Soviet Soviet & Eastern Block Quiz

[Bryan]

My questions :

#1 What is this?

#2 Where was this located? (Please name the city and the exact place)

#3 When was this build and what later replaced this thing?

#4 What was special with this place throughout the Cold War?

Edited May 8, 2007 by Soviet

[Christian Zulus]

Dear Bryan,

never seen that monument before ....

These are the "big 3" from the beginning of the Potsdam-Conference (Churchill had been replaced, due to the lost election):

Seems that this monument was located in Germany, around Potsdam, Berlin ....

It's a Soviet monument with Russian letters.

Somehow a monument to commorate the 3 Allies in WW II and their victory over Nazi-Germany ?

Best regards

Christian

BTW: Why didn't they take Roosevelt instead of Truman ?

Edited May 8, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Bryan]

BTW: Why didn't they take Roosevelt instead of Truman ?

Hint: They replaced him after he died.

[Christophe]

A question for Berlin lovers...

#1 What is this?

It is the first Soviet Saluting Base, for military parades.

#2 Where was this located? (Please name the city and the exact place)

Former West-Berlin. Midway between the Brandenburg Gate and the Grosser Stern, close to where the Siegesallee crossed the road. Today, Strasse des 17 Juni.

#3 When was this build and what later replaced this thing?

May 1945. Later, in November 1945, it has been replaced by the permanent Soviet War Memorial.

#4 What was special with this place throughout the Cold War?

It was the only place in West Berlin (British sector), where there was a free access for Soviet troups.

Cheers.

Ch.

[Christophe]

The Memorial.

Ch.

Pic : Ray D'Addario

[Bryan]

And we have a new winner on the VE Day !!!

It is indeed the Victory Tribune on the former Siegesallee. And it was later replaced by the Sowjetisches Ehrenmal in Tiergarten (Soviet War Memorial).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_War_Me...28Tiergarten%29

Here is an other pictures from the tribune from the book "Berlin then and now" from Tony le Tissier.

[Bryan]

Here is a larger image from the Soviet memorial.

[Christian Zulus]

And we have a new winner on the VE Day !!!

Dear Bryan,

the 9th of may is tomorow ...

Best regards

Christian

Edited May 8, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Christian Zulus]

Dear Christophe,

congratulations to your victory #17 .

You are coming (very) close & France has taken the lead .

Best regards

Christian

[Bryan]

the 9th of may is tomorow ...

Yes but today it's the Victory in Europe Day. It is celebrated for exemple today in France and tomorrow in Russia.

[Christian Zulus]

Yes but today it's the Victory in Europe Day. It is celebrated for exemple today in France and tomorrow in Russia.

Dear Bryan,

that's absolutly correct, but our dear Chairman named our hughe section "Soviet & Communist Era Militaria & Awards" .

So, at that section of GMIC the 9th of may seems to be more aprobriate .

Best regards

Christian

[Bryan]

So why do you keep posting post-1995 yugoslavian threads?

[Christian Zulus]

So why do you keep posting post-1995 yugoslavian threads?

Dear Bryan,

well, I think we agreed, to include awards in our YU-section till the end of the Milosevic-era and call them "transitional" items . Due to the fact, that Yugoslavia still used the old communist forms of orders & medals and Yugoslavia under the Milosevic-regime had still somehow a "socialist" character.

So it is quite "legal" to post at the YU-section threads dealing with awards or historic events up to october 2000 .

The rest of the YU-awards - before 1943 and after october 2000 - is part of JimZ's rather new section.

Best regards

Christian

[Christian Zulus]

Dear Christophe,

we are waiting for your question #115 .

Best regards

Christian

[Christophe]

Question #115

The Order of Suvorov, one of the most prestigious Soviet awards has been established on 29 July 1942.

This award was created to award "Red Army commanders for distinguished accomplsihments in control troops, for organizing combat operations and displaying decisiveness and persistence in their execution as a result achieved victory in battles for the Motherland in the Patriotic war."

