The largest burial of Soviet soldiers from the Great Patriotic War in recent years has been discovered in the Leningrad region. Fifty facts: the exploits of Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War Soviet soldiers of WWII

Everyone is familiar with the popular print image of the Soviet “soldier-liberator.” In the minds of Soviet people, the Red Army soldiers of the Great Patriotic War are emaciated people in dirty greatcoats who run in a crowd to attack after tanks, or tired elderly men smoking rolled-up cigarettes on the parapet of a trench. After all, it was precisely such footage that was mainly captured by military newsreels. At the end of the 1980s, film directors and post-Soviet historians put the “victim of repression” on a cart, handed him a “three-line gun” without cartridges, sending him towards the armored hordes of fascists - under the supervision of barrage detachments.

Now I propose to look at what actually happened. We can responsibly declare that our weapons were in no way inferior to foreign ones, while being more suitable for local conditions of use. For example, a three-line rifle had larger clearances and tolerances than foreign ones, but this “flaw” was a forced feature - the weapon’s lubricant, which thickened in the cold, did not remove the weapon from combat.

So, review.

Nagan- a revolver developed by the Belgian gunsmiths brothers Emil (1830-1902) and Leon (1833-1900) Nagans, which was in service and produced in a number of countries in late XIX- mid-20th century.


TK(Tula, Korovina) - the first Soviet serial self-loading pistol. In 1925, the Dynamo sports society ordered the Tula Arms Plant to develop compact pistol chambered for 6.35×15 mm Browning for sporting and civilian needs.

Work on creating the pistol took place in the design bureau of the Tula Arms Plant. In the fall of 1926, gunsmith designer S.A. Korovin completed the development of a pistol, which was named the TK pistol (Tula Korovin).

At the end of 1926, TOZ began producing a pistol, next year the pistol was approved for use, having received official name“Tula pistol, Korovin, model 1926.”

TK pistols entered service with the NKVD of the USSR, middle and senior command staff of the Red Army, civil servants and party workers.

The TK was also used as a gift or award weapon (for example, there are known cases of awarding Stakhanovites with it). Between the autumn of 1926 and 1935, several tens of thousands of Korovins were produced. In the period after the Great Patriotic War, TK pistols were kept for some time in savings banks as a reserve weapon for employees and collectors.


Pistol arr. 1933 TT(Tula, Tokarev) - the first army self-loading pistol of the USSR, developed in 1930 by Soviet designer Fedor Vasilyevich Tokarev. The TT pistol was developed for the 1929 competition for a new army pistol, announced to replace the Nagan revolver and several models of foreign-made revolvers and pistols that were in service with the Red Army by the mid-1920s. The German 7.63×25 mm Mauser cartridge was adopted as a standard cartridge, which was purchased in significant quantities for the Mauser S-96 pistols in service.

Mosin rifle. 7.62 mm (3-line) rifle model 1891 (Mosin rifle, three-line) - magazine rifle, adopted by the Russian Imperial Army in 1891.

It was actively used in the period from 1891 to the end of the Great Patriotic War, and was modernized many times during this period.

The name three-ruler comes from the caliber of the rifle barrel, which is equal to three Russian lines (the old measure of length was equal to one tenth of an inch, or 2.54 mm - respectively, three lines are equal to 7.62 mm).

Based on the 1891 model rifle and its modifications, a number of sporting and hunting weapons, both rifled and smoothbore.

Simonov automatic rifle. The 7.62 mm automatic rifle of the Simonov system, model 1936, ABC-36 is a Soviet automatic rifle developed by gunsmith Sergei Simonov.

Initially developed as a self-loading rifle, but during improvements an automatic fire mode was added for use in emergency situation. The first automatic rifle developed in the USSR and put into service.

Tokarev self-loading rifle. 7.62-mm self-loading rifles of the Tokarev system of the 1938 and 1940 models (SVT-38, SVT-40), as well as the Tokarev automatic rifle of the 1940 model - a modification of the Soviet self-loading rifle, developed by F.V. Tokarev.

SVT-38 was developed as a replacement automatic rifle Simonov and on February 26, 1939 adopted by the Red Army. First SVT arr. 1938 was released on July 16, 1939. On October 1, 1939, gross production began at the Tula, and from 1940 - at the Izhevsk arms plant.

Simonov self-loading carbine. 7.62 mm self-loading carbine Simonov (also known abroad as SKS-45) is a Soviet self-loading carbine designed by Sergei Simonov, adopted for service in 1949.

The first copies began to arrive in active units at the beginning of 1945 - this was the only case of the use of the 7.62x39 mm cartridge in World War II

Tokarev submachine gun, or original name-light Tokarev carbine - created in 1927 experimental sample automatic weapons under modified revolver cartridge Nagana, the first submachine gun developed in the USSR. It was not adopted for service; it was produced in a small experimental batch and was used to a limited extent in the Great Patriotic War.

P Degtyarev submachine gun. 7.62 mm submachine guns of the 1934, 1934/38 and 1940 models of the Degtyarev system - various modifications a submachine gun developed by Soviet gunsmith Vasily Degtyarev in the early 1930s. The first submachine gun adopted by the Red Army.

