RedMaestro

Hi RocketScientist, Beautiful medals, and a nice scan too! The name is "Ekaterina Andreevna Chumak" I think, and the medal was awarded on 6.3.51. The black handwriting below the date is her title, "____. City Council" (not sure what the abbreviation stands for). And The blue ink on the bottom should be her signature. Lovely set Cheers, Alex

Hi Daniel, This document is for a Hero of Socialist Labor. I can't actually speak Russian, but I can read it well enough to type it in to google translator. Here's what I got: "а ваши исключительные заслуги перед государством: выразившиеся в получении в 1947 году урожая сахарной свеклы 605 центнеров о гектара на площади 2 гектара." "and your exceptional service to the state: expressed in receiving in 1947 the harvest of sugar beet 605 quintals per hectare on an area of 2 hectares." It's neat how these documents tell the story. Alex

Hi All, I've noticed a few examples of Soviet awards to Bulgarians bestowed by an ukaz of 8.9.69 for the 25th anniversary of the September 9, 1944 coup d'etat. I was wondering if anyone had more information about this occasion and the awards issued. If anyone has awards or documents to post, that would be wonderful! At least two were on GMIC somewhere, but I can't seem to find the threads now (one of my bookmarks has an invalid link, as if the thread was deleted). Anyone know what happened to those? Thanks very much! Alex

This post has been a long time coming. About a week and a half ago I punched the citation into google translator, but never got around to posting the translation. So here it is, finally (sorry for the delay, Dan!): "Working with 02.11.1945, the Assistant Chief of Staff of the Division 1 Division proved himself an energetic and courageous officer, on time and correctly decides arising from the situation. During the fighting in Breslau, the storm was all the time with the division commander, informed in a timely manner in an environment of higher headquarters, requesting the necessary data on time of downline. Staffs thereby provide commanders in preparing all the necessary data for decision making. obespechenie for excellent management of part of the division in combat situations for the collection of Mr. Breslau worthy of his awards of the Order of the Patriotic War of the second degree." And here is the Russian: Работая с 11.2.1945 года помощником начальника 1 отделения штаба дивизии показал себя энергичным и смелым офицером, своевременно и правильно принимает решения вытекающие из обстановки. Во время боевых действий по штурму г. Бреслау находился все время вместе с командиром дивизии, своевременно информировал в обстановке вышестоящих штаб, запрашивая своевременно необходимые данные от нижестоящих. штабов этим самым обеспечивал командование в подготовке всех необходимых данных для принятия решения. за отличное обеспечeние управлением частями дивизии в боевой обстановке по взятию г. Бреслау достоин правительственной награды ордена отечественной воины второй степени. There are a couple of glaring errors in the last paragraph ("Mr. Breslau." And what does "obespechenie" mean?). But it certainly gets the idea across with more of the original style than a one sentence summary. Hurray for google! Cheers, Alex

The catalog is now downloadable. It looks gorgeous, so, as always, I'm drooling. :love:

Wow! This raises a few interesting questions. First, are they both classes of the order or just one? And how many of each was he awarded? Second, with the wide variety of the Soviet award system, how did he get 5 of the same medal? Finally, at what point is something like this more heroic than, say, a Hero of the Soviet Union? I would say there comes a point where, regardless of what the decorations mean technically, the message is clear. Alex

Beautiful award, Dan! A little bit more translation - his other awards (I know, the easy part, but it's usually the best I can do) Combat Merit Medal - 1,806,434 OGPW 2 - 382,293 Red Banner - 246,732 Red Star - 2,103,464 Victory Over Germany Red Star - 2,103,464 (listed a second time) Red Banner - 368,321 (probably long service) I have no idea what the last entry is. 20th Anniversary of the Army and Navy maybe? There are a lot of great stories here! If there is a professional translation or more research on the way, I would be excited to see it. Cheers Alex

My first Soviet ODM was an Order of the Red Star (see http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=28517&hl=) I bought in... Madrid, of all places! A few months before that trip to Spain I saw a magazine article (I swear it was in Businessweek, but I have not been able to find an old copy to prove it) that very briefly mentioned Soviet awards and included a picture of a Red Star. At the Madrid coin market, I saw one for the first time, and remembering that article, I bought it. That was in 2006 or 2007, when prices were still more reasonable. By the time I knew enough to be a serious collector, values skyrocketed and a lot was out of reach. Luckily, I caught a few nice, small things early. For instance, this was my first documented group: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=28617 If anyone happens to know of the article I am talking about, please let me know! Alex

