Christophe

Rick, A very nice and interesting pic (with the "ghost" Red Star). never seen such a pic... Cheers. Ch.

Jens, Unfortunately, nothing to add... Ch.

No pb, Dave. Take your time. Except if another Forum Member wants to take now the lead here... Cheers. Ch.

Dave, I hope I have been good enough (again, thanks to some literature)... Cheers. Ch.

Yes Bryan, I have seen this game in at least 2 Forums now... This one is the 3rd one!!! But, I think (and hope it will work... thanks to the Members). The question was easy... but it is not bad to begin... Dave's one was more complicated and complex. Hence my answer... I hope (and believe, thanks to some good books) having all identified. Let's have more fun!! Cheers. Ch.

Zhukov's orders and medals ribbons Here are Zhukov's orders and medals ribbons, as shown in the pic posted in post #2: Stars: * 4 Gold Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Ribbons: (I hope having rightly identified them) : (From top rows to bottom ones, and from left to right) : * 1st row : 2 X Order of Victory. * 2nd row : 4 X Order of Lenin - Order of the Red Banner. * 3rd row : 2 X Order of the Red Banner - 2 X Order of Suvorov (1st class) - Medal 20 Years of Red Army. * 4th row : Medal Defense of Leningrad - Medal Defense of Moscow - Medal Defense of Stalingrad - Medal Defense of Caucasus - Medal for Victory over Germany in GPW. * 5th row : Medal Capture of Berlin - Medal Liberation of Warsaw - Medal 800 Years of Moscow - Medal 30 Years of Soviet Army and Navy - Order of the Red Banner of Combat (Mongolia). * 6th row : Order of the Red Banner of Combat (Mongolia) - Order of Virtuti Military (Poland) - Order of the Gr?nwald Cross (Poland). * 7th row : 2 X Order of the White Lion (Czechoslovakia) - War Cross 1939 (Czechoslovakia). * 8th row : Medal for Warsaw 1939-1945 (Poland) - Medal for the Oder, Naisse and Baltic (Poland) - Order of the British Empire (UK). * 9th row : Ordre de la L?gion d'Honneur (France) - Legion of Merit (USA) - Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 (France). * 10th row : Bronze Star (USA) - Medal China-USSR Friendship (China). This Zhukov uniform can be dated from the beginning of the 50's, a time when Marshall Zhukov was no more the Chief of the SMAD (Soviet Military Administration in Germany), a post he occupied in Berlin-Karlhorst from March 1945 to March 1946. Ch.

Dave, Again, congrats!! It's your turn now to post trivia #2 !! Cheers. Ch.

Great Hall The room used for signing the surrender is now the centrepiece of the Karlshorst museum. It remains exactly as it was on May 8, 1945, save for the addition of the large green carpet which, it is claimed, was removed from the former Reich Chancellery. Ch.

Museum Berlin-Karlhorst. Dave is also right about question 3 (the bonus) : This Museum focuses on the relationship between Germany and the Soviet union, from 1917 to the Wende. More important, the villa which now houses the Museum is the place where, on the night of 8 May 1945, the unconditional surrender of the German army was signed. It was at that time the German engineering school at Karlshorst, in South-East Berlin, which in 1945 will become the HQ of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany. In this building the GDR was also given statehood in 1949. Today, in this Museum, what can be seen : the Great Hall in which the terms of surrender were signed, the office of Zhukov, several uniforms and medals (Zhukov, Koniev?), and outside a battery of Soviet military weapons, including the famous ?Katjuscha?. Ch.

Zhukov awards Dave's answer to question 2 is perfect. I have -some time ago - identified all ribbon medals of Zhukov present on this pic. I will post them as soon as I get hand on them. Ch.

