Gunner 1

As there have been no replies, I guess it is time for a hint: Hint #1: I spent my early years in Spain where many Spaniards referred to me as a 'rat'.

Question #72: I was the first of my kind. Born in the early 1930s, my father was a Hero of Soviet Labor, but even with that background I was often called an ‘ass’. Who am I? What made me the first of my kind? Why was I called an 'ass'?

I am happy to note that things are back in hand again and I hope that brings everyone back to the quiz. As I am in California I am eight or nine hours behind most of you in time. So give me an hour or so and I will get a question on board. Thanks and regards, Gunner 1

ub6365 sent me a private message with the answer to the question (after my last post above) which is the insignia he posted in his last post. It is actually from what appears to be a Dutch website (in Dutch) at: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:BSSD.PNG Evidently the reference to Texas refers to the 'star' in the insignia and the reference to California refers to the letters 'CA'. I am guessing that the 'Camping in Afghanistan' is also in reference to the letters "CA" which is interesting as 'C' in Russian is actually an 'S' in English. As I do not read Dutch I have no idea whether the 'sign'/'emblem' that ub6369 posted is a shoulder patch, vehicle marking, or what? Regards, Gunner 1

I give up! When is a flag not a sign of a unit? Did you mean insignia or patch? Language problems in this quiz have in my estimation ruined it - if one wants a very precise answer then one needs to be very precise in the question. One can not ask a general question and expect precision in the answer. The words 'sign' and 'emblem' are not precise terms! I am done with this quiz and off to something that is less stressful and more fun. It has been interesting. Gunner 1

The Flag of the Group of Soviet Military Forces in Germany

ub6365: I will give you the point but the fact that she became famous was not that she received the Hero of the Soviet Union (that was awarded posthumously a couple of months after her death when she was already famous) or because she was a partisan; rather it was because she would not give the Germans any information after her capture, not even her true name, telling them she was 'Tania', and because she defied the Germans even as she was being hanged. I would also mention that her younger brother, Aleksandr Kosmodemianski was also awarded a posthumous HSU. Gunner 1

ub6365: You have not answered all of the questions and my mistake, when I typed the translation for her name I meant to type 'life' and for some reason typed 'love'. Gunner 1

Either you have all left for the weekend or you need a hint: Hint #1: My Christian (given) name means 'life'.

Question #70: My grandfather was murdered by the Communists in 1918. I was killed by the Germans, but they never knew who I was; even Pravda did not know my name. Books, poems, and plays have been written about me; schools, streets and an asteroid have been named for me - even a tank regiment in the East German army. Who am I? Who was my grandfather? Why am I famous?

General Andrei Andreevich Vlasov Former Soviet General who formed and commanded the Russian Liberation Army His men fought their last battle to obtain Allied lines which they eventually did, but Vlasov and many of his men were later turned over to the Soviet Army Iuri Petrovich Vlasov is the Olympic weightlifter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Vlasov

Lambert wrote: 'I would like to Identify my man: L-26225 Gnr. J. Connell. RA.' He is Gunner James Connell, RFA who went to France on 27 November 1915. The 'L' indicates a 'Locally-recruited gunner which means that he was in one of the RFA brigades between approximately 148 Brigade, RFA and 180 Brigade, RFA. Gunner 1

Андрéй Андрéевич Влáсов

UB6365: When you say 'Russian tragedy,' are you excluding 'Soviet tragedy'? Gunner 1

I think that we should institute a rule for this quiz that all names used in questions must be shown as they are in the Russian language. This last question by Christophe illustrates the problem in using transliterated Russian names. The Russian name of the correct answer to the quiz is 'Фёдор Антонович Легкошкур'. Christophe transliterated the name as 'Fyodor Legkoshur'; UB6365 transliterated it as 'Feodor Antonovich Legkoshkur', whereas the Library of Congress transliteration would be 'Fedor Antonovich Legkoshkur.' These various transliterations, especially when the quiz participants speak different languages, can cause definite confusion when trying to look up names on the Internet, whereas the Russian name 'Фёдор' would have let everyone know exactly what the person's name actually is. Regards, Gunner 1

Great! There were only about 20 million Ivan's in the Soviet Army who were Privates!!!! Gunner 1

Maybe I missed it, but I cannot find his name among the knights of the Garter. Did he actually receive it? Gunner 1

I am having the same problem. I can find no Soviet recipients of the Order of the Garter. There are six Russian recipients of the order but as this is a 'Soviet Quiz' I am not sure that there is a way to fit them in. Gunner 1

ostprussenmann: I did not intend my post to be rude, but rather meant to indicate my amazement with your comment. If you had indicated that the arms of the two crosses were similar, I would have agreed with you (and even mentioned it in my post), but you said that "The US Legion of Merit is almost an exact copy of the French Legion de' Honor." That is a completely different statement and indicates much more than that the arms of the cross are similar or that Colonel Heard based his design on the Legion of Honor. No offense meant, Gunner 1

ostprussenmann wrote: "The US Legion of Merit is almost an exact copy of the French Legion de' Honor." You have to be kidding. The only similarity between the two awards is the five-armed star, which is also found in the Belgian Order of the Crown, the Brazilian Order of the Southern Cross and other foreign orders. Other than that there is nothing else in the design that is similar! That is like saying that the Legion of Honor and the Belgian Order of Leopold are almost exact copies of each other because they both have oak and laurel wreaths between the arms of the cross. Gunner 1

'Jude' or 'Jewish' is not a nationality; it is a religion. That is why they were referred to as Russian Jews or Polish Jews, etc. Gunner 1

I had considered him earlier, but the statement that he was not Russian is somewhat misleading as, if I am not mistaken, when he was born in 1902 his country did not exist as a independent country but, rather was part of Russia. Gunner 1

Christophe: Please forgive me for asking this question as I realize that English is not your first language, but I am a little confused by your use of different tenses of verbs. Your first sentence is in past tense; your second in present tense; the third in past tense, and the last in future tense, while your questions seem to be mostly in past tense. Is this person still alive and waiting to be honored by a 'very prestigious award' or did he miss that award sometime in the past? Regards, Gunner 1

Jim: Well done! I will accept your answers (even though 'Lieutenant General' is a rank rather than a position), as the fact that he was Commander of the VVS, RKKA is mentioned in the article you quote. Gunner 1

Question 53: I fought in the Spanish Civil War, at Lake Khasan, and in Finland. At the age of 27 I was a Kombrig and by the time I was 28 I had been promoted to Major General. But my fall was as rapid as my rise, and by the end of 1941 both my wife, Maria (a Major), and I had been executed by the NKVD. 1. Who am I? 2. What was the name of my wife? 3. What position did I hold at the height of my career?