Degtyarev's submachine gun was enough typical representative the first generation of this type of weapon. Used in the Finnish campaign of 1939-40, as well as at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War.

Shpagin submachine gun. 7.62 mm submachine gun model 1941 of the Shpagin system (PPSh) - Soviet submachine gun, developed in 1940 by designer G.S. Shpagin and adopted by the Red Army on December 21, 1940. PPSh was the main Soviet submachine gun armed forces in the Great Patriotic War.

After the end of the war, in the early 1950s, the PPSh was removed from service with the Soviet Army and gradually replaced by the Kalashnikov assault rifle; for a little longer it remained in service with rear and auxiliary units, units of internal troops and railway troops. It was in service with paramilitary security units at least until the mid-1980s.

Also in post-war period PPSh was supplied in significant quantities to countries friendly to the USSR, long time was in service with the armies of various states, was used by irregular forces and was used in military operations throughout the twentieth century. armed conflicts Worldwide.

Sudaev's submachine gun. 7.62 mm submachine guns of the 1942 and 1943 models of the Sudaev system (PPS) are variants of the submachine gun developed by the Soviet designer Alexei Sudaev in 1942. Used Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War.

The PPS is often considered the best submachine gun of World War II.

P machine gun "Maxim" model 1910. The Maxim machine gun, model 1910, is a heavy machine gun, a variant of the British Maxim machine gun, widely used by Russian and Soviet armies during the First World War and the Second World War. The Maxim machine gun was used to destroy open group targets and enemy fire weapons at a distance of up to 1000 m.

Anti-aircraft variant
- 7.62-mm quad machine gun "Maxim" on the U-431 anti-aircraft gun
- 7.62-mm coaxial machine gun "Maxim" on the U-432 anti-aircraft gun

Maxim-Tokarev machine gun- Soviet light machine gun designed by F.V. Tokarev, created in 1924 based on the Maxim machine gun.

DP(Degtyarev Infantry) - a light machine gun developed by V. A. Degtyarev. The first ten serial DP machine guns were manufactured at the Kovrov plant on November 12, 1927, then a batch of 100 machine guns was transferred for military testing, as a result of which on December 21, 1927 the machine gun was adopted by the Red Army. The DP became one of the first small arms created in the USSR. The machine gun was widely used as the main fire support weapon for infantry at the platoon-company level until the end of the Great Patriotic War.

DT(Degtyarev tank) - a tank machine gun developed by V. A. Degtyarev in 1929. Entered service with the Red Army in 1929 under the designation “7.62-mm tank machine gun of the Degtyarev system mod. 1929" (DT-29)

DS-39(7.62-mm Degtyarev heavy machine gun, model 1939).

SG-43. The 7.62 mm Goryunov machine gun (SG-43) is a Soviet heavy machine gun. It was developed by gunsmith P. M. Goryunov with the participation of M. M. Goryunov and V. E. Voronkov at Kovrovsky mechanical plant. Entered service on May 15, 1943. The SG-43 began to enter service with the troops in the second half of 1943.

DShK And DShKM- large-caliber machine guns chambered for 12.7×108 mm. The result of the modernization of large-caliber heavy machine gun DK (Degtyarev Large-caliber). The DShK was adopted by the Red Army in 1938 under the designation “12.7 mm heavy machine gun Degtyareva - Shpagina model 1938"

In 1946, under the designation DShKM(Degtyarev, Shpagin, large-caliber modernized) machine gun was adopted by the Soviet Army.

PTRD. Anti-tank single-shot rifle mod. 1941 Degtyarev system, adopted for service on August 29, 1941. It was intended to combat medium and light tanks and armored vehicles at distances of up to 500 m. The gun could also fire at pillboxes/bunkers and firing points covered by armor at distances up to 800 m and at aircraft at distances up to 500 m.

PTRS. Anti-tank self-loading gun arr. 1941 Simonov system) - Soviet self-loading anti-tank rifle, adopted for service on August 29, 1941. It was intended to combat medium and light tanks and armored vehicles at distances of up to 500 m. The gun could also fire at pillboxes/bunkers and firing points covered by armor at distances up to 800 m and at aircraft at distances up to 500 m. During the war some of the guns were captured and used by the Germans. The guns were named Panzerbüchse 784 (R) or PzB 784 (R).

Dyakonov grenade launcher. The Dyakonov system rifle grenade launcher is designed to use fragmentation grenades to destroy living, mostly hidden, targets that are inaccessible to flat fire weapons.

Widely used in pre-war conflicts, during the Soviet-Finnish War and at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. According to the staff of the rifle regiment in 1939, in service with each rifle squad stood rifle grenade launcher Dyakonov systems. In documents of that time it was called hand mortar for throwing rifle grenades.

125-mm ampoule gun model 1941- the only ampoule gun model mass-produced in the USSR. Widely used since with varying success by the Red Army at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, it was often made in semi-handicraft conditions.

The projectile most often used was a glass or tin ball filled with flammable liquid"KS", but the range of ammunition included mines, smoke bomb and even homemade “propaganda shells.” Using idle rifle cartridge A 12-gauge projectile was fired at 250-500 meters, thereby being effective means against some fortifications and many types of armored vehicles, including tanks. However, difficulties in use and maintenance led to the ampoule gun being withdrawn from service in 1942.

