Saturday 31 January 2009

Order of Lenin

The Order of Lenin, in Russian Орден Ленина was commissioned on 6th April 1930.

The order was awarded to civilians and military personnel who defended the Soviet Union and also gave an outstanding service to strengthening both peace and labour.

In total over four hundred and sixty thousand orders were awarded.

The Order of Lenin came in three different medals, at first it came in Silver between 1930 and 1934, then between 1934 and 1936 the order was made in Gold and after this time it was then made in platinum.

Type 1 – Variation one – Extremely rare and will take a collector with funds available a few years to find one. This Order is silver and has a screw back.

Type 2 – Variation one – Very rare and normally the demand is a lot higher than availability, also very expensive. This order is Gold with a silver head of Lenin in the centre and a screw back.

Type 3 – Variation one – Rare and difficult to find. This order is Gold with a platinum head of Lenin in the centre and a screw back. This variation has the word мондвор on the rear.

Type 3 – Variation two– Scarce, almost rare so not easily available. This order is Gold with a platinum head of Lenin in the centre and a screw back. This variation has the word монетaй двор on the rear.

Type 4 – Variation one – Scarce, almost rare so not easily available. This award has a ring suspension and a ring in the middle of the reverse with a dimple close by.

These variations cover the first two decades but other variations exist.

Thursday 29 January 2009

Tirpitz Battleship

The Tirpitz was the sister ship to the famous Bismarck. Named after the famous Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz the Tirpitz was a much feared battleship by the Allied forces.

The Tirpitz was ordered on the 14th June 1936 and built by Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven. The Battleship was laid down on 2nd November 1936, launched on 1st April 1939 and commissioned in to service on 25th February 1941.

Spending much of her time in the Fjords of Norway what is interesting about the Tirpitz is that although the Allied forces feared her so much and spent so much of their time trying to stop her from causing any damage, this amazing Bismarck class Battleship never even fired against an enemy ship.

Allied attempts to stop the Tirpitz

Operation Source - 1943

This operation involved a small British X Class midget submarines commanded by Lieutenant Basil Place VC and Lieutenant Donald Cameron. The submarines went through minefields dodging gun defenses and enemy posts before divers cut through netting so the submarines could venture through and place explosive charges under the Tirpitz.

This operation caused extensive damage which took the Germans six months to repair.

Operation Tungsten - 1944

Using aircraft and the Royal Navy the British employed false radio traffic to lull the Germans into thinking a different operation was to happen.

Torpedoe bombers dropped torpedoes, anti submarine bombs and other varieties of explosives to damage the ship. In total three bombers were downed by the Germans but not without the British damaging the Tirpitz again as well as killing 122 of the Tirpitz crew and wounding another 300.

Operations Planet, Brawn, Tiger Claw and Mascot - 1944

All of these operations involved air assaults but they were all cancelled due to bad weather or because the Germans had put up good defenses using smoke screens in the Fjords and having early warning systems to know of the British approach.

Operations Goodwood I, II, III and IV

Again these operations saw low lying cloud hide the Tirpitz from view so the mission were aborted. Only Goodwood III was a success with two direct hits, one from a 500lb bomb.

Operations Paravane, Obviate and Catechsim

These operations finally saw the end to the Tirpitz. The first operation called Paravane saw British bombers fly from the Soviet Union. The Tirpitz had smoke screens coverign her again but this time a bomber loaded with a Barnes Wallis Tallboy bomb hit the bow and made her unseaworthy.

Operation Obviate did not inflict any damage on Tirpitz as cloud cover protected her.

Operation Catechism finally saw the end to the Tirpitz in November 1944, three Barnes Wallis Tallboys hit the Tirpitz blowing a two hundred foot hole in her port side. 1,000 of Tirpitz crew died and she sank in the bay of Håkøybotn.

Monday 26 January 2009

Order of Alexander Nevsky

The Order of Alexander Nevsky, in Russian spelt Orden "Aleksandra Nevskovo" was commissioned on the 29th July 1942.

This Order is a military award given to commanders who showed skill and courage in commanding their units whether they were platoons or battalions during the Second World War. In total just over 47,000 Order of Alexander Nevsky medals were awarded.

