Russian WW2 interesting stats and facts

The military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union, "conferred personally by the Government of the USSR to the prominent and particularly distinguished persons from the Highest commanding staff", was established by a decree of Central Executive Comittee and Council of People's Comissars, September 22, 1935. The first five Marshals were, since November 20, 1935, People's Comissar of Defence Kliment E. Voroshilov, Chief of the (General) Staff of the Red Army Alexander I. Egorov and three commanders of Russian Civil War, namely Vasili K. Blucher, Semen M. Budenny and Mikhail N. Tukhachevski.

Tukhachevski, Blucher and Egorov perished during the mass purges of late 1930s. We should note that Voroshilov and Blucher took part in the Collegium that sentenced Tukhachevski to death. May 7, 1940, the number of Marshals again reached five; big stars in buttonholes were given also to the new People's Comissar of Defence, Semen K. Timoshenko, and to the new Chief of General Staff, Boris M. Shaposhnikov, and also to Grigori I. Kulik.

During WW II the rank of MSU becomes conditioned more by merits than by status. It was usually given to front commanders, individually, for concrete battles (to Zhukov and Vasilevski, for Stalingrad operation; to Govorov, for Carelian operation, etc.) The rank of Marshal was in November 1943 conferred on Joseph Stalin himself. Soon after the war it is held by two Stalin's associates, Lavrenti P. Beria and Nikolai A. Bulganin, who never were military commanders. As for Stalin, he becomes, June 27, 1945, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union. Particular rank badges for Generalissimo were never elaborated, and the Soviet leader wore a jacket with Marshal's shoulder-straps. (For more details, see an illustrated thorough article on "Vasilievski polygon" web site). This rank formally existed until the dissolution of the USSR but was never conferred on anyone but Stalin.

In 1955 Marshal's stars were given to six more well-merited WW II generals: Eremenko, Bagramian, Chuikov and others.

http://marshals.narod.ru/unif2en.html

 

When he was on the verge of taking Berlin Zhukov promised Nikita Khrushchev, who was then Head of the Communist Party of Ukraine, that when he captured Adolf Hitler he would first ship him in a cage to Kiev so that Ukraine could see him before Moscow. However, Hitler's suicide left only the Fuehrer's charred remains to be found by the Soviet Army. The search party, which found Hitler's remains in Berlin, was led by a Ukrainian, Lt. General Ivan Klimenko.

By the end of the first week of Barbarossa, the number of Soviet aircraft lost had reached 4,017, compared with 150 Luftwaffe planes downed. Even Hermann Goering found these figures hard to believe. On June 23, lieutenant general Kopets, commander of the VVS Bomber Group, committed suicide, and General Rychagov, commander of aviation on the north-west front, was sentenced to death for "treasonable activity" (ie, losing). Even so, Hitler wrote to Mussolini, fascinated if not alarmed at the fact that "they [the Russians] fight with truly stupid fanaticism... with the primitive brutality of an animal that sees itself trapped".

http://www.geocities.com/nachthexen588th/JonathanGlanceyInterview.htm

General Ratov stated that "in the Soviet Union we use people," and declined British mine detectors.

http://www.vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/5/1/Lutton84-94.html

Due to the heavy losses in 1941, reorganized units became much smaller than before. Rifle Forces (infantry) reduced their divisional strength from 14,483 to 10,859. Tank Divisions, which possessed some 20,000 armored vehicles, lost about 70% of them at the initial stage of war. Most surviving Tank Divisions were disbanded, and the available tanks and crews were re-assigned to much smaller units like independent tank battalions or tank brigades. It was in 1945, just prior to the end of the conflict, that the Russian Armed Forces recuperated the pre-war level of their strength.