ROKS-3(Klyuev-Sergeev Backpack Flamethrower) - Soviet infantry backpack flamethrower from the Great Patriotic War. The first model of the ROKS-1 backpack flamethrower was developed in the USSR in the early 1930s. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the rifle regiments of the Red Army had flamethrower teams consisting of two sections, armed with 20 ROKS-2 backpack flamethrowers. Based on the experience of using these flamethrowers at the beginning of 1942, the designer of the research institute chemical engineering M.P. Sergeev and designer of military plant No. 846 V.N. Klyuev developed a more advanced backpack flamethrower ROKS-3, which was in service individual mouth and battalions of backpack flamethrowers of the Red Army throughout the war.

Bottles with a flammable mixture ("Molotov cocktail").

At the beginning of the war State Committee The defense decided to use combustible bottles in the fight against tanks. Already on July 7, 1941, the State Defense Committee adopted a special resolution “On anti-tank incendiary grenades (bottles)”, which obliged the People’s Commissariat of the Food Industry to organize, from July 10, 1941, the equipment of liter glass bottles fire mixture according to the recipe of Research Institute 6 of the People's Commissariat of Ammunition. And the head of the Military Chemical Defense Directorate of the Red Army (later the Main Military Chemical Directorate) was ordered to begin “supplying military units with hand incendiary grenades” from July 14.

Dozens of distilleries and beer factories throughout the USSR quickly turned into military enterprises. Moreover, the “Molotov Cocktail” (named after the then deputy of I.V. Stalin for the State Committee for Defense) was prepared directly on the old factory lines, where just yesterday they bottled citre, port wines and fizzy “Abrau-Durso”. From the first batches of such bottles, they often did not even have time to remove the “peaceful” alcohol labels. In addition to the liter bottles specified in the legendary Molotov decree, the “cocktail” was also made in beer and wine-cognac containers with a volume of 0.5 and 0.7 liters.

Two types of incendiary bottles were adopted by the Red Army: with self-igniting liquid KS (a mixture of phosphorus and sulfur) and with flammable mixtures No. 1 and No. 3, which are a mixture of aviation gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, thickened with oils or a special hardening powder OP- 2, developed in 1939 under the leadership of A.P. Ionov, - in fact, it was the prototype of modern napalm. The abbreviation “KS” is deciphered in different ways: “Koshkin mixture” - after the name of the inventor N.V. Koshkin, and “Old Cognac”, and “Kachugin-Maltovnik” - after the name of other inventors of liquid grenades.

A bottle with self-igniting liquid KS, falling on a solid body, broke, the liquid spilled and burned with a bright flame for up to 3 minutes, developing a temperature of up to 1000°C. At the same time, being sticky, it stuck to the armor or covered inspection slits, glass, and observation devices, blinded the crew with smoke, smoking them out of the tank and burning everything inside the tank. A drop of burning liquid falling on the body caused severe, difficult to heal burns.

Combustible mixtures No. 1 and No. 3 burned for up to 60 seconds with temperatures up to 800 ° C and emitting a lot of black smoke. Gasoline bottles were used as a cheaper option, and incendiary thin glass ampoules-tubes with CS liquid served, which were attached to the bottle using apothecary rubber bands. Sometimes ampoules were placed inside bottles before throwing.

Used bulletproof vest PZ-ZIF-20(protective shell, Frunze Plant). It is also CH-38 Cuirass type (CH-1, steel breastplate). It can be called the first mass-produced Soviet body armor, although it was called a steel breastplate, which does not change its purpose.

The body armor provided protection against German submachine guns and pistols. The body armor also provided protection against fragments of grenades and mines. Bulletproof vests were recommended to be worn by assault groups, signalmen (during the laying and repair of cables) and when performing other operations at the discretion of the commander.

Information often comes across that the PZ-ZIF-20 is not the SP-38 (SN-1) body armor, which is incorrect, since the PZ-ZIF-20 was created according to documentation from 1938, and industrial production was established in 1943. The second point is that they are 100% similar in appearance. Among the military search teams has the name “Volkhovsky”, “Leningradsky”, “five-sectional”.
Photos of reconstruction:

Steel bibs CH-42

Soviet assault engineer-sapper guards brigade wearing SN-42 steel breastplates and DP-27 machine guns. 1st ShISBr. 1st Belorussian Front, summer 1944

ROG-43 hand grenade

Manual fragmentation grenade ROG-43 (index 57-G-722) remote action, designed to destroy enemy personnel in offensive and defensive battle. New grenade was developed in the first half of the Great Patriotic War at the plant named after. Kalinin and had the factory designation RGK-42. After being put into service in 1943, the grenade received the designation ROG-43.

RDG hand smoke grenade.

RDG device

Smoke grenades were used to provide screens measuring 8 - 10 m and were used mainly to “blind” the enemy located in shelters, to create local screens to camouflage crews leaving armored vehicles, as well as to simulate the burning of armored vehicles. At favorable conditions one RDG grenade created an invisible cloud 25 - 30 m long.

