Order of the Red Star, Type 4 Variation 3 (with screw post
base), #214664, awarded on 31 July 1943 to Senior
Lieutenant Iosif Monastyrskiy, a staff officer of the 39th
Tank Brigade, for outstanding leadership and personal
bravery during a Soviet offensive in the Donbass region
which coincided with the Battle of Kursk.
Silver, enamels; 46.6 mm tall x 48.0 mm wide; weighs 27.3 g
without the screw plate. This specimen was manufactured in
1943 at the Moscow Mint. Features screw post base and
slightly curved up mint mark. The upper right side of the
mint mark is lightly struck and the dash over the last
letter in the word "Monetnyi" is therefore missing, but if
it were legible, it would have been found above the letter.
The screw post base is "sunk in" below the surface of the
reverse. The enamel is of slightly lighter shade of red and
noticeably finer quality than the more recent issues. /N.
Strekalov, V. Durov, "Order of the Red Star", pp. 230,
231/.
In very fine to excellent condition. The enamel shows
beautiful luster and appears practically prefect to the
unaided eye. There is only a single tiny surface flake to
the tip of the lower left arm which is nearly unnoticeable
without magnification and a few microscopic contact marks
that can barely be found even with a 10x loupe. The center
medallion exhibits only minimal wear, its details are very
well preserved and crisp. Nice dark toning to silver on
both sides. The screw post is full length, nearly 11 mm
measured from its base, and comes with original silver
screw plate. Overall, this is an extremely attractive
example of a mid-war Order of the Red Star.
Iosif Monastyrskiy was born in 1916 in the town of Vetka in
Belorussia. He served a stint in the Red Army from 1935-37
and re-joined the military in 1939, probably by enrolling
in an officer school. Starting from 1941, Monastyrskiy took
part in the Patriotic War serving initially with the
Western Front, fought in the Battle of Stalingrad, and by
1943 had been promoted to captain.
In July 1943, he distinguished himself in fighting in
southeastern Ukraine serving as adjutant of the 1st Tank
Battalion, 39th Tank Brigade, 23rd Tank Corps, Southwestern
Front. In mid-July, when the Battle of Kursk was reaching
its climax in the area just to the north, the 23rd Tank
Corps was withdrawn from the front's reserves and tasked
with supporting the 1st Guards Army during its spoiling
attack on the Severskiy Donets River. The offensive,
conducted jointly by the forces of the Southwestern and
Southern Fronts, was later dubbed the Izyum-Barvenkovo
Operation by Soviet historians. It had ambitious goals of
totally dislodging the southernmost anchor of the German
Army Group South, enveloping the 6th Army (reconstituted
after the Battle of Stalingrad), and clearing much of the
Donbass coal mining region.
On July 17, the first day of the operation, the 1st Guards
Army successfully crossed the Severskiy Donets and
spearheaded by the tank forces, pushed into the German
defenses on the west bank. During 19-22 July, as the 23rd
Tank Corps continued to expand its gains against the
increasing German opposition, Monastyrskiy was constantly
on the forefront immediately following the forward line of
the attacking tanks of the 39th Brigade. On 19 July, he
personally led an armored assault while coordinating
support with adjacent artillery and infantry and by his
personal example of bravery, greatly inspired the tankers
of his
battalion. When a strong Germans panzer force
counterattacked on 22 July, Monastyrskiy replaced the
commander of one of the tanks who had been taken out of
action and led the crew in a fight with numerically
superior enemy.
Monastyrskiy was soon recommended for an Order of the Red
Star by his brigade commander. By 31 July, when the award
was officially bestowed by a brigade's decree, the Izyum-
Barvenkovo Operation was over. It had achieved only very
modest territorial gains and failed in most of its goals.
It had succeeded however in preventing the Germans from
sending reinforcements north and thus denied the
desperately needed help to the all-important German
southern pincer in the Battle of Kursk at the most critical
time of the battle. The attempted offensive in Donbass was
very costly for the Soviet side and in particular its
tankers; as a result, the awards to survivors of this
strategically important operation are rather scarce.
Monastyrksiy went on to earn two other decorations during
the Patriotic War: another Order of the Red Star for
showing outstanding leadership and personally killing
several enemy soldiers near Tārgu Frumos, Romania, during
the course of the Jassy-Kishinev offensive in August 1944;
and an Order of the Patriotic War, 1st cl. for bravery
while defending the cut-off HQ of his brigade in early
February 1945, during the last German attempt to relieve
Budapest. Monastyrskiy was severely wounded the latter
battle and taken to a hospital. He retired from active duty
in the military in May 1946 still having the rank of
captain and soon took at a job as a mechanic in the "Path
to Communism" workshop in the town Cherkessk, Stavropol
Territory in the south of Russia.
Research Materials: photocopy and translation of the
award record card and award commendation for the two Orders
of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st cl.
Detailed information about the 39th Tank Brigade and 23rd
Tank Corps is available in the Volume 2 School of Battle of
the Charles Sharp's book series "Soviet Order of Battle,
World War II".
Item# 35966
$525.00 