Not everyone knows that on June 20, 1943, at a meeting of the People's Commissar of Defense of the Soviet Union, the issue of creating a project for the Order of Victory was discussed. By that time, the top leadership of the Soviet country no longer doubted the victory of our troops over Nazi Germany. In this regard, right at the meeting, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief proposed to establish a military award, arguing that there would be no victory over fascism without military glory.
How the Order of Soldier's Glory was born
Already at the beginning of August 1943, Aginsky S. V., who headed the technical committee of the Main Red Army Directorate, received a responsible task, which consisted in developing a draft of a new military order. 9 artists immediately started work, creating about 30 sketches, 4 of which were submitted to Stalin personally for approval. Iosif Vissarionovich chose one of them. It was the work of the artist Nikolai Moskalev. It was he who was the author of all the orders that were awarded to soldiers for the defense of Soviet cities, as well as the Order of Kutuzov.
The author of the project proposed to establish an award with four degrees of distinction, similar to the George Cross. As plannedMoskalev military award could be called the Order of Bagration. It was not for nothing that the artist took the St. George Order as a basis, since he was the most revered among the soldiers of that time.
The sketch of the award and the idea of the author were approved by Stalin, but he insisted that the award should be called the Order of Glory. In addition, he ordered to reduce the number of degrees of distinction to 3 in order to equate the order with the awards of commanders. The Order of Glory was finally approved on 1943-23-10, and soon the minting of the first samples of the award began.
A little about military regalia
The promotion of military personnel began with the award of the lowest degree of distinction. This was followed by awards in ascending order - II degree of distinction and I. The award of the highest degree of distinction was made in gold, silver was used to mint awards of the II degree. The central image on the medallion itself is a gilded Frolovskaya (Spasskaya) tower.
At different times of the existence of a soldier's award, its appearance changed several times. At the same time, not everyone knows that the arrows on the chimes of the tower also showed a different time each time. The Order of Glory III degree had the same composition, only the image of the medallion was not covered with gilding. Cavaliers of this order could be assigned the next military rank out of turn at the request of the unit command. For example, a foreman could immediately become a ml. lieutenant, and he, in turn, receive lieutenant shoulder straps.
Order of Glory 3rd class WWIIa distinguished soldier could be awarded by a brigade commander or an officer who held a higher position. The commanders of armies or flotillas made a decision and signed a resolution on assigning the order of the II degree to the awarding of military personnel. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on awarding fighters with the Order of the 1st degree of distinction. From the end of February 1947, only the Presidium made the decision to award military personnel.
Among the combined arms awards that were created during the years of opposition to the fascist occupation, the Order of Glory of the USSR was the last. True, after him the Order of Ushakov was also issued, as well as the Order of Admiral Nakhimov, however, they were used to reward only Soviet sailors.
About the features of the soldier's award
The Order of Glory of the Second World War was special and different from other awards. First of all, it was originally conceived as a soldier's award. For the courage shown in battles, sailors and soldiers of the Red Army, as well as junior lieutenants of aviation, could be awarded it. Soviet officers could not receive this award.
A characteristic feature of the Order of Glory was the following: the award was given only to people for their military exploits. Military units could not claim it, as well as various organizations. In addition, all three Orders of Glory had the same color of the ribbon, 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-pointed star, and the distance between the tops of the star itselfis 46 mm, each of which has a convex surface framed by sides. In the center of the order there is a circle of a medallion with a bas-relief of the Kremlin tower, on which a ruby star is installed. The lower part of the medallion has a ruby ribbon with the word "GLORY" in capital letters. On either side of this ribbon on the inside of the medallion are laurel branches, symbolizing victory.
On the central beam there is an eyelet through which a ring is threaded, due to which the award is attached to the order block. The medal block has a pentagonal shape, and its decoration is made with a moire ribbon, which is 24 mm wide. There are three longitudinal black stripes on the ribbon, as well as two orange ones, which alternate with each other and symbolize the flame of fire and smoke (St. George ribbon). A millimetric orange line runs along both edges of the tape. Thanks to the pin located on the back of the order block, the award is attached to clothing.
