Soviet Order of Red Star + RESEARCH to Artillery Sgt WW2 Relic Damaged by Fire

Description

Soviet Order of the Red Star, #1439540, awarded on 18 May 1945 to Senior Sergeant Fyodor Gavrilenko, 728
th
Antitank “Destroyer” Artillery Division, 9
th
Guards Tank Corps, for the Battle of Berlin.
THIS IS a SEVERELY DAMAGED PIECE but it is nevertheless GUARANTEED ORIGINAL Soviet-made military decoration awarded in May 1945, NOT a replica or post-WW2 issue!
The badge is made in STERLING SILVER (925 parts of pure silver out of 1000) and enamel. The center medallion with the Soviet soldier holding a rifle is a separate part soldered to the star base. The badge weighs 30.0 grams not including the screw plate and measures 47.6 mm in height, 50.1 mm in width. Note that the heat flattened the badge, so its dimensions are somewhat larger than normal; the weight however is exactly as it should be. There is a stamped mint mark on the reverse and an engraved individual serial number.
The order is in POOR condition. It was apparently in a fire or under intense heat and as a result, much of its enamel melted off. The details of the center medallion also suffered greatly, although they are still clearly recognizable. As mentioned above, the badge is somewhat flattened due to the same accident. It nevertheless retained its original screw post which is still soundly attached. The screw plate is a post-war replacement but it fits the screw perfectly. What’s most important, the serial number is intact and legible (we guarantee that the number is original and unaltered). This number was a key for research through the Russian military archives which provided the identity of the recipient of the order, a copy of the award record card (listing of all decorations issued to him as of 1946), as well as relevant pages of the award decree and award recommendation for one of his earlier awards, a Medal for Valor.
The award recipient, Fyodor Gavrilenko, was born in 1914 in the town of Pavlograd of what was then Ekaterinoslav (later, Dnepropetrovsk) Province of Ukraine. He was drafted into the Red Army in August 1941; took part in combat starting from October 1941, initially as a serviceman of the Northwestern Front; and received a severe concussion in combat in November of that year. In April 1944, he was awarded with a Medal for Valor (#1302963) by a decree of the 3
rd
Tank Corps. At the time Gavrilenko served with the 728
th
Separate Antitank “Destroyer” Artillery Squadron of the 3
rd
Tank Corps. He earned the Medal for Valor by delivering fuel and food to his squadron under heavy enemy fire. Gavrilenko was actually recommended by his squadron commander for an Order of the Red Star, but the award was lowered to Medal for Valor up the chain of command.
In August 1944, while serving in the 1107
th
Artillery Regiment, Gavrilenko was decorated with a Medal for Combat Service (#1039823). By May 1945, he had been promoted to Senior Sergeant and in the last weeks of the war in Europe, earned the Order of the Red Star (#1439540) in the Battle of Berlin. Although the award recommendation for his last decoration of WW2 has not been found yet (it may be worth further research), the award was clearly for the Berlin Operation judging by the fact that Gavrilenko was awarded with a Medal for the Capture of Berlin. Moreover, his 9
th
Guards Tank Corps (formerly 3
rd
Tank Corps) is known to have played an active role in the battle: it was a part of the mobile force of the 2
nd
Belorussian Front that enveloped Berlin from the north and ended the war just outside the city.
Gavrilenko not only survived the war, but was promoted to Guards Sergeant Major, the highest Soviet NCO rank, before his discharge from the military in November 1945. He then returned to his native Pavlograd. As of April 1946, his job status was “temporarily unemployed”. At this point, it is a mystery what happened to his Order of the Red Star - it could be a house fire, among other possibilities. Perhaps some future research will someday shed light on this subject.
Please note
, the award comes with black-and-white photocopies of the Russian archival documents mentioned above - NOT the original documents that are, naturally, still in the archives (our photos show color scans that can be emailed to the buyer in electronic format upon request.)
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