Uniforms of the 16th Siberian Rifle Division,
originally the 1st Perm Rifle Division

Reconstructions by A. Karevskiy

Shoulder-boards of officers of the 16th Siberian Rifle Division:
61st Perm, 62nd Cherdyn, 63rd Dobryansk and 64th Solikamsk Siberian Rifle Regiments

Shoulder-boards of the other ranks of the 16th Siberian Rifle Division:
61st Perm, 62nd Cherdyn, 63rd Dobryansk and 64th Solikamsk Siberian Rifle Regiments

The ciphers in the two schemes above are best guesses, by analogy with the 6th, 7th and 12th Ural Divisions. Gold metal for officers and yellow stencil for other ranks is indicated by analogy with the 18th Siberian Rifle Division.

Shoulder-boards of the 16th Siberian Rifle Artillery Divizion

Shoulder-boards of the 16th Siberian Engineer Divizion

The "16" may have been followed by "Сб" [for Siberian] for the previous two schemes.

Uniforms of officers of the rifle regiments of the 16th Siberian Rifle Division

Uniforms of other ranks of rifle regiments of the 16th Siberian Rifle Division

Uniforms of officers of the 16th Siberian Rifle Artillery Divizion and the 16th Siberian Engineer Divizion

Uniforms of officers of the 16th Siberian Rifle Division in British uniforms.

In Memoirs

Yugo-Kamsk Plant, 29-30 June 1919

Suddenly, the shutters of one of the suburban houses opened and a head with black shoulder-boards on peered out.

The scouts went to the window and pulled out a "ranker" with three white stripes on his shoulder-boards. The "ranker", straightening his blouse, muttered fearfully, still half asleep: "Mobilised. From the 62nd Division's supply train. We were garrisoned in partisan houses, but the Czechs were defeated and we all surrendered."

"I'm not alone, there are 12 of us, tired, having come from Perm as reinforcements. We fell asleep in a hayloft and overslept, and the units left. In the morning, the owners said, 'The Reds seem to have taken the factory'."

...

Green, swaying rows of hidden "Englishmen", judging by their uniforms, who later turned out to be just Vankas and Petkas from among the Perm peasantry. There we were, equals. At first, we were stunned. And then there were brotherly kisses, hugs, and in some places tears of joy at the meeting. We became brothers.

From the memoirs of A. I. Medvedev, a soldier in the [Soviet] 30th Rifle Division, at TsDOOSO F.41 Op.2 D.199 L.31-32. Material kindly provided by Ekaterinburg researcher D. V. Kadochnikov

Commentary by Voronezh researcher N. Zayats: Perhaps he meant the 62nd Cherdynsk Regiment of the 16th Siberian Division. The surrender of soldiers refers to the surrender on 30 June near Kosoturikhi (28 km south-west of Perm) without a fight of the 63rd Dobryansk and 64th Solikamsk Regiments from the same division – a total of about a thousand soldiers together with the commander of one of the regiments and six officers with seven machine guns.

Novoselovo near Turinsk, Tobol province, 14 August 1918

Having received reinforcements of 60 workers from Nadezhda and Kyshtym and one machine gun, we attacked Turinsk. On 14 August we took the village of Novoselovo, after a battle, where the Whites had been commanded by officers. This was beyond doubt, because we found still hot tea and an open suitcase containing documents belonging to a colonel of the 1st Reserve Guards Regiment. Photographic cards and spare underwear were left in the headquarters. Secondly, a tunic with ensign's shoulder-boards was left behind on the roof, apparently an observation post, and the White Guards killed in battle were found to have good English uniforms and 3-line rifles.

From the memoirs of Red Guard V. Zotov in TsDOOSO F.41 Op.2 D.199 Ll.33-34. Material kindly provided by Ekaterinburg researcher D. V. Kadochnikov