Gordon Craig

Order of Victory, Just to make sure I made my self clear, the 1965 issue of the these medals was awarded up to the time the 1983 type medals started to be issued. However, even though they were awarded over a considerable length of time they are still rare. Especially cased ones. Regards, Gordon

Zsolt, Thanks for the info. Very impressive badge you posted. Now I have another on to look for to go with my Miners tunic. Regards, Gordon

Here is another Kivalo badge I picked up recently. I have found a couple of translations for KIOSZ on the net. They are: Kisiparosok Orsz?gos Sz?vets?ge (KIOSZ) #1-The National Organization of Crafstmen or #2 The National Association of Small Manufacturers. I think #1 is the most logical. From the figure III on the badge it would seem that there were three different awards in this series. Regards, Gordon

Zsolt, Thanks for the info. I have Charles to thank for this cased medal. We were in a store going through a box of stuff and I asked him if he knew what a Miners Kivalo looked like. He said he had just seen one and pulled it out of the box for me. If I understand your post correctly, this badge was only awarded for about a year. True? Do you have a picture of the award presented after this one was no longer awarded/ Regards, Gordon

Order of Victory, Thanks for the post. Very nice cased medal. The 800 ora medal only exists in the 1965 issue of these medals. Regards, Gordon

Having started you down this path I should have responded sooner. Very close on the Swallows Nests. The white was worn by members of the NVA Orchestrer, Musikkorps and Spielmannszuge. Green could be for either polizei or Border Guard. I am taking a guess here but the green looks too light for Border Guard. I would be more inclined to say it was for polizei. If it is for polizei the fringed ones woul be worn by Wchtmeisterdienstgrade des zentralen Orchesters der MdI and Leiter der Spielmannszuge (im Dienstgrad Unterleutnant bis Hauptmann) in den VP-Bereitschaften. On to the shoulder board. Not STASI. Could be either Reichsbahn or Post but I haven't taken the time to look through my reference material to identify it but probably Reichsbahn. Cheers, Gordon

Dan, Interesting document. Thanks for posting the additional pages. Regards, Gordon

Close up of the back of the badge.

Close up of the front of the badge.

Bottom of the case.

Top of the case.

Here is a rare one I picked up yesterday. A B?NY?SZAT KIV?L? DOLG0Z?JA for a miner. Nice to have a rare badge in a case. Not so nice to have pay the price these things are worth! Regards, Gordon

2809

In the interest of pure research I am going to post pictures of two numbered miniature Partizan Bdges that I have. The early one, number 490 is numbered on the bottom. The later one, number 2809, is numbered at the top. Idle curiosity urges me to ask, "Did they stop numbering the badges at the bottom and start numbering them at the top at a certain time and then stay with the numbers at the top or did they get numbered in either location at the whim of the person doing the numbering?". Regards, Gordon

Zsolt, Sorry but I do not have a medal to trade. I was waiting to receive another 30 year Bronze 1974 Fireman's medal and not sure if it was for a Volunteer Fireman or a Professional Fireman. Turns out it was the one I do not have so I will be keeping boh of them. Regards, Gordon

Interior of the General Officers caps. All General's tunics were tailor made but their caps were not.

Side view of the generals peaked cap.

The peaked cap.

The interior of the cuff of the trousers. This gives a good view of how the thin and thick stripes are added. This was the way it was done for Generals officers during the Third Reich and the DDR continued this practice.

The trousers. The first picture will be of the top of the trousers. Note where the stripes on the outside of the leg stop.

Awards above the left breast pocket.

Awards and Russian Akademy badges above the right breast pocket.

The tunic.

Gents, The latest adition to my collection of DDR General Officers uniforms. After a week of effort searching the main post office I ended up at Hungarian Customs yesterday to pick up the actual parcel. It was worth the effort. The uniform is comprised of a Generals ooficers Jack shirt and tie, tunic (complete with awards), trouser, and peaked cap. I'll post pictures of the shirt first. There are special thin shoulder boards and this rank stars for these boards, to make wear under the tunic more comfortable, which did not come with the uniform.

There are also issues of this medal for the years 1964 and 1965 with a different series of numbers for hours flown. If you have any of these medals it would be appreciated if you would post pictures of them for all of our reference. Regards, Gordon