Soviet U.S. Army Decorations Awarded to Red Army Personnel in World War II

[slava1stclass]

To all:

Not to be outdone (although he was likely very loathe to have done so judging from his expression), GEN George S. Patton, Jr., is seen with an unidentified Soviet general officer after having decorated him with the Legion of Merit in the degree of Commander and presenting him with a 3rd U.S. Army flag.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Gents,

The Russian general officer seen in post #40 this thread whom GEN Patton decorated with the LM (Degree of Commander) was Guards Lt Gen N. D. Zakhvatayev. Zakhvatayev commanded 4th Guards Army.

The presentation ceremony occurred on May 12th, 1945 at the airport/airfield in Linz, Austria. Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 65th Infantry Division provided the honor guard. GEN Patton presented Zakhvatayev's award as well as lower degree LMs to 12 other Red Army personnel. There is also a report he awarded some Bronze Star Medals to Red Army personnel that day.

Two days later, on May 14th, 1945, Lt Gen Zakhvatayev reciprocated at his HQs located 30-40 miles to the southeast. It was on that day that MSU Tolbukhin (Commander, 3rd Ukrainian Front) awarded GEN Patton his Order of Kutuzov First Class.

In the attached image, Lt Gen Zakhvatayev inspects one of the 65th ID's honor guard soldiers prior to receiving his Legion of Merit..

Regards,

slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

Guards Maj Gen D. T. Shepilov was among the 12 other 4th Guards Army officers GEN Patton decorated in addition to Lt Gen Zakhvatayev on May 12th, 1945 in Linz. Shepilov served as 4th Guards Army's political commissar/member of the military council. He would later serve as the Soviet Union's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956-57 under Khrushchev. Khrushchev removed him from that post after learning of Shepilov's role in the effort to oust Khrushchev during the Anti-Party Group affair.

In the below image, Patton is seen pinning the LM (either Degree of Legionnaire or Officer) to Shepilov's uniform.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

Two days later, on May 14th, 1945, Lt Gen Zakhvatayev reciprocated at his HQs located 30-40 miles to the southeast. It was on that day that MSU Tolbukhin (Commander, 3rd Ukrainian Front) awarded GEN Patton his Order of Kutuzov First Class.

Gents,

In his book, "Patton: A Genius for War", Harper Collins Publishers, 1995, author Carlo D'Este offered the following on pg. 738 concerning the events of May 14th, 1945 at Lt Gen Zakhvatayev's HQs, "As he (Patton) had predicted, a number of ceremonies were held by the two armies, most of them rituals of one-upmanship. At one event hosted by the Russians in occupied Austria, Patton and his staff were entertained by a ballet troupe from Moscow and dined on stuffed pig, caviar, and seemingly endless rations of vodka. The Russians decorated an American female reporter as a symbol of American womanhood. Not to be outdone. Patton improvised a decoration on the spot for the prima ballerina, which was efficiently produced by a member of his staff."

Regards,

slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

LM recipient Major I. S. Kotoff (post #261 this thread) was an ORB x 2 and Order of Aleksandr Nevskiy winner. His second ORB was a downgrade from the original Hero of the Soviet Union recommendartion.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited November 5, 2014 by slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

It's interesting to see how decorations to foreigners were handled back then - a DSM to a junior lieutenant. I say this only because the DSM ranks as the third highest award among American military decorations. A DSM award to an American officer of similar rank would be unheard of.

Part of the reason the American military's LM was created with four degrees (for foreigners only) was to allow it to be awarded to a wider range of ranks.

Regards,

slava1stclass

This actually only appears to have been the case with the USSR.

Going by Apgar's compilation of DSM awards from 1942 to 1969, the lowest-ranking British recipient was Brigadier Vivian Dykes, Chief of the Secretariat of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, and then-Commodore Thomas H. Troubridge, RN, commander of Naval Task Force Centre in the North Africa landings. The only Canadian was then-Lt. Gen. Harry Crerar; the only Chinese Gen. Chiang Kai-Shek, the only Frenchmen General d'Armee Alphonse Juin and General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (both later Marshals of France).

What is odd is not that the DSM was awarded to junior personnel, but that it was only awarded to junior personnel: 2 colonels, 2 lieutenant colonels, 3 majors, 4 captains, 5 lieutenants, 3 senior sergeants and 1 sergeant. That seems to reflect a conscious decision to apply different award criteria and to distribute the awards among the grades.

