Ferdinand

A photo of an Artillery Lieutenant and his son with on the reverse "[...] and his son [...] 10 February 1944 [...]"

A photo of a Senior Lieutenant with on the reverse "In memory - Valichka". Also see: - http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=32311

Military Doctor 2nd Rank [equivalent to Major] Grigoriy Vasilyevich Litvinov.

Also apparently from a photo album. "To Viktor and Aleksander from (father?)" and something about a "contusion (shell shock)"

A photo apparently once glued into a photo album. Something in Ukrainian: "To [...] from mother and brother - 30 January 1934 [...]"

An unknown officer of a - to me - unknown branch. Nothing written on the reverse.

I recently acquired some nice old photo's and thought I'd share them here: Anatoliy Iosifovich Bogdanovich. Signed by Colonel Starostin, Krasnoluchskiy RVK, Voroshilovgrad Oblast.

Thanks gentlemen. Only "In memory - Valichka":

Can someone ID the left badge on this Senior Lieutenant?

Well, he also lowered some prices: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=302992

Me too, please!

First, it's an uncommon combination of combat and labor awards, and without the order booklet there's no way to tell these belonged to the same guy. Serial number research seems to be impossible lately... Did anyone have contact with or receive something from GK recently? That said, I wouldn't pay more than the value of these four single awards. Even if you trust the seller 100%, there's nothing that identifies these awards as being a group and therefore justifies a group premium. I would pay 150 + 50 + 20 + 20 USD at max for it.

Lowered to an OPWII om 20 February 1945 by the Division Commander, a Guards Major General of Artillery, and confirmed on 3 March 1945 by the Artillery Commander of the 13th Army, Lieutenant General of Artillery Kubeyev:

Citation, lower half: "During the offensive fighting he proved himself a brave, courageous and valorous soldier in the Red Army. On 2 February 1945, near Gugelwitz on the western bank of the Oder he discovered an enemy 105 mm artillery battery, which fired continuously at our side of the front. Comrade Vasetsky transmitted the coordinates of the enemy battery, which was silenced. On 3 February 1945, near Mulredlitz Comrade Vasetsky discovered two enemy artillery batteries, which were silenced by battery fire. On 4 February 1945 Comrade Vasetsky discovered a concentration of enemy infantry and tanks, preparing for a counterattack. He transmitted the coordinates to the battery, by whose fire the concentration was shattered. He is deserving of the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class. Commander 1st Guards Cannon Artillery Kiev Brigade Guards Colonel [signed] (Semak) 10 February 1945"

As it turned out, the OPWII is not an award for wounds, but for similar actions as his Red Star. Here's the citation for Vasetsky's OPWII: First the upper part of the citation. Much information is already known, but there are some additions. Vasetsky is still a private in the 4th Battery of the 1st Guards Cannon Artillery Kiev Brigade, 1st Guards Artillery Glukhovsky Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Breakthrough Division of the Supreme Command Reserve. VLKSM member since 1942 and at the front since 1942, subsequently in the Kalinin, Central, Voronezh and 1st Ukrainian Front. In addition to his heavy wound, he was lightly wounded on 30 October 1942 near Rzhev. He was recommended for a OPWI.

Debrecen indeed! I looked him up in the two volume big red HSU book. Guards Lieutenant Yevgeny Kuzmich Lyutikov was born on 17 April 1921 in the city of Pugachov, Saratov Oblast. Party member since 1942. He joined the army in 1939 and was at the front from November 1941. He commanded a battery in the 66th Guards Mortar Regiment, 44th Guards Cavalry Corps, 2nd Ukrainian Front. He fought during the 'liberation' of Hungary. Here's his hort citation from the book: "During the Debrecen Operation, on 8 October 1944 two enemy motorized artillery guns and an artillery battery approached his battery at fortified point Sharretudvari (47 km southwest of Debrecen). The commander deployed the combat installations and opened fire, and subsequently stopped the enemy attack. Wounded thrice, with the last grenade he blew up himself and the surrounding enemy troops." (Or in Russian: "В ходе Дебреценской операции 8.10.1944 на батарею у нас. пункта Шарретудвари (47 км юго-зап. г. Дебрецен) вышли внезапно 2 САУ и арт. батарея пр-ка. Ком-р развернул боевые установки и открыл огонь, остановив наступление пр-ка. Трижды раненный, последней гранатой подорвал себя и окруживших его врагов.") He was buried at the Kerepishi cemetary in Budapest. School #205 in Moscow and a pioneer unit in Budapest were named after him. Lyutikov was awarded an Order of Lenin, Patriotic War 2nd, Red Star and some medals. Also see: http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=132

I agree with seb16trs. Sources like the Mondvor site, or at least their classifications, are, with the help of a dictionary, understandable for people who don't speak Russian. You can turn to the grossly outdated "Red Bible" instead, but I wouldn't buy it for more that $95. It by far isn't as stunning as it was 11 years ago, so why pay twice the price for it today?