Here is a short bio of Zhukov (mainly for information, as debates still exist about his precise role). Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov (Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жу́ков) 1 December 1896 - 18 June 1974 - Soviet military commander and politician. Zhukov was the most successful Russian general in World War Two. Zhukov effectively lead the attack on Berlin in April/May 1945 and throughout the whole Russian campaign was known as the ?man who did not lose a battle?. Zhukov was born in 1896 and he served as an officer in the Russian Imperial Army during World War One. After the Bolshevik victory in November 1917, Zhukov joined the communist Red Army. He served as a cavalry commander during the Russian Civil War. After the Civil War had ended in Russia and relative calm had descended on the nation, Zhukov studied the use of armoured warfare in battle. He had seen for himself, the cost in human lives of outmoded warfare and he developed his own ideas on how armoured vehicles could be used in combat. His knowledge and skill clearly impressed Joseph Stalin who had used the Purges to rid himself of many senior Red Army officers. In 1940, Zhukov was appointed chief of staff by Stalin. Zhukov knew that failure would not be tolerated by Stalin - neither would be getting on the wrong side of the leader. Operation Barbarossa cruelly exposed the Russian Army for what it was at that time. The Germans surged on to Stalingrad in the south, got into the suburbs of Moscow and besieged Leningrad in the north. Zhukov?s first great test was to save Moscow which he did. He then used his expertise to destroy the German Army at Stalingrad which lead to Field Marshall von Paulus surrendering his forces. From this surrender, the German forces would only be retreating back to Germany such was the devastating nature of this defeat. For the advance into occupied eastern Europe, Zhukov used to his advantage the new T-34; a weapon that set new standards for tank design. The victory of the Russians at Kursk gave them a huge advantage over the Germans in terms of armoured warfare. Zhukov was given the credit for the victory of the Russian forces over the Nazis in the Battle for Berlin. Though a victory in military terms, the Russians had taken very many casualties in this battle. However, this victory sealed for Zhukov the title of the ?man who never lost a battle?. In the aftermath of this victory, Zhukov, now a marshal in the army, headed the Russian occupation force. However, his success and fame was his undoing. Stalin could never tolerate someone in Russia being more famous than he was - or even threatening that fame. In 1946, Zhukov was demoted by Stalin to a regional post in Russia and he was sidelined. When Stalin died in 1953, Zhukov regained the prestige his career merited. In 1955, he was appointed First Deputy Minister of Defence. In 1957, he was promoted to the Executive Committee of the Communist Party. However, he was sacked from both positions in 1957 when he was accused of putting the military before the party. From 1965 to 1968, Zhukov wrote articles for Russian periodicals but their content would have been heavily censored by the government. Other than that, the man who effectively lead the Russian military during World War Two, lead a quiet life in retirement. Gregory Zhukov died in 1974 aged 78. Ch.

Dave, Bravo!! You're the winner!! You perfectly answered the 3 questions!! It's your turn now to post the next one . Congrats !! Cheers. Ch. PS : Just let me time enough to post 2 or 3 infos about Zhukov...

Dave, Bravo!! You're the winner!! You perfectly answered the 3 questions!! It's your turn now to post the next one . Congrats !! Cheers. Ch. PS : Just let me time enough to post 2 or 3 infos about Zhukov...

Hi David, I also visited it... and I agree it is well worth seeing it. About the graffitis, a very nice book has been published : "The Reichstag Graffiti / Die Reichstag-Graffiti", by Norman Foster, Frederick Baker and Deborah Lipstadt, published by Jovis in 2003. A really nice hardback book (now quite difficult to find) with a lot of photographs of 1945, and the exact location of all the Soviet graffiti remaining (all pictured during the renovation of the Reichstag / Bundestag). I recommand it. Cheers. Ch.

Question 1 To get us all started here is the first "Guess who ? Guess What ?" question. Let's start with an easy one (I think...) : 1. To whom belonged these awards ? 2. Can you identify the 4 stars and the 3 first ranks of ribbons ? and as an additional bonus (more difficult) : 3. Where is this uniform located today ? The first Member to answer correctly questions 1 and 2 is the winner!! Have fun, and Good luck !! Cheers. Ch.

