RedMaestro

page 2

I've finally had a chance to scan all the documents for this group, so here they are.

I think this thread was accidentally moved here with the creation of the Romania forum. I posted this ages ago in the proper place. Could a moderator please put this back in the miscellaneous communist states forum?

Thanks!

-Alex

That was the name of that specific Naval Border Guards Patrol Boat and would have been worn by crew member veterans.

Once upon a time I had lots of them:

Though most were of a rather generic pattern of badge with only the specific ship detail different, these unofficial crew badges could be found in designs of any type the officers/crew initially contracted for--

"Dembels" would have worn the "Veteran" badges long years afterwards on civilian clothes. No doubt each ship had many times more badges for sale in their Gifte Shoppe than sailors at any one time, but these are still SPECIFIC vessel badges and so much scarcer than "XYZ Fleet" sort of commemoratives.

Thanks for the info, Rick! You had (still have?) quite a collection of those! They look really impressive all together. And for being such late production, they are really great quality!

-Alex

Who am I?

What is my nationality?

What awards did I receive?

From NASA website

1. Jean Loup Chretien

2.French

3.Awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Recipient of the Order of Lenin; the Order of the Red Banner of Labor; Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur (Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor); Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (Knight of the National Order of Merit); Titulaire de la Médaille de l'Aéronautique (Holder of the Aeronautics Medal), and honorary citizenship of Arkalyk.

Correct! That was quick!

Your turn, Rick

-Alex

Alright, here it goes!

Take a look at the picture below, edited (obviously) to remove any give-aways.

Who am I?

What is my nationality?

What awards did I receive?

Good luck!

-Alex

OK, this one was easy

Lydia Litvyak - White Lily of Stalingrad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Litvyak

Marina Raskova - "Russian Amelia Earhart"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Raskova

-Alex

http://vienna-pyongy...russiadprk.html

reverse border crossing... everythings been done before of course!

Ah, you posted just a minute before I did. The pictures on this site are all those from google earth and more.

Even though it's a long way off yet, I hope your trip goes well and you come back safe!

-Alex

Here's a wikipedia article about Khasan itself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khasan

It's mostly about the state of the railway lines in the area connecting Russia and North Korea, very little about the town itself. If you go on google earth you can get a great view of the town. There really isn't much at all: some little houses and a few soviet-style apartment buildings. There are a lot of user-posted pictures of the surrounding area.

-Alex

Hi All,

I just picked up this badge. It reads "In the name of the 27th Congress CPSU." Does anyone know what this badge is exactly? Is it official? Who was it awarded to? How many were awarded? How much are they worth? Etc? Any and all info is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

-Alex

I recently acquired a small soviet group that includes an Order of the Red Star awarded in 1980 for wounds received in 1942. The recipient, Grigorii Pavlovich Burov, had his left leg shattered by fragments from an exploding mine while attacking enemy positions (the Rumanian 4th army) on the second day of Operation Uranus (the first day his unit, part of the 28th army, was involved). He was left an invalid and was discharged from the army. Afterward, he worked on the railroads as a senior engineer in a car-loading facility.

Please see: The Burov Family.

-Alex

You are right Alex,

the 34th RD was in the 15th Army in November 42, on the Far Eastern Front. I guess that what your documents should have said is 103rd Guards RR and 34th Guards RD (which were under the 28th Army in Nov 42 on the Stalingrad Front). But I guess that is an understandable error, after almost 40 years.

As far as page 2 of the Award Citation, I just love these 80ies chains of command! signed by General Major Beznoshenko, Military Commissiar for the Moldavian SSR and then by the First Deputy CinC of the Troops of the Military District in which Burov lived. General Lieutenant Kirillov! Big wings

Rajsobes: I'll give you a clue divide the word in raj (district) and sobes..

Thanks Marco!

I didn't realize "rajsobes" was a compound word. Actually, my dictionary gives the translation of "raj" as "paradise" and "sobes" as "social security." No wonder it had a reputation for being lousy

-Alex

My question after translating the citation was whether it would be safe to summarize as, "Wounded at Stalingrad." I discovered that it would be more correct to say, "Wounded at the outset of Operation Uranus," in fact, day number two. Please see the map below (from Stalingrad.net, Geert Rottiers). Burov is at the bottom of the map in the 28th army. I guess because of their location and timing in the battle Burov did not qualify for the Defense of Stalingrad Medal (cutoff was November 19, 1942). Regardless, I'm still excited to have the first medal in my collection directly related to Stalingrad

I am still not sure what to make of his assignment in the 34 Rifle Division. As far as I can tell, they belonged to the 15th Army in the Far East. Did I mistranslate? Or were they moved around?

Again, any help interpreting is very much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

-Alex

Page 2. No idea what this says. Just approvals, correct? With the signature of a major general?

My interpretation of the citation, again with the help of a dictionary, online translator, and my creativity. The question marks indicate where I am uncertain in my translation. Help fixing this would be much appreciated!

“Lieutenant (retired) Burov took part in operations of the 103 Rifle Regiment, 34 Rifle Division on the Stalingrad Front in the post of company commander. During an attack against enemy defenses on November 20, 1942, he was seriously wounded in the leg by fragments from a mine. This is confirmed by certificate #1723 of March 5, 1943 from hospital #1589 (?). After treatment (?), he was declared a war invalid and was relieved from duty. After the war (?), he worked in railway transportation as a senior engineer of car-loading facilities. Now he is a pensioner. He is of good character (?). The question of is rewarding has been coordinated with local Soviet and Party bodies (?).”

