Christian Zulus

Dear Ed, great news . A comprehensive guide and what's the price, Paul is asking ? Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, there are more than 20.000 HSL . Please, some small hints . Best regards Christian

Dear Bob, you are right ... At least the Gnitienko-Glory-group is fully researched and brought some knowledge to our collectors community . At least, the RB#3 above is for 99% a mere long-service-award . But getting a RB#3 just for years of duty, you must have got - at least - one RB as a true battle-award . So, a full research of the recipient IS very interesting, but costs also some bucks ... Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, our comrade in question seems to be one of Soviet's top-designers or scientists, who started their career during the GPW, as the order shows. Most prestigious titles: HSL + Stalin-Prize + Lenin-Prize It seems, that the top-years of his career might have been the 1950s & 1960s . Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, that might be point, but which dealers we still have: Igor, Alex and .... Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, I think, that these two Kutuzov-groups are o.k. . Also the asked prices are rather moderate - o.k., nobody of us can afford to buy them , but if you would buy the items of these two groups seperatly, you would have to pay a higher price, I guess. Order of Kutuzov & altered serial numbers: I myself have a Kutuzov 2cl with an altered serial number in my collection, which is genuine. Igor's 1cl has almost identical traces around the s/n., as my 2cl. "Victory Parade" .... I guess, that Igor can't afford, to put any not-100-%-stuff at his dealers website. Igor had been always 100 % - and that's his reputation . Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, congratulations to your victory . I have been to slow - as usual . As far, as I have read, the Iranian Navy copied that old Soviet concept of "Stealth-Boats" somehow, but in much smaller scale. Best regards Christian

Dear Sergey, great painting - many thanks for sharing . Are there some more from this series ? Question: Why is there a white dot at the Red Star on the cap ? Best regards Christian

Dear Alex, congratulations to your victory #1 I couldn't find any complete list of the "Shevchenko-Prize-Winners" in the internet . The sub-question of the Soviet-order-creation is interesting . According to his age, it might be one of the GPW-orders, or one of the later Brezhnev-orders . Best regards Christian

Dear Alex, I am sure, that you have got the correct answer - congratulations . I would have never found the solution of Marc's tricky puzzle . Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, you are right - my mistake and I brought back the submarines in post #350 . First I guessed, that a vessel HAS to be a surface-ship, because a sub had been never called a "vessel" - either a boat or a cruiser (the really large ones). I guess, that Alex (RedMaestro) might be on the right track . There had been a fruitile collaboration between the German Reichswehr and the RKKA till 1933 in some (rather) high-tech fields: Aircrafts, tanks and subs. Best regards Christian

Rohwer/Monakov-book Gentlemen, the above mentioned book by Rohwer/Monakov shows at the appendices from page 229 to page 256 the tables A2 & A3 listing all "Warships of the RKKF/VMF, laid down or odererd, 1926 - 1945". So, the asked vessel HAS to be in that list and the length (in meters!) suits to destroyers, patrol boats, etc. and also to submarines ... Best regards Christian

Not the L?TZOW Gentlemen, it's not the "L?tzow" or "Petropavlovsk" or "Tallin" - too late and far too long: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCtzow_(1939) Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, I myself - as a member of the armed forces of a land locked country - am not THE expert of naval history. But let's try to sum up Marc's hints and his basic question: In the 1930's, the Soviet Union launched a vessel with a major "peculiarity". 1. What was the name of that vessel? 2. What type of vessel was it? 3. What was its peculiarity? 4. Who was its first captain? 5. What happened to it afterwards? First hint, let's concentrate on the first half of the 1930's. Second, the name "Truro" has some connection to our mystery. Here's a few more . We are looking for a vessel whose length is over 50 but under 100 meters . It was a kind of "prototype" from which a whole series was later developed Including the (wrong) answers, it seems, that the vessel: - is NOT a torpedo-boat (too short!) - is NOT a submarine - the basic design might be of German origin - the asked period are the early 1930s - several sister-vessels had been produced. The problem is, that the great book of Rohwer/Monakov http://www.amazon.com/Stalins-Ocean-going-...g/dp/0714648957 covers only the period of 1935 up to 1953 : I have no books in my shelf (in English or German) about the Soviet Navy, which cover the period of BEFORE 1935 in detail .... Best regards Christian

Dear Luka, congratulations to these "gems" . Do you have a (military) biography of comrade Radelic ? Had he been on service (after WW II) on the river Danube or on the Adriatic Sea ? What had been his function during WW II (Partisan Star 3cl & Soviet Red Star) ? Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, despite the very moderate starting prices, Jani's two medals remained unsold at the Stuttgart-auction. Best regards Christian

Nikolai Konstantinovich Baibakov (6 March 1911, Baku, Azerbaijan ? 31 March 2008, Moscow) Gentlemen, comrade Baibakov, HSL, GPW-veteran and one of the master-minds of Soviet economy (3 decades chief of GOSPLAN http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosplan - till 1985) died at the age 97 in Moscow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Baibakov http://www.biograph-soldat.ru/NARKOMY/ARTI...03-baibakov.htm Best regards Christian

Dear Marc, I guess, that the vessel might have been of German design ? I only found that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truro_(ship) about "Truro" in internet . Well, the ship is rather small - a destroyer or submarine ... Best regards Christian

Dear Ed, you are not a criminal, but a serious historian, who uses the "copies" for his private museum - and you don't want to fool anybody. I would opt for "Muljash" ("МУЛЯЖ"), as all museums do so . Best regards Christian

Dear Doc, nice items . For the "Druzhinnik" (Volunteer Policeman)-Badge, have a look at that thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=26362 Best regards Christian

Dear Frank, congratulations - it is him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Ivanovich_Pokryshkin Pokryshkin had been the first triple HSU (1944!) in the history of the Soviet Union . A close-up photograph, showing him with the banner at the "Victory Parade": Question #193 is now your turn. Best regards Christian

New question #192 & my GMIC-post #2500 Gentlemen, with this post at GMIC several incidents are to celebrate: - my post #2500 here at GMIC - being the first to achieve 40 good answers at Christophe's quiz (= 2nd HSA) - getting a ultra-perfect copy of the "Victory Flag" via an information by Dan "Hauptman" Taking these incidents - and the recent history of Christophe's quiz - into account, let's stay with the the "Victory Parade" 1945 . The question will be simple and you'll need to post only one name to be the winner . Question #192: Have a look at this pic from the "Victory Parade": Who is that smart comrade in the background carrying the heavy banner of the "1st Ukrainian Front" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Ukrainian_Front ? Just the name and you are the winner . Best regards Christian

Tupolev Tu-4 "Bull" Gentlemen, before I go on with the new question #192, I will post some material dealing with Wild Card's question. There is a very fine book about the Tu-4, which should be a "must" for all, who are interested in Soviet aviation: http://www.rollmodels.net/nbookreview/othe...r7/redstar7.php Out of this book some pics showing the designer Tupolev & Tu-4: On board of the civil version of the "Bull", the Tu-12, which shocked - as No. 4 - the West: Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, many thanks for your congratulations to my 2nd HSA . Well, gold had been never used for these busts. They used bronze. So, you actually don't need my Lenins, OPW 1cls, Glory 1cl, HSL etc. . Some mere photoshop-work will do it ... Best regards Christian

Dear Belaruski, doesn't the inscription say "Ochrane", which means "Secret Police" ? That term had been already used in Czarist Russia. Best regards Christian