Order of Glory III degree. Awarded with the Order of Glory
Not everyone knows that 20.06.1943 at the meeting of the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union discussed the issue of creating a draft order of the Victory. By that time, the top leadership of the Soviet country no longer doubted the victory of our troops over fascist Germany. In this regard, right at the meeting, the Supreme Commander proposed the establishment of a military award, arguing that the victory over fascism would not have been without military glory.
How the Order of Soldiers' Glory was born
Already in early August 1943 Aginsky S.V., who headed the technical committee of the Main Red Army Administration, received a responsible assignment, which consisted in the drafting of a new military order. At the same time, 9 artists started the work, creating about 30 sketches, 4 of which were submitted for approval personally to Stalin. Iosif Vissarionovich chose one of them. This was the work of the artist Nikolai Moskalev. It was he who was the author of all the orders that were handed to the soldiers for the defense of Soviet cities, as well as the Order of Kutuzov.
The author of the project proposed to establish an award withfour degrees of difference, similar to St. George's cross. According to the idea of Moskalev, the military award could be called the Order of Bagration. It is not for nothing that the artist took the Georgievsky Order as the basis, for he was the most revered among the soldiers of that time.
The sketch of the award and the idea of the author were approvedStalin, but he insisted that the award should be called the Order of Glory. In addition, he ordered to reduce the number of degrees of difference to 3, in order to equate the order to the awards of generals. Order of Glory finally approved on October 23, 1943, and soon began chasing the first samples of the award.
A little bit about military regalia
The promotion of servicemen began with a rewardthe lowest degree of difference. Then followed the awards for the increasing ─ II degree of distinction and I. The award of the highest degree of distinction was made gold, silver used for coinage of the award of the II degree. The central image on the medallion itself is a gilded Frolovskaya (Spassky) tower.
At different times of the existence of a soldierawards several times changed its appearance. At the same time, not everyone knows that the arrows on the tower clock, too, each time showed a different time. Order of Glory III degree had the same composition, only the image of the medallion was not covered with gilding. Knights of this order could be awarded the next military rank outside the line at the request of the command of the unit. For example, the foreman could immediately become ml. lieutenant, and he, in turn, get lieutenant shoulder straps.
Order of Glory 3 degrees of the Great Patriotic War distinguished warrior couldto give a brigade commander or an officer who held a higher position. The commanders of the armies or flotillas made a decision and signed a decree ordering the awarding of military personnel with the Order of the II degree. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree on awarding soldiers with the Order of the 1st degree of distinction. From the end of February 1947, only the Presidium took the decision to reward servicemen.
Among the combined arms awards, which were created inyears of confrontation with the fascist occupation, the Order of Glory of the USSR was the last. However, after it the Order of Ushakov was still issued, as well as the Order of Admiral Nakhimov, but they were used for the reward of only Soviet sailors.
On the peculiarities of the soldier's award
The Order of Glory of the Great Patriotic War was special and differed fromother awards. First of all, it was originally conceived as a soldier's reward. For the courage shown in battles it could be awarded to sailors and Red Army soldiers, as well as junior lieutenants of aviation. Soviet officers could not receive this award.
A characteristic feature of the Order of Glory wasthe following: the award was given only to people, for their combat feats. Military units could not claim it, just like various organizations. In addition, all three Orders of Glory had the same color coloring tape, which was a distinctive feature of pre-revolutionary military regalia.
Detailed description of the insignia
The Order is made in the form of a five-beam star, andthe distance between the vertices of the star itself is 46 mm, each of which has a convex surface framed by bumps. In the center of the order there is a medallion circle with a bas-relief of the Kremlin tower, on which a ruby star is mounted. The lower part of the medallion has a ruby ribbon with the word "SLAVA", which is executed in capital letters. On both sides of this ribbon on the inside of the medallion are laurel branches, symbolizing victory.
On the central ray there is an eye through whichthe ring is threaded, thanks to which the award is attached to the medal of the order. The medal shoe has a pentagonal shape, and its decoration is made by a moire ribbon, which is 24 mm wide. On the tape there are three longitudinal bands of black color, as well as two orange bands that alternate with each other and symbolize the flame of fire and smoke (St. George's ribbon). Along both edges of the tape is a millimeter orange line. Thanks to the pin on the back of the medal pad, the reward is attached to the clothes.
