Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st class

The Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, in Russian Orden "Bogdana Khmel'nitzkovo" was commissioned on 10th October 1943.

The Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st class was awarded to army commanders who directed successful combat campaigns that led to both extremely heavy enemy losses and the liberation of a Soviet town or city.

In total there were only three hundred and twenty three Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 1st class awarded. Of those that won this award quite a few went on to become a Marshal of the Soviet Union, these included Petr Kirillovich Koshevoi who fought in the battle of Leningrad and Sergei Semenovich Biriuzov who led his unit and helped crush the German 6th army in the siege of Stalingrad.

The first class order is silver with a gold star sitting behind the main award and a gold central plate depicting Bogdan Khmelnitsky.

Type 1 – Variation one – Almost never available and collectors will never have a chance to purchase one. This variation has three rivets on the back either side of the central pin and the serial number below the central screw back.

Type 1 – 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 has two rivets, one on the left and one on the right of the central screw back.

Order of Glory 3rd Class

The Order of Glory 3rd class, in Russian Orden "Slavy" (Tret'ej Stepeni)), was commissioned on 8th November 1943.

The Order of Glory 3rd class is the lowest of the three Order of Glory classes and is awarded to non commissioned officers and those of the lower classes who have not gained any class Order of Glory and shown further bravery during battle against the enemy.

In total nine hundred and ninety seven thousand eight hundred and fifteen 3rd class orders were awarded.

The first class order is a silver star with a central silver plate showing the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin with a red five pointed star at the top of the tower and a red banner underneath with gold writing saying “Slava” which means glory. On the read there is a raised circle with the letters CCCP (USSR).

Type 1 – Variation one – Extremely rare and will take a collector with funds available a few years to find one. Made of silver with a silver central plate, the edging of the star is raised on both back and front. The ring is part of the medal.

Type 2 – Variation one – Easy to find in small quantity. Made of silver with a silver central plate, the edging of the star is raised on the front only. The serial number on the reverse is hand engraved.

Type 2 – Variation two – Easy to find in small quantity. Made of silver with a silver central plate, the edging of the star is raised on the front only. The serial number on the reverse is not hand engraved.

Station X - Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park is located in the town of Bletchley in Buckinghamshire.
Bletchley Park looks like any other stately home from the outside, which is what it was until the second World War, but the history of Bletchley Park is significant to the Allies winning World War Two.

During World War Two Bletchley Park was known as Station X as the Goverment Code and Cypher School moved into its grounds to begin the decryption of German Enigma signals after the Polish provided the British with information they had gathered on the German Enigma Machines and Codes.

The stately home itself became too small for the work being carried out so many outposts and huts were created were many people were driven by bus in and out of Bletchley Park to their relevant posts without knowing what any one else was doing. Only those higher up were allowed to know and put all the peices of the jigsaw together to know what the Germans were doing.


Most Enigma messages were being enciphered at Bletchley Park by 1943, even after the Germans added a fourth wheel to the Enigma machine to try and throw any Allied attempts further of the case. The Germans did not know that the British had managed to break the code and understand the messages being relayed.

From 1943 onwards one of the first digital electronic computers called "Colossus" because of its size (it took up a whole hut for itself) began breaking the Lorenz Cipher, Colossus worked so well that ten were in operation by the end of the war.

The ability for the Cryptographers to break the Enigma Code, German "Fish" High Command teleprinter cyphers and the Lorenz cypher and relay the messages in English to the government was one of the most important intelligence undertakings of the war.

By the end of the war in 1945 nine thousand people were working at Bletchley Park with ten thousand having worked there at some point during the war, yet no one ever mentioned what they did at Station X and its secret was kept for decades.

Order of Glory 2nd Class

The Order of Glory 2nd class, in Russian Orden "Slavy"(Vtoroj Stepeni), was commissioned on 8th November 1943.

The Order of Glory 2nd class is the intermediate of the three Order of Glory classes and is awarded to non commissioned officers and those of the lower classes who have already gained a 3rd class Order of Glory and shown further bravery during battle against the enemy.

In total forty six thousand four hundred and seventy three 2nd class orders were awarded.