Soviet & Eastern Block Trivia I would like (if no Forum rule against this...) to make a small game in this section : a "Guess who? Guess what?" quiz; a Soviet & Eastern Block Trivia. This sort of quiz or trivia game has been very successful on other forums. I think it would be educative (and fun!) to make it also here. The topic may seem wide (Soviet Union & former Eastern Block Countries' history, people, awards...), but when and if really successful here, it will be time enough to create sub-trivias. All Forum members are eligible to participate, but there needs to be a few ground (and "classical") rules so there is no confusion among Forum members. 1. Discuss only one trivia item at a time so as not to confuse what is being discussed with other Forum members. 2. Once a Forum member guesses the correct trivia question, that member can then post their trivia question. Or if they wish can pass it on to another Forum member. 3. To ensure we keep this thread friendly, there should be no heckling, bantering, quarrelling or arguing with another person when he or she does not correctly answer the trivia question. Never forget we are amongst Gentlemen (or -women). 4. The trivia question must have a connection to the Soviet Union & former Eastern Block Countries, as it is the purpose of this Forum. The trivia could involve history, people, awards, badges or items. The trivia question needs to relate to a timeframe. For example, when was this award first established? Or When did East Germany come into existence? 5. When the question is answered, the original poster should give background about the fact, the person, the item in question. 6. No posting items to just show you have one unless its adds to the post that is being discussed or shown. This thread is for all of us to have some fun and at the same time educate ourselves and learn differently about Soviet Union & Eastern Block Countries. Have fun and enjoy this thread along with making new Forum friends!!! So, now, let's play ! Ch. -------------------------- Summary Here are all the topics dealt through our questions and answers of this little Quiz. To find easily a post, please use the following link, in replacing the last figure 1 by the number of the post you are looking for : <a href="http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3144&st=1" target="_blank">http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3144&st=1</a> Example : <a href="http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3144&st=1498" target="_blank">http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3144&st=1498</a> will drive you to post #1498. Are shown below : * Subject / question dealt - Number of the post where has been asked the question. Awards / Orders & Medals * GDR - Title Hero fo the GDR - #153 * GDR - Order of Karl Marx - #359 * India - Ashoka Chakra awarded to Soviet citizens - #131 * Mongolia - Medal Cosmonaut of the MPR - #110 & #601 * Russia - Order of Merit for the Country - #441 * SSR Georgia - Order of Red Banner of Labour - #222 * USSR - Honorary Revolutionary Weapons and early awards of the RSFSR - #874 & #1693 * USSR - Order of the Red Banner of Labour of the RSFSR - #1618 * USSR - Order of Glory - #1582 * USSR - Order of Lenin - #88 * USSR - Order of Stalin - #243 & #1228 * USSR - Order of Suvorov - #1341 * USSR - Orders with Serial Number 001 - #585 & #1366 * USSR - Medal for Bravery - #170 * USSR - Medals for Defense / Capture / Liberation - #25 * USSR - Medal 800 Years of Moscow - #1697 * USSR - Krupskaya Medal of Merit in Teaching and Education - #625 * Varia - Medals with guns - #1764 * Varia - Medals with tractors - #1934 Personalities (Awards) * France - Marcel Lef?vre's awards - #186 * Mongolia - S?khbaatar, Dandzan & Choibalsan - #1242 * USSR - Vasily Blyukhner - #1366 * USSR - Vice-Admiral Georgi Kholostyakov - #1341, #1345 & #1744 * USSR - Marshal of Aviation Vladimir Sudets - #1464 * USSR - Marshal Dmitri Yazov - #1804 * USSR - Marshal Georgi Zhukov's awards - #2, #1366, #1836 & #1965 * USSR - Highest ranking Soviet officer to receive a Partisan medal - #1522 * USSR - Recipients #1 of some of the USSR major orders - #585 & #1366 * USSR - Recipients of several classes of major awards of GPW - #1388 Personalities (Identification) * Austria - Commander Alexander L?hr - #1131 * China - Li Zensheng - #1279 * Egypt - Hakim Abdel Amer - #278 * Germany - Margot Honecker - #1957 * Germany - Ernst Reuter - #1460 * Germany - Ruth Werner - #1954 * Germany - Konrad Wolf - #1926 * Germany - Klara Zetkin - #30 * Hungary - Cserny J?zsef & the Lenin Boys - #2016 * Hungary - Bela Kun - #1910 * India - Subadar Birta Sing Gurung - #290 * Poland - Michał Rola-Żymierski - #1435 * Romania - Henri Coanda - #1119 * Romania - Maj-General Mihail Lascar - #928 * Romania - Hermann