Circular bronze medal with laterally-pierced loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the head and shoulders portrait of a helmeted Czechoslovak soldier holding a rifle, a fur-hatted Russian soldier beyond, both facing right, laurel leaves to either side of the barrel of the rifle, circumscribed above ‘CEST A SLAVA DUKELSKYM HRDINUM’ (Honour and Glory to the Heroes of the Dukla Pass); the reverse with two full-length soldiers shaking hands and walking right to left, circumscribed ‘SE SOVÉTSKYM SVAZEM NA VĚČNÉ ČASY’ (The Soviet Union Forever), indistinctly signed ?‘IB’; on original ribbon. The medal was instituted on 26 June 1959 to be awarded to members of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, whether living, since deceased or killed in action who had taken part in the Battle of Dukla Pass from 8 September to 28 November 1944 in remembrance of the fifteenth anniversary of the battle. Dukla Pass is a strategic route between Poland and Slovakia, some 15 to 20 kilometres long and wide and was heavily fortified and mined by the Germans. Planned to last a week, the campaign to take the Pass took a month and resulted in heavy casualties to both sides, the Soviet Army losing 95,000 dead or wounded, the Germans about 52,000 and the Czechoslovak Army Corps 1,844 dead and 4,700 wounded. The medal was issued not only to acknowledge the bravery and sacrifice of those involved but also to highlight Soviet-Czech links.
