Imperial Russia Red Cross Hero Group

[Chuck In Oregon]

I simply cannot read the cursive in either of these two documents. At the risk of great embarassment if I'm wrong, I'll tell you what my conversation notes of the time say.

The postcard is a picture of the recipient of this award. I didn't write down his name and I can't read it. Yes, I'm an idiot. He is writing home and saying that he is all right after being wounded while escorting some wounded soldiers back to a hospital. Pretty much an "I'm OK, don't worry" letter.

The second document (next post) is a 1915 letter from the Imperial Red Cross that accompanied the award you see here. It says that he is awarded the highest Red Cross medal for bravery in saving a group of wounded soldiers under his care and bringing them safely to a hospital.

This award is in outstanding condition. The circle and pin are silver, the pin is proofed and maker marked. The cross is gold and proofed. The enamel appears to be the highest quality transparent red enamel over an interesting design in the gold. There is no damage or wear to any portion of this badge. Except for some patina, it is perfect.

Avers 5 shows an 1878 example of this award as item #216. However, it says it is (or was then?) a woman's award and that it was silver and enamel, with no mention of gold.

I believe that this is a documented presentation of the very highest award that the Imperial Red Cross could bestow. However, I am always willing to be corrected and to learn more.

Chuck

Edited December 15, 2005 by Chuck In Oregon

[Chuck In Oregon]

... And here is the letter. The stamp is the same as the award.

Chuck

[GeorgeCL]

Hi Chuck,

These groupings a terrific..

Thanks to collectors like you these pieces of history are kept from the dumpster..

Keep digging thes up for us to enjoy here..

This must be a RARE award for a soldier..

All my reference states award for women.

There were both Gold and siver awards but both in medal form and hung from red ribbon bow.

Thanks

George

Edited December 16, 2005 by georgecl

[GeorgeCL]

Hi Chuck,

I had someone help trans. your doc. Thanks you Mark..

Heres what he said it states.

Staff-Captain Rudakovskii is awarded the medal of the All-Russian Union of Zemstvos (local councils) for caring for sick and wounded soldiers.

Attested by the Chairman of the Committee for the Southwest Front, Actual State Councilor -----signature.

(Actual State Councilor - civil official rank equal to a military general)

(Local Zemstvo councils took up all sorts of homefront activities during the war - nursing, aid to soldiers' families, bond drives, etc.)

George

[Chuck In Oregon]

Hi George

That was a very nice thing to do. Thank you and thanks to Mark, too. Do you suppose we can get the postcard translated too? Does Staff-Captain Rudakovskii have a first name?

I am very pleased with this little group. I haven't seen a reference to a gold version of the medal, but that's definitely what this one is. I have read that it was awarded only to women. That makes me wonder if this was a unique awarding to a man. I am having a little trouble imagining how this was worn from a ribbon, not to mention wondering how and why they decided to award this particular award to a man.

I didn't mean to say that this is the Imperial Red Cross's (or equivalent) highest award, but I do think it was their highest award for valor. There are some other awards for service and merit, as I recall. Since I have a few, maybe we should start a thread on them. What do you think? I have heard that there are collectors who specialize in Red Cross items. Some of them are bound to have some nice things to share.

OK, thanks again for helping make this man's heroism known to the world ninety years after the fact. That's the kind of thing that really gets my blood flowing in our collecting hobby.

Chuck

[Paul R]

Beautiful Grouping! I do love the Lifesaving/Medical related items!

[Chuck In Oregon]

Beautiful Grouping! I do love the Lifesaving/Medical related items!

* * * * *

Hi Paul

Well, that does it. I'll start a Red Cross/Medical Service thread this evening. I've got a few nice examples in that field to share. I trust you'll post your things too.

Chuck

[GeorgeCL]

Hi Chuck

I just found on the net a nice photo of a nurse wearing the womens version..

and a scan of the badge from book..

George

[Paul R]

Where do you guys find these? Great find

[Chuck In Oregon]

Hello Gentlemen

I haven't been able to access the site for 2-3 weeks, maybe a little more, and it has been driving me crazy. A couple of friends tried to fix the problem and I tried myself, googling several word combos to try to find a solution, to no avail. The problem was specific to this site and no other. I simply could not open it. I just got off a tech call to Quest and they fixed it in about three minutes, so I'm back in the game.

Nice photo, George. Maybe I can trade you out of it. I see that your illustration looks a little bit different than my example. I have one trade paper reference book on Imperial Medical Awards. That's the cover of it in the first image. The badge itself is illustrated as shown here. The explanations are numbered but ... the badges aren't. I think this is item number 30, but my Russian is pretty rudimentary and I'm really not sure.

Looks like I've got a lot of catching up to do, which suits me just fine. I'm darn glad to be back. I missed you guys.

Chuck

[Chuck In Oregon]

And here are the descriptions ...

Paul, my group came from the recipient's family in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Chuck

[Chuck In Oregon]

So what's really different here? Mine is a pin-back with a gold cross and a silver circle. Hers is a gold drop from a red ribbon, based on your illustration. Maybe solid gold, I can't tell. So my question is, I guess, is there any documentation of the existence of the award I have? It is certainly different from the one in George's book, which looks to be the same as the one in my book. Inquiring minds and all that.

Chuck

[Ramblinfarms]

Chuck:

Welcome back! I'm glad you are posting, and your computer situation is fixed. It may be that mine is, also. After replacing my hard drive, Dell thought that perhaps the memory was a problem too, so tonight, I replaced the memory with Dell supplied memory sticks. As of tonight, I seem to be back in business, too. My kids can testify that the games run faster! I look forward to your always interesting postings on the Forum.

