91. to 94. Day, April 16 to 19, 2021
Let us now turn to the base!
It will consist of an antique "marble" column, which is decorated with typical symbols and signs of victory of the Red Army.
The first thing on the program is a miniature replica of a troop flag!
So first do some research - that's why I haven't shown any photos in the past few days, because an old sack in front of the computer is not that exciting ...
The most famous - and most photographed - troop flag of the Red Army is this one ...:
It is that of the 2nd Rifle Unit of the 150th Rifle Division. The aforementioned 2nd division bore the honorary name "Iiridsa" (a small river in the Soviet Union, where the troops had distinguished itself) - the division itself bore the honorary name "Kutuzov".
It is the flag of the unit whose members hoisted the Soviet flag on the Reichstag building in Berlin in May 1945 - the ultimate symbol of victory in the Soviet Union!
The original is now in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War - the flag is a kind of national relique ...:
A copy of the banner - next to the national flag - is carried in front of the parade on "Dem Pobjedi" (Victory Day) every May 9th ...:
Only - that doesn't help me a bit!
The flag I'm looking for should match the bust - and our friend was never in Berlin, at least not as a fighting soldier!
He wears a number of combat medals that make his way in war very understandable:
He took part in the battle for Moscow, was then involved in the liberation of Belarus and at the end of the war was involved in the capture of the East Prussian metropolis of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad).
So I was looking for a unit of the Red Army that went this way.
And I actually found such a unit!
Here is her way ...:
It is the 39th Rifle Brigade, which was given the honorary name "Vitebsk" because its soldiers excelled in the liberation of this Belarusian city (June 24 - 27, 1944) as part of Operation "Bagration" ... :
In the bitter fighting in Vitebsk, 18,000 German soldiers lost their lives, around 10,000 were taken prisoner ...:
The LIII. German Army corps of the German 3rd Panzer Army, which consists of three divisions, comprised 30,000 soldiers, practically no longer existed - the city of Vitebsk was completely destroyed in the fighting.
The flag of the 39th Rifle Brigade looked much simpler ...:
Here it's backside...
... which was practically the same for all units that were hastily set up in 1941 ...:
I want to make this flag of the 39th Rifle Brigade!
First I took tinfoil paper and "ironed" it with a marble stick, because it was pretty crumpled in the closet ...:
The piece was then primed black ...:
Then I scanned the front of the flag on the PC in matching scale and transferred the writing and the star to the tinfoil using the good old tracing method.
Then I painted - as best I can ...:
The front is finished - I will paint lights and shadows as soon as the flag is "up", and I also want to make the golden fringes.
But now the back comes first.
Tomorrow.
Cheers