Burning grenades did not sink in water, so they could be used when crossing water barriers. The grenade could smoke from 1 to 1.5 minutes, forming, depending on the composition smoke mixture, thick gray-black or white smoke.

RPG-6 grenade.


The RPG-6 exploded instantly upon impact with a hard barrier, destroyed armor, hit the crew of an armored target, its weapons and equipment, and could also ignite fuel and explode ammunition. Military trials The RPG-6 grenade took place in September 1943. The target used was captured assault gun"Ferdinand", which had frontal armor up to 200 mm and side armor up to 85 mm. Tests showed that the RPG-6 grenade, when the head part hit the target, could penetrate armor up to 120 mm.

Manual anti-tank grenade arr. 1943 RPG-43

RPG-41 impact hand anti-tank grenade model 1941

RPG-41 was intended to combat armored vehicles and light tanks, having armor up to 20 - 25 mm thick, and could also be used to combat bunkers and field-type shelters. The RPG-41 could also be used to destroy medium and heavy tanks when hitting vulnerabilities vehicles (roof, tracks, chassis and etc.)

Chemical grenade model 1917


According to the “Temporary Rifle Regulations of the Red Army. Part 1. Weapon. Rifle and hand grenades”, published by the manager of the People's Commissariat of Military Commissariat and the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR in 1927, the hand chemical grenade mod. 1917 from the reserve stockpiled during the First World War.

VKG-40 grenade

In the 1920s-1930s, the Red Army was armed with the muzzle-loading “Dyakonov grenade launcher,” created at the end of the First World War and subsequently modernized.

The grenade launcher consisted of a mortar, a bipod and a quadrant sight and was used to destroy manpower with a fragmentation grenade. The mortar barrel had a caliber of 41 mm, three screw grooves, and was rigidly attached to a cup that was screwed onto the neck, which was put on the rifle barrel, fixed on the front sight with a cutout.

RG-42 hand grenade

RG-42 model 1942 with UZRG fuse. After being put into service, the grenade was given the index RG-42 (hand grenade of 1942). The new UZRG fuse used in the grenade has become the same for both the RG-42 and the F-1.

The RG-42 grenade was used both offensively and defensively. In appearance, it resembled an RGD-33 grenade, only without a handle. RG-42 with a UZRG fuse belonged to the type of fragmentation offensive grenades remote action. It was intended to defeat enemy personnel.

Rifle anti-tank grenade VPGS-41



VPGS-41 when used

Characteristic distinctive feature ramrod grenades had a “tail” (ramrod), inserted into the bore of the rifle and serving as a stabilizer. The grenade was fired with a blank cartridge.

Soviet hand grenade mod. 1914/30 with protective cover

Soviet hand grenade mod. 1914/30 refers to double-type anti-personnel fragmentation hand grenades. This means it is designed to defeat personnel the enemy with hull fragments during its explosion. Remote action means that the grenade will explode after a certain period of time, regardless of other conditions, after the soldier releases it from his hands.

Double type - means that the grenade can be used as an offensive one, i.e. grenade fragments have a small mass and fly at a distance shorter than the possible throwing range; or as a defensive one, i.e. fragments fly to a distance exceeding the throwing range.

The double action of the grenade is achieved by putting a so-called “shirt” on the grenade - a cover made of thick metal, which provides fragments during an explosion greater mass flying over a greater distance.

RGD-33 hand grenade

An explosive charge is placed inside the case - up to 140 grams of TNT. A steel tape with a square notch is placed between the explosive charge and the body to produce fragments during an explosion, rolled into three or four layers.


The grenade was equipped with a defensive case, which was used only when throwing a grenade from a trench or shelter. In other cases, the protective cover was removed.

And of course, F-1 grenade

Initially, the F-1 grenade used a fuse designed by F.V. Koveshnikov, which was much more reliable and easier to use than the French fuse. The deceleration time of Koveshnikov's fuse was 3.5-4.5 seconds.

In 1941, designers E.M. Viceni and A.A. Poednyakov developed and put into service to replace Koveshnikov's fuse a new, safer and simpler in design fuse for the F-1 hand grenade.

In 1942, the new fuse became common for the F-1 and RG-42 hand grenades; it was called UZRG - “unified fuse for hand grenades.”

* * *
After the above, it cannot be said that only rusty three-ruler rifles without cartridges were in service.
About chemical weapon during the Second World War, a separate and special conversation...

This post will tell us about what Soviet soldiers had to fight in during the Great Patriotic War. Despite the fact that at that time military personnel often wore captured clothing, no one canceled the generally accepted equipment, and read on to find out what it included.