Order of the Great Patriotic War 1985 document

VoG document

Reverse of the medals

I recently picked up this small group to Private Stefan Kuzmich Bolshunov during my trip to Estonia (I also visited Russia, Finland, and Sweden). Bravery Medal #2,844,012 - 1.6.45 Medal for Victory over Germany Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class (1985) #2,603,625 Also included are a case, documents for the Victory Over Germany medal and OGPW, two military ID books, and war invalid documents. The document for the Bravery Medal is missing, but its serial number and award date are included in both of the ID books. For now I will just post the group and the two medal documents. The military ID booklets are very heavily scribbled-in - a gold mine of information. Of the groups in my collection, this one probably has the most information available without even paying for research. In fact, I wonder if any research beyond the citation is even necessary, considering that essentially everything that would be on an award record card is here. I am going to get some help translating the ID's before I post them, though. Alex

Great find, Rick! The Red Star is an MZPP variation (s/n 1,79x,xxx-1,95x,xxx and 2,05x,xxx-2,5xx,xxx). These are easily identified by the engraving style of the serial number. It is a 1945 award, though I'm sure someone with Echoes of War could give you a more exact date. The Berlin medal is variation 2 (ring connected to the medal). Neither of these variations is particularly rare, though MZPP pieces tend to fetch a little more. Too bad the bravery medal is missing. Maybe keep an eye out for it at the market. Sometimes missing medals reappear very close to their origin. One such case just happened on another forum. Are you going to research this group? I hope so! Alex

Hi Rick, That one looks good to me. The first one you posted looks iffy to me. I like your theory about adding on to a legitimate ribbon bar. Then again, I'm no expert on ribbon bars. If anyone could recommend a good resource (on the internet especially) for ribbon bars - how they were made, what general wearing habits were, how to spot fakes - I would really appreciate it. On another note, I just looked back at the Soviet order of precedence for ribbon bars, and all I can say is "Huh?" Why are "capture" and "liberation of" WW2 campaign medals below anniversary awards? I thought the Lenin centenary medals in these bars were completely off, but it comes right between the medal for distinguished labor and the partisan medal 1st class. And why are 10, 15, and 20 years of irreproachable service below the 800th anniversary of Moscow? Back in the day, 20 years of service was a whole Order of the Red Banner! Alex

These are amazing groups, MasterBo! Congrats! If you have a chance, could you please post the groups in their own separate threads with pictures of the medals (obverse and reverse) and scans of the documents? It would be really neat to see everything that way. Thanks, Alex

Hi All, I returned from Turkey and Greece more than a month ago, but I am just getting around to posting this. While in Istanbul I visited the shop of fellow forum member Avsar Ibar and purchased from him this Ottoman medal for the 1897 war against Greece (I would highly recommend Avsar, by the way). A description from Turkishmedals.net: "Greek War (Yunan Harbi) 1897 This medal was awarded for the 30 day war with Greece in 1897. After Greece had come within a breath of invading Crete, prevented only by mediation from the Western powers, groups of militant Greeks went to Crete to fight a guerilla war against the Turkish government there. At the same time, another Greek army led by Price Constantine of Greece invaded Turkish territory near Ioannina. This gave the Sultan ample justification for a declaration of war, and a Turkish force from Monastir pushed the Greek force back into Thessaly, where it routed a Greek counterattack and advanced to the Gulf of Volo before the Greeks could put up an adequate defense. At this point the Western powers intervened. The Turks withdrew in exchange for monetary compensation, and were allowed to repatriate some Turkish refugees. The outcome of the campaign served to bolster Abdulhamid's prestige among Ottoman subjects, forestalling the reform movement of the Young Turks. The medal of the Greek war is silver, 24 mm. diameter, worn from a ribbon of four red and three green stripes of equal width. The obverse bears the tughra of Abdulhamid II, surrounded by a laurel wreath, with a distinctive feature: a rose at the bottom of the wreath. The reverse bears the inscription "Greek War Day - Sunday, 23rd of Zildake (11th month of the Hejira calendar), 1314". Approximately 130,000 of these medals were awarded." The medal is in great condition. All the silver suspension devices are intact, and the ribbon is worn but in great shape. I hear it is uncommon to find pieces in this condition. But I admit, I do not know very much about these, so any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Alex

Thanks! That's why I jumped on it when I had the chance. Thanks for your thoughts on research, Auke and Andreas. I don't think I will try it. There is not much of a chance of results, and I have other awards still to research. -Alex

Document for the OGPW

Order of the October Revolution document:

Document for the Order of the Badge of Honor

I happy to finally have added an Order of the October Revolution to my collection with this small group to Nikolai Ivanovich Shuverov. Order of the October Revolution #87,840 - 16.3.81 Order of the Badge of Honor #951,876 - 12.12.73 Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class 1985 #5,791,591 - 1985 Unfortunately, I have no information about the recipient except that he was a veteran of WW2 (as indicated by the OGPW). I don't think I can get research either, since the awards are non-military (the OGPW doesn't count because it is 1985 issue). Alex

Thanks, Lorenzo and William, for your replies (sorry it has taken me so long to respond!). And thank you William for the link! Alex