Christophe

Hi Christian, Nice tries, but Frank has found our man and is the winner . But, now, knowing who our man is; what is his specificity in terms of Soviet Orders and Medals? Cheers. Ch.

Frank, You're right. You have found the right man, and therefore, are the winner!!!! Congrats. But the real specificity of Antonov is not linked to the Order of Virtuti Militari. I tis linked to a Soviet order. Do you know which one. I'll post later the pic saying why... Cheers. Ch.

So, it's not him... He has a real specificity!! A hint : our man was born in 1896. Ch.

128th Question : Who am I ? I finished my carrier as Chief of Staff of the Warsaw Pact Forces. In terms of Soviet Orders and Medals, I have a real specificity... 2 questions : 1. Who Am I ? 2. What is this specificity ? Good hunt and good luck... Ch.

Hi Christian, You generally do very well, and... quickly!! Let's have a look at your victories : you are THE number 1 in number of victories in our quiz!!! I made some quick stats. Here are the ones who have been Number 1 in terms of victories since the beginning of the quiz. This indicates : * Name - (Victory N? who brought the status of N?1) * Period of time being N?1 - Number of days being N?1 Here is an example : * Dave (Navy FCO) - 1 - 01.11.05 / 04.12.05 - 34 days. Means : * Dave has been N?1 with his 1st victory. He has been N?1 from 01.11.05 to 04.12.05, during 34 days. Here are the results : * Dave (Navy FCO) - 1 - 01.11.05 / 04.12.05 - 34 days. * Christophe - 2 - 04.12.05 / 12.02.06 - 70 days. * Bryan (Soviet) - 4 - 12.02.06 / 08.09.06 - 215 days. * Christophe - 6 - 08.09.06 / 30.11.06 - 84 days. * Bryan (Soviet) - 8 - 30.11.06 / 03.03.07 - 94 days. * Christophe - 10 - 03.03.07 / 12.03.07 - 10 days. * Christian (Zulus) - 11 - 12.03.07 / ... - More than 91 days. In adding all these results, this gives as a grand total : * Bryan (Soviet) - 309 days. * Christophe - 164 days. * Christian (Zulus) - 91+ days. * Dave (Navy FCO) - 34 days. Great job from all!!! Cheers. Ch.

Again, a few stats : This small game has now been launched more than 19 months ago now (on 1 Nov. 2005), and since : * 127 questions asked, * with 1,473 answers, * This quiz has been viewed more than 14,130 times. * 33 Members of the Forum played, and 26 correctly answered at least 1 question : Nb of good answers : * 23 : Christian (Zulus) * 21 : Christophe * 10 : Bryan (Soviet) * 8 : Simon (Red Threat) * 6 : Belaruski and Jim (JimZ) * 5 : Auke (Ferdinand), Carol I, Ed (Haynes) and Franck (Knarf). * 4 : Wild Card. * 3 : Andreas (Alfred), Ivan (Piramida) and Kim (Kimj). * 2 : Chuck (in Oregon), Gerd (Becker), Jan (vatjan) and Order of Victory. * 1 : Dan (Hauptman), Darrell, Daredevil, Dave (Navy FCO), Dudeman, Filip (Drugo), Rick (Stogieman) and Steen (Ammentorp). This is a great achievement. Thanks to all for your participation. Now, let's continue to have fun with the 128th question... Mine!!! Ch.

Thanks Auke. You did in your site a very good job, as it is very complete and fascinating to read . Thanks again, and congrats!! Cheers. Ch.