The 1st class order was awarded to army commanders for exceptional direction of combat operations, while the 2nd class order was awarded to corps, divisions, and brigade commanders for a decisive victory over a numerically superior enemy, and the 3rd class orderto regiment commanders, their chief of staff, and battalion and company commanders for outstanding leadership leading to a battle victory.

The Suvorov 1st class has been awarded to many Marshals of the Soviet Union, and Army and Aviation military leaders.

Only one Naval military leader has ever been awarded the Suvorov 1st Class.

1. Who was this Naval military leader ?

2. When has he been awarded this Order ?

3. For which action ?

Bonus :

4. Serial Number of his Suvorov 1st Class ?

Good hunt and good luck.

Cheers.

Ch.

[Christian Zulus]

Question #115

Only one Naval military leader has ever been awarded the Suvorov 1st Class.

1. Who was this Naval military leader ?

2. When has he been awarded this Order ?

3. For which action ?

Bonus :

4. Serial Number of his Suvorov 1st Class ?

1. Admiral Georgi Chostjakov, CO in 1943 of the Soviet Navy in Novorossiysk.

2. 1943 ?

3. For successful commanding the operation "Malaja Semlja" ("Small Land") in 1943, bridgehead close to Novorossiysk. The Admiral himself fought with a machine pistol in the first row.

4. ?

"Malaja Semlja" had been THAT Brezhnev-Mythos, he had been there political officer, as you can see at the painting .

Best regards

Christian

Edited May 12, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Christophe]

Great job, Christian!!!

Here are the answers :

1. Who was this Naval military leader ?

Vice-Admiral Georgi Kholostiakov (exact name... ), Commander of the Soviet Navy and of the naval base of Novorossiisk.

2. When has he been awarded this Order ?

Awarded on 18 September 1943.

3. For which action ?

Your answer is absolutely correct :

For successful commanding the operation "Malaja Semlja" ("Small Land") in 1943, bridgehead close to Novorossiysk. The Admiral himself fought with a machine pistol in the first row.

Bonus :

4. Serial Number of his Suvorov 1st Class ?

Order of Suvorov 1st Class - SN 154.

For complementary information, below is what Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Nikolai Kuznetsov said about these events in his book : "Memoirs of Wartime Minister of the Navy - Progress Publishers 1990" :

" (...) Early in 1943, the Nazis were forced to pass to the defensive in the Northern Caucasus. GHQ ordered the Southern and Transcaucasian Fronts to encircle and wipe out the enemy force there. The main part was to be played by the Southern Front and the Black Sea Group of Forces (under Lieutenant General I.Y. Petrov). The latter conducted its operations in close cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet.

The sailors prepared for these engagements with great enthusiasm. Among other missions it was intended to liberate Novorossiisk, an important port.

In the latter half of November 1942, when the Battle of Stalingrad was raging furiously, I was summoned to GHQ and received by J.V. Stalin. He said that the General Staff was working on an offensive operation in the south. He asked me to prepare proposals on the fleet's operations. When I arrived at the General Staff, I learnt, as it frequently happened, that the plans had already been drawn up. The General Staff only wanted to know a few details. In the operation of Novorossiisk the ships and coastal defence batteries of the fleet were to provide Fire support to the Forty Seventh Army in the penetration of enemy defences. The fleet was to land a descent in proximity of Yuzhnaya Ozereika which was to assist the units of the Forty Seventh Army in the taking of Novorossiisk. The submarines and air arm were to disrupt the enemy's shipping between the Crimea and the Taman Peninsula. At the same time the fleet was to assure uninterrupted delivery of war supplies by sea along the Caucasian coast.

