Uniforms of the 11th, 12th, and 13th Siberian Rifle Divisions

Material and reconstructions by A. Karevskiy

Order No. 161 of the War Department, 30 April 1919, Omsk

The Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief orders that the newly formed 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Siberian Rifle Divisions be issued with army-standard field uniforms with the following distinctions:

For soldiers: shoulder-boards are 6½ cm wide, made of dark green cloth with white cloth piping. They have the unit number as cipher: for riflemen, jaegers and headquarters personnel in white, for artillerymen in red, for engineering and technical troops in yellow. Distinctive insignia corresponding to the branch of service is to be placed above the unit number. For non-commissioned officers: transverse stripes of narrow ¾-inch yellow tape. For sergeant-majors in [wide] yellow braid. The cuffs for privates are without markings. For NCOs the cuffs are trimmed with narrow (1 cm) braid. The cap is khaki.

For officers: the same model as for soldiers, but with narrow (½ cm) silver braid, sewn in a zigzag pattern for generals, and lengthways down the shoulder-board for staff and senior officers in the appropriate number (one or two) and with the corresponding number of gilded stars for each rank. Unit numbers and distinctive insignia for different branches of the military are made of white metal, gilded in the artillery.

Shoulder-boards are made of dark green cloth with white piping in rifle units, and dark green cloth without piping in jaeger units. For artillery, engineer and technical units, they are made of black velvet with red piping. Headquarters are to have red cloth with white piping. Generals and staff officers have the same shoulder-boards, but with metal buttons, gilded in artillery units and silver-plated in all others. Cuffs are trimmed, according to the attached drawings, with dark green braid with white piping: 2½ cm wide for generals, 2 cm wide in two rows for staff officers, and the same width in one row for other officers. The cap is to have a khaki crown, visor of the same colour and material and with the band the same colour and piping as the shoulder-boards.

Signed: Minister of War Major General Stepanov

Document kindly provided by Moscow researcher V.V. Romanov

Shoulder-boards of the other ranks of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division
(49th, 50th, 51st and 52nd Siberian Rifle Regiments):
1 – lance-corporal; 2 – corporal; 3 – sergeant; 4 – sergeant-major

Shoulder-boards of lower artillery and technical ranks of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division:
1 – 13th Siberian Rifle Artillery Divizion ; 2 – Artillery Park of the 13th Siberian Rifle Divizion ; 3 – 13th Siberian Engineer Divizion ; 4 – communications komand of the 49th Siberian Rifle Regiment (all privates/gunners)

Shoulder-boards of officers of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division:
1 – general (division commander);
2 – colonel of the 49th Siberian Rifle Regiment (regiment commander);
3 – ensign of the 51st Siberian Rifle Regiment;
4 – lieutenant of the Jaeger Battalion of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division

Shoulder-boards of officers of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division, artillery and technical:
1 – ensign of the Communications Komand of the 51st Siberian Rifle Regiment;
2 – ensign of the Machine-gun Komand of the 49th Siberian Rifle Regiment;
3 – ensign of the 13th Siberian Engineer Divizion ;
4 – sub-ensign of the 13th Siberian Rifle Artillery Divizion.

Shoulder-boards of lower ranks of rifle units of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division:
1 – Jaeger Battalion of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division (button from British uniform);
2 – Machine Gun Komand of the 50th Siberian Rifle Regiment;
3 and 4 – 51st and 52nd Siberian Rifle Regiments (British straps)

Due to the lack of material for the manufacture of official Russian-style shoulder-boards, it was common to use the shoulder-straps from British uniforms, piped with white braid and marked with oil paint ciphers (comment by I. Ladygin).

Samples of braid trim on uniform sleeves (in accordance with Order No. 161):
1 – for generals, 2 – for staff officers, 3 – for other officers, 4 – for NCOs

Officers: shoulder-boards of the same design, but with 5 mm silver braid, sewn in a zigzag pattern for generals and down the shoulder-board in appropriate spacing for staff and other officers. The stars were gilded. The ciphers and special insignia were made of white metal, or for the artillery, of yellow metal. Tabs on overcoats: in rifle units – dark green with white piping; for jaegers – the same without piping; in artillery, engineering and technical units – black velvet with red piping; in headquarters – red with white piping. Generals and staff officers had buttons sewn onto their shoulder-boards, which were silver in all units except the artillery, where they were gilded. The cuffs were trimmed with dark green braid with white piping: 2.5 cm wide for generals; two rows of 2 cm wide for staff officers; and in a single row of the same width for senior officers. The piping on the khaki cap matched the colour of the shoulder-boards.