Auke, I propose Dmitry Dmitriyevich Rogachev. According to this nice website www.ww2awards.com, here is his bio : http://www.ww2awards.com/person/35841 "Dmitry Dmitriyevich Rogachev was born on October 2 1895 in the village of Bolshaya Roslyakovka. In 1915 he joined the Imperial Russian Navy, what would become the RKKF (Red Navy) of the Soviet Union three years later. In 1916 he finished the School for Helmsmen and Signallers. After that, Rogachev was placed as a helmsman on several warships. During the Civil War Rogachev served in several staff and signal functions. After the war he commanded several different warships. As of November 1926 Rogachev studied at the Frunze Military Academy, which he finished in July 1929. Since 1928 Rogachev was a member of the Communist Party. Slowly he advanced within the ranks of the navy. In 1935 he was decorated with the Order of the Red Star. As of July 1940 Rogachev commanded the Pinsk Military Flottilla. On May 21 1941 he was promoted Rear-Admiral. With his flottilla Rogachev managed to prevent the crossing of the Dniepr for a long time and took part in the defense of Kiev. When Soviet troops started to retreat from the city, Rogachev ordered to destroy the ships and he and his men fought alongside the army. On September 18 Rear-Admiral Rogachev was heavily wounded, after which he was taken to a hospital. In November 1941 Rogachev assumed command of the 5th River Ships Brigade. From January 1942 to May 1943 he commanded the Volga Military Flottilla. As of end July the flottilla was involved in the Battle of Stalingrad with the task of sweeping mines, laid by german aircraft. The flottilla also escorted convoys and individual ships, offered fire support to ground troops, delivered reinforcements and supplies and it protected the communication lines. From July 1943 to October 1944 Rogachev commanded the OVSK (Department of Newly Built Ships). During this period he was ordered to transfer 38 ships from the Northern Fleet to the Black Sea Fleet and a number of submarines from the the Black Sea Fleet to the Northern Fleet. This manoeuvre succeeded and was of great importance for both fleets. In October 1944 Rogachev became the commander of the Naval Base Kiev of the Dniepropetrovsk Military Flottilla. In March 1945 Rogachev was again ordered to transfer a number of ships. This time over 70 ships had to be moved from the Polar Area to the Dvinsk-Canal and several unfinished submarines from the Volga to Leningrad. In November this operation was also completed. After the war Rogachev fulfilled several other functions and was decorated with his third Order of the Red Banner. He was never promoted beyond Rear-Admiral. In May 1956 Rogachev retired. He died on May 23 1963, 67 years old, in Zelenodolsk in Tatarstan." The website also lists his awards. Auke, you knwo the attached pic, it is from your site... Cheers. Ch.

Hi Christian, That's really a very nice uniform. But, unfortunately, I don't know who it belongs to today. The pic is from the book of Sergey Shishkov, Awards of the USSR, Vol. 2 - 2005. Page 446. Cheers. Ch.

Auke, Excellent !!! You got it . Congratulations for this new victory!! It is indeed the uniform and awards of Air Marshal Vladimir A. Sudets, a former commander of the Soviet Union's antiaircraft forces. As the air defense commander from 1962 to until his retirement in 1966, Marshal Sudets also served as a Deputy Minister of Defense. In World War II, he commanded the 17th Air Army, which took part in many important battles. After the war, he served as Air Force Chief of Staff and commander of strategic bomber forces before assuming the air defense post. He died in 1981. Your turn, now... Ch. Pic : Sergey Shishkov - Awards of the USSR, Vol. 2 - 2005.

And a nice Soviet way to wear it... Ch.

Question #126 I'm sure many of you, with your diverse interests in orders & medals, should easily find this one... The question is simple : Who's uniform is this ? Good hunt and good luck... Cheers. Ch. Pic : Sergey Shishkov - Awards of the USSR, Vol. 2 - 2005.

