Uniforms of the 2nd Independent Siberian Assault Brigade (later Division)

Material and reconstructions by A. Karevskiy

Order of the Siberian Army, No. 118 of 8 March 1919, Ekaterinburg

Form the 2nd Independent Siberian Assault Brigade in Ekaterinburg (commander Colonel V. Voronov, former commander of the Ekaterinburg Reserve Brigade).

Composition: 4th, 5th, and 6th Assault Battalions, 2nd Independent Machine Gun Assault Battalion, 2nd Independent Assault Artillery Divizion, 2nd Independent Assault Engineer Company, 2nd Independent Assault Squadron.

Staff, as in the 1st Independent Siberian Assault Brigade.

Uniform:

Infantry:

- black shoulder-boards with blue stripes and blue piping;

- blue shield with skull and crossbones on the left sleeve; red and black chevron under the shield;

- blue stripes on trousers;

- battalions are to wear numbers on their shoulder-boards corresponding to their number (in Arabic numerals).

Artillery:

- black shoulder-boards with red stripes and red piping;

- red shield with skull and crossbones on the left sleeve;

- red and black chevron below the shield;

- red stripes on the trousers;

Staff

- black shoulder-boards with white stripes and white piping;

- a white shield with a skull and crossbones on the left sleeve

- a red and black chevron under the shield;

- white stripes on trousers;

- Roman numeral II on shoulder-boards.

Army commander – Lieutenant General Gaida

Chief of General Staff – Major General Bogoslovskiy

Insignia of infantry units of the 2nd Independent Siberian Shock Division (Brigade):
1 – lieutenant-colonel ; 2 – ensign; 3 – sleeve chevron

Shoulder-boards of infantry of the 2nd Independent Siberian Shock Division (Brigade):
1 – lance-corporal; 2 – corporal; 3 – sergeant; 4 – sergeant-major

Shoulder-boards and sleeve chevrons of the 2nd Independent Artillery Shock Divizion:
1 – lieutenant; 2 – second-lieutenant; 3 – private; 4 – sergeant-major

Shoulder-boards of the 2nd Independent Siberian Shock Division (Brigade) HQ staff:
1 – colonel; 2 – staff-captain; 3 – sergeant; 4 – sub-ensign

Sleeve chevron of the HQ staff of the 2nd Independent Siberian Shock Division (Brigade)

Shoulder-boards of the 2nd Independent Engineer Assault Company and the
2nd Independent Machine Gun Assault Battalion:
1 – second-lieutenant; 2 – private; 3 – lieutenant; 4 – lance-corporal

GASO F.1956.rs, Op.1 D.40 L.162.

Official uniforms of the 2nd Independent Siberian Assault Division
1 – sergeant of the 6th Assault Regiment;
2 – lance-corporal of the 2nd Independent Machine Gun Assault Battalion;
3 – private sapper of the 2nd Independent Engineer Assault Company;
4 – fireworker (corporal) of the 2nd Independent Artillery Shock Divizion

Ekaterinburg, 9 May 1919

Many troops were put on parade, they said, almost 25-30 thousand. ... Among the various uniforms, the Czech caps of the shock regiments, which replaced our field caps, were unpleasantly striking (they assure us that the caps are easier to sew). Some units are dressed in English uniforms. ... and as a whole they look neat and, to the untrained eye, even impressive; the rest of the units are dressed in decent rags. ... I walked around all the units from behind: all the best are placed at the head of the columns, and in the middle and at the rear are some ragamuffins, dressed in clothes that have just been issued to them and do not fit well, with equipment hung on haphazardly, without any adjustment.

Budberg, A. P. in "Diary of a White Guard // Archive of the Russian Revolution, Vol. 14", Berlin, 1922, p.236.

Uniforms of the staff of the 2nd Independent Siberian Shock Division (Brigade):
1 – English uniform with officer equipment (division HQ);
2 – Russian uniform in accordance with orders (division HQ);
3 – English uniform of the 6th Siberian Shock Regiment;
4 – Russian uniform and Kolchakovka) of the 4th Siberian Shock Regiment

These final reconstructions are based on the memoirs of A.P. Budberg

Order to the troops of the Siberian Army, 31 May 1919

The division and its 6th and 7th Regiments were stripped of the name "Siberian Shock". Officers and soldiers of those regiments were instructed to immediately remove the insignia of the shock units and black shoulder-boards. Gaida demanded that the English uniforms worn by the personnel of these regiments be immediately replaced with older, less wearable ones. The confiscated English uniforms were to be handed over to the army headquarters for distribution to more deserving units of the Siberian Army.

Simonov, D. G. in "On the history of the Combined Siberian Shock Corps of Admiral A. V. Kolchak's army (1919) // Siberia during the Civil War: Materials from the International Scientific and Practical Conference (6-7 February 2007)", Kemerovo, 2007, p.57. citing RGVA F.39736 Op.1 D.140 L.223.