The main strength of the Russian counter-offensive was their tank troops. Following concentrated fire by their artillery units, the tank troops advanced in three groups, and many infantrymen rode on the tanks of the 2nd and 3rd groups. This infantry practice was unique to Russian tactics and was called "Tankoviy Desant" by the Russians. Since the Russian Ground Forces did not possess armored troop carriers like the German halftracks, an infantry battalion called the 'Motor Rifle Unit" was attached to every tank brigade and assigned to close support the tanks. A Motor Rifle Unit consisted of about 500 infantrymen. PPSh-41 or PPS-43 machine guns as support arms.

The standard uniform of the Russian infantrymen during WW2 was a simple blouse called "Gymnastiorka". Early in the conflict, greatcoats and rain capes were often used as wintertime attire. In 1940, a quilted jacket called "Telogreika" was introduced, but not enough quantities were supplied in the beginning

 

I have read lately being mentioned that the Russians were quite good at camouflage and faking the enemy of its troops´doings. This is called "maskirovka".

The first time it was used with succes to my knowledge is Stalingrad and later on in Kursk. I am not sure if they needed the "maskirovka" in larger detail with their later operations as they were so powerful they just needed to gather the troops and attack. With the huge artillery first kicking the **** out of the German soldiers...
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Stalingrad:

Using deceptive tactics, known as Maskirovka, the Soviets managed to place five armies to the north of the city, and two armies to the south. All this without raising too much of a stir at German Headquarters. Only the supposedly useless Roumanians noticed what was brewing, but, there concerns were simply thrown away. When the attack finally came on November 19th, the Germans had realized how careless they had been.

http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Armstrong/ARMSTRONG.asp

Maskirovka is actually a very broad concept that encompasses many English terms. These include: camouflage, concealment, deception, imitation, disinformation, secrecy, security, feints, diversions, and simulation. While terms overlap to a great extent, a complication is that the Russian term is greater than the sum of these English terms. Thus, those in the West should attempt to grasp the entire concept rather than its components. Maskirovka is not a new concept in the USSR. Its roots can be traced to the Russian Imperial Army. Several Soviet authors trace it back to Dmitry Donskoy's placing a portion of his mounted forces in an adjacent forest at the Battle of Kulikovo Field in 1380. Seeing a smaller force than anticipated, the Tatars attacked, only to be suddenly overpowered by the concealed force.

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj88/smith.html

http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/aul/aupress/Wright_Flyers/Text/wf05.pdf

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In Kursk the Russians made several ( some 40 ) dummy air fields that the Germans bombed.The Russians had made even dummy planes everywhere..

As well dummy defence lines which were right in front of the real one. Dummy defence post, dummy soldiers etc You name it. Troops travelling all around the place so the Germans would not know where they are posted.

Germans had some fakes as well. Von Manstein was in Rumania just before the operation Zitadelle started and arrived the day before, I think. As well they had truck going in the opposite direction from the front just before the operation. Too bad the Russians were informed by "Lucy" and the British as well on the operation and its wherabouts...

 

I found the Kursk maskirovka stats from the Cross´ book Kursk:

To deceive German aerial reconnaissance during the build-up, at least forty false airfields were created, complete with dummy aircraft,runways, control towers and blast pens.These were repeatedly bombed by Luftwaffe. Dummy tanks were assembled on both fronts to stimulate armoured assembly areas;on Voronezh front there were 829. special maskirovka units ( if it is the number 829 or the 829th I am not sure as it has the the point after it ) and combat troops were used to give the fake airfields and armoured laagers every appaerance of activity.Along the front lines the defence lines were dotted with false gun positions.And on some sectors the main defence line lay behind a complete dummy defence line in the expectation that the latter would draw heavy enemy fire in the preparatory phase of the battle. Sixth Guards Army sought further to confuse the enemy by building a network of dummy observation posts which were manned by experienced reconnaissance troops.

 

From the Robin Cross book I have been reading lately another one:

"Up to the summer of 1943 Russian infantry formations were expected to manage on their initial ammunition issue ( boekompletky )which lasted about ten days. Little or no thought was given to further supply as it was Red Army practice to let these formations fight themselves into the ground before rebuilding them again from scratch.Thus in a high-intensity battle it was calculated that infantry formations would not last beyond their initial allocation of ammunition."

