Heavily battle damaged Red Star

[Marcel Banziger]

Hereby I wanna show my latest arrival. A very heavily battle damaged Order of Red Star, awarded to Guards Master Sergeant Mikhail Iosifovich Zasanskij (Михаил Иосифович Засанский).

This Red Star citation goes as this:

"As a unit commander he bravely leaded his unit in battle. In all the battles earlier, especially in the forest beyond the city of Gwimalow, he was the first to break into the village and seize the machine gun by detachment and ensure that the forward sub-division breaks through.

Worthy of being awarded the state award of the medal “For Courage”.".

The reason why this Order of Red Star is so damaged can be explained by the citation for Mikhail's next award, the Order of Patriotic War 1st class where it says Mikhail fought a lot in close combat in the trenches:

"In the engagement for the town Chęciny on 14 January 1945, Guards master sergeant ZASANSKIJ exhibited courage and bravery. He inspired his men for the feats and was one of the first to get through the barbed wire obstacles. Together with a groups of submachine gunners, he rushed into the enemy trenches and engaged in the fight on the outskirts of the settlement. He eliminated 5 enemy soldiers armed with “Faustpatrons” in this engagement.

Guards master sergeant ZASANSKIJ was the first in the following engagements: at the town Burzenin on 20.01.1945 and during forced crossing of the Oder river on 29.01.1945. He and the group of submachine gunners was the first to cross the river, killed 6 enemy troops and thus provided crossing possibility to the whole unit.

For courage and bravery, he is worthy of order “Red Banner”."

Hereby the Order of Red Star, serial number # 569864, a real heavy combat worn award with tons of character. Very damaged but a beauty



Furthermore included in the grouping is Mikhail's OPW I, his 1985 OPW II and award booklets:

[Raul]

Great Star, would like one myself. Raul

[32Artillery]

Love it!

Pieces that show signs of combat have real appeal to me, and this piece certainly shows signs of combat....nice pick up.