The Russian Special Forces

[Aardvark111]

All text in link Russian! Google-translator in help!

First of all that in Russia understand as special forces:

Подразделение специального назначения â€" Ð'икипедия

From the description of Russian forces of a special purpose follows that their bases have been put even in civil war in Spain by Starinovym:


It is possibly possible to consider as the Russian theorist and the author of the ideology and the concept of application of special forces Svechnikova M. S who has had time to transfer many ideas to listeners of Military Academies, followers and supporters. Practical realization and real check of ideas is possibly begun by Starinovym I. G, it organizes the first fighting application during civil war in Spain. Possibly there was a fruitful ideological exchange between Svechnikovym M. S and Starinovym I. G, during study of the last in Academy.

Подразделения специального назначения Ð*оссийской Федерации â€" Ð'икипедия

As which consider as the founder of special troops:

СÑ'аринов, Илья Ð"ригорьевич â€" Ð'икипедия

The interesting moment!
-Starinov at war in Spain and passed all Second World War has died in 2000 at the age of 100 years!
-It is considered that Ernest Hemingway described it in the novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" calls.

The most significant operations which have been carried out under the direction of Starinova

In Spain:
Destruction of a staff of the Italian aviadivision;
Wreck of a train with Moroccans, wreck of a military echelon in the tunnel, interrupted for a long time important enemy communications;
Conclusion out of operation for a week of communications between Southern and Madrid fronts of the opponent.

During the Great Patriotic War:
In October, 1941 — transformation of the Kharkov means of communication practically in a trap for the opponent (explosion by a radio-controlled mine of the Sverdlovsk overpass through South trance way) that has complicated German approach.
Has made the most known explosion of a radio-controlled mine. On a signal of Starinova from Voronezh in 3:30 nights on November, 14th, 1941 on air during a banquet the German staff in Kharkov (street Dzerzhinsky, 17 has flied up; the former party private residence in which there lived at first Kosior, then Khruschev) together with the commander of 68th infantry division вермахта, the chief of garrison lieutenant general George a background Brown, the cousin well-known rocket Verner Brown's background. The sapper engineer-captain Gejden, under whose management have cleared of mines a building and have neutralized the false mine put under a heap of coal in a boiler-house of a private residence, has been degraded. In revenge for explosion Germans have hung up fifty and two hundred hostages-harkovchan have shot. [2]
In February, 1942 — ice campaigns through gulf of Taganrog in which result the highway Mariupol — Rostov-on-Don has been put out of action and the garrison of Germans on the Slanting Mountain is crushed.
Creation of diversionary service in the Ukrainian guerrilla formations and in the Ukrainian staff of guerrilla movement in 1943 therefore in Ukraine it has been made over 3500 wrecks of trains whereas in 1942 — only 202.
In 1944 — a professional training and creation of guerrilla formations Ukrainian the guerrilla for guerrilla war abroad — in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania.

Starinov grants, including absolutely confidential, concerning conducting guerrilla war which were used at training the guerrilla are written.

Other prototype of special troops possibly is Assault engineering-sapper brigade which were created with caution on experience of actions German stormgrenadiers of the First World War.

ШÑ'урмовая инженерно-сапÑ'рная бригада â€" Ð'икипедия
It were special forces submitting directly to the rate of Stavka and having Special equipment, including prototypes of modern bullet-proof vests, machine guns and flame throwers.

"" - - - , , ,

But despite all it officially the special troops have been created in 1950!

B.R. Serge.

 

[mikewint]

There is was an entire thread about this with excellent info by one of our russian members. Not sure of the title any more, might have been 6 - 8 months ago.
As a sidelight: every army has created "Special Forces" at some time or other. In the US, going back to the French and Indian wars. 1754 Rodgers Rangers was formed as a militia unit attached to the British army.
Three military formations now claim descent from Rogers' Rangers:
* The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) of the Canadian Army, formed from Loyalist veterans of Rogers' Rangers, including Rogers himself;
* The 1st Battalion 119th Field Artillery of the Michigan National Guard, with members directly descended by unbroken lines from the 30-strong detachment of Rogers' Rangers stationed in Fort Detroit; and
* The U.S. Army Rangers, who claim they revive the traditions of Rogers' Rangers but whose members have no direct personal line of descent.

 

[davebender]

The Garde-Jäger-Battalion dates to 1762. I doubt Britain had commandos at an earlier date.

As for the Soviet Union....
They had a large airborne force from the 1930s onward. Both the GRU and NKVD had numerous intelligence gathering and assassination teams active throughout the world during the 1930s. Numerous former Czarist military officers were killed during that time frame. They also killed Trotsky in Mexico, operating from a drug store in New Mexico. The NKVD controlled the so called "International Brigades" which were organized in France and fought in Spain.

The most important Soviet special forces operations of WWII probably consisted of organizing small military units behind German lines whose primary purpose was to terrorize civilians that worked for Germany in any capacity. They performed a similiar function in the Balkans.

 

[parsifal]

I would categorize the Soviet Siberian Divs as special forces, though were not special forces in the british Commando sense The Siberian divisions, had good training for the winter and it gave them an advantage against the germans.

At Stalingrad the Soviets had a specially trained sniper division, though it never operated as a division In Stalingrad both sides used a lot of commando tactics : the Soviets attacked germans on all sides by sneaking in the sewers. Even if the soldiers didn't have proper training, they learned a lot by experience. You could consider most of the Stalingrad survivors has a special force in the red army, specialized in urban war and tactics.