 

Pictures and medals of Soviet heroes WW2:

http://www.forvalor.com/Soviet.htm

 

The incredible losses of tanks in the 1941 campaigns (USSR lost 6.000 tanks only at the two battles at Minsk and Smolensk), the Russians lost all their western industrial regions with its raw materials. The training of the crews was almost not anything, when drivers and mechanics sometimes only had 1½ - 2 hours of training before they was sent to operational units.

 

Well, later on...

When Lenin died in 1924, Professor Vorobyev had done the embalming. It was a complicated process that resulted in an electric pump being installed inside Lenin's body to maintain a constant humidity.

When Stalin died in 1953, Professor Vorobyev had already passed away. Thus, the job of embalming Stalin went to Professor Vorobyev's assistant, Professor Zharsky. The embalming process took several months.

In November 1953, seven months after Stalin's death, the tomb was reopened. Stalin lay in a coffin, under glass, near the body of Lenin



First Lenin...



The boys are back together..

 

Early 1941 the Russians were thinking of a better T-34, the T-34M. It had better armor, a commander cupola, more room for ammunition.
Anyway, the new engine did not get ready in time and no further delays were allowed for the T-34 production.The war stopped the building of T-34M finally.

But nice details to know that this might have happened in 1941...






http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3120/td.html

 

Thanks for posting that link about the Soviet awards--I might even start collecting them--or some of them. I always liked the Defense Medals anc such.

 

KATYN

In 1992, Moscow suddenly "discovered" the original 1940 execution ordered signed by Stalin and five other Politburo members-- in Gorbachev's private archive.
In October 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin presented a copy of the order along with 41 other documents to the new Polish president, former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. In doing so, he made a point of chiding his arch enemy Gorbachev, with whom he was locked in a bitter domestic political battle. During a 1993 visit to Warsaw's military cemetery, Yeltsin knelt before a Polish priest and kissed the ribbon of a wreath he had placed at the foot of the Katyn cross. 19 In a joint statement with Walesa, he pledged to punish those still alive who had taken part in the massacre and make reparations--a promise that has not been kept. Meanwhile, Soviet and Polish teams were permitted to excavate at Katyn and the other two sites, on a selective basis, where Polish prisoners had been executed. In 1994, a Soviet historian published a book that for the first time called Katyn a "crime against humanity."

On 5 March 1940, Stalin signed their death warrant--an NKVD order condemning 21,857 prisoners to "the supreme penalty: shooting." They had been condemned as "hardened and uncompromising enemies of Soviet authority."

Actually quite odd. Stalin did not sign usually meaningful papers in order to make sure he could always blame the person who did-like Molotov with the Ribbentrop deal...

Those who died at Katyn included an admiral, two generals, 24 colonels, 79 lieutenant colonels, 258 majors, 654 captains, 17 naval captains, 3,420 NCOs, seven chaplains, three landowners, a prince, 43 officials, 85 privates, and 131 refugees. Also among the dead were 20 university professors; 300 physicians; several hundred lawyers, engineers, and teachers; and more than 100 writers and journalists as well as about 200 pilots. 7 It was their social status that landed them in front of NKVD execution squads. Most of the victims were reservists who had been mobilized when Germany invaded. In all, the NKVD eliminated almost half the Polish officer corps--part of Stalin's long-range effort to prevent the resurgence of an independent Poland.

http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/winter99-00/art6.html
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I read somewhere on NKVD that it was planned that the Finnish officers etc( next country...) would have also ended up in Katyn.



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I doubt this a little. AFAIK, it was a common procedure that Stalin either signed documents (to approve them or make them "valid") or paraphased them as "being read" (but not necessarily approved).

I think this, along with pass-through-stamps, distribution lists etc. is the usual bureaucracy
procedure in any administration and there are many documents either signed or paraphrased by Stalin.

