Russia – Soviet: An Opava River Crossing Order of the Red Star awarded to him as a Junior Sergeant Mikhail Iosifovich Grishin, the Commander of an Artillery Piece of the 59th Artillery Regiment, 30th Rifle Division, for swimming across the river with a ca

Russia – Soviet: An Opava River Crossing Order of the Red Star awarded to him as a Junior Sergeant Mikhail Iosifovich Grishin, the Commander of an Artillery Piece of the 59^th Artillery Regiment, 30^th Rifle Division, for swimming across the river with a cable reel on his shoulders, the resulting communications leading to the suppression of 2 enemy machine-gun positions which had been impeding attempts to expand the bridgehead.

Order of the Red Star, type 6, numbered 2585855

Condition: Nearly extremely fine

Mikhail Iosifovich Grishin was born in the city of Dzerzhinsk, Stalino Oblast in 1903. Having attained an elementary education, Grishin served in the Red Army from February 1943 until August 1945.

Receiving two awards, the first of which was a Medal for Courage by order of the 59^th Artillery Regiment on September 1944 and the second and final, being this award of the Order of the Red Star, awarded to him as a Junior Sergeant, whilst serving as a Commander of an artillery piece of the 59^th Artillery Regiment, 30^th Rifle Division, 38^th Army. The award was as a result of the following recommendation:

‘During the crossing of the Opava River on April 20, 1945, comrade Grishin swam across the river, alongside the infantry, with a cable reel on his shoulders. He established communications with one of the companies, as a result of which the battery was able to suppress 2 enemy machine-gun positions, which had been impeding attempts to expand the bridgehead. This enabled our infantry to gain a foothold on the opposite river bank.

He deserves the Order of the Red Star.’

Signed by Commander of the 59^th Carpathian Red Banner Rifle Regiment, Guards Colonel Shmatkov.

Grishin had been wounded twice, the first time on 3^rd May 1943 in the fighting in the Rostov area, and the second on 29^th December 1943, when the Division was fighting in the Ukraine.

At the end of the war, Grishin was working as a Senior instructor at the Military Commissariat of the city of Novgorod, Novgorod Oblast, and subsequently as a winder operator at the Dzherzhinsky Mine, city of Dzerzhinsk, Stalino Oblast