In the great struggle which the Red Army is waging on all fronts, to ward off the attacks of the White Guards, many cases occur of personal heroism by individual Red Army men and commanders, and also of mass heroism by entire units’cases which often remain unknown, through insufficient attention on the part of Revolutionary War Councils and Political Departments. Yet making such facts public, speaking about the self-sacrifice, staunchness and revolutionary consciousness of the Red Army is not only a duty for us, out of respect to the memory of the fallen heroes and to the merits of those who are still alive, but also an irreplaceable means of building up the morale of the units.
The Revolutionary War Council of the Republic instructs all Revolutionary War Councils and their Political Departments henceforth to take measures to ensure that heroic actions and the names of rank-and-file Red Army men, commanders and commissars who have distinguished themselves in battle, together with the names of outstanding workers in the organisation of supplies to the Red Army, be regularly communicated by the political commissars and army commanders to the Revolutionary War Councils of the armies, so that they may be published both in army orders and in the press.
Revolutionary War Councils must pay the utmost attention to all such cases and award decorations in good time, arranging for the conferment of the Order of the Red Banner and presentation of military gifts [‘Military gifts’ took such forms as watches, binoculars, revolvers and swords of honour.] in as ceremonial way as possible, and publishing all such cases in the organs of the Revolutionary War Councils.
All such cases are to be reported to the Revolutionary War Council of the Republic and its political directorate, so that they may be published throughout the Soviet Republic.
Last updated on: 27.12.2006