Special forces formations (Spetsnaz) or in common people “special forces” are any units of the ground forces, air force, navies, police, intelligence and even the fire service, trained in a special technique for conducting operations using a special tactics and resources. The nature of the activity and the romantic role of the special service created a lot of myths and stereotypes in the public sector.
“We are few, but we are in vests” (With)
It is important to remember and understand two key things. First: in the usual way, Special Forces appeared only in the 20th century. For example, in the Soviet Union, the first formations of "special purpose" were created back in the 1930s. Second: throughout their history, people in various conditions created "special" varieties of army, navy or gendarme formations to solve some narrow, extremely specific tasks.
So, for example, with a certain stretch, the formations of the light infantry of the New Age - rangers could be attributed to special troops. Or, for example, detachments of marines of knights and mercenaries created by the Venetian Doge Enrico Dandolo during the Fourth Crusade against Constantinople. In other words, the very idea of \u200b\u200bcreating "special" units is by no means new and has haunted military history for many centuries. Another question is that only the nature of the First, and then the Second World War required the creation "elite" units not as veterans or security units, but as formations to solve those very special tasks. Actually, today we will talk about those with whom it all began during the Second World War.
1. Soviet partisans and the German "Werwolf"
When they talk about Soviet partisans, first of all people imagine a sort of bearded grandfather with a Berdan coat from the time of Tsar Peas and a young goldfinch with an MP-40 "requisitioned" from the Fritz. This is true, but only in part. Of course, a lot of Soviet citizens fought in partisan detachments, who fled from the arbitrariness of the Germans, from deportation into slavery or from punitive operations. However, large partisan detachments were formed by the Soviet military. Including on behalf of the army command. They also included military personnel.
Not all Soviet partisans were constantly behind enemy lines. Often groups went out to their own, and then again returned to the rear for many months. Contact was maintained with the partisan detachments, specialists were sent to help them, food and equipment were dropped. In some cases, Soviet partisans were even thrown back behind enemy lines with the help of aircraft! For example, the partisan detachment of Dmitry Fedorovich Kositsyn, the head of the department of cycling and skating at the Leningrad GOLIFK them. P. F. Lesgaft. It was his group that was thrown into the rear in an attempt to save the command staff of the 2nd shock army near Leningrad and, in particular, General Vlasov.
The creators of the Ukrainian partisan detachments, Semyon Vasilyevich Rudnev and Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak, were military personnel at all. Kovpak is a retired World War I and Civil War veteran. Rudnev - until 1939, an officer of the Red Army, left the troops for health reasons. Apparently, the health of Sidor Artemyevich was undermined by 1 year and 8 months in the dungeons of the NKVD. You can continue for a long time. There were a lot of Soviet military and officials in the partisan detachments.
At the final stage, an analogue of the Soviet partisan detachments under the auspices of the GRU also tried to create the German Abwehr. The sabotage and reconnaissance formation was called "Werwolf" - a werewolf. It was proposed to form it from veterans of the people's militia - Volsksturm, veterans of the SS and Hitler Youth. The partisans did not work very well in German. It could not and did not have time to acquire a truly wide-ranging activity. Although separate Werewolf groups, Soviet and allied counterintelligence drove around Germany until the end of the 1940s.
2. Soviet Airborne Forces and Naval Infantry of the USSR Navy
Someone will say that the Airborne Forces are not special forces, and in part they will be right. Including because for all the years of the existence of the Soviet Airborne Forces, paratroopers have never been used for their intended purpose - a massive landing from the air behind enemy lines. For the most part, paratroopers were used as infantry. During the Great Patriotic War, paratroopers were dropped from the air, including during The battles for Moscow, however, paratroopers were dropped mainly to their positions as reinforcements. In part, the problems with landings in the USSR were due to the fact that until 1942 there was no good military transport aircraft in the country. Nevertheless, since 1941 paratroopers have been given great attention. The successful landing of American paratroopers in 1944 in Normandy had a great influence on the development of landing tactics in the Soviet Union.
As in the case of the landing force, the attitude of the Soviet military leadership towards the marines quickly changed after the start of World War II. Although in the modern view, Soviet marines bear little resemblance to special forces, it was the experience of the Great Patriotic War that became in many ways a turning point for this type of troops. In particular, it was thanks to this experience that in 1957 the Special Intelligence of the USSR Navy was born with separate special-purpose brigades. And despite the name "brigade", de facto it was a battalion of 148 people.
3. Military intelligence and Military formations of the GRU of the USSR
Unlike the German Abwehr, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the USSR did not actually have its own intelligence schools subordinate to the structure. Institutions of this kind were created as part of the active armies. Nevertheless, it was the GRU that oversaw this activity and actively helped in the training of intelligence officers and saboteurs. In addition, GRU specialists were directly involved in the formation and interaction with the partisan movement. So in a way, every Soviet partisan, front-line intelligence officer, saboteur and underground fighter formally belonged to the special military units of the GRU. Intelligence also had specialized formations, however, as a rule, they specialized not in the most “pathetic” and noticeable (but very important) work, for example, in radio interception and disinformation.
Military intelligence at the tactical level, sung in numerous films, was formed on the ground from the most capable fighters of the Airborne Forces, Marines and Ground Forces. They were the best of ordinary soldiers. They were armed and equipped at the level of the guards, in addition, they were one of the few who used camouflage robes, including in summer.
4. Soviet Assault Engineer Brigade of the USSR and German Assault Pioneers
Engineer-sapper brigades or simply ShISBr began to be formed in the Soviet Union in the spring of 1943. Only young and strong fighters under the age of 40 fell into these formations. In many ways, the ShISBr were inspired by the experience of using assault groups by the armies participating in the First World War. As you might guess, attack aircraft were used to break through well-fortified enemy defenses.
Numerous equipment helped the sappers in this difficult task: a lot of grenades and explosives, rifle grenade launchers, flamethrowers, PPSh assault rifles and light machine guns. The hallmark of the Soviet attack aircraft of the Great Patriotic War was the metal breastplates CH-42. In total, 20 such brigades were created. During the war years, Soviet attack aircraft showed their best side and were simply indispensable in the storming of cities. In addition, the word "engineering" in the name of the brigades flaunted for a reason. ShISBr were also engaged in demining the most dangerous areas and could carry out bridge work if necessary.
The Wehrmacht also had an analogue of the ShISBr. Assault pioneers were formed from military personnel of different units. In addition to motorized infantry, it could include anti-tankers, machine gunners, sappers and even snipers. Like their Soviet counterparts, the German pioneers were armed to the teeth and with the latest technology. Unlike the USSR, in the Wehrmacht, assault detachments were created just before the start of World War II. This is because in Germany the experience of using such pioneers during the Imperialist war was still fresh.
5. Soviet mountain shooters and German mountain rangers
There were also mountain shooters in the Soviet Union. By the beginning of the war, the country had 19 mountain rifle and 4 mountain cavalry divisions. As you might guess, the main feature of these units is that they were supposed to operate in the mountains, including using special mountaineering equipment. The most famous episode of the use of mountain shooters of the USSR was the Battle for the Caucasus, where they had to face the legendary 1st Edelweiss mountain division of the Third Reich.
The division of mountain shooters "Edelweiss" was the most famous, but far from the only one. The first mountain infantry regiments in Germany appeared in the 1930s. The main feature of these formations was that all their equipment was adapted for pack transport or manual transport. Like any other mountain shooters, the German huntsmen knew which end to take from an ice ax and a carbine with a rope.
6. Wehrmacht Airborne Forces and US Airborne Forces
Unlike the Soviet paratroopers, the Wehrmacht Airborne Forces had a very rich experience in large-scale airborne operations. Behind the shoulders of the German "parachute rangers" - Fallschirmjäger, there were landing operations in Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands and Greece. It was the German paratroopers, led by "Hitler's chief saboteur" Otto Skorzeny, who carried out Operation Oak to kidnap Benito Mussolini from the hands of the Italian partisans who captured him. Also, the German paratroopers most actively interacted with the Abwehr.
The US airborne forces in World War II also showed their best side. The landings in Normandy of the 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division impressed both the Germans and the Soviet Union. Even though half of the goals set for the Screaming Eagles during the first phase of D-Day were not achieved. Of the 13.1 thousand paratroopers, the Americans lost 1 thousand killed, 2.6 thousand prisoners, 4.4 thousand missing. However, the "eagles" landed in the most difficult conditions, and even despite the heaviest losses, they were able to inflict much more damage on the Germans. And most importantly, the paratroopers were able to help the main forces landing on the shore.
7. German "Brandenburg"
The formation of the special purpose "Brandenburg-800" was created by the leadership of the "Abwehr" for conducting special sabotage and reconnaissance operations in the rear even before the start of the Great Patriotic War. The main feature of Brandenburg was that its activities directly violated the Geneva Convention of 1929. The fact is that from the very beginning, the “Brandenburgers” practiced wearing enemy uniforms and civilian clothes, which is already a war crime.
An important detail is that "Brandenburg" was formed not only from Germans living in the Reich, but also from Volksdeutsch - ethnic Germans living outside of Germany. The latter were actively recruited by Abwehr. German intelligence had extensive experience in using such "Brandenburgers" during the Polish and Czechoslovak campaigns. And precisely for this reason, after the start of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet ethnic Germans were deported by the authorities to the Volga region, away from the front.
For many people, it is not entirely clear how the Barndenburg-800 differs, for example, from some tactical-level Soviet intelligence. In fact, everything is quite simple: “Wenn es gilt, deutsches Blut zu sparen, ist jedes Mittel recht” (“When it comes to saving German blood, any means is justified”). In other words, the “Brandenburgers” in their activities combined army reconnaissance and sabotage activities with the methods of work of the special services. Even today such a cocktail is a violation of all military conventions. And although the activities of "Brandenburg" in journalism are usually greatly exaggerated, it would be a mistake to underestimate the merits of these unprincipled people. Behind them was France, Denmark, Norway, Poland and Czechoslovakia. And at least 18 major operations on the eastern front, 14 of which were crowned with full or partial success.
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8. British Commandos and American Rangers
The forces of the special name of His Majesty were formed by direct order of Winston Churchill in 1940 to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage activities in the German rear. The British Commandos existed until 1946. In total, the British formed 30 special forces units. Future saboteurs were recruited into the Special Purpose Brigade from veterans of the French company, immediately after the evacuation from Dunkirk. Each state unit consisted of 450 people. They were divided into groups of 75 people, and the groups, in turn, were divided into detachments of 15 fighters. British saboteurs operated both in Europe and the Middle East. The fighters were armed with the latest technology, including American weapons received under Lend-Lease. Of course, all the "Commandos" took a course of special enhanced training at a reconnaissance school near the Scottish village of Speen Bridge.
Finally, the famous 1st US Ranger Battalion, which is the brother of the British Commandos, deserves mention. The Ranger Deep Intelligence Battalions of the United States Built Forces were formed in 1942. The fighters underwent an intensive training course at a military base in Northern Ireland. Recruited in the 1st Regiment of the Special Forces of the US Army, mainly volunteers from among the Americans and Canadians. Also in the battalion were about 50 Britons from among the Commandos. Although the "Rangers" were primarily engaged in reconnaissance, they were also used for sabotage operations, and in some cases also for assault.
In continuation of the topic, read about Pistol S-4: why did the KGB of the USSR need such a strange weapon.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/280522/63118/