Steel helmet SSH-40. This helmet is a modernization of the SSh-39 helmet, accepted for supply to the Red Army in June 1939. The design of the SSh-39 eliminated the shortcomings of the previous SSh-36, but the operation of the SSh-39 during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940. revealed a significant drawback - it was impossible to wear a winter hat under it, and the standard woolen balaclava did not protect against severe frosts. Therefore, soldiers often broke out the SSh-39 under-the-shoulder device and wore a helmet over their hat without it.​
As a result, in the new SSh-40 helmet, the under-helmet device was significantly different from the SSh-39, although the shape of the dome remained unchanged. Visually, the SSh-40 can be distinguished by six rivets around the circumference at the bottom of the helmet dome, while the SSh-39 has three rivets, and they are located at the top. The SSh-40 used an under-body device of three petals, to which shock absorber bags stuffed with industrial cotton wool were sewn on the reverse side. The petals were tightened with a cord, which made it possible to adjust the depth of the helmet on the head.
Production of the SSh-40 began at the beginning of 1941 in Lysva in the Urals, and a little later in Stalingrad at the Red October plant, but by June 22, the troops had only a small number of these helmets. By the fall of 1942, helmets of this type were made only in Lysva. Gradually, the SSh-40 became the main type of helmet for the Red Army. It was released in large quantities and after the war, and was withdrawn from service relatively recently.

The pot is round. A bowler hat of a similar round shape was used in the army Russian Empire, made from copper, brass, tinned sheet metal, and later from aluminum. In 1927, in Leningrad, at the Krasny Vyborgets plant, mass production stamped aluminum round shaped pots for the Red Army, but in 1936 they were replaced by a new type of flat bowler.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, in the fall of 1941, the production of round pots was again established in Lysva in the Urals, but from steel instead of scarce aluminum. The return to a round shape was also understandable - such a pot was easier to produce. The Lysvensky plant has done a lot of work, which has made it possible to significantly reduce production costs. By 1945, the total production of round army bowlers amounted to more than 20 million pieces - they became the most popular in the Red Army. Production continued after the war.

Duffel bag. This piece of equipment, nicknamed “sidor” by the soldiers, was a simple bag with a strap and a rope tie at the neck. He first appeared in tsarist army in 1869 and without significant changes ended up in the Red Army. In 1930, a new standard was adopted that determined the appearance of the duffel bag - in accordance with it, it was now called the “Turkestan type duffel bag”, or duffel bag of the 1930 model.
The duffel bag had only one compartment, the top of which could be pulled together with a rope. A shoulder strap was sewn to the bottom of the bag, onto which two jumpers were placed, intended for fastening on the chest. On the other side of the shoulder strap, three rope loops were sewn to adjust the length. A wooden brake boss was sewn to the corner of the bag, to which the loop of the shoulder strap clung. The shoulder strap was folded into a “cow” knot, into the center of which the neck of the bag was threaded, after which the knot was tightened. In this form, the bag was put on and carried behind the fighter’s back.
In 1941, there was a change in the appearance of the duffel bag of the 1930 model: it became slightly smaller, the shoulder strap was narrower and received a lining inside on the shoulders, which required stitching. In 1942, a new simplification followed - the lining in the shoulder strap was abandoned, but the strap itself was made wider. The duffel bag was produced in this form until the end of the 40s. Taking into account the ease of manufacture, the duffel bag became the main means for carrying personal belongings of Red Army soldiers during the Great Patriotic War.

Gas mask bag, model 1939. By 1945, no one removed the gas mask from the supplies of the Red Army soldiers. However, four years of war passed without chemical attacks, and the soldiers tried to get rid of the “unnecessary” piece of equipment by handing it over to the convoy. Often, despite the constant control of the command, gas masks were simply thrown away, and personal belongings were carried in gas mask bags.
During the war, soldiers of even the same unit could have different bags and gas masks. different types. The photo shows a gas mask bag of the 1939 model, released in December 1941. The bag, made of tent fabric, closed with a button. It was much easier to make than the 1936 bag.

Small infantry shovel. During the war, the MPL-50 small infantry shovel underwent a number of changes aimed at simplifying production. At first, the overall design of the tray and shovel remained unchanged, but the fastening of the lining with the back strand began to be done by spot electric welding instead of rivets; a little later they abandoned the crimp ring, continuing to fasten the handle between the strands on rivets.
In 1943, an even more simplified version of the MPL-50 appeared: the shovel became all-stamped. It abandoned the lining with the rear cord, and the shape of the upper part of the front cord became flat (before it was triangular). Moreover, now the front cord began to twist, forming a tube, held together by rivets or welding. The handle was inserted into this tube, hammered tightly until wedging with a shovel tray, after which it was fixed with a screw. The photo shows a shovel of intermediate series - with cords, without a crimp ring, with the lining fastened by spot electric welding.

Pomegranate bag. Each infantryman carried hand grenades, which were normally carried in a special bag on the waist belt. The bag was located on the left back, after the cartridge bag and in front of the grocery bag. It was a rectangular fabric bag with three compartments. The two large ones contained grenades, the third, small one - detonators for them. The grenades were brought into firing position immediately before use. The material of the bag could be canvas, canvas or tent fabric. The bag was closed with a button or a wooden clamp.
The bag contained two old grenades of the 1914/30 model or two RGD-33 (pictured), which were placed with the handles up. The detonators were in paper or rags. Also, four F-1 lemons could be placed in pairs in the bag, and they were located in a unique way: on each grenade, the ignition socket was closed with a special screw plug made of wood or bakelite, while one grenade was placed with the plug down, and the second up. With the adoption of new types of grenades during the war by the Red Army, their placement in a bag was similar to the F-1 grenades. Without significant changes, the grenade bag served from 1941 to 1945.

