15th Guards Separate Battalion of Miners

On August 21, 1942 it was formed as the 15th guards separate battalion of miners on the basis of the order of the People’s Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 0634 of August 17, 1942 and the order of the troops of the North Caucasus Front No. 0015 of August 21, 1942 to mine and destroy enemy communications.

The formation was carried out at the expense of the engineering units of the front on the basis of the former 132 Army Motorized Engineering Battalion. The personnel and equipment came from 97 separate mine-engineering battalions, 19 separate pontoon-bridge battalions, 54 separate Motorized engineering bridge battalions and 1129 separate engineer battalions.

On the equipment of the battalion stood the Steel Chest CH-42 in the amount of 100 pcs. and devices for silent shooting "Bramit" .

Miners operated behind enemy lines, as a rule, in small groups, which allowed them to strike at his communications over a wide area. The maximum effect was achieved when they were used simultaneously in several sectors of the front. Having received the task, the miners crossed the front line in small groups, usually at night, in the gaps and junctions of enemy units, or were thrown by airplanes. The release was also carried out at night, the landing area was selected at a distance of about 15 km from the target. The groups were also thrown on water by watercraft.

Destruction of communications behind enemy lines

On the basis of the order of the Chief of Staff of the Engineering Forces of the SKF No. 020578 dated 1.3.1943, in order to prepare for the tasks, in addition to the special training of the groups intended for operations in the enemy’s rear lines, parachuting was also carried out. The entire personnel of the battalion underwent a training course in parachuting and practical jumping from an airplane of special landing groups.

On January 1, 1943, the battalion began to mine and destroy communications in the rear of the enemy in front of the 47 , 56 , 18 and 46 armies.

The 15th guards separate battalion of miners took an active part in the struggle for the liberation of the Kuban and the Taman Peninsula, provided offensive operations of the landing forces of the 18th Army in the area of ​​the Myskhako village, Stanichki . He participated in the liberation of Krasnodar, together with units of the 56th Army.

The battalion took an active part in the struggle for the liberation of Crimea.

In order to intensify sabotage and reconnaissance operations carried out by regular Red Army troops and partisans, by order of the Commander of a Separate Primorsky Army, four units of 15 separate guards battalion of miners were abandoned behind enemy lines on the Crimean Peninsula with the following tasks:

a) to carry out engineering exploration of the Akmanai border and the settlements adjacent to it.

b) carry out systematic diversion work on long-distance communication railways and highways: Simferopol - Sevastopol; Karasubazar - Simferopol; Simferopol - Dzhankoy; Vladislavovka - Theodosius; Vladislavovka - Kerch.

The results of the work in the enemy rear lines by only one Vasily sabotage and reconnaissance group , consisting of 20 people thrown by airplanes, according to the combat order of the Commander of a Separate Primorye Army behind the enemy rear on November 20, 1943, are indicative.

The group faced the following task: to carry out systematic diversion work on the railway and highway between the station. Simferopol - Art. Sevastopol and thereby violate the normal movement of railway and horse-drawn vehicles. Actions to carry out together with partisans .

In the area of ​​the group’s operations there was a garrison of partisans of the 3rd Brigade, therefore a number of sabotage by the group was carried out together with the partisans.

For the period from November 20, 1943 to April 13, 1944, the following work was carried out by the Vasily sabotage and reconnaissance group:

The total delay in the movement of military echelons only in the Sevastopol - Simferopol section was expressed in 350 hours, which ultimately forced the enemy to abandon the operation of this section.

After the liberation of the Crimea, the battalion moved to a new state and became part of the 22nd Guards Motorized Assault Engineering and Combat Engineer Brigade of the High Command Reserve (22nd RMSC). The brigade was formed in with. Krasnoe in the region of Simferopol in the period from 13.05.44 to 05.25.44.

Already as part of the 22nd GMDSSRbr RGK, the battalion took part in the capture of the cities of Rybnik , Potsdam , Dresden , in the capture of the island of Wannsee (southwest of Berlin).

From the moment of organization to the end of the war, the battalion traveled 6,900 km, including 3,500 km by rail.

For the excellent performance of combat missions at the front of the struggle against Nazi invaders in the battles for the city of Dresden, by Order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 0110 of June 4, 1945, the battalion was given the name " Dresden ".

Information about the losses inflicted by the battalion to the enemy in manpower and equipment (as part of the 22nd GMDISBr)

Information about the losses of the personnel of the battalion (as part of the 22nd GMSHISBr)

1. G. V. Malinovsky "Brigades of Engineering Troops", Moscow, Publishing House "Patriot", 2005, pp. 137-138, 225.

2. "Engineering troops of the Soviet Army 1918-1945", Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, Moscow, Military Publishing House, 1985, pp. 459-463.

3. 2nd Guards Engineer-Engineer Berlin Regiment, “Materials of the combat activity of 2 ISBRs and the combat routes of 7.8 and 9 battalions”, 02/12/1946 on 142 pages, pp. 91-142.