Soviet Awards to non-Soviet personnel.

[pacha b]

Hi Guys,

This is how the story began.

Stalin's British heroes: A forgotten medal reveals the extraordinary courage of the RAF aces | Mail Online

Nick. :)

[harnham]

Re Paiforce - Persia and Irag Force.
My father was in this outfir, classified as an "army" rather than as a regimernt. As a Major he commanded no 3 Petrol Depot near Basra in southern Iraq. He, along with several other officers of the same rank, was awarded a decoration by the USSR but was fordidden to accept it.
I should be most grateful if you could let me know what this decoration was likely to have been and why the British government made such a decision - was it that only more senior officers were eligible foir such awards? It alwys rankled a bit becasue one of the perks of this honour was free travel on Soviet transport for life.

[MarkJ]

As has been mentioned earlier, Dwight Eisenhower was presented with two decorations by the Soviet government. The decorations and their classes, along with the award dates are listed on the Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum site:

The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum Homepage

[CtahhR]

I just purchased a 14 award documented group to a Bulgarian Colonel which included a Twenty Years of Victory medal which I find a little strange as not only was it issued in 1972 but the Colonel was not awarded any other Soviet or Bulgarian medals for participation in the war (except the Bulgarian 40 years of victory). Can anyone give some explanation of why the Soviet authorities found him deserving of this decoration? He was born in 1922 and joined the BCP in 1946 but it doesn't seem that he was a participant of the Patriotic War although he was issued an international passport by the Bulgarian authorities. Attached is a scan of the important part of his document.

[deValcourt]

It was a Christmas present?:D

Really, just based on some assumptions, since the 20th was awarded in 1965 to Soviet citizens and under the expansion of regulations on awarding of this one in 1966, he might have qualified under the broad category of non-military "...participants of the underground acting against the German-Fascist invaders in temporarily occupied territory during the period of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945."*

We've all seen late or catch-up awards within the Soviet Union, so I'd imagine that people outside of the country but still within the Soviet Bloc who were given this medal (for political reasons most likely) might have received it this late. At least it was before the 30th came out.

I said political reasons because you mentioned he had an international passport which suggests diplomatic ties for which any official Soviet awards would greatly further his career in a country like Bulgaria at the time.

In short, it starts to look like a personal favor.:)

Phillip

*McDaniel, Paul and Paul J. Schmitt. The Comprehensive Guide to Soviet Orders and Medals. Historical Research L.L.C., Arlington, Virginia, 1997.

[CtahhR]

I would have thought if he had fallen into the category of "...participants of the underground acting against the German-Fascist invaders in temporarily occupied territory during the period of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945." the Bulgarian government would have coated him in awards (alike many other groups I have) so he probably just got it as a favour like you say. A rather strange medal to pop up without previous awards for participation. Maybe he was at the 1965 parade and he was forgotten about for 7 years? I don't think so myself but anything can happen after someone knocks over the giant "in" pile. Can anyone out there identify the stamp?

Here's a run down of the full grouping;
1951-04-26 Military Merits
1955-04-28 Red Banner #1537
1964-09-01 20th Anniversary Of The BPA
1968-09-15 People's Freedom 1941-1944 2nd Class
1969-09-01 25 Years Of People's Rule
1972-12-25 Twenty Years Of Victory In The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945
1974 30th Anniversary Of The BPA
1978-03-02 100th Anniversary Of The Liberation Of Bulgaria
1978-11-14 For Military Valour And Merit 1st Class
1981-10-18 1300th Anniversary Of Bulgaria
1982-06-21 100th Anniversary Of The Birth Of Georgi Dimitrov
1984-08-17 40th Anniversary Of Socialist Bulgaria
1985-03-08 40th Anniversary Of Victory Over Hitler's Fascism
1990 Union Of Reserve Officers Badge

1980 BCP Membership stating join date 1946
1980-05-09 Personal Passport in Bulgarian and Russian

The soviet document is also the first one to refer to him as a Colonel later ones do but none of the earlier documents refer to rank.

[deValcourt]

Do you have any idea why he was given the Bulgarian Order of the Red Banner? That might help bridge some of the gaps.

Phillip

[CtahhR]

No idea at all, They are rather unresearchable. Some people incorrectly believe that the Bulgarians awarded Red Banners as "catch up" awards for actions during the Patriotic War but that's not the case. a great deal of Officers were awarded the Red Banner in the mid to late 1950's "For Merits in the strengthening of the Bulgarian People's Army". Every document I have for the Red Banner are issued to officers so it seems to have been a rather general service award. Only one of the groups I have with the Red Banner also has medals for service during the Patriotic War. The orders of 9-9-1944 and People's Freedom 1941-1944 covered Patriotic War actions as well as the Participation Medal although both the orders were later issued for non-patriotic war actions or merit. It really does seem more like he got the medal for propaganda reasons rather than anything military.

[deValcourt]

Yep, I think he could have been a businessman in somebody's pocket, if not part of the official diplomatic corps. Either way, he would need to curry favor with the Soviets to get ahead in whichever career he was in.

Phillip

[CtahhR]

I think if someone knew what the Soviet stamp was on the award document it may enlighten us somewhat as to why a Bulgarian Army General who it seems did not see any service during the Patriotic War got a Twenty Years of Victory medal 27 years after victory. A very strange item to pop up in a Bulgarian group.