White Movement Tanks

Armed Forces of the South of Russia

The first tanks in southern Russia appeared on April 13, 1919, when a detachment of the Royal Tank Corps landed in Batum under the command of the British Major N. McMiking, consisting of 65 people (of which 10 officers). Following the detachment, 6 tanks of the Mk V type and 6 tanks of the Mk A Whippet type arrived in the Black Sea region. These tanks subsequently made up the South Russian tank detachment. At the end of April 1919, a combined English-Russian tank detachment arrived in Yekaterinodar . ^[1] To train Russian tank crews, the School of English Tanks was organized, which trained about 200 tank officers from June to December 1919. ^[2]

1st SSYUR Tank Division

On the basis of the received tanks with Russian crews trained by the British in Yekaterinodar on April 27, 1919 ^[2] , the 1st tank division of the All-Russian Union of Forces for Children was formed, consisting of 4 tank detachments of four vehicles each. From the very beginning, the 1st and 3rd tank detachments were equipped with Mk.V heavy cannon-machine gun tanks. The 2nd and 4th tank detachments of the FYUR were fully equipped with light machine-gun tanks of the Mk A type. ^[3] . In early May 1919, the division was sent to the front, where these units were distributed between the divisions of the Volunteer Army . During May, tanks of the 1st detachment participated in battles in the area of ​​the Khanzhonkovo - Yasinovataya - Popasnaya stations, and then at the beginning of June were transferred to the Tsaritsyno front . ^[2]

General B. Shteifon gives the following evidence of the first use of tanks by the white forces in the spring of 1919 in the Coal Region : ^[4]

Arriving tanks attracted general attention. Attaching extreme importance to this new and formidable means of struggle, our command distributed them along the front, directing the main tank attack from our open right flank. Tanks were attached to the most powerful units and had a really due effect. The first red parts, noticing some moving cars, apparently did not understand their role, but when, despite the fire, freely overcoming local obstacles, the tanks crashed into the enemy’s position and began to destroy the red chains in the full sense, a complete panic broke out . The news of the appearance of tanks spread quickly among the Bolshevik troops and deprived them of any resistance. Even from afar, seeing the tanks, the Bolsheviks immediately cleared their positions and hastily retreated.

Considering the horror that these cars caught up with the Bolsheviks, many parts began to arrange tanks and other improvised material like tanks and loom from afar. The masquerade was a success and further enhanced the peppy spirit of our troops.

At the Popasnaya station, a tank combat with a red armored train took place. This rare and interesting contest ended sadly for both sides. The battle involved a type of so-called heavy tank. With a successful hit, he knocked out an armored train locomotive, and the latter, in turn, damaged the tank. The indicated episode frightened the Reds even more and terrified even the enemy armored trains.

Punching the path with these monsters, our infantry and cavalry quickly and without much loss cleared the Donets Basin. The troops of the Volunteer Army again occupied Yuzovka , Yasinovataya , Krinichnaya , Debaltseve .

(Judging by the details, the episode described refers to the battle of the White Guard tanks and the United Russia armored train with the Uglekop red armored train taking place on June 2, 1919)

General A. Denikin writes that "appearanceon this front the British tanks made a great impression on the Bolsheviks and further increased their nervousness ” ^[5]

The use of tanks during the assault on Tsaritsyn

See article: Tsaritsyn’s Third Defense

The largest operation of the FYUR on the number of tanks used was the assault on Tsaritsyn on the morning of June 30, 1919, the same day ending in the capture of the city by the Caucasian Army of General Wrangel . In the assault on Tsaritsyn on the morning of June 30, 17 tanks took part: all 16 vehicles of the 1st tank division of the SSUR (4 squads of 4 vehicles each) and another 1 tank, in which the British crew was located (commander is one-armed captain Cox). According to the recollections of the participant in the assault on Colonel Trembovelsky , the British took part in a tank attack for the sake of sport and curiosity. Of the 17 tanks assaulting Tsaritsyn, 8 were cannon, and 9 were machine guns. ^[6]

Tanks on Campaign to Moscow

In July 1919, new tanks arrived from the UK to the South of Russia and their number as a part of the All-Union Federal Reserve was 74 vehicles (57 Mk V tanks and 17 Mk A Whippet tanks). However, the tanks that were armed with the VSYUR could only be used to break through a fortified defensive line, which was practically never encountered in the maneuvering Civil War (exceptions were Tsaritsyn’s defense , and later Kakhovsky bridgehead ). ^[7]

The Soviet military specialist, Doctor of Military Sciences P. A. Rotmistrov, cites data that during the battles of the autumn of 1919, two dozen tanks of the All-Union Military Reserve Army were trophies of the Red Army . ^[eight]

Russian Wrangel Army

After the defeat in the winter of 1919-1920, the remnants of the All-Union Socialist League in the course of the Novorossiysk evacuation were evacuated to Crimea, where on April 4, 1920 Denikin transferred the post of commander-in-chief to P. Wrangel. Having reorganized the troops remaining in Crimea, Lieutenant General P. Wrangel formed the Russian army. The lack of people, it was decided to compensate for the widespread use of technical means, including tanks. In May 1920, the formation of the 1st tank division (commander - Colonel Bocharov) ended. It included 4 tank detachments and a platoon of light French tanks. The 1st and 3rd detachments contained 6 Mk-V tanks, and the 2nd and 4th detachments each contained 4 Mk.A tanks. Two Renault FT-17 tanks in a platoon of French tanks. In total - 22 cars.