Cheers,

 

The Stalin signature for comparison?!

"Churchill delivered some unwelcome news in August 1942 . He told Stalin that Western military planners had concluded that an Anglo-American invasion of Europe that year was military folly."

Actually I probably am wrong about that. It seems that at least for Russian orders he signed the whole lot of papers. Wonder how I remembered it that way? Thanx Andy!

 

Ok, German fact:

The attack on Kursk was to have been followed by a German offensive in the north, code-named Operation Parkplatz, which was intended to take Leningrad by storm.Given the extraordinary losses suffered by the 6th Army at Stalingrad,it is astonishing that Hitler still had any appetite for warfare in built-up areas. Nine divisions were earmarked to join AGN for the assault, although Field Marshal von Kuchler signalled that he had enough siege artillery in place and would not require more.The failure at Kursk led to the cancellation of the operation.

From Ostfront
By Charles Winchester, 2000 Osprey Publishing Ltd

[ 09. January 2003, 06:08 AM: Message edited by: Kai-Petri ]

 

Generalissimo rank has been used in whole Russian/Soviet history only twice. First it was used before Bolshevik's regime and archieved by Alexander Suvorov, Prince Braunshveigs and Alexaned Menshikov. Then it was accepted again from June 26, 1945, and achieved by Josef Stalin.

On Red Army Ranks:

http://www.battlefield.ru/library/bookshelf/stats/stat2.html

The next excerpt is one story on how Stalin got named Generalissimo.

There is a very interesting story (factual) as told in a book by Marshall Konev, regarding a meeting of the CPSU Politburo where the question of awarding the title Generalissimo to Stalin was discussed (as quoted from the latest book by the well-known and respected Soviet writer Constantin Simonov, titled "With Eyes of My Generation, Reflections on J.V. Stalin"):

"Present were Zhukov, Vasilevski, I and Rokossovski...

"Stalin had interrupted us on several occasions and finally said, "Sit down please, then began talking about himself in the third person:

"You want to award the title of Generalissimo to Comrade Stalin. Why is this so necessary for Comrade Stalin? Comrade Stalin does not need it, Comrade Stalin possesses authority without the title. It is you who need the titles for authority. Stalin does not need any titles for his authority. See, they found a title for Comrade Stalin... Generalissimo! Chiang Kai Shek is also a Generalissimo. Franco is a Generalissimo. Without elaborating, it is real pleasant company for me, Comrade Stalin?? You are all Marshals; I, too am a Marshall. Do you now want to remove me from the ranks of Marshal? Into some sort of Generalissimo? What on earth is that title? Translate it for me.

"It became necessary for us Marshals to bring in several historical books and statutes to explain that this would be only the fourth time in the history of the Russian Army, after Menshikov and one other and Suvorov. In the end he agreed, just to get rid of us."

Stalin always stated (never getting tired of repeating it) "We are all disciples of Lenin."

http://www.northstarcompass.org/nsc0003/shenin.htm

 

Talking about a big ego:



This statue of Stalin, which stood at the mouth of the Volga-Don Canal, was so large, that three taxis would have fit in his hat.

Founded as Tsaritsyn in 1589, it was long an important strategic post on the Volga. Once things named after tsars went out of fashion after the Bolshevik revolution, it was renamed Stalingrad in 1925 by Stalin himself. Once things named after Stalin went out of fashion during Khrushchev's time, it was renamed Volgograd, this in 1961.

By the way, in 1918 Stalin fought in Tsaritsyn so actually the area was familiar to him in WW2 battle´s time in 1942-43.

 

And now it may be renamed back to Stalingrad:


"Russia's veterans battle to bring back glorious name of Stalingrad
Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
Sunday December 1, 2002
The Observer

It was the scene of the greatest battle of the Second World War, where the Nazi war machine began to crumble and at least two million men lost their lives. The jewel of the Soviet industrial empire, to which Hitler laid siege in 1942, it has been immortalised in epic books, movies, and a square in Paris. And now the town of Volgograd, still considered a monument to Russian bravery and sacrifice, wants again to be named after the dictator Josef Stalin.

