Silver, 14 K gold (hammer & sickle emblem), enamels; measures 45.6 mm in height, 43.7 in width; weighs 27.4 g without the screw plate.

The order is in very fine to excellent condition. There is a single surface flake at the tip of the 5 o'clock arm which is barely noticeable without magnification, the enamel is otherwise essentially perfect having only a few microscopic contact marks completely invisible to the naked eye. The hammer and sickle emblem is likewise practically free from wear. Attractive toning to silver adds to the award's stately presentation. The screw is

Silver, 14 K gold (hammer & sickle emblem), enamels; measures 45.6 mm in height, 43.7 in width; weighs 27.4 g without the screw plate.

The order is in very fine to excellent condition. There is a single surface flake at the tip of the 5 o'clock arm which is barely noticeable without magnification, the enamel is otherwise essentially perfect having only a few microscopic contact marks completely invisible to the naked eye. The hammer and sickle emblem is likewise practically free from wear. Attractive toning to silver adds to the award's stately presentation. The screw is full length, approx. 14.5 mm long, and comes with an original wartime screw plate.

Born in the village of Prokudino, Tula Province, in 1915, Klimkin joined the Red Army in 1940 for a career as a supply officer. For much of WWII, he served in various positions within the 144th Rifle Division, which entered combat on the banks of the Dnieper on 12 July 1941 as a part of the 20th Army. The division was pushed back in the German Operation Typhoon (starting phase of the Battle of Moscow). In October 1941, the divisional headquarters and a large number of troops were encircled in the Vyazma Pocket, including Klimkin, who was recorded as a casualty. However, a breakout was achieved, which also averted the division's disbandment; during the entire war, it was never reconstituted from the ground up, as happened to so many other devastated units. Klimkin was awarded the Medal for the Defense of Moscow for participation in the battle. He also became a member of the Communist Party in that transformative year.

For the rest of the war, the 144th Rifle Division was on the offensive. Klimkin received his first combat award, the Combat Service Medal, in February 1943 for meeting the supply and equipment needs of the division's 217th Independent Signals Company. In May 1944, he earned the Order of the Red Star as Assistant Commander for Supply of the 308th Artillery Regiment. Displaying great initiative, he kept the regiment consistently well provisioned with food and ammunition despite challenging conditions and the rapid pace of the army's advance.

Klimkin won the present Order of the Patriotic War in July 1944 during the Vilnius offensive, in which the 144th Rifle Division played a starring role. In a daring nighttime raid, he led a group of soldiers into a train station occupied by Germans and successfully made off with two barrels of fuel. Delivering these to his regiment, he enabled four batteries of guns to be brought up to support the infantry of the 785th and 612th Rifle Regiments. Based on the war diary of the 144th Rifle Division, this extraordinary episode took place on July 10 at the Vilnius Central Railway Station. The record for that day testifies to the infantry's proximity to that major landmark and fortified position. It additionally notes that one battalion of the 308th Artillery Regiment remained in the rear due to lack of fuel while the others advanced. Klimkin's award recommendation further praised his overall excellence in meeting the supply needs of units in battle, allowing them to complete their combat mission.

Klimkin's exceptional performance in the Vilnius offensive surely contributed to his special selection by the General Staff of the Red Army in March 1945 for a vital government mission: the confiscation of Germany's industrial base and export of that materiel to the motherland for her reconstruction. Klimkin was assigned to the task as "Representative for the Chief of Rear Services of the Red Army in Dismantling Industrial Enterprises in Upper and Lower Silesia." For his outstanding work in this mission, Klimkin was awarded a second Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class in August 1945. The order was promptly presented, even as his first award remained delayed.

Research Materials: award record card, award commendation, relevant pages of the awarding decree, analogous documents for Klimkin's other awards, digitized portrait from the service record, and the page of the 144th Rifle Division's war diary relevant to the present award.
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