The base of the division is located in Sevastopol . Damaged tanks were repaired at the Rogov plant and in the workshops of the Sevastopol port. ^[9]

Composition of the 1st Tank Division of the Russian Army

• 1st detachment (6 tanks Mk V, 57 mm guns):
  • "General Slashchev";
  • "Right";
  • "Terrible";
  • “Bold” ^[10] ;
  • "Russian hero";
  • "Great Russia". ^[eleven]

• 2nd detachment (4 tanks of MK A Whippet):
  • "Tiger";
  • "Stepnyak";
  • "Sphinx";
  • Crocodile (later Sibiryak), 37 mm gun of Hotchkiss. ^{[3] [11]}

• 3rd detachment (6 Mk V tanks, 57-mm guns and 27 Gochkis machine guns):
  • “Field Marshal Kutuzov”;
  • "Generalissimo Suvorov";
  • "General Skobelev";
  • "Field Marshal Potemkin";
  • "For Holy Russia";
  • "For Faith and Homeland." ^[eleven]

• 4th tank detachment (4 tanks of MK A Whippet, 12 Gochkis machine guns):
  • "General Wrangel";
  • "Sadko";
  • General Shkuro;
  • "Uralets". ^{[3] [11]}

• Separate platoon of French tanks (2 Renault FT-17 tanks):
  • "Gray";
  • "Modest". ^[eleven]

Tanks at the Kakhovsky bridgehead

See the article Fights on the Kakhovsky bridgehead (1920)

On August 29, 1919, on the Kildonen Castle ship, a detachment of British tankers of 9 officers and 60 soldiers arrived in Arkhangelsk (the commander of the detachment was Major Brian). Following the detachment, 4 tanks of the Mk V type and 2 tanks of the Mk A type “Whippet” (B) arrived. Tankers were sent to the North of Russia without notice to the Commander-in-Chief of the Entente in Arkhangelsk, General Edmund Ironside , and their task was to cover the British troops evacuated from Northern Russia in September. Then the tanks were to be handed over to the Northern White Army to help them detain the advancing Bolshevik army. ^[12]

In accordance with the plan, it was supposed to use 4 Mk V tanks like this: leave 1 tank in Arkhangelsk, send 1 tank to Solombala , and 1 more to Bakaritsa (to protect warehouses with military equipment). The 4th tank was to be used to train Russian tankers. The division of Russian tankers consisted of 15 officers (commander - Colonel Kenotkenich). There is no evidence that British tanks fought in northern Russia. By October 12, 1919, the evacuation of the Allies was completed, and the tanks passed into the possession of the troops of the Northern Army . ^[12]

Perry Moore's book contains the following evidence: ^[12]

The only tank battle in Northern Russia took place on October 29, and this was the only bright spot in the history of the Russian Northern Army. Tanks along with infantry attacked along the railway track. In the attack, led by Colonel Kenotkenich, the Mark V tanks were used, and the Whippets went behind. The Reds, at the sight of tanks, fled, as usual, and the Northern Army regiment occupied a fortified territory, including the Plesetskaya (Plesetsk) station, near which the city of Mirny is currently located. This was something that the Allies could not do! The railway station was the main victory, and in order to achieve it, the tanks passed about fifteen miles from the station of Yemets! It was possible to use tanks only along the railway. It is clear that the British were completely wrong in their assumptions regarding the use of tanks.

In August 1919, a tank strike battalion was formed in the North-Western Army (commanders Colonel Khomutov in October, 1st rank captain Shishko in December), which was an independent unit that was not part of the corps. By early October 1919, it included 6 tanks and 350 bayonets. In December 1919, there were 56 officers in the battalion. ^[13]

Tanks were not used in Kolchak’s troops. The Allies' only attempt to send tanks to help the Siberian army failed. In March 1920, 10 Renault tanks were delivered to Vladivostok , but the Bolshevik railwaymen drove them to Blagoveshchensk to the Reds. ^[eleven]

It is reliably known that up to now 5 White Guard tanks of the Mk V have survived. 4 of them were installed as trophies of the Red Army in different cities of the USSR according to the order of the People's Commissar of Defense K.E. Voroshilov in 1938.

In Lugansk, at the Memorial to the fighters of the revolution, two tanks with serial numbers were preserved - No. 9186 (which in the White Army had its own name - “Daring”) and No. 9344. ^[14] In Arkhangelsk one tank of the “female” type No. 9303. In Kharkov, on the square Of the constitution, one hermaphrodite tank and one male in Kubinka (serial numbers of these tanks are unknown).

Mk A Whippet in the Civil War in Russia

•  

  Tanks Mk.A., delivered by the allies of the Volunteer Army

•  

• Mk V
• Mk A Whippet
• British tank Mk.V (Kharkov)
• British tanks Mk.V (Lugansk)
• British tank Mk.V (Arkhangelsk)

Memoirs

• Reden N. Through the Hell of the Russian Revolution. Memoirs of the midshipman 1914 - 1919 = The Unmaking of the Russian / Glebovskaya L. I .. - Moscow: Tsentropoligraf, 2006. - 287 p. - (Witnesses of the era). - 4,000 copies. - ISBN 5-9524-2000-1 .

• Electronic version of the article Malyshev N. Armored units of the North-West Army in 1919. White Guard. Almanac. N 7. White movement in the North-West of Russia. M., 2003.S. 207-209. on the Russian Line website
• MARINE TANK BATALION. (An excerpt from the work of Midshipman N. A. Bogolyubov on the participation of sailors in the events of the Civil War and in the White Movement in North-West Russia).