Author Nikolai Sechuk
In this article, we will discuss the final years of the Soviet army horse team and the involvement of the military department behind the scenes in filming – not only the military units, but even the General Staff were involved in activities far from the needs of national defense.
The horses of the Soviet army left
In 1954, with the dissolution of the Soviet Cavalry and Equestrian Supervision Bureau, the age of cavalry came to an end. In 1956, the purchase of military horses was discontinued and defense funds under the items "Horses - Soviet Army" and "Defense - Carriages and Harnesses" were abolished. From then on, cavalry units existed only in the Soviet KGB border guards – where border conditions were required. But until about the early 1960s, the army still used horses—in areas where horses had not been replaced by vehicles. For example, in military commissions in rural areas, horses continue to serve as means of transport because industry is not yet able to provide the necessary number of motorcycles and off-road vehicles. According to the information on changes in the number of staff of the regional and urban military commissions referred to in order NoОШ/4/284447 of the General Command of the Army in the spring of 1963, there are still 182 horses in ten ukrainian regions within the territory of the Kiev Military District. The Military Registration and Recruitment Office has horse guards (for example, 9 horse guards in Poltava State), saddles, harnesses and other equipment. The new staff did not regulate this, and by 1964 the Military Registration and Recruitment Office had been rid of horses and carriages.
Excerpt from Report No. 0306 of The Kirovgrad Regional Military Commissar Colonel Kovitz to the General Staff of the Military District on April 12, 1963:
"5. In accordance with the requirements of Decree No. 218 of 1962 of the Minister of Defence, horses unfit for service in the army are eliminated and sold to civilians. Horses suitable for service in the army will be transferred to military units and construction detachments on the orders of the District Department".
However, in times of war, some military units and institutions still had horse-related personnel on their organizational lists. Thus, Decree No. 1/155112 of February 17, 1967 of the Commander of the Kiev Military District stipulates that "before 15 May 1967, all newly established military committees shall draw up a conscription mobilization plan in accordance with the MP-65 mobilization plan and provide material supplies to the troops." "In addition, an application was made to the headquarters of the military region for the so-called mobilization costs to be provided for the assembly points of the recruitment office, which were used to cover the costs of mobilization and the first month of the war. According to the list of provisional funding estimates issued by Decree No. 6880 of 1965 of the Ministry of Defence, mobilization costs are calculated on a monthly basis. It is estimated that article 6, paragraph 2, provides for the cost of providing feed for horses recruited during mobilization through the national economy. It is estimated that article 9, paragraph 4, provides forage costs for horses sent from assembly points of the recruitment office to military units.
Although saddles, harnesses and carriages could still be found in emergency reserve warehouses in Tajikistan after the collapse of the Soviet Union, full mechanization meant that by the end of the 1960s, the era of horseback of the Soviet army was over, but the results were not the same.
War and Peace
Back in 1961, filming began on Sergei Bundarchuk's monumental war epic War and Peace. Bundarchuk, with the support of the director of the Moscow Film Studio and the Ministry of Culture, personally appealed to the CPSU Central Committee for the participation of military personnel in the filming, because the approved plan presupposes a battle scene in which thousands of people will participate. Officially approved, the Ministry of Defense could not refuse, although many in the military leadership did not approve of it.
As far as the matter is concerned, involving the military in filmmaking is universal, because film is considered the most effective means of propaganda. In the United States, the military and Hollywood willingly worked with each other to save each other's budgets for military advertising and film production costs. However, the Soviet army was not interested in such work, because it made the personnel neglect direct responsibility, but the military never ignored films with revolutionary military themes. In this case, the film is assigned a military adviser who is responsible for coordination between civilian filmmakers and military institutions. This is an official task temporarily assigned to generals and officers.
Filming of the Battle of Borodino near Dorogobzh.
The filming of War and Peace is an example of this collaboration. The film's main military advisers were General В.В. Kurazov, Director of the Military Academy of the General Staff, and General M.M. Popov, Chief of the Army General Staff. An important result of their assistance was the formation of a temporary cavalry unit during the filming in September 1962. It was an independent cavalry battalion (three squadrons and a company of cavalry artillery — about 500 horses) stationed at the training center of the Dorogobzy Military District in the Smolensk region. There, they also mobilized 18,000 soldiers to film scenes from the Battle of Borodino – no less than a military district (front) command exercise conducted on the ground with communications equipment and designated troops.
In preparation for this shoot, it was suggested that a cavalry battalion should be expanded into a regiment, since the scenes of the Battles of Schöngraben and Austerlitz required three times as many cavalry as the Carpathian Military District. The idea was met by the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Marshal of the Soviet Union В.И. Trikov's stern words refused. He had criticized the decision to assign troops to domestic work, and now it was time to propose the creation of a special military unit for non-core activities. In response to General Kurasov's objections, Trikov proposed to "register" the regiment under the guise of the cavalry department of the General Staff College. The issue was submitted by Minister of Culture Е.А. Foltseva to the Central Committee of the Party and at the level of Minister of Defence for discussion. After the decision was made, a plot of land was set aside in the Army garrison of Arabino, near Moscow, for the construction of a military barracks with stables. After the filming of War and Peace, the regiment changed from a temporary to a permanent one.
