Veteran Badges

[desantnik]

OK, here are some other winners.

Left's only clues are it's a Guards unit with the title "Orsha" and it celebrated a 50th anniversary.

Center has the honorific "Sevastopol" and was awarded the Red Banner and a Red Star.

Right has the honorifics "Zaporozhe" and "Odessa" and from the feminine ending probably belongs to a division or perhaps brigade.

[desantnik]

L reads "Troop Unit 7451" and the 50 I believes to an anniversary, not a unit designation

Middle is to a signals unit with the honorifics: "Moscow", "Vinnitsa", "Kiev", "Prague" and "Lvov"

R - what you see is what you get. The ribbons on the suspension seem to be for Moscow Medal and Green(?). This is a heavy construction, earlier badge (1972) so it should be something special(?).

[desantnik]

Left is maybe to a tank factory (due to the Red Banner of Labor). Although there were "veterans" of labor, the title here seems out of place and I would assume a military veteran of some sort.

Right reads "Engels" and "Vilnius" and 45, presumably an anniversary. Maybe Baltic Military District?

[desantnik]

These are both to the "Guards Red Banner Formation". "Obedinenie" refers to the largest size unit, so this has to be something like an army. It also celebrated a 40th anniversary.

The suspensions may not be original to the pieces due to the copper rings and I believe they were cannibalized so the decorations indicated on the suspension may not be appropriate to whatever unit this is.

[Taz]

Paul,
I found a description in German of the left badge for you.

Jubiläumsabzeichen 40 Jahrestage Garde-Panzervereinigung

40th Jubilee (Anniversary) of the Guards Tank Association.

[desantnik]

Thanks for looking and proposing a possible solution. That's as good an explanation as any, but I'm not certain that's a correct attribution.

First, this vet's organization would have had to been founded right after the war or shortly thereafter to make a 40th anniversary. I don't think there was this level of organization, desire, or energy for a bunch of guys who fought across Europe and had just taken Berlin to be thinking of an exclusive veteran's association. In the Soviet Union private individuals or organizations spontaneously starting exclusive, organizing activities just didn't happen. Just doesn't sound right - anyone else know of any such organizations?

Also why would a veterans' organization be awarded an Order of the Red Banner? I know other state institutions were awarded state decorations, but again, this doesn't feel right.

Finally, the vet organizations I've seen are called "sovet", not "obedinenie".

The explanation for this badge could still be correct, I just would need to see other evidence.

[Taz]

Hi Paul,
I'll keep looking around and see what I can find, with regards to the translation of Garde-Panzervereinigung, could this be Guards Tank Army (unit)
Maybe the exact meaning was lost translating from Russian to German or German to English.

Eddie.

[desantnik]

Originally Posted by Taz

Hi Paul,
I'll keep looking around and see what I can find, with regards to the translation of Garde-Panzervereinigung, could this be Guards Tank Army (unit)
Maybe the exact meaning was lost translating from Russian to German or German to English.

Eddie.

It could be an unnumbered large Guards tank formation. These unnumbered formations occasionally cropped up in the WWII order of battle.

The word "obedinenie" indicates a rather large formation, like larger than division or corps.

[esterhazy]

Originally Posted by desantnik

The word "obedinenie" indicates a rather large formation, like larger than division or corps.

Tank army may be called "obedinenie".

[Esteban_cool]

a very nice and smart a** gentleman offers this "enameled WWII award" for USD 160.
Now, after politely explaining him that these kind of badges are not considered awards, and are pretty common and absolutely NOT worth USD 163, his answer pissed me off. So, to have a REAL reference, the question: how much would this veteran´s badge in this condition cost?

Thanks.