Chuck In Oregon

The first of three one-page documents typed on the flimsiest of paper, back in the day. Like the other two I don't really know what it is, maybe some kind of RKKA ID or pass?

And further inside ...

And inside ...

And his Trade Union of Film and Photo Workers membership book ...

And inside ...

And his MOPR membership book ...

And further inside ...

And inside ...

Now I have Mr. Kotov?s documents so I thought I?d share them. I love having documents to flesh out bare metal. The first is his 1933 ?Red Passport?. I would welcome a translation of the more interesting parts, as I would of the rest of the documents. I guess I?ll never be able to read Russian cursive.

OK, I joined (and that's something I never thought I'd do) but your link doesn't seem to work for me. Not that surprising, given my level of computer skills. Can I still participate in the dominating? Chuck

Wikipedia has a useful explanation of BGTO/GTO here .

I sold my Soviet BGTO/GTO collection last year, all except the few that I couldn't find at the time, so I no longer have any early examples to share. However, not only were the early examples numbered, many were silver. It is an interesting theme to collect and now -- of course -- I wish I hadn't sold them. Chuck

* * * * * Hi Chris No, not at all and I'm sorry if I implied that. In fact, I'd say that they don't. It's just the way it came. Based on seeing a handful of period presentation pieces not entirely unlike this one, I would guess that it may have come on a wooden platter-like piece -- something that would look good as a desk piece -- with plaque attached to the platter. But that's purely a guess. Chuck

And the outside of the case. Enjoy.

And the plaque:

And two more:

And two more views. Note the offset sights. They line up perfectly.

This is one of my most favorite recent finds. It is a solid silver model of a Maxim machine gun on a tripod. I found a WW I photo on the internet that is the spittin' image of this gun. The plaque reads: 153rd Baku Regiment to Staff Captain B. F. Winkler for the Capture of Fort Dolangez January 30 1916. The case is almost certainly recently made or at least recently restored. Looks like figured walnut to me. The gun itself weighs 96.38 grams. It is 127.93 mm long and 104.86 mm high, base to top of sights. It is said to have been made by his troops to honor him. I can find nothing in English on the internet about this battle. However, I did make copies of a few pages in a 1936 Russian book about WW I on the Turkish Front. Fort Dolangez was a key position in the Battle of Erzurum. I am informed, but cannot otherwise prove, that Captain Winkler led his machine gun company in a pivotal role in the capture of the fort. Coincidentally, I once owned some documents of a Soviet general that included his report on the Battle of Erzurum and mentioned Captain Winkler. Unfortunately I sold them several years ago, never thinking that they might support a find like this. Chuck

Hmmm ... maybe "For Distiguished Navigation" is a better translation of the reverse. Maybe.

And cased, and the case itself:

And the reverse:

I bought this cased medal on a whim, thinking that I have enough references at home that it wouldn't be a problem to ID it. If nowhere else, it's bound to be in E. S. Shchukina's Two Centuries of Russian Medals. As it turns out, that book isn't nearly as comprehensive as I'd thought and it doesn't include this medal. At least, not that I can find. These kinds of medals are not an area of particular interest for me, although I buy them from time to time. This one isn't mint but it isn't bad. It would be close if someone hadn't tried to clean it sometime along the way. But still, not a bad example. I think the reverse is "Excellence in Marine Navigation" or something like that. To my uneducated eye it has strong Greek influences. The helmet, the toga-like uniform (sorry, I just don't have the words), the staff, the wreath and especially the strange little owl. I have a couple of Athenian Owl coins and it reminds me of them. The reverse could have been lifted straight off of an ancient Greek coin. One on-line reference mentions the 1830 Russian "liberation of Orthodox Greece" in passing but I am completely ignorant of that subject or of how it might relate. If you know what this is, and especially if you can point me to a reference, I would appreciate it. Maybe it's in one of my books but if it is I have completely missed it. Chuck

* * * * * Found it. It is Pilot Bedia's badge at post #4, here. Found the badge, too. I knew it was around here somewhere. Does anyone happen to know of a history of this revolt? I wonder if one has never been written. Nice doctoral thesis for some aspiring youngster, if s/he could get access to some archives. Chuck

Aw, shucks. Thank you gentlemen. Almost entirely unknown outside of Georgia -- and inside as well, the history having been completely suppressed until after independence -- there was a major White Army revolt in Georgia in 1924. It was viciously put down and no quarter was given. It was a war with no survivors on the White Army side. Akaki's Great Adventure was likely part of that. Didn't I once share a badge for the valiant aerial bombing of a village during this conflict? I could swear I did but I can't find either the thread or the badge itself right now. I hate it when that happens. Chuck

And finally, the award page from the book. Enjoy.