Award Certificate for a Defense of Odessa Medal, #004010. Shows a blue ink stamp of the Headquarters Novorossiysk Naval Base. Hand- signed by Captain, 3rd cl. A. Petryakov, Deputy Chief Political Officer of the Novorossiysk Naval Base.

Award Certificate for a Defense of Sevastopol Medal, #010886. Shows a blue ink stamp of the Headquarters Novorossiysk Naval Base. Hand- signed by Captain, 3rd cl. A. Petryakov, Deputy Chief Political Officer of the Novorossiysk Naval Base.

Both documents were issued on the same day, 12 March 1945. Both are in very good

Award Certificate for a Defense of Odessa Medal, #004010. Shows a blue ink stamp of the Headquarters Novorossiysk Naval Base. Hand- signed by Captain, 3rd cl. A. Petryakov, Deputy Chief Political Officer of the Novorossiysk Naval Base.

Award Certificate for a Defense of Sevastopol Medal, #010886. Shows a blue ink stamp of the Headquarters Novorossiysk Naval Base. Hand- signed by Captain, 3rd cl. A. Petryakov, Deputy Chief Political Officer of the Novorossiysk Naval Base.

Both documents were issued on the same day, 12 March 1945. Both are in very good to excellent condition, absolutely outstanding for the single-page WW2 campaign medal certificates, especially ones as scarce as Defense of Odessa or Sevastopol. The documents have been folded in four for storage but have none of the usual separations along the fold lines. The edges are free of wear or tears. Both certificates are perfectly clean showing only the light age toning, no stains, soiling or foxing. A superb set overall!

The port of Novorossiysk was one of the principal Soviet naval bases on the Black Sea. The Germans and their Romanian allies managed to capture the port and most of the city during their summer 1942 offensive. The outskirts of the city however marked the limit of the Axis advance along the Black Sea shore, and all their further efforts to gain access to the remaining bases of the Black Sea Fleet proved futile. The city was liberated in 1943 following the Red Army offensive in the Kuban region and breaching of the German Blue Line. Although badly damaged, the port of Novorossiysk was promptly rebuilt and continued to play an important role as a naval base through the remainder of the war.

Although Petty Officer Mordasov, the recipient of the two award documents, served in Novorossiysk in 1944, he certainly had taken part in the two earlier defensive battles at Odessa and Sevastopol. In Odessa, the siege was mostly conducted by the less trained, equipped and motivated Romanian troops. The Soviet garrison held off far longer than expected, repeatedly counterattacked with panache, and inflicted painful losses on the besiegers. In the end, a good portion of the Soviet troops defending Odessa were able to escape by sea to fight another day. The Sevastopol campaign however proved much longer and bloodier for both sides. The Soviet Navy in particular suffered grievous losses during the latter siege while trying to supply the garrison and evacuate some of the wounded and civilians. Like in the previous case, some of the Soviet defenders ultimately survived, but the losses among all branches of the Soviet military at Sevastopol were far greater than in Odessa. It is very uncommon to see a group of award documents to a veteran of both of these battles.
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