A cavalry battalion on the set of War and Peace.
As of the autumn of 1982, the 11th Independent Cavalry Regiment consisted of a regimental headquarters, three cavalry squadrons and a machine gun squadron, an artillery company, a cavalry regiment, a logistics company, a command platoon and a veterinary station. In total, the regiment consisted of about 700 soldiers and officers (including 7 veterinary nurses and 4 blacksmiths), as well as 450 horses. This way there is no combat training. Those who did not participate in the filming spent all their time taking care of horses, equestrian drills and party politics.
Trikov stared at the surface (Russian rhetoric, indicating that Trikov had foreseen it): the film studio's demand to provide soldiers, horses, equipment, historical weapons, and field water supply equipment to ensure that the film was filmed in "wild" historical locations poured in like a tidal wave. Reports of military district agencies and mobilization departments increasingly refer to information about the absence of certain units due to the departure of the film. This is beginning to affect reports on combat training and mobilization preparation. Even the General Staff of the Ground Armed Forces assigned a special group of officers under the responsibility of Colonel N.E. Grükhov to be responsible for soviet liaison with film studios.
"Solitude" and the bus
We can explore the workings of this mechanism through the communications within the army during the 1964 Odessa Film Studios' revolutionary historical film "Solitude", which was filmed by the Odessa Film Studios on the suppression of the anti-Soviet uprising in the Tambov region.
On December 12, 1963, The Chief of the General Staff of the Army, Admiral С.М. Štemenko, signed Order No. 552/5/16110:
In order to assist the Odessa Film Studio in filming the film Lonely, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army ordered: Commander of the Moscow Military District, A cavalry squadron and an artillery company were drawn from the cavalry battalion formed for the film War and Peace and arrived in Novgorod-Severski, Chernigov Oblast (Samui station of the Southwest Railway) by 15 January 1964. In addition, in order to ensure the management and maintenance of the unit, it is necessary to allocate the necessary number of personnel from the battalion organization management agency. With the squadron and artillery company, the harness, saddles, horse care supplies and the 45-day supply of hay were transported... Warm underwear, work shoes and bedding (mattresses, pillows, sheets) were provided to the remainder of the film "Solitude". Commander of the Kiev Military District, Troops arriving on the ground between 15 January and 1 May 1964 were stationed at the "Desna" resort of the Kiev Regional Trade Union Committee rented by the Odessa Film Studio and placed their horses in the stables of the experimental station. As of 1 May 1964, the personnel of the forces shall be placed in tents ... They were supported by 2 field kitchens, 3 trucks, 1 GAZ-69 vehicle and 1 ambulance from the local garrison. Fuel and lubricating oil for the above-mentioned vehicles... After the filming is completed, at least no later than 5 July 1964, the cavalry squadron and the artillery company shall return to the dorogobz-sur-Dnieper station. ”
The order was issued to the Head of the Logistics Department of the Armed Forces and the Minister of Central Military Communications, respectively. As for the director of the Central Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Defense, it is specifically instructed that "all expenses related to the transport of personnel and horses, daily allowance and accommodation costs for officers, maintenance costs for horses, operating costs of vehicles, consumption of fuel and lubricants, renovation of the site and other maintenance costs shall be borne by the Odessa Film Studio".
Cavalry battalion on the set of "Solitude" near Novgorod-Shavelsky in the winter of 1964. Screenshot of the movie.
The Headquarters of the Kiev Military District instructed the heads of the local military and service departments to make accounts in accordance with Decree NoОМУ/1/4923. The military commissar of the Chernigov Oblast and the brigade commander of the 15th Independent Guards Communication Brigade (military unit 61335, then stationed in Shostka) were required to organize the assembly and accommodation of the cavalry, since Novgorod-Seversky itself had no military establishment, only military registration and recruitment offices. Food was concocted from the Chernihiv Military District Food Depot (Military Unit 3221), fuel came from the Military District Fuel Depot (Military Unit 44884, Zhdynich Station), and clothing came from the 716 Military District Clothing Depot in Kiev. Orders were also given to military units to redeploy vehicles and drivers (as usual, "from scratch").
In early January 1964, a group of 20 soldiers, led by Colonel Gruchoff, a senior officer in the Army General Command, arrived at the future garrison of the cavalry. On 10 January, he reported to The Chief of Staff of the Military District, Admiral В.М. Kramar, that a cavalry battalion of 190 men and 150 horses was boarding at Dorogobuzh Station and unloading at Sumy Station, 15 km from Novgorod-Seversky. Grukhov inspected the readiness of the reception and requested that two more cooks, a doctor, a passenger car, a АЦ-28 tanker, a water-oil heater, a tanker truck and a mobile maintenance workshop be drawn from the military district units.
