christerd

No I´m not talking about the brave pilots during the Battle of Britain , but still one Hero of another kind This Plaque was awarded for Merits to the Swedish Red Cross. Its engraved A Bengtsson , a common Swedish name and is quite common , but this is also engraved Tyskland 1945 ( Germany 1945) on top and its most probably awarded for participating in the so called White Buses in 1945 who rescued Concentration Camp Prisoners in the end of the war. There was about 300 people in Germany from Sweden and of them about 20 Medic personal. I don´t know if everyone got a award like this or only the medic staff. About 15 000 was saved from the Camps in Spring 1945 , among them was even some Jews who had survived until then... You can also see a pic of one of the buses , painted white , hence the name . although they where marked with Red Crosses they where attacked and some people get killed during the evacuation. Christer

Thanks Paul and Spaz , it really seems to be a minefield with these shields Christer

Totally agree , a lot of non combat which all look like they where made yesterday, maybe they are ....

Thanks Dave , I wonder why they did these " half-size " bars ? Thay seems to be WW 2 time , in contrast to the sometimes really wide WW 1 ones they look really small Maybe saving on war materiel ? When looking closer to the last ribbonbar I realise that its broken at the end , and at least one more award (the Bulgaria Com M ) is missing. Christer

These come today , what do you think about the story of this soldier ? EK - HHK - EHK - Silesian Eagle - Austria ? 1935-36 ( Austr MVK ? ) EK - Austr MVK - HHK- EHK - Silesian - Hungary-Bulgaria 1938-1940 ? EK - KVK - Austr MVK - EHK- HHK - Silesian - Hungary HHK after EHK ? Bulgaria away ? 1944/45 ? What do you think about his story Christer

Thanks Rick Its always nice to hear from you ! Christer

Hi all, What about this one ? Since they are so much faked I usually avoid them but thought I would get an vote on it before turning it down... Christer

Hi Alan , the bar I fell in love with is post 100 A super ribbonbar and rare combination !! EK II - KVK II -BMV0 IV ? - Austria KVK - Sachsen - HK- Eagle Order - ?? - Hungary Com Medal- ? Finland White Rose Order ? - Finland Liberty Cross 2nd cl - Finland Civil Guard medal Looks like a Bavarian from Gebirgs Art regt who was in Finland 1918 , maybe he is traceable , I will check my sources and come back. Finnish Liberty Crosses 2nd class 1918 isn´t the most common award belive me ..... Christer

Hi Spasm , Looks very nice , but what is the last medal ? Christer

This 2nd class Liberty Cross was sold on EBAY recently , I "borrowed" the pics from there. The ribbon is of course wrong , this ribbon is for 3rd and 4th class but besides that the front lookes quite ok . But the back ?? Seller says it is a German made version ? Is it one of the few new versions without year ? I have never seen a 2nd class 1941 + so I´m totally lost here. the price was more than 200 Euro Any Finnish experts out there ? Christer

Hi stefan , thats totally right I have researched him further and he was never a volunteer in Finland He was a sucessful business man. Instead he helped the Finnish from Sweden and got this quite high order ( Liberty Cross 3rd class wo swords ) Am I right with only 29 awarded to Swedish ? Quite unusual to see photos with non fighter crosses Christer

Great to hear from you again Rick I personally would love to se a movie about Erich Killinger ! Christer

Wow , that was a lot of $$$ , do you know who the winner was in most of the auctions ? At least one guy was lucky at the end of the day The antique dealer ..... Christer

I don´t think I shown these before ? Well here are two boxes from late 1980s and lets open them up and whats inside Inside we have an example of the Honorued Title awarded approx 4700 times, the Title itself could be find quite inexpensive but the order book is much tougher to find. First one is awarded to a Economic guy I think ? and the next one to a Architect , from what I can translate through the net Please show yours , it would be interesting to see when they where awarded . Mine are from 1986 and 1987 Christer

I have very little hope (read none) about finding out who this young Lt is but I thought it still was an interesting pic and maybe some Luftwaffe experts could give me some more info ? He is wearing the Single Fighter Clasp , EK I , Pilot Badge and a Bulgarian Flying Badge ! On the back its written 100/6 Lt Richter 31 / 7 1941 , to bad there are lots and lots of Richters ..... But it also says Andrejewa and that is if I´m correct the bay outside Murmansk ? Could he been with JG 3 , I know they flow in that area in 1941 , but did they have any connection with Bulgaria ? any clues ... Christer