The first class order is a silver star with a central gold plate showing the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin with a red five pointed star at the top of the tower and a red banner underneath with gold writing saying “Slava” which means glory. On the read there is a raised circle with the letters CCCP (USSR).

Type 1 – Variation one – Extremely rare and will take a collector with funds available a few years to find one. Made of silver with a gold central plate, the edging of the star is raised on both back and front. The ring is part of the medal.

Type 1 – Variation two – Scarce, almost rare so not easily available. Made of silver with a gold central plate, the edging of the star is raised on the front only. This variation is very thin, no more than 1.5cm at the points of the star. The raised circle on the rear has a thick raised rim with a thinner raised rim inside.

Type 1 – Variation three – Scarce, almost rare so not easily available. This variation is the same as variation two with the exception that it is thicker in appearance with the points of the star being up to 2cm in thickness

Order of Glory 1st class

The Order of Glory 1st class, Orden "Slavy" (Pervoj Stepeni in Russian, was commissioned on 8th November 1943.

The Order of Glory 1st class is the highest of the three Order of Glory classes and is awarded to non commissioned officers and those of the lower classes who have already gained a 2nd and 3rd class Order of Glory and shown further bravery during battle against the enemy.

In total two thousand six hundred and twenty 1st class orders were awarded.

The first class order is a gold star with a central gold plate showing the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin with a red five pointed star at the top of the tower and a red banner underneath with gold writing saying “Slava” which means glory. On the read there is a raised circle with the letters CCCP (USSR).

The Oder of Glory has an orange ribbon with three black stripes and is called the “Georgian Ribbon” as it is the same as that of the Cross of St. George.

Type 1 – Variation one – Rare and difficult to find. Mostly made of gold and with the numbers stamped on the back.

Order of Kutuzov 3rd Class

The Order of Kutuzov 3rd class, in Russian Orden "Kutuzova" (Vtoroj Stepeni), was commissioned on 8th February 1943.

This order was awarded to battalion and company commanders for successful counter attacks and skillful leadership in evading enemy attacks at the front line.

In total three thousand three hundred and twenty eight Orders were awarded.

The Orders of Kutuzov 3rd class has a central silver plate with Kutuzov in silver and the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin with a silver five pointed star above. There are five silver points coming from the central plate and a silver five pointed star situated slightly behind the points.

The ribbon for this order is blue with an orange central stripe and orange trim on the outside edges.
Type 1 – Variation one – Almost never available and collectors will never have a chance to purchase one. Variation one was suspended from the top via a ring hole.

Type 2 – Variation one – Very rare and normally the demand is a lot higher than availability, also very expensive. This variation is of a one piece construction and has a screw back.

Exercise Tiger

Exercise Tiger is the code name of an exercise carried out in 1944 where a full scale rehersal of the D-Day landings was carried out in southern England. In fact there were two military exercises called Exercise Tiger in World War Two, the first was in May 1942 where General Montgomery used 100,000 Allied troops in the exercise in the UK.

The Exercise Tiger of 1944 was actually an eight day practice in the run up to the D-Day Normandy landings so all troops knew what they were doing but for all accounts it was a great failure.

The exercise was carried out over April and May in 1944 at Slapton Sands in South Devon. Prior to the exercise the British government gave notice and cleared 3,000 inhabitants from the local village of Slapton. Many of these inhabitants had never even left the village before.

To protect the exercise area the Royal Navy had two destroyers, two motor gun boats and three motor torpedoe boats were stationed out in the sea, but this protection could not stop what happened on the second day of the exercise, the 28th April.

On the second day a group of German E-Boats spotted and attacked a group of eight ships carrying vehicles using torpedoes . One of these ships was abandoned because of fire, another was sank and a third limped back while on fire and badly damaged.

In total over six hundred U.S personnel died in the exercise because of the E-Boat attack, the majority being from the U.S Army and the rest being from the U.S Navy.

It is believed that a coverup happened after the rehersal so that no one was aware of the deaths that occured and that the D-Day landings would be protected.

A local man, the late Kevin Small bought the rights from the U.S Government to a Sherman tank that was sunk during the E-Boat attacks of the Exercise Tiger rehersals. Mr Small, with the aid of locals, managed to bring the tank to the surface and it now sits on the road behind Slapton Sands beach as a memorial to those that died in the exercise.

Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class

The Order of Kutuzov 2nd class, in Russian Orden "Kutuzova" (Vtoroj Stepeni), was commissioned on 29th July 1942.

This order was awarded to divisional and brigade commanders for successful counter attacks and skillful leadership in evading enemy attacks at the front line.

In total three thousand three hundred and twenty five Orders were awarded.

The Order of Kutuzov 2nd class has a central white plate with Kutuzov in silver and the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin with a red five pointed star above. There are five silver points coming from the central plate and a silver five pointed star situated slightly behind the points.

The ribbon for this order is blue with orange trim on the outside edges.

Type 1 – Variation one – Almost never available and collectors will never have a chance to purchase one. Variation one was suspended from the top via a ring hole.

Type 2 – Variation one – Extremely rare and will take a collector with funds available a few years to find one. This variation has a screw back with three rivet, these rivets are situated on the back of the silver points coming from the central plate.

Type 2 – Variation two – Extremely rare and will take a collector with funds available a few years to find one. This variation has a screw back with five rivets, one rivet on the rear of each of the silver points coming from the central plate.

Colditz Castle - Oflag IV-C

Colditz Castle is an eleventh century castle near Leipzig in Germany that became famous on the world stage during World War Two for being an Allied Officers prisoner of war camp that the Germans believed was impregnable and escape proof.

Colditz was called Oflag IV-C when used as a prisoner of war camp from October 31st 1939 through to 1945.

The first to arrive at the camp on 31st October 1939 were 140 Polish officers from the Polish campaign who the Germans would be at risk of escape. By October 1940 British officers from the RAF were then stationed at Colditz.

Within a month the British officers tried their first attempt to escape from the camp which was unsuccessful. By Christmas 1940 the number of Officers in Colditz had risen to 142 made up of 60 Polish officers (the other 80 Polish officers had been moved to another camps), 50 French officers, 30 British officers and 12 Belgium officers.

In April 1941 the Germans belief that Colditz could never be escaped from was found to be untrue when Alain le Ray, a French officer, successfully escaped.

By July 1941 the number of officers imprisoned in Colditz had risen to over 500 and many more unssuccesful escape attempts had been tried by the Dutch, French and British.

In 1943 The German Wermacht decided that Colditz should only house British and American officers so all the officers of other Allied countries were sent to other Oflags across Germany.

By the winter of 1944 Colditz had a population of 254 British and German. In 1945 Germany decided to start bringing prisoners of all types to Colditz and a few Polish and French officers were imprisoned there before 1200 French soldiers were bought into Colditz castle and the town below.

On April 16th 1945 the American army liberated Colditz and the prisoners held within.

Below are the German Kommandants of Colditz through World War Two.

• Oberst Schmidt 1939-august 1941
• Oberst Glaesche 1 august 1942-13 february 1943
• Oberst Prawitt 14 february 1943- 15 april 1945

Below is a map of Colditz Castle created by a British Major stationed there.

Soviet Medals and Orders Collecting

Before starting to collect Soviet era medals and orders there are a few rules that you need to follow to protect yourself from buying fake items or being caught out from not adhering to laws of other countries.

One of the most important rules regarding collecting Soviet era medals and awards is the fact that it is illegal to purchase Soviet medals and awards in Russia and take them out of the country. Russian law states that it is illegal to remove any item of cultural value over the age of fifty years from the country. Any person caught trying to smuggle cultural items out of Russia no matter the value can be detained in prison.

The second rule is to scrutinise any medal or order that you wish to purchase before doing so. A considerable number of Soviet awards on the market are fakes.

You may think that the dealer selling the item is legitimate but you would be surprised at how many people try to make new fake medals look older by using aging techniques. Even the cheapest original medals available have seen many fake versions flood the market in recent years.

Below are a few guidelines on ensuring you do not get sold a fake item.

• Consult knowledgeable people in the Soviet medal field by joining online forums.
• Find out realistic prices from reputable sources before parting with your money.
• Study any originals you come across carefully to learn just how they feel and look.
• Learn some tricks of the trade on how to spot fake items such as looking at the hinge, reviewing numbers on the back (they are usually stamped) and looking at the age of the enamel (older enamel tends to be of better quality).
• Finally everyone can tell a good yarn, be sceptical about stories you here on the item in question.
  