Though the plan for the landing of descents at Yuzhnaya Ozereika and Stanichka was worked out in a haste, it was thorough and detailed. It was decided that sailors would be in the assault wave. To this end I issued an order transferring the 255th Marine Brigade, the 323rd, 324th and 327th Marine Battalions to the Black Sea Group of Forces. The descents and ships engaged in exercises in daylight and darkness to achieve efficient cooperation between all the forces carrying out the operation.

The main descent was to be landed at Yuzhnaya Ozereika and the secondary descent at Stanichka. Rear Admiral N.Y. Basisty was charged with the transportation and landing of the main descent. His ships were to provide artillery support to the descent and protect the transport vessels.

On January 27, 1943, the left flank of the Black Sea Group of Forces (of the Transcaucasian Front) went over to the offensive before it was able to regroup its units. The Army was supported by the fleet air arm, six coastal defence batteries and the cruiser Voroshilov. But the assaults were unsuccessful. It also proved impossible to land the descent. The enemy had concentrated a large force on the shore. In addition, a strong gale was blowing and the sea was rough. The wave that had been landed was ordered to break through the enemy dispositions and force its way to Stanichka.

The landing operation at Stanichka was more successful. The arrival of ships there was a surprise for the enemy. The assaults of the descent were effectively supported by coastal defence batteries. Another reason why the landing went off successfully here was that the enemy's attention was focussed on beating off the assaults of Army units and our descent at Yuzhnaya Ozereika. Major Kunikov's detachment numbering 900 officers and men secured a foothold and consolidated the ground. The fleet commander took advantage of the situation to land the main body of the descent there. Thus, the secondary attack was turned into the main attack. By February 15, the beachhead was being held by 17,000 troops, tanks and artillery. It had a frontage of seven kilometres and a depth of three-four kilometres. Owing to lack of forces the descent was unable to develop the offensive. In addition, the situation was complicated by lack of support from land. The Forty Seventh Army failed to penetrate the enemy's defences.

The Naval Staff closely watched the developments and regularly reported the situation to me. Moscow tried to help, although it was difficult to do so. The fleet command was also doing its best to develop the offensive, but was unable to do very much.

Despite this, the descents landed near Novorossiisk played a big role. The beachhead at Stanichka which later became widely known as Little Land compelled the enemy to divert a large force.

On February 18, I was summoned to GHQ. I was ordered urgently to go to the Black Sea Fleet and to supervise the transfer of troops to Gelendzhik, which were to be moved to Little Land.

A group of generals under Lieutenant General S.M. Shtemenko, chief of operations department of the General Staff, immediately proceeded to General I.I. Maslennikov's headquarters. He was then preparing for an offensive. I went by car to Tuapse via Shapsug Pass. When I arrived there practically all the troops had been moved. The last units were already aboard the destroyers Nezamozhnik, Besposhchadny and Soobrazitelny on February 25.

We already knew that GHQ decided to build up the strength of the forces near Stanichka, because this beachhead offered an advantage for subsequent development of an offensive in the direction of Novorossiisk.

By the end of February, there were two-a descent and an infantry-corps in Stanichka. These formations expanded the beachhead bringing the frontline to the suburbs of Novorossiisk. The length of the frontage was now 45 kilometres.

I suddenly learnt that it was proposed to land another big descent there.

When Marshal G.K. Zhukov, General S.M. Shtemenko and I arrived in the Novorossiisk zone, Georgi Konstantino-vich studied at the staff of the 18th Army under General K.N. Leselidze the possibilities for further enlargement of the beachhead.

The forces in Little Land were engaged in heavy fighting. From a hill on the outskirts of Novorossiisk you could get a good view of the whole of Tsemesskaya Harbour. But you could not see the beachhead because it was enveloped in smoke. The roar of the artillery could be heard distinctly. Air engagements were being constantly fought overhead.

During the war, I seldom went to the battle zone together with Marshal G.K. Zhukov. But though I was in his company only a few times, I could not help seeing that he was a distinguished military leader. He had a knack for making a quick and accurate estimate of events and people. He would grasp the situation deeply and comprehensively. He would see the main point, he would trust people but also check them.

