Ural-Lvov Tank Division of the Black Knives. Black knife - the legendary weapon of the Soviet tank driver
On March 11, one of the most famous formations of the Russian Armed Forces, the 10th Guards Tank Ural-Lvov Order, celebrated its 70th anniversary October revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov volunteer division named after Marshal Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky. But even after so many years, few Urals know that the famous unit - the 10th UDTK - had another name, German. It sounded like this: Schwarzmesser Panzer–Division or “Black Knife Division.” This is because the UDTK tankers, from privates to commanders, owned special knives.
History has conveyed fragmentary characteristics that German soldiers gave to the UDTK fighters: “The Ural devils appeared before us again. We know them too well from previous battles, they... are persistent and fight even when seriously wounded,” wrote Wehrmacht soldier G. Berg in personal notes.
The idea of creating the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps appeared in 1942, during the battles for Stalingrad. At the beginning of 1943, the Ural Worker newspaper published an article “Tank Corps Above Plan”: in the material, tank manufacturers promised to deduct part of their salaries to equip the tank corps with weapons and uniforms. And so it happened: everything, right down to the buttons, was bought with “working money.”
115 thousand people applied for service in the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps - residents of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Molotov (Perm) regions. In reality, 9,660 people from this number of volunteers were recruited to serve in the UDTK.
March 11, 1943 People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin gave the volunteer tank formation the name of the 10th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. On June 1, 1943, at noon, on Okulov Square (now the Ural Volunteers Square) a send-off to the front took place. However, by order People's Commissar Defense on March 11, 1943, it was given a different name - the 30th Ural Volunteer tank corps.
During the war years, the tank unit became famous and reached Berlin and Prague. In the fall of 1945, UDTK received the title of the 10th Guards Red Banner Ural-Lvov Tank Division, the Orders of the October Revolution, Suvorov and Kutuzov, as well as the name of Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky. 38 guardsmen of the UDTK became Heroes of the Soviet Union, another 27 soldiers and sergeants became full holders of the Order of Glory, III degree.
According to the official website of UDTK (www.uldiv.ru), during the war years UDTK took part in the following combat operations:
July 27 – August 29, 1943: Oryol operation;
March 4 – April 18, 1944: Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation;
July 14 – August 12, 1944: Lviv-Sandomierz operation;
January 12 – 31, 1945: Vistula-Oder operation;
February 8 – 22, 1945: Lower Silesian operation;
March 8 – 31, 1945: Upper Silesian operation;
April 16 – May 2, 1945: Berlin operation;
May 6 – 9, 1945: Prague operation
Distinctive feature equipment personnel UDTK were army knives. They were made for every tanker - from private to general. It was the so-called “Army knife of the 1940 model” - NR-40, NA-40 produced by the Zlatoust Tool Factory. The infantry was equipped with steel breastplates CH-42 (prototypes of modern body armor).
Here's what Wikipedia says about this: In 1943, the entire staff of the UDTK, equipped with weapons and equipment made with contributions from the workers of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Molotov (Perm) regions, were given “Finnish-type knives” with a black handle as a gift for their fellow countrymen made of ebonite, scabbard and metal parts device. However, German intelligence officers immediately drew attention to the non-standard edged weapons of tankers, and UDTK began to be called “Schwarzmesser Panzer-Division” - “Black Knives Division”. Such black knives were once on display at regional and school exhibitions. local history museums, and even sung in songs. Moreover, in a peaceful adaptation of “military legends”, black knives were given “super properties” - unique strength and sharpness.
Oath of soldiers, commanders and political workers of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps.
“People of the Urals, our dear ones! You entrust us, your sons, with protection Soviet Motherland, freedom and independence of the Fatherland.
Forged for centuries military glory Ural. IN Battle of Poltava Our brave ancestors followed Peter. They crossed the inaccessible Alps with Suvorov. The banners of the Yekaterinburg and Perm regiments fluttered on the battlefields with Napoleon. Without sparing their blood and lives, our fathers defended the young Soviet power. Persistent, faithful sons The Urals showed themselves to be their fatherland during the days of the mortal battle with the German invaders. And now, at the decisive moment of the Great Patriotic War against the strongest and most insidious enemy, the gray Ural again blesses its sons - volunteers for feats of arms.
Comrades from the Urals! You entrusted us with terrible stories combat vehicles on the enemy. You created them without getting enough sleep at night, straining your sowing field and your strength. In the armor of our tanks, in our guns and machine guns is your thought and energy, your indomitable hatred of child killers, your all-conquering passion and confidence in victory. In factories, factories and collective farms, we, like a banner, carried the labor oath of the Urals people. Now, being in the ranks of the Red Army, we pronounce the words of the battle oath of allegiance to the Motherland.
We swear!
Be a model military discipline. It is sacred to maintain order and organization. To master combat equipment perfectly. We will not flinch in the battles for our holy land. We will not spare blood and life itself for the sake of the freedom and happiness of our people, for the complete liberation of our native land from the invaders.
We swear!
To take revenge on the enemy for destroyed cities and villages, factories and collective farms, for torture and tears of old people and children, sisters and mothers. We will not forget anything, we will not forgive anything to the fascist barbarians.
We swear!
In decisive battles with the hated enemy, to be in the first ranks of the defenders of the Motherland, we will not disgrace the centuries-old glory of the Urals. We will carry out your order and return to native Ural only with Victory."
The corps took its first battle on July 27, 1943 in the second phase Battle of Kursk as part of the 4th tank army, and three months later, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 306 dated October 26, 1943, the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps was transformed into the 10th Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. On November 18, 1943, its units and formations were solemnly presented with Guards banners.
The first Hero of the Soviet Union was the tank commander of the 61st Guards Sverdlovsk tank brigade– Grigory Sergeevich Chesak, who knocked out three “tigers” in one battle. On the approaches to Kamenetsk-Podolsk, miracles of heroism were again shown by the soldiers of the brigade, when at top speed, with headlights on, firing from cannons and machine guns, they burst into the village of Zinkovtsy. The stunned enemy fled in disarray, leaving behind their equipment and weapons.
