TacHel

1- Federal Protective Service (FSO) Medal for Distinction in Labour 2- Defense Ministry Decoration for Service in Military Intelligence 3- Federal Security Service (FSB) Cross For Bravery 4- Federal Protective Service (FSO) Decoration For Service in the FSO of Russia 5- State Comemorative Medal 65th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 6, 7 & 8- Ministry of Defense Medals for Distinguished Service 1st, 2nd and 3rd class (new model) 9, 10 & 11- Border Guard Service of Federal Security Service (FSB) Breast Badges for Excellent Border Guard 1st, 2nd and 3rd class 12- Interior Ministry (MVD) Commemorative Medal for 100 Years of the Canine Service

Yup, the top 4 I have, the 5th is on the way in the mail. They are heavy for their size too, top quality, hot enamels, quite nice considering the low quality of some higher Rusian awards. Go figure!

Found them all. Officer of the Order of Canada (OC), Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), Officer of the Order of Quebec (OQ), Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, 1939-45 Star with "Battle of Britain" bar, Air Crew Europe Star, Canadian Voluntary Service medal with bar, Defense Medal, 1939-45 British War medal, Jubilee Medal for the Centenary of Canadian Confederation, Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee Medal, Jubilee Medal for 125 Years of Canadian Confederation. At age 33, Senator Molson was one of the oldest fighter pilots in the service. After a couple of confirmed kills on german bombers, he was shot down late in the battle (November) sustaining injuries. After returning to Canada in 1941 he commanded 118 fighter sqn RCAF equipped with Kittyhawks which formed part of the X and Y Wings guarding the Alaskan coast shortly after the entry of the USA in the war. He later served in a variety of HQs as a staff officier and commanded several training bases. He was discharged in September 1945 by then holding the rank of Group Captain. A very interesting gentleman, I encourage all to look him up in WIki or any other source.

We recently renamed our main squadron hangar in honor of Senator Molson (BoB pilot, 118 SQN CO, senator). We are putting together a display at its main entrance that will include a replica set of his many decorations. To date, we have identified the following awards: Officer of the Order of Canada Officer of the Order of the British Empire Officer of the Order of Quebec 1939-45 Star with Battle of Britain clasp (1 SQN RCAF) Aircrew Europe Star Defense Medal CVSM & Bar 1939-45 Victory Medal with M.I.D. QEII Coronation medal 1967 Confederation medal Possibles: QEII Silver Jubilee Medal, Order of St John, CD, Service medal of St John? If anybody has data on this subject, or even a good picture of the gentleman wearing all of his gongs, your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Commendation of the Chief of the Federal Protective Service (FSO) (Still searching for award criteria)

Commendation of the Chief of Interior Troops (Still searching for award criteria)

Commendation of the Chief of the Air Force Awarded to military and civilian personnel who have served (have worked) in the Air Force for at least 10 years, veterans of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, or to others who have made significant contributions to the Air Force for assistance in the tasks assigned to the Air Force. Worn on the left lapel.

Commendation of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Awarded to soldiers, citizens of Russia and foreign citizens who have made a significant contribution to the development of the RF Armed Forces and interstate relations in the military field. Worn on the right lapel.

Although their exact Russian appellations translate to "memorial badges", the awards below are in fact what we in the Western World would term as "commendations". This first one is the Commendation of the Minister of National Defense of the Russian Federation Awarded to soldiers, citizens of Russia and foreign citizens who have made a significant contribution to the development of the Minisrty of Defense of the Russian Federation and interstate military relations. Worn on the right lapel of the dress uniform.

tsarenko is 100% correct. Completely un official items.

Am now about 3/4 of the way in the translation. New: The Order of Alexander Nevsky is no longer a military award. The Order of Parental Glory now has a medal for fewer children. More to follow...

I've been trying to find data on this medal for over 2 years now and have found NOTHING! The Russian Federation's Ministry of Defense web site only covers awards, not a single commemorative medal issued by the ministry is mentioned there. This makes finding the actual ministerial order for any defense ministry commemorative medal quite a difficult undertaking, dozens of Russian legal, federal and archival sites must be methodically searched and this is quite time consuming, especially when your knowledge of the Russian language is somewhat limited. This particular commemorative medal is for the 50th anniversary of the Special Control Service (dealing with nuclear research, development etc). I found 2 designs sharing the same ribbon and reverse inscription leading me to believe (perhaps astray) that at least one of the two is an unadopted prototype. The lack of any data might also mean that both were unadopted prototypes and that their was actually no commemorative medal approved by the minister. Any data on this subject would be greatly appreciated! This puppy is really starting to try my patience!