The Order of Glory was issued according to the number, which was located on the reverse side of the medallion. It must completely match the entry in the order book. Note that the Order of Glory of the 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 circumference of the medallion of the Order of the II degree is gilded, and the weight of the award and the content of silver coincides with the awardIII degree of distinction. The order of the 1st degree was made of gold of the highest standard, which is contained in the award of 29 g, with a total weight of 31 g.
First recipients of the Order of Smoke and Fire
Shortly after the approval of the new order - 1943-13-11 - a historic event occurred. The first award, which was awarded to senior sergeant V. S. Malyshev. At that time he served as a sapper. He managed to destroy the enemy's machine-gun crew, which did not allow Soviet soldiers to break through the enemy's defenses. Later, Malyshev earned the same award, II degree. Almost simultaneously with him, the Order of Glory, III degree, was awarded to sapper Sergeant G. A. Israelyan, who served in the 140th Infantry Regiment. The newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda wrote about this award, the next issue of which was published on 1943-20-12
Rewarding Sergeant Israelyan took place by order of the command of the rifle division on 1943-17-11. This happened almost immediately, as soon as the award was established by order of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. Israelyan G. A. ended the war in the status of a full cavalier of this order. No less interesting is the awarding of the anti-tank guns battery lock platoon commander to 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 knocking out two Elephant self-propelled guns and three enemy tanks during one battle.
The Red Army sappers Vlasov Andrey and Baranov Sergey who were awarded the Order of Glory were the first to receiveOrder of the II degree of distinction. At that time, they fought as part of the reconnaissance company of the 665th sapper battalion. At the end of November 1943, the reconnaissance company made a sortie to the enemy's rear, while destroying the barbed wire, thanks to which the soldiers of the 385th Krichev division managed to defeat the Nazi defenses with virtually no losses.
About gentlemen 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 amount of 46.5 thousand people who were awarded the Order of the II degree of distinction. There are far fewer of those who have received the highest award. Awarded with the Order of Glory, I degree, the fighters had to accomplish a truly outstanding feat. There were 2620 of them.
Answering the question of how many cavaliers of the Order of Glory exist, it should be noted that there are a little more than 2.5 thousand full cavaliers. Of these, only four were awarded the star of the Hero of the USSR. These are senior artillery sergeants A. V. Aleshin and N. I. Kuznetsov, attack aircraft pilot jr. lieutenant I. G. Drachenko and foreman of the guard Dubinda P. Kh.
Interesting cases from the life of award winners
January 15, 1945 The 215th Infantry Regiment was on Polish territory. At that moment, he was part of the 77th division, which defended the Puławy bridgehead, which was located in the area of the Vistula River. On this day, the 1st battalion of the regiment made a quick breakthrough and tore apart the strong defenses of the Nazis. The soldiers continuedhold the captured positions until the main forces of the Soviet troops arrived. During the capture of the Nazi defenses, the guardsman Petrov covered the machine gun of the German invaders with his own body, thanks to which the battalion fighters quickly captured the German positions. For this operation, each soldier of the battalion received the Order of Glory 3rd degree. The list of awardees included the entire personnel of the battalion. The battalion commander, Major Yemelyanov, was posthumously awarded the star of the Hero. The company commanders of this battalion received the Order of the Red Banner as an award. The Order of A. Nevsky was awarded to the platoon commanders of the unit.
On the courage of Soviet women
It is known that Soviet women also fought courageously during the war. Some were able to become full holders of the Order of Glory. Staniliene D. Yu. became the first cavalier among women. She served during the war in the Lithuanian infantry division with the rank of sergeant and was a machine gunner in the crew. In one of the battles with the German troops, her commander was seriously wounded. Danute replaced him and single-handedly held back the advance of the German infantry. For this, she received the Order of Glory III degree. By the end of the summer of 1944, near Polotsk, in the village of Lyutovka, Danuta managed to repulse the fascist attacks, as a result of which more than 40 enemy infantry were destroyed. On March 26, 1945, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union signed an order to award Stniliene D. Yu. with the Order of Glory, I degree.
