Measures 10" x 6 ½", leatherette-bound hard cover, 18 pp. containing 25 b/w photos sectioned into four parts: awarding orders to the generals and officers of the Academy 21 June 1944; awarding the Red Banner to the Academy; Oath of Allegiance ceremony; Parade. The inside of the back cover has the names of the Academy's staff artist and photographer, and the location, Monino, a near suburb of Moscow. The first photo is, prudently, a stock portrait of Stalin, followed on the next page by a portrait photo of Marshal Kirill Meretskov. The title page reads "Awarding Orders to the Generals and Officers of the Academy 21 June 1944." The secion opens with a photo portrait of AF Colonel General Nikolai Shimanov, the recipient of this gift album. A group photo of all the awardees completes this section. The back side of that page has a cutout from a much later postcard, issued most likely in the 1960s in celebration of the USSR Air Fleet Day, celebrated on 18 August since 1933. The cutout, quite likely, was glued there to cover something "politically inappropriate".

The next title page reads "The Red Banner Award Ceremony, 18 August 1944." Several photos of this event follow, including the moments when Col. Gen. Shimanov is reading the award order, and Lt.-Gen. Pyotr Ionov is reading the text of the Oath of Allegiance. The ceremony concluded with a parade shown in the last section of the album.

In very good to excellent condition. Wear to the leatherette of the cover is minimal, the embossed title of the album is bright and clear. The gift dedication above it is somewhat faded but still quite legible. The photos are in excellent condition, and so are the decorative graphics drawn in gouache, in large part thanks to the rice paper separators protecting them.

Two personages in this album are definitely worth saying a few words about. Excerpts from their short bios to illustrate the perks of high command during the Stalin era.

Kirill Meretskov, commander of Karelian Front since Feb. 1944. Promoted to Marshal on 26 October 1944. Commander of the 7th Army during the Winter War with Finland (1939-40). On the eve of Hitler's 22 June 1941 assault, Meretskov was sent to the Leningrad Front as a representative of the Central Command, only to be recalled back to Moscow two days later and arrested, accused of participation in a fake anti-Soviet plot, the "testimonials" about it obtained through torture of previously arrested senior officers in the course of Stalin's 1937 Purge. Released by Stalin's verbal order in August 1941 after Meretskov had sent Stalin a personal letter asking to send him to the frontlines. Got Hero of the Soviet Union, Order of Victory, seven Orders of Lenin. Died in Moscow in 1968.

Col.Gen. Nikolai Shimanov. Veteran of the Russian Civil War. Served as political officer in the Air Force in the 1930s, Leningrad Military District. Participated in the Winter War with Finland. Was promoted to Major General in December 1942, Lt.-Gen. in April 1943, col.-gen. in February 1944. Military Commissar of the Air Force of the Volkhov Front (Dec. 1941). Military Commissar of the AF 50th Army (Jan. 1942). Member of the Air Force Military Council and Chief of the Aviation Department of the TsK VKP(b) (March 1943 to the end of the war). Arrested in April 1946, sentenced to four years of incarceration. Released in March 1952, rehabilitated in May 1953. Served in high command posts in the Ministry of Defense until 1959, retired. Died in 1972, buried in the famous Novodevichye cemetery in Moscow among other Russian and Soviet celebrities.

Please note that the pen in our photo is for size reference.