Researched Soviet Russian USSR Medal Order of the Red Banner WWII Rare "Valik"

Description

Researched Soviet Russian USSR Medal Order of the Red Banner, Rare Valik variation, Lieutenant-Colonel, WWII
Order of the Red Banner #336859
awarded to
Lieutenant-Colonel Vasily Vasilyevich Saltykov
, also a recipient of the Order of Lenin, Order of the Patriotic War, Order of the Red Star, and Combat Service Medal; a
participant in the battles of Stalingrad and Berlin
; and also a
participant of the war against Japan in 1945.
The order itself is in
great condition
, as per the image. Minute chip by the torch. The order is of the
rare “Valik” manufacturing type
, which has a sort of starburst-shaped indent in the reverse.
Fewer than 13000 of these were produced!
The hanger has the wrong ribbon and may not be native to this order, but it is the more scarce bronze type.
Includes archival research in electronic format (6 pages of award record cards + 4 pages of award citations + 6 pages of award decrees). Also included are numerous pages of 150th Reserve Rifle Regiment
documents prepared by Saltykov, including maps
from the Battle of Demyansk (all electronic copies).
Two sets of records were found for Saltykov in the Russian archives. Both show the same name (Vasily Vasilyevich Saltykov), the same date of birth (1908), the same rank (Major/Lieutenant-Colonel), and the same year and month of enlistment in the Red Army (October 1929). The only differences are the year of Communist party membership (1929 vs. 1931) and birthplace. Also, one set of records shows Saltykov KIA in 1944.
My conclusion is that there was only one Saltykov and that there was a mistake in the records in the confusion of wartime. All of the documents are posted for you to come to your own conclusions.
Saltykov earned the Order of the Red Star in February 1943 for the Battle of Demyansk. This Soviet offensive (Operation Polar Star, “Операция Полярная Звезда”) successfully reduced the German Demyansk salient, which had been created from the famous
“Demyansk Pocket”
the year before.
As Chief of Staff of the 150th Reserve Rifle Regiment, Saltykov organized 20 km of defenses (including snow bunkers!) and then, during the offensive, maintained communications with advance and cut-off units.
It is amazing that Saltykov
fought both at Stalingrad and Demyansk
. The German air supply to the Demyansk Pocket in 1942 was what convinced Göring and Hitler that they could resupply Stalingrad by air. That of course failed, and Saltykov then fought to eliminate the Damyansk group once and for all.
In 1944 Saltykov earned the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class for his achievements as Chief of Staff. Again, Saltykov was marked as “Killed in Action” in 1944, but he actually survived and won the Order of the Red Banner and Order of Lenin post-war.
Shipping to the USA only. International buyers – If you are interested, please contact me in advance to arrange shipping.