Christian Zulus

Dear Andy, your 1cl is really great . Did you buy the order in Belgrade? How much did you pay for him? Best regards Christian

Results from Vienna Gentlemen, the hammer price had been ? 4.800,- (incl. all fees & taxes). Is that price still moderate for such an rare order ? Here is the link to the other results of YU-Awards: http://www.hdrauch.com/auction/stamps/inde...a9c77d82fd4738a (please add 20 % to the listed hammer prices). But I posted all the results of the different orders at the specific thread of GMIC-YU for the orders. Best regards Christian

My first Hungarian item Gentlemen, the badge is a bit larger than 1 inch in diameter: Which "class" or rank of Szocialista Brigad Badge is it - 3cl ? Is it an early or late badge? Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, that's my first Mongolian item, nothing special, but at least with a nice (Soviet ?) design: Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, both of you are rather close concerning the circle of people, but the comrade in question had been closer to Voroshilov, than to Kirov. The ship is not a heavy cruiser, but a light cruiser and a very, very modern construction for WW II. And it is neither the Baltic, nor the Black Sea. Special hint: I mentioned the term "transportation" in my introduction of the question .... O.K., now the answer should be easy . Best regards Christian

Dear Vic, Gnitienko got his Glory 2cl & 1cl not for rescuing comrades, but for killing Hitlerites and he didn't get any other orders, except a 1985-OPW 1cl. An Army is a rather large unit and so it will be very, very unlikly, that the Sergeant rescued the Private. Best regards Christian

Dear Vic, sorry ...., Private Svinarenko had been too young, so he entered service in the 51st Army around june 1944. Sergeant Gnitienko rescued his 4 comrades in april 1944. Sergeant Gnitienko served at the Crimean Peninsula in spring 1944 in the 2nd Guards Army and moved in june 1944 to the 51st Army, where Private Svinarenko started his service in the Red Army. The 51st Army had been a very, very meritorious army, despite the fact, that they never reached "Guards-Rank": Defending of Crimea, Stalingrad, Caucasus, liberation of Crimea, Bagration & Baltics. The famous Jewish General Yakov Kreiser had been their CO in 1945: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=137101 . Best regards Christian

Dear Vic, you and I are the memory of Private Svinarenko and Sergeant Gnitienko - both passed away, but their heroic deeds are presented and alive here at GMIC. Two other coincidences: - Private Svinarenko and Sergeant Gnitienko served in the 51st Army from june 1944 on and during the "Operation Bagration" and the (several) "Baltic Opertions", where Private Svinarenko almost sacrificed his life. - Sergeant Gnitienko got his Glory 3cl for rescuing 4 severly wounded comrades from the battle field under risking his own life (Crimea, april 1944) and Private Svinarenko had been himself severly wounded in january 1945, when both - Gnitienko & Svinarenko - served in the 51st Army. I have to wait for further documents about Gnitienko from our researcher and maybe they might show some even closer ties between the two Ukrainian heros. Please inform me whenever you want to sell Svinarenko's Glory 3cl - I will do it the other way round . It would be great to see the Glories of Svinarenko & Gnitienko side on side . Best regards Christian

Order of Glory - 2 Ukrainians participating at the same battles and getting Orders of Glory Dear Vic, that's a really interesting conincidence : Your Private Svinarenko and my Sergeant Gnitienko (both of Ukrainian nationality!) fought at the rather same places: - Crimea 1944 (where Gnitienko got his Glory 3cl & 2cl) - Shauliai 1944, "Operation Bagration" (where - exactly in Jeglava, which is already in Latvia - Gnietienko got his second 2cl and decades later the Glory 1cl) Best regards Christian

MORE THAN 1.500 REPLIES AT THE QUIZ-THREAD Gentlemen, we just passed the the 1.500-replies-benchmark. Congratulations to Christophe and to all contributors & participants . Best regards Christian

Question #131 Gentlemen, after such difficult questions now a very, very easy one . Who am I ? Despite the fact, that I had to do nothing with naval transportation, the Soviet Navy gave my name to that nice & cute ship: 1) What is my name? 2) Which class of ship do we see at the photograph? 3) When had the ship with my name been launched? 4) Where did the ship initially do it's service? Due to the fact, that the question is rather easy, the winner is, who answers ALL 4 question in a sufficient way . Best regards Christian

Dear Christophe, many thanks for your congratulations . It had been a truly hard job for me, but I had to get the right answer as fast as possible, because you already came very close to my score of victories and Frank Knarf would be able to answer your BARTCC-question within 2 minutes . Best regards Christian BTW: From which time is the photograph - it looks rather old?