Dave,

I agree that it is indeed very odd the U.S. Army awarded Soviet personnel in the rank of lieutenant colonel and lower a DSM. Back in those days, however, the Army didn't have the plethora of lesser ranking awards it now has e.g., Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal etc. This may be the real explanation. Someone then likely realized the LM (established in 1942) was a much better fit and later the Bronze Star Medal even more so (once authorized in 1944). This possibly explains the very low number of DSMs (20) awarded to Soviets.

Regards,

slava1stclass

More importantly, the distribution of awards and the fact that they came in the same general order seems to indicate some sort of decision to allocate a group of awards to the Soviets, rather than apply the criteria we would to our own awards. Further evidence of this is that GO3 of 1944 not only awarded an even 20 DSMs to Soviets, but exactly 20 DSCs too. So likely someone in the War Department suggested recognizing our Soviet allies, and someone chose 20 of each as the number to be awarded.

My guess is we left it to the Soviets to suggest recipients. For the Soviets, the distinction was less between bravery and meritorious service than it was that the DSC was higher than the DSM. Thus the breakdown for DSMs noted above and the breakdown for DSCs here: 4 lieutenant generals, 8 major generals, 2 colonels, 3 lieutenant colonels, 1 major, 1 junior lieutenant and 1 senior sergeant.

By contrast, if you look at the other 33 awards of the DSC, which came though the Military Mission to Moscow, you see a grade distribution more typical to US Army awards of the DSC: 4 colonels, 1 lieutenant colonel, 3 majors, 2 captains, 4 lieutenants, 2 sergeants major, 3 senior sergeants, 6 sergeants, 1 junior sergeant, 2 corporals and 5 privates. Also, the citations I've seen for this latter group do read like typical DSC valor citations.

I think Dave has a good point... It may well have been left up to the Soviets to determine who received the awards. Giving out high awards to enlisted personnel was a very "communist" anti-rank thought (like they actually followed it, but politically it sounded good!) I know that for numerous foreign awards to Americans, the nation giving the award offered the specific award to a certain unit, and the unit was then allowed to determine who the award went to. Thus, you had situations like that which involved a good friend of mine, who had been recommended for a Medal of Honor, but was downgraded to the DSC. Because of this, his unit put him in for a foreign award from every nation that offered it to the Division, and thus he ended up with the British DSO, Soviet Nevsky, among others.

Just a thought!

Dave

QUOTE(Dave Danner @ May 17 2006, 22:27 ) ←81036

For the Soviets, the distinction was less between bravery and meritorious service than it was that the DSC was higher than the DSM.

Dave,

I ran the numbers.

Three of the 20 Red Army personnel who received the DSM were also HSUs (including one triple HSU) - a 15% rate.

17 of the 53 Red Army personnel who received the DSC were also HSUs (including two Double HSUs) - a 32% rate.

At some point therefore, the distinction for valor did come into play - likely more at our, rather than the Soviets', choosing.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Gents,

Easier access to the Russian Ministry of Defense archives now provides for greater clarity on the DSM topic.

Of the 45 total U.S. Army DSMs awarded to foreigners in WW II, 20 (44.4%) went to Red Army personnel. My earlier statement, "This possibly explains the very low number of DSMs (20) awarded to Soviets" is in fact a gross misstatement. Red Army personnel received the lion's share of U.S. Army DSMs awarded to foreigners.

As fellow forum members Dave Danner and NavyFCO note, it is extremely likely the Soviets were given the latitude to designate their U.S. Army DSM recipients.

In reviewing the Russian MoD archive holdings, 18 of the 20 Red Army DSM recipients also received Soviet orders and medals. What follows below are the recipients' orders and medals as awarded prior to receipt of their DSM. This offers us a sense of the possible selection criteria the Soviets employed in choosing their DSM recipients. Other than one individual whose sole award was the lower-ranking Combat Services Medal/Medal for Combat Merit (CSM), the remaining recipients' awards are more compatible with the DSM's position in U.S. Army award hierarchy.

It was also interesting to observe that 11 of the 18 Red Army DSM recipients' subsequent Soviet award recommendations referenced their earlier American DSM award. In these award recommendations, the DSM was most commonly referred to as the American medal "For Combat Services" or "Excellent Service."

