Soviet USSR Orders - Red Star and Patriotic Order - questions, please.

[David B 1812]

I have an extensive collection of military medals, but mainly of British medals, and,

specialising in the India IGS series, and the Army GSM series..........

However, I DO have a fair selection of general medals, from a number of countries,

including a small USSR collection of just eleven medals.

Using the "Pinned" Number Series posted elsewhere on this site, I have been able

to put ISSUE DATES (if I read the posting correctly) to the under-mentioned medals.

ORDER of the RED STAR. Serial Number: 3508944 - issued December 1956

and,

ORDER of the PATRIOTIC WAR (2nd Class): Serial Number: 447351 - issued May 1945

Both are of the "screwback" type, with the maker's mark, which, whilst this is obviously

in Cyrillic on the reverse, the approximate version, as far as I can do it in English, reads:

MOHETHbIN and ABOP or something similar................. the same of both Stars.

Of course, I am aware of the various conditions of issue of these medals, but I have a

question or two, please.

In the traditional British style, are these Stars classed as Orders, Decorations, or as Service,

or Campaign "medals" (even though they are, obviously, Stars). And I know that the very

title of the Star has the word "Order" - BUT is this to be taken in the same context as, say,

a British 'Order' - where it ranks amongst the HIGHEST awards made by a country?

Is there an 'order of precedence' for USSR medals, and where do these Stars rank?

Apart from establishing the issue period, as above, can anything else be told from the

serial numbers engraved on the reverse? Do they relate, for example, to a register

of numbers, from which the recipient name can be found? I realise that millions of

these Stars were issued, especially the Red Star, but what else can the number tell us,

if anything?

Any finally, I assume that these Stars are no longer issued in this form? When were they

last issued?

Thank you for any help you can give me,

David B

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[Rogi]

You can ask Auke (Ferdinand on the forum) to run the numbers of recipients from the serial numbers, he runs a service with a fee, depending on what you would like to receive (there are various options that can present themselves) If it is an officer you can also order a service record card that has his photo (sometimes) present.

They are Orders (similar to British System), among the highest (although in order of presendence on the USSR list, they are high, but not that high, more middle I think:D) Although this is in no way easy to ear these orders

Hope that helped a bit :)

[Paul R]

I would classify these awards as personal decorations, as they are presented to individuals for specific acts or criteria. They are mid level awards. I would love to see images of these awards.

[Rogi]

Just a small follow up on the Order of the Red Star, I forgot to mention that later and after the war it was a more common Order than at the beginning and before the war started. Which is why a before the war Red Star is classed higher than the others (especially since some orders and medals had not been instituted yet before the war), you needed to contribute a lot to receive an Order of the Red Star pre 1941.

[Ferdinand]

Here's the order of presedence of Soviet awards: http://medals.org.uk/russia/ussr/ussr-text.htm

As you can see, titles come first in the hierarchy, then orders (the Order of the Red Star is one of the lowest military orders though), then medals, then badges, then pins, etc. The concept of an order was slightly different in the USSR (and still is, in most of the former Eastern Bloc) than in the West though: whereas in the West most orders imply a membership into a group, a Soviet order is solely a decoration. Sometimes membership of an order was limited in number, but Soviet decorations had no such limitations, and were awarded purely to recognize the recipient's bravery, merit, accomplishments, or length of service.

Regarding the serial numbers: it's important to distinguish between the award date (the date the award was bestowed on paper) and the date of issue (the date the award was actually given to the recipient). The lists you mentioned only contain award dates. The time in between award date and date of issue can vary greatly: sometimes this was just a day, sometimes many years. Soviet awards are no long longer being awarded of course, but even today the Russian government still issues Soviet-era orders and medals to veterans who had been awarded them a long time ago, but have not received them yet.

Your Red Star was most likely awarded on December 30, 1956 to an officer for 15 years of service; the OPW2 was most likely awarded by a Leningrad Front unit in the spring of 1945.

[David B 1812]

Thank you Rogi, Paul R and Ferdinand for your information, which I sincerely

appreciate very much.

And any help with a translation of the marks in Cyrillic on the reverse of the Stars, please?.

Paul, you asked for photos. I do not have them as individual photos, but along

with a group of other "enamelled" medals I have. Since I took the photo of this group,

I have two further 'enamel' orders/decorations, which are not in the photo. They are:

The National Order of Merit (France) and the Order Polonia Restituta (both Knight Class).

But thanks ALL for your interest and information. Much appreciated.

All the best,

David B.

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[Ferdinand]

The writing on the reverse (МОНЕТНЫЙ ДВОР) is the mint mark, simply meaning 'Mint'.

[David B 1812]

Sorry.................. I am still working out how to post the photo !!!!!!!!! ?????????

[David B 1812]