Soviet Documented Trio from the "Soviet Dunkirk"

[Guest Rick Research]

I thought I had posted this group in its entirety, but couldn't find it, so here goes (given recent action here on Defense of Sevastapol Medals)

notice the rim flaw on front in the city's name-- bad metal, or improper die pressure? This is fairly common with these medals and suggests a batch that for whatever reason were pressed badly.

Mounted WW2 Soviet campaign trio to a ? civilian/ ? Party official, Ivan Ivanovich VOLYNKIN:

Three medal bar, 1940s brass suspension, consisting of: Military Merit Medal #1,932,698 (enamel in CCCP all but worn out), Defense of Sevastopol Medal (edge rim flaked off at ?olya? of ?Sevastopolya?, rare, less than 50,000 awarded--see below), Defense of the Caucasus Medal (about 870,000 awarded). With--

1945 edition Medals Booklet #11,845 issued to Volinkin on 27 August 1945, privileges from February 1945 (actual award date of the MMM). ?Valid Without Photograph? stamp, signed.

Large Defense of Sevastopol Medal document, folded in quarters. To ?Comrade Volynkin Ivan Ivanovich,? serial number Cyrillic ?I? ("И") 622, issued on 16 June 1944, with large stamp and written out title of Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Crimean ASSR, signed ?Sacheva.? This is an extraordinarily HIGH government level issuing authority, combined with the extremely low serial number, implying that Volynkin was a senior Communist Party functionary (or a minor flunctionary, but attached directly to the Crimean Republic?s Communist Party Presidium.) Issuing authority indicates that Volynkin was a civilian/party functionary and NOT ever military, so an even RARER sub-variation within this 2nd rarest Soviet ?defense? medal category. In the summer of 1942 the Germans drove the surrounded defenders of Sevastopol out of the Crimea, only these few tens of thousands escaping across the sea to the Crimea in the Soviet version of Dunkirk. For a ?mere civilian? to have been among these fortunate few escapees, he would have either had to have absolutely essential industrial skills, or have been a Commissar with political clout.

Large Defense of the Caucasus Medal document, folded in quarters. To ?Com. Volynkin Ivan Ivanovich,? serial # Cyrillic Z (?З?) 27,331, issued on 27 May 1946 by (stamps) Presidium of the Krasnodar Region Council of Labor Deputies. Again, this issuing authority indicates that Volynkin was a civilian, and never a member of the military (or else his documents would have been issued by his home district?s military commissariat and bear a military RANK).

Civilians WERE entitled to receive the Military Merit Medal for activities furthering military capabilities. These three medals may have been Volynkin?s entire WW2 awards, or he may have received a Labor Victory Medal (if in fact industrial specialist rather than a party paper pusher). The fact that the bar was mounted as a trio and not a quartet would seem to indicate that he did NOT get either military or labor Victory Medals, which places him, again, as most likely a civilian Communist Party functionary. (In which case, he probably received political Orders in the 1950s-60s.) And no, I have no idea and cannot explain why he did NOT get a Victory Medal of either type.

An interesting ??? ?noncombatant? WW2 group to a survivor/sea evacuee of the siege of Sevastopol.

[Guest Rick Research]

Sevastapol Document, issued on 16 June 1944 just as Soviet forces were storming back into the Crimea:

[Guest Rick Research]

Now the other TWO we have seen here

Dolf's =

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...ost&p=78005

Alan's =

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtop...ost&p=80583

have been signed by the PotPotSSotCASSR himself, whereas Comrade Volynkin's was signed by DEPUTY President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, a lesser exalted Comrade named "Sacheva"

Now the two PotPotSSotCASSR signed Sevastapols date from the end of 1943, when the Republic's government was still in exile in the Crimea, which is circumstantial ecidence that both those recipients must also have received ...

[Guest Rick Research]

Defense of the Caucasus Medal, issued on 27 May 1946 as usual by the Krasnodar Soviet:

Notice that Ivan Ivanovich is once again titled "Comr."(ade)

[Guest Rick Research]

Now unlike the two lone PotPotSSotCASSR Sevastapols, I actually have a CHANCE at solving the mystery of WHAT these "Comrades" were--

because my group contains a numbered January 1945 MILITARY Merit Medal.

At this point, my assumption is that COMRADE Volynkin was either a PARTY functionary, or some civilian category like a war correspondent. Yes, a civilian.

And in my NEXT round of research requests (the current one just now being inbound) I will ask to have this MMM researched, for our general edification and the advancement of knowledge.

So watch this space for some time in the winter of 2006/7 for those results. Am I the Albert Schweitzer of Soviet research, or what?