Looking Back and Looking Forward

[CtahhR]

Contrary to some beliefs, due to my self-sacrificing nature and dedication to progression, around half of the items in the collection have been gifted to me.
My personal monetary spend on awards is extremely limited. People who know me in the "real" world certainly know this to be true.

I often volunteer myself to very serious and threatening situations that others can't cope in. That certainly reaps rewards. The stories I can never tell and those no-one would ever wish to hear.

Money is a tool. Other tools can do the job just as well, sometimes better.

Communication is always key - the more positive, the more positive the outcome. This is showing to be ever more true here on the forum.

Back to retrospective, I hope everyone had a very fruitful year - if not in physical things in information. I wish everyone success and hopefully they can share their tales of successes or at least attempts here.

[travel-north]

I got a number of nice campaign medals: Polar defence T2, Leningrad T1 with polished sky and short horizon, Vienna voenkomat, and other

[desantnik]

http://soviet-awards.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83615

Well, I gave Al-Muell partial credit and proofread Ralph's, as well as at least one other forum member's article, but did they ever get published?

The only personal benefit I receive from attracting members (or their dues) is personal satisfaction - thanks to everyone who "put their money where their mouth is" by becoming a paid subscriber. Now the next step is sharing your knowledge or even collection with a broader audience.

As mentioned above, I've proofread a few articles and will continue to do so as time permits, but let's create a new generation or wider pool of knowledgeable collectors.

[Ralph Pickard]

Desantnik - Thanks for your post and happy new year. The article is still in the pipeline and I hope it will be published soon. :-)

[CtahhR]

As a small update;

All available citations for all the awards in the researched Titles, Orders and Medals have been added. Citations for award groups and those researchable through previously posted award cards (even if there is no image of the actual award) will be added "soon". This will hopefully share reasons for awarding to a greater depth to the community. Some very interesting stories out there.

I may be jumping the gun a bit but I may have already obtained the "best" item of 2014 already. I'll reveal it in due time.

It is also nice to see new members jump into action. Anyone offering information or assistance is always more than welcome.

Onwards!

[CtahhR]

Well it's that time again, annual retrospective.

Another extremely busy and fruitful year......

With some personal highlights being;

The 2013 late entry "Best Bits".
A real museum piece - completely overlooked.
A fine group to a "SWAT" Policeman.
A bar to be proud of.
A 47 year late catch up, 46 years too late.
A 42 year late catch up.
A pile of goodies to a national treasure.
A truly tragic story.
There's only one first.
A group to a Machinegunner adding to his account on the last day of the war.

Then there are the items that have been "knocking about" for a while but have only just been reunited with research;

A fantastic group to a death defying partisan turned state security commissar.

Red Banner,311222,Secretary Of The Party Commissary,4th Zenit-Searchlight Division
Patriotic War II,0448406,Scout,215th Rifle Regiment,179th Rifle Division,Wounds 1945
Red Star,0255836,Chef,727th Rifle Regiment,219th Rifle Division,Battle Of Kursk
Red Star,0489140,Sapper,30th Separate Storm Engineer-Sapper Battalion,27th Army
Red Star,0565783,Senior Driver,29th Separate Guards Tank Breakthrough Regiment
Red Star,0743576,Adjutant,2nd Aviation Squadron,132nd Bomber Aviation Regiment
Red Star,0915858,Head Of Central Warehouse #2100,Department Of Specialist Devices
Glory III,324530,Company Starshina,137th Separate Work Battalion,19th Army


The forum has continued to be a large fountain of knowledge and factual information as well as ever expanding - over 60 new sections in 2014 alone!

Looking forward to 2015 there is still a vast amount of work to be done and an ever flowing stream of research to present. There will probably also be quite a few new sections added to the forum to accept these new posts.

My focus has changed slightly and the posts of 2015 will slowly reflect that slight change. Hopefully there will be a considerable amount of fresh posts in 2015 - that being said I still haven't finished posting the Lobzhanidze or Cukiernik groups.

Lots of goodies out there for everyone.... still lots of opportunities for all to obtain and present items and information.

I can also end this as I did a year ago by saying that I may have already picked up one of the highlights of 2015.

[CtahhR]

2015 has been a super bumper year for collecting awards focused upon by this forum. With prices absolutely collapsing and the markets being flooded it has been very difficult for me to not buy up large numbers of them. With research cheaper than ever before it is also now more affordable to find the stories behind the awards. It was a rather strange reversal of events of previous years where I would be ecstatic with a researched award entering the collection once every few weeks or months to one every one-two weeks to, with the combined dropping prices and ease of access to research, up to 20 researched awards entering the collection in a single day. This has caused a good backlog of researched awards/groups that it may take some time to clear.

