kimj

There has been lots of very nice stuff posted lately. So I felt a need not only to lurk but also to post some of my own stuff. This is from a group that once belonged to Aleksey Michaijlovitch Matveev. Mateev had a long career as a policeman and later as a politician. Most of his life seems to have been spent in the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (UASSR). He was awarded the order of the badge of honour in 1937. (Very special year in Soviet history, could it have been awarded for rounding up enemies of the state or long service?) His other awards are a Red banner, ca 1945, and a order of Lenin, ca 1951 (must be for 30 years of service, unfortunately missing from the group). The sleeve badge did not come with the group but looks nice.

Ed is right! That?s our man: Hakim Abdel Amer (عبد الحكيم عامر)! He made hero 13 may 1964, gold star #11 225. (I wonder where that is today...) He got his title when Khrushchev was in Egypt to see the Aswan Dam. Amer had got to know Khrushchev in Moscow on a mission to get soviet help for the dam. Khrushchev was rather generous with ?political? hero titles and awarded Nasser the same day as Amer. Ben Bella got his two weeks before. I guess you have to bring some gifts to your hosts when you visit. Personally I think flowers or a bottle of wine is more than enough.... Amer was also the big Egyptian loser of the six-day-war. He was stripped of all power and ?retired?. He and a group of co-conspirators were later arrested and accused of plotting a coup against Nasser. In jail he got the Rommel choice: trial and a certain conviction of treason OR suicide. Amer chose suicide and full military burial. /Kim

Here is my question. This is a pic of a soviet hero from outside the USSR. What is his name and when did he become a Hero? For extra credits write a short essay on why he became a Hero.... /Kim

Didn't recognize her from that first pic. But that is Alla Pugacheva the world(?) famous singer. Made National Artist of the USSR in 1991 (last one? Probably last year anyway.) She was pretty popular in Sweden too in the 80s. Made som duetts with the Swedish ballad-elite... Of course she's on the net: http://allapugacheva.ru/main.php I read on wikipedia an anecdote about her. On the day Ho Chi Min died she had a concert and is said to have made this statement: ?Don?t feel bad! Ho Chi Min might be dead but I?m still alive!? [My translation.] She never really liked Soviet rule but was too popular and got away with comments like this. /Kim

Here is the earliest one I have, a Adrian from Russian service. I don't know if the painted hammer/sickle is Civil War period or later added. But the helmet has the brown color one expects from original Czarist ones. Liner is repaired but period. /Kim

It's the Mecca of the Soviet Union: The birthplace of Stalin in Gori!! I guess comrade NKVD-man is doing some PC soviet-sightseeing. Wonder if he showed slides when he got back home.... Here is one in colour from: http://www.expatmonkey.com/photos/georgia_...gia03072018.htm Nice pic Chuck!! /Kim

Excellent helmets gentlemen!!! I have a few helmets myself but lost most of my old pics in a computer burn out recently. Still have the helmets but no pics. This in combination with a new baby makes for a bit of a collection time stand still. But I'll try to get new pics when I have some spare time. Here are a couple that I posted on the Swedish collecting site: http://samlarforum.skalman.nu/viewtopic.php?t=1402 Soviet: The last helmet is a very bad copy that can fool the beginning collector. I have had my hands on this type. It is much heavier than the real ones. Not to mention that they don't look like anything like an original. But I guess they can fool somebody buying the first helmet for his collection from internet pics only. /Kim

It looks like a P to me. If the writing is anything like older Swedish. So perhaps George has namned your man... I also found an other spelling of what could be the same guy in a quote: http://marxists.nigilist.ru/archive/lenin/...1901/dec/20.htm Taken from the collected works of Lenin... on-line of course. But you might want to check your paper copy .... /Kim

Not much hard facts in the disussion. Everything comes down to theories and more or less "educated" guesses. You can check the thread yourself at the Soviet Award Forum. I think that info on the VOKhR uniform will continue to be hard to find. I mean they are not the most exiting subject.. Anyway here is a link to some caps: http://www.undertheredstar.com/vokhr.htm /Kim

The VOKhR is a mystery that has me puzzled as well. On another forum we disussed VOKhR and one theory was that their unforms were regulated by the ministeries they sorted under. This could be an explanation for the many different types of VOKhR caps out for sale. Here is one of the guards. /Kim

Thank you for you for the reference book! A very generous gift to the rest of us collectors. /Kim

I still have no hard facts about this one. Even if it's proved bad beyond reasonable doubt I?d still keep it. I still have my poor detailed fake Iron Cross 2nd class that I got 15 years old. It keeps me reminded of the darker side of the hobby. /Kim

Nice Christmas present Dave! I looked in C.C. Sharp vol. 7, about Naval Infantry. It said that the 83rd Brigade held out until the 20 may 1942 near Kerch before being annihilated. Your man must have been one of the very last defenders. /Kim

Thanks for the reply guys! I'll pass on the info and I'm sure it will be appreciated. /Kim

Thanks for the ID Christophe! I guess I did my home work badly and missed it. Anybody got a site for Italian awards...? /Kim

Oooooooo..... Khasan GREAT group Rick!!!!! I think this is the first group I have ever seen with a no doubt connection to Khasan. Not the more common: "Well, in this range of serialnumber it should be..." and so on. Now I think I need to comfort myself with my Khasan badge..... without document... /Kim

Closeup on Order X.

This group came up on a Swedish forum. It was inherited and has lost it's information. No papers with it either unfortunatly. The mounted orders are Swedish Order of Wasa and Estonian Order of the Red Cross, I think 5th class. But what is the other? The owner thought Italian, I have looked at all the sites with official Italian awards...nothing. So any ideas? Text on the unkown "Italian": Obverse: REG.AC.MILIT.ORDO.S.CASIMIRI. Reverse: FUND.AD.MCMXLVI. /Kim

Nice orders gentlemen! OOR is an under appreciated order. I remembered this photo of a frontovik I "found" recently. Mr Vladimir Nikofirovich got a nice mix of combat award and post war labour awards. One of them being October Revolution. source: http://www.stalingrad-info.com/index.htm /Kim

Mixing up victory year and revolution year How long have I been collecting now.... Guess I need to practise think before I write. Thanks for the help Christophe. /Kim

Voroshilov got his HSU 03.02.1956 and 22.02.1968, the HSL 07.05.1960. So he should be wearing them. But perhaps he is! His arm could be hiding the HSL. Or perhaps he just felt like being ALL army and "forgot" his labour award? Not likely. I think the hidden award theory is stronger. /Kim

No.4 looks an awful lot like Voroshilov. If I had to bet money on it I would go for Kliment Yefremovich. /Kim

So the Bath-guess was not that far from the truth... Thank you mr Danner for the explanation. Odd that fakers would make a copy that does not even resemble the original /Kim

I thought you might like it Ed Iraqi is just a quess. The only thing I know for sure is that it's VERY crude. Looking forward to see if you can "dig" something up about my star. /Kim

Well it's mystery for me. Perhaps someone can help id this? The text on the front is: Al Sharaf Al Akhlas Honor Faithful Back: J Sh This could mean army. Translations are not great as they go Kurd-Arabic-Swedish-Swede-English. Some room for confusion... The seller had a bunch of Iraqi medals. Other than that there is no information. Could it be pre-Bath or just plain fake? /Kim