The military district approved the request. According to Decree NoОМУ/1/885 of 11 January, the "film actors" obtained various supplies (including fuel supplies) on the basis of the contact documents issued by the military district to the Shostka Communication Brigade. From Chernihiv, the command of the First Composite Arms Group assigned the squadron with a car driver.
On January 13, Colonel Shelbina, military commissar of the Chernigov region, reported that he had met the "Film Actors" unit at Sumy Station: 16 officers, 33 sergeants, 117 soldiers, 147 horses and 8 cars. Everyone settled in, received their supplies according to the documents, and began filming.
At first, everything went according to plan, but on January 31, the army chief of the general staff, Shtemenko, sent an urgent telegram expressing dissatisfaction with the shooting arrangements. It is reported that the military adviser of the film Н.С. Lieutenant General Ostlikovsky (who was also a cavalry adviser during the filming of War and Peace) bypassed the military district and complained directly to Shtemenko about the lack of additional equipment and cooks for the cavalry personnel. Confused, General Karamar dispatched a senior officer from the headquarters of the Military District, Lieutenant Colonel В.П. Stroganov, from the headquarters of the Military Region, to count the number of vehicles and cookers on the spot. Officials called the trip a "security check on the directions of the Army General Command."
At the end of the trip, Stroganov submitted a reference report mentioning the strength of the cavalry battalion as follows: managers, a cavalry squadron and an artillery company totaling 186 men (18 officers, 35 non-commissioned officers, 133 soldiers). Accommodation is provided as requested by order. The filming site is 25-30 kilometers away from the location of the battalion headquarters. There are 9 vehicles in the camp, including:
4 special vehicles and cars: 2 for the official activities of battalion commanders and military advisers, 1 ambulance and 1 tanker truck for horses.
5 trucks: one for transporting horses and providing veterinary care, one for transporting sawdust to the horses at the bottom (5-6 times a day, for horses resting) and providing feed, one for transporting guns and old-fashioned weapons to the shooting area, one for transporting food, and one for transporting artillery company personnel to the horse rest area for cleaning (3 times a day) and for delivering feed.
In fact, the request to add a car and a bus came from the directorial department of the film Lonely, "which was revealed from a private conversation with the producer (known as a director in the Soviet era, but whose actual function was equivalent to that of a producer) Brashvan В.И. He asked to convey this." The military adviser Oslikovsky tried to pressure the military district through personal contact with Shtemenko, who signed the order without looking at it.
The cavalry battalion in the movie Lonely. Screenshot of the movie.
The Headquarters and Military Districts of the First Army expressed great indignation at such "entrapments" because they demanded that the troops be prepared for battle and mobilization, albeit "in the struggle for a good harvest", construction works and filming. No one is interested in making money from film studios because the military is not a self-sufficient organization. There were no extra people and equipment, so in order to send a car to shoot, the car had to be removed from the people who needed to use the car. At the same time, the withdrawal of vehicles from construction and railway units is prohibited, as they are also carrying out important national tasks. There were basically no buses and cars in the regular combat units of the motorized infantry and tank units, so the only thing that could be done was for the command to provide its own cars. Therefore, on February 15, 1964, Admiral Clamart sent a telegram to the Chief of the Army General Staff:
During the filming, the military unit allocated two more trucks (with canopies) equipped with drivers. There is no need to add a GAZ-69 car, a coach and two cooks to the battalion. Clamart".
In 1964, the filming of the film "Lonely" was successfully completed, but the military department maintained a certain negative attitude towards "film actors", believing that this was an eternal obstacle to actual combat work. All the generals and officers mentioned in the text were active participants in the Great Patriotic War, and they had the right to make such an assessment. In the eyes of the military, film director Sergei Bondalchuk is the only, unconditional authority. Before his war scenes in War and Peace were edited into films, an internal screening was held at the Moscow Film Factory, hosted by the Minister of Defence himself, in addition to a group of marshals and generals from the Ministry of Defence, the General Staff, the General Headquarters of the Army and the Moscow Military District. They wanted to see for themselves what the army's efforts were doing, and they were satisfied. The defense minister, who had a tragic experience during the exercise, asked how many people were killed and injured in accidents during the filming. The answer was that there were no casualties. Since then, Bondalchuk has never been rejected by the Ministry of Defense, and the proposal to keep the cavalry regiment in the army permanently has been satisfied.
supplement
Water-oil heaters, which are used to heat water and oil during the winter months, supply the engines of the car and keep the vehicle running.
In 1948, the ВМГ-4 water-oil heater supplied water and oil for the ZIS-5 and "Stubeck" trucks.
АЦ-28 water tanker truck
Poster of the movie Lonely (ОДИНОЧЕСТВО, 1964).