Order of the Patriotic War II Class Type 1.3

**PapaStalin1943** · 04-23-2020, 11:43 PM

Hi all- I would like to share with you all my Order of the Patriotic War II Class, Type 1 Variation 3, serial number 30725. This specific order was awarded to Ivan Arkhipovich Kryakhov, who was a Junior Lieutenant and a pilot in the 368th Independent Aerial Communications Squadron, 242nd Bomber Division, 6th Air Army, Northwestern Front. In 1959, he reached the rank of Captain and became the commander of an IL-28 Jet Bomber Squadron. His award citation says he was awarded this medal for flying 35 successful reconnaissance missions, during which he scouted enemy troops, with an overall flight time of 77 hours and 35 minutes between July 1 and October 1, 1943. His missions in July were carried out during the 'white nights', which are nights in Russia where the sun does not go down at all, and he was being shot at with AA guns. The citation also says that he was bold and resourceful.

Order of the Patriotic War II Class Type 1.3

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 04-23-2020 11:43 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Woolgar** · 04-24-2020, 10:50 AM

You certainly got a bargain there! Congrats

My Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class type 1 Var. 3 (Researched)

Nick

**Marcel Banziger** · 04-24-2020, 10:53 AM

Two threads about the same order?

**PapaStalin1943** · 04-24-2020, 06:45 PM

Oh my bad. In all honesty, I forgot that I had posted about this order 2 years ago.

Sorry again.

**sergejs** · 04-25-2020, 07:58 PM

If he continued to serve in the military aviation after the war, it is very strange that in his Registration card, compiled in 1947, it is written that he is temporarily out of work...

**Auke** · 05-01-2020, 11:13 AM

Perhaps he re-joined the Air Force at a later date? The record card was filled out at his local military commissariat and as you say he was unemployed at the time, so he had definitely left the military at that point.

**sergejs** · 05-02-2020, 07:50 AM

Of course, he could return to military service later, but it seems unlikely to me. In the late 40s, the Soviet army was shrinking, not increasing. Why was it necessary to return to service a pilot who already had a long pause in the practice of flight work, if there was already a surplus of pilots? .. Two more points confuse me. 1. in the photo, I can not see the bar of the PW2 order, which by all rules should be the first on the left. Although the photo is not very good quality... 2. According to the then existing rules, all orders of the old model (for example, on a suspension), which were awarded to officers in military service, had to be necessarily converted into orders with screws. Why did this order remain unchanged if he returned to military service?

**PapaStalin1943** · 05-02-2020, 06:26 PM

I will try and find the book page again where he is mentioned and where the photo is, and see if there is any info there that can help explain why he left and rejoined.

1. I believe that the first ribbon bar is the OPWII ribbon.

2. Although all the first type orders and medals had to be changed to no suspension or 5 aided suspension (based on what type of media it was), there are tons of examples of untouched early types, although it is rarer to see (which is what makes the earlier variations rarer and more valuable to collect). There are examples of early types of all orders and medals still preserved and untouched by the 1943 "dress code" changes.

**sergejs** · 05-02-2020, 06:35 PM

1. In my opinion, the first bar is more like the bar of the order of the Red Star...
2. Yes, the early types of orders and medals remained with the veterans who were awarded them. But the fact is that these veterans were demobilized and never served in the armed forces of the USSR after GPW. Accordingly, no one could ORDER them to change the awards from an early type to a late one. Only If they wanted they made it.