Carol I

Very good Christian, you found the Industria Aeronautică Rom?nă as well as the IAR-93 which was the ground attack plane I mentioned above. You are now really close. Believe me that the information on the Romanian fighter project is there on the www, you just have to look for it. I do not want to keep the game still, so if there will be no more answers until tomorrow evening I will give the full path to find it.

I think it is quite a big step. Well in 1968 the army seems to have been in full alert due to concentrations of Soviet troops at the border after Romania had condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. Anyhow, that had also been a ringing bell as to the reliability of Russian partnership and friendship. I would also add Germany with a lot of industrial contracts in that period, but as far as I know, it was not involved directly into this project. Why not Mirages? I do not know, but one reason could be that Romania was still a Warsaw Pact member. Furthermore, you have to remember that with the emancipation from USSR, Romania had entered a period of reassertion of its roots and culture and also a period of (eventually failed) tendencies towards self-sufficiency (buying some technology rather than the final products fitted these tendencies). In this context the idea of an own aircraft industry came rather naturally. And the military projects were regarded as a natural continuation of the rather successful IAR airframe designs of the late 1930s and beginning of 1940s.

Yes, this is correct. This is the answer to question no. 1 (Where did the project originate?). The plane in the first image had the Romanian national colours (red-yellow-blue) on the fin.

Sorry Christian if I misled you through my silence when you previously mentioned MIG-29. The project I posted did not originate in the MIG offices and in fact it was not a Soviet design. I could add that it ws part of an ambitious project to build a fighter, a gorund attack plane and trainer that bridged a 30-something year gap in military airplane design.

Quite interesting, Jim. Thank you.

It's not my classification, see Wikipedia: 4th generation jet fighter. For Belaruski: It was not a Sukhoi project. One more photo to help in your search: the single fin version of the plane.

Thanks Wild Card for the congratulations. But after celebrations one has to come up with a question, so here is mine: Below is an image of an interesting project of a fourth generation fighter. 1. Where did the project originate? 2. What was the name of the projected plane? 3. What happened to the project? Good luck and good hunting!

Sorry Christian, the information came from Beevor's book without details about the awards.

While acknowledging Christian's reply above as to the general objecive of Uranus, I also give it a try for the tank operation from 21/22 November 1942: Bridge over the Don. Kalach-na-Donu Practical surrounding of the Axis forces. Lt. col. Filippov, commander of the 19th tank brigade

Congratulation Christian! It was indeed the photo of (a rather young) Mihail Lascăr. Mihail Lascăr was a capable Romanian general fighting with Romanian troops on the Eastern front (at that time in alliance with Germany). His achievements brought him the second class of the Order of Michael the Brave and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves. He was encircled at Stalingrad and although he could save himself he remained with his troops adopting a defiant stance up until his capture in November 1942. He spent more than two years in captivity until April 1945 when he accepted the command of the Soviet division Horia, Cloşca şi Crişan composed of Romanian "volunteers" (by that time Romania was on the Allied side). He remained in command of the Soviet division until it was included in the Romanian Army. After a brief period at the command of the Romanian Fourth Army, he was named Minister of Defence. He held this position until December 1947 when accused of "anti-sovietism" (he was no "comrade") he was demoted to the position of Inspector of the Armed Forces, position he held in the first two years of the new People's Republic until resigning (or forced to resign) in 1950. The photo I posted with the question showed him as a young lieutenant-colonel in the 1920s or 1930s (the uniform is from that period). After the war he looked much older. Only after posting the question have I realised that a Google search after "Axis awards commander Soviet division" shows in the first place the list of Romanian holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross where General Lascăr is in the fourth position.

Yes, he was a Romanian officer. Would you venture to say a name?

Thanks Frank. Here is my question. Who is this officer? Clues: He was decorated with top Axis awards, commanded a Soviet division in WWII and was Inspector for the Army during the cold war.

Well, Stalin gradually isolated Trotsky, but right after Lenin's death, Stalin sent Trotsky a telegram mentioning an incorrect date to make the latter miss Lenin's funeral and shed a bad light upon him (I hope this is the detail you were after).

I am sorry as well, since it could have shed some light onto the colours of the Romanian fourrageres.

Fanya Kaplan, an anarchist, shot Lenin in 1918. Ram?n Mercader, a Soviet agent, put an ice axe into Leon Trotsky's head. Joseph Stalin expelled Trotsky from the Cental Committee in 1927, forced him into exile and arranged his assassination in 1940.

Maybe the firemen were selected/volunteered from the ranks of the military, hence they did their firearms training before the firemen training.

Thanks Dave.

What is the collar to the right?

It is indeed nice to see the face and the name. I wonder why La Galerie Numismatique digitally erases the name of the awardees from the certificates they sell (you may take a look in posts #10, #13 and #14 in Romanian fourrageres to see that the certificate above was not a singular case).

Sorry to disappoint you, Kevin, but I do not know much about the decorations of the Communist period. The military connection of the firemen in Romania is a tradition related to a historical event. On 13 September 1848, the firemen division of Bucharest led by Pavel Zăgănescu opposed suicidal resistance to the Ottoman troops sent to suppress the Wallachian revolution and arrest its leaders (see Wikipedia for example).

You're welcome, Paul. I am sorry to hear about the Order of Michael the Brave. But then, this means that the published list of Knights of the Order of Michael the Brave was correct regarding the absence of Major Aurel Mavru.

According to the Safta et al book, when an officer was awarded two or more fourrageres, all of them were supposed to be worn, but with one aiguillette only hanging from the cord of the highest order. I have taken another look at Igor's photos and in some of them Chiriţescu appears to be wearing two cords, one light and one dark, and the aiguillette hangs from the dark cord. So, if the information in the Safta et al book is correct, the Michael the Brave fourragere was blue (this is the same book that said that the Michael the Brave fourragere was red with gold stripes ) and Lukasz appears to have been right all along.

Only now have I seen Igor's post below. Interesting certificate for a double award of fourrageres (Michael the Brave and Military Virtue) to Ştefan Chiriţescu.

Another auction, another image: blue fourragere with a certificate for the Michael the Brave fourragere.

Another auction, another image: blue(?) fourragere with a certificate for the Star of Romania fourragere.