Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class, 1985 issue.

[Adrian Stevenson]

New addition to my collection which I picked up at the weekend. Serial number "1206458".

Cheers, Ade.

[Ciaran Byrne]

How much did you pay for it Adrian? I am intriguied as I have a few of these, bought years ago and was wondering how much they'd be worth.

[Adrian Stevenson]

I bought it from a good friend for a tenner. So that is not a current market price. I have seen them advertised at $75.

Cheers, Ade.

[paddywhack]

i got mine off the estand here for E15 and its a realy low serial number so worth it!

[bnz. 42]

Nice order. I have almost identical - bought on eBay for $40 last year. BTW, why it is always translated to English as Great Patriotic War, while direct translation from Russian would be Great Fatherland's War.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Paul, I never knew that? Thanks for the info! That is strange.

Cheers, Ade.

[Ferdinand]

I have thought about that too - it seems it's just like the Combat Service / Military Merit Medal case. In Dutch and German we have always called it the Great Fatherland's War though.

[desantnik]

Valid question, but this is a case where a little big of knowledge gets you in trouble and results in those "English language bloopers" we've all seen.

Yes, otechestvo is "fatherland" and a straight translation would read "Great Fatherland War", however first, we sometimes bend to accepted convention and second, it sounds stupid in English.

I'm not sure how long English has used "Patriotic War", but there's been the concept of a Patriotic War in Russia since Napoleon's venture in 1812 (the GREAT Patriotic War is the 1941-1945 war) so maybe an English translator along the way initially translated it "Patriotic". Patria from which "patriotic" is derived in Latin is "fatherland" so there's nothing wrong with "Patriotic" either. And it doesn't sound as clumsy as "Great Fatherland War." In Russian there's a "motherland" too, and I won't muddy the waters, but makes it an interesting translation when they use both words in one short text - sounds like the mother and the farther are gettin' it on, patriotically of course.

Amateurs also translate the famous phrase "Workers of the World, Unite!" as "Proletarians of all Countries Conjoin", which is technically correct, but again we bow to accepted convention and try to avoid clumsy phrases.

Don't get me started on the monkeys who butcher other terms...

[Ralph P]

desantnik - Thanks for the good information which at times the translations I have done have been akward which I then need to adjust so it reads correctly.

[bnz. 42]

"Great War of/for Fatherland" - I see nothing "akward" or "stupid" in this translation. Of course it was "patriotic" but the official name of this war and this order in Russia is "Fatherland's".
BTW "Motherland" and "Fatherland" both are equally often used in Russia. "Matherland" just sounds a little bit more patriotic sometimes.