Russia – Soviet: A ‘For Wounds’ Order of Glory 3rd Class to Reserve Private Nikita Fyodorovich Vertel, 106th Rifle Regiment, 32nd Rifle Division who had been present at the Battle of Stalingrad.
Order of Glory 3rd Class, type 2, variation 2, numbered 733430 with a rotating tool
Condition: Good very fine
Reserve Private Nikita Fyodorovich Vertel was born in the village of Terny in Nedrigailov Oblast in 1899 and served in the Red Army from December 1941 to February 1943, as a Gun crew member in the 106th Rifle Regiment, 32nd Rifle Division. He had seen service in the Defence of Stalingrad, and had been wounded in February 1943, at which time he left the Red Army.
Vertel was to receive a Medal for the Defence of Stalingrad, a Medal for the Victory over Germany and a Medal for 20 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, before belatedly being awarded this Order of Glory in 1967 as a result of the wound he had received in action.
At the time of this award he was a acting as a Security Guard at the ‘Ukraina’ Kolkhoz, Nedrigailov Raion, Sumy Oblast, and living in the village of Terny nearby.
32nd Rifle Division had played a delaying role in the advance on Moscow in October 1941, prior to Vertel joining the unit, it is likely that he was a replacement for one of the many casualties the unit had suffered at this time. Vertel must have served in another unit at the time of Stalingrad, as this Division was not present during the battle, but was at this time fighting with the Kalinin Front