New 2015 researched awards/groups include;
Kornienko, Vladimir Fedorovich, Guards Sergeant, Mortar Artillerist/Musician
Zhuravlev, Valentin Ivanovich, Lieutenant, Platoon Commander, 250th Mortar Regiment
Popov, Ivan Pavlovich, Senior Sergeant, Gun Ranger, 857th Artillery Budapest Regiment
Sokolov, Aleksej Dmitrievich, Junior Sergeant, Tailor, Southern Group Of Forces
Kamenev, Ivan Jakovlevich, Sergeant, Submachine-Gunner, War Against Japan
Red Star,1587366,Pilot,3rd Sanitary Squadron,97th Separate Aviation Regiment
Red Star,1613053,Senior Telephonist,39th Separate Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade
Red Star,1691532,Aircraft Mechanic,45th Aviation Squadron,Red Banner Baltic Fleet
Red Star,3701609,50th Anniversary Of The October Revolution
Glory III,485070,Lead Scout,487th Separate Scout Company,218th Rifle Division
For Bravery,2085359,Auto-Welder/Motorist,419th Auto Company,Königsberg
For Bravery,2231883,Senior Telephonist,47th Heavy Mortar Brigade
For Bravery,2399308,Gun Ranger,76th Separate Guards Destroyer Anti-Tank Section
For Bravery,2977387,Rifleman,297th Rifle Division,Smolensk Behind Enemy Lines
For Bravery,3143715,Pilot,3rd Squadron,457th Near-Range Bombardment Aviation Regiment
For Bravery,3202914,Rifleman,304th Rifle Regiment,2nd Shock Army
For Bravery,3534952,Private,172nd Guards Rifle Regiment,Catch-Up 1954
For Bravery,3548899,Anti-Tank Rifleman,646th Rifle Regiment,Catch-Up 1954
For Combat Merits,0057220,Head Of Surgical Department,Evacuation Hospital 2747
For Combat Merits,0120158,Aviation Mechanic,800th Storm Aviation Regiment,"Mars"
For Combat Merits,0183587,Deputy Head,Account Staff,958th Rifle Regiment,Stalingrad
For Combat Merits,0298926,Welder,50th Guards Separate Motor-Rifle Scout Company
For Combat Merits,1723411,Tailor,1345th Rifle Regiment,399th Rifle Division
For Combat Merits,2478268,Section Commander,91st Separate Auto-Transport Battalion
For Combat Merits,3159520,Chairman Of The Village Soviet,Wounds 1946
For Combat Merits,U/N 1948,Squad Commander,336th Rifle Regiment,Wounds
For Combat Merits,U/N 1991,Head Of Radio Station,334th Border Regiment NKVD,Catch-Up

[CtahhR]

Earlier obtained awards that have been researched in 2015 include;
Red Star,0915858,Chief Of Central Warehouse #2100,Department Of Specialist Devices
Red Star,0965158,76mm Gun Battery Commander,258th Rifle Regiment,140th Rifle Division
Red Star,0974293,Technician,Serpuhov Aviation-Technical School,Long Service 1944
Red Star,1100126,Deputy Head Of Staff Of Operational Units,608th Rifle Regiment
Red Star,1333035,Pontooneer,90th Separate Pontoon-Bridging Battalion,East Prussia
Red Star,1783576,Technician Of Combustible-Lubrication Material,298th Rifle Division
Red Star,2005503,Chief Party Organiser,Naval Section,Vitebsk Oblast Party Committee
Red Star,2070540,Head Of Mobile Aircraft Repair Workshop 1 #54,1st Air Army
Red Star,3625285,Gun Ranger,409th Artillery Regiment,Wounds 1966
Glory III,792213,Gun Ranger,190th Artillery Regiment,Wounds 1979
For Bravery,0721116,120mm Mortar Battery Adjuster,956th Rifle Regiment,Har'kov
For Bravery,0788717,Driver,993rd Zenit Artillery Regiment,River Dnepr
For Bravery,1732022,Communications Squad Commander,1367th Rifle Regiment,Crimea
For Combat Merits,0365745,Head Of Auto-Repair Workshop,1028th Artillery Regiment
For Combat Merits,0375861,Welder,Technical Provisions Company,244th Tank Regiment
For Combat Merits,1497308,Rifleman,20th Guards Rifle Regiment,Brammanishi

Although this doesn't include 48 researched awards I've obtained and don't have access to, nor the 17 awards I've obtained and research is pending, nor 18 awards I obtained before 2015 where research is pending. As I said, a real backlog.

