History

This Order was established on July 29, 1942 by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. It was named after the military leader Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (1730-1800), who never lost a battle. The name was used to rally Russian soldiers during the Second World War, when it was going badly for the Russian forces.

The II Class medal was awarded to division, corps, and brigade commanders, as well as their chiefs of staff and deputies. It was conferred for organizing a combined arms operation for a decisive attack against the enemy, for breaking through an enemy defense, and the subsequent destruction of the enemy, for conducting defensive operations against an enemy that is encircling, and for conducting a brigade or armored raid deep into the enemy rear area.

Type II, II Class decoration is very similar to Type I, however Type II does not have the ring attached to the top of the gold rayed star, and the construction on the reverse differs. The hold in the center of the reverse has 'spokes' of gold, and the silver screwpost is soldered to the star in the center of the 'spokes.' The screwback plate is 33mm. The Monetny Dvor mark is stamped on the reverse in two lines on the top arm of the star. The serial numbers range from 548 to 2,760.

The obverse Russian inscription translates to: "Alexander Suvorov".

Fakes of the II Class decoration can often be identified by poor rivet work and bad enamelling.