Marshal Zhukov and I increased the flow of supplies to Myskhako. The importance of that beachhead was already obvious. As Zhukov and General Shtemenko studied the possibilities for the penetration of the Nazi Blue Line (which the Germans were constantly fortifying) they pinned big hopes on the forces holding Little Land. That was why Zhukov wanted to know all the details about the flow of supplies to the beachhead by sea.

Although it seemed that Little Land was very close to us (only ten miles away from our shore), the space was covered by enemy cross Fire.

G.N. Kholostyakov, the base commander, said that every run to Myskhako involved serious difficulties. Ships and vessels (mainly small vessels and craft) would make their way there only in darkness. To conceal their movement smoke-screens would be laid. Special ships and craft would be assigned the mission of diverting the enemy's attention. Other methods were devised to allow the ships and vessels to slip through without detection. The vessels carrying troops and supplies would be covered by coastal defence battery fire and large forces of the fleet air arm.

Each venture of supply ships to Little Land was planned like a full scale combat operation. The transport vessels and craft, and escort ships would be carefully prepared for the move, and routes would be plotted to take the enemy by surprise. The time of departure would be changed each time, depending on the situation. Reconnaissance would plot the enemy batteries. The crews of coastal defence batteries would take advantage of the wealth of experience acquired by the defenders of Leningrad in counterbattery fire. Our batteries and the air arm would bombard the Nazi batteries. Sometimes short, but violent engagements would be fought. Gun fire, shell bursts, hundreds of flares and beams of numerous search-lights would illuminate the harbour brightly. It would seem that it was broad daylight. While our ships headed for Little Land and discharged their cargoes there, battles would rage at sea, on land and in the air.

Despite formidable odds, we managed to supply the beach-head with all that it needed and to build up a force there, which later helped liberate Novorossiisk.

The Army and fleet air arm fliers provided reliable air cover to the beachhead until they gained air supremacy over Novorossiisk.

Having appraised the situation that had taken shape G.K. Zhukov agreed with us that, at the moment, it was inexpedient to land another big descent on Little Land. In my presence he reported this opinion to GHQ over the phone. Moscow accepted it.

At the proposal of Zhukov it was decided to discontinue the attack on the North Caucasian Front in order to prepare the formations for further determined action.

Soon after I returned to Moscow I was summoned to GHQ on April 22 or 23. Stalin asked me who I thought fit for the post of Black Sea Fleet commander.

I knew that the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was displeased with F.S. Oktyabrski. But I did not know that he was so deeply displeased. The unsuccessful landing at Yuzhnaya Ozereika must have had something to do with it too. I knew I could not do .anything to help Oktyabrski. GHQ had already taken the decision on his removal. I proposed Vice-Admiral L.A. Vladimirski. Until then he was in command of the main fleet detachment. He was a determined and shrewd commander.

Before that throughout the war, not a single fleet commander had been removed from bis post. But Oktyabrski, owing to circumstances, was removed from that post only temporarily. In less than a year, in March 1944, he was reappointed to the post of commander of the Black Sea Fleet. During that he was commander of the Amur River Naval Flotilla. (...)"

Christian, Congrats!! Your turn, now.

Cheers.

Ch.

[Christian Zulus]

Had been my victory #20

Dear Christophe,

many thanks for your congratulations .

The full name is Georgi Nikititch Kholostyakov (20.7.1902 - 22.7.1983, murdered in his flat by the robber of his decorations - the robber manufactured a ring out of his HSU-Medal *). His rank in 1943 has been Rear-Admiral. So, the Suvorov 1cl is a rather high decoration for that rank.

Some of Kholostyakov's orders:

- HSU (1965)

- 3x Lenin

- 3x RB

- Suvorov 1cl

- 2x Ushakov 1cl

- OPW 1cl

- RS

............