Thanks all, Here is the Order itself and the order booklet Christer

Sorry double post Christer

Say hallo to Sr Lt Arkady Ivanovich Afonsky ! Thanks to the fantastic help from Ferdinand I now have the full story about the soldier behind the Red Star that I bought. I truly recommend Ferdinand to all who looks for Soviet research/translation. Afonsky was born in 1912 in Chudovo , Leningrad Oblast, he joinded the Red Army in October 1934 and to my surprise he was never a member of the Communist party.... In July 1945 he was Signal company commander in the 24th Prut Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Border Guards Regiment of the MVD Forces A NKVD Regiment !! He was then proposed for a Order of Patriotic War 2nd class with the following citation; He has been participating in the Patriotic War since its very beginning. While carrying out combat missions aimed at finishing off small armed enemy groups operating in the rear of the Active Red Army in Romanian, Hungarian, and Czechoslovakian territory, he demonstrated excellent leadership skills in ensuring the uninterrupted communications between the regimental command and the units at the front line. Thanks to the skillful way in which he arranged his men and his means of communication throughout the period in which the regiment was advancing right behind the Red Army, he organized and ensured a smoothly running messaging service and uninterrupted radio and telephone communications with the units of the regiment and the army staff. His communications equipment works smoothly and his men carry out their tasks on time. He performs a great deal of work in educating his men, both in their specialty and in combat readiness. Under his leadership 22 first-class radio operators were trained, whose duties have been evaluated very well. Serving in the 35th Motorized Rifle Regiment during the fighting near Leningrad he took a direct part in the fighting as a platoon leader. While repelling repeated enemy attacks he was severely wounded. He distinguished himself in combat and political training. He is disciplined, morally stalwart, and ideologically mature. For taking an active part in the war against the enemies of the motherland, for the fortitude and bravery he displayed in combat, and for skillfully leading his subordinates I nominate comrade Afonsky for the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class. Sign by Rgt Commander Colonel Kapustin . Afonsky already had a Medal for Bravery earned on Northern Caucasus Front in May 1943 and now he could win a high order . But by some reason the Chief of the of the NKVD Forces of the Central Group of Soviet Forces Major General Kuznetsov downgraded the OPW to a Red Star... He also was awarded Medal for Victory over Germany , Defence of Caucasus , Capture of Budapest and Capture of Vienna , the last award in his papers is a Medal for military valor awarded in 1949 , probably for Long service ? A interesting story behind a simple Red Star Christer

In my collection I have hundreds of hundreds with " Feldpost" letters , written during the cold winter in 1944 outside Smolensk or below the hot sun in Tunis 1942. Some from the front to beloved ones at home, some from worried parents to the front and some with the stamp " Züruck - Gefallen " the letter that everyone feared. Sometimes I go through a couple and see if I find something extra. And here is a story about one of those letters.... A common letter written in March 1943 from the front , nothing unusual at all , but the Stamp got my attention The sender was attached to FP No 11030 C wich was 2nd Bat Sturmgeschutz Btl 270, hmmm And hes name was Lt Hans-Christian Stock .... ! Hans-Christian Stock was born November 21th ,Liebstadt bei Pirna ,Sachsen and joined Art Rgt 60 in November 1938 , he was in the Poland campaign and later on the western front. In February 1941 he moved to Sturmgeschutz Abt 184 , probably armed with STUG III ( as the one in the pic from my collection , this pic was taken outside Dorpat (Estonia) Hans-Christian Stock fought in Russian in Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 and was Lt dR Sept 1st 1941. He was in December 1942 , Commander of 2/Sturmgeschutz Abt 270 and in that position he wrote the letter in March 1943. In July 1943 he was in the battle of Kursk and 22nd August 1943 he was awarded the Knight Cross. He kept on fighting , becoming OberLt in Oct 1943 and transferred to Panzer Jäger Abt 152 , in August 1944 we find him as Hauptmann. October 18th or 22nd ? he gor the Oakleaves to his Knight Cross. The last months in his life he was Commander of Panzer Jäger Abt 152 and was involved in heavy fighting in Southern Slovakia , 12th January 1945 it was over , Hans Christian Stock was KIA and was never to write another letter home.

Aha , Thanks Tom Yes it looks like he was downgraded to a Red Star , now I have to see if I can find this Ferdinand ? Maybe he can help me , I have another paper also with info so it would be interesting to see the story behind the award. Christer

Hi all, Just bought a Red Star to a soldier No 1689792 awarded August 1945 if I understand right, he also got a Bravery medal in 1943 and a Combat service in 1945. I only got the Red Star and the award booklet, but enclosed was also this paper , which I think is some sort of citation ?? Could anyone help me with a summary translation of the doc ? I hope the pic is readable otherwise I post better pics in detail... Have a nice weekend all collectors all over the world Christer

Thanks Larry and Bill , fantastic to have met one of the few surviving pilots ! I think it must have been close to suicide to fly one of these in 1943/44 I have found a couple of more photos to my small collection , hope you enjoy First out a pic taken from behind a ME 323 , it could be anywhere , dosn´t look like winter ? My guess Italy late 1942 while supporting Rommels Africa Corps ... Next one is just great ! A Lorry being loaded inside a Me 323 , the men seems not to be wearing winter clothes so I also put my money on Italy maybe Sept/Oct 1942 ... Third one is a little mystery , I really don´t know what they have been loading, the have more clothes and it looks cold. Could it be some sort of half track ? Or maybe just a field kitchen But the pic really shows how big the Me 323 really was .

Not easy to find photos of these Gigantic Aircraft , but here is another one ! Taken somewhere in Russia , Christer

Great One John , Thats just the second one I ´ve ever seen It almost looks like a WW1 with a Swastika stamped out , very interesting thread . Love to see more examples of this rare variation. Christer

Aha ! Thanks Harry , interesting I wonder where the pic was taken ? Christer