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| A 1943 Model Naval Air Force Major General attributed to the Deputy Commander, Aviation of the North Sea Fleet |
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A 1943 model tunic to a Naval General. To help bolster the moral of the Soviet Armed forces, it was decided in 1943 to return to a more traditional uniform style from the time of the Tsars. The unique features were the stand up collar and return to shoulder boards as a sign of rank. Prior to this, officers were noted by various enamel geometric shapes. The style pictured adheres to more traditional military form with 1 star equaling the first rank of Major General. |
The Naval uniform was a rich navy blue. It was bluer than the British and US colors and was closer to the French version of a true blue. |
The Naval General stands in front of a SB-2M103 bomber being bombed-up for a mission. Even though he is in the Navy, aviators were considered part of the technical branch and had titles based on Army ranks. Only fleet officers had the more traditional Navy ranks. |
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The ever present map case that was critical to any senior officer. It was made of a crude pigskin and had a large plastic pocket in the front. The map case could open to keep documents and writing instruments. |
This is one of the rarer Soviet wings from the WWII period. After 1943, an aviator in the Army or Navy was denoted by branch of service piping and the winged device on the shoulder board. This wing was only awarded to Naval Pilots as a flight qualification/ graduation badge. |
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As further sign that this uniform was worn later into the war, the Major General does not have the actual medals on his tunic as was more typical until 1944 or so. As the Soviets approached the end, they adopted the western style of wearing ribbons on service tunics and full medals on dress or parade uniforms. These are original to the wearer and include:
Top row, left to right:
Order of Lenin
Order of the Red Banner (x3)
Bottom Row, left to right:
Order of Nakhimov, 2nd Class. It is awarded to naval officers for success in the planning, execution, and support of naval operations that achieved victory over a numerically superior enemy, crushed an enemy offensive, or ensured successful operations that inflicted serious damage on the enemy. Only 467 of these were awarded.
Order of Alexander Nevsky
Order of the Red Star
Defense of the Soviet Transpolar region
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| Here is a close-up view of the shoulder board. It is six sided and is completely backed with gold embroidery, another unique touch for General officers. The single star for Major General is made up of heavy silver embroidery. The button is a smaller version of the main coat button. The board is outlined in sky blue, denoting aviation branch. |
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As with Generals in the Army, Admirals and Generals in the Navy had unique buttons for their uniform. These included the state symbol and a wreath with 11 ribbons, each representing one of the Soviet Republics. This button was not instituted until 1945. |
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© Tod Rathbone |
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