A 2 ruble commemorative coin:

Best regards

Christian

* The Vice-Admiral was brutally murdered by a young couple, posing as military historians, who then sold their victim's dress uniform, complete with rows of medals. Gennady Kalinin, 26, who battered Vice-Admiral Georgi Kholostyakov and his aged wife to death with a claw hammer, was sentenced to death by firing squad. The man to whom he sold the medals had his entire collection confiscated, after it was officially valued at 100,000 roubles (that has been quite a hughe fortune in the CCCP in 1983!).

Edited May 12, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Christian Zulus]

Question #116

Gentlemen,

let's stay in the biography of the heroic Vice-Admiral Georgi Nikititch Kholostyakov .

In 1945 he had been the commander of the Danube-Flottillia.

He got famous for a certain operation during the capture of Vienna. For that operation he got an outstanding high-ranking and extremly rare order from a foreign head of state. I didn't list that order in the last posting ....

1) What was that famous operation in april 1945 in Vienna?

2) Which extremly rare foreign order did Kholostyakov receive for his deed?

3) Who confered the order to him?

4) A Soviet General got crazy about the fact, that only the Admiral got that outstanding foreign order and not he himself, because his soldiers had been on board of the boats. Who was that - also rather famous - Soviet General?

Question #4 is the most important one .

Best regards

Christian

Edited May 12, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Christian Zulus]

Special hints to question #116

Gentlemen,

the foreign order, Vice-Admiral Georgi Nikititch Kholostyakov received, is named after a famous sea battle. A large square in the city of an European capital is also named after that battle .

That's a well known view of that battle:

Best regards

Christian

Edited May 14, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[Ferdinand]

All foreign orders of Kholostyakov:

Order of the British Empire (Great Britain)

Order for Military Merit 2nd Class (Bulgaria)

Order for Military Merit 3rd Class (Bulgaria)

Order of Hungarian Freedom in Silver (Hungaria)

Order of the Romanian Star 1st Class (Romania)

Star of the Romanian Peoples Republic (Romania)

Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 2nd Class (Czechoslovakia)

Military Cross 1939 (Czechoslovakia)

Partisan Star 1st Class (Yugoslavia)

(Translation from Russian, might be inaccurate.)

No name related to a sea battle. Your picture however depicts the Battle of Trafalgar. Was there an order named after this battle?

Edited May 14, 2007 by Ferdinand

[Ed_Haynes]

Your picture however depicts the Battle of Trafalgar. Was there an order named after this battle?

No, of course not.

If he were very very old he might have gotten the Naval General Service Medal with clast for "Trafalgar".

[Christian Zulus]

Trafalgar

Dear Auke,

dear Ed,

well, it might have been my mistake, that I haven't checked the so called "Trafalgar-Cross" via GOOGLE .

Captain 1st rank (Kapit?n zur See) Prof. Dr. Horst Steigleder (DDR) writes in his comprehensive book "Admirale unter Hammer & Sichel - Lebensbilder" in the chapter about Kholostyakov, that he got for his special deed a so called "Trafalgar-Cross" and that this order is the most supreme decoration for heroic naval deeds.

So, it seems, that our Admiral got only an Order of the British Empire for his heroic deed in Vienna. That order is also clearly visible at the photograph I attached, but I cut away the section of Kholostyakov's foreign awards .

It might have been, that Kholostyakov called his Order of the British Empire "Trafalgar-Cross" - he spoke a lot and too much to his murderer .

Comrade Steigleder is THE expert in Soviet naval issues in Germany, who also worked in Leningrad and helped me with the research of my group of commodore Kandybin http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11948 .

If anyone is interested in the book of Steigleder about the Soviet Admirals, please send a PM to me for the contact datas of Captain Steigleder.

So, questions 1, 3 & 4 are still unanswered .