The Order of Alexander Nevsky is 90% silver supported by a light grey with a strong central red stripe ribbon bar. In total there are three types of this award.

Type 1 – Variation one – Almost never available and collectors will never have a chance to purchase one. This variation has a stick pin and five rivets on the back along with a ring soldered on the top of the point on the top star.

Type 1 – Variation two – Very rare and normally the demand is a lot higher than availability, also very expensive. This variation is the same as variation one except there are only 3 rivets on the back.

Type 1 – Variation three – Rare and difficult to find. This variation is the same as variation one but only has 3 rivets on the back and no stick pin.

Type 2 – Rare and difficult to find. This type has a screwback rather than a stick pin and is made of a three piece construction.

Type 3 – Variation one – Scarce, almost rare so not easily available. This type has a screwback rather than a stick pin and is made of a two piece construction.

Type 3 – Variation two - Almost never available and collectors will never have a chance to purchase one. This variation is the same as variation one except that it is more concave in appearance.

Saturday 24 January 2009

France and Germany Star

The France and Germany star was awarded to British and commonwealth soldiers who fought in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland or Germany between 6th June 1944 and 8th May 1945. To accomodate the Royal Navy any service by Navy personnell durnig this same time period between the North Sea and Bay of Biscay was included for award of this service medal.

Those who were awarded the France and Germany star were not eligible to be awarded the Atlantic star also, if they happen to be eligible for both they would be awarded an Atlantic clasp instead.

The France and Germany star is made of yellow/gold copper zinc alloy and is no higher than 4.4 cm in height and no wider than 3.8 cm in width.

The France and Germany star is supported by a blue, white and red ribbon. The blue stripes made the outer segment of the ribbon with white stripes seperating the blue stripes from one central red stripe. This ribbon is rumoured to have been designed by King George VI himself.

Thursday 22 January 2009

Battle of the Somme - First Day

The battle of the Somme is probably the most well known battle to have happened in the last one hundred years. This battle was fought between July and November 1916 and was called the Somme offensive at the time.

The battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of the 1914 to 1918 war causing over one million five hundred thousand casualties.

The first day of the Somme was 1st July 1916 but seven days prior to this day there was a large artillery bombardment of 1.7 million shells (168 shells a minute for seven days) which the British believed would rock the core of the German army and leave little resistance. The truth was that many of the German defenders had survived by staying in deep dugouts throughout the bombardment as they had well built trenches.

While the bombardment was in full flow the British had dug deep mines full of explosives under the German lines ready for zero hour on the first day when the British advance was to start.

The attack at zero hour was to be made by 13 divisions of the British army and 11 divisions of the French army. These forces faced the German second army.

Ten minutes before zero hour on the first day (zero hour was 07:30am) an officer signalled and all the mines were blown. As zero hour struck the British and French climbed out of their trenches with 70 pounds (32kg) of kit and started towards the German lines.

The advance of the British was a huge disaster with many men dying before leaving friendly lines, while the French did have some success by advancing between 1,600 yards to 2,200 yards in different sectors on the day.

The British assualt started to wane in the late afternoon hours due to the numbers lost. Even after all the casualties of the day Lieutenant-General Henry Rawlinson who commanded the British fourth army issued orders at 10:00pm that he wanted the attacks to resume.

In the first day of the Battle of the Somme the British had 19,152 dead and 35,493 wounded while the defending German army suffered 8,000 casualties on the British front. The French had 7,000 casualties.

It took a good few days for the British command to realise the full extent of the disaster experienced on the first day.

Monday 19 January 2009

Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich is a book by William L. Shirer, first published in 1960 the Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich is probably one of the most complete and detailed references of the Third Reich before and during World War Two.

This book is over one thousand two hundred pages in size and every page is full to the brim in information about the Third Reich, so much so that it is probably the most complete historical account of Nazi Germany available.

What sets this book apart from any other book on the Third Reich is the fact that William L. Shirer was actually in Berlin broadcasting for CBS during the Second World War so had first hand knowledge of just what it was like.

If you really want to know exactly what happened to bring rise to the Nazi Germany and exactly how the Third Reich fell this is the book to read.