Listed in no particular order, the Soviet orders and medals (as earned prior to their DSM award) for 18 of the 20 Red Army DSM recipients:

1) ORB, OPWII, ORS

2) OAN (downgrade from original OL recommendation)

3) OL, ORBx2, OPWI

4) ORS

5) HSU (with accompanying OL)

6) OL (downgrade from original HSU recommendation)

7) ORB

8) HSU (with accompanying OL), second OL, ORB

9) CSM

10) ORB, ORS

11) ORB

12) ORBx2, OPWI

13) ORB, ORS (downgrade from original ORB recommendation)

14) ORB, OAN (downgrade from original OL recommendation), ORS

15) OL, ORS, BM (upgrade from original CSM recommendation)

16) OAN (downgrade from original OL recommendation; subsequently recommended for a further downgrade to ORB), ORS

17) ORB, OPWI, ORS

18) ORB

Regards,

slava1stclass

[Ferdinand]

16) OAN (downgrade from original OL recommendation; subsequently recommended for a further downgrade to ORB), ORS

Actually, the ORB is higher than the OAN

[slava1stclass]

Actually, the ORB is higher than the OAN

Auke,

Quite so. Evidently you misunderstood my entry.

His original award recommendation was for the Order of Lenin. As that recommendation went up his chain of command, someone higher in his chain of command recommended a downgrade to an Order of the Red Banner. When all was said and done, however, his original OL award recommendation was downgraded a final time to the Order of Aleksandr Nevskiy - the decoration he received.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited November 7, 2014 by slava1stclass

[Ferdinand]

In that case I misunderstood your post, please forgive my oversight...

[slava1stclass]

In that case I misunderstood your post, please forgive my oversight...

Auke,

There is absolutely no need to apologize my friend. My attempt to concisely outline the circumstances behind his eventual OAN award may have been a bit too concise!

Regards,

slava1stclass

[GHB]

More apologies anyway. I have just heard from the Truman Presidential Library that they have found the missing 4 LOM Chief Commanders. They were misfiled. They are forwarding to me but unfortunately the citations are coming snail mail so I should have them and be able to post next week. Then we can prove that the pictures did not lie.

GHB

[GHB]

More comfirmations for LOM Chief Commander. The Truman Presidential Library forwarded the following documents for Army General Yeremenko and Marshals of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky, Meretskov, and Govorov:

(in reverse alphabetical order in English):

[NavyFCO]

In these award recommendations, the DSM was most commonly referred to as the American medal "For Combat Services" or "Excellent Service."

Regards,

slava1stclass

Interestingly, when the Soviet awards were given to the US Merchant Marine in 1944, the Combat Service (or Military Merit) Medal was called the "Distinguished Service Medal." Thus, it appears (from reading the citations) that they actually believed it was higher in precidence than the Order of the Red Star, and thus awarded for more exhibited gallantry/service than the receipients of the RS. Kind of ironic, I think...

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

  A President Roosevelt-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) certificate to then Colonel M. G. Machin, head of the Red Army Air Force military representative office in Alaska.  Awarded the HSU title on June 29th, 1945, as a Major General, he retired as a Lieutenant General in the 1970s.

Regards,

slava1stclass

 

 

Edited July 2, 2016 by slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

  A President Truman-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander) citation on White House stationery to HSU Guards Lieutenant General M. B. Anashkin.

Regards,

slava1stclass

 

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

  A President Truman-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Legionnaire) citation on White House stationery to Guards Lieutenant Colonel S. S. Sergeyev.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2013 at 12:25, JapanX said:

 

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2013 at 20:28, Ferdinand said:

That second one is Ivan Ivanovich Lyudnikov. His Wikipedia page has the same photo, but in higher quality: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%8E%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2,_%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%98%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B8%D1%87

Gents,

  The President Roosevelt-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander) award certificate to the aforementioned Guards HSU Lieutenant General I. I. Lyudnikov.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

Gents,

  The President Roosevelt-signed Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) citation to Lieutenant Colonel N. P. Murzin.

Regards,

slava1stclass

[JBFloyd]

To add to the archive of Legion of Merit documents to the Red Army, here's the Truman citation to Major General George Matviyicha Solovyov, 38th Infantry Guards Division.

And his certificate.

[slava1stclass]

1 hour ago, JBFloyd said:

To add to the archive of Legion of Merit documents to the Red Army, here's the Truman citation to Major General George Matviyicha Solovyov, 38th Infantry Guards Division.

