Badge "For The Expedition To Wrangel".

[claretbaron]

a friend told me this is named:ORDER BADGE VRANGEL
but i not find on Goole.com - Search the Net or visit Goole.
i want to know history about this.
thank you

[Jeffrey Meffert]

In english would be "Wrangel"
1924 is when the gunboat "Red October" planted the soviet flag on Wrangel Island and claimed it for the PCCP.
Wrangel Island - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I guess the order , if genuine, commemorates that or rewards those who took the island in the name of the workers and peasants. Pretty cool, if real.

[deValcourt]

Do you have better (or at least more) photographs of this? I am also curious about the size.

There are a few things about this that make me doubt it was an official award much less an "order." I do not think anyone in the Soviet governing bodies who decided on designed of awards would have slapped the star with the hammer and sickle on top of the "Workers of the World Unite!" slogan so that some of the words are blocked from view. The other problems could be sorted out if we could get a clearer image (mainly so I can read what is written in the bottom semicircle).

Perhaps it is an unofficial piece commissioned by a veteran, historical or memorial organization.

Phillip

[Lapa]

Guys,

This is definitely NOT an order. It is an official badge, part of the polar exploration series.
And, by the way, it is widely (and fairly successfully) faked.

Marc

[claretbaron]

who can have this badge?
i do not know any history.

[Lapa]

This badge was awarded to the expedition participants and the supporting team.

Marc

[UQWozza]

Taken from: Wrangel Island - New World Encyclopedia

In 1926, a team of Soviet explorers, equipped with three years of supplies, landed on Wrangel Island. Clear waters that facilitated the 1926 landing were followed by years of continuous heavy ice blocking the island. Attempts to reach the island by sea failed and it was feared that the team would not survive their fourth winter.

In 1929, the Icebreaker Fyodor Litke was chosen for a rescue operation. It sailed from Sevastopol led by captain Konstantin Dublitsky. On July 4, it reached Vladivostok where local staff replaced all Black Sea sailors. Ten days later the Litke sailed north; it passed Bering Strait, and tried to pass De Long Strait and approach the island from south. On August 8 a scout plane reported impassable ice in the strait, and the Litke turned north, heading to Herald Island. It failed to escape mounting ice; August 12, the captain shut down the engines to save coal and had to wait two weeks until the ice pressure eased up. Making a few hundred meters a day, the Litke reached the settlement August 28. On September 5, the Litke sailed, taking all the "islanders" to safety. This operation earned the Litke the order of the Red Banner of Labour (January 20, 1930), as well as memorial badges for the crew.

In the 1930s, Wrangel Island became the scene of a bizarre criminal story when it fell under the increasingly arbitrary rule of its appointed governor Konstantin Semenchuk, who controlled the local populace and his own staff through open extortion and murder. He forbade the local Eskimos to hunt walruses, which put them in danger of starvation, while collecting food for himself. He was then implicated in the mysterious deaths of some of his opponents, including the local doctor. The subsequent Moscow trial in June 1936 sentenced Semenchuk to death for "banditry" and violation of Soviet law.

During and after World War II, many German SS prisoners of war and the remnants of Andrey Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army were imprisoned and died on Wrangel Island. A prisoner who later emigrated to Israel, Efim Moshinsky, claims to have seen Raoul Wallenberg there in 1962.

Shown below is the badge of the 1929 rescue expedition - a similar badge (the second one) for a different 1928 rescue mission sold at the M & E Auction # 31 for 19,000 GBP on Friday 13 June 2008.

No wonder these sort of badges are faked!!!!

Simon

[yusom]

There is only 61 original sign, on number of participants of expedition of 1924 (and it is a lot of copies)

[deValcourt]

Simon, many thanks for that bit of historical information I never really knew I needed, yet turned out very interesting. And I've seen some badges go for some amazingly high prices, but the less attractive of the two going for 19,000 GBP is :wow

And Yuri's picture is much more in line with what I think of as Soviet workmanship.:thumbsup

Phillip

[UQWozza]

Hi Philip,

I agree the rescue badges do have a "modern look" of their own - I guess the same designer and manufacturer (1929 one has a Moscow mint mark). I must admit that I like the look of these badges.

To be honest, while I agree that the Wrangel badge is very Soviet, to me the design is flawed with, as you said, the star on top of the slogan spoiling it.

Simon