As the Soviet Union archives become more available to the west, WWII Soviet unit designations are being revised as new information surfaces. For example, state of the art research in 1987 found 331 Soviet Rifle Divisions, and yet, in 2000, the number is now 638, which does not include approximately 120 Guard-Unit conversions and 50 or so Rifle Divisions in the Far East. This number does include ethnic, mountain, and motorized divisions. One note about Soviet numbering is that the army often re-used the numbers, as they were big on lineage and tradition. For example, the 437th and 438th were renumbered 71st and 24th Rifle Divisions.

As for Rifle Brigades, these were "emergency use" formations originally formed for specialty reasons, like garrison duty on islands and so on. There were a total of 327 formed during the war, frequently in 1941, less so as time went on. The reason? They were the fastest units that could be formed, often put together in a matter of weeks.

For cavalry divisions, approximately 21 were raised, each with a pre-war strength of around 6000 men and a wartime strength of 3000-3500. Another 68 cavalry brigades were raised. There was also another 20-30 raised in Central Asia.

In 1943, a Cavalry Corp. has the same supporting Anti-Tank, Anti-Aircraft and artillery units as a Tank Corp. They later added a tank regiment of about 140 tanks. Thus, by 1944, a Cavalry Corp. was the equivalent of a 20,000-man Panzer Grenadier Corp. with intrinsic transport. They generally rode in mounted and went into battle dismounted. They were very mobile and able to operate in the horrendous mud.

Tank Brigades

The Soviets raised 264 tank brigades, which were used as an independent unit in 1941 and '42. By the end of 1942, they were mostly disbanded and replaced with Tank Regiments (30-40 tanks). By 1944, there were only 30 tank brigades left. The Soviets raised 171 of them.

Artillery

Artillery Regiments and Brigades have almost doubled, from 555 in 1987 to 956 in 2000. Evidently, the USSR pumped out a lot more of the vaunted artillery units than once thought. Most are 152mm and less, as the factory making 203mm heavy artillery was overrun by the end of 1941. Those remaining 203mm units were pulled way back behind the lines and placed with the Far East Reserve until later in the war.

Engineers

These Brigades have been revised downward, from 176 to 152 units. In 1944, four of these units received two tank regiments each, of which one was equipped with flamethrower tanks.

Garrisons

These were positioned behind the front lines and include activities such as training, security, and reserves. In some cases, these included NKVD.

Foreign

Including units in 1945, approximately 43 were raised by the end of the war. This number includes the 13th and 14th Polish Infantry divisions forming up as the war ended, the 2nd Romanian Communist Infantry Division, the Czechoslovakia Corps (four Infantry division cadres and support), and Hungarian and Yugoslavian units.

Commandos

Although most have heard of the German Brandenburg commandos, about four units of the forerunner of the Soviet Spetznatz was formed during the war. For example, one was called the "Special Motorized Brigade for Special Purposes." Formed from NKVD sporting clubs, the brigade performed partisan support, deep recon, and sabotage activities. There was also a Naval commando unit with a specialty in coordinating naval bombardments.

Border Guard Regiments

Now up to 118 units including Central Asia. The original 54 didn't include a "second set" behind the front lines. These "blocking detachments" include NKVD units.

Self-Propelled Artillery

This was raised from three to 55 units, primarily SU-76 units in direct rifle support. These were particularly effective on the defense and indeed, those heavy units had the lowest loss rate in the war.

Dog Units

"Mine Dogs" did exist. There were three companies of "Tank Destroyers." These dogs were trained to run under enemy tanks with explosives.

However, a more numerous use for dogs were for "sniffing-out" land mines. The dog units were attached to engineer units.

Why dogs? Mine detectors were in short supply. It wasn't until 1943 that supplies (via US lend lease) started to flow into the USSR. The 2nd Regt. received a special citation for clearing mines around Prague. It's estimated to have saved 10,000 men from injury had humans been exclusively employed in clearing.

The most common breed was the Rotweiler. The Russian translation of the word is "the German Dog."

Lectures

WWII Soviet Units Raised by Charles Sharp
Panel Discussion: 1944-45 by all
Sedan, France 1940 by Jon House

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com