Deryabin, A. I. in "Admiral Kolchak's Siberian Riflemen // Tseykhgauz, No. 7", Moscow, 1998, pp.29-30.

Left: official headgear of the Siberian Rifle Divisions:
1 – privates and NCOs
(no distinctions regardless of unit type);
2 – officers of rifle units;
3 – officers of jaeger battalions;
4 – staff officers;
5 – officers of artillery and technical units.

 

 

Official greatcoat tabs of Siberian Rifle Divisions:
1 – rifle units, 2 – headquarters,
3 – artillery and technical units, 4 – jaeger battalions,
5 – jaeger battalions with a button from British uniforms - a reconstruction option proposed by I. Ladygin

 

 

 

Authentic insignia of servicemen of the Siberian Rifle Divisions:
1 – shoulder-board of a second lieutenant of the 54th Siberian Rifle Regiment;
2 – shoulder-board of a second lieutenant in a Siberian Rifle Regiment;
3 and 4 – metal officer insignia of the 52nd Siberian Rifle Regiment

Figure 1 is interesting in that it differs greatly from the description given in the order. Firstly, the cipher is embroidered with silver thread instead of the required smooth metal. Secondly, the stripe is made of wide braid instead of narrow silver braid, on top of which two composite parts made of dark green cloth are superimposed.

Collection of Moscow researcher M. Y. Blinov. Photo published in the article: Deryabin, A. I." Admiral Kolchak's Siberian Riflemen // Tseykhgauz, No. 7", Moscow, 1998, p.29.

Figure 2 is much more primitive and crudely made: the stripe is filled with white braid instead of narrow silver braid; the dark green is thick woollen cloth; and the stars are made with thick white threads due to the lack of metal thread.

Collection of the Irkutsk Regional Museum. Photo at www.patronen.su/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=slideshow;id=9464.

Figures 3 and 4 are completely different from those used in the Russian Imperial Army and do not even correspond to the description in the C-in-C's order: they are not smooth, but embossed, with cross-shaped and zigzag-shaped notches on the upper edge.

This insignia have been repeatedly exhibited at a number of auctions, including: www.reviewdetector.ru/index.php?&act=ST&f=34&t=867859 and www.zemlyanka-v.ru/shop/russia/kokardy/shifrovka-s-pogona-52-go-sibirskogo-strelkovogo-polka-armii-kolchaka/

Uniforms of the rifle units of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division
respectively: generals, staff officers, senior officers and NCOs

Uniforms of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division:
1 – colonel at division headquarters; 2 – lieutenant of the Jaeger Battalion;
3 – ensign of the 13th Siberian Rifle Artillery Divizion ;
4 – private of the 13th Siberian Rifle Artillery Division Divizion

Uniforms of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division:
1 – corporal of the 13th Siberian Engineer Divizion ;
2 – corporal of the 51st Siberian Rifle Regiment (with British shoulder-boards);
3 and 4 – Russian uniform variants with distinctions established for Siberian Rifle Divisions (as existed in the 11th Siberian Rifle Division).

In memoirs

49th Siberian Rifle Regiment, Bersk, Spring 1919

I was struck by the fact that all the officers were dressed in English uniforms with Russian shoulder-boards and orders, but they looked brave.

Meybom, F. F. in "The Thorny Path // Pervopokhodnik, No. 28", Los Angeles, 1975, p.11.

Bersk, Spring 1919

The battalion lined up made a very good impression on me. Everyone was dressed in English uniforms with green shoulder-boards with white piping.

Meybom, F. F. in "The Thorny Path // Pervopokhodnik, No. 28", Los Angeles, 1975, p.12.

This is where the great mistake of not knowing the "marching" of the Civil War became apparent. Those damn English boots rubbed the soldiers' feet so badly that, after walking no more than 15 km, I lost a lot of soldiers who were completely unable to walk – they were worn out.

Meybom, F. F. in "The Thorny Path // Pervopokhodnik, No. 28", Los Angeles, 1975, p.17.

It turned out that, by order of the regiment commander, all officers were to have the same uniform, i.e. the English one, which is made by a special tailor.

Meybom, F. F. in "The Destruction of the 13th Siberian Rifle Division in the Battles near Chelyabinsk in 1919 // Pervokhodnik, No. 17", Los Angeles, 1974, p. 45.

Barnaul, 1919

The 43rd and 46th Regiments were dressed in brand new English greatcoats, tunics, caps and American boots. They were supplied with millions of rounds of ammunition, grenades, shells and cartridges.

Tsirkonov, Yu. in "The Battle of Solonovo // Siberian Lights, No. 1", 1935, p.157.