2nd Motorized Chemical Division

By General Directive No. 4/4/36409 of December 4, 1936, the General Staff ordered the Military Council of the Volga Military District to form the 2nd Motorized Chemical Division by state:

• control,
• 4th Motorized Regiment,
• 5th Motorized Regiment,
• 6th Motorized Regiment.

The division was formed on January 1, 1937. The commander of the division was appointed brigade commander V.M. Voronkov.

For the formation of military units of the compounds of the districts stood out:

• for the 4th motorized regiment - the 4th company of the 12th separate chemical battalion , separate chemical companies of the 6th and 8th rifle corps of the Kiev military district , the 2nd separate chemical battalion without company;
• for the 5th motorized regiment - the 12th separate chemical battalion without two companies, separate chemical companies of the 15th and 17th rifle corps of the Kiev military district ;
• for the 6th motorized regiment - separate chemical companies of the 4th , 5th , 11th , 16th rifle corps, 1st company of the 2nd chemical battalion and 1st company of the 12th chemical battalion.

The division was stationed in Volsk . The division’s summer camps were in Totsky .

The division was armed with tanks:

• HT-26 \ BHM-3 - Soviet light chemical ( flamethrower ) tanks, created on the basis of the T-26 light tank . They were produced in several series from 1932 to 1936.

They had weapons: a flamethrower in a machine-gun tower in place of a gun . Nearby was a machine gun coaxial with a flamethrower. Equipment for spraying chemicals is installed on the body. They were in service for a long time, were quite successfully used in a military campaign in the eastern regions of Poland - Western Ukraine in 1939, in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 ( Winter War ) and at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 of the Soviet people against Germany . The operation of this model in the troops revealed shortcomings and for this reason, designers began to search for new solutions.

• HT-130 (OT-130) - Soviet light chemical (flamethrower) tank, a mass tank of the interwar period. Designed on the basis of the T-26 tank model 1933

Had armament: a flamethrower in a tower in place of a gun. Nearby was a machine gun coaxial with a flamethrower. Equipment for spraying chemicals is installed on the body. In 1936 it was put into production. In 1936-1939, the industry manufactured 401 OT-130.

June 8, 1937 brigade commander brigade commander V.M. Voronkov was arrested.

In the spring of 1938, the division was reorganized into the 31st Chemical Tank Brigade .

• The brigade commander, brigade commander Viktor Mikhailovich Voronkov (arrested on June 8, 37). ^[1] , ^[2]
• Chief of Staff of the 4th MP Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Krymov , (11.1936-1937 years) Chief of Staff of the 4th MP. ^[one]

On 1937-1938:

• Office brigade.
• 4th Motorized Regiment
• 5th Motorized Regiment
• 6th Motorized Regiment
• Separate tractor battalion
• Separate communications company
• Separate sapper company
• Support Units.

• Military Encyclopedic Dictionary - M .: “Military Publishing House”, 1984. - P. 508 “Flamethrower”; S. 794 "Chemical Service", "Chemical Forces";
• Domestic armored vehicles 1941−1945. Volume II - Publishing center "Exprint", 2005.
• Kolomiets M., Svirin M. T-26: machines based on it // "Front illustration", 2003 - No. 4.
• Baryatinsky M. Light tank T-26 // "Armored Collection" - Special Issue No. 2.

• Website Mechanized Corps of the Red Army. Until 1941, 1938-1941. Armored forces in 1938−1941. 2nd Motorized Division.
• Website Mechanized Corps of the Red Army. Until 1941, 1938-1941. Armored forces in 1938−1941. 31st chemical tank brigade.
• Website Mechanized Corps of the Red Army. Directory. Personalities. Biographies - V - (Victor Mikhailovich Voronkov), K (Vasily Petrovich Krymov).
• Website of the Red Army. Encyclopedia. Repressed soldiers of the Red Army. Brigade commander. 46. ​​Voronkov Victor Mikhailovich