Sunday 18 January 2009

Manfred von Richthofen - Red Baron

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was a German fighter ace of the First World War flying in the Luftstreitkräfte who had 80 confirmed combat kills.

The name Freiherr in his name denotes that he is a German aristocrat of the same title as a Baron of other countries. Manfred von Richthofen flew a red plane throughout World War One and it is because of his aristocracy and his planes colour that he gained the infamous nickname "The Red Baron". In Germany Manfred von Richthofen was known as "Der Rote Kampfflieger" which translates as the Red Fighter Pilot but today he is also known as the Red Baron in Germany "Der Rote Baron".

Manfred von Richthofen was born in Kleinburg, near Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) on the 2nd May 1892. At the age of eleven Manfred started military training, after completing training and of age (1911 when he was 19) Manfred joined an Uhlan cavalry unit.

When World War One broke out Manfred was used as a cavalry reconnaissance officer on both war fronts (France and Russia). Cavalry soon became obsolete in battle during World War One because of barbed wire and the use of machine guns so the Uhlan Cavalry units were disbanded and joined the infantry which made Manfred unhappy.

Because of the disbanding of Cavalry units Manfred put in a transfer request to the Luftstreitkräfte which was accepted. The training Manfred took to become a pilot was from October 1915 to March 1916 where he was then transfered to Kampfgeschwader 2 ("No. 2 Bomber Geschwader"). By July 1916 Manfred had flew on both Western and Eastern fronts making kills but none were credited to him as they fell behind allied lines and there was no way of confirming them.

In August 1916 Manfred met fighter pilot Oswald Boelcke who was touring the Eastern front looking for potential fighters to join his new Jagdstaffel, Jasta 2. Oswald Boelcke liked Manfred and selected him to join the new fighter squadron.

Manfred has his first aeriel combat as a fighter pilot on the 17th September 1916 over Cambria in France where he made his first confirmed kill.

Von Richthofen made his most memorable kill when he fought and downed his most famous enemy pilot the British fighter pilot Major Lanoe Hawker VC. Manfred said that Major Lanoe Hawker VC was the "British Boelcke" referring to his patrol leader and renowned flying ace Oswald Boelcke.

By January 1917 Manfred had made 16 confirmed kills, had won the highest German decoration the Pour le Mérite and took command of Jasta 11.

Von Richthofen had all the Jasta 11 planes painted with red markings for each indiviual in the squadron, with his own Fokker Dr.I plane painted fully red, so that they could all distinguish each other during battle. It was this colouration of his plane that led to the nickname The Red Baron.

On 6th July 1917 the Red Baron was badly injuried during combat, this victory was attributed to Briish fighter ace Captain Donald Cunnell. The Red Baron was hit in the head and forced to land in Wervicq, Belgium, the Red Baron did however return to flying combat in October 1917 although after sustaining this injury did suffer with severe headaches and nausea.

The Red Baron met his demise on 21st April 1918 while flying near the Somme River. It is said that he was pursuing a novice Canadian fighter pilot named Lieutenant Wilfrid "Wop" May and during this pursuit he was hit by a single .303 machine gun round to the chest causing substantial lung and heart damage.

The Red Baron was able to make a quick landing in a field near Vaux-sur-Somme where Australian troops were stationed. Australian soldiers who rushed to the field and found him said he was alive for a few moments before passing on when they found him and that his last word before passing was "Kaputt" which translates as finished.

There were many speculations as to who had shot the Red Baron and Canadian pilot Canadian Captain Arthur "Roy" Brown who had tried to intervene when Manfred von Richthofen was chasing Canadian fighter pilot Lieutenant Wilfrid "Wop" May was credited with the kill. Today it is commonly believed after much extensive research that an unknown Australian soldier on the ground firing a machine gun was the cause for the death of Manfred von Richthofen.

Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron died aged 25 years old (just under two weeks before his 26th birthday).

Monday 12 January 2009

Cruiser Mk VI Crusader Tank

The Cruiser tank Mk VI Crusader (A15) was a very important tank in the North Africa campaigns. Built from 1939 by Nuffield Mechanisation and Aero the Crusader tank had a two pounder gun, six pounder gun and one or two Besa MG guns.