Hi Frank, Just coming back from the office, and a good question!!!!! I propose Ernst Reuter. His Wikipedia bio says : "Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (July 29, 1889?September 29, 1953) was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War. Reuter was born in Apenrade (which was then in Germany), now Aabenraa, Denmark. He spent his childhood days in Leer where a public square is named after him. Reuter attended the universities of M?nster and Marburg where he completed his studies in 1912 and passed the examinations as a teacher. Moreover, he was member in a fraternity called "SBV Frankonia Marburg". The same year he became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). During the First World War, Reuter was wounded and captured by the Russians. In captivity he learned Russian and joined the bolsheviks. In 1917, Lenin sent him to Saratov in the to-be-established Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a ?People's Commissar?. Upon his return to Germany, Reuter joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and was named the First Secretary of its Berlin section. He embraced a position on the left wing of the party endorsing an open rebellion in March 1921 in central Germany and placed himself hereby in opposition to the leader of the party, Paul Levi. Although Reuter was seen as a favorite of Lenin, he was expelled from the party in 1922. He moved briefly to the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), and then returned to the Social Democrats for good. In 1926, he entered services in the government of Berlin and was responsible for transportation. Accomplishments were the foundation of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), the introduction of a unified ticket for public transportation, and extensions of the Berlin subway system. From 1931 until 1933 Reuter was the mayor of Magdeburg where he fought lack of housing and jobs due to the economic crisis. He also was elected as a member of the Reichstag. In 1933, with the Nazis now in power, he was forced to abdicate his positions and was brought to the concentration camp (KZ) Lichtenburg near Torgau. After his release, he went into exile in Turkey in 1935 where he stayed until the end to the Nazi era. In Ankara he lectured at the University, introduced urban planning as a university discipline, and served as consultant to the Government. During the waning months of WWII Turkey rounded up all those still holding German passports and banished them to internment camps "as enemy aliens." This was Reuter's third incarceration, after the Russians and the Nazis. After the end of World War II Reuter returned to Berlin, and was elected in 1946 to the Magistrat (governing body) where he oversaw initially the Transportation Department. In 1947 he was elected Lord Mayor (Oberb?rgermeister ) of Berlin but in the deepening crisis of the Cold War, the Soviet government withheld their necessary consent. Reuter?s name is intrinsically linked to the time of the Cold War in Berlin. During the Soviet-imposed Berlin Blockade (1948/49), the western part of city was sustained by the Berlin airlift that was established by the American Military Governor, Lucius D. Clay. In response to the threat, the citizens in the western sectors had to come together. Ernst Reuter became their spokesman and leader, a symbolic figure of the ?Free Berlin?. Memorable is Reuter?s speech in front of the burned-out Reichstag building on September 9, 1948 facing a crowd of 300,000 where he appealed to the world not to abandon Berlin. In the election that was conducted in the western part of Berlin two months later, his popularity gave the SPD the highest win with 64.5 % ever achieved by any party in a free election in Germany. As mayor he formed a grand coalition government with the next two largest parties to demonstrate West Berlin?s unity. When the new Berlin State Constitution became effective for West Berlin, Reuter was re-elected and became on January 18, 1951 what was now called the Governing Mayor (Regierender B?rgermeister) of Berlin. He served in this function until his death. Under his aegis, the Free University of Berlin was founded, as the traditional place of mayor education, the University of Berlin, was in the Soviet sector and under communist rule. In 1953 Reuter established the "B?rgermeister-Reuter-Stiftung" (Mayor Reuter Foundation) to assist refugees coming to West-Berlin. A few weeks after the uprising of June 17, 1953, Reuter died suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack in Berlin at the age of 64. His funeral was attended by more than 1 million people. His grave is in the Waldfriedhof in Berlin-Dahlem. " on this pic, Ernst Reuter addresses up to 300,000 Berliners outside the Reichstag after the repeated disruption of City Council meetings in the Soviet Sector, 9 September 1948. Cheers. Ch.

Frank, I rise my glass to your victory!!!! Congrats!!! & (couldn' do less... ). Let's Christian confirm it... Cheers. Ch.

Apparently, yes, on 5th row, 1st medal. Ch.

Close-up pic of his ribbon bar. Ch.

Excellent Christian!!! This is, again, a well deserved victory!!! Congratulations!! The main awards of Serov were : * Title of Hero of Soviet Union * 6 Orders of Lenin * 5 Orders of the Red Banner * Order of Suvorov 1st Class * 2 Orders of Kutuzov 1st Class * Medals... Christian, your turn now. Cheers. Ch.

Christian, There is a precise event / fact that led Serov to be dismissed. Any idea ? Cheers. Ch.

Hi Christian, Well done . He is the General of the Army Ivan Serov. You did well on most of the questions except one : why has he been dismissed ? About the complete list of his most important awards; I'll post them as soon as this question will get an answer. Cheers. Ch.

Hi Frank, Good try, but he is not the man... He did no play a role in Budapest in 1956. A new hint about our unknown man : his rank and decorations have never been restored to him. Cheers. Ch.

Christian, Wrong directions. A first hint : I played a role in the Budapest events of 1956. Ch.

Hi Bryan, It's a very nice pic. It is really very difficult to phototgraphy this order in its glass coffin... Cheers. Ch.

No, no... It's a real unissued one. They add the diamonds only when they award them... (Joke, of course.... ). Cheers. Ch.

So, my turn, now... Question #123 Who am I ? My military career has been quite successful, even if during the GPW, I had the opportunity to act infamously. After the war, I occupied two very high rank positions during nearly 10 years. But, because of one of my subordinates, I have been dismissed from all my positions and demoted. I have even been stripped of all my awards. Who am I ? The winner will be the first to find : 1. Who is our unknwon man ? 2. How infamously did he act during the GPW ? 3. Which very high rank positions did he hold during nearly 10 years ? 4. Why has he been dismissed ? 5. What is the list of the awards he has been stripped of (please, name the 15 most important ones). Good hunt and good luck... Cheers. Ch.

Thanks Order of Victory. If someone has the complete story, I would be very interested in... Cheers. Ch.