I'm not sure if this is a duplicate award. The serial number is in range and in the correct engraving style for this type or starback, so it would have been a duplicate award for just a slightly earlier order. Furthermore, I believe the 'д' is usually located just above the serial number, instead of on the edge.

I LOVE the design of this award, especially the screwback type. Thanks for posting better photos :love:

Awarded to the website Art of War; website named after Volodimir Grigoryev... Is this a joke?? :unsure:

That's what I wrote... :unsure:

This is from the excellent 1993 concert in Helsinki where the Finnish rock band Leningrad Cowboys played together with the Red Army Choir. Google on "Total Balalaika Show" for alle the songs played (many of which are on Youtube). I've got both the CD's and the DVD. Excellent stuff for listening in the car. Makes you wanna hit the gas though. :beer:

It are wounds notifications and they are to the same guy, Private Nikolai Kirillovich Ivashko. On the first doc he is in the 126th Rifle Regiment and lightly wounded by shrapnel on 16 August 1944. Stamp of 2514th Army Field Hospital, dated 4 September 1944. I Can't make out more details on the last two lines. On the second doc he is in the 337th Rifle Regiment and lightly wounded on 15 February 1945, again by shrapnel. The stamp is of the same hospital.

I primarily used Poirier & Conner and the excellent website RKKA.ru. Regarding the abbreviations: often you can just Google them in Cyrillic. There's a lot of trash on the internet, but often you can find the designations of the abbreviations pretty fast. For instance, just Google on ВВАУЛ, ХгвВТКУ and ПУрВО. There are lots of books and websites with lists of abbreviations, but none that I have seen are comprehensive. A quite good online attempt is the following: http://rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com/abbrevi...in_military.doc The left badge is for a veteran of the 1st Guards Cavalry Mechanized Group (according to the ribbons awarded a Red Banner, Suvorov 1st Class and Kutuzov 2nd Class). The right badge is for a veteran of 8th People's Militia Division. 'Krasnaya Presnya' is the location where the division was formed on 2 July 1941. The division was renamed 8th Rifle Division on 26 September 1941 and was disbanded on 30 November 1941, so there probably weren't a lot of these badges!

Some additions: Post #23: Red Banner Aviation Regiment. Post #24: Charkov Highest Military Aviation School for Pilots (VVAUL). Post #25: 40 years Guards Red Banner Obyedineniye (which is either an association or a combined troops unit) Post #26: 35 years 100th Rifle Division (which fought near Voronezh, Lvov and Prague; "Lvov" became an official battle honor of this division in 1944). Post #27: An Ukrainian badge for 75 years 30th Guards Irkutst Pinsk ??. Post #28: Badge for 60 years 29th Red Banner Yelninsky Order of Suvorov Guards Rifle Division (initially established as 32nd Rifle Division). Post #29: 40 years 1st Guards Moscow-Minsk Rifle Motorized Division. Post #30: 35 years Guards Vladimir-Volynsk Regiment. Post #31: I'm not 100% sure, but I believe this badge is for 30 years 7th Guards Cherkassy Red Banner Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Airborne Division. The only unit I can find with this combination of awards and honorary titles, but a tank on an airborne unit badge is odd. Post #32: 25 years Kharkov Guards Tank Command School (KhgvVTKU), later the Kharkov Guards Highest Tank Command Order of the Red Star School named after the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR. This is the school's website: http://www.xty.ru Post #33: This Ukrainian badge is not for a specific unit, but for 30 years of Battle of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky. Post #34: Badge for the Independent Cavalry Regiment. Post #35: October 1941 - Veteran of the Podolsk Military School. Post #38; 19th Voronezh-Shumlinsky Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Red Banner of Labor Rifle Division. Post #39: December 1917 - Veteran of the Kremlyovets (presidential Kremlin unit). Post #40: Veteran of the 3rd Army 1941-1945. Post #41: Volga-Ural Military District (PUrVO).