The town may revert to its Soviet-era name of Stalingrad, following a request to Russian President Vladimir Putin from the local Parliament and hundreds of thousands of war veterans.

The campaigners want Russia to have a referendum to decide the issue before the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Stalingrad siege, on 3 February 2003. A change would give the town, which was defended by the Soviet Army to the cost of 1.3 million soldiers, its fourth name in a century.

'The glory of Stalingrad belongs to all Russia,' said Vladimir Andropov, vice-chairman of the Volgograd regional assembly.

'We want to get back the name for the sixtieth anniversary of the great battle ending, as an act of respect to the memory of millions who died in the fight against Nazism. Stalingrad is a world symbol of the victory of mankind over the Nazis, and we want to immortalise their heroic deeds, not the memory of Stalin.'

The Volgograd Parliament will vote on 26 December to send a formal request to the Russian State Duma, or Parliament, and to the Kremlin, for the name change.

Volgograd was originally called Tsaritsyn, after the Tsarina, Catherine the Great. During the civil war in 1918 that followed the Bolshevik revolution, Stalin helped secure victory in a key battle between the Communist Red Army and the tsarist White Army. The town was renamed in Stalin's honour, and rebuilt to house a massive tractor factory, and important parts of Russia's industrial complex. Hitler decided the city was vital in his attempts to shatter the Soviet military machine, and decided to lay siege in September 1942.

German General Friedrich Paulus began a major offensive to capture the whole town on 14 October. Yet the Russians were too well dug in and the Germans were caught up in nightmarish urban warfare.

Stalin seized his chance, and his forces broke through the poorly defended German flanks, and encircled the quarter-million-strong Sixth German Army. The German soldiers were forced to eat the corpses of their horses, and their morale and numbers were eroded. Despite Hitler forbidding Paulus to surrender, the general and his last troops gave themselves up on 3 February 1943. More than 90,000 German troops were taken prisoner. Only 7,000 made it back to Germany after the war.

It was the worst loss of life in one battle of the war, and the turning point for the Nazis. The Soviet Army then marched on to Berlin.

The move to rename Volgograd comes at a time of increasing nostalgia for the 'great' times past of the Soviet Union. The fiftieth anniversary of Stalin's death is on 5 March next year.

Professor Yuri Zhukov, a history professor specialising in Stalin's rule, said: 'The world knows Stalingrad as the place from where the Nazi military machine began to crumble. But few people in the world know what 'Volgograd' is.

'Russians are disappointed by life today and their hopes for the future, so they begin to look more to the past for reassurance.'

War veterans want the change to commemorate their fallen comrades. Yuri Nekrasov, chairman of the Regional War Veteran's Committee, said: 'This is not about Stalin, but about a town entered in world history as Stalingrad.'

During the 'de-Stalinisation' after Stalin's death, the town was named Volgograd, as Russia tried to forget the horrors of Stalin's terror.

The names of many Russian towns have changed as the tide of adulation for fallen leaders has receded.

During the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, Leningrad was renamed St Petersburg, and Gorki, named after the Soviet sycophant writer, was renamed Nizhni Novgorod."

 

The possible name change wouldnt bother me a bit--Vogograd to stalingrad. I think the Russian vets deserve to get something their way and besides--Vogograds name just aint attractive-sounding.

I hope that St Petersburg always will remain St Petersburg, as well as the Krimean Penninsula remains the same name--along with Balaklava and other historical names remain the same.

Believe it or not--I actually have an interest in other wars too

 

Russian paratroopers:

http://www.desant.ru/history/history-eng.html

History of the Russian Parachute Troops started the 2nd August 1930. Sub-unit of 12 paratroopers was parachuted during the military exercise of the Air Force of Moscow military district in Voroneg. This experiment revealed the perspective of the advantage of the parachute troops, their great possibilities, connecting with quick flanking movement of the enemy by air.

