Guards Private Vasily Vasilyevich Belyayev, Order of Red Banner # 248821

[Marcel Banziger]

I am proud to show you my latest addition to the collection; a nicely worn Order of Red Banner with original suspension and ribbon. On itself these Red banners are already interesting and beautiful but it is the man behind the medal that actually makes this order come back to life again.

So let me introduce you Guards Private Vasily Vasilyevich Belyayev, born in 1923 in Davydovskoye, Vologda Province (near Jaroslavl, north-east of Moscow). Vasily joined the Red Army in 1942 untill after the Victory over Germany, 'till late 1945. Vasily turned out to be a very brave man, being awarded the Bravery medal twice, the Order of Glory III class and being nominated Hero of the Soviet Union, which he didn't get. It got downgraded to Order of the Red Banner instead.


Record card

Record card

Order booklet nr. V-067117

1. Last name: Belyayev
2. First name and patronymic: Vasily Vasilyevich
3. Military rank: Reserve Private
4. Sex: Male
5. Year of birth: 1923
6. Place of birth: Village of Davydovskoye, Ustyuzhna District, Vologda Province
7. Party membership (since which year): Not a member
8. Education: Elementary
9. Nationality: Russian
10. Since which year in the Red Army: From March 1942 to November 1945
11. Place of service (name of the unit) and position occupied at the time of the award: Scout in the 17th Guards Rifle Regiment, 5th Guards Rifle Division, 11th Guards Army, 3rd Belorussian Front
12. Current place of service and position: Worker at Factory nr. 272
13. Home address of the recipient: 1 Stroganovskaya Embankment, room 16, city of Leningrad

14. List of all awards he received:

Name of the Order of Medal/Serial number/Number of document/Ground of award

- Order of Glory, 3rd Class/ # 110254/ Temporary certificate nr. V-260209/ Order of the 5th Gorodok Red Banner Order of Suvorov Guards Rifle Division nr. 029/N of July 29, 1944
- Medal for Courage/ # 1776647/ Temporary certificate nr. V-898758/ Order of the 17th Guards Rifle Regiment, 5th Guards Rifle Division nr. 033/N of October 28, 1944
- Medal for Courage/ # 2698126/ Temporary certificate nr. Z-213910/ Order of the 17th Guards Rifle Regiment, 5th Guards Rifle Division nr. 014/N of April 9, 1945
- Order of Red Banner/ # 248821/ Temporary certificate nr. Zh-217781/ Order of the 11th Guards Army, 3rd Belorussian Front nr. 0159/N of May 19, 1945

Signature of the recipient: [signed]

I confirm the correctness of the data and the signature of the awardee (position and signature):

Military commissar of Primorye District [stamped: city of Leningrad]
Major [signed] /Bykov/
February 17, 1947

Order

Secret
Copy nr. 2

Order

Of the 11th Guards Army, 3rd Belorussian Front

– On the bestowal of decorations –

May 19, 1945 – Nr. 0159/N – Operational Red Army

On behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, for the exemplary execution of combat missions at the front in the struggle with the German invaders and the valor and bravery displayed in the process, I award:

[…]

In the 5th Gorodok Red Banner Order of Suvorov Guards Rifle Division:

The Order of the Red Banner to:

[…]

4. Guards Private Vasily Vasilyevich Belyayev, assistant commander of a dismounted reconnaissance platoon of the 17th Order of Suvorov Guards Rifle Regiment

[…]

Commanding officer Member of the Military Council
of the 11th Guards Army of the 11th Guards Army
Guards Colonel General Guards Major General of the Tank Forces
[signed] /Galitsky/ [signed] /Kulikov/

Army chief of staff
Guards Lieutenant General
[signed] /Semyonov/


Chief of the Army’s Personnel Section
Guards Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Burdykin/
May 18, 1945


Award citation


All fields to be filled out fully

Award citation

Last name, first name, and patronymic: Belyayev, Vasily Vasilyevich
Rank: Guards Private
Position and unit: Assistant commander of a dismounted reconnaissance platoon of the 17th Order of Suvorov Guards Rifle Regiment, 5th Gorodok Red Banner Order of Suvorov Guards Rifle Division

Nominated for: Title of Hero of the Soviet Union

Year of birth: 1923
Nationality: Russian
Party affiliation: Komsomol member
Service in the Civil War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War (where and when): In the Patriotic War since October 5, 1943
Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: No
Since when in the Red Army: Since October 5, 1943
Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of Ustyuzhna District, Vologda Province
Previous awards (for which achievements): Medal for Courage by Order of the 17th Guards Rifle Regiment nr. 033/N of October 28, 1944 and Order of Glory, 3rd Class by Order of the 5th Guards Rifle Division nr. 029/N of July 29, 1944
Permanent home address of the prospective awardee and his family’s address: _______________