Soldier's trousers, model 1935. Accepted for supply to the Red Army by the same order as the 1935 tunic, the trousers remained unchanged throughout the Great Patriotic War. They were breeches with high rise, well-fitting at the waist, loose at the top and tightly fitting the calves of the legs.
Strings were sewn along the bottom of the trousers. There were two deep pockets on the sides of the trousers, and another pocket with a flap fastened with a button was located in the back. At the belt, next to the codpiece, there was a small pocket for a mortal medallion. Pentagonal reinforcement pads were sewn onto the knees. The belt had loops for a trouser belt, although the possibility of adjusting the volume was also provided using a strap with a buckle at the back. Bloomers were made from a special double “harem” diagonal and were quite durable.

Soldier's tunic, model 1943. Was introduced by order People's Commissar Defense of the USSR dated January 15, 1943, replacing the 1935 model tunic. The main differences were a soft stand-up collar instead of a turn-down collar. The collar was fastened with two small uniform buttons. The front placket was open and fastened with three buttons through through loops.
On the shoulders there were shoulder straps, for which belt loops were sewn. During wartime, the soldier's tunic did not have pockets; they were introduced later. Pentagonal field shoulder straps were worn on the shoulders in combat conditions. For infantry, the field of the shoulder strap was green, the edging along the edge of the shoulder strap was crimson. The junior command staff's stripes were sewn onto the upper part of the shoulder straps.

Belt. Due to the fact that leather was expensive to process and was often required for the manufacture of more durable and critical items of equipment, by the end of the war, the belt made of braid, reinforced with elements of leather or leather split leather, became more widespread. This type of belt appeared before 1941 and was used until the end of the war.​
Many leather waist belts, differing in detail, came from the Lend-Lease allies. The American belt shown in the photo, 45 mm wide, had a single-prong buckle, like its Soviet counterparts, but it was not made of round wire, but was cast or stamped, with clear corners.
The Red Army also used captured German belts, whose buckle had to be modified because of the design with an eagle and swastika. Most often, these attributes were simply ground off, but when there was free time, the silhouette of a five-pointed star was cut into the buckle. The photo shows another modification option: a hole was punched in the center of the buckle into which a star from a Red Army cap or cap was inserted.

Scout knife HP-40. The 1940 model reconnaissance knife was adopted by the Red Army following the results of the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940, when the need arose for a simple and convenient army combat knife.
Soon the production of these knives was launched by the Trud artel in the village of Vacha ( Gorky Region) and at the Zlatoust Tool Plant in the Urals. Later, HP-40 were manufactured at other enterprises, including besieged Leningrad. Despite the single blueprint, HP-40 different manufacturers differ in details.​
At the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, only intelligence officers were armed with HP-40 knives. For the infantry they were not a statutory weapon, but the closer to 1945, the more and more knives can be seen in photographs of ordinary machine gunners. Production of the HP-40 continued after the war, both in the USSR and in the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact.

Glass flask. Glass flasks were widely used in many armies of the world. The Russian Imperial Army was no exception, from which this type of flask was “inherited” by the Red Army. Despite the fact that flasks made of tin or aluminum that were produced in parallel were more practical, cheap glass containers were good for a mass conscript army.​
The Red Army tried to replace glass flasks with aluminum ones, but they didn’t forget about glass either - on December 26, 1931, another standard for the production of such flasks with a nominal volume of 0.75 and 1.0 liters was approved. With the beginning of the war, glass flasks became the main thing - the shortage of aluminum and the blockade of Leningrad, where most aluminum flasks were produced, had an impact.
The flask was closed with a rubber or wooden stopper with string tied around the neck. Several types of cases were used for carrying, and almost all of them involved wearing the flask on a belt over the shoulder. Structurally, such a case was a simple bag made of fabric with rope ties at the neck. There were variants of covers with soft inserts to protect the flask during impacts - these were used in the Airborne Forces. The glass flask could also be carried in a belt pouch, adopted for aluminum flasks.

Box magazine bag. With the advent of box magazines for the Shpagin submachine gun and with the development of the Sudaev submachine gun with similar magazines, the need arose for a bag to carry them. A magazine bag for a German submachine gun was used as a prototype.
The bag contained three magazines, each of which was designed for 35 rounds. Each PPS-43 was supposed to have two such bags, but wartime photographs show that machine gunners often carried only one. This was due to a certain shortage of stores - in combat conditions they were consumables and got lost easily.
​The bag was made of canvas or canvas and, unlike the German one, it was greatly simplified. The valve was fastened with pegs or wooden brake lugs; there were also options with buttons. At the back of the bag there were sewn loops for threading a waist belt. Bags were worn on a belt in front, which provided quick access to equipped magazines and putting empty ones back. Laying magazines up or down with the neck was not regulated.

