Topic's covered for the greater part by the links, only one minor nitpick: the Guard units would be the first to get new equipment and they'd also have priority in support.
Re: Soviet forces structure
Topic's covered for the greater part by the links, only one minor nitpick: the Guard units would be the first to get new equipment and they'd also have priority in support.
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Re: Soviet forces structure
Agreed... They were more than 'just' units with a citation, more along the lines of the German Volksgrenadiers (before Hitler began forming new half-crap units called that). They are a sort of Heer elite units that also had priority to an extent.Originally Posted by Rosacrux redux
Last edited by Kraxis; 11-25-2005 at 14:37.
You may not care about war, but war cares about you!
Re: Soviet forces structure
What is a Volksgrenadier? I know Panzergrenadier (which means motorized infantry) and Volkssturm (which means cannon fodder).
Re: Soviet forces structure
They started out as a given name to infantrydivisions that did very good in battle. But over time Hitler thought it was good to expand their ranks, and gave the name to pretty much every division he liked to. And finally a whole structure was built up around that, so that the Volksgrenadier divisions were more like weakened infantrydivisions filled with worst of the accepted soldiers.
The soldiers were enrolled in the army unlike the Volksturm and they had a real command structure and divisional level equipment, something the Volksturm always lacked.
In battle these formations were meant to soak up allied or Russian attacks so that the real army units could move in and deal with them. A very wasteful strategy, but it actually worked quite well in the east.
You may not care about war, but war cares about you!
Re: Soviet forces structure
Rodmitsev's 13th Guards Division. They landed to the south and saved the rail station. The lead units took 30% casualties going up the riverbank alone. That was earlier, by Uranus 62nd was getting only the minimum it needed to not be overrun. The factories were held primarily by Batyuk's 286th Siberean Division.If I remember correctly one of the Soviet Guard brigades reinforced the Stalingrad factory area at a crucial moment, when the Soviet Operation Uranus was about to be launched. Holding the city and thus the line in front of the German 6th Army city was important for Operation Uranus to be as successful as it was. That's probably one of the more important tasks where Soviet Guards brigades were involved during ww2.
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Re: Soviet forces structure
Here's some good info on the Red Army structure and TO&E
General info about the Red army of WWII
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/...y/red_army.htm
Russian Rifle Battalion
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/..._battalion.htm
Reduced Strength Rifle Battalions
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/..._battalion.htm
The Russian Motor Rifle Battalion
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/..._battalion.htm
The Russian Ski Battalion
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/..._battalion.htm
The Russian Tank Battalion
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/..._battalion.htm
Russian Divisional Organisations
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/...anisations.htm
Red Army TO&E, info about ranks and stuff
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/.../battalion.htm
Rifle Company TO&E
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/...%20Company.htm
Support Company TO&E
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/..._companies.htm
Battalion Headquarters TO&E
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/...adquarters.htm
If you want to see the structure and TO&E of more WWII armies, here's the site's index...
http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/index.htm
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Re: Soviet forces structure
I was going to add some information - but the links provide do a decent job and saves me from having to type.
Good info on the Guards Divisions and Stalingrad Jimbob.
O well, seems like 'some' people decide to ruin a perfectly valid threat. Nice going guys... doc bean
Re: Soviet forces structure
If I remember correctly one of the Soviet Guard brigades reinforced the Stalingrad factory area at a crucial moment, when the Soviet Operation Uranus was about to be launched. Holding the city and thus the line in front of the German 6th Army city was important for Operation Uranus to be as successful as it was. That's probably one of the more important tasks where Soviet Guards brigades were involved during ww2.
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