Gerd Becker

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Ok, here you go. I start with his Military ID. First Inside of the cover page and page 1:

Hi Everyone, its a OGPW 1st class. Give me a bit time with the scans, i will post them this night or tomorrow morning (its 9pm here). There are lots of scans... Thanks for the interest so far.... Gerd

Thanks for the comments everybody. I am indeed very happy with this little group. Ed, i will add the scans as soon as possible. I am curious myself, but i don?t have the time to do it tonight. Andreas, do you have an idea, what it is? Paul, thank you. I don?t know, for what he got the OOR, but it was most probably for Labor. Its indeed interesting, that he has no other Labor-Awards and wonder, like Ed does, what kind of people got an OOR instead of another Labor-Award. This was wounded in WW2 seriously twice and left the army in May 1945, so its not military. But though, even if its not, at least its not alone ;-) Thanks again everyone best, Gerd

Rick, i will post scans of his ID tonight. I must work now. I hope, you guys enjoyed. best, Gerd

Here is a closeup of the badge. I know, i have seen it before, but i can?t find it.

Here is the photo of the former owner Ivan Semenovich Muhkin, wearing all his awards above. He wears another commemorative badge. Can someone recognize it?:

Hi everyone, i thought, i share this little group with you. Nothing exiting, but in my impression, groups with OOR don?t appear too often on the market, at least since i collect Soviet Orders (which is not long, i admit). Other Soviet Collectors confirmed my impression and others told me, that the OOR?s are often splittet from groups by dealers. I would love to hear other opinions to this. This is the group: Order of the October Revolution Nr. 73.462 Order of the Red Star Nr. 3.602.335 Order of the Great Patriotic War 85 issue Victory over Germany Valiant Labor in the Patriotic War Veteran of Labor several Commemorative Medals (see picture) The Orders are documented, the Medals are not, but i have an ID, which confirmes all the Medals. Fortunately there is a photo in the group, on which he wears all his Medals. I haven?t seen many photos with OOR in wear, what about you? This is the group:

Ahhhh, Eric Schena found its way to Imperial awards Interesting Medal. Only 22 Awards, thats really rare. best, Gerd

Eric, most informative Thread You should think about to compile your work into a book or CD. You maybe remember this one, my Order of Skanderbeg 2nd class (type d after your list), which i only was able to recognize on ebay after reading your excellent thread about Albanian Orders and Medals on WAF. I have a few other Albanian awards and for some reason i like them. I mean, they are not pretty, but... Hell, i don?t know, why, but i do. best, Gerd

Jens, nice screwback with Character. Orders of the Patriotic War 1st class are probably the next best to research after the Nevsky?s. Its also a Bravery-Order and research usually turns out interesting. best, Gerd

Absolutely fantastic WITH Document and WITH Photo Ed, the translation states, he was awarded an Order of the Red Banner of Labor. That would have been also a Type 2 Screwback type, if thats not a mistake. Imagine a Screwback ORBL added to this group. Thanks for sharing some treasures of yours best, Gerd

Oh, and btw, lets see the Red Banners too

Hi Jens, nice example. These were given out in batches to the fronts, so its very hard to give a date to the serialnumber, as it could be anytime between 1941(well probably not, let?s say 1942) and 1945, but "normally" it should be from about Mid 1945, probably in May/June/July. Orders of Alexander Nevsky are ALLWAYS worth to research, as this was an Officers-only award and it was allways awarded to Commanders, who distinguished themselves. If you decide to research them, let me know and i give you a contact. Again, nice example, thanks for sharing all the best, Gerd

Nice Medalbars, guys The Bronze Merit Medal is a first for me Gerd

Thanks, Chris

Rick, you probably know, but the 72nd Guards RD was the former 29th Rifle Division. Here is the OOB of the 29th Rifles Division: 29th RD Was formed from 14th December 1941 from the 458th Rifle Division(Central Asia Military District) with: 106th Rifles Reg. 128th Rifles Reg. 302nd Rifles Reg. 77th Artillery Reg. 125th Antitank Battalion 78th Sapper Battalion 104th Reconnaissance Company 350th Medical Battalion The 29th Rifles Division was formed in Kazakhstan at full strength, with 11.840 men. In March 1942 the Divsion was shipped to the Tula area south of Moscow, and assigned to the STAVKA Reserves. In April the 29th became part of the 1st Reserve Army forming near Tula, an on 10. July 1942 that force became the 64th Army. By 1. August the 64th Army and the 29th RD were assigned to the Stalingrad Front. Although mauled on the steppes west of Stalingrad, the 64th Army defended the southern approaches to the city through the fall an then took part in the counteroffensive in November and the final destruction of the Germans in Stalingrad in January-February 1943, under the Don Front. The obliteration of such a large German force resulted in a mass of Guards designations among the "Stalingrad"-Divisions, and by People?s Commisariat of Defense (NKO) order number 104, dated 1. March 1943 the 29th Rifles Division became the 72nd Guards Rifle Division. (source: Charles C. Sharp, Sovie order of battle)

Very interesting. Thanks, that you post these, as i have a question to one of these death-badges. There is this badge on a dealers Website and this is part of the description: " This Badge was Awarded in 1934 upon the death of Sergei Kirov, a rival of Stalin's. There is little doubt that Stalin ordered his assasionation on December 1, 1934. On the very evening of Kirov's murder, Stalin passed a law that laid the foundation for the mass extermination of people at odds with Stalin. The death of Kirov on December 1, 1934 is widely regarded as the beginning of the "Great Terror"." So i guess, everyone, who wore this badge after 1934, shared Kirov?s fate, right? Most of these badges must have been quickly disposed after the assasination of Kirov. So this badge must be very rare? Any of you guys have seen it before? Here ist the badge:

His Commander lived until 1992: This is from Steen Ammentorps excellent Website: http://www.generals.dk/general/Ivashutin/P...viet_Union.html Ivashutin Petr I., General (1909-2002) (NKVD) Chief Counterintelligence Officer Trans-Caucasian Front Chief Counterintelligence Officer Caucasian Front Chief Counterintelligence Officer Crimean Front Chief Counterintelligence Officer North-Caucasian Front Chief Counterintelligence Officer South-western Front 1950 - 1951 Chief Counterintelligence Officer Leningrad Military District 1952 - 1953 Head of Ministry of State Security MGB Ukraine 1954 - 1963 Assistant Chairman of Committee of State Security KGB 1963 - Head of Main Intelligence Directorate GRU - 1987 Assistant Chief General Staff 1987 - 1992 Inspector-General of the Army 1992 Retired

FANTASTIC Thanks for sharing best, Gerd

Hello, if you think about to start collecting soviet orders and medals, you should definately buy at first the book "The Comprehensive Guide to Soviet Orders and Medals" from Paul McDaniel/Paul Schmitt. You should learn as much as possible, before you buy something. Everything, including the most common medals are faked in soviet collecting and some of the fakes are scary good. Maybe you start with one of the more common orders like Order of the Red Banner of Labor, for example. The chance of finding a real WW2 era officer tunic depends on the branch, you want. Take a look on the Website of CollectRussia, maybe he has something interesting for you: http://collectrussia.com/ I hope, i could help a little. best wishes, Gerd

Darrel, i would chose the Typ 5 Lenin, as its the oldest of them and has a chance to have been awarded for Military Merit. The very late ones weren?t given for Long-Service anymore, as the Long-Service Medals already existed. best, Gerd