Roza Shanina came to the front as a twenty-year-old girl. She began her service in April 1944. She was a sniper, she had a lot of casu alties on her account.opponents. Only according to confirmed data, Rosa was able to destroy over 50 Nazis. She managed to become a Commander of the Order of Glory II and III degree. On January 28, 1945, not far from Ilmsdorf, Senior Sergeant Shanina died heroically at the age of 21.
Soviet pilot Nadezhda Alexandrovna Zhurkina in the middle of spring 1944, as part of a combat crew, flew over the settlements of the Pskov region. During 23 sorties, 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 III degree for courage shown in battles. Already in the autumn of the 44th, Zhurkina received an award of the II degree - for the bombing of the enemy on Latvian territory. Before the end of the war, she received the order of the highest degree of distinction for other accomplished feats.
Nina Pavlovna Petrova started the war at the age of 48 and joined the division of the Leningrad People's Militia. A little later she moved to the medical unit of the division. In the period from January 16 to March 2, 1944, in battles with the Nazis, she destroyed 23 Nazis, for which she received an award of the III degree in the late spring of the same year. By the end of the war for personal exploits, she received the Order of Glory of the highest degree of distinction.
Marina Semyonovna Necheporchukova served as a doctor during the war years. In early August 1944, fierce battles with the fascist invaders took place near the Polish city of Grzybow. Marina Semyonovna took out on herself from the battlefield, and then assisted 27 soldiers of the Red Army. Later she saved the life of one of the Soviet officers and evacuated him from the battlefield.under Magnuschev. For this, in the fall of the 44th, she received the Order of Glory 3rd degree as an award. The list of awardees was supplemented by two more fellow soldiers of Necheporchukova, for the evacuation of the wounded. At the end of March 1945 in Kustrin, 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 offered strong resistance, M. S. Necheporchukova managed to carry 78 wounded soldiers and officers from the battlefield. For this feat in May 1945 she was awarded the Order of Glory, 1st class.
Who could win the award
Each fighter could receive the Order of Glory III degree as a reward. For what this award was given, the statute of the order will help to understand. So, it was possible to receive this award for the following actions.
- Destruction of at least 3 enemy aircraft by machine gun or artillery fire.
- Killing two or more fascist tanks using anti-tank guns.
- Continue combat missions in the burning tank.
- Destruction of ten or more German soldiers and officers through the use of personal weapons.
- Killing an enemy tank using an anti-tank grenade.
- Establishing gaps in the defense of the Nazis as a result of sole reconnaissance, as well as bringing our troops behind enemy lines in a safe route.
- Removal or capture of enemy posts or patrols at night (solo).
- Independent sortie behind enemy lines and destruction of mortar or machine gun crews.
- Killing the enemyaircraft using personal weapons.
- Destruction during air combat up to 3 fighters or up to 6 bombers.
- Destruction of an enemy train, 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 a reconnaissance aircraft.
- After being wounded and bandaged, the return of the fighter to the ranks and the continuation of hostilities.
- For ignoring personal safety when capturing an enemy banner.
- When single-handedly capturing an enemy officer.
- Disregarding your own life, save the commander's life.
- For saving the banner of your unit, neglecting your own life.
Some facts about order-bearing heroes
I. Kuznetsov became the full cavalier of the order, who received this honor at the age of sixteen. At the age of 16, he already commanded a squad and received an award of the highest degree of distinction.
The famous movie actors also received the Soviet Order of Glory during the war years. It is impossible not to recall the famous Alexei Makarovich Smirnov, who became a holder of the Order of Soldier's Glory. The awarding of A. M. Smirnov with the Order of Glory of the III degree took place on 1944-01-09, and on April 27 he was awarded the Order of the II degree.
Fyodor Mikhailovich Valikov also became a Knight of the Order III and II degrees. He served in the 32nd Slonim-Pomeranian brigade of the 2nd tank army.