The Mk IV Crusader boasted an operational range of three hundred and twenty two kilometres at a top speed of forty two kilometres on road or twenty two kilometres off road. The Crusader has a weight of around twenty tons and was powered by a Nuffield Liberty L-12 340 horse power engine. In total five thousand three hundred Crusader tanks were built, each carrying a crew consisting of a commander, gunner, driver and a loader. Note: the earlier models of the Crusader did not have a loader.

The Crusader tank was faster than any enemy tank which helped it immensely but had the draw back of a smaller armament than its enemy counterparts.

The first campaign that the Crusader saw battle in was Operation Battleaxe but it made its biggest impact in Operation Crusader named after the tank itself where the British 8th Army launched a surprise attack in late 1941 relieving the siege of Tobruck.

Crusader Specifications

Weight - 20 Tons
Length - 5.97 metres
Width - 2.77 metres
Height - 2.24 metres


At the end of the African campaign with the invention of the greater Cromwell and Sherman tanks the Crusader took a more back seat role being used for anti aircraft duties.

Sunday 11 January 2009

Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte

The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte was the air service for the Imperial German Army of World War One. The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte was actually supposed to only be an over land arm of the German air service of the Great War.

Founded in 1910 the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte initially the air service was only created for reconnaissance purposes only but throughout World War One other uses for the Luftstreitkräfte were found. These different uses meant the Luftstreitkräfte changed greatly throughout the war due to new aircraft, tactics and the creation of specialist units.

By 1916 the German Generals had created a full array of specialist flying units as shown below.
(AFA) Artillerieflieger-Abteilung
(AFS) Artillerieflieger-Schule
AFP - Armee-Flug-Park
BZ - Ballonzug
Bogohl/BG - Bombengeschwader
Bosta - Bomberstaffel
FFA - Feldflieger Abteilung
FLA - Feldluftschiffer-Abteilung
FestFA - Festungsflieger-Abteilung
FA - Flieger-Abteilung
FA A - Flieger-Abteilung (Artillerie)
FlgBtl - Flieger-Bataillon
FBS - Fliegerbeobachter-Schule
FEA - Fliegerersatz-Abteilung
FS - Fliegerschule
JG - Jagdgeschwader
Jasta - Jagdstaffel
JastaSch - Jagdstaffel-Schule
KEK - Kampfeinsitzerkommando
Kest - Kampfeinsitzerstaffel
Kagohl/KG - Kampfgeschwader
Kasta - Kampfstaffel
Luft - Luftschiff-Truppe
LsBtl - Luftschiffer-Bataillon
Marine - Marine-Flieger
RBZ - Reihenbildzug
Schlasta - Schlachtstaffel
Schusta - Schutzstaffel
World War One saw the advance of aircraft creation for the Luftstreitkräfte, these aircraft were designed and built by Albatros-Flugzeugwerke, Gothaer Waggonfabrik and Fokker.

These planes were designated a letter to show the type of class the plane was as shown below.
A - Unarmed reconnaissance monoplane aircraft
B - Unarmed two-seat biplane, with the observer seated in front of the pilot.
C - Armed two-seat biplane, with the observer seated to the rear of the pilot.
CL - Light two-seater, initially intended as escort fighters - latterly mainly used for ground attack.
D - Doppeldecker - single-seat, armed biplane, but later any fighter
E - Eindecker - armed monoplane - initially included monoplane two-seaters.
Dr - Dreidecker - triplane fighter
G - Grosskampfflugzeug - Large twin engined types, mainly bombers
J - Schlachten - Armoured ground-attack aircraft
N - "C" type aircraft adapted for night bombing
R - Riesenflugzeug - "Giant" aircraft - at least three, up to four or five engines - all serviceable in flight.
For most of the war Luftstreitkräfte planes had the Iron Cross insignia on the side although from March 1918 this changed to a black cross on a white background.

At the end of World War One the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte had 2709 aircraft, 56 airships and 180 balloons. The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte also reported 3,126 aircraft, 546 balloons and 26 airships lost to Allied forces.

