Bob

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)

People have been saying that here for over three years now... I'm not holding my breath...

Times they are a changing...

Search Sodnomdarjaa... There are more places that could have come from than Moscow alone

:ninja:

Just purchased my first Mongolian group It consists of a Soviet combat merit medal w/doc and 5 other Mongolian documents, although I'm not sure what they are. I believe it was awarded to Sharavyn Jamsranjav, who appears at the top of page 13 in the Ukaz (lieutenant colonel). I will post as soon as it arrives.

Alex

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...

This is of course a "problem" we do not yet have... <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="unsure.gif" />

Not for much longer :ninja:

Not sure if I posted pics of this item before, but I bought this a few years ago: an Order of Red Star incorporated into a small little silver pill box!

I guess I could go to a jeweller and have it removed so I can look at the serial number (for research) before having it popped back in again.

Anybody else with such interesting uses of Soviet awards?

Thought I had placed an insanely high and surely winning bid for a miniature group (incl. Tamara) on zeige... turns out somebody else was more insane... 3x more in fact!

1.100 Euro

What a lovely Tamara...

Sodnomdarjaa (photo taken in 1959) with all his awards. The resolution of the photo is very good. When zoomed (at least, in the version I have which is too much MB to post here), you can see the letters “R.S.F.S.R” on his Red Banner. Visible is also the enamel damage to the Red Banner which is in line with the Red Banner in my hands.

By the way, the group photo shown earlier is from circa 1933, with Demberel, Demid, Choibalsan and Sodnomdarjaa.

More to come in due course (fingers crossed)...

Sodnomdarjaa (photo taken in 1935) with the first deputy Commander of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army 1st Commissar O. Dashchirav

Achieved a BREAKTHROUGH thanks to the efforts of a fellow enthousiast of Mongolian history. And now the reason for the Red Banner being awarded is confirmed! More to ccome...

"Sodnomdarjaa Damdiny was born 1895 in Dornod province (Easternmost province) of Mongolia. Bereaved of his parents at the age of 9, Sodnomdarjaa had to work for wealthier families to survive. At the age of 17, he was drafted to a military service as a conscript of the recently formed Bogdkhaan’s national army. In 1913, Sodnomdarjaa was selected to a junior officer’s course in Urga (the capital, now known as Ulaanbaatar) where he got acquainted with D. Sukhbaatar. He finished the course in 1914 and until 1920, Sodnomdarjaa stayed in eastern Mongolia fighting the Bavuujav Count’s forces that robbed the households in eastern Mongolia.

In 1921, Sodnomdarjaa, on Sukhbaatar’s recommendation, joined the People’s Army and was commissioned as the assistant to Minister of Western Mongolia Count Gombo-Idshin. He served in Khovd city in Western Mongolia for several years fighting the remains of the Russian White Guard units. Sodnomdarjaa personally apprehended two White Guard officers in August of 1922. One of the apprehended officers was the Commander of the White Guard regiment. For his personal courage and valor in fighting the Russian White Guard, Sodnomdarjaa was awarded the Order of Red Banner of RSFSR on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Mongolian People’s Revolution in 1931.

In January 1923, Sodnomdarjaa also took part in the special operation to liquidate the leader of the nationalistic group and counter-revolutionary Da Lam Dambii Jantsan. This operation was one of the first special operations of the Mongolian State Security. The decision to involve Sodnomdarjaa in this special operation indicates the trust of the Mongolian revolutionary high-command in his abilities and bravery. In 1970s, a special movie “In the Lair” was filmed by the Communist Government depicting the operation. Although Sodnomdarjaa did not personally shoot the Da Lam Dambii Jantsan, he personally took part in the operation planning and subsequent execution.

From 1935-1940, Sodmodarjaa headed the trade organization in Ereentsav, Dornod province. While working in Dornod province, he was actively involved in the work to defend the border of the Mongolian People’s Republic. In one of the cases, Sodnomdarjaa helped the border guards to apprehend a group of Japanese and Chinese-Mongolian infiltrators in 1938.

On May 27, 1945, Sodnomdarjaa was commissioned to set up and head the wood craft workshop in Bayan-Uul county of Dornod aimag. He started the workshop with 13 conscripts and two tents. Just in eight years, in 1953, the workshop expanded into a factory with a small town named Ereen. The factory was renowned for its high-quality products, especially the wooden carts.

The factory was named after Sodnomdarjaa by the decree #50 of the Presidium of the State Small Khural in 1958. Later, after his death, a statue of Sodnomdarjaa was erected in Ereen village.

D. Sodnomdarjaa was elected as the member of the Presidium of the State Small Khural and later as the member of the People’s Great Khural (Parliament of the MPR) for four terms. A close friend of Sukhbaatar, he also worked as the Chief of the village, accountant, librarian and the director of the factory at different periods of his life.

Sodnomdarjaa married in 1933 and had nine children. He died in 1961.

It is known that a prototype of Sodnomdarjaa is the main subject in the novel “Red Sun” written by S. Dashdendev. The novel was one of the works to be studied by the high school students on mandatory basis from 1965-1980.""

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=36164&st=60

Follow above thread in the Soviet section for some exciting developments!