Yuft boots. Initially, boots were the only footwear for the Russian soldier: boots with tapes were accepted for supply only at the beginning of 1915, when the army sharply increased in numbers and boots were no longer enough. Soldiers' boots were made from yuft leather and were supplied to all branches of the military in the Red Army.​
In the mid-30s, tarpaulin was invented in the USSR - a material with a fabric base, onto which artificial sodium butadiene rubber was applied to imitate the texture of leather. With the beginning of the war, the problem of supplying the mobilized army with shoes became acute, and the “damn leather” came in handy - the Red Army soldiers’ boots became tarpaulin.
By 1945, the typical Soviet infantryman was wearing kirzachi or boots with tapes, but experienced soldiers sought to get leather boots for themselves. The photo shows the infantryman wearing yuft boots, with leather soles and leather heels.

Related materials:

A series of documentary photographs for Victory Day in the Second World War 1941-1945. Rare photo And unique shots WWII times. Black and white photos military equipment and combatants. Photos from the scenes of events, in memory of the defenders of the Motherland - your feat is not forgotten. We look at online documentary photos of the Second World War 1941-1945.

The commander of the 3rd battalion of the motorized regiment "Der Fuhrer" of the SS division "Das Reich", SS Hauptsturmführer Vinzenz Kaiser (right) with officers on the Kursk Bulge.

The commander of the 5th SS Wiking Panzer Division, Standartenführer Johannes-Rudolf Mühlenkamp with a fox terrier in the Kovel area.

Commander of the Red Banner partisan detachment named after Chkalov S.D. Penkin.

The commander of the K-3 submarine, Lieutenant Commander K.I. Malafeev at the periscope.

The commander of the rifle battalion Romanenko talks about the military affairs of the young intelligence officer - Vitya Zhaivoronka.

The commander of the Pz.kpfw VI "Tiger" tank No. 323 of the 3rd company of the 503rd heavy tank battalion, non-commissioned officer Futermeister, shows the mark of a Soviet shell on the armor of his tank.

Tank commander, Lieutenant B.V. Smelov shows a hole in the turret of a German Tiger tank, knocked out by Smelov’s crew, to Lieutenant Likhnyakevich (who knocked out the last battle 2 fascist tanks).

The commander of the Finnish 34th squadron (Lentolaivue-34), Major Eino Luukkanen, at the Utti airfield near the Messerschmitt Bf.109G-2 fighter.

Squadron commander from the 728th IAP I.A. Ivanenkov (right) listens to the report of the I-16 fighter pilot Denisov on the completion of a combat mission. Kalinin Front, January 1943.

The commander of a squadron of Soviet American-made A-20 Boston bombers, Major Orlov, puts combat mission flight crew. North Caucasus.

Commanders of the 29th tank brigade The Red Army near an armored car BA-20 in Brest-Litovsk.

Command post of the 178th artillery regiment(45th rifle division) Major Rostovtsev in the basement of the calibration shop of the Red October plant.

Komsomol card of the deceased Red Army soldier Kazakh Nurmakhanov No. 20405684 with the entry on the pages “I will die but not a step back.” 3rd Belorussian Front.

Krasnaya Zvezda correspondents Zakhar Khatsrevin and Boris Lapin question the German defector. Both correspondents died while trying to break out of the Kyiv pocket on September 19, 1941.

Red Army signalman Mikhail Usachev leaves his autograph on the wall of the Reichstag.

Red Army soldiers capture a damaged one on the battlefield near Mozdok german tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf F-2. The tank does not have a front-mounted machine gun.

Red Army soldiers in position with captured German machine gun MG-34. On the right is machine gunner V. Kuzbaev.

Red Army soldiers examine the German trench they captured on the Panther line. The corpses of German soldiers are visible at the bottom and parapet of the trench.

Red Army soldiers surrender to the soldiers of the 9th motorized infantry company of the 2nd SS Reich Division on a village street.

Red Army soldiers at the grave of a friend. 1941

Levi Chase is one of three pilots who scored aerial victories over aircraft of three Axis powers - Germany, Japan and Italy. In total, Chase shot down 12 enemy aircraft during the war.

The light cruiser Santa Fe approaches the damaged aircraft carrier Franklin.

German soldiers inspect a damaged Soviet T-34 tank.

German soldiers inspect a Soviet Ar-2 dive bomber shot down near Demyansk. A very rare car (only about 200 were produced).

German soldiers near the remains of a Soviet KV-2 tank destroyed as a result of the detonation of ammunition.

German tanks Pz.Kpfw. VI "Tiger" 505th heavy tank battalion near the city of Velikiye Luki.

German Admiral Karl Dönitz (center). Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces from April 30 to May 23, 1945.

German ace Heinz (Oskar-Heinrich) "Pritzl" Bär inspects what he shot down American bomber B-17.

A German paratrooper looks at a pile of captured weapons captured in the city of Corinth (Greece). In the foreground and to the right of the paratrooper are captured Greek officers.

A German paratrooper (Fallschirmjäger) poses with a captured English Bren machine gun.

German fighter Messerschmitt Bf.109G-10 from 6.JG51 at the Raab airfield in Hungary. This plane was flown by Lieutenant Kühlein.

The German battleship Tirpitz is under attack from British aircraft. Operation Tungsten April 3, 1943. A direct hit to the tower is clearly visible.