Chris Werner

[Chuck In Oregon]

Hi Chris

I really am glad to be back. I missed the forum a lot more than I thought I would. Good test, I suppose, for whether I really get as much out of your conversations as I thought. Cyber-companionship -- who woulda thought?

Glad to hear that your computer is back up and running. I was sort of thinking of going back to Dell after MS Vista comes out, but now I think I'll just stick to whatever high-end desktop Costco has when I feel the need.

Kindest regards to all,

Chuck

[Guest vadimus]

I was browsing this forum as I have my grandgandpa picture which I would love to get more info about..

Then I saw Chuck's question about this officer's (Staff-Captain) letter which is written in Russian.I scrolled down but didnt find translation so if you dont mind I'll help you with one:

First of all the address:

Tiflis (which is today's Tbilisi,Geogria)

...... (not clear,probably some of the town's areas).

Attn:Vera Nikolajevna Rudakovskaja

Kochubeevskaja st. 15

Then on the side:

"Recovered,thank God,although still walk with the stick.Nevertheless headed back to the effective army.A spontaneous picture of me from Kiev to remind you of me.God bless you.Signed."

On top,upside down: "My address:..." Which I cant figure.

So,he might stay in a hospital in Kiev (Ukraine) or just passed this town on his way back to the front line (most probably Western front as another document dated 1915). Quick message sent to his wife or mother..

Unfortunately,cannot tell you his first name - its unclear.

Vadimus

[Ramblinfarms]

Vadimus:

Welcome to the Forum, and thank you for the translation. We can all benefit from your language skills! What do you collect? We would all enjoy sharing information with you. This is a great Forum for Imperial Russian as you will see.

Best regards,

Chris Werner

Edited August 1, 2006 by Ramblinfarms

[Chuck In Oregon]

I was browsing this forum as I have my grandgandpa picture which I would love to get more info about..

Then I saw Chuck's question about this officer's (Staff-Captain) letter which is written in Russian.I scrolled down but didnt find translation so if you dont mind I'll help you with one:

First of all the address:

Tiflis (which is today's Tbilisi,Geogria)

...... (not clear,probably some of the town's areas).

Attn:Vera Nikolajevna Rudakovskaja

Kochubeevskaja st. 15

Then on the side:

"Recovered,thank God,although still walk with the stick.Nevertheless headed back to the effective army.A spontaneous picture of me from Kiev to remind you of me.God bless you.Signed."

On top,upside down: "My address:..." Which I cant figure.

So,he might stay in a hospital in Kiev (Ukraine) or just passed this town on his way back to the front line (most probably Western front as another document dated 1915). Quick message sent to his wife or mother..

Unfortunately,cannot tell you his first name - its unclear.

Vadimus

* * * * *

Hello Vadimus

Thank you very much for the translation. That was a nice thing to do and I appreciate it. My Russian is very basic and I can't really read Cyrillic cursive writing at all.

Welcome to the forum. Do you collect Imperial Russian? Soviet? What are your main areas of interest? If you enjoy militaria and awards, you've come to the right place.

Please feel free to post your collectibles here. First of all, let's see that picture you mentioned. I love seeing the old pictures.

We all learn from each other and I love to see what kinds of things other collectors have. I look forward to learning from you.

Kindest regards,

Chuck

[Guest vadimus]

[attachmentid=48501]

* * * * *

Hello Vadimus

Thank you very much for the translation. That was a nice thing to do and I appreciate it. My Russian is very basic and I can't really read Cyrillic cursive writing at all.

Welcome to the forum. Do you collect Imperial Russian? Soviet? What are your main areas of interest? If you enjoy militaria and awards, you've come to the right place.

Please feel free to post your collectibles here. First of all, let's see that picture you mentioned. I love seeing the old pictures.

We all learn from each other and I love to see what kinds of things other collectors have. I look forward to learning from you.

Kindest regards,

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

Its my pleasure..I've seen some documents on this forum which I can help to translate as I mostly have no problems reading even old Russian commonly used in Imperial Russia.The other thing is that I'm not historian and even if I can read a word it is not always I understand its meaning.For instance,there was certain ierarchy in the society and I dont know exact meaning or position of certain ranks as well as its "job description" and so on.But the general meaning usually understandable and I can translate it to English.In any case,it is better than nothing..

So,as I mentioned,I'm not a historian neither I collect awards or other military stuff but I read history more than average person.Mostly WWII stuff...

All I have is a few letters from my grandma's brother who fought on eastern front and was killed in action in 1944 near Warshaw.And also picture of my grandgrandpa who's picture I attached hoping that somebody can tell me more about decorations.He was in medical service.Actually,you can see badge and medal have what looks like a red cross.Also,his rank appear to be a colonel (two stripes).That's pretty much all...

If you,Chuck,or somebody from this forum can tell me more about this picture it will be greately appreciated..

Regards,

Vadimus

[Guest vadimus]

Re: to Ramblinfarms

Thanks Chris, no problem, if there is anything I can do...I'll be happy to assist..

Vadimus

P.S. I might be able to post some difficult questions on russian forums.There is a chance to meet really good specialists there ...

[Ramblinfarms]

Приветствия мои друг и гостеприимсво к форуму. Я надеюсь что вы считаете их интересным и информативным.

Chris Werner