NavyFCO

Ukaz: A decree from the Presidum of the Supreme Soviet Prikaz: A decree (or order) from any unit below the Presidum (to include Fronts, Armies, Corps, Division, Regiments, etc....) Ukazes were used for long service awards, as well as most awards given post-WW2. Prikazes were normally used for non-long-service awards during WW2, and rarely before or after. In my book, I simply listed them all as "Order" for both (as they can translate out as that) such as "Order of the Red Banner awarded by Order of the 1st Belorussian Front No. 023/N dated 24 April 1945" and "Order of the Red Banner awarded by Order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet dated 11 November 1944". Hope that helps! Dave

Got a surprise coming....

Well, no longer undocumented.... "You've got research!"

One of Ike's uniforms. That's about as good as it gets in my book. A Marshall, Bradley or Patton uniform would be nice if I couldn't have my first choice though. Luckily, I have a personal hero that fought in WW2 and earned the Navy Cross. I never met him but I have met his family. I currently own all of his uniforms. So, of the ones that I could realistically own, I own them already (now if I could just get the medals from the family....nah...) On a personal note, I would really love to have my great uncle's AAF Colonel's uniforms, but he tossed everything when he retired as a general in the USAF in the 60s. If one could only dream..... Dave

Welcome to the holidays... I should be seeing copies of the book by mid January. Ah well... P.S. More info can be found about the book on my website: http://www.forvalor.com/NoDeed.htm

The 1947 date is just when the award card was written. Chances are, he received the Red Star in 1944 and had a temporary document for it until his order book was written in 1947. Dave

It is not unusual at all to see some medals missing on the award card. The primary emphasis of the award card was to document the numbered awards the person received. Depending on when the person received their other awards, their award card may have already been written and stored in the archives before they received their medals. Considering that she was discharged in mid-1945, it may have taken years before her medals got to her. Can you post up the research? Dave

Pretty easy - she didn't have her service book updated after her discharge, and her Victory medal was given to her after her discharge, perhaps even in late 1945 or even 1946-47. Dave

I'm not sweating the results of this auction too much as I don't think that the buyers of these awards are the same ones that are the buyers of the things that most of us can afford. The collectors of republican awards often don't cross into the "common" Soviet awards, and even rarer are the collectors of Imperial awards that cross into Soviet awards. The results of this auction though shouldn't surprise anyone though. All of these awards are very rare and sought after, and I wouldn't be surprised if the new owner of the St Andrew is one of the new Russian billionaires (I know of at least one that is a serious collector of militaria) to whom money really isn't that much of a problem. Luckily for us, this sort of person would be flooded if they ever started buying the groups that we can afford! Thus, I don't think this will do anything to change the overall prices of Soviet awards. Now, had the pulled awards been auctioned off, we might have seen a few records hit for prices with the same Russian billionaire(s) playing in the bidding pool, but to be honest I really doubt that they would have garnered much more than we see them for sale at the moment, unless someone got bit by the "auction bug" and just wanted to do everything possible to outbid the other buyer. Just my opinion.... Dave

and my JOMSA article (on Soviet awards to Americans) will be in the next issue of the JOSMA, with my Homeland 3rd article coming out shortly thereafter...

Just an update on my book.... I hope to have my first batch of books ready by the 3rd week of December - hopefully at the latest by new years. I realize that doesn't help folks buying 'em for Christmas, but I do what I can do! The price will be $40 plus shipping per book. Dave

Is there any information on the reverse (other than the notes of the archivist) regarding the For Valor medal being upgraded to the Glory? A feeling I have about this is that he might have initially been awarded a For Valor medal, but was upgraded later. Could be that he never recieved his For Valor medal and it was upgraded, or he received it and it was later exchanged (or perhaps it could have been lost when he was wounded or invalided out...) There's an odd gap between the 27 December 1943 prikaz from the unit and the fact that the award wasn't given to him until nearly ten years later, so there might be some good theories out there. Incidentally, on late "catch up" award cards (like this one) I have rarely ever seen them with the campaign awards. Normally, they just have the person's medal. Sometimes, they might include any/all others medals they received, or it might be an entirely separate award card. Dave

Not to be a wet blanket, but just so you don't get your hopes up too high.... I'm fairly certain that they won't be able to get the names. If they can, I'll be very impressed. I had a contact who had access physically in the archives (got some great pics inside the archives!) who couldn't do it. The fellow we all use for research can do it, but even he isn't fully certain of how they get the information to him. Dave

Thought I had a pic of Castro with his ribbons, but it was not to be... It's still a nice, pretty picture of him back in his glory days though.

Well, I've heard of raising prices, but if 1985 OGPWs start selling for $122 a piece, I'm done with Soviet collecting - I couldn't afford it anymore! Seriously, I think some sellers know that the prices have gone up, so they're taking a chance to see what price they can maximize from their awards. The OGPW is way overpriced, and the Red Star is overpriced for this serial number range. However, if the Red Star was of a range I needed for my research, I MIGHT be tempted to buy it at this price (though I'm not saying it's worth it!) Dave

Here's the second page of the award book...