In 1944, the building was awarded the honorary name “Lvovsky”. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov II degree, the Order of Kutuzov II degree.
In the battles for Berlin, the corps commander, Lieutenant General tank troops HER. Belov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the commander of the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade, Colonel M.G. Fomichev, became twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
Here, in May 1945, the Prime Minister of the allied France, Jolio Eliot, and his wife were liberated from a concentration camp by tank guardsmen.
During the Prague operation, the T-34-85 tank No. 24 was the first to enter Prague on May 9, 1945, under the command of Guard Lieutenant I. G. Goncharenko. In the battle for the Manesov Bridge across the Vltava, Goncharenko’s tank was knocked out, and Goncharenko himself was killed. In memory of this, a monument with the IS-2M was erected in the capital of Czechoslovakia, which was dismantled from its pedestal during the “Velvet Revolution” in the late 1980s.
During the two years of participation in the Great Patriotic War, the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps traveled from Orel to Prague over 5,500 kilometers, of which 2,000 kilometers were in battle.
The corps liberated hundreds of cities and thousands of settlements, rescued tens of thousands of people from Hitler’s slavery. 1,220 tanks and self-propelled units, 1,100 guns of various calibers, 2,100 armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 15,211 vehicles, 589 flamethrowers, 94,620 soldiers and enemies were destroyed, 44,752 Nazis were captured.
Outstanding masters tank battle 12 corps guards showed themselves, destroying 20 or more enemy combat vehicles.
For excellent fighting, heroism, courage and courage of the Ural volunteers, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief 27 times declared gratitude to the corps and its units. The soldiers of the corps were awarded 42,368 orders and medals, 27 soldiers and sergeants became full holders of the Order of Glory. 38 guardsmen of the corps were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. There are 15 corps units on the banners - 54 orders.
In memory of the feat of arms of the Ural tankers, monuments were erected in Berlin, Prague and Steinau (Poland), in Lvov and Kamenetsk-Podolsk, in Sverdlovsk and Perm, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Tagil, other small towns of the Urals and in many settlements that were liberated by volunteers. The Yekaterinburg motorcycle club “Black Knives” is named in honor of the 10th Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. The names and military exploits of volunteer tankers who died in battles are inscribed in golden letters in the Russian State, immortalized on obelisks and steles of settlements in the Urals.
The military glory of the corps that ended the war in Prague, since the fall of 1945, was inherited by the soldiers of the 10th Guards Ural-Lvov, Order of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov volunteer tank division, which was stationed in East Germany, in the city of Altengrabov, located near their homeland Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
Continuing the glorious combat traditions of older generations, the personnel of the division achieved that for many years it was considered the best unit of the Group Soviet troops in Germany. For high results in combat training, the division was named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. on June 16, 1967. Malinovsky, and on February 21, 1978 she was awarded the Order of the October Revolution.
In 1994, according to the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, the 10th tank division was the last to leave the territory of Germany and relocated to the city of Boguchary Voronezh region. This movement, unprecedented on a peacetime scale, was carried out in combined marches between November 1993 and July 1994.
Residents of the small provincial town of Boguchary, according to legend founded by Peter the Great, for the first time in its history became participants in a large-scale event. They were shocked and enchanted by the majesty of the solemn ceremony of welcoming the arriving units, their first parade on native land, the culmination of which was the loud performance of the song by the entire division with the wonderful words: “Farewell, Germany, goodbye, we part as friends... Meet us, Motherland, meet us, beautiful Boguchar region...”. The holiday ended with a big concert by the song and dance ensemble of the Moscow Military District.
And during the last parade Russian troops in Berlin in 1994, which was attended by Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the personnel of the formation became participants in an organized direct teleconference between Boguchary and Berlin.
Begins new period in its history: in the mid-1990s. its structure has changed somewhat - instead of three tank and one motorized rifle regiments, the basis of the division began to be two tank and two motorized rifle regiment. The arrangement of units and fleets of combat vehicles took place at an accelerated pace, and combat training of personnel was established. Beautiful military and residential camps were built.
During its short period of being part of the Moscow Military District, the division showed itself to be a combat-ready unit, ready to complete any assigned task.
Every year, units of the division are visited by its veterans who now live in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Rostov, and Stavropol. Since 1989, Lyubov Arkhipovna Ivanova has served as chairman of the unit’s Veterans Council, and Yakov Moiseevich Lifshits, who was a lecturer in the political department of the corps during the war years, served as secretary; his son headed the Russian Ministry of Finance in the 90s.
Many residents of the Stavropol region different years served in the 10th Panzer, and just before its withdrawal from Germany, at the beginning of 1994, as first deputy head of administration Stavropol Territory Pyotr Marchenko presented a large group of warrant officers with the keys to new apartments in Stavropol, including the author of these lines.
Unfortunately, the ongoing reform of the Armed Forces did not bypass the famous tank division. And if in 1997-98, thanks to the active intervention of corps veterans, it was possible to defend it for a while, then on December 1, 2009, the formation was reorganized into a base for the repair and storage of weapons and equipment. The Battle Banner was handed over to the Central Military Commission of the Russian Federation, and the historical record was handed over to the archives of the Russian Armed Forces. The Museum of Military Glory was transferred to the balance of the Veterans Council in Yekaterinburg.
But veterans do not lose hope that, as a preservation in Russian army continuity of the names of the most famous formations and units, the only volunteer formation in today's Russia will be restored.
We would like to add that by the Decree of the Governor Sverdlovsk region dated July 27, 2012 No. 570, the date March 11 was established as the day of celebration of the Day of National Feat for the formation of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps during the Great Patriotic War. Today in Yekaterinburg, a solemn flower-laying ceremony is taking place at the monument to UDTK soldiers. Governor Evgeny Kuyvashev and Ural Plenipotentiary Igor Kholmanskikh take part in it, along with war veterans and UDTK. Let us note that the UDTK veterans from Perm were congratulated by the Governor of the Perm Territory, Viktor Basargin.
