impossible to be 100% about the originality of such a star.. Anyway, your cockade is truely amazing. I recently spent 5 months in Budapest and I did search for such a star, meeting however poor results. My compliments for it, definitely a great piece. Hope one day I will find one as well to add to my collection! Thanks for having shared these pictures. GC

Dear Valter, thank you very much for your comment! I'm happy that my opinion about the hat nadge was correct. Now that I think about that I really think I saw a badge like mine, but in a far better (near mint) condition, on the German ebay. It got sold for 190 euro... I also think that both the star and the flag were enameled..but time did its job and now not so much is left. Anyway I really like the hat badge itself and I am happy to put it with a correct description in the Yugoslav section of my collection. Thanks again GC*

Thank you very much OC and to you Gordon as well. I was really convinced that the unknown badge at issue was not a cap badge..and I am actually really happy to discover it is! Factory Security Force you said, very good; I'll add this description to the badge. Thanks again! GC