Of course there have been new arrivals from all areas of the forum, from the Imperial period to 2015 and reaching all over the globe, especially to the more obscure parts.
This includes some less frequently seen Armenian Medals;
"Russian Navy 300 Years" Jubilee Medal.
"Garegin Nzhdeh" Medal.
"Admiral Isakov" Medal.
"Vazgen Sargasian" Medal.
Even less frequently seen NKR items;
"Maternal Gratitude To Artsah's Courageous Sons" Commemorative Medal.
"Combat Service" Medal.
Deputy Of The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Badge.
On the subject of Deputies there was also;
Deputy Of The Republic Of Moldova.
Going back to the MSSR there's also;
Laureate Of The State Prize Of The Moldavian SSR
Then there's the PMR;
Order "Defender Of The Homeland".
Staying obscure, there have been some great researched Albanian groups including;
A group to a cadet whose brother was a Martyr.
The Martyred brother's pair
The most "internationalist" group to date.

Also I've presented a couple of slightly "off topic" pieces with some great research that I just can't overlook as part of a review of 2015;
A Fully Researched Award For Heroic Combat In North Korea.
Helyett Simonsen's Hjemmet's Spirit Medal.

I've also been trying to present awards from areas of the Soviet Union and Former Soviet Union that have not been touched upon at all yet.
This is just a taste of what's to come - Honorary Title "Meritorious Agricultural Worker Of The Karakalpak ASSR".

Although this year has been extremely busy for me (not helped by the market being so appealing for collectors and research) I have been trying to throw out as much as I can for everyone to enjoy or simply use as reference. Just under 500 posts this year, so rather quiet for me. Don't worry I'll keep throwing the posts out there as I can.

Posting new information/pieces is not the only time consuming part of the forum. This year has seen a change of ownership and a promotion. This has caused more consumption of time with a reshuffle of the forum, whilst at the same time 50+ new sections (They're out there if you look through the forums). The forum is looking better and is easier to search and access the information you need than ever before. There is still quite a lot of "archiving" to do of older posts but they get chipped away at from time to time.

2015 was a great year for the forum and 2016 is poised to be even better. Cheaper prices and easier research is a very positive thing for us collectors.

Speaking of cheaper prices, I forgot to mention one of the best Forum Marketplace purchases I have ever made - An unfortunately unresearchable Order Of Lenin.

Just a couple of days ago I found a list of the items in the collection from a few months before I joined the forum. Over 1000 awards, it seemed a lot at the time but it was just genesis. It certainly help me be retrospective. Not even all of those have been posted yet, talk about backlog!

All I can say for 2016 is brace yourself for more previously unseen items (I just made a purchase that is almost unbelievable in content), more tales of research than ever before (I personally have researched groups for combat in each of the battles of Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad to post) and more than likely even more Forum sections (It seems difficult to believe there are sections missing but it's true).

"Ring out the old ring in the new!"

[CtahhR]

Well that was an interesting year......

It started off brilliantly for the forum with a record number of users at one time, with 553 on 20th January.

Things however did take a turn and the whole year ended up being quite the experience. Never-the-less there have been plenty of distractions and productive avenues. Personally, I've done more research than ever before. Really digging deep, with some great successes. The awards haven't been flowing in as swiftly as before, with only 157 decorations acquired in 2020, but some great ones within that reduced selection. One of the highlights was completing the full collection of the Karakalpak Titles. The outstanding piece will be posted soon as it is in hand.

Another unbelievable find was Anania Shirakatsi Medal #001.

Only seven newly obtained and researched Medals this year, though many older ones have been expanded upon.

For Bravery,U/N 1957,T-70 Mechanic/Driver,78th Separate Tank Brigade,Catch-Up
For Combat Merits,0148724,Welder,Leningrad Army Of Anti-Aircraft Defence
For Combat Merits,1430174,Kiev NKGB,Long Service
For Combat Merits,2105221,Telephonist,214th Guards Artillery Regiment
For Combat Merits,2319744,Driver,115th Separate Auto Company,19th Rifle Division
For Combat Merits,3115823,Laundress,Intendant Section,58th Guards Rifle Division
For Combat Merits,3209668,Tank Battalion Commander,202nd Tank Regiment,Long Service

Older pieces expanded on include;
Red Star,1990750,Senior Secretary Of The Military Tribunal,Kronshtadt Naval Region
Red Star,3548523,50mm Mortar Commander/Partisan,305th Battalion/Garibaldi Brigade
For Combat Merits,0706204,Sniper,NKVD,1st Ukrainian Front

My main focus with awards this year has been British Empire, specifically The Great War and shown are this year's pick-ups which are currently on hand.

Row 1,
Trio #1 A Private of the Royal Fusiliers that emigrated to Canada.
Trio #2 A Driver of the Royal Field Artillery that emigrated to the US.
Trio #3 A Private of the Army Service Corps, named Rigby, first cousin of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby.