Dear Gerd, your argument makes sense . Maybe the comrade had been wounded during the GPW, got first the 2cl and argued then, that he as a wounded victim of the GPW should get the 1cl . Best regards Christian

Dear Jens, yes, without doubt, that's a very fine Sevastopol Medal Var. 2 . Attention: There are big and easy visible differences (picture in the centre of the naval infantrist and sailor) in the design of a Sevastopol Var. 1 vs. Sevastopol Var. 2 . I have only a Sevastopol Var. 1 in my collection ... There you see a Var. 2 at Igor's website - also in mint condition: http://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEM.HTM?ITEM=16658 Best regards Christian

BARTCC (Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center) Dear Christophe, this USAF Staff Sergeant is located in the Tempelhof Air Base in West-Berlin and looking via his radar-screen at the 3 West Berlin Air Corridors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Berlin_Air_Corridor . The institution had been called BARTCC (Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center). The radar-screen 1989 at Tempelhof-airport: Well, the USAF Staff Sergeant might be from the US 7350th Air Base Group . On 10th of july 1945 the US 852nd Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived at Tempelhof and the US-Forces stayed there till 1993. BARTCC controlled and regulated airways for civil and military air traffic of the Western Allies between West Berlin and the other Federal German States over the 3 air corridors of the German Democratic Republic. During the Berlin Airlift 1948/49 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Blockade Tempelhof Air Base played a major role. The photograph with the USAF Staff Sergeant might be from the time of the Berlin Airlift . The name Tempelhof Air Base had been instituted with the USAF in 1947 and I guess, that BARTCC might have been instituted during the Berlin Airlift . Hope my answer is somehow correct . Best regards Christian

Dear Andy, Milan has the 3rd largest collection of Serbian Awards in the world , as a friend of Milan told to me. Milan started with (communist) YU-Awards and had - except of the "Order of Freedom" - a 100 % complete and full collection. Sold all his YU-Awards and switched over to Serbian awards - still at a time, when their prices had been rather moderate. Best regards Christian

Dear Auke, highly interesting group . Seems that your comrade hadn't been in the ranks of the Red Army, Navy or NKVD at all . I had been possible for non-army comrades during the GPW to get an RS or OPW. The confering of OPW to civilian people had been stopped after the war. My explaination for the two 1985-OPW is, that one of them might be a replacement for an OPW he got during the GPW and he lost . Best regards Christian

Dear Charles, very nice item with great silver patina . Best regards Christian

Partisan Star 3cl Gentlemen, in terms of design & beauty the Soviet made Partisan Stars 3cl are my favorite medals in my YU-collection. I think, the the 3cl is more "classic" & "military" in design, as the 1cl or 2cl - guns are guns . I also regard the Croatian sculptor Antun Augustincic (1900 - 1979) http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=16619 , who designed the Partisan Stars, as an outstanding artist. As with the Soviet Order of Glory http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...st&p=184997 , I love the very pure & classic design of the Partisan Star, more or less in "Art Deco"-style. That's my beauty and me: Best regards Christian

Order of Glory 1cl. - rv.

Order of Glory 1cl. - detail av.

Order of Glory designed by N. I. Moskalyov Gentlemen, in terms of design & beauty my favorite Soviet order in my collection is Sergeant Gnitienko's Glory 1cl. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5536 . This Glory 1cl. s/n. 1965 is part of my full Cavaliers set of the 1st grade (= Order of Glory 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class medals with accompanying Full Cavalier award booklet that includes photo of recipient, official military commissariat stamp on photo and date when booklet was issued plus all standard entries). The Glory is a very pure & classic design, more or less in "Art Deco"-style AND it's the only order with some design at the r.v. Due to the fact, that Gnitienko's Glory 1cl. is a very late catch-up award, the condition of the order is almost 10/10 . I also love all the other designs of N. I. Moskalyov, like Kutuzov (happy to have a 2cl in my collection), Khmelnitsky and the medals: Partisan, Leningrad, Moscow, Odessa, Sevastopol (??), Stalingrad, Caucasus and 30th anniversary of the Soviet Army and Navy. Best regards Christian

Dear Frank, I couldn't find a map of the GSFG-airfields ... . Best regards Christian

Dear Jens, seems to be an unissued very late version fresh from the stock. Do you have better scans, where the details are more visible? Best regards Christian

Gentlemen, well, at the first glimpse the Nevsky looks o.k., if we consider, that he is a r.i. according to the low s/n. The mint mark and the style of the s/n. engraving looks for me also o.k. The wear is also rather typical. The enamel dosen't look soooo convincing at the scan, but that might be caused by the photograph . Best regards Christian