09-15-2002, 06:30 AM
Here's a rather poor translation of a Suvorov 3rd Class citation. I do not speak Russian so I rely heavily on Alta Vista and my Katzner Dictionary. Of particular interest is that one of the signatures approving the award is that of General - Colonel Chuikov.
Major El'tsov, Commander of the 63rd Independent Motorised-Pontoon-Bridge Battalion, during the crossing of the River Oder by units of the 8th Guards Army, He provided for 10 hours, two ferry crossings which carried loads between 30 and 60 tons.
During this time, under pressure from enemy artillery fire and bombardment from aircraft, these crossings twice went out of order. Major Yel’tsov remained always at the crossings, personally leading the restoration of the crossings so that tanks and artillery could continue to the West bank of the River Oder ensuring the rapid accumulation of the 8th Guards Army for a decisive offensive attack.
After learning of the order to build a bridge that could withstand loads of 60 tons with a length of 250 metres in the vicinity of Kustrin, Major Yel’tsov led and organised the work in spite of the continued destruction of the spans of the bridge and the loss of personnel from artillery fire and enemy aviation. The construction of the bridge was completed by his unit twenty four hours ahead of schedule. This bridge played a major role in the passage of heavy loads and equipment to the bridgehead for the decisive advance.
With this breach in the German defences along the River Oder and the gains of the leading attackers toward the River Spree and Teltov Canal in the vicinity of Berlin, Major El'tsov in a short time ensured the passage of troops to the Western shore contributing to the encirclement of the garrison of German troops in the City of Berlin and the destruction of the Berlin Garrison.
For the outstanding fulfilment of the task of commanding the crossing of the troops of the 8th Guards Army, ensuring the exploitation of the encirclement and liquidation of the Berlin Garrison, Major El'tsov deserves to be awarded the government order of Suvorov 3rd Class.
Again, not a great interpretation, but you get the general idea.
I'm curious about the serial number ranges of Suvorov 3rd Class awards. According to McDaniel, 3163 individuals and 849 units (total = 4012) received this order. Also according to McDaniel, the highest number observed as of the time of his book was 11554. Does anyone have additional serial numbers and dates they can add to the list at the bottom of this post? The front or unit awarding it would be interesting to know as well. There must be some very large gaps in the serial ranges awarded. Has anyone ever encountered a Suvorov 3rd that was not awarded?
I'm thinking this would be an interesting topic of research because the number of awards is limited and because I assume that most people who have one in their collection have had it researched as opposed to other more common orders. Maybe I won't be able to reach any conclusions but I think it would be interesting to see what trends may develop.
If you have research for Suvorov 3rd Class orders, please post it here or PM me. I will post what I find out (if anything) when I get more data.
All the best,
Doug
Award Number/Date of Award/Front
1 1943-02-08
49 1943-07-25 Major Solomahin, commander of 106 field engineer battalion - Leningrad Front
2142 1945-04-19 2nd Ukrainian Front
2453 1945-06-09
2666 1956-12-18 Hungarian Uprising (38th Army)
7869 1943-10-10 Central Front
8280 1943-11 (Deed) 4th Ukrainian Front
8579 1943-12-24 3rd Ukrainian Front
9331 1945-03-03
10288 1945-07-17 1st Byelorussian Front
10968 1945-05-30 1st Byelorussian Front
11554 1945-06-14 2nd Byelorussian Front
Major El'tsov, Commander of the 63rd Independent Motorised-Pontoon-Bridge Battalion, during the crossing of the River Oder by units of the 8th Guards Army, He provided for 10 hours, two ferry crossings which carried loads between 30 and 60 tons.
During this time, under pressure from enemy artillery fire and bombardment from aircraft, these crossings twice went out of order. Major Yel’tsov remained always at the crossings, personally leading the restoration of the crossings so that tanks and artillery could continue to the West bank of the River Oder ensuring the rapid accumulation of the 8th Guards Army for a decisive offensive attack.
After learning of the order to build a bridge that could withstand loads of 60 tons with a length of 250 metres in the vicinity of Kustrin, Major Yel’tsov led and organised the work in spite of the continued destruction of the spans of the bridge and the loss of personnel from artillery fire and enemy aviation. The construction of the bridge was completed by his unit twenty four hours ahead of schedule. This bridge played a major role in the passage of heavy loads and equipment to the bridgehead for the decisive advance.
With this breach in the German defences along the River Oder and the gains of the leading attackers toward the River Spree and Teltov Canal in the vicinity of Berlin, Major El'tsov in a short time ensured the passage of troops to the Western shore contributing to the encirclement of the garrison of German troops in the City of Berlin and the destruction of the Berlin Garrison.
For the outstanding fulfilment of the task of commanding the crossing of the troops of the 8th Guards Army, ensuring the exploitation of the encirclement and liquidation of the Berlin Garrison, Major El'tsov deserves to be awarded the government order of Suvorov 3rd Class.
Again, not a great interpretation, but you get the general idea.
I'm curious about the serial number ranges of Suvorov 3rd Class awards. According to McDaniel, 3163 individuals and 849 units (total = 4012) received this order. Also according to McDaniel, the highest number observed as of the time of his book was 11554. Does anyone have additional serial numbers and dates they can add to the list at the bottom of this post? The front or unit awarding it would be interesting to know as well. There must be some very large gaps in the serial ranges awarded. Has anyone ever encountered a Suvorov 3rd that was not awarded?
I'm thinking this would be an interesting topic of research because the number of awards is limited and because I assume that most people who have one in their collection have had it researched as opposed to other more common orders. Maybe I won't be able to reach any conclusions but I think it would be interesting to see what trends may develop.
If you have research for Suvorov 3rd Class orders, please post it here or PM me. I will post what I find out (if anything) when I get more data.
All the best,
Doug
Award Number/Date of Award/Front
1 1943-02-08
49 1943-07-25 Major Solomahin, commander of 106 field engineer battalion - Leningrad Front
2142 1945-04-19 2nd Ukrainian Front
2453 1945-06-09
2666 1956-12-18 Hungarian Uprising (38th Army)
7869 1943-10-10 Central Front
8280 1943-11 (Deed) 4th Ukrainian Front
8579 1943-12-24 3rd Ukrainian Front
9331 1945-03-03
10288 1945-07-17 1st Byelorussian Front
10968 1945-05-30 1st Byelorussian Front
11554 1945-06-14 2nd Byelorussian Front
