War is a difficult time, and therefore requires maximum concentration from those who take part in it. But the Red Army men sometimes thought that their own uniforms create more problems for them than help them serve. And they considered some of their belongings unnecessary.
Of course, the choice of the soldiers of the Red Army with regards to what exactly they needed and what was considered ballast was heterogeneous and often depended on the circumstances in which they fell. However, according to the surviving memories of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, they could get rid of anything in different situations: from an extra bag to military weapons.
Literally from the first days of the war, the Red Army men disliked the overcoat, which today seems rather strange, and not because of the choice of the item of equipment. Hitler's troops invaded the territory of the Soviet Union on June 22, and wearing an overcoat at this time of year looks at least strange. However, facts in the form of archival photographs are stubborn things, and they clearly show that even in warm weather the soldiers of the Red Army wore a warm overcoat.
A large number of soldiers were captured precisely at the initial stage of the war, and they often simply got rid of the cumbersome, uncomfortable overcoat, which was corny underfoot. Unfortunately, few of them knew that this thing can be turned into an important, and most importantly, not burdensome part of their equipment. But such an overcoat became with proper packing and assembly, besides, it played the role of a good sleeping place. But at first, for a number of reasons, no one devoted the Red Army to such subtleties of handling equipment.
Another thing that was often considered ballast was a gas mask. The fact is that at the beginning of the war, the equipment of a Red Army soldier in a number of parts resembled equipment from the times of the First World War. In particular, for fear of deploying chemical attacks, despite international agreements, the fighters wore so-called gas mask bags.
However, both young soldiers and "old men" who fought in Germany for the second time, often considered this some of the equipment is unnecessary: the gas mask was simply thrown away, and the bag was adapted to store others of things.
Interesting fact: in fact, this treatment of gas masks was not a trend only among Soviet soldiers. The Germans acted in a similar way, in whom short ribbed metal tubes were provided for storing chemical protection equipment and were also used for other purposes.
Another obligatory component of the equipment of Soviet soldiers were mortal medallions, with the help of which the dead were identified. However, they were often either left unfilled or discarded altogether. The reason was superstition: if you wear a medallion with filled passport data, the soldier will die.
One of the most difficult periods for any soldier during hostilities is the encirclement, after which they are often captured. At such moments, the fighters who got into the cauldron, or "the encirclement", got rid of not only weapons or military equipment, but also of uniforms, trying to change into civilian clothes at the first opportunity.
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The reason was a simple desire to survive: as veterans recalled, it was important to discard all insignia that indicated for belonging to a party or command staff - communists, officers and party members were sentenced to immediate shot.
In an effort to alleviate their military life, Soviet soldiers did not hesitate to take off more comfortable uniforms from their dead enemies. For example, German aluminum flasks for water were very popular. Indeed, even in the early days of the war, the command made a rather strange decision: to introduce soldiers into equipment glass containers, which turned out to be much more inconvenient than enemy flasks made of light and durable metal.
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In addition to the topic: Unhurried era, or How the soldiers of the European armies defended themselves after abandoning solid armor.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/291219/52909/