A German Oberfeldwebel prepares a site for demolition railway in the Grodno region. At the moment of the photograph, the Oberfeldwebel inserts the fuse into a stick of dynamite. July 16 - 17, 1944

German field uniform repair point. From the album of a private (from 1942 - corporal) of the 229th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Light Infantry Division.

German crew inside an assault gun.

German prisoners of war are led through the Majdanek concentration camp. In front of the prisoners on the ground lie the remains of death camp prisoners, and the crematorium ovens are also visible. Outskirts of the Polish city of Lublin.

German General Anton Dostler, sentenced to death on charges of executing 15 surrendered American saboteurs, is tied to a stake before being shot.

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On this page we have collected resources that will help you find a soldier (deceased relative or friend), search for those killed and missing in the Great Patriotic War.

Volunteer project “Archive Battalion”

Volunteer project " Archive battalion» for the restoration of information about participants in wars of the 20th century accepts and processes applications for research battle path participants of the Great Patriotic War.

People's project “Establishing the fate of missing defenders of the Fatherland”

At present, the fate of more than 4.7 million defenders of the Fatherland who went missing during the Great Patriotic War has not been established. There are still remains of a large number Russian soldiers and officers remain unburied.

Memory of the people

The People's Memory project was implemented in accordance with the decision of the Russian Victory Organizing Committee of July 2013, supported by the instructions of the President and the Decree of the Russian Government in 2014. The project provides for publication on the Internet archival documents and documents on the losses and awards of soldiers and officers of the First World War, the development of previously implemented projects by the Russian Ministry of Defense about the Second World War OBD Memorial and Feat of the People into one project - Memory of the People.

Feat of the people

Ministry of Defence Russian Federation represents a unique information resource open access, filled with all documents available in military archives about the progress and results of major military operations, exploits and awards of all soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. As of August 8, 2012, the data bank contains information about 12,670,837 awards.

Generalized database "Memorial"

The generalized data bank contains information about the defenders of the Fatherland who died and disappeared during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war period. The work was done on a large scale: collected and translated into electronic view tens of thousands of documents, totaling more than 10 million sheets. Contained in them personal information amounted to more than 20 million records.

Immortal Regiment of Russia

All-Russian public civil-patriotic movement " Immortal Regiment Russia" collects stories about participants in the Great Patriotic War. The database is updated daily. Here you can not only add your veteran soldier to the all-Russian “piggy bank”, but also search for existing ones.

Electronic book of memory “Immortal Regiment - Moscow”

“Immortal Regiment - Moscow” together with the “My Documents” State Service Centers are collecting information about residents of the capital who took part in the Great Patriotic War. Now there are already more than 193 thousand names in the archive.

“Soldat.ru” - database of those killed in the Second World War

Soldat.ru - the oldest portal Russian Internet to establish the fate of dead and missing military personnel and search for their loved ones.

"The Winners" - Soldiers of the Great War

With our project we want to thank by name the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War living next to us and talk about their feat. The “Winners” project was created for the 60th anniversary of the Victory. Then we managed to collect lists of more than a million veterans living near us.

The site also contains a stunning interactive and animated map of the fighting of the Great Patriotic War.

Electronic memorial “Remember About”

On the social website “PomniPro”, each registered user can create a memory page, a photo gallery of a deceased loved one and loved one, talk about his biography, honor the memory of the deceased, leave words of memory and gratitude. You can also find a deceased relative and friend, search for those killed and missing in the Great Patriotic War.

Memorial of the Great Patriotic War

The site is conceived as a people's encyclopedia, a virtual Memorial to the fallen participants Great War, where everyone can leave their comments on any entry, supplement information about the War Participant with photographs and memories, and turn to other project participants for help. There are about 60,000 project participants. More than 400,000 cards have been registered.

MIPOD "Immortal Regiment"

The site has a large database of participants in the Great Patriotic War. The chronicle is maintained by community members. Now there are more than 400 thousand names in the archive.

Find a soldier. Memo for those who are looking for their heroes

1. Check the data on the OBD Memorial website

When checking data about a person, open the “advanced search” tab and make attempts by typing only the last name, then the last name and first name, then the full data. Also try to check the information by setting the last name parameters, and the first and patronymic parameters only with initials.

2. Send a request to the archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The request must be sent to the address: 142100 Moscow region, Podolsk, Kirova St., 74. "Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation."

Enclose the letter in the envelope, clearly stating the information you have and stating the purpose of the request. Enclose one blank envelope with your home address as the recipient's address.

3. Check the data on the “Feat of the People” website

If you do not have information on awards, you can go to the “Feat of the People” website. In the “People and Awards” tab, enter the information requested.

4. Check parameter information

There are additional ways that can also help you find and identify information about your veteran. The website “Soldat.ru” presents a list of search technologies, we draw your attention to some of them:

• Database of Internet links to school museums of the Russian Federation, which have exhibitions about the combat routes of units and formations of the Soviet Army
• How to establish the fate of a serviceman who died or went missing during the Great Patriotic War
• Information on materials held by the International Red Cross Tracing Service
• Request forms for search, evacuation and search of graves through the Tracing and Information Center of the Russian Red Cross (