Silver gilt, enamels; measures 45.7 mm in height (including the eyelet and lower projections of the torch and flagpole), 37.3 mm wide; weighs 20.2 g not including the suspension and connecting link. Manufactured in the first half of 1944 at the Krasnokamsk Mint, this piece features a mintmark of the early style with the mid-portion of the first letter "M" reaching the bottom of the line. Note also that the plow on the obverse touches the flagpole - a feature typically associated with the screw back type but also occasionally seen on early suspension type Red Banners.

In excellent condition, absolutely outstanding for such an early issue. The enamel fully retains a beautiful luster throughout and is essentially perfect: there are only a few microscopic contact marks on the banner that are completely invisible without magnification. A great amount of the original gilt finish is still present and clearly visible on the wreath, flagpole and torch.

There is a beautiful even toning to silver on the reverse; note the gilt "spillover" border along its edge, characteristic of very early issues of the suspension type. The order comes on a late-1940s suspension device, a two-layer model in steel with an integral catch of the pin. The ribbon is new. The connecting link has been cut but appears to be of the period.

Serafim Yatskovskiy was born in 1917 to an ethnic Russian family in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. After finishing seven grades of school and a vocational school in Leningrad, he joined an aviation club, became an instructor pilot and later, a flight leader of an aviation club in Dushanbe, the capital of Soviet Tajikistan. In 1939, he joined the Air Force and in 1941, graduated from the Poltava Military Pilot School.

Yatskovskiy started flying combat missions at the very beginning of the Patriotic War in June 1941, initially as a Su-2 pilot of the 97th Bomber Air Regiment. On 25 June, just three days after the German invasion, he flew in the group of nine airplanes that successfully attacked German troops in the area of the town of Beryoza (aka Byaroza) in Brest region, Belorussia. According to his award recommendation for the Title of Hero that came almost four years later near the end of the war, in that June 1941 attack the Soviet bombers set on fire eight German tanks and six motor vehicles, and eliminated "tens" of enemy soldiers - the numbers that quite frankly, sound greatly exaggerated. It is undoubtful however that during the air raid the Soviet pilots encountered heavy antiaircraft fire that killed their squadron leader. Yatskovksky nevertheless lingered over the enemy position continuing strafing attacks for another 15 minutes until his ammunition was exhausted and then made a solo flight back to his airfield. In the following three weeks, he conducted five more highly successful bombing missions in the areas of Slonim (incorrectly referred to as "Solonin" in the Hero award commendation), Baranovichi and Bobruisk, and proved himself as one of the most courageous and skillful aviators in his unit.

Owing to his expertise - and, likely, shortage of experienced pilots at that stage of the war - Yatskovskiy was then transferred to the 9th Separate Long-Range Reconnaissance Squadron. While serving there from 16 October - 6 December 1941, he flew six reconnaissance missions on a Pe-2 dive bomber during the defensive phase of the Battle of Moscow. He was specifically tasked with detecting Guderian's panzers approaching the Soviet capital and finding enemy airfields, an assignment made almost impossible by the severe wintry conditions and overwhelming German superiority in the air. On one such mission on 11 November, while flying under the low cloud cover in drizzling rain almost at a treetop level, he discovered a large German panzer formation near Mozhaisk, a town just west of Moscow (and incidentally, in close proximity to the famous Borodino battlefield). To thoroughly determine the strength of the enemy, he made several low passes over the German troops, selflessly disregarding the extremely heavy AAA fire. One of the shells scored a direct hit on his airplane damaging the vertical stabilizer and flight controls. Yatskovskiy nonetheless managed to bring the crippled aircraft back to his home airfield and made a soft landing there, saving the machine and delivering precious reconnaissance information to his command. On another such mission on 20 November, he discovered an enemy airfield hosting as many as 48 Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers and promptly transmitted the information over the radio. Using his reconnaissance data, three waves of Soviet bombers were immediately sent to attack the airfield, destroying close to 30 enemy airplanes on the ground.

Yatskovskiy continued to fly recon sorties on Pe-2 and Pe-3 Bis aircraft through the summer of 1942. By the middle of August, he brought his total of completed combat missions to 35. According to the subsequent award recommendation, Yatskovskiy always insisted on being put on an assignment even in the face of significant enemy fighter presence.

On 27 July, during the early part of the Battle of Stalingrad, his Pe-3 was attacked by two Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters while reconnoitering the enemy crossings over the Don River. Not shirking from the unequal fight, Yatskovskiy and his crew shot down one of the enemy airplanes and chased off the other. The destruction of the German fighter was later confirmed by the Soviet ground troops.

