Lenin order for a sniper

[Egorka]

Hello all,

Please, meet petty officer 1st class POKSIKAN Pavel Kalinovich 1918 with 287 reported sniper kills count.

Born in 1918 in the village of Ryaska (Nekhvoroshchansky district of the Poltava region of Ukraine). From 1938 in the ranks of the Navy, served as an electrician on a boat. From June 22, 1941 on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. Fought in the Leningrad direction. From December 1941 served as an observer of an artillery battery. Mastered the sniper skills studying with the famous sniper PCHELINTSEV, who toured USA together with PAVLICHENKO in 1942-1943.

On 28.02.1942, POSIKAN killed his first enemy as a sniper.

Drawing of POSIKAN by artist NEPRINTSEV Y.M. (1909–1996)

 

     07.06.1942, POSIKAN was recommended for the Order of the Red Star (personal sniper score of 52 is mentioned). On the award sheet for the Red Star there is a pencil mark "Repeated". Apparently, the paperwork was slow, and the award wasn't approved before POSIKAN was nominated for the Order of the Red Banner again on 12.08.1942.

    On 12.08.1942, the commander of the electricians' squad of the 597th battery of the 301st Separate Artillery Division (Leningrad Naval Base of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, Leningrad Front), petty officer 1st class P.K. POSIKAN was nominated by the unit command for the award of the Order of the Red Banner (personal sniper score 170), but was awarded the Order of Lenin by order of the Commander of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet No. 58 dated September 3, 1942. Soon POSIKAN received a shrapnel wound and was treated in a hospital.

     On 12.11.1942, the sniper of the 597th battery of the 301st OAD of the Baltic Fleet, petty officer 1st class P.K. POSIKAN, was nominated by the unit command for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for elimination of 244 Fascists and training of 6 freshman snipers (one of them was sniper BOGDANOV Ivan Vasilyevich 1920), who all together eliminated 447 enemy troops. The HSU nomination was approved by the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Vice-Admiral TRIBUTS. But... The famous sniper did not receive any award for these exploits. The reason is unclear. On the award sheet there is a pencil mark "denied see outgoing document 88972s".

     In the spring of 1943, POSIKAN was seriously wounded in the leg by a shell fragment (the bone was shattered), and was treated in the hospital for a long time. According to available information, the final result of the combat work of sniper P.K. POSIKAN is 287 eliminated enemies (in some sources his surname was written differently "PASIKAN", "PASEKAN", etc). In his award booklet (B Nº142942) issued on 10/29/1947 the name PASIKAN Pavel Kalinovich is recorded.

The wounds led to the 2nd group of disability and an early disability pension as a war veteran on 18.01.1945 (the surname is recorded as POSIKAN). 

A wealth of information is available on the veteran, like war time newspaper articles, some of his personal items are in the Leningrad blockade museum. 

Snipers HSU ANTONOV (360 kills) and POSIKAN (287 kills).

 

Interview with POSIKAN in the hospital (note the trendy moustache).

 

Thank you SovietOrders.com for the possibility to present this remarkable award.

Edited Tuesday at 14:55 by Egorka

[Marcel B.]

Fantastic order with research. A gem for any collection!

[Wat05]

Such an extraordinary Order with research!