 

[parsifal]

The Garde-Jäger-Battalion dates to 1762. I doubt Britain had commandos at an earlier date.

.

Garde jagers are german Light Infantry that, like the british Light infantry formations were used as sharpshooters. Whats unique about the German jagers, is that jagers were the standard line Infantry during the napoleonic wars. they actually were generally not a success against Napoleon, being unable to resist the heavy cavalry and bayonet charges that were charactericstic of the Napoleonic war.

British developed the concept of sharpshooter somewhat further during the Peninsula wars, forming entire regiments equipped with quick firing rifles. I believe the whole idea of sharpshooters equipped with long range rifles were taken from the experiences against the American frontiersmen at battles like saratoga, where officers had been specifically targetted.

The word sniper comes from the British Indian Army, and dates back to the 1770s. It refers to any soldier with the reflexes and accuracy to bring down a Snipe....a fast and small bird found in india apparently.

I think the first real special forces in the western armies might be the Red Indian scouts used on the frontiers. These guys, from all that i have read had exceptional skills at evasion and stealth ., and were used by the french the Brits and the Americans in their colonial wars

 

[mikewint]

Parsifal- not sure that I would classify native scout forces as being "Special Forces" except in the broadest general terms. In the US I still have to come back to Rodger's Rangers as an attached unit in the regular army (see #22 above)

 

[davebender]

German Jaeger battalions continued to evolve after 1815.

The HKK2 movement across Belgium during August 1914 in advance of German 1st Army is one of the more outstanding examples of what Jaeger could accomplish against larger enemy forces. 5 Jaeger battalions (3, 4, 7, 9 and 10) were attached to 2nd Cavalry Corps for that operation.

Jaeger battalions also formed the core of the Alpenkorps, a hardcore unit that specialized in mountain warfare. Erwin Rommel served in that unit for much of WWI. His book "Infantry Attacks" has excellent descriptions of some of their small unit actions.

 

[Aardvark111]

As for the Soviet Union....
Both the GRU and NKVD had numerous intelligence gathering and assassination teams active throughout the world during the 1930s. Numerous former Czarist military officers were killed during that time frame.

Yes but what this relation has with special troops? Special troops it all the same military divisions of regular army operating during war.
And murders in 1930, 1940 1950 years were carried out by employees of special departments of Intelligence, and frequently it there were individually prepared prepared agents directly for such missions. As the example is Trotsky's murder or considered as last officially recognized murder of the leader of the Ukrainian nationalists of Stepan Bandera*. But it no more than the special operations of Intelligence spent and before and after those many Intelligence Agency of world.

Probably the mess occurs in view of that in Russian terminology there is a military(voennaya) intelligence and army (voiskovaya) intelligence.
Words the voennaya (military) and voiskovaya (army) have similar sounding but a bit different put sense in Russian

By the way actions of army prospecting groups in territory of Germany of 1944-1945 according to this source:
A.Kolpakydy. D.Prokhorov. "Empire GRU".
Moscov. OLMA-PRESS.2000.
ISBN 5-224-00600-7
ISBN 5-224-00766-6

have appeared are rather inefficient.

So for example here that write in the book mentioned by me concerning disembarkation of scouts-saboteurs to territory of Germany in 1944-1945: «From 120 skilled scouts and the agents directed by us from Brest and Kobrin in the live has escaped all from tens the persons who hardly have survived before arrival in area of their disembarkation of the Soviet armies»
It was promoted as miscalculations in the preparation prospecting by operations and agencies, and very effective system of measures of counteraction created by the Germans, based basically on the help of indigenous population of Germany



_______________________________________________________________
*- On October, 15th, 1959 Stepan Bandera has been killed by the agent of KGB Bogdanom Stashinsky [37] at a house entrance in which he lived with a family. On a ladder to it have shot at the person from the special device [37] stream of a solution of potassium cyanide. Stepan Bandera has been buried on October, 20th on a cemetery of Valdfridhof (it. Waldfriedhof) in Munich. After his death the organization was headed by S.Lenkavsky.

The board of Foreign parts OUN in day of death of the head has declared that this political murder — continuation of a series of the murders begun in 1926 by murder of Simona Petlyura in Paris, and in 1938 — Evgenie Konovaltsa in Rotterdam.

On November, 17th, 1961 German judicial bodies declared that the agent of KGB Bogdan Stashinsky was the murderer. On October, 8-15th, 1962 in Germany the court over Stashinsky (spring of 1961 it has taken place has run across from East Berlin in Western, where has addressed in the American representation with a recognition in murder of Bandery and, two years earlier, one of heads OUN (Lva Rebeta, the editor of "Ukra§nskogo Samost_jnika", old political opponent Bandery and it OUN (). On court Stashinsky has given evidences that it operated under instructions of a management of the USSR. On October, 19th the sentence according to which Stashinsky have condemned for 8 years of a high security has been announced. Litigation over Stashinsky has become history of German jurisprudence under the name «Staschinski-Fall» («business Stashinsky») and even has led to certain legislative reforms of German criminal law.

KGB management denied the participation in murder of Bandery until recently. Only in 2005 the former chairman of KGB of the USSR Vladimir Krjuchkov recognized that «Stepan Bandery's murder was one of the last killed KGB violent methods of undesirable elements» [38].

Ð'андера, СÑ'епан Андреевич â€" Ð'икипедия