Soviet Wound Stripe Wonder

[Wild Card]

Nice one Wild Card! Do you know any of the stories behind his Order of Glory citations?

Sure, Paul R. Here is what I've got...

[Paul R]

Sure, Paul R. Here is what I've got...

I did not know that the Navy had mortarmen!! Very unique story there!

[Riley1965]

That's what I love about the Order of Glory...PURE HEROISM!!! This is a very interesting summation of this young mans rise to Cavalier.

Doc

[Wild Card]

I did not know that the Navy had mortarmen!! Very unique story there!

A good point.

I would like point to the fact that there were the Soviet ?Naval Infantry? units. Beyond that, remember, for instance, that once the Baltic Fleet was blockaded in at Leningrad, most of the ship?s crews were, in essence, handed rifles (and mortars?) and sent to the front lines. As a result, there were Naval Infantry units as large as brigade strength, so surely they had their own mortar crews.

Now we do not have any evidence that our subject was in a formally designated unit; but rather, could have been assigned to an existing or newly created non naval infantry unit. Since uniform similarity was not a priority in those times, there was quite a bit of ?You have a uniform - wear it?. Occasionally one even sees pictures of Soviet soldiers wearing naval uniforms in Berlin at Surrender Time.

I?d like to hear any and all opinions on this. Thank you Paul R.

Wild Card

[Wild Card]

That's what I love about the Order of Glory...PURE HEROISM!!! This is a very interesting summation of this young mans rise to Cavalier.

Doc

Absolutely true - sometimes even more so than citations for the Gold Hero?s Star.

Recognizing something of your areas of interest through your posts, I would like to point to the number of Glory awards, sometimes to medical personnel, for rescuing wounded comrades under fire.

[slava1stclass]

To all:

There were indeed instances of Full Cavaliers who came from the ranks of the Soviet naval infantry (morskaya pekhota) - they were very few in number. Since the bio for Barybin lists him as having served solely with a Guards airborne division and makes no reference to any earlier naval service on his part, I question whether the Double Slava winning sailor pictured above is Barybin. Serving in a regular Red Army Guards airborne unit as he did, he would have worn a Red Army uniform.

A possible explanation is that he transferred to the Navy at some later point. Wild Card, is there text associated with this photo to verify it is Barybin? Thank you.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited December 2, 2008 by slava1stclass

[Wild Card]

Would the information on the picture shown below be of any help?

I would also point out that the picture in the book on cavilers of the Order of Glory shows the same man, identified as Bareebin. In that picture, he is wearing what I would call a standard field cap and tunic.

[Wild Card]

Notation on reverse of photo.

[slava1stclass]

Would the information on the picture shown below be of any help?

I would also point out that the picture in the book on cavilers of the Order of Glory shows the same man, identified as Bareebin. In that picture, he is wearing what I would call a standard field cap and tunic.

Wild Card,

Thanks. While the two images are the same individual, there is nothing on the reverse of the second photo to identify him as Barybin. The second photo is dated June 11th, 1953. In this photo he appears to be wearing either three separate Order of Glory ribbons or possibly two Order of Glory ribbons and the ribbon for Victory over Germany (which is exactly the same). From the translation of his bio above it is unclear to me when he demob'ed as the year was missing from the text and the text refers to a "Master Sergeant Dronov" and not Barybin.

The other full word on the back is "Somorskiy." In Imperial Russia there was a Somorskiy shipyard. Uncertain if there is any connection.

I'll check my references and let you know if I find anything more.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited December 2, 2008 by slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

Wild Card,

Checked my references. Barybin was demob'ed in 1945 and died in 1957. I found nothing to indicate any naval service on his part. Since he demob'ed in 1945 and immediately returned to civilian life, he had no follow-on service with the Navy.

I saw the image in the Full Cavalier encyclopedia. While there are similarities in appearance, the details of Barybin's military service i.e., Guards Airborne NCO (finishing with the rank of Guards Airborne Sergeant Major) and the fact he's wearing the standard Red Army "pilotka" field cap and tunic in the accompanying image, speak against the gent in the two above photos being Barybin.

In the first photograph, the sailor is wearing no identifiable insignia of rank and would appear to be a lower ranking seaman. While he has the Order of the Red Star, two Slavas, two Medals for Valor and also wears the airborne qualification badge and Guards insignia this is not ununsual. I have in my collection an image of a naval recon Double Slava winner similarly attired/decorated. The fact that naval personnel were awarded the Order of Glory with some of them rising to Full Cavalier status is documented.