Page 2

1. Last Name: Burov

2. First Name and Patronymic:Grigorii Pavlovich

3. Rank: Lieutenant, retired

4. Sex: Male

5. Birthyear: 1918

6. Birthplace: village of Sosnovka, Baltaiskogo district (?), Saratovskaya Oblast

7. Party Membership: since 1943

8. Education: high school (?)

9. Nationality: Russian

10. Service in the Red Army: 12.1940 - 11.1942

11. Place of Service and Duty Position at Time of Awarding: Company Commander, 103 Rifle Regiment, 34 Rifle Division

12. Place of Service and Duty Position at Current Time: pensioner (?)

13. Home Address: (?)

14. Awards: ORS #3,742,295

I did most of the translating myself with the help of a dictionary and the internet (not too bad for my almost non-existent knowledge of Russian). I put question marks next to the spots I'm unsure of. Most of that info is relatively unimportant. In line 12, what is raisobesa? A Russian friend told me it was a "crappy" communist party organization and treated it like a joke. I'm sure it was, but I'm just curious what its function technically was.

I got the award card a few days before the citation. I guessed the ORS was for wounds based on the time in the Red Army. I was correct (I have learned so much since I joined this forum).

Hi All,

I recently added a new group to my collection, a small husband-wife set of three orders and lots of award documents to Grigorii Pavlovich Burov and Ekaterina Andreeva Burova. The group includes:

Grigorii

Medals and Documents:

1985 OGPW 1st Class #919,602

ORS #3,742,295, issued 1980

Documents only for:

VoG Medal doc dated 18.2.46 from Debrecen Commissariat

Labor Victory Medal doc dated 29.10.46

20th Anniv of Victory Kishinev Commissariat dated 7.5.65

Victor of Socialist Competition doc dated 29.4.77

Veteran of Labor badge dated 21.8.78 by Moldovan Republic

Shock Worker of 11th Five-year-plan dated 19.11.85

Veteran badge of 28th Army dated 29.9.82

Ekaterina

Medals and Documents:

1985 OGPW 2nd Class #1,147,733 w/doc

Documents only for:

Medal for the Defense of the Caucasus doc dated 1.5.45 from 6 Independent Signal Brigade

Veteran badge of 28th Army dated 10.11.80 #1479

VoG from Debrecen Commissariat dated 4.4.46

60th Anniversary of Armed Forces dated 13.2.79

40th Anniversary of Victory dated 24.4.85 by Kishinev Commissari

Scans of the group will have to wait until next time I see it. In the meantime, presented in the following posts is research (thanks Marco ) for Gregorii's ORS.

-Alex

Thanks guys!

Sorry the picture is so awful, but it is the best I could get. The seller (I admit, this is e$cam) claims it is number 566,922, making it (if the seller read it correctly) the highest serial number ever observed which I expect would mean it is a very recent and maybe special (possibly Afghanistan?) award. Unfortunately, I am not going to buy it, given that the seller is not sending me high quality pictures and will not accept returns, and that I am not an expert on ORB authenticity (I have a feeling it might be good though). On top of that, I have to put my collecting on hold for a few months since school is starting again tomorrow (if I disappear from the forum for a while, you know why. If I get straight A's I'll treat myself to a medal and post )

If anyone wants to take a look at the auction, ask and I will pm a link. It ends soon.

-Alex

The highest observed serial number on Mondvor.narod.ru is 565,757. They also mention that by 1991, over 581,300 Red Banners were awarded, but I take it that includes 2nd award, 3rd award, etc. Red Banners too.

Thanks, Auke!

Semi-related question: what does this serial number look like to you and does it look authentic?

-Alex

so not much help, I'm afraid.

Thanks anyway, Rick. The list was the first place I looked. I also posted this question on another forum, but so far no one has an answer there either. If it turns out someone does know there, I will share the info here.

-Alex

I have a few questions about serial number ranges for the Order of theRed Banner. I've tried finding this info on my own with the searchfunction, but I couldn't locate anything (this new search function doesn't seem to work for me).

1. What is the highest serial number ORB ever produced?

2. What is the highest serial number ORB ever awarded? Is there an unissued award range, as there is with the ORS and OSH3's?

3. Is there any data concerning the serial numbers of ORB's awarded forpost-WW2 actions (in other words, not long-service), especially forAfghanistan? I know Rick has one for 1968 and I can think of one other for Egypt, but I don't know the serial number for that one.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thanks very much!

-Alex

Thanks a bunch, Rick!

It's interesting that even though he spent 1,000 hours more in the air than Major Didusenko he only received a Merit Medal whereas the Major was awarded an Order of Lenin (1955) for his flying time. I wonder how that happened. Is that another example of award devaluation or proof that Didusenko did something special? How does this award/citation compare with others for flight time?

Thanks again

-Alex

Thanks so much, Rick!

I looked up Marshall Astakhov. Steen's site actually did have a little bit about him:

http://www.generals.dk/general/Astakhov/Fedor_Alekseevich/Soviet_Union.html

From 1942-1943 he was deputy commander in chief of the air force and commanding officer of civil aviation. So "GVF" is indeed the Civil Air Fleet (thanks Auke! ).

I'll work on getting the service record and maybe the citation for the ORB.

Thanks again

-Alex

Closeup

Thanks in advance!

-Alex