TacHel

If you're talking about the Soviet award, fakes everywhere. If you're talking about the Russian Federation award, I haven't seen a single one yet, real or fake. I can't even find a decent photo of one!

I've seen so many fakes and repros over the years, it's made me a bit gun shy at times... I recently purchased the medal below, you can see from the scan, it almost looks painted... Is this normal for this particular medal?

It is awarded to commanders of military units and their deputies, as well as to commanders of battalions and companies: for skilful organization and conduct of operations during which, despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, the objectives of the operation were met; for tenacity in repelling enemy attacks from the air, land or sea, for retaining the combat readiness in designated areas of responsibility, for the creation of conditions for conducting subsequent operations with offensive purposes; for skilful organization and control of troops (forces), establishment of prepared defences, maintaining close interaction between the troops (forces) involved in the operations, ensuring the defeat of the enemy or depth of damage inflicted depriving him the opportunity to continue his offensive; for skilful conduct of combat on land and/or in the air, surrounded by superior enemy forces, for the organization of a breakthrough with the withdrawal of troops from the area without significant loss of combat effectiveness; for the capture, with minor losses, of a major site of resistance, its communications, the defeat of his rear garrisons and bases, the capture and retaining of vital areas, repelling strong counterattacks by air, land and/or sea; for successful execution of combat missions, displaying personal courage leading to the destruction of critical enemy military facilities and equipment on land, air and sea. It can also be awarded to military units that participated in operation, during which, despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, the objectives were met with full operational capability of military units retained. May also be awarded to foreign citizens - soldiers of allied forces from among the officers who took part along with soldiers of the Russian Federation in organizing and conducting a successful operation of allied troops (forces).

Very good. More precisely it is awarded for: -success in planning and conducting naval operations of combat formations (troops of naval infantry), which resulted in successfully repelling an enemy offensive by inflicting heavy losses; -having skilfully organized and conducted the operations of naval combat formations (troops) in cooperation with other services of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which resulted in the defeat of numerically superior enemy forces; -having skilfully organized and conducted a counter attack which resulted in the defeat of an enemy amphibious assault; -success in leadership of landings, for the successful execution of combat missions, displaying personal courage leading to the defeat of units of the enemy fleet, for destroying enemy shore facilities, for the disruption of enemy communications. It may also be awarded to military units that participated in successful naval operations and to foreign citizens, soldiers of allied forces from among the officers who took part alongside soldiers of the Russian Federation in organizing and conducting successful joint operations of allied troops (forces).

Really looking forward to more pics of you progress!

Yes, the Russian authorities have a very limited sense of humour in this case. The advice I received from colleagues who often go there and are fluent in Russian is that, if you can't speak the language fluently and thus won't be able to prevent a potential escalation of a customs agent cursery search, don't even try if there's the slightest chance an item might be in a grey zone... You'll miss your flight, then the day will very rapidly get worse.

Another bozo just asked me 35 EURO to ship a small light 22 EURO item... Is it me? Seriously, is it?

Hold the presses... The doctor was wrong. The bone is NOT healing as hoped... And she's in pain. She's now on an "emergency waiting list" (oxymoron of the year!) for surgery to have the femoral head replaced with a ceramic prosthesis.

Actually, I forgot to mention it but that's EXACTLY what I said before being shown the door... To his $380.00 asking price for a British Campaign Service Medal with the clasp "PALESTINE", I offered him an entire shoe box of these medals at $100.00 each explaining all I had to do was drive for 90 minutes to Ottawa and get an entire drawer's worth from Eugene Ursual who'd probably let them go at $25 a pop since I was buying so many. The only true satisfaction I got that day, when he threw me out, all of his potential customers followed me out.

A real cuty ain't he?... :cheeky:

This is what the new Order of Kutuzov looks like. The streamer is the same as the ribbon, it's actually the same as the old Soviet Order of Kutuzov 1st class ribbon.