I would recommend you request Barybin's standard awards record card and/or Full Cavalier special awards record card to develop more information.

Some general order of battle information on the 2nd Guards Airborne Division: 2nd Guards Airborne Division was established at Zvenigorod in December 1942. Fought at Ponyri, Kursk, Korsun and in the Carpathians. With 1st Guards Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front as of May 1945. Disbanded, seemingly after loss of its divisional colors, soon after the war ended.

As time permits, I may cross check my research to see if I might be able to match the sailor images against one of the known naval service Full Cavaliers.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited December 2, 2008 by slava1stclass

[Wild Card]

Hello Slava 1 class,

I have sent word a couple of days ago to get the rest of my Bareebin material back here (I do not keep these things here at home). I expect it to arrive later today. Hopefully it will provide some answers.

Best wishes,

Wild Card

[Wild Card]

OK. The additional material arrived today and here is what we have. The Awards Book.

[Wild Card]

Inside front cover w/photo.

[Wild Card]

?Name Page?

[Wild Card]

Awards list

[Wild Card]

Record report 1

[Wild Card]

Record report 2

[Wild Card]

Record report 3

[Wild Card]

Record report 4

[Wild Card]

Now, I do not think that any of this explains the naval uniform; but it does pretty well confirm the name with the face.

A thought - is it possible that he was temporarily assigned to a naval (infantry?) unit, say for a special operation? While I was in the army, I took part in two such operations which, while basically army operations, had Navy SEAL demolition teams attached along with Marine helicopters... and others.

[slava1stclass]

Now, I do not think that any of this explains the naval uniform; but it does pretty well confirm the name with the face.

A thought - is it possible that he was temporarily assigned to a naval (infantry?) unit, say for a special operation? While I was in the army, I took part in two such operations which, while basically army operations, had Navy SEAL demolition teams attached along with Marine helicopters... and others.

Wild Card,

Thank you for the additional information. Unfortunately, as you noted, there is nothing in this documentation to confirm a naval link. It is clear his entire wartime service was with Guards airborne organizations.

Since he wasn't demob'ed until September 1945, the only possible explanation is that he transferred to the Navy post-conflict (and prior to his demobilization). If it is in fact Barybin pictured in sailor's attire, we know it is a post-conflict picture as he's wearing the medal for Victory over Germany. Speaking against this being Barybin, however, is the fact the sailor wears "dixie cup" style headgear and not the "saucer cap" associated with Soviet naval NCOs (see below photo). As we know, at war's end, Barybin was a Guards Sergeant Major.

Does any of your Barybin documentation verify/confirm the four wounds displayed in the sailor photo?

While we may never know the answer, you can nevertheless be very content in the knowledge that you have a Full Cavalier set to a Guards airborne soldier. Full Cavaliers from the Guards airborne ranks were very few in number.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited December 3, 2008 by slava1stclass

[Sergey]

Yes very interesting theme and good photos. Thanks.

[Guest Rick Research]

The white officer's Kitel with what appear to be army buttons and no shoulder rank is very strange.

I think this is a job for Super Epson!

Sure looks to me not only to be Himself in the navy photo from every angle of appearance BUT--

I'm surprised that nobody has remarked upon this--

in addition of course to the parachutist badge ...

the sailor is wearing the ARMY Guards badge and NOT the NAVY (rectangle with Glory ribbon) one. :rolleyes:

[slava1stclass]

Sure looks to me not only to be Himself in the navy photo from every angle of appearance BUT--

I'm surprised that nobody has remarked upon this--

in addition of course to the parachutist badge ...

the sailor is wearing the ARMY Guards badge and NOT the NAVY (rectangle with Glory ribbon) one.

Rick,

The naval version of the Guards insignia was used only for a limited period of time. As seen in this image of a HSU Guards Major naval aviator (note anchors on those Epson-crisp buttons), the Navy switched to the standard Guards badge at some point during the war.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[Wild Card]

the sailor is wearing the ARMY Guards badge and NOT the NAVY (rectangle with Glory ribbon) one.

For the benefit of members who are not familiar with them (they do not come around often), here is a naval guards badge -