Medal "For the victory over Japan" - an award to those who won

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

As we all know from history, during the Second World War, after the victory over the army of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Army went to the Far East, where it took an active part in the war against the troops of militaristic Japan. To reward the soldiers and officers who took part in these hostilities, after the end of the war, the medal “For the Victory over Japan” we are now considering was established.

A bit of history

Even at the conference in Y alta, the allies agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war with Japan no later than three full months after the defeat of Germany. On August 8, 1945, the USSR, fulfilling its obligations, began this war. The Kwantung army was quite powerful, the number of Japanese troops was equal to one million 200 thousand people. The Soviet armed forces defeated these elite units in 22 days. On September 2, a historic act was signed onsurrender of the Land of the Rising Sun. The medal "For the victory over Japan" was established on September 30, 1945 by the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. In December, they approved the position and, of course, the description of the medal; on February 5, 1951, they were supplemented. Approximately one million 800 thousand people received this award for the victory over Japan.

Description of the medal

On the photos posted in the article, you can see its appearance. And now a little about the medal itself. It was developed by the artist M. L. Lukina. Made of brass material, diameter – 32 mm. This award is presented to all participants in the hostilities in the Pacific Ocean, Transbaikalia and the Far East. In terms of its status, it is very similar to the medal “For the Victory over Germany”, the same with the appearance. On one side of both awards, a portrait of Stalin is depicted. The difference is that in the German one it faces west, while in the Japanese east. On the reverse, ours has the date "September 3, 1945" and a five-pointed star. The upper part of the medal has a small eye, which connects it with a ring to a metal pentagonal block. The block, in turn, is covered with a ribbon. On its reverse side there is a device, intended for attaching the medal itself to clothing. A few words about the ribbon. It is moire, silk, 24 mm wide. A wide red stripe runs in the middle of the ribbon, on both sides of it - one narrow red and white strip. A narrow yellow strip is the border of the ribbon.

Details on who was awarded the medal "For the victory over Japan"

In accordance with the Regulations on the medal and the procedure for its presentation, it was awarded to:

• all servicemen and civilians of formations and units of the Soviet Army, Navy and NKVD troops who took a direct part from August 9 to 23 in the hostilities against imperialist Japan;
• servicemen of the Central Administration of the NPO, the NKVD and the NKVMF, who ensured the military operations of the troops of the Soviet Union in the Far East (the heads of the Main Directorates approved personal lists for this).

Our medal was presented:

2. Based on the orders of the heads of departments and unit commanders with references or lists attached. Then the order for the award was given.
3. To those military personnel who took any part in the hostilities in the Far East, who dropped out of institutions and formations, military units, on the basis of certificates from these units. If the certificates were not issued, then the awards were issued on the basis of documents that confirm service in the relevant units from August 9 to 23.
4. The same with the military personnel who worked in support of hostilities. They received awards according to personal lists or certificates issued by the Main Directorates with the signatures of their superiors.

Who presented the medal?

The following persons presented the medal “For the victory over Japan”:

1. To those who were serving in the army at that time - commanders of formations, units and heads of institutions.
2. To those who left the fleet andarmy, - military commissariats, district, regional, city and regional at the place of residence of the awarded.

When a person awarded a medal dies, the award and certificate to it remain with his family as a memory. How is this award worn? On the left side of the chest. In the event that the recipient has other medals of the USSR, then it is located immediately after the anniversary government award “Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War”.

Which day is considered Victory over Japan Day?

In this final episode of World War II, the first use of nuclear weapons was by the United States of America. On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped from an airplane on Hiroshima. The Soviet Union entered the war two days later. Thanks to the experience of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Army advanced very successfully towards Japan. On August 14, negotiations began on a truce, and on August 20, the army of the Land of the Rising Sun capitulated. Even the Soviet troops carried out two operations - the Kuril landing operation and the South Sakhalin land operation. Mamoru Shigemitsu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the General Staff, on board the battleship Missouri on September 2, signed the act of surrender. Douglas MacArthur, a US army general, Bruce Fraser, a British admiral, Kuzma Derevianko, a general from the Soviet Union, and Chester Nimitz, another American admiral, accepted the surrender from the allied forces. That is, Victory Day over Japan - the third of September 1945, following aftersigning the act. This ended one of the bloodiest wars in human history.

Conclusion

Soldiers who were awarded the medal "For the Victory over Japan" we are considering, subsequently received other awards: for example, commemorative medals that were issued for the twentieth and thirtieth anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. Time passes, habits change, outlook on life changes. Now you can easily purchase awards of the USSR. In wartime, soldiers and officers risked their lives for our bright future, died for the Victory, in peacetime they worked hard for the good of their Motherland, for which they received well-deserved awards from the state, and often posthumously. And in our time, anyone can pay a certain amount to buy them. Take, for example, the medal "For the victory over Japan." Its price on some sites is only 700-750 rubles. Although its value is sometimes a person's life. Therefore, it is unacceptable when original awards are sold. The only exception is collecting.