Here's the inside of the order book....

By the way everyone, I was able to confirm (via the Archives) that this young lad was awarded his medal for action in Egypt. No, there's no photo in the award book, so IT IS NOT FAKE. Dave

I don't have a dog in this fight as I don't own one of these (nor have any intention to do so) but I would still have my doubts about this medal for several reasons (and this was well before Igor posted up his original for comparison.) Compare this one to Igor's. Note that Igor's is silver with a nice patina. The one in the auction doesn't even appear to be silver, let alone with a patina. It looks more like a dark grey metal of some sort. Second, the one in the auction has the numbers cast into the piece from when the faker made a cast of the original medal. Once again, compare that to Igor's, and you'll see that the numbers aren't cast into the arms, but are instead cleanly stamped. Finally, look at the detail on the George and on the reverse. It's not near what it should be, even with many years of wear. There are a few other things, but those were the biggest keys to me. Dave

Ask and you shall receive.......

Doc- It's your lucky day. I found my scans of the group. Here's the inside of the doc for you. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see. Dave

Doc- It was a pretty common doc so I don't think I scanned it before the group got packed up. I should be able to access the group here shortly though and can scan it for you then. Dave

His MM and first Red Star are both long-service awards. I have to go to work at the moment, but will post up the citations for his final Red Star and Red Banner later. Dave

and the reverse....

Number three was submitted as a Red Banner, but was downgraded to the OGPW2. 1. Name: Toropigin, Konstantin Pavlovich 2. Military Rank: Lieutenant 3. Place of service: Commander detachment, 845th Fighter Aviation Rizhskoi Regiment Recommended for the Order of the Red Banner 4. Date of birth: 1921 5. Nationality: Russian 6. Date joined the Red Army: Since 1941 7. Party membership: Member VLKSM since 1938 8. Service in the war, where and when: In the Patriotic War since April 1943 on the Volkhovski, 3rd Pribaltic and 2nd Belorussian Fronts 9. Any wounds or contusions: Received a wound in his leg 10. Other awards recieved: Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class by Order of the 13th Air Army No. 052/N dated 24 April 1944. Order of the Red Banner by Order of 14th Air Army No. 039/N dated 10 August 1944 11. From which call up station: Lyubimskim RVK 12. Address of record: Yaroslavskoi Oblast, Lyubimskii Raion, P/O Zakovyakino Der. Mashinovo. Father: Toropigin, Pavel Ivanovich Comrade Toropygin has been participating in the Patriotic War since April 1943 as part of Riga 845th Fighter Regiment. During his service at the regiment he has conducted 107 sorties and flown a total of 100 h. 45 m. to escort PE-2 and Il-2 aircraft, provide air support to the friendly troops, perform reconnaissance of the enemy troops and deliver air strikes against them at Volkhov and 3rd Baltic Fronts (as part of 14th Air Army ?). Comrade Toropygin has been awarded two governmental awards of the Red Banner Order and Patriotic War Order, 1st degree, for conducting 60 successful sorties, personally bringing down 1 enemy ME-109 aircraft and participating in the air raid against an enemy airfield, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. Since he was awarded a governmental award for the last time, Comrade Toropygin has conducted 47 successful sorties at 3rd Baltic and 2nd Byelorussian Fronts including 36 sorties to escort PE-2 and IL-2 aircraft, 8 sorties to provide air support to the friendly troops and 3 sorties to conduct reconnaissance of the enemy troops. He has conducted 3 air combats, in which personally brought down a FW-190 aircraft. He has delivered 10 ( ?) air strikes against the enemy personnel and equipment, destroying up to 5 motor vehicles and killing up to 15 soldiers and officers. At the 2nd Byelorussian Front, despite adverse weather conditions and limited airfield capacity, during the fights for the towns of Plonsk and Tanenberg, the flight under Comrade Toropygin?s command combined (?) successful sorties to escort Il-2 aircraft and air strikes against the enemy personnel and equipment. Skillful escorting of ground attack aircraft towards the target and back to the airfield prevented losses from enemy fighters. The flight personnel were commended by their commanders ? for their actions and awarded two commendations of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Comrade Toropygin personally conducted 25 successful sorties to escort Il-2, perform reconnaissance, and deliver air strikes against the enemy troops and equipment. As the result of this he killed up to 10 soldiers and officers and damaged vehicles with cargo. Conclusion: for the successful accoplishment of combat missions, assigned by his command and displayed bravery and valour; for the accomplished (since the last award) 47 successful sorties, for bringing down an enemy FW-190 aircraft deserves to be awarded the Red Banner order. Commander, 845th Riga Fighter Aviation Regiment Major /Drekalov/ 16 February 1945