Messages

61

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Need Identification on uniform and medals

« on: December 19, 2013, 02:14:04 PM »

One of the badges is the graduation badge of the Imperial Law School in St. Petersburg. Do you know this gentleman's name?

62

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Need Identification on uniform and medals

« on: December 19, 2013, 12:43:21 AM »

The photo shows a ranking official of the Ministry of Justice. His civil rank [действительный статский советник] is equivalent to the military rank of Major-General. On his full dress uniform he wears the Order of St. Stanislaus 1st class (star and sash), the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd class (neck cross), one more cross that is hard to discern, three commemorative medals and two badges intended for various branches of the law profession. The picture was taken between 1914 and 1917.
Is it possible to see the reverse side? Sometimes it might provide addirional info.

63

Their World and Culture / Re: Elements of style

« on: November 18, 2013, 08:36:02 AM »

Visor caps were part of officials' everyday uniform. With their dress uniform, they wore cocked hats.

64

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Help with shoulder board

« on: August 22, 2013, 01:31:42 AM »

Daniel, your overcoat reconstruction looks very authentic. The shoulder board with green stripes is indeed the 8th Grayevskaya Border Guard brigade.

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Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Help with shoulder board

« on: August 21, 2013, 02:55:29 AM »

Nice examples of ciphered shoulder boards. Particularly interesting are those with red stripes carrying the Peter I cipher - not of the Russian czar's but of the Serbian king's of the same name. In 1911 he was made colonel-in-chief of the 14th Olonetsky infantry regiment stationed in Łomża, Poland.

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Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Help with shoulder board

« on: August 18, 2013, 05:45:24 AM »

This shoulder board is 100% Soviet, most probably Air Force. I've thought so even before seeing the stamped strip, now I'm quite sure. The large letters on the stamp read УПТВА, which was a well-known Soviet manufacturer of military gear in the 1940s - 1950s. While the whole composition is a fake, the board itself is a genuine after-WW2 item.

The cipher and the crown ( in this case, most probably a modern copy) had nothing to do with the rank of captain. They were worn, irrespective of the officer's rank, by the officers of the Imperial Suite and by all officers of His Majesty's Own companies (usually 1st Company) in those regiments where the emperor was colonel-in-chief.

67

Imperial Transportation / Re: The Standart

« on: June 24, 2013, 09:09:24 AM »

I wish I had your vision,Mike.

Not so sure about the excellence of my vision... The two words on the caps' bands more probably are ГВАРДЕЙСКИЙ ЭКИПАЖ [Guards Equipage] rather than ПОЛЯРНАЯ ЗВЕЗДА [Polyarnaya Zvezda]. If true, there is nothing unusual about their playing aboard the Standart: the ship was part of the Guards Equipage.

68

Imperial Transportation / Re: The Standart

« on: June 22, 2013, 02:16:07 AM »

It is not exactly the Standart's band: the bands on the musicians' caps read "Polyarnaya Zvezda". But they do play aboard the Standart. Interesting photo.

69

Their World and Culture / Re: The Imperial Circus

« on: June 02, 2013, 01:43:17 AM »

The imperial family used to visit the Ciniselli Circus in St.Petersburg. Van'ka the Donkey, a favorite pet of Tsesarevich Alexei, was actually presented to him by that circus.

70

Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: cigarette case

« on: June 01, 2013, 09:53:17 AM »

At least a third of Russian navy's officers were of German or Swedish origin.

71

Russian Noble Families / Re: Millionnaya Street

« on: May 19, 2013, 12:21:38 PM »

No, my No204 school was at 12, Millionnaya, while Paoutine's house, built just before WW1, was at 25, Millionnaya. This is how it looks today:

One of the most expensive addresses in Petersburg, either then or now.

72

Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: cigarette case

« on: May 13, 2013, 12:24:58 AM »

We're talking about the same school. The yearly lists of graduates may be found at Russia's Central naval archive.

73

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: help identifying Imperial Russian Navy emblems and uniform

« on: May 10, 2013, 04:53:55 PM »

The emblem is a slightly modified graduation badge of the Naval Corps in Petersburg.
The woman wears an overcoat of her husband/boyfriend/brother's. Saying by the medals, he was not a young officer: one had to serve at least 10 years to earn all these.
The images are too small to try identifying the names - due to the script writing, they have to be deciphered letter by letter.

74

Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: cigarette case

« on: May 10, 2013, 04:24:38 PM »

We need a larger (~ twice) image of the case to try to identify the names.

75

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / Re: Need Help to Identify Imperial Uniform Pictures

« on: April 26, 2013, 09:21:54 AM »

"Old reliable C-47"... It also had s Russian clone - Li-2, built on a license from Douglas and not just copied part by part like Tu-4. These Li-2s were extensively used for passenger and other civil services across USSR and as military transports. In our twice-a-year trips from Vladivostok to Leningrad and back, I've made the whole 10 thousand kilometers way aboard a Li-2. It took almost two days with 9 or 10 landings. Everybody - except me and other kids - was sick and could hardly touch the sumptuous meals served not aboard the plane like today but at airports during the landings.
The Lt.-Colonels boards have two stars placed side by side, like here (but in my father's case the stars were gold on silver boards):
http://savok.name/uploads/pogony/11.jpg