Brief, concrete description of his feat of arms or achievements:

On the night of April 26, 1945 comrade Belyayev was among the first to cross the strait linking the Baltic Sea with the Vistula Lagoon. Upon disembarking on the opposite bank of the Vistula Spit under heavy machine-gun and artillery fire, he personally took part in and led his squad during a counterattack directed at the attacking enemy troops. Comrade Belyayev was personally involved in fighting off 4 counterattacks, enabling us to consolidate our bridgehead on the Vistula Spit in order to put ashore the bulk of the regiment.

For the heroism and courage he displayed, comrade Belyayev deserves to be granted the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Commanding officer of the 17th Order of Suvorov Guards Rifle Regiment
Guards Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Bankuzov/
April 28, 1945

He deserves to be granted the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Commanding officer of the 5th Guards Rifle Division
Guards Major General [signed] /Peters/
April …, 1945


He will be awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Commanding officer Member of the Military Council
of the 11th Guards Army of the 11th Guards Army
Guards Colonel General Guards Major General of the Tank Forces
[signed] /Galitsky/ [signed] /Kulikov/
May 6, 1945

[Marcel Banziger]

And now the documents, the Record card, Order and Award Citation:

[Marcel Banziger]

And finally, the Order of Red Banner # 248821 On the pictures there is still some green stuff to be seen. This is some residu of what the awardees used to clean their medals and orders with. It's off now without destroying or ruining the worn look of the order. As said in the beginning, this order comes with its original suspension and uncut connecting ring and it even has, from what it looks, its original ribbon. But I'll let the pictures do the talking




And a picture with the green residu removed.



All in all a beautiful and stunning order of the Red Banner awarded to a very brave man who was nominated to become a Hero of the Soviet union.
Thanks for looking and going through the long text! But Vasily with his brave actions deserves the attention in my humble opinion

A big thanks goes out to Auke for the research!!!

[Auke]

I must side with the army commander, this certainly wasn't a feat warranting a HSU title (and perhaps not even a feat at Red Banner level), but it's a neat citation. I always like it when they're specific when it comes to dates and locations and when the actions can be linked to well-known campaigns. Much has been written about the events near the Vistula Lagoon / Frisches Haff in 1945. Congrats on a nice addition!

[Marcel Banziger]

I also like it when specific dates and locations are mentioned. That gives more room for further research. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any photos online about the fightings near the Vistula spit and lagoon. I did however come across this map where on top of the map the movements from the 11th Guards Army can be seen, heading on to and crossing the spit.

[Auke]

I realize it's all in Russian, but this extensive document covers 11th Guards Army's operations during the Königsberg / Samland campaign:

https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=133166446

It also covers 5th Guards Rifle Division and its parent unit, 8th Guards Rifle Corps. The situation as per April 25, 1945 is described from page 298 onward. Page 311 details the preparations for the crossing and page 315 the crossing itself. Page 322 even specifies 17th Guards Rifle Regiment's positions. Page 327 covers 5th Guards Rifle Division actions on the morning of the 26th.

[Marcel Banziger]

Thanks a lot for this very useful information. I can't read Cyrillic but I hope my wife will step in and translate the bulk of this for me

[Marinecollector42]

Beautiful award with great historical value.
Congrats on this one

[Egorka]

Very nice Marcel!!!

Amost all of app. 97 people awarded by this decree got an ORB. All of them were recommended for HSU, and their recommendations went all the way up the approval chain, but got reduced to ORB (second highest order at the time).

Thanks to Auke, you know where to find good overall description of the engagement (11 Gu Army combat journal).
The most relevant part start with page 314. The first wave of the landing force consisted of 5 amphibious vehicles (American Lend Lease). The first vehicle with 30 men was the shock force followed by 4 others (500m behind), which initially provided supporting fire.
I don't have direct evidence right now, but I believe BELYAEV's landing place was on the right flank, next to the fort. This conjecture is based on the fact , that he was in the recon company. And the recon company landed there (see the map attached).

Otherwise, there were two other landing operations at the Frische Nehrung (The Vistula Spit) - the Western and Eastern landing forces.
BALYAEV's unit was part of a separate landing operation to cross from Pillau to Neutief.

[Marcel Banziger]

Thanks a lot. Very interesting to see a more detailed map and get more info about the happenings of that April day in 1945.