Question on belts and medal rack

[90cent]

I have purchased a soviet colonel of the artillery parade uniform and about 7 medals, 5 badges, and 2 university/academy badges. The uniform was bought seporately from the decorations and the decorations were all bought from various sources.

My questions are this:
I have the yellow parade belt, but the pants have belt loops. I have not been able to find anything on what the uniform belt is for the pants. Info and pictures would help.

Also, I have noticed that the medals on the pictures of parade uniforms I have found online are all connected with a medal clasp that connects 3-5 medals in a row so they can be attached to the uniform neater and easier. Where can I find thes so I can attach my individual medals to them?

Finally, I have seen various examples of Soviet uniforms online from a few sources,but the pictures show somewhat inconsistant placement. I still cannot determine what the official regialtions are on where to put decorations. I am looking for specific regulations on where to put my various badges and medals in relation to the tunic and collar. Something similar to what the US military puts out (where they define that the name tag is worn above and touching the left pocket (AF), specialty badge is worn 1/2 above the right pocket, US pins are worn parallel to the ground, 1 inch above that notch in the collar etc)
I would really appreciate info on this more than anything because I really want to get the placement right. I am a stickler for historical acuracy and I am even more adament about getting this right because I will have to poke large perminant holes in the uniform since the Soviets used screw backings for some reason.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[EricFG]

Originally Posted by 90cent

I have the yellow parade belt, but the pants have belt loops. I have not been able to find anything on what the uniform belt is for the pants. Info and pictures would help..

I think that yellow belt you're talking about goes around the belly on the outside of the tunic. There's probably a belt that goes through the belt loops on the pants (to hold them up) and I'd suspect that it's a plain leather belt. The uniform experst here will hopefully contribute.

Originally Posted by 90cent

Also, I have noticed that the medals on the pictures of parade uniforms I have found online are all connected with a medal clasp that connects 3-5 medals in a row so they can be attached to the uniform neater and easier. Where can I find thes so I can attach my individual medals to them?.

A suspension is what you're after. Contact Nota Bene here (others may offer as well) or look on eBay for a "suspension". They are still available.

Originally Posted by 90cent

Finally, I have seen various examples of Soviet uniforms online from a few sources,but the pictures show somewhat inconsistant placement. I still cannot determine what the official regialtions are on where to put decorations. I am looking for specific regulations on where to put my various badges and medals in relation to the tunic and collar. Something similar to what the US military puts out (where they define that the name tag is worn above and touching the left pocket (AF), specialty badge is worn 1/2 above the right pocket, US pins are worn parallel to the ground, 1 inch above that notch in the collar etc)
I would really appreciate info on this more than anything because I really want to get the placement right. I am a stickler for historical acuracy and I am even more adament about getting this right because I will have to poke large perminant holes in the uniform since the Soviets used screw backings for some reason.

There are Soviet uniform regulations, and they can be had. But for some strange reason it seems a good percentage of Soviet soldiers paid less than 100% attention to regulations.
Maybe you can give us a few pictures of what you have? Then perha[s we can point to where they ought to be?

[Tretov]

I suggest you buy the 1988 uniform regulations book, issued by the Soviet ministry of defense. It will give you a good start and good instructions. It can be found on eBay at about 35 USD.

[Ser-g]

a picture of the uniform would help for sure.

when was the uniform worn ? that can change the positioning of the medals.
on the belt your talking about the yellow belt with 3 stripes over it ?
again a picture of the belt would help.

i personally have never seen any belt that was worn to hold up the pants.
i imagine there must have been one but it would maybe not have been worn since the pants and breeches were adjustable and doing so would sit nicely.

[90cent]

yeah, the belt I have is the yellow parade belt that has 3 stripes going around it and a yellow buckle with a star on it. I know this is just decorative since it goes around the tunic. I guess the belt for the pants doesn't matter so I will were a thin back belt with a conservative buckle.

Thanks for the info on the suspensions and the '88 reg manual. My roommate knows some basic Russian. Do you think that will be enough for us to interpret the manual? Will the manual explain when the medals should be worn like a hexigon, like an upside-down triangle, or like a rectangle? If you look at Tretov's site the medals are worn in various shapes (unlike the US where it is 4 to a row until the top row where an odd number may be worn) including tilting the whole rack to run along the collar.

I will post pictures of everything I have in about a week when everything is supposed to arrive from the various sellers.

One final thought, will the book explain what order the medals go in or will I have to wait until I can post the pictures for you guys to look at?

Thanks again for your help.

[Ser-g]

if your uniform is indeed an m88 one, you will only need a page or 2 from the manual. (maybe you can get anyone to post a scan of these 2 pages , i will try and dig up mine)

the medals wont go along the collar, that was done earlier but not at the time of a m88 uniform.

the order of placing medals is some what more tricky, it is i believe (not sure) generally mentioned in the back of the regulations manual.
But it is far better to have pictures and the guy's on the medal topic will make a perfect order out of them !
The normal length of a suspension is i believe 5, but exceptions are more and more common ,, officers and soldiers too just did what looked good, eg 3 and 2 under it looks more impressive.

batons are not worn on a full dress parade uniform like you describe with belt,
batons (little ribbons) are worn in the us with the left over ones on the top.
in the soviet union this was done opposite rows of 4 or 5 (maybe for marshals 6) and the bottom row may have been the ones that did not make a full row yet.

as for the belt on the loops ,, i think your plan is more than okay ,, and not much different than an average soldier would have done at the time.

[Esteban_cool]

Originally Posted by 90cent

One final thought, will the book explain what order the medals go in or will I have to wait until I can post the pictures for you guys to look at?

Yes, it will, but this site has already the established order according to the last regulations. Take a look at the awards list and it will do.

[90cent]

I haven't recieved all of my medals yet and my artillery academy grad badge, but I can list them for you. I would apreciate it if you could let me know what order they should go in starting at the top left and working right/down. (I know I have major boards on the uniform. Col boards will arrive soon)

Here is a picture of what I have so far. Once again, i will be wearing a white dimond grad badge for artillery school too when it arrives. I assume it will go to the left of the university grad badge if all else is in the right place.

The medals I will have (list includes those pictured) are:medals for irrepoachable service (1,2&3rd classes), medals for anniversary of Red Military (50,60&70yrs),and medal for combat merits (grey ribbon with yellow edges and crosses sabre and rifle on metal) and veteran of labor (is it true that this one was only issued upon retirement?)

are there any more medals that a soviet artilery colonel (and vet of afgahnistan) should have?

[Jeffrey Meffert]

If that's really the shade of green it appears, it looks like you may have a "franken-uniform" (a mixture of various parts from different eras and branches).