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List of Soviet military units that lost their standards in World War II

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During World War II each unit of the Red Army had a military standard, as required by the Decree on Revolutionary Red Banners of the WPRA Units from 11 June 1926 (superseded by the Decree on the Red Banner of the Military Units of the Red Army from 21 December 1942).[1] The standards were typically in the form of a rectangular red banner with the Soviet state emblem and the unit's name on the front side. The decree required the standard to be present at the battlefield.[1] The loss of the standard "due to faintheartedness" was punishable by court-martial and the disbandment of the military unit.[1] On several occasions the standards were saved at the cost of life or hidden to prevent their capture.[2] However, within months following the invasion of the Soviet Union the Germans captured dozens of Soviet regimental and divisional standards.[2] Some others were later either retrieved or substituted with new ones.

Battalions

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Unit Details of the standard's loss
97th Separate Communication Battalion Captured by the Germans in 1941[3]
132nd Separate NKVD Escort Troops Battalion Captured by the Germans after the defense of Brest Fortress, being found under the fortress' ruins[4]
573rd Communication Battalion Stolen due to negligence of Lieutenant Pavlov. Captain Rutkovsky, who entrusted the standard to Pavlov, was arrested for 15 days, reduced in rank, and had half of his salary withheld[5]

Regiments

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Unit Details of the standard's loss
8th Guards Airborne Rifle Regiment Lost in 1944 during the battle of Nyíregyháza. Because the regiment's personnel had been killed in action while protecting the standard, the People's Commissar of Defense allowed the regiment to receive a new standard and retain its Guards status.[1]
9th Vyborg Rifle Regiment Captured by the Germans in 1941[6]
10th Guards Airborne Rifle Regiment Lost in 1944 during the battle of Nyíregyháza. Alongside the 8th Guards Airborne Rifle Regiment, the regiment was allowed by the People's Commissar of Defense to receive a new standard and retain its Guards status, as its personnel had also died while protecting the standard.[1]
16th Rifle Regiment Lost in unclear circumstances after the battle on 10 February 1943, the prosecutor's investigation was inconclusive.[5]
30th Horse Artillery Regiment Captured by the Wehrmacht during the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula[7]
43rd Guards Mortar Regiment Went missing in the summer of 1942 during an encirclement in Salsk Steppe. The regiment was disbanded, but after it was revealed that the standard had actually been given to a shepherd to prevent its capture, the unit was restored under its original name.[1]
59th Honorary Revolutionary Separate Regiment Captured by Finnish troops[8]
71st Howitzer Regiment Captured by the Germans during the Battle of Uman[9]
99th Communication Regiment Captured by the Germans during the Battle of Uman[9]
133rd Rifle Regiment Captured by the Germans below Uman[10]
214th Cavalry Regiment Lost on 26 October 1944 due to internal mismanagement during the battle of Nagykálló. As the result, the regiment was transformed into a penal military unit and its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Danilevich, was reduced in rank to major. In February 1945 the regiment was restored to its original status. This is the only case of punishment of the entire unit for the loss of standard during the war.[1]
220th Cavalry Regiment Lost in 1944 during the battle of Nagykálló, and later retrieved after eight days[1]
243rd Howitzer Artillery Regiment Captured by the Germans in 1941[3]
243rd Rifle Regiment Captured by the Germans in 1941[11]
283rd Corps Artillery Regiment Captured by the Germans in the village Podvysokoye (present Ukraine), hung at the headquarters of commander Ludwig Kübler[10]
479th Anti-Aircraft Regiment Captured in 1941[3]
754th Howitzer Artillery Regiment Burned down in February 1944 after the staff car transporting it had been directly hit by an aircraft bomb[5]
945th Rifle Regiment Captured by the Germans in 1945 during the battle of Metgethen[12]
975th Artillery Regiment Lost in action during the Second Battle of Kharkov. The regiment was disbanded and transformed into a rifle regiment.[13]

Divisions

[edit]
Unit Details of the standard's loss
18th Rifle Division Captured in 1940 by Finnish troops during the Winiter War[14]
23rd Guards Rifle Division Burned down on 24 April 1945 after the staff car transporting it had been fired upon during the Battle of Berlin[5]
24th Samara–Ulyanovsk Rifle Division Lost within weeks after the invasion of the Soviet Union. Retrieved after the liberation of Smolensk Oblast[1]
44th Guards Rifle Division Lost during transportation. Private Tuchin, who was ultimately responsible for the standard's transportation, shot himself. Two other responsible persons, Captain Ustinov and starshina Pestov, were court-martialed and sentenced to 10 and 7 years in prison, respectively. As the standard had been lost due to negligence and not at the battlefield, the division was ultimately allowed to receive a new standard.[5]
86th Rifle Division Burned down in the division's headquarters during the German bombing of Ciechanowiec in 1941[15]
181st Rifle Division Captured in August 1942 when the division's commander Major General Timofey Novikov and his entourage tried to escape from encirclement[16]
299th Rifle Division Captured by the Germans during the battle of Dedilovo in 1941[17]
335th Rifle Division Lost during the division's escape from encirclement in 1942[18]
365th Rifle Division Lost around 17 February 1942 during the division's attempt to escape from encirclement in the Battles of Rzhev[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Мороз Андрей Витальевич (2011). "Штрафной полк" (in Russian). CyberLeninka. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Сохранить честь. Как русские воины спасали свои знамена от врага" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Руслан Иринархов. Агония 1941. Кровавые дороги отступления (in Russian). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  4. ^ ""Объявить НКВД преступной организацией"". Za Russkoye Delo (in Russian). 27 November 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e Децюк Андрей Русланович (2017). "Советские воинские знамена 1941-1945 годов: социокультурный аспект" (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow Region State University. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Немецкие солдаты с захваченными советскими полковыми знаменами" (in Russian). Waralbum. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Stock Photo". Agefotostock. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  8. ^ Zovfefe (2017-07-18). "Finnish soldiers pose with a captured Soviet flag, date unknown. [4961x3663]". r/MilitaryPorn. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  9. ^ a b Олег Нуждин. Уманский "котел". Трагедия 6-й и 12-й армий (in Russian). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Знамена конкретных частей Советской армии и частей МВД" (in Russian). Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Немецкие солдаты позируют с захваченным знаменем советского 243-го стрелкового полка" (in Russian). Waralbum. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  12. ^ Верхотуров Дмитрий Николаевич. Клевета на Победу [Как оболгали Красную Армию-освободительницу] (in Russian). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  13. ^ Бакланов Григорий. Жизнь, подаренная дважды (in Russian). Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Cross of Sorrow". heninen.net. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  15. ^ Егоров Дмитрий. 1941. Разгром Западного фронта (in Russian). Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  16. ^ "181-я стрелковая дивизия— соединение РККА в Великой Отечественной войне" (in Russian). RKKAWWII.ru. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  17. ^ Александр Лепехин. На Дедиловском направлении. Великая Отечественная война на территории Киреевского района (in Russian). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  18. ^ Ромайкин Иван Александрович (2012). "Боевой путь 355-ой Кировской стрелковой дивизии Калининского фронта (26.12.1941 – сер. июля 1942 гг.)". Исторические исследования: материалы Междунар. науч. конф. (in Russian). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  19. ^ Д. С. Никифоров. "История боевого пути 365 гвардейской стрелковой дивизии первого формирования" (PDF) (in Russian). Ural State Pedagogical University. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
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