JimZ

Well Alex,

It is a "Croce Al Merito di Servizio per la Guardia di Finanza" - this would be worn with a yellow-green ribbon (YGYGY) and is definitely an Italian Republic cross from the RI cypher. I believe these are awarded under the Republic for 16,25 and 40 years service. However I am not familiar with these crosses to tell you which one this is. I also understand that these existed prior to the Republic and carried the eagle and crossed shield against a red enemalled background. Somehow not the easiest medal to find pictures of on line.

Perhaps one of our Italian members could chip in here...

Jim :cheers:

Well done Bill!!!

Thanks for helping us represent the Soviet section.

GENTLEMEN..... JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT!!!!

LETS MAKE THE LAST EFFORT TO GET SOME OF THE PRIZES!!!!

BRING OUT THE BIG GUNS!!!

I did mention the Full Urine Boot treatment, he gave me a sad look, shook his head and said - a urban myth.

Oh how embarassing to have him look at you like that!!

Let us know how it goes with the dubbin and these boots on a 1 - 10 score.

Jim :cheers:

Hi,

as a supplement to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya:

http://gmic.co.uk/in...smodemyanskaya/

Uwe

Hi Speedytop

And welcome to the quiz!!

Would be nice to see you joining in on the fun here.....

Looking forward to seeing you participate!

Jim :cheers:

Scoreboard update!

19 points - JimZ

15 points - Harvey

10 points - Hauptmann

8 points - Christophe

6 points - UB6365

6 points - Gunner 1

3 points - Valter

2 points - kapten_windu

1 point - Tachel

Question 70 goes to Gunner 1.

Gentlemen, a general comment - in terms of the hints please try to give hints that help. There have been few questions where the hints were irrelevant to the question or at so much of an angle to the general direction that these have been rather frustrating to some - including myself.

Also, and this is a comment that is not referring to anyone in particular, please remember that for many of the members, English is not a first language. The more we try to complicate hints in a language that may not be our first language, the more frustrating it can be for those who are trying to understand a language that is not their first one either.

Gunner, re your previous comment, names are some times bastardised when transliterated into English! However, on the other hand not everyone understands the cyrillic alphabet. Whereas nobody stops you from including the proper Russian name in the reply, and I agree that is to be encouraged, the transliterated name should also be used for all those who cannot read the cyrillic alphabet.

Well done on your last victory!

Jim

:banger: The olympic hint was not helpful to me and a total distraction as it suggested that Vlasov was an athlete! Apart from the common surname what other link is there?? I was looking for olympic athletes who were not champions and to whom some sort of political or other tragedy happened. The reference to troops came after I had spent time searching and I was not interested in starting another search with such limited information. And its not like I did not know Andrei Vlasov!!!

Nevertheless, I guess its well done to Gunner 1 but we'll wait for UB6365 to confirm the correct reply.

Scoreboard update!

19 points - JimZ

15 points - Harvey

10 points - Hauptmann

8 points - Christophe

6 points - UB6365

5 points - Gunner 1

3 points - Valter

2 points - kapten_windu

1 point - Tachel

Question 69 goes to UB6365.

Jim

Are we looking for the boy or the older man ? :)

MOVING ON:

Scoreboard update!

CHRISTOPHE GETS A VERY WELL DESERVED POINT!

19 points - JimZ

15 points - Harvey

10 points - Hauptmann

8 points - Christophe

5 points - Gunner 1

5 points - UB6365

3 points - Valter

2 points - kapten_windu

1 point - Tachel

Question 68 is up to Christophe.

Jim

Actually, if you try to search "Барышников, фильм, рядовой, Рязанов" (Hint#15) in Google.ru , you will go directly to the answer...

Hi UB,

You must understand that many do not read russian and are limited to english search engines. Whereas I get by with lots of effort, it does not occur to me to run a search on a russian search engine. Of course, he also does turn up on regular google!

What is important is that questions are readily researchable by all. Interest in the quiz depends more on the turnover of questions and the chance to particpate then detective work, which is what we needed here.

Notwithstanding, I too find myself facinated by this book and would like to get my hands on it!

And guess what.....I briefly mentioned it to my wife and she knows about it

Jim :cheers:

I admit that many of the clues were distracting and no matter how I searched, nothing would turn up. The blur and bounce between fact and fiction was very unclear and I think it complicated matters. I also feared that as it went on, members would lose interest in the question. I personally cannot believe how much time I spent on this question alone!!! I fully understand Harvey's frustration too!

When UB told me the name, I however realised that some basic hints did exist - as common as a Private Ivan may be in the Russian Army, a search for "private Ivan" on yahoo reveals the name of our man!!!

We need to be more precise in future questions - and as we add hints, we should narrow the scope of the answer not widen it.

Well done Christophe on a well deserved point!

Jim :cheers:

We crossed messages Christophe!! And may I unofficially confirm the result till UB does so himself .

Jim :cheers:

Ok guys - let me help out here as this question is dragging on.

UB is referring to a fictional person - a characther out of a book who's name happens to be Ivan and whose rank was that of Private. A lot of the relatives mentioned by UB are fictional in that they seem to be references to the actual book - which means for those who have not read the book they do not mean much! However, he is actually looking for the name of full name of this fictional private.

Lets focus on the author who may be the key - UB said that with the mention of Solzhenitsyn (whom Harvey first mentioned earlier on), we were on the right track. Therefore the author went through some of what Sozhenitsyn did, i.e. having his citizenship revoked and then restored by Gorbachev (as per the hints). This same author went on to receive the state prize of the Russian Federation in the Putin period.

