A friend of mine has been contacted by the son of the late Vsevolod Ivanovitch
Korotkevitch CBE, who died in 1939.

He is desperate to find a photo of his father, who died shortly before
he was born.  He's tried all the usual places, PRO, IWM, Army Museum,
MI5 etc., etc., and has been referred to my friend by the Fleet Air Arm Museum
because he knows that there was a connection with Locker Lampson's
armoured cars so wrote to them.
 
He's been in touch with the Moscow archives and got his dad's service
record which shows that he was some kind of engineer and was attached
to the Russian Purchasing Committee in London for part of the war.  He
seems to have been attached to Ironside's Mission in 1919 to Archangel
and may have been recommended for the MC, but never received it.
 
Post war he ran a couple of White Russian bookshops in London, but
seems to have had connections in Paris (including a mistress) and to
have been connected with various White organisations.
 
Now, if anybody can find an image, I am sure that Answerfinder can.

Go on ... Surprise me.

Many thanks!

Bryan

Bryan,

No luck with a photograph, but I?ve found a medical card for a
Osevolodr Ivanovitch Korotkevitch in the National Archives, looks as
if it is the same person. If it is and as your friend had already been
in contact with PRO, I assume he already has it.
A copy can be purchased online. I doubt it has a photograph attached,
but who knows?
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?queryType=1&resultcount=1&Edoc_Id=3448107

answerfinder-ga

Many thanks, Answerfinder, I am pretty sure that Medical Cards don't
include piccies.

But I appreciate your looking.

All the Best

Bryan

Hi A-F

The ref is, in fact, to his Medal Card which for sure will not have a piccy.

Thanks again

Bryan

I'm sorry Bryan, I miss read it. I convinced myself it was medical!
Perhaps I need a medical myself.
answerfinder-ga

Bryan,
I've been thinking about this one. It seems strange that I found no
reference to him in the Times archive, nor the London Gazette, both of
which should had mentioned his name for at least receiving the CBE. It
there any suggestion that he changed his name when he came here?
answerfinder-ga

Hi A/F (or may I call you Bobby?)

Thanks for your continuing interest.

I don't know about changing his name but I guess it's a possibility.
Some of them did opt for a more Anglo-friendly spelling.

If you can dig out anything from this line of enquiry (even if it
fails to produce an image) it would be appreciated.

All the Best

Bryan

Bobby

As the son was born shortly before he died, I guess maybe he didn't
change his name.

Anyway, I've asked the question because even a slight change of
spelling could throw us off track.

ATB
Bryan

Bobby

I've now found the record of his death at the age of 52 in Marylebone
in Apl-Jun 1939 and the spelling gels with the name given above.

ATB
Bryan

Bryan,

I went back to the Times and tried again and managed to find the
following. They were in such small print that they had not been
indexed. I suspect that perhaps the same has happened to the award of
his CBE.

The Times, Thursday, Feb 12, 1931
Court Circular 
United Russian dinner at the Savoy Hotel. Attendees included Colonel V
Korotkevitch.

The Times, Thursday, Dec 12, 1929
Court Circular 
North Russian Expeditionary Force, Annual Service Dinner at Soso?s
Restaurant. Attendees included Colonel V. Korotkevitch.

The Times, Friday, Jul 27, 1928
Service Dinner, The North Russian Expeditionary Force. Attendees
included Colonel V. Korotkevitch.

I?ve looked to see if any archives possess the records of these
associations without any luck. Perhaps this may be a further line of
enquiry for your friend.

answerfinder-ga

Many thanks, Bobby, for your further work.

Please post your comment as an Answer because, if Answerfinder cannot
find an image, then no one can.

ATB

Bryan

Just a thought after following this interesting exchange:
It would not have been unusual to have a photographer around at those dinners.
I expect that you both have seen such photos of other occasions.
Although the organizations can't be found, maybe the Savoy has records
from back then and could suggest photographers that were active at the
time.
Of course, the chance of finding a photo or negative are very slim
(the war, etc.), but maybe they landed in some photo archive  - a
project for the son to pursue.
It would still be even greater luck to find any identification of the
persons, but maybe a CBE would had been prominent in the group  - or
maybe the son is the spitting image of someone in the photo, if it
could be found.

Just a thought.

Bryan,
Thanks, but no thanks, not this time. I feel that I haven't answered
the question. Another time perhaps.
answerfinder-ga

Very nany thanks, Bobby & Myo

Of course, unless participants in a group photo are named it's easy to
miss our man even if present.

I had this prob 3 years ago when I was looking for a photo of James
McGuirk Hughes alias Major P G Taylor (1897-1983). See Question ID:
223841.

Eventually, I managed to track down his granddaughter who kindly
obliged but not in time to include it in my book as I had hoped.
However, it's now on my website and this has since led to his being
identified in another photo.

All the Best

Bryan

Perhaps the following book (published in 2002) does include some
details which could lead to a photo of Korotkevitch.

The White Russian Army in Exile 1920-1941, OUP 2002
http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199250219
or
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0199250219/026-2934957-3260432?v=glance&n=266239

The author:
http://www.hull.ac.uk/pas/paul_robinson.htm

"A sample of this book":
http://www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-925021-9.pdf

Hi Freddy

Very many thanks for your suggestions.

I will pass these on to my friend.

All the Best

Bryan

Bryan,
Different topic. You may be interested in this Radio 4 programme on
Hambledon - the cradle of cricket. It's quite interesting.
You can listen via this page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/opencountry.shtml
answerfinder-ga

Sorry, try the link again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/opencountry.shtml

Wow, many thanks, Bobby

When I saw the first link, I thought that YOU were on the Radio!

All the Best

Bryan