Not only an excellent pilot, Yatskovskiy also proved to be a resourceful innovator. During the first year of his combat service, he came up with a number of technical improvement ideas for his aircraft. One of them, the additional fuel tanks, was widely adopted by his and other units, significantly extending the flight time and range of the Pe-2. This achievement merited a special thank you note form the command of this unit.

Almost incredibly, despite his impressive accomplishments Yatskovskiy had not been recommended for a decoration until 20 August 1942, when his squadron commander submitted a commendation for the Order of the Red Banner. On the following day, the award was jointly approved by the commander and political commissar of the air division but then for unknown reasons downgraded to the Order of the Red Star by the command of the 4th Air Army. It took until 9 September for the decoration to be officially bestowed by a general order of the Transcaucasian Front (award #56038).

By early February 1943, Yatskovskiy had completed 78 combat missions, mostly for reconnaissance. Over 1000 photos of enemy positions and troops he took over that period provided a veritable treasure trove of information to his command. His reconnaissance information directly contributed to numerous successful bombing raids, resulting in the destruction of 27 German motor vehicles, 7 tanks and armored cars, and up to 13 railway cars. On just a single day in October 1943, he overflew an enemy airfield photographing it and detecting over 100 airplanes - obviously, an extremely dangerous and daring mission. On 2 February, he reconnoitered three different airdromes in Novocherkassk, Rostov and Bataysk, finding as many as 83 enemy aircraft. A day later, he was sent on a special assignment by the Command of the North Caucasus Front to photograph the coast of the Sea of Azov all the way from Taganrog to the mouth of the Mius River - the task he accomplished brilliantly despite the area being packed with enemy fighters and antiaircraft artillery. On 4 February, Yatskovskiy was recommended for the Order of Lenin by his regiment commander, Hero of the Soviet Union Bardeev. Nevertheless, the seemingly well-deserved award was again downgraded by the 4th Air Army, this time to the Order of the Red Banner which was bestowed upon Yatskovskiy by a Front decree on 17 February 1943 (#60310).

His next award recommendation, this time for the Order of the Red Banner, came in May 1943. Once again, his 120 combat missions and a wealth of recon data he had delivered seemingly merited the award. Once again, the 4th Air Army command downgraded the decoration, this time to the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st cl. The latter was awarded to Yatskovskiy on 9 May 1943, exactly two years before Victory Day.

The second Red Banner award would have to wait until April 1944. At that point, Yatskovskiy had a firm reputation of the best reconnaissance photographer in his regiment and a staggering record of 156 completed missions, including those flown during the fighting in the North Caucasus, Taman and Crimea. Among his most noteworthy achievements was a flight over Crimea on 11 April when he discovered columns of hundreds of enemy vehicles withdrawing from the Kerch Peninsula and Feodosia towards Sudak - a clear sign that the Germans and their Romanian allies had decided to abandon Crimea. On this occasion, the regiment commander's award recommendation had the desired effect: on 29 April 1944, Guards Sr. Lieut. Yatskovskiy was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner. Note that although this was his second Red Banner award, the decoration he received (serial #109257) was a "plain" award as typically happened during the war. This award was followed by another "plain" Red Banner (#205678), bestowed on 22 February 1945 for flying 240 combat missions from the beginning of the war. Among those were 83 combat sorties he completed since receiving the previous Order of the Red Banner a year earlier, including missions in Poland and East Prussia.

Next month, Yatskovskiy, by then already a Guards Captain and deputy squadron commander, was recommended for the Title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The recommendation enumerated many of his combat feats and achievements in great detail, including specific dates, locations, and enemy targets uncovered or destroyed. The seven-page document - exceptionally long and thorough even for a Hero recommendation - is of course far too long to quote here. It is enough to say that according to the regiment commander, the unit was seven times personally thanked by Stalin for its outstanding achievements, and that a substantial share of this honor belonged to Serafim Yatskovskiy. On 18 August 1945, the courageous pilot was made a Hero of the Soviet Union by a Supreme Soviet decree and received the Gold Star Medal #5414 and accompanying Order of Lenin (#40409).

Yatskovskiy was transferred to the reserves in March 1946 but rejoined the military in 1951 - very likely, due to increased demand for experienced pilots at the time of the Korean War. In 1955, he graduated from the Air Force Academy and later at different times served as a staff officer with the Trans-Baikal and Transcaucasian military district and commanded the intelligence department of an air division. He retired in 1963 having the rank of lieutenant colonel. Serafim Yatskovskiy died of old age in St. Petersburg in 1998, long after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Research Materials: b/w photocopies of the award record card and award commendations for the six WW2 awards mentioned above (including the Order of the Red Banner and the Title of Hero of the Soviet Union); photocopy of the article about the recipient in the official Soviet- era catalog Heroes of the Soviet Union. Additional information about Yatskovskiy is available in numerous Russian-language published sources and websites such as Warheroes.ru.