Order of Kutuzov 1st Class

The Order of Kutuzov 1st class, in Russian Orden "Kutuzova" (Vtoroj Stepeni), was commissioned on 29th July 1942.

This order was awarded to military commanders of armies for successful counter attacks and skillful leadership in evading enemy attacks at the front line.

In total only six hundred and sixty nine Orders of Kutuzov 1st class were awarded.

The Orders of Kutuzov 1st class has a central white plate with Kutuzov in gold and the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin with a red five pointed star above. There are five silver points coming from the central plate and a gold five pointed star situated behind.

The ribbon for this order is blue with an orange central stripe.

Type 1 – Variation one – This version has never been available on the market and never will. Variation one was suspended from the top via a ring hole.

Type 2 – Variation one – Almost never available and collectors will never have a chance to purchase one. This version has a screw back that has a small hole and also three rivets, one at the bottom and two at the top either side of the central star point.

Type 2 – Variation two – Extremely rare and will take a collector with funds available a few years to find one. This version has a screw back and three rivets, one at the bottom and two at the top either side of the central star point.

Gott Mit Uns Belt Buckle

Gott Mit Uns is a German phrase that means "God with us" and has been used by the German Empire from the 17th century until the end of the Third Reich.

The first registered usage of Gott Mit Uns on a belt buckle is in the first world war where some Prussian enlisted men had the words Gott Mit Uns above a crown on their belt buckle.

By World War Two all enlisted men in the Wehrmacht had the slogan Gott Mit Uns on their belt buckle. The World War Two belt buckles had lost the crown underneath and replaced it with the Reichsadler, an eagle above the swastika, which is the insignia of the Third Reich (1933 - 1945).

Click here to buy War Relics

Today many World War Two collectors seek to purchase these buckles for their historical value and their ornate design depicting the Third Reich.

Below is an aluminium SRM - SchmiedeburgRsgb Mettalwarrenfabrik buckle (dated 1936)





























Below is a later M4_110 Steel Josef Feix Sohne (dated 1942)

Operation Pedestal

In august 1942 the British Royal Navy embarked on an Operation called Operation Pedestal. Operation Pedestal was organised to supply the island of Malta that was quickly running out of supplies.

Malta played a pivotal role in World War Two as the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force used the island as a base to launch attacks on the German Kriegsmarine and Italian Navy as they were trying to bring convoys of supplies to the German and Italian forces fighting in the North Africa campaign.

Malta suffered greatly through 1941 and 1942 as the Axis powers tried to blockade any supplies coming to the island thus causing the island to not have the supplies needed to fight and sustain daily life.

Britain was sending convoys to Malta to sustain the island at any cost and the island only just survived as many convoys suffered heavy losses to German bombers.

The British Admiralty decided that it had to put up an extra effort on convoys to Malta as the chokehold that the axis had on the island was starting to asphyxiate the people who lived and fought there.

Operation Pedestal

The operation involved sixty four Royal Navy warships defending fourteen merchant vessels full of supplies.

The operation started on 2nd August with many Royal Navy warships moving around the Scottish cost to join forces before leaving Scapa Flow with the Merchant vessels. The convoy travelled from the United Kingdom to the Straits where it joined up with Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers for convoy air support.

For the whole convoy all ships kept radio silence to protect the operation they were embarking on.

Passage through the Straits on the 10th August was very quiet with no enemy ships or U-Boats seen in the area.

August 11th

On August 11th the convoy refuelled ready to continue their journey. In total three cruisers and twenty six destroyers were refuelled at sea in the middle of the Mediterrannean.

After refuelling the convoy carried on with its journey but not without incident as German U-Boat U-73 hit HMS Eagle with four torpedoes sinking her with a loss of 160 crew (767 crew survived). Throughout the rest of the day the convoy witnessed many torpedoes and U-Boats in the vicinity as well as air attacks from German bombers of the Luftwaffe which did cause some damage to ships of the convoy but did not sink any of the fleet.

August 12th

August the 12th started without incident but in the day things changed. HMS Ithuriel sank the Italian submarine Cobalto after seeing her surface and ramming her, this did also badly damage the HMS Ithuriel.

