Stalingrad encirclement War Merit medal # 173541

[Marcel Banziger]

It is rather quiet on the forum lately so time to show one of my new awards. Hereby I wanna show War Merit medal # 173541 awarded to private Nikolaj Nikolaevich Kalinsky (Николай Николаевич Калинский). Nikolaj was an artillery spotter of the 1st Battery, 8th Seperate Horse-driven Artillery Squadron, 3th Guards Cavalry Corps.

The medal itself is an early type medal with original suspension, not converted to a 5-sided suspension. The medals shows some hard combat life and the connecting ring has been bend completely. Even the ribbon is still the original though has seen better days.
To be honest, this is the condition I like my medals best. It shows real character!

[Marcel Banziger]

This medal was awarded for actions near Stalingrad when the Germans attempted to break through to the encircled army trapped in Stalingrad.
The citation reads:

"As the artillery unit spotter, he was manning the squadrons filed observation post near the hill 106.6 on 10 December 1942. When the enemy armour attack took place, he didn’t abandon his observation post, even after the enemy tanks passed his observation post position on both flanks. He continued his mission and reported all the details to the commanders post. For this effort, he deserves a state award.

HE DESERVES MEDAL “FOR COMBAT MERITS”
Commander of 3 Guards cavalry corps
Guards Mj. General signature /N. OSLIKOVSKY/
12 January 1943"

[Marcel Banziger]

The majority of Red Army soldiers didn't earn any, or only very few awards. The same goes for Nikolaj. This War Merit medal was his first award and the second award only came more than two years later when he was awarded the Medal For Bravery while being part of the 21st Guards Motorised Brigade. Furthermore, for his actions near and at Stalingrad he was handed out the medal Defense of Stalingrad. His Record Card shows the overview of awards.

[Marcel Banziger]

The citation mentioned the observation post near Hill 106.6 which is situated just south of the river Chir and which looks out over the village Lissinski. The route of battle from the German 11th Panzer Division was headed directly towards Lissinski as shown on the map. It shows the tanks were heading directly towards Nikolaj's observation post and it shows real bravery to remain on your post, keeping your head cool and keep informing the commanders about the enemy's movements.

[Pauls1970]

Fantastic piece of history to own Marcel & a direct link to such a significant battle, thanks for posting.
Regards
Paul

[Marcel Banziger]

It is rather difficult to find the exact location on Google Earth but Hill 106.6 should be located here, going from more up close with every image.

[Egorka]

Marcel, you should remember, that the terrain was much changed after the Tsimlyansk Reservoir was established in 1952.'
Plus, the river flow drifted over the post-war year.
Therefor, you cannot really map exactly the modern Google photos to the old maps.
But here is my take on it.
We can use the railway track deviation to geolocate the hill 106.6.
I think the surroundings of the hill 106.6 are under water now.

[Marcel Banziger]

Thanks a lot Igor. This is one of the complications indeed that I face when researching myself.
Not reading Cyrillic complicates things quite bit. I would on my own never find out about a reservoir being made in the postwar years that would change the landscape drastically. Still I never give up my own attempts in researching

[Thomas Bendixen]

Great thread, thanks for sharing!

Br. Thomas

[Combattente]

The connection ring is not bent in combat! There was a practice at the mint to bend the ring in "8" style to do the medal hang straight and not to turn back to front while wearing. Not all pieces have this, but many have! Very good medal in very good condition. Soldiers had to wear their awards every time, so many are in much worse condition than yours! If you come across a perfect condition award that means it was given to a stuff officer never been to trenches or to a heavily wounded person who never return to active service after medical treatment.
I prefer worse condition when searching for a medal for my collection, it 90% has a great story behind!