Revolutionary Council of War of the Red Army has set one of the tasks: "parachute operations must be studied both technical and tactical side by Headquarters of RCWRA with the object of elaboration and sending instructions in the provinces." There was paid attention to a deep study of the organization structure and theory of military application of the parachute troops.

The first sub-unit of the RPT became the air-motor-parachute element of 164 man, which has formed in 1931 in Leningrad military district. M.Lukin was named for the commander of the element. The resolution of RCW of URSS was at the origin of the beginning of the elaboration of the RPT which was approved the 11th December 1932. In that resolution there was pointed that the development of the air material and the results achieved in construction and parachuting paratroopers, stores and military cars need to organize a new military units and brigades of RCW.


With the object of the development of the parachute troops of the RCWRA, preparing cadre and sub-units, Revolutionary Council passed the resolution to organize a brigade on the basis of the sub-unit of the RPT of the Leningrad military district, laying on it the teaching of the instructors of the parachute training and giving a work-out to operational-strategically norms. At the same time it was planned to form one sub-unit in Byelorussian, Ukrainian, Moscow and Volga military districts. It was a new stage in developing of the RPT. Air battalions of special destination were formed in the beginning of the 1933. Five parachute corps of strength of 10 000 soldiers each of them were remained in summer of the 1941. Fighting way of the RPT is marked by many memorable dates. The 212th parachute brigade (commander - Lieutenant-colonel Zatevahine) participated in military conflict in Holhin-Gall. During the soviet-finnish war (1939-1940) 201st, 204th and 214th parachute brigades fought with infantry elements. Paratroopers made raids in the rear of enemy, attacked the headquarters, garrisons, centres of intercommunications, braked the direction of troops, stroked against strong points

During the Great Patriotic War.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War all five parachute corps participated in bitter actions in the territory of the Latvia, the Belorussia, the Ukraine. Vyazmas' parachute operation was made with landing of the 4th military corps (commander - General-major Levashov) for helping the troops of the South and Kaliningrad fronts in encirclement and crushing defeat of Vyazma-Rgev-Youx deutsh distribution of forces in the beginning of the 1942 during the counter-offensive near Moscow. That was the biggest action of the RPT in the war. 10 000 paratroopers were parachuted out in the rear of the enemy. Troops of parachute corps with coordination with cavalryman of General Belov breaking through the enemy's defense line in the rear, executed the operations till June 1942. Paratroopers operated boldly, daring and exclusively insistently. Almost for 6 months paratroopers went in the rear of German-fascist troops 600 km., wiped out the enemy's forces in strength of 15 000 solders and officers.


On the summer 1942 there was a very difficult tactical situation near Stalingrad, which required good prepared, strategical reserves. Because of that the General Headquarter passed the resolution to reform 10 parachute corps in infantry battalions and sent them for defense positions of town. Good prepared, strategical reserves were needed there. Because of that, the General Headquarters passed the resolution to reform 10 parachute corps in infantry battalions and sent them for defense positions of town. Paratroopers didn't put to shame their honor. In future the units and sub-units of the RPT was marked by the General Headquarter for it's feat of arms.


The Great Patriotic War was finished for the RPT in August 1945, when more than 4000 soldiers paralyzed the actions of Japanese Army after landing in airports of Harbin, Girin, Port-Arthur and South of Sakhalin.


Military service of paratroopers during the war was appreciated at its true value. All parachute troops received the rank of Guards'. Thousands of soldiers, sergeants and officers of the RPT were decorated by orders and medals and 296 paratroopers were awarded a rank of the "Hero or the Soviet Union".

 

LOL! Please keep me updated, in the moment Volgograd is renamed back to Stalingrad I'll go out and rename the mean street in any German town back to "Adolf-Hitler-Strasse" and Chemnitz back to "Karl-Marx-Stadt"

Vive la restauration!
Death to all counter-revolutionaries!

Cheers,