The British carriers launched and defense Hawker Hurricanes against nineteen German Junkers Ju 88s, the Hurricanes shot down four bombers for one loss of their own.

Much fighting continued throughout the day with damage caused on both sides. The British destroyers also deployed depth charges to reduce the potential of U-Boat attacks.

In the evening an Italian submarine by the name of Axum successfully torpedoed HMS Nigeria, HMS Cairo and the oil tanker SS Ohio. The Merchant Vessels Empire Hope and Glenorchy were sunk also, Glenorchy lost all hands.

A later attack at around 2130 sunk the Merchant vessel Deucalion and HMS Foresight was sunk not long after by another Italian submarine.

August 13th

The convoy had reached between north Africa and Sicily by now and the attacks intensified with 15 German and Italian torpedoe boats attacking continuously. It was during these attacks that another three merchant vessels were torpedoed and lost.

Later two Italian E-Boats managed to torpedoe HMS Manchester, all crew survived and the Commanding Officer had the HMS Manchester scuttled.

Two waves of German bombers came after this, the first was twleve Junkers Ju 88s that managed to bomb and sink the merchant vessel Waimarama. The second wave came from sixty German Stuka dive bombers that concentrated attacks on the limping SS Ohio, during this wave the Ohio saw a german bomber crash on her deck, an Italian plane bounced of the water and crashed into her and two bombs landing either side of her saw the ship lifted out of the water causing damage to her hull and rupturing her boilers meaning she could move no further.

Other ships were damaged in the attacks and the merchant vessel Dorset was immobilised after her engine room flooded.

Three merchant vessels had continued ahead of the rest of the convoy and managed to reach the Maltese Grand Harbour of Valetta at 6pm in the evening.

HMS Penn was trying to tow the SS Ohio when another wave of attacks ensured and all hands on the SS Ohio abandoned ship after the tow line to HMS Penn snapped and a bomb hit SS Ohio in the same place she was damaged previously.

The crew of the Ohio went back aboard the ship after the attack but another attack of Ju 88s saw Ohio damaged further and she was left limping along at only four knots.

August 14th

The merchant vessel Brisbane Star made it to the Grand Harbour in Malta badly damaged with its bow torn off. The SS Ohio was now being towed by a group of ships with two Royal Navy destroyers running along side her port and stern. The SS Ohio was constantly under air attack with another bomb blowing off her rudder.

August 15th

The SS Ohio finally managed to get into the Grand Harbour at Malta, being towed in by two Royal Navy destroyers (one was HMS Penn) and tug boats. As she was coming in there was a huge crowd cheering and a band playing Rule Britannia.

Operation Pedestal was a strategic victory and success with the delivery of the four merchant vessels and SS Ohio ensuring that Malta was still in the war and had enough supplies (32,000 tonnes) to last for the duration.

Ships in the Convoy

Cruisers:

Rodney
Nelson
Aircraft Carriers:
Eagle (sunk)
Victorious
Indomitable (damaged)
Furious

Cruisers:

Phoebe
Sirius
Charybdis
Nigeria (damaged)
Kenya (damaged)
Manchester (scuttled)
Cairo (sunk)

Destroyers:

Ashanti
Badsworth
Bramham
Bicester
Derwent
Foresight (scuttled)
Fury
Intrepid
Ithuriel
Icarus
Ledbury
Matchless
Pathfinder
Penn
Tartar
Zetland

Merchant Ships

SS Almeria Lykes (sunk)
MV Brisbane Star (damaged, arrived 14 August)
MV Clan Ferguson (sunk)
MV Deucalion (sunk)
MV Dorset (sunk)
MV Empire Hope (sunk)
MV Glenorchy (sunk)
MV Melbourne Star (arrived 13 August)
SS Ohio (damaged beyond repair, arrived 15 August)
MV Port Chalmers (arrived 13 August)
MV Rochester Castle (damaged, arrived 13 August)
United States SS Santa Elisa (sunk)
SS Waimarama (sunk)
MV Wairangi (sunk)

Although successful, Operation Pedestal was seen as a tactical disaster with a toll of nine merchant ships lost, one Royal Navy aircraft carrier, two Royal Navy Cruisers and a Royal Navy Destroyer.