“front anthem” of the “Black Knives”:
The fascists whisper to each other in fear,
Hiding in the darkness of the dugouts:
Tankers appeared from the Urals -
Black Knife Division.
Squads of selfless fighters,
Nothing can kill their courage.
How the machine gunners will jump from the armor,
You can't take them with any fire.
Volunteers cannot be crushed by an avalanche,
After all, everyone has a black knife.
Huge masses of Ural tanks are rushing,
Making the enemy's power tremble,
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards
Our Ural steel black knife!
We will write to the gray Ural:
"Be sure of their sons,
It was not for nothing that they gave us daggers,
So that the fascists would be afraid of them.”
We will write: “We fight as we should,
And the Ural gift is good!”
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards.
Our Ural steel black knife!
On March 11, one of the most famous formations of the Russian Armed Forces celebrated its 70th anniversary - the 10th Guards Tank Ural-Lvov, Order of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov volunteer division named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky. But even after so many years, few Urals know that the famous unit - the 10th UDTK - had another name, German. It sounded like this: Schwarzmesser Panzer-Division or “Black Knife Division”. This is because UDTK tankers - from privates to commanders - owned special knives.
History has conveyed fragmentary characteristics that German soldiers gave to the UDTK fighters: “The Ural devils appeared before us again. We know them too well from previous battles, they... are persistent and fight even when seriously wounded,” Wehrmacht soldier G. Berg wrote in personal notes.
The idea of creating the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps appeared in 1942, during the battles for Stalingrad. At the beginning of 1943, the Ural Worker newspaper published an article “Tank Corps Above Plan”: in the material, tank manufacturers promised to deduct part of their salaries to equip the tank corps with weapons and uniforms. And so it happened: everything, right down to the buttons, was bought with “working money.”
115 thousand people - residents of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Molotov (Perm) regions - applied for service in the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. In reality, 9,660 people from this number of volunteers were recruited to serve in the UDTK.
March 11, 1943 People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin gave the volunteer tank formation the name of the 10th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. On June 1, 1943, at noon, on Okulov Square (now the Ural Volunteers Square) a send-off to the front took place. However, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense dated March 11, 1943, it was given a different name - the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps.
During the war years, the tank unit became famous and reached Berlin and Prague. In the fall of 1945, UDTK received the title of the 10th Guards Red Banner Ural-Lvov Tank Division, the Orders of the October Revolution, Suvorov and Kutuzov, as well as the name of Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky. 38 guardsmen of the UDTK became Heroes of the Soviet Union, another 27 soldiers and sergeants became full holders of the Order of Glory, III degree.
According to the official website of UDTK (), during the war years UDTK took part in the following combat operations:
A distinctive feature of the equipment of UDTK personnel were army knives. They were made for every tanker - from private to general. It was the so-called “Army knife of the 1940 model” - NR-40, NA-40 produced by the Zlatoust Tool Factory. The infantry was equipped with steel breastplates CH-42 (prototypes of modern body armor).
Here's what Wikipedia says about this: In 1943, the entire staff of the UDTK, equipped with weapons and equipment made with contributions from the workers of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Molotov (Perm) regions, were given “Finnish-type knives” with a black handle as a gift for their fellow countrymen made of ebonite, scabbard and metal parts of the device. However, German intelligence officers immediately drew attention to the non-standard edged weapons of the tankers, and the UDTK began to be called the “Schwarzmesser Panzer-Division” - “Black Knives Division”. Such black knives were once on display in regional and school local history museums, and were even sung in songs. Moreover, in a peaceful adaptation of “military legends”, black knives were given “super properties” - unique strength and sharpness.
Oath of soldiers, commanders and political workers of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps.
« Urals, our dear ones! You entrust us, your sons, with the protection of the Soviet Motherland, the freedom and independence of the Fatherland.
The military glory of the Urals has been forged over centuries. Our brave ancestors followed Peter in the Battle of Poltava. They crossed the inaccessible Alps with Suvorov. The banners of the Yekaterinburg and Perm regiments fluttered on the battlefields with Napoleon. Without sparing their blood and lives, our fathers defended the young Soviet power. The people of the Urals showed themselves to be staunch, loyal sons of the Fatherland in the days of the mortal battle with the German invaders. And now, at the decisive moment of the Great Patriotic War against the strongest and most insidious enemy, the gray Ural again blesses its sons - volunteers for feats of arms.
Comrades from the Urals! You entrusted us with leading formidable fighting machines against the enemy. You created them without getting enough sleep at night, straining your sowing field and your strength. In the armor of our tanks, in our guns and machine guns is your thought and energy, your indomitable hatred of child killers, your all-conquering passion and confidence in victory. In factories, factories and collective farms, we, like a banner, carried the labor oath of the Urals people. Now, being in the ranks of the Red Army, we pronounce the words of the battle oath of allegiance to the Motherland.
We swear!
Be a model of military discipline. It is sacred to maintain order and organization. To master combat equipment perfectly. We will not flinch in the battles for our holy land. We will not spare blood and life itself for the sake of the freedom and happiness of our people, for the complete liberation of our native land from the invaders.
We swear!
To take revenge on the enemy for destroyed cities and villages, factories and collective farms, for torture and tears of old people and children, sisters and mothers. We will not forget anything, we will not forgive anything to the fascist barbarians.
We swear!
In decisive battles with the hated enemy, to be in the first ranks of the defenders of the Motherland, we will not disgrace the centuries-old glory of the Urals. We will fulfill your order and return to our native Urals only with Victory.»
The corps took its first battle on July 27, 1943 in the second phase of the Battle of Kursk as part of the 4th Tank Army, and three months later, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 306 of October 26, 1943, the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps was transformed into 10 1st Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. On November 18, 1943, its units and formations were solemnly presented with Guards banners.