This is a very pleasant surprise! It's like Xmas coming early!

Now, how do i get a copy?

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_09_2010/post-679-128388162111.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_09_2010/post-679-128388163063.jpg

Number 12... probably unawarded. Gives some support to idea that 10 or so were made/awarded.

It looks, and apparently is, unawarded.

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_09_2010/post-679-128388156164.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_09_2010/post-679-128388156969.jpg

Here's an interesting item circulating through key dealer/collectors via email... incl. pic of a number on reverse!

http://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_09_2010/post-679-128388149077.jpghttp://gmic.co.uk/uploads/monthly_09_2010/post-679-128388149803.jpg

Thanks to Elvis, now have translations for the documents in this last group (unfortunately, while it is fun to read the typical socialist kind of language, it doesn't give much real detail on what the guy did):

1) Comrade Kico Kotani

On the 27th anniversary of founding of Border Arms we thank you for:

Trying hard in political and military training of yourself and your unit, you have reached high results at work, by being an example in strengthening the discipline and military alertness in guarding and defending the holy borders of our socialist fatherland, from enemies of all colors (type)

2) C. Kico Kotani is awarded Medal for Bravery with this motivation:

A brave Warrior, has been an example of resistance and self sacrifice at war against the invaders and traitors for the liberation of Fatherland and Albanian People

Presidium of Peoples Assembly of Peoples REpublic of Albania

Note: it certainly sounds like Kotani was not a "stuck in the rear doing paperwork" kind of soldier!

3) C. Kico Kotani is awarded Medal of Liberation with this motivation:

Has been part of Albanian National Liberation Army and with weapon in hand has fought against the invaders and traitors until complete liberation of Fatherland and Albanian People.

4) Certificate C. Kico Kotani:

On the 10th anniversary of creation of Albanian Peoples Army (10th July 1943 - 10th of july 1953) based on Decree of Peoples Assembly Presidium on 30th of May 1953 is awarded with medal "10th Anniversary of the Armed Forces"

on the 10th of July 1953 is still in service of Albanian Armed Forces.

5) Peoples Republic of Albania

Presidium of Peoples Assembly of Albanian Peoples Republic Awards

C. Kico Kotani with Order Red Star of Second Class

For honest and untiring work during 10 years of service in Peoples Army

6) Peoples Republic of Albania

Presidium of Peoples Assembly of Albanian Peoples Republic

Awards C. Kico Kotani with Order of Scanderbeg of Third Class

For honest and untiring work during 15 years of service among Armed Forces of Albanian Peoples Republic

7) Peoples Republic of Albania

Presidium of Peoples Assembly of Albanian Peoples Republic

Awards C. Kico Kotani with Order of Military Service of Third Class

For honest and untiring work during 20 years of service among Armed Forces of Albanian Peoples Republic

8) Albanian Peoples Republic

Ministry of Internal Affairs Department of Internal Affairs - Tropoje (a place in Northern Albania, I visited this a year or two ago)

Praise Award Comrade Kico Kotani

Party Committee and Department Staff express gratitude because:

During exercise with units of Department of Internal affairs you have been distinguished in leading military operations and completing tasks successfully in all given scenarios. You have been disciplined and untiring by surpassing all difficulties during exercise.

9) Peoples Republic of Albania

Presidium of Peoples Assembly of Albanian Peoples Republic

Awards C. Kico Kotani with Order of Military Service of Second Class

For high honesty at work, for well organizing and leading of appointed tasks and for developing political military training, thus by contributing in defending and strengthening Albanian Peoples Republic.

10) Albanian Peoples Republic

Ministry of Internal Affairs Department of Internal Affairs - Tropoje

Praise Award Comrade Kico Kotani

Party Committee and Department Staff gives you this Praise Award for discipline and completing over two norms (the amount of work requested) during the concentrated actions organized from Party Committee of the region in honor of completion of work of 10th Plenum of Central Committee of Albanian Labor Party.

11) Albanian Peoples Republic

Ministry of Internal Affairs Department of Internal Affairs - Tropoje

Certificate Comrade Kico Kotani

Is awarded the TITLE EXEMPLARY WORKER Kuader (used for people working for military and administration)

with this motivation:

Exemplary worker for defending with diligence and bravery the victories of building socialism and for excellent results in military political and professional training, for high discipline and well defending the state and peoples assets.

12)

During the first half year 1977 has been distinguished

in learning very well the lessons of the 7th Congress of Albanian Labor Party, in defending the state assets and securing the convicts, has been diligent, ready and disciplined in given tasks.

13) Giving the badge Exemplary Officer

Officer Kico kotani is distinguished in fulfilling tasks given by Party, in ideo political and military professional training, he has a pure moral figure, has good behavior with colleagues, he fights with perseverance for well administration of military assets and has developed the saving concept.

14) Praise Award

C. Kico Kotani

Distinguished for untiring deeds and work in successful completion of electoral campaign of 27th April 1986 elections

15) Republic of Albania

Council of Ministers

Certificate

Awarded to Kico Kotani

medal for excellent contribution in Liberation of Fatherland

16) Albanian Peoples Republic

Ministry of Internal Affairs

Department of Internal Affairs Tropoje

(These departments were main means of oppression)