Ed_Haynes

And . . .

Documented

Private Vasili Dzhandzhirovich Maziashvili, 291st Rifle Regiment OK, a GEORGIAN, but "Vasili 'John-Deere-ovich' Maziashvili"?!?!? Anyway . . . . . . a single MMM, or whatever you call it, unnumbered.

From The Wise Source:

. . . and.

. . . and . . .

The chain of command . . .

And . . . gurp . . .

And the recommendation. I consider myself a rank novoice, but this is probably the worst recommendation I have ever seen. Can anyone make ANYTHING out of this mud-fest?!?!?

Part 2.

The record card part 1.

And . . . .

Documented.

Lieutenant Archil Vasilievich Sichinava A single lonesome unnumbered gallantry medal.

Interesting. Very interesting. 1- Is the edge engraved or impressed capitals? Running script or impressed letters? Pretty normal for this medal. would translats out as "3180 Driver Lance-Naik [= Lance Corporal] Alif Din, 3rd Sappers and Miners". One of "My People", Indian Army. 2- Ribbon: Have to check, but this seems to be recycled from the -- these have a name that just dropped through a Swiss-Cheese Hole in the Brain -- colored ribbons worn in the turban to identify the regiment of, I think, you can guess, wait for it, the 3rd Sappers and Miners. Nice 'un. Let me look more. Ed

Thanks for posting this. Leigh. We've also seen this list reproduced in the standard reference books, but it is very nice to see The Real Thing. While it may not interest many, I have (somewhere) the various Indian Army Orders that expand and clarify the Indian Army's qualifications (though I am not sure the actual clasps ever found their way out to India in large numbers). Thanks again.

Thanks, Ferdinand. Still trying to make all the pieces fit into the puzzle that all these researched groups present as we try to reconstruct a life and a career. An OPW1 => RS revision seems extreme? Or was it just another "good boy" head-patting recommendation? Will start putting up some of the service records soon. Not all. As usual, it is a pretty thick file. Need to find a good translator and get it all shifted over into a language I can read.

A nice thread and very good Photoshop work here. In the right hands, it is an amazing tool. But they have to be the right hands with the proper professional skill. It is so easy to overdo this and make it look like someone unleashed a kid with a box of crayons, but your work is natural and subtle. Well done!

I think your image may not be far off the mark, Rick. I am setting the s-l-o-w wheels turning to get the recommendations for the awards I do not have. Some may consider this a lunatic waste of money, I see it as completing the historical record.

The picture I'm getting (and I have posted a few other similar awards that have escaped notice and have a few more POW awards to go) is that -- nothing was done until post-1956 -- there will usually be a few years "missing" from the resume -- a wound (verfified with care postwar by the proper governmental bodies) is needed -- going on to become a good worker and equally good communist in your postwar (and post-reeducation) life is a necessary credential

Well, if you'd been exterminiating fascists, especially "with the blade", I suspect you'd want a careful count made too?

Nice. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

Not quite my image of what happened to POWs upon "liberation". (Thank you Al -- not Jon -- Stewart!) Thouigh there does seem to be a ten-year "gap"? Other wisdom, please . . . ???

The "core" of the recommendation has been translated.