The first Hero of the Soviet Union was the tank commander of the 61st Guards Sverdlovsk Tank Brigade, Grigory Sergeevich Chesak, who knocked out three “tigers” in one battle. On the approaches to Kamenetsk-Podolsk, miracles of heroism were again shown by the soldiers of the brigade, when at top speed, with headlights on, firing from cannons and machine guns, they burst into the village of Zinkovtsy. The stunned enemy fled in disarray, leaving behind their equipment and weapons.
In 1944, the building was awarded the honorary name “Lvovsky”. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov II degree, the Order of Kutuzov II degree.
In the battles for Berlin, the corps commander, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces E.E. Belov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the commander of the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade, Colonel M.G. Fomichev, became twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
Here, in May 1945, the Prime Minister of the allied France, Jolio Eliot, and his wife were liberated from a concentration camp by tank guardsmen.
During the Prague operation, the T-34-85 tank No. 24 was the first to enter Prague on May 9, 1945, under the command of Guard Lieutenant I. G. Goncharenko. In the battle for the Manesov Bridge across the Vltava, Goncharenko’s tank was knocked out, and Goncharenko himself was killed. In memory of this, a monument with the IS-2M was erected in the capital of Czechoslovakia, which was dismantled from its pedestal during the “Velvet Revolution” in the late 1980s.
During the two years of participation in the Great Patriotic War, the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps traveled from Orel to Prague over 5,500 kilometers, of which 2,000 kilometers were fought.
The corps liberated hundreds of cities and thousands of settlements from the Nazi invaders, and rescued tens of thousands of people from Hitler’s slavery. 1,220 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,100 guns of various calibers, 2,100 armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 15,211 motor vehicles, 589 flamethrowers were captured and destroyed, 94,620 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed, 44,752 Nazis were captured.
12 corps guards proved themselves to be outstanding masters of tank combat, destroying 20 or more enemy combat vehicles.
For excellent military operations, heroism, courage and bravery of the Ural volunteers, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief expressed gratitude to the corps and its units 27 times. The soldiers of the corps were awarded 42,368 orders and medals, 27 soldiers and sergeants became full holders of the Order of Glory. 38 guardsmen of the corps were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. There are 15 corps units on the banners - 54 orders.
In memory of the feat of arms of the Ural tankers, monuments were erected in Berlin, Prague and Steinau (Poland), in Lvov and Kamenetsk-Podolsk, in Sverdlovsk and Perm, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Tagil, other small towns of the Urals and in many settlements that were liberated by volunteers. The Yekaterinburg motorcycle club “Black Knives” is named in honor of the 10th Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. The names and military exploits of volunteer tankers who died in battles are inscribed in golden letters in the history of the Russian State, immortalized on obelisks and steles of settlements in the Urals.
The military glory of the corps that ended the war in Prague, since the fall of 1945, was inherited by the soldiers of the 10th Guards Ural-Lvov, Order of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov volunteer tank division, which was stationed in East Germany, in the city of Altengrabov, located near their homeland Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
Continuing the glorious combat traditions of older generations, the personnel of the division achieved that for many years it was considered the best formation of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. For high results in combat training, the division was named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. on June 16, 1967. Malinovsky, and on February 21, 1978 she was awarded the Order of the October Revolution.
In 1994, according to the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, the 10th Tank Division was the last to leave the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and was redeployed to the city of Boguchary, Voronezh region. This movement, unprecedented on a peacetime scale, was carried out in combined marches between November 1993 and July 1994.
Residents of the small provincial town of Boguchary, according to legend founded by Peter the Great, for the first time in its history became participants in a large-scale event. They were shocked and enchanted by the majesty of the solemn ceremony of welcoming the arriving units, their first parade on their native soil, the culmination of which was the loud performance of a song by the entire division with the wonderful words: “Farewell, Germany, goodbye, we part as friends... Meet us, Motherland, meet , beautiful Bogucharsky region...” The holiday ended with a big concert by the song and dance ensemble of the Moscow Military District.
And during the last parade of Russian troops in Berlin in 1994, which was attended by Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the personnel of the formation took part in an organized direct teleconference between Boguchary and Berlin.
A new period in its history begins: in the mid-1990s. its structure changed somewhat - instead of three tank and one motorized rifle regiments, the basis of the division began to be two tank and two motorized rifle regiments. The arrangement of units and fleets of combat vehicles took place at an accelerated pace, and combat training of personnel was established. Beautiful military and residential camps were built.
During its short period of being part of the Moscow Military District, the division showed itself to be a combat-ready unit, ready to complete any assigned task.
Every year, units of the division are visited by its veterans who now live in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Rostov, and Stavropol. Since 1989, Lyubov Arkhipovna Ivanova has served as chairman of the unit’s Veterans Council, and Yakov Moiseevich Lifshits, who was a lecturer in the political department of the corps during the war years, served as secretary; his son headed the Russian Ministry of Finance in the 90s.
Many residents of the Stavropol region over the years served in the 10th tank, and just before its withdrawal from Germany, at the beginning of 1994, the first deputy head of the administration of the Stavropol region, Pyotr Marchenko, handed over the keys to new apartments in Stavropol to a large group of officers and warrant officers. including the author of these lines.
Unfortunately, the ongoing reform of the Armed Forces did not bypass the famous tank division. And if in 1997 - 98, thanks to the active intervention of corps veterans, it was possible to defend it for a while, then on December 1, 2009, the formation was reorganized into a base for the repair and storage of weapons and equipment. The Battle Banner was handed over to the Central Military Commission of the Russian Federation, and the historical form was handed over to the archives of the Russian Armed Forces. The Museum of Military Glory was transferred to the balance of the Veterans Council in Yekaterinburg.
But veterans do not lose hope that in order to preserve the continuity of the names of the most famous formations and units in the Russian Army, the only volunteer formation in today's Russia will be restored.