Oberth - #1059 * Russia - Valery Gergiev - #352 * Russia - Pyotr Nesterov - #854 * Russia - Admiral Fedor Ushakov - #81 * UK - Winston Churchill - #780 * UK - Baroness Clementine Spencer-Churchill - #329 * Ukraine - Lt General Mykola Sabilyi - #1846 * USA - Henry Morgenthau Jr - #932 * USSR - Sultan Amet-Khan - #574 * USSR - General Aleksei Antonov - #1477 * USSR - Commander Vasili Arkhipow - #1065 * USSR - Marshal Hovhannes Bagramyan - #2096 * USSR - Georgiy Baidukov - #1004 * USSR - Snr-Lieutenant Vicktor Belenko - #1095 * USSR - Lavrentyi Beria - #944 & #2067 * USSR - Alexander Buchin - #426 * USSR - Marshal Semyon Budyonny - #743 * USSR - General Vassily Chuikov - #20 * USSR - Yevgeni Dolmatovski - #1271 * USSR - Vasily Grosman - #1266 * USSR - Lt-General Kuzma Gurov - #718 * USSR - Lt-General Ignatii Karpezo - #236 * USSR - Mikhail Katukov - #1396 * USSR - Alexandra Kollontai - #376 & #2005 * USSR - Marshal Ivan Konev - #66 * USSR - Maria Konnenkova - #1753 * USSR - Nikita Khrushchev & friends - #623 * USSR - General Yakov Kreiser - #695 * USSR - Nadezhda Krupskaya - #1128 * USSR - Igor Kurchatov - #979 * USSR - Lenin, Trosky and Stalin - #920 * USSR - Nikolay Masalov - #504 * USSR - Pyotr Masherov - #752 * USSR - Vsevolod Merkulov - #252 * USSR - Sergey Mikhalkov & family - #878 * USSR - Maria Oktiabrskaia - #1141 * USSR - Lieutenant Os'kin - #1196 * USSR - Lyudmila Pavlichenko - #1050 * USSR - Colonel Alexander Pokryshkin - #2132 * USSR - Zina Portnova - #490 * USSR - Nina Potsova - #302 * USSR - Alla Pugachova - #267 * USSR - Mammad Amin Rasulzade - #2051 * USSR - General Aleksandr Rodimtsev - #735 * USSR - Dmitry Rogachev - #1467 * USSR - General Isaac Salzmann - #533 * USSR - Svetlana Savitskaya - #1046 * USSR - Professor Otto Schmidt - #564 * USSR - Ivan Serov - #1441 * USSR - Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov - #772 * USSR - Georgi Shpagin - #249 * USSR - Konstantin Simonov - #1307 * USSR - Igor Spassky - #1734 * USSR - Maj-General Nikolai Stakhanov - #986 * USSR - Marshal Joseph Stalin - #732 & #1200 * USSR - Fedor Tokarev - #1303 * USSR - General Matvei Vainrub - #708 * USSR - Andrei Zhdanov - #1455 * Yugoslavia - General Milan Nedic - #1418 * Yugoslavia - General Konstantin Popovic - #671 * Yugoslavia - Marshal Josip Tito - #364, #603 & #1226 Historical events * 1917 - October Revolution - #2009 * 1942 - Last defender of Brest Fortress - #847 * 1942 - Operation Uranus - #955 * 1943 - Battle of Neretva - #1411 * 1945 - Capture of Vienna - #1345 * 1961 - Berlin Wall - #1825 * 1967 - Incident submarine K-3 Leninsky Komsomol - #1703 * 1969 - Czechoslovakia Hockey Riots - #515 * 1977 - Soviet rockets explosion in DDR * 1979 - Visit of French President in Berlin - #891 * 1986 - Chernobyl helicopter pilots - #1979 * 1989 - The last ... of the Berlin Wall - #2122 Architecture / sites * Baku - Monument to Kirov - #386 * Berlin - Check Point Charlie - #164 * Berlin - First Soviet Parade Tribune - #1327 * Berlin - Palast der Republik, Honecker's office - #1313 * Minsk - Monument to Victory - #618 * Moscow - Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War - #518 & #648 * Moscow - Fountain of the Friendship of Nations - #1233 * Moscow - Lenin's Mausoleum - #1948 * Moscow - State Kremlin Palace - #522 * Moscow - VDNKh Exhibition Center - #1536 * New York - USSR Pavilion at the 1939 International Exhibition - #205 * Prag - Monument to Stalin - #537 * St Petersburg - Statue of Lenin - #46 * Stalingrad - Fountain "Playing Kids" - #230 * Stalingrad - Great Patriotic War Memorial - #60 & #995 * Sutjeska - Tjeniste Monument to Battle of Sutjeska - #665 * Vienna - Monument to the Red Army - #553 * Zhukovski - Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) - #1636 Aircraft, weapons, military equiment... * Cruiser Lazar Kaganovich - #1502 * IAR-95 "Spey" fighter - #955 * KV-1 tank - #826 * Mig 15 - #896 * Obyekt 279 tank - #940 * Sergei Mironovich Kirov tank - #1105 * TB-3 & I-16 aircraft - #1035 * Tupolev 144 - #1204 Other topics * BARTCC (Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center) - #1498 * Dogs & Military Leaders of WW2 - #648 * Dogs in Space - #1879 * Gagarin's car - #460 * GAZ - Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod - #1568 * Iran, Serbia, Venezuela & International Community - #915 * Ministers of War of the USSR - #1585 * Operation Solo - #804 * Protocols of Zion - #1817 * Psychotronic weapons - #1082 * Red Army's ranks (Senior Marshal of Communications Troops &Senior Marshal of Engineering Troops) - #581 * Soviet Forces in East Germany - #1489 & #1592 * Soviet defectors - #1165 & #1614 * SOXMIS (Soviet Mission in West-Germany) - #902 * Stalin's Hammer & Sickle telephone - #2090 * Fyodor Vidayev + Kursk submarines - #1285 * "The Watch That Went To Moscow" - #309

