This book is an absolute gem!
As somebody who was brought up on D-Day and Arnhem, my knowledge of the Eastern Front is pretty limited. Sure, I know about Stalingrad, the Kursk, Berlin, that kind of thing. But to say I know very little about the Red Army is an understatement indeed.
In concept this book is very similar to the ‘handbook’ series produced by Sutton, but bigger, shinier, and more detailed. My first thought was, how the hell did they get hold of all this militaria and ephemera? If it’s somebody’s personal collection, it must have taken them years – and a decent bank balance – to acquire. Some of the photographs in particular have never been seen before.
Im also glad to say its not just a nerdy look at trinkets. If there is one thing that you can say about the Red Army, it is that it was very much a child of its contexts. And those contexts are very important – Lenin and the 1917 Revolution, the Civil War, Stalin and the Great Purges, and the Spanish Civil War. The fact that Russian -and indeed Soviety – history, culture and society are so different from what we know in the west make it all the more important for us to come to terms with peculiarities such as the commisar and womens service.
It’s jammed full of statistics – hardware, manpower and units – and also gives good coverage to the different arms of service – infantry, cavalry, ski troops, parachutists, armour, and services such as the signals, medics, engineers, NKVD and partisans. But it is in medals, orders, badges and insignia where things get really crazy. For what was supposed to be a classless society, the USSR had an unbelievable amount of decorations, rank distinctions and identifying marks! The possibilities for different arm of service colours on headwear, sleeves and shoulder boards are mind boggling!
The amount of different headgear and uniforms is also interesting – in particular my personal favourite, the Ushanka. Of course, the Red Army also developed much specialist equipment and clothing for cold weather fighting, such as warm footwear and greatcoats. Personal Equipment and small arms are also covered, and the book finishes with a number of portrait studies and interpretations of Red Army figures. An Infanty Kapitan in Brest-Litovsk in 1941, for example, or a Serzhant of the Guards Infantry in Poland in July 1944.
I should imagine anyone wanting to re-enact the Red Army would find this absolutely invaluable.
The Soviet Soldier of World War Two is published by Histoire et Collections
Definitely sounds like a book for re-enactors by re-enactors – but good for other readers as well. (I’d really like a copy – gotta start my Christmas list!) Part of the myriad was, when morale was plummeting in late 1941-early 1942, the Red Army hierarchy recreated the Guards designation for all sorts of units. (The Guards were originally like the British Army, basically Royal units.) Ad to the fact that the Soviets, like the late-war Germans, were pulling just about anybody into the Army to stop the Germans, you end up with naval, marine, and even some air force units fighting as infantry. Quite the potpourri of units!
Great review – now if I could just afford this beauty.
Pingback: détatouage