Soviet OPW 2- East Prussia, Warten-Artillery

[Rogi]

Really cool OPW 2 here, it shows its' age well , was it in battle, damaged, or did it end up hitting the kitchen floor one afternoon, we will never know but it sure looks great and has excellent character

BIG Thanks goes out to Norm here for this one, such a beautiful award and excellent citation I've always wanted this serial number range (from all the ones I've seen they have the most "orange" enamel, and I love that orange-red enamel, looks like fire to me ) . Still trying to poke through and find out all the locations hes been too (Warten, is that Germany, or Netherlands, or somewhere else, all the locals seem to be East Prussia, and I've never heard of the USSR liberting the Netherlands?)

Heres the citation:

Award sheet

All fields to be filled out fully

Award sheet

1. Last name, first name and patronymic: Gilbakhiane, Shalva Grigoryevich

2. Rank: Guards Senior Sergeant

3. Position and unit: Gun commander in a 76-mm cannon battery of the 99^{th Guards Rifle Regiment, 31st Guards Vitebsk Order of Lenin Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division}

^{Nominated for: Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class}

^{4. Year of birth: 1918}

^{5. Nationality: Georgian}

^{6. Party affiliation: Member of the Communist Party since May 1944}

^{7. Participation in the Civil War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War (where and when): In the Patriotic War from March 10, 1943 up to the present time}

^{8. Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: No}

^{9. Since when in the Red Army: From August 13, 1941 up to the present time}

^{10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of the Kirov Raion, city of Leningrad}

^{11. Awards received previously (for which merits): None}

^{12. Permanent home address of the prospective awardee and the address of his family: ______________}

^{Short, concrete description of his combat feat or merits:}

^{Throughout the combat operations in East Prussia comrade Gilbakhiane’s gun was located among the combat formations of the infantry. Despite artillery and mortar shelling the crew under his command}

^{fired at the enemy. On January 22, 1945 he destroyed 1 mortar and 1 machine-gun position near Groß Franzdorf.}

^{On January 23, 1945 he destroyed 3 machine-gun positions and 3 trucks and killed 10 soldiers near Klapnur.}

^{On February 3, 1945, while repelling 4 enemy counterattacks near Warten, he destroyed 2 machine-gun positions and killed 15 soldiers. For his capable leadership and the bravery he displayed he deserves to be awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class.}

^{Commander of the 99th Guards Rifle Regiment}

^{Guards Colonel [signed] /Sidorenko/}

^{February 10, 1945}





^{He deserves to be awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class.}

^{Commander of the 31st Guards Rifle Division}

^{Guards Major General [signed] /Burmakov/}

^{February …, 1945}





^{Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class.}

^{Assistant chief of the Personnel Section of the 16th Guards Rifle Corps}

^{Guards Captain [signed] /Gaisinsky/}

^{February 28, 1945}

[Rogi]

Here are the pictures of her I love this "fire" enamel

Hope everyone enjoys it

Edited June 17, 2013 by Rogi

[Aurelius]

Igor, my pleasure! All clients should be like you and Terrible Tommy. I need to clone you two.lol

[Ferdinand]

The Netherlands? Ha, Patton would never have let the Russkies get that far

There's a Groß-Franzdorf in East Prussia, so there may be a Warten in that area as well.

[redoctober]

Igor, my pleasure! All clients should be like you and Terrible Tommy. I need to clone you two.lol

You charmer Norm. Lol.

Nice OPW Igor and a cool write up!

[Paul R]

Beautiful award!! Congrats!