Row 2,
Pair #1 A Yorkshire born member of the AIF that fled to Canada on demobilisation, abandoning his wife in Australia.
Pair #2 A one-eyed Bristolian member of the Canadian Railway Troops, later called to work for Henry Ford.
Pair #3 A Glaswegian plasterer living in the Bronx that volunteered to build trenches for the Canadians in France.
Pair #4 plus Badge, A Canadian Engineer who demobilised to the USA.

Row 3,
Pair #1 A Sergeant of the Army Service Corps who emigrated to the USA.
Pair #2 A Suffolk born Valet working in affluent New England before volunteering for the 13th Canadian Battalion, getting blown up in the trenches and laid off for being an invalid on his return to the USA. Thrown into State Prison and deported back to England.
Royal Red Cross 2nd Class. One of only 8 awarded in 1948.
Indian Mutiny Medal to an original defender that did not advance on Delhi as he was on guard at the arsenal.
3 1914-15 Stars, one to a member of the Sherwood Foresters for landing at Gallipoli.

Row 4,
Military Medal awarded in the field to a pony driver of the Canadian Railway Troops.
Baltic Medal to a Marine of HMS Nile who boarded and torched Russian ships at Primorsk on 18th September 1855. Sole entitlement as he was invalided out of service during a storm.
British War Medal (Sole entitlement) to a member of the Mombasa Defence Force.
British War Medal to a Fijian native Pacific islander member of the NZEF.
British War Medal to a Sergeant of the Royal Artillery.
British War Medal (Sole entitlement) and sweetheart brooch to a Private of the Scottish Rifles, later emigrated to the USA.
British War Medal to a Jewish Gunner of the Royal Artillery
British War Medal to a Scottish Flight Sergeant of the RNAS/RAF. Later a professional motorcycle racer.

Row 5,
British War Medal (Sole entitlement) to a Scottish born member of the 156th Canadian Infantry who died of Spanish Flu in July 1918. (His brother was KIA a few weeks later).
British War Medal to a member of the 24th London/RAF.
British War Medal to a Canadian Officer.
British War Medal, unnamed (Not erased).
British War Medal in Bronze to a member of the Macedonian Mule Corps.
India General Service Medal Wit Waziristan 1921-24 and Mahsud 1919-20 Clasps to a Sergeant of the 2-76 Punjabis.
British War Medal to a Corporal of the Royal Army Medical Corps that served in the Balkans.
British War Medal (Sole entitlement) to a Sergeant of the Devonshire Regiment.
British War Medal to a Jamaican member of the 10th Battalion, British West Indies Regiment that mutinied.
British War Medal (Sole entitlement) to an Austrian member of the 17th Canadian Infantry, the ONLY ethnic Central Powers born soldier mobilised in any of the British Empire forces during the war. Dismissed for being an undesirable alien twice. Later emigrated to the USA.
British War Medal to a Private of the Middlesex Regiment saved from being melted.
British War Medal to a Private of the Army Service Corps.

Row 6.
British War Medal to a 16 year old Irish born Corporal of the 14th Canadian Infantry. Shot in the head in May 1915 at 2nd Ypres. Emigrated to the USA on discharge after over 2 years in hospital, joined the US Navy serving on USS Ramapo.
British War Medal to a Gunner of the Canadian Field Artillery with 18 cases of VD under his belt!
British War Medal (Sole WWI entitlement) to a Yorkshire born Corporal of the Central Ontario Regiment. A Veteran of the Boer War that lived to 100. Emigrated to the US after demobilisation. Heavily reported on after getting involved in politics in the US. A fantasist of being a friend of Churchill and getting wounded in the trenches, was never deployed to France.
British War Medal (Sole entitlement) to a Native American Veteran of the Philippines War 1899-1900 (for which he received no Medal). Volunteered for the Canadian Forestry Corps after lying about his race and nationality. His Company in the Philippines was the first to employ the water-boarding technique on captured enemies.
British War Medal (Sole entitlement) to a French-Canadian (Test) Pilot of the RNAS/RAF. One confirmed victory on 4th November 1918 whilst flying for the 99th Squadron. Single Medal due to clerical error. Went to the Wright School Of Aviation. Emigrated to Hollywood on demobilisation. Featured in Howard Hughes' film "Hell's Angels" as a stunt pilot. Later owned the trademark "Kellogg's" for all but cereal products.
British War Medal to a British immigrant to the USA. Officer in the 172nd Canadian Infantry. Wounded and gassed. Transferred to the RAF as an Observation Balloon Pilot. Died of wounds in 1936.
British War Medal to an Officer of the Worcester Regiment, KIA.
British War Medal In Bronze, 6th Porter Corps
Mercantile Marine War Medal to a Scottish Officer of the Australian Merchant Navy. 3rd Officer of HMS Kangaroo when it fought off attack from a German vessel in the Mediterranean. Chief Of Staff of the SS Île de France during the Second World War.