
Badge in Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the First Railway Train of the Road of Life, 1983 issue.
In aluminum, paint and lacquer; 30.8 mm tall x 32.4 mm wide. The inscription in the red band is "Road of Life". The map in the center shows four railway lines running across Lake Ladoga. The reverse has raised inscription "The First Train. 7 February 1943". There is a maker mark of the Special Design Bureau of the X-Ray Equipment in Leningrad / St. Petersburg (which apparently produced badges as a sideline during the Soviet era.)
The makeshift railway lines were built over the frozen lake in the winter of 1942/43. It was an inventive solution to supplying the be
In aluminum, paint and lacquer; 30.8 mm tall x 32.4 mm wide. The inscription in the red band is "Road of Life". The map in the center shows four railway lines running across Lake Ladoga. The reverse has raised inscription "The First Train. 7 February 1943". There is a maker mark of the Special Design Bureau of the X-Ray Equipment in Leningrad / St. Petersburg (which apparently produced badges as a sideline during the Soviet era.)
The makeshift railway lines were built over the frozen lake
in the winter of 1942/43. It was an inventive solution to
supplying the besieged Leningrad which came after the first
disastrous 1941/42 winter of the blockade. Located farther
to the north than the usual routes taken by the trucks
travelling the famous Road of Life, the railway trains
mostly escaped the attention of the marauding Luftwaffe. In
the remaining months before the spring thaw, the trains
delivered precious supplies to the starving city and
evacuated civilians, and thus were instrumental in saving
countless lives. The badge was likely issued to one of the
builders of the railway lines or a participant of dangerous
delivery missions.
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