JimZ

This is getting better and better by the post.... I promise I'll be good from this point on....! Jim

In fact I wonder how many soviet collectors searching for these keywords got logged into some obscure server somewhere keeping track of deviants and fetishists He he he! Jim

Me - I am as I managed to get nowhere! Dunno if the others are enjoying the pain though! Would hate to spoil it for them on my account Jim

Sigh! Its the ever occurring problem that plagues me! Cyrillic is hard enough.... but please Tovarish Ivan Ivanavich Ivanov ... next time do try to write a juuust a lil bit neater!! Funnyhow even russians sometimes have problems reading other russians' handwriting...... although having said that, what I now recognise as my dad's beautiful quasi calligraphy script honed over 70 years was near illegible to me for many years. Jim

Looks like you really got us with this one Charles! I am clueless... as I recon everyone else is. Good one indeed! Jim

Oh yes. That piece passed through my coll..... oops... sorry. Just a bit of loud wishful thinking!!!! Some very lovely and close up pics Bryan! Thanks for posting them! Jim

Dunno what Christophe thinks but I am sure we can all wait for a couple of days or so as we have done in past. Christophe.....? Jim

Now that is what I call the rest of a complete answer! Very well done Carol. You scored 100 percent on this question and the next one goes to you without any shadow of doubt or partial ruling. Sorry about being a stickler to the rules buy I insist (as already mentioned before) that it is only good etiquette to allow the asker of the question to revert back and concede his/her verdict. Also the fact that one source does not reveal the information required does not mean that there are other sources online. And even when the online sources run thin, there are also these things we once called books together with other printed and visiual media. So on to the next one Carol. We are waiting. Jim PS - Considering that Moscow did their best to hush up the whole incident, I'd go so far as to think that there was more mis information abounding then lack of knowledge.

Well, most definitely an understandable pilot error as the main rotor clipped the cables - I say understandable as given the high pressure of that mission coupled with the knowledge of what radiation was doing to their other comrades.... Truth be said, the fate of this crew was much kinder than the fate that would have awaited them had they to deal with radiation sickness. I remain impressed by the sheer heroism of most Chernobyl liquidators - and remain puzzled by the lack of recognition given to these brave men and women, many of whom went knowingly into the radiation without regard for anything else other than the task at hand. And to think that many received nothing other than the cheaper quality Chernobyl badge Yes Ed - Carol has found 80% of the answer plus the names in unreadable format. Even 90% at that. But lets not move on till we can disclose the remaining 10%, i.e. the names of these heroes. As I said, in principal I believe that Carol should take the victory.... but I'd like to move on once the names are out. If within a given day or two this does not happen, I will give the names and Carol can indeed proceed. Jim

As usual it seems that the person asking the question is not allowed his say by those too eager to move on. I have already commented on this in past. Carol, whereas You have answered questions 1,2,3 and 3a perfectly, I am still waiting for the names of the MI 8 crew as this was part of my original set of questions - indeed it was the bonus question, the whole crux of the question as it were as I believe that these four heroes should be named. So whereas I can agree that Carol should be awarded the win on principle for answering the bulk of the q's, I still do not think that we should move on until these four heroes are named. Jim

No worries Milan - Sure you'll update your site soon enough. Looking forward. So I reckon that, hypothetically speaking, seller can safely inform buyers, (based on the collective expertise of some forum members whose collections/interests are relevant), that the order on sale is damaged as the reverse appears to have been altered. Just for the sake of completion at this late stage. Jim

Hi Carol Very very good guess but not quite there yet with all the answers. I'll confirm the first one who gets all the 5 answers right (1,2,3,3a and 4) Jim

QUESTION: Four of these men worked closely together. 1) What bound them together? 2) Name 2 conficts and/or incidents in which they served. 3) With which particular conflict or incident in Soviet history is this particular image to be associated? 3a) What were they doing in the immediate period when this image was taken and what event unfolded soon after the capture of this image?- What exactly happenned? Bonus question 4: 4) Can you name these men? First one to answer all questions to the best of their ability gets the next one! No Hints. Good luck. Jim

Second and last call to try to establish what the reverse of this order looks like: Can anyone post a picture of the original reverse of the order seeing that it has been said that the reverse has a disk replacing the national coat of arms? Jim

Andrei had once told me that many groups are in fact missing their Lenins or OGPWs for that very reason. To think that your missing Lenin might be in someone's mouth..... Jim

Indeed. My first try was the London Gazette. Surprisingly there was only one post war entry for the name Zhukov and it was not him but some Russian diplomat. I did however come across situations where the King was allowing British recipients of soviet orders to wear these orders. Turned out to be some very interesting reading indeed. Jim

Couldn't anyone give virtually anything to anyone? Perhaps it was French and the name CH B stood for Christophe B. So if it were on sale I'd say - buy the piece (for what its worth) and not the story. Jim

Thanks Christian. Infact that is why I could only suggest an answer to part A. Whereas it would be interesting to see what the name on his GCB docs does read, I could only think what I'd refer to him as if he was a British subject. Next question will be coming up shortly. Jim

Re question 1) I can only think of Sir Georgy (George) K. Zhukov G.C.B. - Dunno if that is what you were looking for. Re question 2) This was officially a 60th birthday present to Marhsall Zhukov. However as it was awarded a few weeks after the 1956 going ons in Hungary, one is left to wonder.... Some even think that this had something to do with the arrest of Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria earlier in 1953.... Jim

Always a pleasure Ed. I personally have some real problems reading hand written Russian as opposed to printed Russian In fact I fear that if I try to read too much of it I may indeed end up one eyed just like Rick But as long as I get myself my docs in english without waiting the rest of my life.... Jim

Maybe he's changed identity to avoid the russian medal watchdogs. And with some reason too! He he! Jim

You'd expect the seller to mention that in the description wouldn't you Kev especially when there is detail about a scratch on the reverse..... Can anyone post a picture of the original reverse of the order seeing that it has been said that the reverse has a disk replacing the national coat of arms? Jim

Ed baffles us (ME) yet again!! Think that after the last one we'd (I'D) have learnt the evil of our (MY) ways. But woe.... this comes too soon to have memorised a plethora of new medals way outside our (in this case MY) narrower area of interest. I sit quietly and curiously wait for closure on Ed's tractor's Jim

I stand to be corrected but isn't being Jewish a faith rather than a nationality? I suppose you meant he was a Russian Jew right? Jim

Whoa!! China, Bulgaria, Mongolia ..... no wonder I was baffled. Goes to show the evil of one's ways when one focusses on one country alone! I repent .... and yet will sin again by keeping my interests as narrow as I do! A great question anyways Ed! And well done Christophe.... what can I say.... Impressive! Jim