I found an incredible little museum in the Eastern Townships (near Sherbrooke Quebec), they have a few pickelhaubes and helmets, see the attached picture. Here’s the prob, I’m trying to help them put the helms back in order. Here’s my quite amateurish assessment, tell me if you agree: -The cuirassier’s helmet at center has the spike of the helm at left and the wappen of the helm at right. Is my asessment plausible? If I'm right, I have cockades and chin straps for all 3, I also have a proper wappen for the cuirassier’s helmet… The prob is, where on Earth can one find a spike top for a cuirassier’s helmet? Am I wrong in my thinking that they differ from the spikes on the leather helmets? IMHO, they look narrower and not quite as curved. I'm really shooting from the hip here and welcome, actually, eagerly await your input.

On June 14, 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the Order of Kutuzov to the 393rd airbase in the Krasnodar territory. President Putin affixing the streamer of the Order of Kutuzov to the base colours (photo www.kremlin.ru). Base personnel march past behind their colours now bearing the streamer of the Order of Kutuzov. This honour adds the name of the Order to the name of the base: 393rd "Order of Kutuzov" airbase (photo www.kremlin.ru).

I took 3 long boring years of Latin... It is the only subject my brain completely flushed out upon graduation.

I think I'm going to cry... :speechless:

Pre 1934? Wow, I'm even more satisfied with my purchase. Thanks! :D

He played hockey in the army... That's all he did. Hence his awards are similar to those a professional athlete would've received. The same used to happen in Canada years ago, the Royal Canadian Air Force Flyers hockey team won the 1948 Olympic gold medal -CLICK HERE-

On May 3, 2012, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented hockey legend Vladislav Tretiak with a promotion within the Order for Service to the Fatherland from 4th to 3rd class. (Photo from www.kremlin.ru) For you folks from undeveloped countries that have yet to discover the true beauty of ice hockey ... Valdislav Tretiak is the greatest goaltender in the history of the game. He's a demi-god here in Canada. I've met him a few times, he's a true gentleman! I was there in 1975 when the Red Army team played the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-3 tie with both goaltenders (Tretiak and Dryden) receiving the game stars, it's a memory I'll cherish my entire life! This is a picture of him as a colonel of internal troops. Does anybody know if this is an honorary rank within the MVD? I thought he served in the Defense Ministry when a soldier...? You'll notice his Order for Service to the Fatherland 4th class and the Order of Lenin that stand out from the others.

You are aware the rectangular one is a real dog tag huh? Not in the figurative or military sense but in actuality? It was issued by the Vladivostok city council. The circular medal is from the Russo-Japanese war. Nice one!

There were 3 simultaneous ones on eBay.be: - 1 looked like a crudely hand painted knight's badge with an officier's ribbon; - a 2nd was an over priced post 1951 award; - and this old beauty which I got for about half of what I thought it would go for. I don't quite understand why it shows so "silvery/grey" when scanned, it is actually a beautiful old brassy gold. There isn't even the slightest damage to the enamels, not even the green leaves, it's 100% mint. Heavy high quality construction too, I'm pleased as punch with it! :)

Looks great! Congrats on a rare find! :jumping:

A real beauty!! Well done! :cheers:

BTW, I know it looks a bit "silvery" for an officer's badge, but in reality, it is of a nice "brassy - old gold" colour, no idea why the scanner made it look so pale.

Thanks, I simply don't understand why the Defence Ministry doesn't have a page for its commemorative pieces on their main web site. The page for their regular medals http://www.heraldy.mil.ru/heraldry/badges.htm doesn't even include the commemoratives that were established on the very same ministerial Orders as the medals! Nor does it show any other of the 100+ awards of the ministry...

JapanX, the pic below was posted by you in the Lounge in the thread entitled "Fake awards for Fake veterans..." If you look at the red arrow at the far left, it's pointing to a medal I believe to be the one in the pic at the bottom. If that's the case, it'll be the very first time I've seen it worn, I am still unable to find the Defense Ministry Order for this sucker! I'm starting to believe it was never published (possible). It's the Commemorative Medal "90 Years of Military Intelligence" (Памятная медаль «90 Лет Военная Разведка») that came out in 2008. If I can positively ID it from some pictures, at least it'll confirm it as being more than a prototype award. Any idea if another picture of the same officers is available where you found this one?