Mongolia Choibalsan award chronology in pictures

[Ed_Haynes]

As an adjunct to my our efforts at detailing Soviet awards to Mongolian leaders

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10329

and our depiction of awards in wear

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5489

I have been trying to disentangle the awards chronology or Marshal Choibalsan, using available photos.

With advance apologies to those whose photos I have "borrowed", I'll present here what I can find and solicit more images and more information, especially a refinement of the chronology to these photos that can be cross-referenced to a chronology of his awards. When/if records become available, we can see how well (or badly) we have done?

Edited September 14, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Ed_Haynes]

A bright-eyed and svelte young Choibalsian with his mates. Battushig (p. 15) captions this "Choibalsan with comrades after the graduation of the military academy in Russia 1922". Seems fair. No medals yet, but soon!

[Ed_Haynes]

Not much later, but with a new uniform and a (very?) new medal, his RSFSR Red Banner (March 1922). The full picture shows him side-by-side with an over-dressed Marshal Budyonny (Battushig, p. 13).

[Ed_Haynes]

And here the chronology gets messy . . . .

Here he is with Brotherly Northern Friends. See

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5489&st=16

One Red Banner (1922), one pre-1940 ORBMV, and his pre-1940 Polar Star. Maybe 1939-ish?

[Ed_Haynes]

About the same time??? Speaking out.

I am having trouble with the awards here. Can clearer eyes squint a bit?

[Ed_Haynes]

You want muddy? The cover photo of an undated biography, Монголын хувьсгалын алдарт их удирдагч улсын (маршал) єрлєг жанжин нєхєр Чойбалсан. If you wish to practice your bichig, the whole file is online as a PDF at

http://www.chriskaplonski.com/downloads/choibalsan.pdf

[Ed_Haynes]

An interesting image. Shown before at

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5489&st=18

Four (but unnumbered?) pre-1940 ORBMV, his pre-1940 Polar Star, he has now added his second (numbered) Soviet Red Banner. An image ca. 1939/1940?

[Ed_Haynes]

OK -

- in 1940 he turns in his OBRMV and Polar Star badges for the new design

- 10 July 1941 he gets a badge for his "Hero" title

- sometime before 1943 he gets his first Lenin

- sometime he gets the Tuvan Order of the Republic

While he received the rank of Marshal in 1936 (a useful tool for some of the photos above?), the star wasn't introduced until 1940. But Choibalsan didn't always wear it!

So . . . maybe . . . 1941/1942?

[Ed_Haynes]

And one with his hat on, shown at

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5489&st=0

[Ed_Haynes]

Sometime (toward the end of the war?), he poses with his Northern Buddy Zhukov with a somewhat abbreviated set of awards.

See: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5489&st=7

[Ed_Haynes]

Sometime toward the end of the war, Choibalsan dresses up and poses with lis "little buddy" Tsedenbal. See:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5489&st=25

He has acquired a second Lenin (after 1943) now worn on suspension and here wears his marshal's star.

[Ed_Haynes]

Oops, missed this one. Please mentally insert before the previous one.

Sometime before his second Lenin. And five (5!) apparently unnumbered OBRMVs.

[Ed_Haynes]

And a similar shot with his second Lenin.

[Ed_Haynes]

The war is over (I think this is from the Victory Parade?) and

- he gets his Suvorov 1st class - 8 September 1945

- he gets his second hero - 20 September 1945

- he gets a new Soviet medal for the victory over Germany (?)

- he remounts his Soviet medals

Edited September 14, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Ed_Haynes]

This previous picture must be

- from before 1945 when the Order of Sukhbaatar was instituted (Choibalsan would eventually get three of them, two for his two "hero" awards)

- and from before 1946 when the hero star was redesigned into a more "Soviet" award

This picture must date from after 1946, as he wears the new designs and and cut back (to make space?) to just four of the new (post-1945) design of the ORBCV. He has also messily added a victory over Japan to the single (victory over Germany?) Soviet WWII medal that he wears indistinctly in the above picture. As the victory over Germany was created 9 May 1945 and the Japan medal waited until 30 September 1945, maybe there is a chronological hint here?? When were they actually distributed to "allied states"?

Edited September 14, 2006 by Ed_Haynes

[Ed_Haynes]

Choibalsan died 26 January 1952. Here, as a grumpy (grumpier?) old man, he seems to have made space on his overcoat for all five (unnumbered?) ORBCs.

[Ed_Haynes]

Please, can anyone fill gaps or refine my "readings"? Thanks.

[Paul L Murphy]

Ed,

If I had to walk around carrying all that metal I'd look grumpy too !

Paul

[Eric Schena]

What a great chonology - thanks for putting this together.

In post 5 (Choibalsan speaks his mind from the podium), it looks like he is wearing the ORBMV at the top left and the USSR ORB at the top right, but I could be wrong. Can't reall decypher the other three though.

Off topic but somewhat related side note: I always thought Mako would have made a great Choibalsan if a movie were ever made of something like Khalkhin Gol. Unfortunately Mako died recently, which is quite a shame, I really enjoyed his work.

[Vatjan]

And here the chronology gets messy . . . .

Here he is with Brotherly Northern Friends. See

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5489&st=16

One Red Banner (1922), one pre-1940 ORBMV, and his pre-1940 Polar Star. Maybe 1939-ish?

1939 would be a good guess, this is the medal combination you can see him wearing during a visit to the Khalkhin Gol front

[Riley1965]

Ed, That's an OUTSTANDING Chronology of a GREAT MAN You are indeed lucky my friend. What a photo record of one man's career!!!

Doc

[Christophe]

Ed,

I'm discovering this thread today only... This is one of the reasons that make you get interest in Mongolian awards. But, I still resist the slippery slope... At least, I try...

Cheers.

Ch.

[Ed_Haynes]

Ed,

I'm discovering this thread today only... This is one of the reasons that make you get interest in Mongolian awards. But, I still resist the slippery slope... At least, I try...

Cheers.

Ch.

Let me examine the expert Mongolian seers . . . the shamans say . . . the Slippery Slope will win!

The phaleristic/historical/cultural depth here is amazing!

[Gerd Becker]

Great thread. I wonder, if he converted his soviet scewback awards, ie. Order of Lenin, Order of Red Banner, but more likely he got reissues as one of the important guys.

[Ed_Haynes]

Good question, though hard to answer as those parts of his goup have yet to come to light.

Many puzzles persist.