Best regards

Christian

Edited May 14, 2007 by Christian Zulus

[JimZ]

To be more precise I believe that he did not just receive an OBE but a CBE ..... that's from the ribbon on the pic as I see it ....... and I stand to be corrected.

For those of you who may want to take a look at his award card you can check http://rusawards.ru/ussr/ordena/006%20yshakov/kavalery.htm

To answer question 1:

The Danube flottilla distinguished itself in the last push in the Vienna Operation. On March 20, defying fierce enemy fire, the ships and craft forced their way upstream to land

a marine battalion not far from Tata behind the enemy's lines. The descent had a tough time. In four days it beat off 18 assaults but held its ground firmly till our Army units arrived.

On April 13, Vienna was cleared of the Nazis. The Danubian Naval Flotilla was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class, for its part in the Vienna Operation. This was not the first award

it was honoured with. It was cited 11 times in the Supreme Commander-in-Chiefs Orders of the Day for successful action in the offensive on the southern flank of the Soviet-German Front.

The flotilla was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, Order of Nakhimov, 1st Class, and Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class. Seven thousand officers and men were honoured with government awards.

I would dare guess that Montgomery made the award ..... I cannot find anything to this effect ..... so I would also guess that Zhukov would have loved to have received that medal. But this is all conjecture on my end.

Jim

[Christian Zulus]

Dear Jim,

I think, it's an OBE and not a CBE, because a CBE should have a larger decoration, enameld cross, etc.

But what's this decoration ?

It seems to be a naval decoration (anchor!) and the crown could be British. Might this be the mysterious "Trafalgar-Cross" ?

I checked Steigleder's book again and he writes, that our Admiral got as the first foreigner in history that British Navy decoration. Steigleder doesen't write, that the "Trafalgar-Cross" is an official order of the British Empire. So it might be, that he got that Navy-Cross + (as an official decoration) an OBE .

But I couldn't find anything in GOOGLE about the "Trafalgar-Cross" ...

Coming back to my question.

I was asking for the specific opertion in Vienna.

Zhukov is far too high ranking. It's a much lower ranking General.

Some more hints:

A very well known English Lady (she got over 100 years old) lived for some time in Vienna and had been very fond of that building/construction, which had been saved by the Red Navy & Red Army in april 1945. She suggested to King George to confer that decoration to the CO of the Red Navy acting in Vienna.

Extra question:

Who had been that Lady with a very wild animal in her name?

Two links about the "Danube Flottilla" of the Red Navy:

http://victory.mil.ru/rkka/units/07/09.html

http://www.battlefield.ru/cgi-bin/ikonboar...t=341;&#top

Best regards

Christian

To be more precise I believe that he did not just receive an OBE but a CBE ..... that's from the ribbon on the pic as I see it ....... and I stand to be corrected.

For those of you who may want to take a look at his award card you can check http://rusawards.ru/ussr/ordena/006%20yshakov/kavalery.htm

To answer question 1:

The Danube flottilla distinguished itself in the last push in the Vienna Operation. On March 20, defying fierce enemy fire, the ships and craft forced their way upstream to land

a marine battalion not far from Tata behind the enemy's lines. The descent had a tough time. In four days it beat off 18 assaults but held its ground firmly till our Army units arrived.

On April 13, Vienna was cleared of the Nazis. The Danubian Naval Flotilla was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class, for its part in the Vienna Operation. This was not the first award

it was honoured with. It was cited 11 times in the Supreme Commander-in-Chiefs Orders of the Day for successful action in the offensive on the southern flank of the Soviet-German Front.

The flotilla was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, Order of Nakhimov, 1st Class, and Order of Kutuzov, 2nd Class. Seven thousand officers and men were honoured with government awards.

I would dare guess that Montgomery made the award ..... I cannot find anything to this effect ..... so I would also guess that Zhukov would have loved to have received that medal. But this is all conjecture on my end.

Jim

Edited May 15, 2007 by Christian Zulus