Bob

I also have badge 534 and have obtained information on him It was awarded to a herder called Yuruultiin Gonchig Herder Gonchig was a native of Dornogobi province (south eastern part of Mongolia, the province capital is Sainshand). The Trans-Siberian train passes through this town. Interestingly, Gonchig was an affluent herder at the time. He owned over 700 heads of livestock but unfortunately he lost almost 90% in severe snowfalls that affected his home county in the winter of 1942-1943. For some reason he never attended the First conference in 1941 although he owned quite a large herd. Attached are: - his honorary medal of labour recommendation - overview of the presents he chose - registry of the best herders of his province - serial nr overview Yuruultiin Gonchig -present.docYuruultiin Gonchig recommendation translation.docYuruultiin Gonchig serial number tranlsation.docYuruultiin Gonchig-herds.doc

Choijin nanzai questionnaire.doc And here is the translation

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-88370500-1398521195.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-74178500-1398521217.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-88738600-1398521239.jpg Just in, - 1959 Festival badge with a certificate awarded to Jamyan - Document of the Badge of Honorary Border Guard awarded to Jamyan

Apparently I acquired Naymdorj's medals/badges and corresponding documents last year but I must not have posted them and can't find them at home - all the more reason to finally in the summer get my entire collection out to completely refresh my administration! Hopefully I then find the additional items. In any case, some more of this documents showed up and found their way to me: - award document of the Medal of 90 years of people's revolution (awarded in 2011) - document for the Badge of Veteran of Democratic revolution (awarded in 2007) - blue hard cover Graduation Diploma of Soviet college of Mechanics and Technology (graduated in 1960) - brown booklet of marks of the same Soviet college (lists all subjects he undertook and the marks he got) - Soviet Savings Bank booklet (monthly salary received while he studied in USSR) - small blue Booklet of Democratic Party Member with the photo of the bearer (dated 2007) - small red Booklet of Member of Trade Union of MPR (dated 1961) http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-31898600-1398520709.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-96511200-1398520745.jpg

No research on the Soviet military service medal needed... because it's already right here on the forum:) http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/39929-general-suurin-baldan/page-4 Sedediyn Davaahuu – retired colonel Interesting, he came out of retirement later to become a general? Part of a large anniversary awarding of Soviet awards to Mongolians for: "For the services in the joined struggle against the Japanese militarists, and also in the reinforcement of the post-war cooperation, and in connection with the 50th anniversary of the formation of the People’s Mongolian Army"

Choijin Nanzai personally filled in a questionaire during the conference. The herders at the conference represented all herders and were required to fill out this questionnaire during the conference. The results were then analyzed and subsequently put in the form of a handbook. The handbook contained the advice on how to take care of the herds (a very well written book with color illustrations of plants, etc) and distributed to the herders. The book was written by Comrade J. Sambuu who later became the Chairman of the Presidium of State Great Khural (you can see his signature on all award booklets of 1960s and early 1970s). Sambuu even spent some time with few selected best herders to have them review the book. This questionnaire was an important start towards compiling this handbook. Attached is an example of the questionnaire. Translation to follow later.

Thanks - will be on top of this later today. Hopefully coming back with scans of bio's (and perhaps pics).

And finally, the intriguing thick folding Soviet document and badge (belonging together?) http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-87216300-1398518204.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-64446500-1398518217.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-57612300-1398518232.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-20226700-1398518245.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-20538200-1398518256.jpg

Next: - the "generals badge" - pics of the big document with the silver crest on it - pics of the Czech medal http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-24135300-1398518032.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-89760800-1398518044.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-02772500-1398518057.jpg http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-70579200-1398518074.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-09736600-1398518088.jpg

Some more pics of documents: - 2 Mongolian medals - the Cuban medal - interior of document for the Soviet medals mentioned http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-01800500-1398517671.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-79887700-1398517710.jpg http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-59536200-1398517740.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-20953400-1398517774.jpg http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-76859200-1398517803.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-68540600-1398517821.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-74722300-1398517892.jpg

Was fortunate enough to pull this group together from multiple sources. Unfortunately was not able to get the entire group (by far) but still quite interesting. Even more so if (hopefully) some follow-up research turns up. Cuban Medal for 20 Years of Service to the Ministery of Interior with document (awarded in 1979); signed by Sergio del Valle Jimenez, Minister of Interior and a central figure in the Cuban revolution http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/01/cuba.obituaries - “Del Valle became a tough minister of the interior for more than a decade, keeping dissidents in line and advocating the use of the death penalty” Soviet Military Service Medal with document (no serial nr; awarded in 1971) Medal for Strengthening Combat Cooperation with document (awarded in 1981); handsigned by Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs Army General Shelokov (!) A (university?) badge A document (belonging to above badge?) which is quite thick (more like a thin book) and which folds open to have room for some kind of large medal Czech Medal of Merit in the Protection of the State Border (no document with this one) Mongolian An interesting ‘modern’ item… a Mongolian General badge? No document but it has the same red goo on the back that most of the items in this set have which leads me to believe they were all fastened (either to a uniform or some kind of display) in the same way. It’s light metal with some fake diamond like things Order of the Red Banner of Labour Valor with document (awarded in 1983; the document refers to serial nr 5996 but the serial nr was inscribed erroneously on the wrong end of the revers… so you need to flip it over and then rotate it 180 degrees and then the serial nr does match!) An additional document which lists several items (unfortunately I only have the document) Honorary Medal of Combat (nr 5075, awarded in 1950) Order of Polar Star (nr 8279, awarded in 1957) Order of the Red Banner of Combat Valor (no serial nr provided, awarded in 1966( Document for an Honorary Checkist Badge (unfortunately I only have the document, it refers to serial nr 727 for the Chekist Badge, awarded in 1979) 50 Years of State Security Organization Medal with document (awarded in 1972) Medal “We Won” with document (serial nr 7265, awarded in 1946) Medal “25 Years of the MPR” with document (serial nr 13027, awarded in 1946) Document for a 70 year jubilee medal (awarded in 1991), don’t have the medal Document for the Medal “50 Years of the Mongolian People’s Army” (awarded in 1971), don’t have the medal Document for the Medal “30th Anniversary of the Victory over the Militaristic Japan” (awarded in 1975), don’t have the medal 70 Years of State Security Organization Badge with document (awarded in 1992) 50 Years of the State Prosecution Organization Badge with a nice green leather document (awarded in 1980) A nice green leather document for a Best Border Guard badge – unfortunately the badge itself is missing – was awarded in 1973 Badge of 50 Years to Mongolian People's Court with the document. Like the above green ones, this is also a VIP issue one with a leather cover. Awarded in 1976. A document for a 60 years commemorative medal (awarded in 1986) A document for another 60 years commemorative medal (awarded in 1981) A document for a “Honorary Badge of the Ministry of Defence” but not including the badge itself (awarded in 1982) Finally, also included in the group was a large brown leather document with a silver crest at right hand top and Choibalsans signature on interior? Will post a pic of the interior – may be something interesting written there. Unfortunately no picture of the general (yet) and also a range of items are missing – incl. because I was not able to obtain them or walked away as there were issues (either very expensive or a lot of loose orders/medals without documents or with serial numbers different than in the documents that I acquired). Seen but not acquired and possibly also belonging to this group are: SB order (pinback, serial nr 912, no document) Red Banner of Combat Valor Order (screwback, serial nr 1368, no document) Polar Star (pinback, serial nr 15922, no document) Medal of Combat (serial number 9012, no document) A chekist badge (but no document, and serial nr not matching above document which I did get) Not buying the SB may have been a mistake (aside from that it was very expensive) as the reverse had the same red goo on it which is also on almost all other items in the group. Some more detailed pics to follow. Help in identifying items / translation would be very much appreciated.

I can't resist myself sometimes, even when my wallet is screaming "no, don't buy". My big wishes are still a type 1 Polar Star and a Gold Hero Star... both, I'm afraid, will require a LOT of patience and perhaps more funds than I'm willing to part with for my collection. At least it's not like 2005 or so anymore... when you could log on to eBay 3-4x a day and there'd be a tsunami of new stuff to bid on. I do have something else which I'll be able to post in coming days - a wonderful (albeit incomplete) Cuban-Soviet-Mongolian cross-over group awarded to a Mongolian General. Mainly documents, but also some order/medal/badges. Would be nice if we could breath a bit of life back into the Mongolia forum!

Late to get one in my collection but finally got one - and it's definitely not a "clean from the bank" version, but rather a well worn one incl a similar alteration to sew it onto the uniform. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-81543000-1398196938.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-55305700-1398197057.jpg

Great if you could post it and hopefully one of the other forum member can help changing the names into something I can work with.

If it were all clear and easy, it wouldn't be Mongolian orders/medals collecting anymore!

Thanks - any possibility to transcribe the name for me? I will have access to my Partisan biography books this coming weekend and will then be able to scan pages of the person's bio for you.

Some more insight from the same expert referred to above. There were 4 "Best Herders of the MPR" conferences: 1st: December 1941 2nd: November 1943 3rd: 1948 4th: 1955 Best Herder badges were only awarded to participants of these conferences. They were not awarded to herders who did not participate in these conferences. Any reference to these badges being awarded during the 1920's therefore is incorrect. Also, it explains why so many type 2 and type 3 badges in mint condition where sold by the Bank of Mongolia a decade ago as these were badges left over from the reserves of unawarded badges. Leaves the question open as to why the Best Herder conferences stopped taking place. Apparently the majority of the herders who received a Best Herder badge also received an Honorious Medal of Labour medal. The participants in the conferences were the "cream of the crop" of all of Mongolia's herders. Further 'proof' of the significance is the gifts being awarded to these herders in addition to the badge: During the early years: each Best Herder badge recipient also received a pair of Mongolian boots as gift as well as a choice of one of the following... silk for a deel coat, silk for a deel belt, a pair of binoculars, a hat or a pair of leather boots - the gift was on behalf of the Council of Ministers and there is a registry of these gifts (incl recipients) Since 1944 apparently also (or: instead of?) the silver items mentioned above Regarding the badges: Out of the estimated 400 type 1 badges produced, 375 were awarded during the First conference (nov/dec 1941) Marshal Choibalsan got the Badge of the Best Herder of MPR with serial number 1 Apparently Choibalsan took a personal interest in the herders and the conferences were organized under his direct control and with his close support Apparently many of the type 1 badges were withdrawn and replaced with type 2 badges, thus making type 1 badges (mainly awarded in 1941) very, very rare Serial number 376-661 (type 2 var 1 = relief reverse made of silver plated brass) most likely covers all badges awarded to the 285 herders who qualified for the Second conference Type 2 var 2 badges were most likely awarded for the 3rd conference Type 3 badges (large Mongolian made silver badge with Cyrillic inscription; no serial nr) were awarded at the last conference in 1944 (due to a lack of serial nr, only through an award document would there ever be the possibility of finding out more related to the recipient) Hope I didn't make any major errors while summarizing the feedback received. Above is not information uncovered by me, I'm just sharing it here. Many more questions left open of course... why did the conferences stop for instance?

Choijin Nanzai was awarded nr 257 at the first conference of the Best Herders of the MPR in December 1941. He is from Manhan county, Hovd province He was also recommended to be awarded with the Honorary Medal of Labor but his award recommendation was elevated to the Order of Polar Star. A photo was managed to be found as well apparently some photos of participants of the First conference were preserved - it appears that the photos were taken prior to their participation as they do not wear their badges. May be they are registration photos as the background of the photos of different herders are the same. Full name Age Sex Occupation Address Order/medal recommended Order/medal awarded Choijin Nanzai 42 (hand-written) Male Herder Precinct # 4, Manhan county, Khovd province Honorary Medal of Labor Order of the Polar Star (hand-written) Choijin Nanzai owned no animal in 1931. As of 1941, he owned 434 heads of livestock and reared all mother animals with no loses. Herder Nanzai prepared 26 centners in 1941. He built a large corral for his livestock. He fulfilled by 90% the wool quota for this year. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-69682800-1397900210.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-99967400-1397900488.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-24687300-1397900504.jpg

Best herder badge 393 - awarded at the second conference of the Best Herders of the MPR, in November 1943, to Daramyn Zagdsambar Precinct 9, Naran county, Zavhan province Recommendation: Full name Age Sex Occupation Ethnicity Address Number of owned livestock Serial number of the badge Daramyn Zagdasambar 44 Male Herder Halha Precinct # 9, Naran county, Zavhan province 161 heads 393 (handwritten) Daramyn Zagdasambar owned just three animals in 1921. As of 1942, he owned 131 heads of livestock and as of 1943-161 heads. In 1942 he reared 18 newborn animals from 18 mother animals. In 1943, he reared 51 newborn animals from 57 mother animals. He also combed 80 kg of wool in 1942 and 109 kg in 1943. Herder Zagdsambar prepared 50 centners of hay in 1942 and 98 centners in 1943. In 1942, he built two large corrals and one in 1943. He also built a small corral for his herds in 1942. Comrade Zagdsambar is an active participant of party/public work and is an exemplary herder. As present he had a pair of Mongolian boots and a pair of leather boots. http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-84285900-1397899915.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-11837900-1397899934.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_04_2014/post-679-0-13497600-1397899945.jpg

Excellent! Rest assured, a LOT more interesting stuff coming in this thread! Wish I could find more of these early herder badges (on eBay) to add to my small 'stable'!

Are you looking to sell any pieces from this collection? Anything with a mongolia or albania connection?

A little thread bump, Yes a lot more clarification is coming on these awards and, as we will be able to soon see, these are of exceptional significance and with a history which is very interesting indeed.

The correct name turns out to be Читаладзe, Заал Павлович And based on Podvignaroda: - he was born in 1914 - was awarded an Order of Patriotic War 1st class - was born in Georgie, Gori, Kelktseuli - document nr 173, date 06-11-1985 Nothing else, so will have to try to research through a different channel.

http://www.rkka.it/forum/viewforum.php?f=24

Pic of Sodnomdarjaa addressing the participants of the first conference of Best Construction workers of MPR which took place in 1958. Sodnomdarjaa was invited to give a speech as a partisan.