The Order of Glory was given out on the number thatwas located on the back of the medallion. It should completely coincide with the record in the order book. Note that the Order of Glory III degree was made of silver, the weight of which in the product is about 20.6 g, with a total weight of the award of 23 g.
The central circle of the Medallion of the Order IIdegree has a gold-plated coating, and the weight of the award and the silver content coincides with the award of the III degree of distinction. The Order of the 1st degree was made of the highest grade gold, which is contained in the award of 29 g, with a total weight of 31 g.
The first decorated with the order of "smoke and fire"
Soon after the approval of the new order - 13.11.1943 - there was a historical event. The first award, which was awarded to Senior Sergeant VS Malyshev. At that time he served as a sapper. He managed to destroy the enemy's machine-gun calculation, which prevented Soviet soldiers from breaking through the enemy's defenses. Later Malyshev deserved the same award of II degree. Almost simultaneously with him, the Order of Glory was awarded to the sergeant GA Israelian, who served in the 140th Rifle Regiment. This award was written by the newspaper "Krasnaya Zvezda", the next issue of which was released on 20.12.1943.
The awarding of Sergeant Israelyan took place onOrder of the command of the rifle division of 17.11.1943. This happened almost immediately, once the award was established by order of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. Israelyan G. A. ended the war in the status of the full knight of this order. Equally interesting is the awarding of the deputy commander of the battery of anti-tank guns of the senior sergeant I. Kharin, who fought in one of the military units on the II Ukrainian Front. Ivan Kharin was awarded the Order of Glory III degree by order No. 1. He was awarded this award for killing two SAU Elefant and three enemy tanks during one battle.
Red Army soldiers awarded with the Order of GloryVlasov Andrey and Sergei Baranov were the first to receive the Order of the II degree of distinction. At that time, they fought as part of the reconnaissance 665 battalion of sappers. At the end of November 1943, the reconnaissance force made a sortie into the enemy rear, while destroying wire barriers, so that the soldiers of the 385th Krichev Division managed to defeat the defenses of the Hitlerites practically without loss.
About the cavaliers and heroes who deserved the soldier's order
It is believed that in the period 1941-1945 about 998 thousand Soviet soldiers received the Order of Glory 3rd degree. The list of awardees is continued by fighters in the number of 46.5 thousand people who were awarded the Order of II degree of distinction. Much less than those who received the highest award. Awarded with the Order of Glory 1st Class fighters were to perform a truly outstanding feat. There were 2620 such people.
Answering the question, how many knights of the Order of Glorythere are, it should be noted that the total number of cavaliers is slightly more than 2.5 thousand. Of these, only four were awarded the star of the Hero of the USSR. These are senior sergeants of artillery A. V. Aleshin and N. I. Kuznetsov, pilot of assault aviation jr. Lieutenant IG Drachenko and Chief of the Guards Dubinda P. Kh. Note that 647 people - Knights of the Order of III degree and 80 - II degree were Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Interesting cases from the life of the winners
On January 15, 1945, the 215th Infantry Regiment was onPolish territory. At that time he was a member of the 77th Division, which defended the Pulav bridgehead, which was located in the area of the Vistula River. On this day, the 1st battalion of the regiment made a rapid breakthrough and tore down the firm defenses of the fascists. The soldiers continued to hold the captured positions until the main forces of the Soviet troops arrived. During the capture of Hitler's defense, the guard Petrov closed his German machine gun with his own body, thanks to which the battalion's soldiers quickly captured the German positions. For this operation, each battalion soldier received the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree. The list of the awardees included the entire personnel of the battalion. The battalion commander Major Yemelyanov was posthumously awarded the Hero Star. Commanders of the mouth of this battalion received as an award of the Order of the Red Banner. The Order of A. Nevsky was awarded to the divisions of the divisions.
