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Auction: 21002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 487

An outstanding Soviet 'First Day of the Chernigov-Pripyat Offensive' Order of the Red Banner awarded to Lieutenant Y. E. Babkin, Rifle Company Commander, 1203rd Rifle Regiment, 354th Rifle Division, 65th Army, Central Front for personally killing 23 Germans with his sub-machine gun, and for commanding his unit in a successful attack and subsequently repelling enemy counter-attack

Russia, U.S.S.R., Order of the Red Banner, Type 3, Variation 2, reverse officially numbered '194156, good very fine

Yakov Efremovich Babkin was born in the village of Ivashkovichi in the Kaluga Region, Kuibyshev district. He received a Secondary education before joining the Red Army on 1 September 1941, and becoming a Communist Party Member in 1943.

Babkin was wounded on 3 June 1943, and two months later was wounded again in the action for which he received the Order of the Red Banner.

At the time of this award of the Order of the Red Banner he was serving as a Lieutenant, Rifle Company Commander in the 1203rd Rifle Regiment, 354th Rifle Division, 65th Army on the Central Front, the citation stating:

'In the offensive operation on 26th August 1943 near the village of Trostenchik of Komarichi district of Orel region, comrade Babkin exhibited exemplary courage, steadfastness, and military skill in commanding his unit on the battlefield. Having pushed the enemy from their defence positions, he rapidly advanced forward and fortified on the new position. Repelling enemy counter-attacks, he and his unit eliminated up to a hundred Hitlerites. In this engagement, he personally killed with his submachine gun up to 23 enemy troops. He deserves a state award - Order 'Patriotic War 2nd Class''

Signed by Lieutenant Colonel Scherbakov, the Commander of 1203rd Rifle Regiment
This award was upgraded to an Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class by the Commander of the 354th Rifle Division, then again to an Aleksandr Nevsky by the Commander of the 65th Army before finally being awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The 1203rd Rifle Regiment spearheaded the assault on 26 August, which marked the first day of the Central Front's Chernigov-Pripyat Offensive, the Regiment taking the first line trench at 1000hrs and the village of Osinovsky by 1400hrs before repelling German counter-attacks, the Regiment suffered heavily in the attack with 90 killed in action and a further 250 wounded. The assault marked the beginning of a major offensive that resulted in the Red Army pushing as far as the outskirts of Gomel by 1 October.

As the only award on Babkin's record card, it is possible that the wound he received during this action prevented him from seeing further front line action during the war. After the war he was serving as the Head of the Regional Public Education Department, Kuibyshev District, and was living in Mokroe, Kuibyshev District, Kaluga Region; sold together with copied citation and research, including english translation.


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Sold for
£260

Starting price
£130