On May 8th 1920 the Luftstreitkräfte was dissolved as part of the Treaty of Varsailles which also saw all aircraft destroyed.

Saturday 10 January 2009

German Prisoner of War Camps WW2

During the duration of World War Two all sides had their own prisoner of war camps (PoW camps for short). Everyone is well aware of the camps that the German Nazi regime had yet little is ever mentioned of the prisoner of war camps the United States and United Kingdom had with many German soldiers kept in them.

Today I have posted a list of German prisoner of war camps the Nazi regime established in World War Two for keeping soldiers of all allied countries prisoner.

The Nazi regime had different types of prisoner of war camps dependant on the type of allied military personnel kept there as shown below.
  • Dulag or Durchgangslager (transit camp) – A collection point for POWs prior to reassignment.
  • Stalag or Stammlager (base camp) – Enlisted personnel POW camps.
  • Oflag or Offizier-Lager (officer camp) – Officers POW camps.
  • Stalag Luft or Luftwaffe-Stammlager (Luftwaffe base camp) – Aircrew POW camps administered by the Luftwaffe.
  • Marlag or Marine-Lager (marine camp) – Navy personnel POW camps.
  • Milag or Marine-Internierten-Lager (marine internment camp) – Merchant seamen internment camps.
  • Ilag/Jlag or Internierungslager (internment camp) – Civilian internment camps.
Attached in Excel is a list of all known German prisoner of war camps from World War Two, click here to download the Excel sheet with all the German prisoner of war camps.

Thursday 8 January 2009

Lauri Allan Torni

Lauri Allan Törni is a famous Finnish soldier who was born in Viipuri, Finland on the 28th May 1919. What makes Lauri Törni so famous is the fact that he is the only soldier to have ever fought in armed forces under the flags of three different countries.

Lauri Törni enlisted in the Finnish army in the Autumn of 1939 when the Soviet Union started the Winter war with Finland. While serving in the Finnish army Lauri Törni was heavily involved in the battle at Lemetti where the Finnish army encircled the Red army and won a decisive battle.

It was from the battle at Lemetti that Lauri showed heroic courage that gave him the opportunity to train as an officer, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant by the time the Winter War finished.

By 1941 when the Red army left Finland Lauri was transfered to the German army to serve with the Waffen-SS although he didn't serve for long and left to go back to Finland. Upon arriving back in his homeland Törni took control of a detachment unit named Detachment Törni where he fought deep behind enemy lines in the Soviet Union in the Continuation War (1941-1944).

At the end of the Continuation War Törni returned to Germany where he embarked on training in sabotage with the Waffen-SS so he would be able to organise a resistance should the Red army try to invade Finland. It was during this time that British troops entered Germany and Lauri surrendered to the British troops.

Lauri was put in a British PoW camp in Germany but he managed to escape after a time. Upon escape Lauri travelled home to Finland where he was arrested for treason for serving in the German army. His sentence for treason was 6 years in prison which ended up being three years (1948) after being pardoned by the Finnish president of the time, President Paasikivi.

Lauri died in 1965 while serving in the American army in Vietnam. It was on a clandestine operation not far from Da Nang the helicopter Lauri Törni was travelling in crashed.

Years of service with each country

1938-1945 (Finnish Army)
1945 (Waffen SS)
1954-1965 (U.S. Army)

Rank at end of military career with each army

Captain (Finland)
Hauptsturmführer (Germany)
Major (USA)

Awards

Iron Cross 2nd Class (Germany)
Mannerheim Cross (Finland)
Bronze Star (USA)
Purple Heart (2) (USA)
Distinguished Flying Cross (USA)

Wednesday 7 January 2009

Somme Mud

In 1916 a young Australian soldier embarked on a voyage that would change his life forever. Private Edward Lynch, like many Australians, joined the Australian army to serve for the motherland of Great Britain in the First World War.

At the age of eighteen, in 1916, Private Lynch set sail for France to join the other troops already fighting in the trenches of the Somme mud of northern France in . By 1919 Private Lynch had become more than a mere grown man, he had grown up in the surroundings of the first mechanised war.