Jeff,

  A great addition.  This excellent citation to Guards Major General Georgi Matveyevich Solovyov is certainly one of the most descriptive ones posted to date.  If only they were all this good.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited July 31, 2016 by slava1stclass

[JBFloyd]

And another, Legionnaire grade, to Lt Colonel Fyedor Ivanovich Vinokurov, 117th Regiment, 23rd Infantry Division.

And Vinokurov's certificate.

A Legionnaire to Senior Lieutenant Kinlai Petrovitch Martinoff, Fourth Guards Army.  This one at the low end of descriptive content.

And Martinoff';s certificate.

[JBFloyd]

The officer grade to Colonel General Leon[id] Kotlar, who received the HSU as chief of engineering troops in the capture of Berlin.

And Kotlar's certificate.

[JBFloyd]

A Legionnaire to Colonel Nickolai Nickolovitch Gladkoff, 20th Budapest Guard Infantry Corps. The citation and Col Gen Kotlar's were obviously written by the same person..

And his certificate.

I now see that Gladkoff's documents have already been posted.

[slava1stclass]

On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2014 at 06:55, slava1stclass said:

Gents,

LM certificate to Guards Colonel N. N. Gladkoff. The citation for his LM reads, "Colonel Nickolai Nickolovitch Gladkoff, 20th Budapest Guards Infantry Corps, Red Army, displayed exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services, contributing materially to the success of combined operations in Europe."

Regards,

slava1stclass

Gents,

  His award certificate, albeit not as nice a copy, was previously listed at post # 289 this thread.  Thanks to Jeff for the better image.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited July 31, 2016 by slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

1 hour ago, JBFloyd said:

And another, Legionnaire grade, to Lt Colonel Fyedor Ivanovich Vinokurov, 117th Regiment, 23rd Infantry Division.

Gents,

  Lieutenant Colonel F. I. Vinokurov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on February 27th, 1945.

1 hour ago, JBFloyd said:

The officer grade to Colonel General Leon[id] Kotlar, who received the HSU as chief of engineering troops in the capture of Berlin.

  Colonel General (Engineer Troops) Leontiy Zakharovich Kotlyar was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on April 28th, 1945.

Regards,

slava1stclass

Edited July 31, 2016 by slava1stclass

[slava1stclass]

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2014 at 15:16, GHB said:

More comfirmations for LOM Chief Commander. The Truman Presidential Library forwarded the following documents for Army General Yeremenko and Marshals of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky, Meretskov and Govorov.

Gents,

  Thanks to the research contributions of fellow forum members Gunner 1 (DFC and AM data) and GHB (LM Chief Commander data), I can offer an update to the chart seen in post #1 this thread.  I offer it here as I'm unable to edit the original post.

  The following U.S. Army decorations were awarded to Red Army personnel for heroism or meritorious service in World War II:

Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) - 53

Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) - 20

Silver Star (SS) - 119

Legion of Merit (LM) - 323

By degree:

- Chief Commander - 9*

- Commander - 35

- Officer - 85

- Legionnaire - 194

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) - 46

Bronze Star Medal (BSM) - 40**

Air Medal (AM) – 8

Notes:

*Awards of the LM in the degree of Chief Commander to MSUs Vasilevskiy, Govorov, Zhukov, Meretskov and Rokossovskiy; Chief Marshal of Aviation Novikov and Army Generals Antonov, Bagramyan and Yeremenko have been confirmed via documentary evidence all of which is posted in this thread.  Additionally, photographic evidence confirms award of the LM Chief Commander degree to Admiral of the Fleet Kuznetsov.  As it wasn't awarded via the U.S. Army, Kuznetsov's LM Chief Commander degree is not included in the above sub-total.  His award, however, represents the 10th total LM Chief Commander degree known to have been awarded to a Soviet general/flag officer during WWII.

**Information available in an OMSA publication suggests the number of BSMs awarded to Red Army personnel was higher.  This is likely true since many BSMs were awarded at the U.S. Army army/corps level and below.  The number above reflects only those BSMs to Red Army personnel authorized by War Department General Orders.  It is also very probable the number of LMs awarded to Red Army personnel may be higher for the same reason.  The same OMSA publication suggested one Soldier's Medal was awarded to a Red Army servicemember.  To date, no evidence - documentary or photographic - has arisen to confirm this.

Regards,

slava1stclass