Alfred

and the reverse

the observe

Major Wladimir Petrovitsch Dovbenko OGPW 1st class: 223.610 OGPW 2st class: 229.102 OGPW 2st class: 455.973 Red Star: 551.0996 Warsaw medal Victory over Germany

Bought this document with cross on the military trade fair in Stuttgart. It?s awarded to the Musketier Leweling 10. Ersatz Division, 371. Infanterie-Regiment , 9. Kompanie. As I am new to the subjekt, I found the last line interesting. "His cross is number 7.953 in the award book of the 10. Ersatz Division." Are these books available today? What is written in these books? regards Andreas

Hi, on Friday I bought a Iron Cross, 2nd Class, 1914, marked with WO. Is this possible? Or is the second letter just disturbed and it is WS. regards Andreas

As soviet stuff gets priceless, I just started to collect EK II?s and documents First World War. The first EK II document group with a Frontk?mpfer Ehrenkreuz. regards Andreas P.S. What is a Arendt Abteilung? of the 9th Army.

Yes Brian, a few years ago they were easy to find ..... The reason why I bought the bar is that both CSM medals have almost sequential numbers. In this case I think there is a change that the group is not put together. One of my next research projects regards Andreas

Not really sure, but I think around 50.000 pieces were awarded. regards Andreas

and reverse

Hi, bought this medal bar two weeks ago on a local military show. Never saw this kind of fixing with two little thick screws before. Any oppinions about this fixing. bets regards Andreas

Dear Christian, PMD stopped authenticating Homelands 2nd class long before he closed his business. By the way, Alexei "continued the business from Paul" authenticating soviet orders, medals and badges. In my honest oppinion, to fake a second class is very very easy. You take a 3rd class with low genuine serial number and plate the order with gold. Thats all. Now you have a "genuine" 2nd class. You have to change no serial number. The only thing is, that the stock of low serial number 3rd class is limited. best regards Andreas

Dear Christian, the second class Nr. 718 has a longer screw. No I haven?t another second class, with higher serial number. I have no theory about the colour of the gold plating. best regards Andreas

I also recognized, that later Motherlands (2cl & 3cl) have shorter - more comfortable - screws, than earlier ones. I measured the lenght of the screw of two Homelands. s/n: 18.xxx and 70.xxx The 70.xxx has a two (2) mm shorter screw than the 18.xxx. In my oppinion that is a normal production variant, as other awards have. best regrads Andreas

is there a second award book (where maybe a MM-Medal -10 years- and a Red Star -15 years- of service are entered) or are the Red Banner and the Lenin not for long service. What are the serial numbers of the awards. regards Andreas

Here is a direct comparision of the two Nevskis. Compare yours with the picture above.

Wlodzimierz, I do not like this Nevski. All letters of the word "Alexander Nevski" look disturbed. The last two i i ind the word Nevskii looks bad. Parts of the feets of the letter i are missing (compare is with a genuine Nevski - see picture). The K looks disturbed. The red enamel looks bad. The mint mark on the back looks disturbed. My guess it is a good casting made out of silver with defects. Soviet awards have no wearing Duplicates. All duplicates are mint made, with changed serial number. Only my oppinion, there may be other oppinions. Better pictures would be helpful, may be the letters are only on the picture disturbed due to low resolution of the pic?? best regards Andreas

The change between the 4 and 4 rivets happened somewhere around the 58.xxx serial numbers. I know one group, it is posted here, where the order was awarded to a normal worker. regards Andreas

Looks also good im my eyes. regards Andreas

or a BA 64 produced from 1942 to 1946

Order of battle for a tank brigade in 1942. He was the platoon leader of the reconnaissance platoon, equiptet with 3 light armored cars like the BA 3, 6, 10, 20, 64 or other types. Picture of a BA 6 reconnaissance car:

Some research about his unit.

Nice group Ed. This is also the first time I've seen a Red Star issued at BRIGADE level! Here is an overview who was able to award the different awards. regards Andreas

That's GREAT! Usually these place names are just a total mystery-- that gives a great idea of the topography and how lines must have run along the rivers. Rick you are right. Zubtsov is not the big town in the map as I thought. It is a little more than a homestead with a few buildings. Here is the place were Senior Sergeant Filshin crossed the river. Even on this detailed map I was not able to find all the names of the villages. in the red circle: 1. Chichakovo village 2. Kargasheno 3. Zubovo village That seems to be the reason why place names are just a total mystery - They are tooooo small.

and the third map

Thanks for the help Rick, I think I found the villages: Chichenova, Russia Page Other names: Chichakovo World:Russia:Tverskaya Oblast'Latitude 56.1333 Longitude 34.7000 Altitude (feet) 675 Lat (DMS) 56? 7' 60N Long (DMS) 34? 42' 0E Altitude (meters) 205 Time zone (est) UTC+3(+4DT)