Let us add that by Decree of the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region dated July 27, 2012 No. 570, the date March 11 was established as the day of celebration of the Day of National Feat for the formation of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps during the Great Patriotic War. Today in Yekaterinburg, a solemn flower-laying ceremony is taking place at the monument to UDTK soldiers. Governor Evgeny Kuyvashev and Ural Plenipotentiary Igor Kholmanskikh take part in it, along with war veterans and UDTK. Let us note that the UDTK veterans from Perm were congratulated by the Governor of the Perm Territory, Viktor Basargin.
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“Front anthem” of “Black Knives”:
The fascists whisper to each other in fear,
Hiding in the darkness of the dugouts:
Tankers appeared from the Urals -
Black Knife Division.
Squads of selfless fighters,
Nothing can kill their courage.
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards
How the machine gunners will jump from the armor,
You can't take them with any fire.
Volunteers cannot be crushed by an avalanche,
After all, everyone has a black knife.
Huge masses of Ural tanks are rushing,
Making the enemy's power tremble,
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards
Our Ural steel black knife!
We will write to the gray Ural:
"Be confident in your sons,
It was not for nothing that they gave us daggers,
So that the fascists would be afraid of them.”
We will write: “We fight as we should,
And the Ural gift is good!”
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards.
Our Ural steel black knife!
On March 11, one of the most famous formations of the Russian Armed Forces celebrated its 70th anniversary - the 10th Guards Tank Ural-Lvov, Order of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov volunteer division named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky. But even after so many years, few Urals know that the famous unit - the 10th UDTK - had another name, German. It sounded like this: Schwarzmesser Panzer–Division or “Black Knife Division.” This is because the UDTK tankers, from privates to commanders, owned special knives.
History has conveyed fragmentary characteristics that German soldiers gave to the UDTK fighters: “The Ural devils appeared before us again. We know them too well from previous battles, they... are persistent and fight even when seriously wounded,” wrote Wehrmacht soldier G. Berg in personal notes.
The idea of creating the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps appeared in 1942, during the battles for Stalingrad. At the beginning of 1943, the Ural Worker newspaper published an article “Tank Corps Above Plan”: in the material, tank manufacturers promised to deduct part of their salaries to equip the tank corps with weapons and uniforms. And so it happened: everything, right down to the buttons, was bought with “working money.”
115 thousand people applied for service in the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps - residents of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Molotov (Perm) regions. In reality, 9,660 people from this number of volunteers were recruited to serve in the UDTK.
March 11, 1943 People's Commissar of Defense I.V. Stalin gave the volunteer tank formation the name of the 10th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. On June 1, 1943, at noon, on Okulov Square (now the Ural Volunteers Square) a send-off to the front took place. However, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense dated March 11, 1943, it was given a different name - the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps.
During the war years, the tank unit became famous and reached Berlin and Prague. In the fall of 1945, UDTK received the title of the 10th Guards Red Banner Ural-Lvov Tank Division, the Orders of the October Revolution, Suvorov and Kutuzov, as well as the name of Marshal of the Soviet Union Malinovsky. 38 guardsmen of the UDTK became Heroes of the Soviet Union, another 27 soldiers and sergeants became full holders of the Order of Glory, III degree.
According to the official website of UDTK (www.uldiv.ru), during the war years UDTK took part in the following combat operations:
July 27 – August 29, 1943: Oryol operation;
March 4 – April 18, 1944: Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation;
July 14 – August 12, 1944: Lviv-Sandomierz operation;
January 12 – 31, 1945: Vistula-Oder operation;
February 8 – 22, 1945: Lower Silesian operation;
March 8 – 31, 1945: Upper Silesian operation;
April 16 – May 2, 1945: Berlin operation;
May 6 – 9, 1945: Prague operation
A distinctive feature of the equipment of UDTK personnel were army knives. They were made for every tanker - from private to general. It was the so-called “Army knife of the 1940 model” - NR-40, NA-40 produced by the Zlatoust Tool Factory. The infantry was equipped with steel breastplates CH-42 (prototypes of modern body armor).
Here's what Wikipedia says about this: In 1943, the entire staff of the UDTK, equipped with weapons and equipment made with contributions from the workers of the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Molotov (Perm) regions, were given “Finnish-type knives” with a black handle as a gift for their fellow countrymen made of ebonite, scabbard and metal parts of the device. However, German intelligence officers immediately drew attention to the non-standard edged weapons of tankers, and UDTK began to be called “Schwarzmesser Panzer-Division” - “Black Knives Division”. Such black knives were once on display in regional and school local history museums, and were even sung in songs. Moreover, in a peaceful adaptation of “military legends”, black knives were given “super properties” - unique strength and sharpness.
Oath of soldiers, commanders and political workers of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps.
« Urals, our dear ones! You entrust us, your sons, with the protection of the Soviet Motherland, the freedom and independence of the Fatherland.
The military glory of the Urals has been forged over centuries. Our brave ancestors followed Peter in the Battle of Poltava. They crossed the inaccessible Alps with Suvorov. The banners of the Yekaterinburg and Perm regiments fluttered on the battlefields with Napoleon. Without sparing their blood and lives, our fathers defended the young Soviet power. The people of the Urals showed themselves to be staunch, loyal sons of the Fatherland in the days of the mortal battle with the German invaders. And now, at the decisive moment of the Great Patriotic War against the strongest and most insidious enemy, the gray Ural again blesses its sons - volunteers for feats of arms.
Comrades from the Urals! You entrusted us with leading formidable fighting machines against the enemy. You created them without getting enough sleep at night, straining your sowing field and your strength. In the armor of our tanks, in our guns and machine guns is your thought and energy, your indomitable hatred of child killers, your all-conquering passion and confidence in victory. In factories, factories and collective farms, we, like a banner, carried the labor oath of the Urals people. Now, being in the ranks of the Red Army, we pronounce the words of the battle oath of allegiance to the Motherland.
