RUSSIAN "BATTLE FOR BERLIN" FLAG.

RUSSIAN "BATTLE FOR BERLIN" FLAG.
Acquired in September 7th 1945.
Hand-made Russian Battle Flag, in coarse red linen. 820 x 1230 mm. Each face with white linen hand-stitched star with hammer and sickle device below, at upper hoist. Light wear and staining, hoist discolored, the hammer and sickle stitching worn.
Provenance: Captain Crispan? With a postcard attached to the flag, written in ink, "Russian Battle Flag 1st October 1945. Berlin flag traded for rations on 7th September 1945 at the allies parade from a group of Russian soldiers in the parade, Please take great care of this until my return Capt Crispan".

A fine home-made Russian flag carried by Russian forces into the Battle for Berlin in April/May 1945. The Russian forces had very few officially made flags, and those that survive are generally made up by soldiers themselves or by Russian rural populations as they advanced through Russia. The city of Berlin had been divided into the 4 zones of occupation in July of 1945, making it difficult for soldiers of the Allied nations to go into Russian sector. The Soviet Union proposed and organized the September 7th Parade in the area around the ruins of Reichstag building and the Brandenburg Gate. About 5000 troops from USSR, USA, UK and France took part, with a massed march pass of infantry, tanks and armor. It is often referred to as "The forgotten Parade" as there was little recognition of the parade in the west, both Eisenhower and Montgomery refused to attend, sending Patton and Robertson in their stead. This might have been one of the few times that the English garrison in Berlin would have had the opportunity to fraternize with the Russian occupying forces.