Lucas, is the rack builder still running? I can't seem to be able to connect to it...:unsure:

My apologies to the initial thread for this a bit reply but... Tony, 26 years isn't too bad... I'm still in, and to give you an idea of how long I've been in so far, look at my avatar, it was my very first A/C. :whistle:

Tonytdyagain, very nice group! But one of them doesn't belong there and IMHO, should be either thrown in the garbage or given to children to play with. The 4th medal from the left top row, it's an "Umalatova medal". If you're not familiar with them, check here: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=43341 It simply doesn't belong wih nice genuine articles from the Soviet Era... BTW, I like your user ID... I myself have had the great pleasure of spending 10 (non consecutive) weeks at home in the past 14 months! -SIGH-

Actually... I should've transferred the entire write up over here. Here's para 2: Medal of Merit in Space Exploration "may be awarded to citizens and foreigners for outstanding achievements in the development of space industry in the Russian Federation." So yes, foreign citizens can also get it.

Wow! A great subject! I think you should have it displayed in a naval museum! Thanks for sharing!

You call that "just a beginning"? INCREDIBLE collection! Museum curators would be envious! Absolutely SUPERB!

Looks great! Thanks for sharing!:jumping:

Sweet! Thanks for sharing! :jumping:

Beautiful stuff! Thanks for sharing!:jumping:

Real? Yes... Authentic? Unsure... It's a Medal "For Distinguished Service In Defence Of The State Frontiers" Awarded to military border guard agencies and frontier troops of Russia as well as to soldiers of other departments for combat exploits and special services rendered as a guard of the state borders of Russia; for bravery and dedication displayed in combat during the detention of violators of the state border of Russia; for leadership in protecting the integrity of the state borders of Russia; for displaying a high degree of vigilance and proactive actions which resulted in the arrest of perpetrators; for high managerial skills in border stations and exemplary work strengthening the borders of Russia; for the excellent performance of duties in the protection of the state borders of Russia, to citizens for their active assistance to border agencies and border troops in their efforts to protect the state borders of Russia. The pictures aren't good enough to tell you whether it is genuine or not. Many many copies about...

I am presently translating the 100+ page document to English. I will post it in here once finished. Some of the major changes to date: -All Soviet Era Orders and medals are now after modern Russian Federation awards in the order of precedense. -Soviet Orders will be mounted after Russian Orders but in front of decorations/medals. -Soviet decorations/medals will be mounted after their modern Russian counterparts but still in front of commemorative medals. -Soviet commemorative medals will be mounted after their modern Russian counterparts. (The firms who mount medals are going to have a very brisk business in the coming months!) -As mentioned in the initial post, the Orders retained from the Soviet Era will now be ribbon mounted and reduced to a single grade (class/degree). Although bearing the same names as their Soviet Era predecessors (Nakhimov, Ushakov, Kutuzov, Suvorov, Nevsky), these are modern Russian Orders with precedense over the old Orders. -Commemorative medals produced and bestowed by the state (300 Years of the Russian Navy, 1000th Anniversary of Kazan, 65th Anniversary of the Great Patriotic War, etc) are no longer considered "state awards". The key word here is "award". -New medals have been produced to complement existing Orders in order to increase the number of degrees to better match previous (Soviet Era ODMs) such as the "Medal for Parental Glory" (4 children) which now complements the "Order of Parental Glory" (7 children). More to come as my translation progresses.

The ribbon looks bran new... Leaves me to doubt about how long that eagle has been there...:whistle:

By presidential decree number 1099 dated 7 September 2010, the State Orders of the Russian Federation have gone through a major remork! -Amended award criterias. -New awards. -Major changes to existing awards. For example (see pic below), the Orders retained from the USSR (Nakhimov, Ushakov, Kutuzov, Suvorov etc) have been amended to a single degree and hung from a (5 corner mounted) ribbon for the left breast. The Order of Alexander Nevsky has been changed back to the Imperial model. Will keep you appraised as I translate more of this quite lenghty decree.