We swear!
Be a model of military discipline. It is sacred to maintain order and organization. To master combat equipment perfectly. We will not flinch in the battles for our holy land. We will not spare blood and life itself for the sake of the freedom and happiness of our people, for the complete liberation of our native land from the invaders.
We swear!
To take revenge on the enemy for destroyed cities and villages, factories and collective farms, for torture and tears of old people and children, sisters and mothers. We will not forget anything, we will not forgive anything to the fascist barbarians.
We swear!
In decisive battles with the hated enemy, to be in the first ranks of the defenders of the Motherland, we will not disgrace the centuries-old glory of the Urals. We will fulfill your order and return to our native Urals only with Victory.»
The corps took its first battle on July 27, 1943 in the second phase of the Battle of Kursk as part of the 4th Tank Army, and three months later, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 306 of October 26, 1943, the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps was transformed into 10 1st Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. On November 18, 1943, its units and formations were solemnly presented with Guards banners.
The first Hero of the Soviet Union was the tank commander of the 61st Guards Sverdlovsk Tank Brigade, Grigory Sergeevich Chesak, who knocked out three “tigers” in one battle. On the approaches to Kamenetsk-Podolsk, miracles of heroism were again shown by the soldiers of the brigade, when at top speed, with headlights on, firing from cannons and machine guns, they burst into the village of Zinkovtsy. The stunned enemy fled in disarray, leaving behind their equipment and weapons.
In 1944, the building was awarded the honorary name “Lvovsky”. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov II degree, the Order of Kutuzov II degree.
In the battles for Berlin, the corps commander, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces E.E. Belov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the commander of the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade, Colonel M.G. Fomichev, became twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
Here, in May 1945, the Prime Minister of the allied France, Jolio Eliot, and his wife were liberated from a concentration camp by tank guardsmen.
During the Prague operation, the T-34-85 tank No. 24 was the first to enter Prague on May 9, 1945, under the command of Guard Lieutenant I. G. Goncharenko. In the battle for the Manesov Bridge across the Vltava, Goncharenko’s tank was knocked out, and Goncharenko himself was killed. In memory of this, a monument with the IS-2M was erected in the capital of Czechoslovakia, which was dismantled from its pedestal during the “Velvet Revolution” in the late 1980s.
During the two years of participation in the Great Patriotic War, the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps traveled from Orel to Prague over 5,500 kilometers, of which 2,000 kilometers were in battle.
The corps liberated hundreds of cities and thousands of settlements from the Nazi invaders, and rescued tens of thousands of people from Hitler’s slavery. 1,220 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,100 guns of various calibers, 2,100 armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, 15,211 motor vehicles, 589 flamethrowers were captured and destroyed, 94,620 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed, 44,752 Nazis were captured.
12 corps guards proved themselves to be outstanding masters of tank combat, destroying 20 or more enemy combat vehicles.
For excellent military operations, heroism, courage and bravery of the Ural volunteers, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief expressed gratitude to the corps and its units 27 times. The soldiers of the corps were awarded 42,368 orders and medals, 27 soldiers and sergeants became full holders of the Order of Glory. 38 guardsmen of the corps were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. There are 15 corps units on the banners - 54 orders.
In memory of the feat of arms of the Ural tankers, monuments were erected in Berlin, Prague and Steinau (Poland), in Lvov and Kamenetsk-Podolsk, in Sverdlovsk and Perm, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Tagil, other small towns of the Urals and in many settlements that were liberated by volunteers. The Yekaterinburg motorcycle club “Black Knives” is named in honor of the 10th Guards Ural Volunteer Tank Corps. The names and military exploits of volunteer tankers who died in battles are inscribed in golden letters in the history of the Russian State, immortalized on obelisks and steles of settlements in the Urals.
The military glory of the corps that ended the war in Prague, since the fall of 1945, was inherited by the soldiers of the 10th Guards Ural-Lvov, Order of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov volunteer tank division, which was stationed in East Germany, in the city of Altengrabov, located near their homeland Russian Empress Catherine the Great.
Continuing the glorious combat traditions of older generations, the personnel of the division achieved that for many years it was considered the best formation of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. For high results in combat training, the division was named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. on June 16, 1967. Malinovsky, and on February 21, 1978 she was awarded the Order of the October Revolution.
In 1994, according to the decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, the 10th Tank Division was the last to leave the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany and was redeployed to the city of Boguchary, Voronezh region. This movement, unprecedented on a peacetime scale, was carried out in combined marches between November 1993 and July 1994.
Residents of the small provincial town of Boguchary, according to legend founded by Peter the Great, for the first time in its history became participants in a large-scale event. They were shocked and enchanted by the majesty of the solemn ceremony of welcoming the arriving units, their first parade on their native soil, the culmination of which was the loud performance of a song by the entire division with the wonderful words: “Farewell, Germany, goodbye, we part as friends... Meet us, Motherland, meet , beautiful Bogucharsky region...” The holiday ended with a big concert by the song and dance ensemble of the Moscow Military District.
And during the last parade of Russian troops in Berlin in 1994, which was attended by Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the formation’s personnel took part in an organized direct teleconference between Boguchary and Berlin.
A new period in its history begins: in the mid-1990s. its structure changed somewhat - instead of three tank and one motorized rifle regiments, the basis of the division began to be two tank and two motorized rifle regiments. The arrangement of units and fleets of combat vehicles took place at an accelerated pace, and combat training of personnel was established. Beautiful military and residential camps were built.
During its short period of being part of the Moscow Military District, the division showed itself to be a combat-ready unit, ready to complete any assigned task.
Every year, units of the division are visited by its veterans who now live in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Rostov, and Stavropol. Since 1989, Lyubov Arkhipovna Ivanova has served as chairman of the unit’s Veterans Council, and Yakov Moiseevich Lifshits, who was a lecturer in the political department of the corps during the war years, served as secretary; his son headed the Russian Ministry of Finance in the 90s.
