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certificate” (vremennoe udostoverenie) (Figure 8). Every recipient of an award for bravery was given such a certificate; after the war they were to be exchanged for an “order booklet” (ordenskaya knizhka). Kolganov’s father also received the following letter (Figure 9): Dear Sergei Dmitriievich, During the fighting for our Soviet Motherland on December 16, 1943, your son, Guards Lieutenant Fedor Sergeevich Kolganov, died a hero’s death on the field of battle. For his accomplished feat, the command of the unit posthumously awarded Fyodor Sergeyevich the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class. Figure 11: Reverse of the order in Figure 10. I am sending you this Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class to be kept in remembrance of dear Fedor Sergeevich, the hero who steadfastly defended our The Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class (Figures 10 and Great Motherland. 11) was awarded posthumously to Lieutenant Colonel Grigorii Petrovich Starov (Figure 12), the commander of Let this order remind you of the days of the great battle the 1467th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment (his record of the Soviet people with the brutal German-fascist card is shown in Figure 3 and 4). Born in 1917, he had invaders, and also of your son, who heroically fought joined the army in 1935 and after attending anti-aircraft for his Motherland. artillery school was promoted to Lieutenant in the spring of 1938. He was a fast-rising star: by late 1943 he was The personnel of the brigade share your great fatherly promoted Lieutenant Colonel and given command of a grief and will forever honor the memory of the man who regiment. Starov was killed in action on April 5, 1944, fought for the Motherland and disregarding his own life died a brave death. Eternal glory to the heroes who fell at the age of 26. One day later, he was recommended for in combat with the German invaders. an OPW1 with the following citation: Commander of the 6th Guards Twice Red Banner Order Commanding his regiment he achieved cohesion and a of Suvorov, 2nd Class Mechanized Brigade high level of combat proficiency among the regimental Guards Colonel [signed] /Safiulin/ personnel. During our troops’ offensive he guaranteed the support of the foremost advancing units with Chief of staff of the brigade artillery fire. Guards Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Bobrov/ He personally displayed examples of courage, bravery and cold-bloodedness in combat. He achieved a high level of fortitude among the regimental personnel during artillery fire or bombardments on our firing positions. During combat missions he personally led the march of our units to the foremost defense line. Covering the tactical formations of the advancing troops, the regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Starov in the course of just one month, from March 6, 1944 to April 6, 1944, shot down thirty-one (31) enemy aircraft. Lieutenant Colonel Starov perished while reconnoitering firing positions near the front line. Figure 10: Starov’s Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Up until the very end of his life he remained dedicated Class, nr. 49137. The red enamel on the 5 o’clock to the cause of the Party of Lenin and Stalin and the arm has been replaced. Socialist Motherland. Vol. 64, No. 2 (March-April 2013) 29 Lieutenant Colonel Starov deserves to be awarded the As the two were approaching their target they were met Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class posthumously.9 by heavy anti-aircraft fire. They continued their mission until the engine was severely damaged by an explosion. The order was officially awarded on April 30, 1944 and The propeller stopped and Bezuglov was forced to make sent to Starov’s widow, Valentina Alekseevna. Starov an emergency landing on enemy territory: himself was given a field grave, but after the war he was reburied at a cemetery near the city of Porkhov, some He found himself in a difficult situation, but it didn’t 250 kilometers south of Saint Petersburg. This cemetery scare him. He had only one thought: to take revenge was established in 1959 and is the final resting place of on the enemy until the last bullet, regardless of the 5,257 World War II casualties. situation. Together with his gunner, comrade Anokhin, he defended his aircraft with machine gun fire. When the German bandits closed in on the aircraft, comrade Bezuglov started firing at the German butchers at close range, killing 20 hitlerites. The gunner was inspired by the courageous example of his commander and opened fire with his machine gun, killing 20 Germans.11 Soon Anokhin was wounded and killed by a German bullet. Bezuglov continued to defend his aircraft with his handgun, refusing to surrender, and eventually shot himself. Not surprisingly, both men were nominated