IrishGunner

I'd gladly take a humble collection like this one... Very nice.

Sergio - I was thinking the same thing

Very nice. And the MiD and CdG - even more impressive.

I'm surprised, however, that for such an action Pvt Morris wouldn't have been decorated with more than a MiD; is this normal for the period? Why not Military Medal worthy?

Good questions Tim. And thanks for bringing the thread back to life.

I have a question to add - are all Signum Laudis engraved on the edge with the recipient (ala British medals of the period)? I suspect this was by exception. But curious to read what others have to write.

(But if so, I can't wait to get home and dig these out of the safe deposit box and see who I have!)

Noor you always get the pretty bars!

This Irishman only finds the other bars. :cheers:

Kirk - having a look at the photos would be great! Also of the Soldbuch.

The piece I own for this Regiment is a veteran's medal - in a few months when I get home I could share a photo it as well

The brigade was a part of 12th order of the Red Banner and order of Hmelnitsky artillery division of a breakthrough of General headquarters. The division passed a fighting way from Kursk operation to a capture of Berlin.

These divisions were powerful fire units and intended for quantitative and qualitative strengthening of army artillery at break strong and deep lines of german's defense.

More great info! Thank you. :beer:

Ferdinand - thanks for the assist with the name; curious about the nickname.

Mervyn -

A NY Times article from May 1988 reported that the Soviet Government announced that 13,310 soldiers had been killed, 35,478 wounded in Afghanistan between Dec 1979 and May 1988 - 8 1/2 years. I have read that at the peak there were between 100,000 and 115,000 Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

From NATO's website: Since NATO took command of ISAF in 2003, the Alliance has gradually expanded the reach of its mission, originally limited to Kabul, to cover all of Afghanistan’s territory. Accordingly, the number of ISAF troops has grown from the initial 5000 to around 120 000 troops from 47 countries, including all 28 NATO member nations.

However, recent news reports at the end of August say that the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops has brought the total number of international forces in Afghanistan to 140,000 — 100,000 of them American. The US Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan began in October 2001; going on 9 years now - longer than the Soviets.

According to iCasualties.org there have been 2065 coalition casualties since 2001; 1275 being American.

Here's the link to the web page if anyone is curious how many casualties there have been by country: http://icasualties.org/oef/

Sergio - thanks again! Wonderful information.

Do you happen to know what Division or Front this artillery brigade supported during WWII?

The inside of the Afghan Grateful People document

The Grateful Afghan People document - in two languages.

Warrior Internationalist document cover; this is a large size document.

I already had the Soviet Warrior Internationalist Medal, but with the wrong ribbon; so, I was looking to upgrade to the correct ribbon. Today I came across the medal and luckily it also had the document. Along with it was the Medal from a Grateful Afghan People and its document. A perfect upgrade.

PS: If anyone is looking for these medals, I now have two extra - but as I said, the Warrior Internationalist has the wrong ribbon. PM if curious.

Prague Order of the Red Banner & Order of Suvorov artillery military unit - 7019th base of storage and military technology repair. (the Siberian military district, settlement Chistie Klyuchi in 20 km from a town Shelekhov).

Sergio - thank you very much for this information! Very interesting that even a far away logistical base unit had high awards and a veteran badge.

I knew Chip could solve the mystery. I see the 111 too...

But still think it could be a cypher that hasn't revealed itself yet.

And Chip - I haven't seen an "M" shoulder strap in my meager resources. Can you answer the question: Is an "M" even realistically possible?

Chris, that's exactly my problem; at first I saw "28". Then I can see the "x" in the middle of the M. Then it's back to something else.

That's why I think it's a cypher.

Are there even such a thing as a "M" shoulder straps?

I am only beginning my study of German Imperial uniforms, but I haven't come across a "M" shoulder strap in my neophyte experience. Hopefully, Chip or Chris Boonzaier will come by and comment - they are the experts.

Any chance you can scan the entire photo? It's pretty hard to read the shoulder strap; other clues in the photo might help.

From my knowledge the Musketen-Bataillon were part of infantry regiments; therefore, I would think they would have shoulder straps matching their regiment. Perhaps this is really an infantry regiment cypher and not a solitary "M".

Mervyn, interestingly US military units still have this tradition somewhat; at least, my wife has a small collection of regimental pins she's gotten over the years. She also has a couple gold charms to wear as a necklace with division insignia. And the US Marine Corps has the tradition of giving a gold rose brooch with the EGA attached to their ladies.

I've been meaning to pick up a couple of the WWI sweeheart pins as a neat side bar to the collection.

A 30 Years Artillerist badge; still trying to translate the rest of the wording on the front. And the meaning of the ribbon colors on the suspension. But I couldn't resist an artillery-related item.

On the reverse: 1-5-43 1-5-73

Well, as soon as I identified the ribbons on the suspension (one of the left is red/white; one on the right is green/yellow) as the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov - 2nd Class, the wording became crystal clear as the names of the two orders.

And the top word seems to be "Prague"

So - Prague, Order of the Red Banner, Order of Suvorov 2nd Class; 30 Years; Artillerist. Dates of 1-5-43 1-5-73

Any idea what connection there is to all of this?

A 30 Years Artillerist badge; still trying to translate the rest of the wording on the front. And the meaning of the ribbon colors on the suspension. But I couldn't resist an artillery-related item.

On the reverse: 1-5-43 1-5-73

48th Army Veterans' Badge; 48th Army was at Leningrad according to my info.

Ok, picked up the next three badges at the Yerevan flea market; two related to Leningrad, one artillery related. Can anyone tell me if these are in Schmitt's book and any additional info?

I also obtained this Armenian award document; however, it is for a different Bagramyan medal. This one I believe to be the medal listed on the Armenian MOD website as some type of merit award. You can clearly see that the medal is different in the detail picture of the document. I will need to ask around and determine if this is a different medal or reflects a different version of the same medal.

Interestingly, the document is only in Russian and not in both Armenian and Russian (which frequently appear together here on official buildings).

Not much online about this medal; however, the dealer from whom I purchased the item agreed that this medal is for the 100th

Anniversary of Marshal Bagramyan's birth. The medal was established by the Government of Armenia on May 11, 1997.

Bagramyan is considered one Armenia's greatest military heroes. Of course, this has a USSR connection:

Highest rank - Marshal of the Soviet Union

Commands - 11th Guards Army; 1st Baltic Front; Baltic Military District; Reserve forces of the Red Army; Military Academy of the Soviet Union, and Deputy Defense Minister USSR

Awards - Hero of the Soviet Union (2), Order of Lenin (7), Order of the October Revolution, Order of the Red Banner (3), Order of Suvorov 1. Class (2), and Order of Kutuzov 1. Class; several campaign and commemorative medals of the Soviet Union.

Well, a perfect thread for my discovery today at the flea market. One of the dealers that I am getting to know said he had something "new" to show me today. He handed me two cardboard boards with about 25 of these veteran badges attached. As I know nothing about them, I didn't buy any; although I found a few very interesting.

I came home and Googled and found out about this... Soviet Second World War Veteran Badges by Paul Schmitt. Then I searched GMIC and found this thread. So... Seems these are very desirable badges. He's only asking about $10 per badge. I found some online for about twice that much.

So, anyone have an idea about which units might be most desired. I recall mostly a few numbered Armies, other unusual units, a submarine related one.