Red Banner,14201,10th Anniversary Of The Mongolian Revolution.

[Bob]

Got it in hands now

[Bob]

It was awarded to a Mongolian with surname Sodnomdarjaa. One of the Partisans.

A quote from a book.

"Here I met a man, old and sick, sitting with his faced turned gratefully to the sun, the breast of his blue gown covered with medals. To my intense interest, he was Sodnomdarjaa, one of the most famous Partisans of 1921 and the leader of a raid, several years later, into a no-man's-land..."

http://books.google.com/books?id=wMB......H-AQ&pgis=1

Apparently all in all 17 Orders of the Red Banner were awarded to Mongolians (I'm not sure if this means "ever" or just of the early orders or... ). This specific one in this thread was part of an awarding of 4 Red Banners to key Mongolian revolutionary leaders. Attached a picture of these 4 (thanks to EH), with my guy on the right.

[Bob]

The four were awarded their red banner personally by a well known Russian...

and it came with a document (I have a scan, hoping to get a better one with the key sentence being legible!)

"Revolutionary Military Committee of the USSR

The Central Executive Committee of the USSR rewards Sodnom-Darja for special distinctio in combat against the enemies of the socialist motherland xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Order of the Red Banner, symbol of the socialist revolution.

To confirm the above, this certificate is given by the Revolutionary Military Committee of the USSR and this certificate is issued.

Peoples Komissar of Military & Marine Affairs of the Revolutionary Military Committee of the USSR,

K. Voroshilov"

the 'xxxxx' is a small but important piece of text which is poorly legible.

[Bob]

Sodnomdarja's awards are:

Russian:
Order of Red Banner
Victory over Japan Medal (not 100% sure)

Mongolian:
Order of Sukhbaatar (2x)
Order of Red Banner for Labour Valor
Order of Red Banner for Combat Valor
Order of Combat Merit
Honorary Medal of Combat (2x)
Polar Star (2x)
Medal We Won
Medal 25 Years of MPR
Deputy badge (not 100% sure)
Badge for 15th Anniversary of the Mongolian Revolution

I'll be posting pics of his orders booklets soon. What's interesting to note is that the dates for above awards suggest that his Mongolian Red Banner for Combat Valor and 2x Medal of Combat were actually awarded for combat operations. The Order of Red Banner for Combat Valor for instance has a date of 1921 in his orders book... (presumably implying 1931).

A close up...

[Bob]

Scans of his award booklets, with nice early combat awards

[Bob]

More...

These were just his Mongolian award booklets.

Also have the award booklet specific to the red banner in my hands. Think I've already posted scans of that though.

[Bob]

here's what Sodnomdarjaa was involved with around the time of awarding:

"In the fall of 1922, Sukebator, the MNP war minister, succeeded in having Dambijantsan killed in his own castle. The officer who got in and shot him had to bring the severed head to Uliasutai to prove that such a man had really died"

http://books.google.be/books?id=-XUx...num=7#PPR25,M1

And here's a pic of Dambijantsan (who has a wikipedia entry by the way)

[Bob]

Some more background on my guy (thanks to EH)

From Owen Lattimore's Nomads and Commissars (pp. 18-19), at the 1961 Naadam in Ulanbaatar

Sodnomdarjaa also mentions the assassination in a book he wrote entitled "Partisans". That book is in Mongolian (of course) but I'll try to find it anyway (who knows, may contain pictures...).

A detailed account of the assassination is also given in the Diluv Khutagt’s Book, Chapter 4.

[Bob]

Achieved a BREAKTHROUGH (related to Order of Red Banner posted elsewhere on this site) thanks to the efforts of a fellow enthousiast of Mongolian history. And now the reason for the Red Banner being awarded is confirmed! More to come...

"Sodnomdarjaa Damdiny was born 1895 in Dornod province (Easternmost province) of Mongolia. Bereaved of his parents at the age of 9, Sodnomdarjaa had to work for wealthier families to survive. At the age of 17, he was drafted to a military service as a conscript of the recently formed Bogdkhaan’s national army. In 1913, Sodnomdarjaa was selected to a junior officer’s course in Urga (the capital, now known as Ulaanbaatar) where he got acquainted with D. Sukhbaatar. He finished the course in 1914 and until 1920, Sodnomdarjaa stayed in eastern Mongolia fighting the Bavuujav Count’s forces that robbed the households in eastern Mongolia.

In 1921, Sodnomdarjaa, on Sukhbaatar’s recommendation, joined the People’s Army and was commissioned as the assistant to Minister of Western Mongolia Count Gombo-Idshin. He served in Khovd city in Western Mongolia for several years fighting the remains of the Russian White Guard units. Sodnomdarjaa personally apprehended two White Guard officers in August of 1922. One of the apprehended officers was the Commander of the White Guard regiment. For his personal courage and valor in fighting the Russian White Guard, Sodnomdarjaa was awarded the Order of Red Banner of RSFSR on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Mongolian People’s Revolution in 1931.

In January 1923, Sodnomdarjaa also took part in the special operation to liquidate the leader of the nationalistic group and counter-revolutionary Da Lam Dambii Jantsan. This operation was one of the first special operations of the Mongolian State Security. The decision to involve Sodnomdarjaa in this special operation indicates the trust of the Mongolian revolutionary high-command in his abilities and bravery. In 1970s, a special movie “In the Lair” was filmed by the Communist Government depicting the operation. Although Sodnomdarjaa did not personally shoot the Da Lam Dambii Jantsan, he personally took part in the operation planning and subsequent execution.

From 1935-1940, Sodmodarjaa headed the trade organization in Ereentsav, Dornod province. While working in Dornod province, he was actively involved in the work to defend the border of the Mongolian People’s Republic. In one of the cases, Sodnomdarjaa helped the border guards to apprehend a group of Japanese and Chinese-Mongolian infiltrators in 1938.

On May 27, 1945, Sodnomdarjaa was commissioned to set up and head the wood craft workshop in Bayan-Uul county of Dornod aimag. He started the workshop with 13 conscripts and two tents. Just in eight years, in 1953, the workshop expanded into a factory with a small town named Ereen. The factory was renowned for its high-quality products, especially the wooden carts.

The factory was named after Sodnomdarjaa by the decree #50 of the Presidium of the State Small Khural in 1958. Later, after his death, a statue of Sodnomdarjaa was erected in Ereen village.

D. Sodnomdarjaa was elected as the member of the Presidium of the State Small Khural and later as the member of the People’s Great Khural (Parliament of the MPR) for four terms. A close friend of Sukhbaatar, he also worked as the Chief of the village, accountant, librarian and the director of the factory at different periods of his life.

Sodnomdarjaa married in 1933 and had nine children. He died in 1961.

It is known that a prototype of Sodnomdarjaa is the main subject in the novel “Red Sun” written by S. Dashdendev. The novel was one of the works to be studied by the high school students on mandatory basis from 1965-1980.""

[medals73]

Fascinating!!!

:thumbsup