Many residents of the Stavropol region over the years served in the 10th tank, and just before its withdrawal from Germany, at the beginning of 1994, the first deputy head of the administration of the Stavropol region, Pyotr Marchenko, handed over the keys to new apartments in Stavropol to a large group of officers and warrant officers. including the author of these lines.
Unfortunately, the ongoing reform of the Armed Forces did not bypass the famous tank division. And if in 1997-98, thanks to the active intervention of corps veterans, it was possible to defend it for a while, then on December 1, 2009, the formation was reorganized into a base for the repair and storage of weapons and equipment. The Battle Banner was handed over to the Central Military Commission of the Russian Federation, and the historical record was handed over to the archives of the Russian Armed Forces. The Museum of Military Glory was transferred to the balance of the Veterans Council in Yekaterinburg.
But veterans do not lose hope that in order to preserve the continuity of the names of the most famous formations and units in the Russian Army, the only volunteer formation in today's Russia will be restored.
Let us add that by Decree of the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region dated July 27, 2012 No. 570, the date March 11 was established as the day of celebration of the Day of National Feat for the formation of the Ural Volunteer Tank Corps during the Great Patriotic War. Today in Yekaterinburg, a solemn flower-laying ceremony is taking place at the monument to UDTK soldiers. Governor Evgeny Kuyvashev and Ural Plenipotentiary Igor Kholmanskikh take part in it, along with war veterans and UDTK. Let us note that the UDTK veterans from Perm were congratulated by the Governor of the Perm Territory, Viktor Basargin.
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“front anthem” of the “Black Knives”:
The fascists whisper to each other in fear,
Hiding in the darkness of the dugouts:
Tankers appeared from the Urals -
Black Knife Division.
Squads of selfless fighters,
Nothing can kill their courage.
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards
How the machine gunners will jump from the armor,
You can't take them with any fire.
Volunteers cannot be crushed by an avalanche,
After all, everyone has a black knife.
Huge masses of Ural tanks are rushing,
Making the enemy's power tremble,
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards
Our Ural steel black knife!
We will write to the gray Ural:
"Be confident in your sons,
It was not for nothing that they gave us daggers,
So that the fascists would be afraid of them.”
We will write: “We fight as we should,
And the Ural gift is good!”
Oh, they don’t like fascist bastards.
Our Ural steel black knife!
On the days of victorious completion Battle of Stalingrad Regional committees of Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk and Molotov ( Perm region) regions turned to the Central Committee of the Party with a request: permission to create a volunteer corps, which will be fully staffed at the expense of the Urals residents. On February 24, 1943, consent was received from the Central Committee and the Defense Committee, and from that time the formation began. By order of the People's Commissar of Defense dated March 11, it was given the name - 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps.
The tank corps was assembled in short time, his solemn farewell took place on May 9. 115,000 applications were submitted and 9,660 volunteers were selected. To equip the housing Chelyabinsk region collected fifty-four and a half million rubles, of which Chelyabinsk - 10 million, Zlatoust - 7 million, Magnitogorsk - 6.5 million. At the initiative of the Zlatoust residents, an Order was written for volunteers; it was signed by residents of all three Ural regions.
Equipping with equipment, weapons and everything necessary was achieved through the production of above-plan products - such obligations were assumed by labor collectives and on the personal savings of the population. It is known that the Zlatoust steelmakers Amosov, Vilisov, Kochetkov, Pankov, Erman by the First of May (i.e. in March and April) smelted more than the planned steel for 200 tanks and 500 thousand mines. The garment factory team sewed three thousand sets of uniforms. The watch factory produced 366 tank watches. The Lenin plant prepared 820 axes and picks, 450 cigarette cases, 675 lighters and 10,000 army knives for the Ural volunteers.
Famous " Schwarzmesser" - a legend of the Great Patriotic War. By your name " black» knife obliged to the courage of the Ural tank crews. It was adopted into service by the Soviet army after Finnish war. It was a 1940 model army knife. Its production at the Zlatoust plant named after Lenin began in the summer of '42, and production was mastered in a very short time - in two weeks.
IN technical documents this weapon was listed as " type N-41“, in the reports of the workshop manager it was presented as a “dagger knife”. Already in the third quarter of 1942, workshop No. 16 produced 74,300 knives, in the fourth - 186,800. For 1943, the plan for army knives was very high: more than one million units. But the main product of the plant is shells. There were not enough workers; they were often removed from the production of bladed weapons and transferred to the production of 122-mm shells. The front needed them more; sabers and knives had to be sacrificed.
The army knife was originally intended for reconnaissance officers and paratroopers, then they decided to arm machine gunners as well, hand-to-hand combat they could use army knives. In some intelligence units, Zlatoust knives were handed to newcomers only after taking the “tongue” or other combat tests. That is, from the first days of their arrival at the front, these knives earned respect for their great strength and sharpness of the blade. And they really were black. The metal parts were blued, and the scabbard and handle were coated with black varnish.
For the tank corps, the factory workers prepared army knives beyond plan. By the time of dispatch, each fighter received a Zlatoust knife. It must be said that during the war, it was recently established that 906,600 black knives were made in Zlatoust, 10,000 of them for tank crews. It turned out that the name “black” knife was given to the weapon by the enemy. After being sent to the front, the Ural tank crews took their first battle near Orel, in the very heat of the war. This was one of the important strategic directions of Hitler's army. There the Urals met the enemy for the first time. German intelligence drew attention to the equipment of the tank soldiers. In leaflets, the command warned its soldiers: “Attention! Attention! a wild division with black knives appeared on our front - the Schwarzmesser Panzer Division.”