Correct. As this medal is now identified, Could the Moderators move it to the right section of the Forum ? Ch.

Thanks Sal ! I don't collect medals from Spain... But I have been offered one (not this one), and I remember I made some research on the one I've been offered, as I did not have any clue about it. Doing this, I remember very well having seen yours... Hope this helps. Cheers. Ch.

It is the Spanish 'Ifni Sahara' medal for officer. What I have found : Ifni was ceded by Morocco to Spain in 1860, but Spanish administration was nominal until 1934; from then until 1958 its capital, Sidi Ifni, was the residence of the governor-general of Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara). Border clashes between Spanish and Moroccan troops occurred in 1957 and all was over in 1958. Not many of these issued to officers. Ch.

Darrell, I fully understand this !!! Again, congrats !! Cheers. Ch.

Sorry, but in fact I meant The ribbons 3 and 4.... and not 4 and 5... Sorry for this. The answer now has been given... Cheers. Ch.

Mike, What is the 4th medal ? The 5th one looks so similar... Ch.

OK. I did not know these were so easy to find... At least, easier than I thought... I have not been lucky, as I did not see a lot of them until now. But, the fact I do not collect Yugoslavian awards may be a reason why I did not pay attention enough to them... Ch.

Darrell, Where (and when) will you stop ?.... Cheers. Ch.

Laurence, I have not seen a lot of them in such good condition. Cheers. Ch.