On the courage of Soviet women
Twenty-year-old girl came to the front RoseShanin. The service began in April 1944. She was a sniper, on her account a lot of slain opponents. Only according to confirmed data, Rose was able to destroy more than 50 Nazis. She managed to become a Knight of the Order of Glory II and III degree. On January 28, 1945, near Ilmsdorf, Senior Sergeant Shanina died heroically at the age of 21.
Soviet pilot Nadezhda Zhurkina inmid-spring 1944 as part of the combat crew made departures over populated areas of the Pskov region. During the 23 departures, she managed to photograph the location of enemy units and military equipment, as well as repel a dozen attacks while in the air. Zhurkina received the Order of the third degree for the courage shown in battles. Already in the autumn of the 44th Zhurkina received the second degree award - for the bombing of the enemy on Latvian territory. Before the war ended, she received the highest degree of distinction for other accomplished feats.
Nina Pavlovna Petrova started the war in the 48-year-oldage and joined the ranks of the division of the Leningrad People's Militia. A little later she moved to the division's medical division. In the period from January 16 to March 2, 1944 in the battles with the fascists, 23 Nazis were killed, for which they received a third-degree award in the end of the spring of the same year. By the end of the war for personal feats received the Order of Glory of the highest degree of distinction.
Marina Semenovna Necheporchukova during the warserved as a medic. In early August 1944, near the Polish city of Gzhibów, fierce battles were fought with fascist invaders. Marina Semenovna carried herself out of the battlefield, and then assisted the 27 Red Army soldiers. Later she saved the life of one of the Soviet officers and evacuated him from the battlefield under Magnushev. For this autumn of the 44th I received the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree. The list of the recipients was replenished by two more soldiers-fellow soldiers of Necheporchukova, for the evacuation of the wounded. At the end of March 1945 in Kiistrin she helped a large number of wounded soldiers, for which she was awarded the Order of Military Glory II degree. Later, in one of the battles, where the Germans resisted strongly, M. S. Necheporchukova managed to take out of the battlefield wounded soldiers and officers in the number of 78 people. For this feat in May 1945 she was awarded the Order of Glory 1st degree.
Who could have been awarded
Each soldier could receive the Order of Glory III degree. For what was given this award, will help to understand the statute of the order. So, to receive this award it was possible for the following actions.
- Destruction of at least 3 enemy aircraft with machine-gun fire or artillery fire.
- The shooting of two or more fascist tanks with the use of anti-tank guns.
- Continuation of the performance of combat missions in a burning tank.
- Destruction of ten or more German soldiers and officers through the use of personal weapons.
- Hitting an enemy tank using an anti-tank grenade.
- The establishment of gaps in the defense of the fascists as a result of the conduct of individual reconnaissance, as well as bringing our troops to the rear of the enemy by a safe route.
- Removal or capture of enemy posts or patrols at night (alone).
- Independent sally in the rear of the enemy and the destruction of mortar or machine-gun calculations.
- Firing an enemy aircraft using personal weapons.
- Destruction during the conduct of air combat to 3 fighters or up to 6 bombers.
- Destruction of the enemy echelon, military unit, bridges, enemy food bases, power plants and other objects of strategic importance, being a member of the bomber crew.
- Conducting reconnaissance operations with obtaining information about the enemy, being a member of the crew of the reconnaissance aircraft.
- After wounding and bandaging the return of the fighter in the system and the continuation of the conduct of hostilities.
- For ignoring personal security when capturing an enemy banner.
- With the sole capture of an enemy officer in captivity.
- Disregarding your own life, save the life of the commander.
- For saving the banner of his part, neglecting his own life.
Some facts about heroes-bearers
The full knight of the Order, who was awarded this honor at the age of sixteen, became I. Kuznetsov. At the age of 16, he already commanded the department and was awarded the highest degree of distinction.
Soviet Order of Glory for the war years received andfamous movie actors. One can not help recalling the famous Aleksei Makarovich Smirnov, who became a knight of the Order of Soldiers' Glory. Awarding A. Smirnov Order of Glory III degree was held on 01.09.1944, and on April 27 he was awarded the Order of II degree.
Fyodor Mikhailovich Valikov also became a Knight of the Order of III and II degrees. He served in the 32nd Slonim-Pomeranian brigade of the 2nd Panzer Army.