for the Hero of the Soviet Union title, but Bezuglov was awarded an OPW1 instead, and Anokhin an OPW2. Order of Glory, 1st Class Figure 12: Starov as a Lieutenant of Artillery, sometime between 1938 and 1941. The Order of Glory was the only Soviet award where a soldier would first receive the lowest class (the 3rd Class) The final two posthumous Orders of the Patriotic War and could subsequently be nominated for a higher class I want to describe are the ones that were awarded to (first the 2nd and then the 1st Class). A recipient of all Guards Captain Fedor Andreevich Bezuglov, pilot of a three classes was called a polny kavaler ordenov Slavy (a U-2 night bomber and squadron commander, and Guards “full cavalier of the Orders of Glory”), a status equal to Sergeant Aleksandr Illarionovich Anokhin, his gunner. that of a Hero of the Soviet Union, which also included Both citations are exceptionally long – five and two benefits and privileges for the recipientand their next of pages – and are full of praise and patriotic utterances. kin. Even though merely awarded on paper, a few Orders Bezuglov had been serving in the army since 1931 and of Glory, 1st Class have been granted posthumously. had been flying nighttime combat missions since the war These seem to have been awarded solely so the recipient had started. The U-2 was an outdated and fragile wooden had all three classes of the order (although only on paper). training aircraft that had been pressed into service as a night bomber, but was nevertheless used for the entire One of them was Pavel Stepanovich Grebnev. Born in duration of the war. Bezuglov’s citation provides some 1919, he was drafted into the army in 1940 and served at insights into his personality: the front since June 1941, the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. A scout in the 7th Guards Airborne Rifle His courage, bravery, modesty and iron military Regiment, he had been awarded the Medal for Courage discipline serve as an example for the entire personnel in July 1943 and the Order of Glory, 3rd Class in June of the unit. His subordinates bravely follow him into 1944. He was then promoted to Corporal and awarded combat, always convinced of the abilities of their commander. They love him like they love their own the Order of Glory, 2nd Class one month later. Grebnev fathers.10 was killed in action on December 10, 1944 during fierce fighting on the central square of the Czechoslovak city On August 31, 1943 Bezuglov flew his 252nd combat of Trebišov. For displayed bravery he was awarded the mission. With Anokhin as his gunner, he was bombing a Order of Glory, 1st Class posthumously by Decree of target near the Eastern Ukrainian village of Koteinikovo. March 24, 1945, making him a full cavalier. 30 JOMSA After 1977 Vorobyov, V.P. and N.V. Yefimov, Geroi Sovetskogo Soiuza: spravochnik [Heroes of the Soviet Union: An Encyclopedia], In 1977 the decree requiring awards to be sent back to Saint Petersburg, Argaf, 2010. Numerous orders (prikazy), award sheets (nagradnie listy), record the state upon the recipient’s death was modified. From cards (uchetnye kartochki) and service record cards (uchotno- that moment onwards, every award could be kept by the pusluzhnye kartochki) from TsAMO RF (Central Archive of recipient’s heirs. This also meant that it would make sense Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation). to award posthumously other decorations than the OPW (which was bestowed solely for deeds during the Great Patriotic War anyway). During the Afghanistan War for example, many Orders of the Red Banner and Orders of the Red Star were awarded posthumously. Perhaps this would make an interesting subject for another article. BOOK REVIEW The Order of the Double Dragon: Imperial China’s Endnotes Highest Western Style Order 1882-1912 by Gavin Goh. 1. In this article, by “bravery awards” I mean all orders, as well as Privately published by the author, 2012. Softcover (8 x the Medals for Courage, Combat Merit, Ushakov, and Nakhimov. 10 3/4 inches), 89 pp., $25.00. Color & black and white 2. G.A. Kolesnikov and A.M. Rozhkov. Ordena i medali SSSR, photos, appendices, bibliography, index. Available from Moscow: Voyenizdat, 1978, 116. Steve Watts, OMSA Book Sales, 414 Westchester Drive 3. The Order of the October Revolution, instituted in 1967, and the SE, Warren, Ohio 44484, [email protected]. Order of Service to the Motherland, instituted in 1974, could also be kept by the recipient’s family, as well as the Order of Mother Heroine and Order of Maternal Glory (both instituted in 1944), The Order of the Double Dragon was created in five and all medals (excluding the Medals for Courage, Combat classes by Chinese Guangxu Emperor in February 1882. Merit, Ushakov, Nakhimov, Valiant Labor, and Distinguished It was the first Western-style Chinese order and, for the Labor).

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