Post World War One Private Lynch wrote of his experiences in the third person, when he tried to get this published he was rejected and told the scars of the Great War were still fresh in the minds of many Australians. The experiences of this soldier lay unread until his death when they were passed to his children, one of which lent it to his friend who got this amazing first hand account of the war published on the families behalf under the title Somme mud.

Somme mud really is a must read for all who are interested in military battles and personal accounts of war. This is such a moving and detailed account of World War One including the infamous battles of the Somme and Paschendale.


Tuesday 6 January 2009

Simo Hayha - White Death

Simo Häyhä is probably the most famous soldier to have ever been in the Finnish army, he is also the most deadly.

Born on December 17, 1905 Simo Häyhä, nicknamed "White death" is one of the most successful snipers in history.

Simo Häyhä was born around the area of Rautjärvi near the present day border of Finland and Russia and joined the Finnish armed forces in 1925 but its was his exploits during the Winter war against the Red army of the Societ Union that bought him fame as a soldier.

During the Winter war temperatures varied from −20 to −40 degrees Celsius, in these extreme temperatures Simo dressed in a full white camouflage suit and armed with a Finnish variation of the Soviet Mosin-Nagant rifle made more than 500 confirmed sniper kills.

The rifle that Simo used also didn't have a telescopic sight as he preferred to use a standard iron sight because telescopic sights can give glare from the sun giving away a snipers position. It is said that Simo used to freeze the snow in front of him so when he made a shot it would not puff up unsettled snow.

Simo Häyhä finished his sniping career on 6th March 1940 when he was shot in the jaw from close range, the bullet went in through his jaw and left from the back of his head. Simo was knocked unconscious by the shot and regained consciousness on 13th March, the day Russia declared peace with Finland.

Simo Häyhä lived till he was 97 and passed away in 2002.

Saturday 3 January 2009

Panzers As Defense

As Bulgaria sided with Germany during World War Two, which I believe was out of neccessity to protect itself due to being surrounded by countries siding with the Nazi regime, Germany presented around 100 panzer tanks for Bulgarias defense.

These tanks were placed in the ground as defense against Turkey to the south, you could say these were tank pill boxes. Some believe these were actually decoys should Turkey decide to become involved an attack Bulgaria.

For many decades the Bulgarian panzer tanks lay on the land or in unused military barracks collecting rust. Some of them even fell fowl to scrap men who illegally cut parts away to sell at a profit, it is even believed that a Bulgarian officer was caught trying to sell a full Panzer tank to a private German collector.

The Bulgarian authorities realised after much time that these tanks are worth alot of money and decided to collect all the tanks together, the best of which are to be given to the national army museum and the rest to be sold via auction to private collectors.

In total there are 19 mark IV panzer tanks, 6 Stug III's and a Jagdpanzer IV L/48. Some of these Panzers are special because its the first time anyone has seen a Panzer fitted with Soviet T 34 turrets.

It is amazing to think that after over 60 years these tanks are still in great condition, some in full condition, and the Bulgarian government has just saw fit to start to collect and recondition some of these for their national army museum. Ill definately be visiting once they are in the museum on my next visit to Bulgaria!

Thursday 1 January 2009

For The Defense Of Stalingrad Medal

The For The Defense Of Stalingrad Medal (Russian - За оборону Сталинграда) was issued on the 22nd December 1942 and awarded to all civilians and military who were part of the defense of Stalingrad between July and November 1942.

The defense of Stalingrad started on the 12th July 1942 and lasted until 19th November 1942 with heroic civilians and soldiers of the Red Army fighting for 140 days to stop the city bearing the name of the Soviet leader Stalin from falling into enemy hands.

There are two variations to The For The Defense Of Stalingrad Medal, these are one where the ring is soldered on separately to the medal and one where the ring is part of the medal itself. The medal ribbon for both variations is light grey with a thin red line running down the centre.

There were 759,560 For The Defense Of Stalingrad medals awarded yet they are not rare to find in the present day. The Defense Of Stalingrad medals are usually available to purchase without long delay but are difficult to find in bulk quantity.

Unfortunately you do have to be careful when looking to purchase these medals as many fakes have been made, even though the originals are low in price.