45. Day, December 29, 2021
Today our hero gets his rank insignia!
Matching to the cap band, they again have the weapon color of the rifle regiments - that is, "raspberry red" ...:
The border must be black - our friend is a political officer!
Until 1938 officers and their political deputies had the same badges of rank - until Stalin, in one of his masterful chess moves of "Divide and Rule", granted the troop officers the right to reintroduce badges of rank with gold borders!
Gold in any form on badges of rank was absolutely frowned upon since the times of the tsars - now commanders were allowed to wear it again.
Their political representatives, however, were denied this right - they had to make do with the less pompous black ...:
As requested by the landlord, that of course immediately caused bad blood in the troops!
Military officers felt elevated (without actually gaining more rights) and their political deputies - usually of the same rank at the time - felt neglected and from then on were only more eager to monitor and control their military colleagues!
The bad word of
"the return of the gold hunters" made the rounds - roughly comparable to the sottise of the "sore throat" in the Hitler army when an officer took irresponsible and bloody risks just to get the "Knight's Cross" that was supposed to be the neck was worn.
The deliberate unequal treatment reliably prevented the development of real friendships between the troop commander and the political deputy in the Red Army - and that was exactly the goal of the host!
Well - our hero gets two bars on the badge of rank, which corresponds to the rank of a battalion commissar (= lieutenant colonel) ...:
During the war these things were mostly made of lacquered wood, which is why I gave them a thin layer of "Gloss Varnish" ...:
Et voilà...:
Cheers
