Greg Collins

Frank,

IMO this is nothing more than an attempt to sell a fake anti-partisan badge. I strongly doubt any Russian entity would copy any design having 3rd Reich roots.

I may be going way out on a limb here, but taking the uniform and physical appearance into account, it appears to be a photo of a member of the Prussian royal family- perhaps Wilhelm II. An excerpt from Wikipedia states, "A traumatic breech birth left him with a withered left arm due to Erb's palsy, which he tried with some success to conceal. In many photos he carries a pair of white gloves in his left hand to make the arm seem longer, holds his left hand with his right, or has his crippled arm on the hilt of a sword or holding a cane to give the effect of a useful limb posed at a dignified angle." While it certainly might be the camera angle, his left arm here does look shorter than the right. My best guess.

Am curious as to the medium (media) you are using. Would guess coloured pencil- probably Rowney. As I've been "out of the game" for some time now, there's probably more to choose from nowadays. You have a wonderful touch and a superb sense of light. Great work!

Kevin,

I believe those are R.S.R. (post 1965). The lower banner on the seal appears to read "Romania" instead of "RPR". The RPR design was, basically, a copy of the Soviet design of the time (as was the Hungarian, to name another: twin tanks flanking a central shield). After '65, the badge was redesigned to the examples here.

Greg

Yes.

Yours looks to be brass (some were plated steel). As to the vintage- '40's to '50's... difficult to be more specific than that. Welcome!

If the uniform proves to be the genuine article, I would like to think that the Mongolian government would try to get the uniform back (out of national and historic pride). Makes me wonder, say, how long one of Marshal Zhukov's (in two of the above photos) uniforms would last on an auction site.

Gordon,

This is, more or less, a rhetorical question, but I have often wondered whether or not the plough was an inspiration from the Irish Republican Brotherhood which Lenin called the first Red Army.

OK, I've finished reading the second volume; an incredible amount of material is covered and beautifully laid out. What an effort on Ralph's part! I do not believe I've ever seen any subject covered so thoroughly.

This 2 volume set is, in my opinion, a new benchmark for books covering Cold War memorabilia. Not a catalog to use as a quick reference to see which medal is which- there are other books for that- but, rather, an incredibly in-depth, scholarly approach to orders, medals, badges and other memorabilia directly and indirectly associated with the Ministry of State Security. In describing these items and their associated documents and providing photos of the items being presented and worn, Ralph has given a glimpse of several key personalities as well as some insight into some operational aspects of the organization. It is a marvelous set of books and, as I said before, a must for all collectors of the Cold War.

Kevin,

A very Happy New Year, my friend, and a speedy recovery!

These were found, actually, in your general "neck of the woods"- Brasov.

Looking forward to your future posts.

Greg :beer:

This next badge is one I've never seen before and must be fairly rare. It's an "Honoured Radioman" badge from the RPR period. It is numbered and nearly identical to it's Soviet counterpart. I feel quite fortunate to have stumbled across both of these gems.

First, let me apologize for my absence; I see the Romanian section is now mixed with other Eastern Bloc States. I had reached a "lull" with the Romanian collection- just couldn't find anything available- and concentrated on other collections for awhile. I have, however, come by a couple of new and (for me) exciting pieces I thought I would share. The first is one for which I've been looking for quite some time (just ask Kevin). It's a badge "For Merit in the Border Guard" from the RPR period. I managed to get a numbered variant and, while it does have some "character" marks on it, it has taken a predominant position in my collection. I have added it to my Romanian Gallery- have a look when you get the chance.

Dan,

Looks good to me.

Greg

I received my copy yesterday and, though I haven't read it through yet, I have had the opportunity to give the book a fairly thorough "going over". It is, simply, stunning. The amount of material is, well, overwhelming and beautifully presented. Magnificent.

I heartily recommend this book, along with volume 1, to all collectors of the Cold War.

Absolutely, Christophe, all the awards for deeds "above and beyond" applied to all conflicts. But this was all I could come up with for "in service in an area". When I was in the Navy (US), we had two such awards (I got both of them). One was the "Navy Expeditionary Medal" and the other was the "Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal". Both were for operating in an area of conflict (war zone) in which no other campaign medal applied (El Salvador, Grenada and Beirut, for example). The Navy medal was awarded when it was a purely naval event; the Armed Forces medal when all services got a piece of it.

The only award I can think of is called "To a Warrior-Internationalist". It is described as an "Honorary Badge" and was primarily given for Afghanistan, although it may have been given for other later conflicts as well. It was not in existence at the time of Viet Nam. Here's an example from my collection:

My best guess is within the last 5 years. This is the period that I began to see them.

This is an example of an unofficial Soviet veteran's medal, manufactured as a fund raising item for a veterans' organization (it is not Umalatova nor is it CPRF). I believe I've seen this medal-type in, at least, 3 variations to cover different conflicts in which the Soviet Union was involved; Afghanistan, Angola, Viet Nam. This particular example is the Viet Nam variant, as indicated by the bar across the ribbon.

Yeah, I've seen those as well on our favorite auction site. The dealer also sells falange items. Seems to me that, as long as I've been collecting, I would have come across a couple of these badges before now. As it turns out, they are all new to me. Nice looking- cool- but suspect as genuine historical items. I'd have to see more in corroborative research.

The only badges/medals I know of were made for veterans of the Spanish Civil War; I don't know of any badges that were produced for the anti-fascist side during the war. The DDR made one medal and several reunion badges (I have three) and Bulgaria made one medal. That's all I know of.

Very nice 1st variation. Welcome!

The full name in Hungarian is Dolgozó Ifjúság Szövetsége (DISZ) or the Union of Working Youth. The badge would have ceased to be awarded when the DISZ was disbanded in 1956.

Great find, Kevin! One of the most difficult to find, let alone with the original case. Impressive!

Kevin,

Really great stuff! Keep it coming! :cheers:

I'd like to point out that this is a final variant of the 2nd Class award; the first variant had red/purple stones and the wreath below the State seal was gold-plated. Of note: on this particular class, the cloissone (hot enamel) State seal is on silver-plated metal. On the other two classes the metal is gold-plated.