Uniforms of the 25th Ekaterinburg "Admiral Kolchak"
Mountain Rifle Regiment
Material and reconstructions by A. Karevskiy
Official cipher for the shoulder-boards for the 25th Ekaterinburg "Admiral Kolchak" Mountain Rifle Regiment
Order of the Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief, 24 January 1919
Description of shoulder-boards:
A) For generals, staff and senior officers.
1. Silver braid.
2. The letters "АК" are appliquéd or embroidered in a colour contrasting with the braid.
3. The stripes and piping are white.
4. The eagle is embroidered in black.
B) For soldiers.
1. White cloth shoulder-boards.
2. The letters "AK" are applied in yellow paint using a stencil.
3. The eagle is applied in black paint using a stencil.
Subbotovsky, I. in "Allies, Russian Reactionaries and Interventionists" - Leningrad, 1926, from the collection of M. Voidislav.
After some deliberation and hard-thinking, we were accepted and they sent us to the front in the Kolchak Regiment. The Whites kept a close watch on us and our conversations. Two comrades could not stand this and gave themselves away, after which they were immediately shot. But the rest of us continued to obediently carry out our duties. And during our entire stay in the Kolchak Regiment, we behaved in such a way that no suspicion could fall on us. The very fact of serving in Kolchak's ranks speaks for itself: it was led by an old general, and that was the rules there. Those silver shoulder-boards gave us no peace. We waited for a convenient opportunity.
"Anniversary of the 1st Revolutionary Army // Publication of the Literary and Publishing Department of the Political Administration of the RVSR", Moscow, 1920, p.99.
Shoulder-boards of the 25th Ekaterinburg "Admiral Kolchak" Mountain Rifle Regiment:
1 – second-lieutenant with embroidered monogram, solid silver braid and white stripe added;
2 – captain with metal monogram and two sewn on silver braids over white;
3 – private; 4 – sergeant-major
Shoulder-boards of a rifleman of the 25th Ekaterinburg Mountain Rifle Regiment
This photo was originally from rucollector.ru, and the shoulder-boards may possibly have been made recently.
Dress uniforms of the 25th Ekaterinburg "Admiral Kolchak" Mountain Rifle Regiment:
1 and 2 – corporal and lieutenant before January 1919;
3 and 4 – rifleman and captain after January 1919
Note: the black piping on the opening of the blouse and trousers of the regiment after January 1919 is somewhat speculative, based on indirect information. When similar black distinctions were introduced to the 1st Shock Immortal "General Gaida" Regiment, the order indicated that the piping on the headgear was similar to that of the 25th Ekaterinburg Regiment. The reconstruction is based on the black piping on the blouse and trousers being also borrowed from the 25th Ekaterinburg Regiment at the same time.
Original shoulder-boards of the 25th Ekaterinburg Mountain Rifle Regiment
(1918-January 1919): 1 – lieutenant; 2 – corporal
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Pygmy Wars Notes
The original for this page is at kolchakiya.ru/uniformology/25_Ekater_reg.htm.
The 25th Ekaterinburg Mountain Rifle Regiment was in the 7th Urals Mountain Rifle Division of the 3rd Ural Army Corps. The uniforms for the rest of that division can be found here.
The schemes give lower rank shoulder-boards with a flat top by the neck, whereas the pretty much universal practice was for them to be pointed at the top, as in the photographed one (flat topped being only for officers). I presume that is because the original orders, top of the page, show that form.
The following illustrations by A. Lebedeva were originally on the page but later removed.
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1 – officer of 25th Ekaterinburg "Admiral Kolchak" Mountain Rifle Regiment (February 1919);
2 – rifleman of the 25th Ekaterinburg Mountain Rifle Regiment (September-November 1918)
Discussion on the translation choices I have made can be found here.
Flag
The unit inherited the St. George pattern flag of the 1st Battalion of the 162nd Akhaltsikhe Infantry Regiment, see here. A printable version is below:
History of the 25th Mountain Rifle Regiment
The history of this unit is on the page for the 7th Urals Mountain Rifle Division.