The combat path of the Ural Volunteer Corps ended in May 1945. Our tank crews fought two thousand kilometers. They liberated Ukraine and marched across Poland. The most interesting thing is that in the Soviet armed forces there is not a single military unit, which would have so many awards - 54 orders. The Ural volunteers took their first battle on July 27, 1943, and on October 23 the corps received the title of 10th Guards. During the war years at the front, soldiers knew what a “ten” was. IN offensive operations in Europe, the “Fuhrer’s guard” division acted against the tank corps, but the Urals again showed their ability to destroy the best enemy formations.
Characteristics of the “black knife” :
Weight without sheath, g: up to 150;
Total length of the knife, mm: 263;
Blade length, mm: 152;
Maximum blade width, mm: 22;
Maximum butt thickness, mm: 2.6;
Blade material Steel U-7
This time, reserve colonel Viktor Ivanovich Murakhovsky, a former officer, shared his memories with us General Staff, a tanker who served for several years in a group of Soviet troops in Germany.
In field
In the field, to be honest, New Year met only under special circumstances. In my memory, this happened once - in 1983, when relations between NATO and countries began to deteriorate Warsaw Pact due to missile placement medium range. Battalion tactical groups of first-echelon divisions began to be deployed on combat duty to the border between the GDR and the FRG. In one of these groups, being the chief of staff of the battalion, I celebrated the New Year.
IN field conditions There’s no time for Christmas trees and fireworks - camouflage comes first. They clinked glasses, drank a hundred grams and that was it.
But, of course, gifts were brought from the unit - quite ordinary sets: candies, chocolate, condensed milk.
In part
Basically, the New Year was celebrated at the location, at the point of permanent deployment. Field classes were canceled on these days, and these few New Year's Day became a kind of pseudo-vacation, as we said, “leave with the unit.” In addition to the standard outfit/guard, responsible officers were appointed - at least one officer in each company.
New Year 1983 - fighters are preparing to return to the PPD after combat duty near the border with Germany
According to tradition, officers who celebrated the New Year with their families in the town came to the unit after midnight and congratulated the conscripts. There were no special frills in the arrangement. As a rule, each company occupied a separate room - a floor in the barracks - in which they erected a common Christmas tree. The Christmas tree was decorated and sets were prepared for the festive dinner.
Alcohol was not allowed. But, of course, there was always a competition: some caught it, while others tried to carry it. The confrontation took place with with varying success, although I don’t remember a case during the entire service when someone managed to get brutally drunk in the process.
It happened that you saw that a person gave in, but there was nothing to show him: he was just cheerful and happy.
In general, the New Year in the Armed Forces is not as popular a holiday as in civilian life. You understand this immediately after the first New Year's Eve in the army. Because, in fact, old year in the army they say goodbye at the end of October: in November the “demobilizations” leave and the “youth” come, and the new year begins on December 1.
To these dates and to army holidays and all the goodies, goodies, incentives, vacations, rewards, promotions and raises are attached. So there is no atmosphere of anticipation of a holiday, as in civilian life. There is no increase in emotions, by December 31, by 24 hours... In the army, this is rather a formal event.
Not without the Snow Maiden
Father Frosts and Snow Maidens, of course, were there. Santa Clauses were chosen. Snow Maidens - well, at the regiment level there are already enough female military personnel, sometimes the wives of officers got involved.
Even for the New Year, veterans and representatives of the Urals regions brought us gifts. I served in the 10th Guards Tank Division, during the war - the 10th Guards Ural-Lvov Volunteer Tank Corps. We had registered tank regiments in the regions where volunteer units were formed - Sverdlovsk, Perm, Chelyabinsk. The call came from there, they supported us local authorities, enterprises and veterans organizations... Including gifts for the New Year.
10th Guards Tank Ural-Lvov Order of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov Volunteer Division named after Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky - one of the most famous tank formations Soviet army. Formed in 1943 as the 30th Ural Volunteer Tank Corps, in October of the same year it was reorganized into the 10th Guards. The corps participated in the Oryol, Bryansk, Proskurov-Chernivtsi, Lvov-Sandomierz, Sandomierz-Silesian, Lower Silesian, Upper Silesian, Berlin and Prague offensive operations, having fought more than 5,500 kilometers. A distinctive feature of the personnel’s equipment were army knives with black handles and sheaths, for which the unit received the unofficial name “black knives.” After the war, as a tank division, it became part of the group of Soviet forces in Germany. Since 1994, it has been stationed in the city of Boguchar, Voronezh region. The division was disbanded in 2009 and has now been re-established.
New Year in 1985 - artists from Moscow after a concert in the garrison house of officers of the 10th Guards Ural-Lvov Tank Division
Performances, competitions, concerts - it was all more at the amateur level. But someone was lucky. For example, to us, in Germany. We came famous artists. New Year's concerts were held with the participation of stars of the Union scale, especially in those garrisons that are closer to major cities. When the division was in Potsdam, we not only were not left without concerts, but almost always one of the stars came to us.
Let's bang?
A huge variety of military pyrotechnics - lighting, signaling, target designation, camouflage, imitation, naturally, were actively used to decorate the holiday. The necessary reserves were formed by young officers in October, during mass exercises, inspections and control exercises at the end of the day school year. Everything was used, except, perhaps, a nuclear explosion simulator.
The most popular “crackers” were rocket-propelled lighting and signal cartridges, explosive packages, explosion simulators artillery shell, smoke cartridges, checkers and grenades that produced smoke orange color. The SHT-40 (chemical alarm signal) and SM (signal mine) products obtained through a friendly exchange with chemists and sappers were considered exclusive.
Of course, today's fireworks consumer goods are much more colorful than army weapons. But in terms of reliability... “Ancient” (manufactured in 1973) 50 mm jet flare, stored in a standard closure, and today it will throw a lighting charge to the height of a good skyscraper without any problems.
We'll definitely bang!
There is a charm to celebrating everyone’s favorite holiday with soul, but without fuss. People are cheerful and happy - and that's the main thing. Good mood necessary for everyone - both on land and at sea. So, if you missed the memories of how the New Year was celebrated in the USSR Navy, be sure to read it!