Finally UB gives his last hint that Private Ryan is extremely famous... maybe so is Private Ivan...... search for him!

Jim :cheers:

Badge of the association and website: http://ancrfilago.com/

Jim :cheers:

Dear all,

The nightmare is over for me and I know the answer to the question as UB6365 has reverted back. That takes me out of the game.

However, after reviewing the answer I think that the question can go on, although I have asked UB6365 to make a small clarification.

On my part I would like to say that some of the most general hints may be the most relevant, and some other hints may not need to be taken quite so literally.

I will let UB6365 get back with more.

Jim

PS - I was clueless as you all........and would have still been!!!!

Second: 15mm in diameter veterans association pin. Looks like someone put some nail polish on it.

Or maybe it`s some modern low quality repro ?

I believe this to be related to scouts, due to the stamping on the back of it.

Lapel badge of the Associazione Nazionale Combattenti e Reduci or ANCR which is a private association for veterans and disabled. Takes care of the moral and material needs of its members and is responsible for organising activites, training, ceremonies etc for its members.

Its got nothing to do with Scouts - The Fleurdelys at the back is found on the coat of arms of Firenze (Florence) and the stamp at the back also denotes that this was probably also produced in Florence. Possibly given to members or possibly sold to raise funds, I cannot say if this is original or not, but would doubt why something like that should be faked or altered.

And last but not least: any Italian presence in Libia before WW2 ?!

Any info on the three pieces will be much appreciated.

Are any of them interesting, or just common items ?

As time permits -

The Italian Medal for Libya arises as a result of the Italo-Ottoman campaigns. With France having secured Tunisa, it was seen as 'fair' if Italy should secure Libya. Libya, till then part of the Ottoman Empire was considered by the Italians as falling under its area of influence due to its geographical proximity. The Italians declared war and seized Libya as a colony using a force of some 35,000 troops.

The medal can often be seen coupled with a similar one for the Italo-Turkish war. I believe both ribbons to be the same as well as the obverse of the medals, with the campaign name only being different.

As seems to be very typical of Italian medals, yours comes without the ribbon. I have yet to figure out why the ribbons keep disappearing!!!

Attached is a link with some interesting detailed information of the Libya situation that I came across: http://histclo.com/country/arab/lib/hist/lh-ita.html

Hi UB6535,

I am withdrawing from this question. In the interest of the quiz thread and to ensure that the rules are being followed, I am asking you to kindly PM me the identity of the man in question and supporting links so that I can ensure that he is readily researchable and therefore, worthy of being included in the quiz.

As you know, the rules in the first post state:

"QUESTIONS SHOULD ALSO NOT BE TOO OBSCURE AND SHOULD BE READILY RESEARCHABLE WITHOUT TOO MUCH DIFFICULTY"

I therefore want to verify if this is the case. Should it turn out that the question is valid, things will be allowed to proceed. If not, the question will be terminated.

Regards,

Jim

UB6535,

Please try not to repeat hints and be a bit more specific. We've got a full family tree but some of the hints are too general to be of much use.

There is also the risk of members losing interest in the question if it beats about the bush for too long - although with Christophe and Harvey joining in earlier today that does not yet seem set to happen.

It will also be rather interesting to see you tie up all the hints when we find the person!

Jim :cheers:

Hi Alex,

I split the thread as its always better to start a new one for something like this! Medals are identifiable and thread name can then be amended.

Unless someone provides info, I'll revert back with something myself at a later stage - slightly caught up at the moment.

Jim :cheers:

Where was the dotted line in your days Chris?

Jim :cheers:

Harvey - it cannot be Alexander Solzhenitsyn - I ruled him out yesterday on account of the hint "My father received the State Prize of RF from President Putin... " If anything it would be his son.

And on that thought, is it Yermolai Solzhenitsyn?

Harvey - it cannot be Alexander Solzhenitsyn - I ruled him out yesterday on account of the hint "My father received the State Prize of RF from President Putin... " If anything it would be his son.

Christophe - it cannot be Shostakovich's son on account of the same hint! Shostakovich died in 1975 and could not have received the State prize of RF from President Putin!!

Unless its a posthumous award!

And to have been awarded by Presiednt Putin it must have been awarded between 2000 and 2008!!!

:banger:

Lets try to organise the hints given so far as I have come at this from varous angles but my searches are all hitting a brick wall!!! There is also not much response to the question which probably marks this as a tough one. Below are some of my thoughts which may be incorrect....but there is some logic to it. Of course I may be attacking the question from the wrong angle!!!

About me

I was born in XX century. - like many others! But I would guess born in the 1950s latest under Stalin regime.

I was kind of secret person… Actually before youth I did not exist officially. - Perhaps born in a gulag?

I was awarded with unknown order but this decision was cancelled later. - unknown order that was cancelled - not much help

I was awarded with unknown order but this decision was cancelled later, due to my problems with law enforcement agency... - problems with law enforcement....

I have some relations with U-2 airplane. - Gary Powers and Cuban Missile Crisis are the first thoughts that come to mind.....

About my father

My father served military duty in Poland. With beginning of space era he became famous. - I was thinking cosmonaut or rocket scientist?

My father received the State Prize of RF from President Putin... - father had to be alive in the late between 2000 - 2008 - President Putin!!! Again, scient state prize which makes him one of three recipients every year between 2000-2008 Technically one of 24!!!

About my relatives

One of my far relatives (unfortunately I never met him) was awarded by Stalin prize twice and in two different ways. - Scanned through double recipients but made no link. Assuming its a far relative it is unlikely that they share the same surname.

Just to let you know we are thinking, although some more direct hints about him might help narrow the person down.

Jim :cheers: