Bob

http://visualrian.com/images/item/53753 Leonid Brezhnev receives Order of Sukhe-Bator Categories: Politics Description: Yumzhagiin Tsedenbal, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Government) of the Mongolian People's Republic (left), reads out decree of the Great People's Khural (Parliament) on awarding Leonid Brezhnev (right) the Order of Sukhe-Bator. Location: Russia, Moscow Date of event: 15.09.1971

Unrelated to previous couple of posts but interesting: http://visualrian.com/images/item/731864 Sonomyn Luvsan fastening the Order of Sukhe-Bator on the banner of Kyakhta (Buryatia) Categories: Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Politics Description: A gala meeting of working people of Kyakhta devoted to the presentation of the Order of Sukhe-Bator to the city. Sonomyn Luvsan, Politburo member of the Central Committee of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the State Great Hural of Mongolia, fastens the Order of Sukhe-Bator on the banner of Kyakhta (Buryatia, 1974)

A GBP 200.000 price tag at auction? :speechless1:

OK, what's up (or down?) with everybody? We're entering a new era of Mongolia collecting! :beer:

Just in: initial (more to come I hope!) research on the recipient of the documented screwback SB number 747 in my possession. History coming to life! "Sharavjamts Shadavtsoodol was born in Tugrug village of Uvurkhangai province in 1921. He was drafted to the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army in 1939. Shadavtsoodol graduated from the Artillery intermediate school in Tambov town, the Soviet Union in 1945. In 1958, the shooting sports club was set up under the Voluntary Society to assist the People’s Army (Mongolian DOSAAF). Major Shadavtsoodol was commissioned to the club where he served as a trainer in shooting from 1958-1964. From 1964-1973, Lieutenant Colonel Shadavtsoodol served as the trainer in shooting at the General Military School. He was discharged from the active military service in 1973. Shadavtsoodol is considered as one of the founders of the Mongolian Shooting sports. He started to practice the shooting sports in 1955. In 1959, he scored 509 in AB-5 exercise and thereby winning the title of the Sport’s Master. He set the record of the shooting of the Mongolian People’s Republic three times. Shadavtsoodol also holds the title of the “Best Hunter of the MPR”. Most of all, Shadavtsoodol contributed enormously to strengthening Mongolian shooting sports and its personnel." He received his SB in 1971: 50th birthday SB? Maybe more on that later... :cheers:

Some interesting scans of Lhagvasuren's memoirs

Good question. He was discharged from active military service in 1956 so a possible explanation could be that he left before the awarding of SB's became more liberal in terms of volume. Perhaps before that time, there were more strict criteria and he just didn't meet them (he was more a "non combat" than a "combat" guy it would appear). He was awarded a Red Banner of Labor (low number, <200) as can be seen in his award booklet and I hope to be getting details on this in the near future. I expect to also be getting some interesting information on the two (very low numbered) SB's awarded to Sodnomdarjaa (i.e. the Russian Red Banner shown elsewhere on GMIC) which will maybe start to shed a light on what early SB's were awarded for. Will give a more complete picture of Sodnomdarjaa, although I don't have his actual SB's unfortunately. I do have a documented SB with nr 747 for which I'm also hoping to get more info soon so maybe that'll highlight a more "long service" kind of awarding? Will have to wait and see (and keep fingers crossed!) - exciting times ahead for Mongolia enthousiasts, that's for sure! Could be that we're entering a new phase of expanding knowledge in this area which will really have a big impact!

Here he is...

Major General Suuriin Baldan... later in his fateful life and clearly wearing his Soviet Red Star :cheers:

Let's start with quoting the collectrussia description on the new book: "For those of you familiar with the superb books on Soviet and North Korean awards co-authored by Paul McDaniel, you will perhaps understand how impressive we find Urnukh's work when we say that this seems like a book that McDaniel could have produced. We feel safe in predicting that collectors of Mongolian orders and medals will soon come to view this book as their Bible. The clarity of both the photographs and the text will introduce a whole new generation of collectors to the challenges and satisfactions of collecting Mongolian orders and medals!"

Time to breath some fresh air into this forum Sure, there's a recession (or should I use past tense?), and there's no longer the tidal wave of good stuff coming out of Mongolia on a daily basis (remember the "good old" days of eBay?)... BUT... * we already reached an immmense level of refinement of knowledge on mongolian orders/medals right here on GMIC * from what I can see on collectrussia pics, a GREAT new book is out * the first SMALL steps are SLOWLY becoming reality with regards to research (more on that later) ....Soooo, who dares to make a prediction on the future of Mongolian orders/medals collecting?

The book is available on collectrussia I'm waiting for mine (impatient of course )

To add to the story, a pic of Lhagvasuren (who was awarded a 2nd class Suvorov order for fighting the Japanese at Khalkhin Gol)

p. 80. I spent the summer of 1938 in Moscow. It was almost a year after my classmates graduated from the course and returned Mongolia. I was still assigned to the school to help with the new students from Mongolia. One day I visited the Mongolian Embassy in Moscow. There I unexpectedly met Baldan. Baldan told me that he was chosen to study at the Military Academy of Frunze but the academy ran out of the vacancies. Therefore, he was assigned to study at the Kharkhov Military Logistics Academy. Funny though, Baldan, who brought a mutton all the way from Mongolia, gave away most of it to his friends as soon as he arrived in Moscow. He had a sheep breast saved for me. We went to my place and cooked the breast. While enjoying the mutton, I was happy to chat with my friend and catch up on the news. Upon returning to Mongolia, Baldan was appointed as the Political instructor to the Baishant division and after a month promoted to a Chief of the Political Section of the Division. Later, on Marshal Choibalsan’s order, he was chosen to study at the Military academy in the Soviet Union. That’s why he is in Moscow now. ==================== More to come later...

p. 76. Not long after the parade, it was time to graduate from the Political Officer’s course under the Military Political Academy of Lenin. The state exams included the party and political work in the military units, military tactics and some other subjects. Baldan, Damdarjaa and me graduated from the course with honors and were also awarded the ranks of Major.

p. 76. The spring of 1937. One day the school commander announced that the students will be selected to take part in the military parade on May 1st in the Red Square. The rehearsal of the parade took two months. Out of 800 students who rehearsed for the parade only 200 were selected. Out of Mongolian students, Baldan, Damdarjaa and I were selected to participate in a parade.

All quotes (also in next posts) are from the Chapter "Unforgettable four years" p. 65. One day, the officers chosen to study in the Soviet Union were summoned to the Military Ministry. I have rarely visited the General HQ of the Army and the Ministry before. Therefore I was not familiar with anybody there. On that day there were some 20 trucks parked outside of the Ministry building ready to transport us to Ulan-Ude, USSR. One captain, who came out of the building, called our names. There were some 200 officers standing in line who were chosen to study in different schools. Out of 12 officers chosen to attend the Political course, all besides one officer were standing in line. Having learnt that there was one officer missing; the captain looked around and spotted a sergeant who was looking at us at a distance. The officer asked “Have you been chosen to study abroad? Which unit are you from?” The sergeant replied “I have come here to show the way to the officers chosen to study abroad. I have handed over them in full numbers and I am leaving now back to the unit”. The captain asserted “No way. You are leaving to study with this group.” The sergeant stated “I have not been examined by the medical team.” The captain “It does not matter. Are you fit, healthy?” The sergeant “Yes, comrade captain.” The captain “Do you want to study?” The sergeant “Yes, I do. I have applied for the school but our platoon commander turned me down.” The captain “It does not matter. Do you want to go to study?” The sergeant “Yes, I do”. The captain “Set. You are going with this group.” The captain said few words to a Soviet officer standing next to him and called me from the line. He said to me “Write down the names and the ranks of the people in your group. You are the commander of the group, understood?” I have replied to officer and turned to my would-be classmates. The names of the officers were “Damdarjaa, Tsendjav, Gombo, Batkhuu, Gombo (there were two Gombo), Khishigtogtokh, etc.” I have asked the name of the sergeant who filled the vacancy of the missing officer last. His name was Suuiriin Baldan. He was originally from Selenge province. He was destined to serve for Mongolian Army for many years and become one the first 11 generals. At that time we joked that Baldan was born under a lucky star for he was so unexpectedly chosen to study in the Soviet Union. At that time unlike today, it was not very common for the Mongolians to study in the Soviet Union.

Another interesting point on Suuriin Baldan: he studied in Russia at a political commissar's course together with (later) Colonal General J. Lhagvasuren (very well known Mongolian officer, more on him later) in the 1930's. In Lhagvasuren's memoirs several references are given to Baldan and it really adds to the flavour of the amazing fate which helped Baldan along in his career, in particular how driver Baldan found its way in a course which was meant only for officers:thumbsup Some relevant copies of text from the the memoires to follow later. The book title is "Young Commander elevate by all". Apparently a great book (with great pictures) and a 3rd edition has been published in 2009... in Mongolian (unfortunately).

And here is the incredible life story of Major General Suuriin Baldan (1912-1994). A true "rags to riches" (well, at least to the top of power) story! From soldier to General, and from driver to Deputy Prime Minister (and even making it to Moscow while the Great Patriotic War was going on there!). More to follow at a later stage. ======================================================== Suuriin Baldan was born Tsgaan nuur village of Selenge aimag in 1912. He graduated from the driver’s course at Mongol Trans trust (state-owned transportation company) in 1930, the Political officer’s two year’s course in Moscow, the Soviet Union in 1937 and Military Logistics Academy in the Soviet Union in 1941. He started his work for the state in 1930 by working for the collective farm. From 1932-1933, he worked as a driver at the Mongol Trans trust. In 1933, he was drafted to the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army (MPRA). From 1937-1938, S. Baldan served as Political instructor at the 7th Cavalry division stationed in Eastern Mongolia, from 1941-1943 he served as the Deputy Chief of the Political Department of the MPRA, from 1943-1946 he served as the Deputy Prime Minister (one of the Deputies to the Prime Minister Kh. Choibalsan) in charge of the Military Affairs, from 1946-1956 Baldan served as the Chief of the Logistical Department of the MPRA. In 1956, Major General Baldan was discharged from the active military service. From 1956-1958, he worked as the Deputy Head of the Mongol-Soviet Geological Association and from 1958-1959, Baldan worked as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Mining and Geology of the MPR. From 1959-1963, he worked as the Head of the Byanzurkh village of Tuv province, from 1963-1966, he worked as the Head of the Construction project to rebuild the Ulaanbaatar airport and from 1966-1969, he worked as the inspector of the labor safety at the Ministry of Defense. In 1969, Baldan retired from the active service. S. Baldan was bestowed the rank of the Brigade Commissar (equivalent to the Major General) by the decree of the Minister of Defense in November 1942, the rank of the Brigade Commander on December 31, 1943 and the rank of Major General by the decree of the Council of Ministers of the MPR (Cabinet) on April 28, 1944. In fact, Suuriin Baldan was one of the first 11 generals of the MPR (Others include Yu. Tsedenbal, J. Lhagvasuren, B. Dorj, B. Shagdarjav, S. Ravdan, D. Damdinkhuu, G. Rendoo, M. Zaisanov, R. Osor, G. Dagdan).

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=39929&st=60 Have a look at above thread in a few minutes... :beer:

Sodnomdarjaa (second from left, at the bottom) among the deputies of the People's Great Khural More to come in due course... First row (from left to right): - Herder Z. Ochir (one of the first Heroes of Labor of the MPR) - D. Sodnomdarjaa - Veteran of the 1921 People's revolution Togtokh - member of the People's Great Khural Natsag Last row (standing from viewers left to right): - the officer is unknown - member of the People's Great Khural Banzragch - member of the People's Great khural D.Arya (later Hero of Labor of the MPR)

Times they are a changing... Search Sodnomdarjaa... There are more places that could have come from than Moscow alone :ninja:

Alex - could you please post scans? For the rest, I have more info on Suurin Baldan (the person who triggered this thread): "Major General Baldan was one of the first 11 generals of the MPR who were bestowed the rank in April 1944. Prior to 1944, the Mongolian military had a different system of ranks." This makes him a very high level Mongolian People's Army officer indeed! Patiently awaiting more info on the Major General...

Not for much longer :ninja: