Part 2.
Bodies and Internal Troops of the NKVD 1935-1937

Let me remind you that over the years of its existence, the Internal Troops have undergone numerous reorganizations, renaming, etc.

With the creation of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) immediately after the October 1917 coup, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Russian Republic (NKVD) was immediately created as one of the thirteen people's commissariats.

Then it became known as the NKVD of the RSFSR.

Then, as the union republics were formed, the NKVD of the union republics were added in parallel.

Only in 1934 was the unified allied People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR formed.

So, 06/10/1934. The People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR (NKVD) was formed, which also included the former troops of the Cheka-GPU-OGPU.

The uniforms of NKVD officers, border and internal security personnel remained the same (adopted back in 1924): a khaki shirt or jacket, blue trousers, colored caps, a cavalry overcoat.

Insignia by position (red enamel rhombuses, rectangles, squares and triangles) were placed on the collar tabs: maroon with crimson edging - for the NKVD organs and troops and green ones - for the border guard.

A similar uniform was worn by employees of other structures that were part of the NKVD system:
- Main Directorate of Correctional Labor Camps of Labor Settlements and Places of Detention (GULAG),
- the Main Directorate of Fire Protection (GUPO),
- Administrative and economic management (AHU) and its divisions.

From the author. During that period of the life of the Soviet state, a peculiar fashion developed for wearing a military or paramilitary uniform. All leading workers, starting with Stalin, wore a paramilitary jacket, a "Stalinist" cap, and boots. Remember, for example, the film "Volga-Volga".
In addition, many departments have acquired their own uniforms and insignia - the police, firefighters, OSOAVIAKHIM (the predecessor of DOSAAF), in particular, the merchant marine and river fleet, civil aviation and even urban electric transport workers. All these uniforms were, to one degree or another, based on the uniform of the Red Army.

This introduced a certain confusion and confusion, and therefore by the Decree of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks No.PZZ / 95 dated 09/10/1935, all organizations, institutions and individuals were Absolutely forbidden wearing uniforms and insignia similar to the Red Army (with the exception of military personnel of the NKVD border and internal guard units, recruited by conscription).

Let me remind you that at this time a very peculiar period of the life of the Soviet state began and the role of the NKVD in the life of the country increased significantly.

Note by Yu.G. Veremeev. The catch phrase "the revolution always devours its children." A common stage in the process of a revolutionary change of government of any kind (be it a bourgeois, democratic, socialist or Nazi revolution) in any country is that those who together stood at the head of the revolutionary forces in the initial period are now beginning to share power. The head of the country should now be the one who should be. An acute political struggle begins, in which any means of ousting, isolating, eliminating or annihilating (including physical) rivals in power are used. In addition, in the country during such a period there are quite a lot of those who considered themselves offended by their positions, and his revolutionary merits were not appreciated at their true worth. It is from them that the head of the opposition draws cadres, while those at the helm of the government use the law enforcement apparatus (police, militia, gendarmerie, state security bodies, SS, etc.) to suppress the opposition. Naturally, this apparatus is endowed with special powers in such a period.

And had it not been Stalin, but Kirov, Trotsky, Bukharin or someone else, in power, nothing would have happened otherwise. This is the dialectic of any revolution. So it was in the bourgeois revolution of the mid-17th century in England, so it was during the revolutions of the late 18th century in France, and so it was after the Nazis came to power in 1933. In today's Russia, this stage is still ahead.

Most of those who swear at the Cheka-GPU-NKVD believe and try to convince everyone that the actions of the employees of these bodies in the thirties were a manifestation of personal malice, personal negative qualities, or even more tart - the desire of "bodies" to generally stand at the head of state, crushing for himself the party (as stated by N.S. Khrushchev).
However, in reality, the "organs" were just an instrument of the internecine struggle of the top of the party and state leadership. For example, an ax may end up in the hands of a carpenter or a murderer. But an ax is an ax; in all cases it remains just a tool.

People's Commissar GG Yagoda felt the "taste of power" and, apparently, decided to distinguish his employees with new uniforms and insignia. The leadership of the NKVD immediately developed a stormy activity about the introduction of new uniforms. The People's Commissar in letters to J.V. Stalin put forward many projects of uniforms and insignia.

10/04/1935, the Politburo approved the projects of new uniforms. It was decided to make the uniform for the organs and troops of the NKVD uniform, and not as varied as Yagoda had suggested.

On November 27, 1935, by order No. 399 for the NKVD troops, a new uniform and insignia of the Internal Guard personnel were announced.

Due to the low capabilities of the country's garment industry, it was impossible in a short time to change into new uniforms for all employees of the units, bodies and units of the NKVD troops. Therefore, the command staff of the internal security (decision of the Politburo of 11/29/1935) was allowed to wear the old uniforms with new insignia and buttonholes until 10/01/1937 until the expiration date: - a shirt with edging, according to the assigned rank; - raincoat without edging; - overcoat without edging.

The timing of the transition to the wearing of new insignia and buttonholes was determined: for the command personnel of bodies and troops - as they were assigned special and military ranks, and for privates and junior command personnel of the NKVD troops - from 1 March 1936.

Outfit by order No. 399 dated 11/27/1935.

1. Headwear:
a) The main headdress of the NKVD bodies and troops was the Red Army cap of the 1935 model. The cap was made of woolen fabric in the colors traditional for the NKVD: - cornflower-blue crown and maroon band for internal troops; On the top of the band and crown on all types of caps, crimson edging was sewn in. The cap had a slightly widened black fiber lacquered visor, above which a lacquered black sliding chin strap was also attached on two small uniform buttons. The highest, senior and middle command personnel wore a cap all year round, and the private and junior command personnel only in the summer. In summer, out of order with a white uniform, the command personnel could wear a white cap with a white fabric visor and chin strap.
b) For wearing in the field, the command personnel of the ground units of the NKVD troops were fitted with a khaki woolen cap. The pilots of the NKVD troops were assigned a dark blue woolen cap, which was worn along with a cap with a dark blue jacket or shirt. The rank and file of all branches of the army wore a khaki cotton cap with a marching uniform. Crimson edging was sewn into the seams of the cap and sides of all the caps of the command personnel, and a woolen five-pointed star made of instrument cloth with a diameter of 3 cm was sewn onto the front seam.
c) For the military personnel of the NKVD troops serving in areas with hot climates, a khaki cotton helmet with a five-pointed star made of instrument cloth with a diameter of 7.5 cm was introduced.
d) As a winter headdress, they introduced
* command staff: a Finnish hat made of gray or brown fur, with a top (cap) made of dark gray woolen fabric - was worn only with a coat with a buttoned fur collar.
* for the rank and file: a winter helmet - "budenovka" made of dark gray semi-coarse cloth with a five-pointed star made of instrument cloth with a diameter of 8 cm in the front part of the cap.

Instrument cloth:
- maroon - for internal security and air units;
- light green - for border guards.

A red enamel five-pointed Red Army star of the established pattern, 3.4 cm in diameter with gilded outer edges and a sickle and a hammer in its center, was located on the band of the caps and over the cloth stars on the helmets. On the caps, by order, only cloth stars were worn.

2. Outerwear.

Instead of the overcoat adopted in the Red Army for the command staff (except for the junior) of the organs and troops of the NKVD, a double-breasted coat-raincoat "raglan" made of dark gray woolen fabric, on 4 large uniform buttons, with a turn-down collar was introduced as outerwear. In winter, a fur lining and a collar in the color of the fur of a Finnish hat was attached to the coat. The collar of the coat of the highest command personnel of the NKVD troops was edged with crimson cloth.

Note: In addition to the outerwear established by orders, the commanding staff were allowed to wear out of order raincoats, coats and jackets made of black or dark brown leather, with and without insignia.

In the photo: on the left, a major of the NKVD troops in a coat-cloak with a fur collar and a Finnish hat. Insignia are located on the sleeve. On the right is a colonel of the NKVD troops in a coat. (reconstruction).

For the uniform of the command personnel, metal buttons of a special type were introduced without a rim, with a convex image of a straight five-pointed star with a sickle and a hammer, with a diameter: small - 17 mm and large - 28 mm; for the highest command staff - golden; for senior and middle - silver; for outerwear of the entire command structure - oxidized, dark gray. Ordinary army buttons were often used. Buttons for private and junior command personnel - the existing Red Army model, black

The rank and file, as well as the junior command and command staff, were left with the former single-breasted overcoat of the Red Army model from a semi-coarse gray overcoat cloth, with a fastener on hooks.

3. Dress code.

The uniform of the internal troops of the NKVD consisted of the following items:
a) For middle, senior and senior command personnel:
- woolen tunic in dark khaki color with two breast patch pockets;
- cloth dark blue harem pants with crimson edging;
- a summer tunic made of light khaki cotton with two breast patch pockets;
- summer harem pants made of light khaki cotton fabric, without edging;
b) For junior command personnel and rank-and-file personnel:
- a t-shirt made of light khaki cotton fabric with two breast patch pockets;
- harem pants made of light cotton fabric of a khaki color, without edging;

4. Equipment.

For the command personnel, army equipment of a single sample of brown leather with white metal fittings was installed. To carry the weapon, a holster was put on the waist belt on the right side. A pendant holster was worn with a jacket, attached with trenches to a waist belt. The rank and file and junior command personnel wore a brown or natural waist belt with a metal single-pin buckle.

In the pictures: on the left is the captain of the internal troops of the NKVD, on the right is a Red Army soldier of the internal troops of the NKVD.

Leggings with chrome boots made of black or dark brown leather, or black chrome boots were worn for the command staff of directorates and institutions of the NKVD troops with trousers such as breeches, for the command personnel of combat units and schools - black chrome or cowhide boots, and out of order - boots with leggings ... With trousers worn out (out of order), the entire command staff wore chrome boots or low shoes made of black or brown leather. The rank and file and the junior command staff were assigned the wearing of cowhide boots with windings or black cowhide boots.

From the author. I would like to emphasize once again that this article describes the uniform and insignia of only the Internal Troops of the NKVD, which had nothing to do with the protection of places of detention (GULAG), or the state security bodies (GB), or the police. The main tasks of the internal troops were the protection of important state facilities and military support of the internal integrity and security of the state. Of course, since the internal troops belonged to the NKVD system, their shape and insignia were very similar to the shape and insignia of other NKVD structures.
Similar, but nothing more.
In addition, the system of ranks of the internal troops practically coincided with the ranks adopted in the Red Army, while the ranks in state security, protection of places of detention and the police differed quite significantly.

Insignia of the internal troops of the NKVD.

On March 1, 1936, insignia of a completely new model were introduced, which differed sharply from previously existing ones, as well as from the insignia of the Red Army. And no longer by positions, but by personal titles.

They existed for a relatively short time - from 1 March 1936 to 1937, therefore they are little known.

The insignia consisted of a combination of lapel insignia and sleeve stars.

From the author. In the Soviet state, stars as the main insignia first appeared in the NKVD (on their collar tabs). The insignia of the military ranks of the Red Army at that time were geometric shapes - "rhombuses", "sleepers", "kubari", "triangles". We will see the stars in the Red Army, and then only on the collar tabs of the highest command personnel of the Red Army with the introduction of general ranks in 1940. And only at 43 they will appear on the shoulder straps of the officers of the Red Army.

I would like to remind you that at that time in the Internal Troops (as well as in the Red Army) the commanding and commanding staff were divided into:
1.commanders,
2. commanding staff:
a) - military-political composition,
b) - military-economic and administrative staff
c) - military-technical staff
d) - military medical personnel,
e) - military veterinary staff,
f) - military-legal composition.

Once again from the author. Within the NKVD system, there were several ranks in parallel:
* scale of ranks of the internal troops of the NKVD,
* scale of ranks of state security officers,
* scale of ranks of militia,
* scale of insignia according to the positions of employees and protection of places of detention,
* the scale of the ranks of the fire brigade.

Moreover, the insignia were often very similar, differing only in the color of the buttonholes and insignia. On black and white photographs of that time, it is sometimes impossible to determine who it is - a serviceman, an employee of the State Security Service or the police.

In the photo on the right (reconstruction), a colonel of the internal troops of the NKVD. Note that three stars in the buttonholes, but without the golden triangles at the bottom of the buttonholes, were also worn by the state security captain. However, it does not follow from this that the captain of the GB is equal to the colonel of the BB. These rank scales are too different, even in the number of ranks.

First, let's understand the difference between special and the military titles.

So, "employees" persons with special titles are named, "military personnel"- having military ranks.

Let's think about the names. What is an "employee" (a variant of the concept is an employee) and how does it differ from a serviceman?
Employee this is a person who voluntarily enters a job in any institution, including the NKVD, and leaves of his own free will. It is subject to the provisions of the Labor Code, but is not subject to the provisions of military law.
Serviceman, no matter how he enters military service (by conscription or voluntarily), he is obliged to serve the period established by law in those positions and in those localities where he was sent. He has no right to refuse to fulfill his duties and quit at his own request. His service is governed exclusively by military law.

It is this fundamental difference that leaves a certain imprint on the performance of official duties.

The internal troops of the NKVD are a purely military organization (one can say simply military units, only subordinate not to the People's Commissariat of Defense, but to the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs), while the NKVD organs are a semi-civilian organization. Discipline, diligence and order in a military organization are many times higher than in a semi-civilian one. They serve in the Internal Troops, and work in the agencies.

In the NKVD system of that time (and even now in the Ministry of Internal Affairs) there were both military and special ranks.

All who served in the Internal Troops were considered and are considered military personnel and have military ranks. When discharged from service, they are registered with the military enlistment office on an equal basis with army servicemen and their ranks are taken into account as well as the ranks of the military personnel of the Ministry of Defense.

But everyone else who served in the "bodies" (state security, police, firefighters, various business executives) were assigned special titles - with the prefix "state security", "police", "internal service". For example - a lieutenant of state security, a police captain, a major in the internal service.

Special ranks are not equated with military ranks at all. And although many of them wear army uniforms, in fact, they have nothing to do with the army or the troops of the NKVD (MVD). For example, the current Minister of Internal Affairs Nurgaliev wears the uniform of an army general, although he does not serve in the army or in the internal troops.

For example, a man served in the army, retired to the reserve with the rank of "corporal", after which he went to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the administrative and economic bodies. He was given a special rank, worked for many years, received a promotion, and eventually retired with the special rank of "Colonel of the Internal Service".
So, upon arrival at the district military registration and enlistment office for military registration, he will be recorded as a corporal, and not as a colonel, since his military (military) rank is corporal. The special rank for the military registration and enlistment office has no meaning.

Another example. The officer served under a contract, retired from the army, enters the police (police). In the militia, he is unconditionally assigned a special militia (police) rank corresponding to his military rank (i.e. confirmed) by way of recertification.
But the opposite will not work.
Suppose that a lieutenant from the Internal Troops retired from the troops, went to work in the police, rose to the rank of police major and then decided to return again to the Internal Troops. He can only be recruited as a lieutenant.

This is how military ranks have dominated the Russian state since the time of Peter I.

The military ranks for the internal security personnel of the NKVD of the USSR (internal troops) were introduced by the Council of People's Commissars Decree No. 2250 of October 7, 1935 and announced by the order of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs No. 319 of October 10, 1935.

Command staff:

Military-political composition:

Military-economic and administrative staff:

Military-technical staff:

Military medical personnel:

Military veterinary staff:

Military-legal composition:

The insignia for military ranks were stars of various colors in buttonholes and sleeve insignia.

Let's start with the sleeve insignia.

In the picture: from left to right: sleeve insignia of middle command personnel, senior command personnel, senior command personnel, military-political personnel.

The middle command staff wore on both sleeves above the cuff (above the cuff) two or three so-called. "truncated triangle" embroidered with red silk thread depending on the rank.

The senior command staff wore on both sleeves above the cuff (above the cuff) red stars embroidered in red silk with silver edging according to the rank (how many stars are in the buttonholes, so many on the sleeves).

The top commanding staff wore on both sleeves above the cuff (above the cuff) red stars embroidered in red silk with golden edging according to the rank (how many stars are in the buttonholes, so many on the sleeves) ..

The military-political composition on both sleeves above the cuff (above the cuff) wore one star, regardless of rank. These stars were completely analogous to the stars of the political composition of the Red Army, i.e. a red star with a golden hammer and sickle embroidered inside it.

The military-economic and administrative, military-technical, military-medical, military-veterinary and military-legal staff did not have sleeve insignia according to ranks.

The main means of distinguishing the ranks of the internal troops (internal security) of the NKVD were buttonholes.

Buttonholes, Model 1935, were parallelogram-shaped cloth valves, 10 cm long and 3.3 cm wide.
The color of the buttonholes has remained traditional - maroon. Buttonholes were trimmed with crimson edging 0.25 cm wide.

Along the middle part of the field on the buttonholes, a longitudinal strip (clearance) was sewn from a soutache cord 0.3-0.35 cm wide:
- golden color - for the highest command staff;
- silver color - for senior and middle command personnel;
- crimson - for private and junior command staff.

At the front non-edged edge of the buttonholes there were:
* the command personnel have equilateral triangles (side 3 cm): golden (galloon or metal)
* for the military-economic and administrative staff, dark blue (fabric or metal enameled)

On the collar tabs of the military-political, military-medical, military-veterinary, military-technical and military-legal personnel of the NKVD troops of the USSR, the wearing of triangles was not established.

The commanding staff (military-technical, military-medical, military-veterinary, military-legal) of the specialized services of the NKVD troops at the edged edge of the buttonholes, according to their specialty, wore emblems of white or yellow metal, which were located like those of the Red Army specialists .. Moreover, before the introduction in 1936, the new emblems of the Red Army (Order of the NKO No. 33 of 10.3.1936) used the emblems of the Red Army arr. 1922 (Order of the RVSR No. 322 of 31.1. 1922).

In the picture on the left:
1st Major of Internal Troops,
2-quartermaster of the 2nd rank,
3rd rank 2nd military engineer,
4th battalion commissar (political worker star on the sleeve),
5th rank 2 military doctor,
6th rank 2 military doctor.

Rank insignia:

* Private and junior command and command personnel - metal red enamel squares with silver-plated sides, which had the shape of a chevron. The squares were placed on the collar tabs in one row on a longitudinal strip with their apex to the non-edged end of the collar tab. The top of the inner corner of the first square was located at a distance of 4 cm from the edged end of the buttonhole, the distance between the squares was 0.3 cm.The squares had a height of 2.6 cm, the width of the side sections was 0.7 cm.The length of the side was 1.6 cm, and the width of the plane was enamel 0.4 cm. The Red Army men wore clean buttonholes with a longitudinal stripe, without insignia.

The Red Army men and junior commanders did not wear any emblems or insignia of the command and military-economic personnel.

1-petty officer,
2nd junior platoon commander,
3-detached commander,
4-Red Army soldier.

"Title candidate" was an intermediate step between junior and middle command personnel.

This title existed in the internal troops of the NKVD very not for long. Already in April 37th, by order of the NKVD of the USSR No. 169 of 04/21/1937, it was abolished as unnecessary.

In the picture on the left: the insignia of the candidate for the title.

From the author. In fact, any rank should correspond to a certain position or a group of approximately equal positions.And it is normal practice when a serviceman who has a certain rank is promoted, and then, after making sure that he is able to perform new duties for himself, he is assigned another rank. And the title candidate for the title (which is a tautology in itself) means that the person is no longer a sergeant-major, but not yet an officer (for the sake of simplicity, let me use a modern concept). And what to do if you decide that the candidate is not worthy of being awarded an officer rank. With the foreman it is simple - they returned to the foreman's position and that's it. What about the candidate? His rank is higher than petty officer, but he cannot be an officer.
Obviously, this duality of the situation prompted the authorities to abandon this title.

* Middle command and commanding staff - wore metallic red enamel so-called. "truncated
triangles "with silvered sides.

1st lieutenant,
2nd lieutenant,
3-political instructor (political worker star on the sleeve),
4th rank quartermaster technician,
5th rank 1 quartermaster technician,
6th rank 2 military technician,
7th rank 1 military technician,
8th rank 2 military paramedic,
9th rank 1 military assistant.

It should be noted that if doctors wore their own emblems, which were defined by them back in 1922 and had not changed by 1935, then the emblems of veterinarians and technicians are shown here of the 1936 model. It is not completely clear what emblems the commanding staff wore in the collar tabs of the 1935 model, and wore them in general. It should also be noted that until July 1940, the military-political composition in buttonholes did not wear any emblems at all. Both in the NKVD and in the Red Army, they distinguished themselves with commissar stars on their sleeves.

* Senior command and command staff wore silver gaps and metal silver stars with a diameter of 13 mm in their buttonholes.

1- colonel,
2nd major,
3-captain,
4th regimental commissar,
5th battalion commissar,
6-senior political instructor,
7th rank 1 quartermaster,
8th rank 2 quartermaster,
9th rank 3 quartermaster,
10 - military engineer of the 1st rank,
11th rank 2 military engineer,
12th rank 2 military engineer,
13th rank 1 military doctor,
14th rank 2 military doctor,
15th rank 3 military doctor.

Note. Persons with a higher education and entering military service in the Red Army or the internal troops of the NKVD as commanding (but only commanding!) Personnel immediately receive the rank of senior commanding personnel, bypassing all lower ranks. That is, a young man who graduated from a medical institute immediately receives the title of a military doctor of the 3rd rank, a young man who graduated from a technical university - a military engineer of the 3rd rank. Graduate of the Institute of National Economy - quartermaster 3rd rank.

* The highest commanding and commanding staff wore golden gaps and metal golden stars with a diameter of 13 mm in their buttonholes.

The highest rank in the internal troops of the NKVD was established as "commander of the 2nd rank". However, it was never assigned to anyone and remained purely nominal. In the picture on the right, the insignia of the 2nd rank army commander.

1-corps commander,
2nd division commander,
3rd brigade commander,
4-corps commissar,
5th Division Commissioner,
6 brigade commissar,
7-divintendant,
8 briginant,
9-diviner,
10 brigade engineer,
11-divine
12 brigade doctor.

I repeat that these insignia did not last long in the Internal Guard - from October 1935 to July 1937. Many military personnel of the Internal Troops did not even have time to put them on, since they did not switch to new insignia at one time, but as they were awarded ranks. And this was not a mechanical process. For each serviceman, the issue of assigning one or another rank was decided individually in the order of certification. And the junior command staff generally switched to new insignia only in March 1936.

At the same time, I considered it necessary to describe in detail these insignia and shape so that the reader does not get stumped when he sees a photograph with strange, very rare buttonholes. For the same purpose, and also in order for the reader to see the differences in the signs, in the appendices I give the insignia of the personnel of the NKVD and the GULAG of the NKVD

Sources and Literature

1. Magazine "Zeikhgauz" №1 - 1991.
2. Materials of the Central Museum of Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs
3. M.I.Shcherbak. "Your military uniform." Main Political Directorate of the Internal Troops. Moscow, 1986
4. J. Rutkiewicz, W. N. Kulikow. Wojska NKWD 1917-1945, Barwa i Broh, Lampart, Warszawa 1998.
5. V. Voronov, A. Shishkin "NKVD of the USSR: structure, leadership, uniform, insignia 1934-1937." - Moscow. LLC Publishing House "Russian Exploration". 2005
6.L. Tokar. The history of the Russian uniform. Soviet militia 1918-1991. Exclusive. St. Petersburg. 1995

Help about the author of the article
Major of the Internal Troops Vlasenko Valery Timofeevich. Was born in 1949. For 22 years he served in the Internal Troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, then served in the police. General service 35 years. Was on business trips in Nagorno-Karabakh, Chechnya.

In January 1943, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was issued on the introduction of new insignia in the Red Army - shoulder straps. As determined by the Decree, shoulder straps were intended to determine the military rank and belonging of a serviceman to one or another branch of the army. It should be noted that the uniform of the Red Army itself was changed at the same time.

Naturally, the form of the NKVD troops was also changed, which by this time differed from the form of the Red Army only in the colors of the buttonholes and caps (I do not mean the field uniform, which did not differ in any way).

As early as January 1942, a radical, albeit gradual change in the ranks of the commanding staff began. The names of the ranks of the middle, senior and higher personnel become the same as the ranks of the command personnel, but with a prefix indicating the type of service (for example, major engineer, lieutenant technician, major general of the engineering artillery service, colonel of the medical service, etc.). NS.) .

Accordingly, the insignia on shoulder straps in all services were unified, and it became possible to clearly define and compare the official position of servicemen of different types of service.
The title "captain" is moved to the junior officer category.
The use of the word "officer" is officially introduced.

On January 15, 1943, the People's Commissar of Defense issues order No. 25, which specifies the shape, colors, sizes of shoulder straps, insignia on shoulder straps.

Order of the NKVD No. 126 of February 18, 1943 duplicated the order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 25 of January 15, 1943. Shoulder straps are now being introduced to the NKVD.

The very system of differentiating ranks by means of shoulder straps was borrowed from the army of pre-revolutionary Russia. The dimensions, the shape of the shoulder straps in many ways repeated the shoulder straps of the tsarist army, however, the number and size of the stars, the colors of the stripes were different, and they denoted different ranks.

At the same time, the influence of the Wehrmacht's running system affected the new system (colored piping by type of service around the shoulder straps of privates and sergeants).

The color of edging and gaps for officers of the Internal Troops and employees of state security agencies was set to be the same - cornflower blue.

But in order to be able to distinguish the servicemen of the NKVD troops from the employees of the NKVD and state security agencies, as before, all NKVD servicemen were ordered to wear the emblems of the combat arms on their shoulder straps. State security officers did not wear any emblems.

All sleeve patches are completely canceled, including the state security sleeve badge.

On the new form, buttonholes lose their functional purpose (differentiation of ranks) and become mainly a decorative element and only partially indicate the service position of a serviceman.

On overcoats, the former diamond-shaped buttonholes, which covered the entire corner of the collar, were replaced with parallelogram-shaped buttonholes. The size of the buttonholes was the same as in the Red Army. On everyday greatcoats, buttonholes for internal troops have a maroon-colored field with cornflower blue piping. A gold button is placed at the top of the buttonhole. On the field collar tabs of overcoats, a field of khaki, cornflower-blue edging.

On ceremonial uniforms in the internal troops, buttonholes of maroon color without edging. Here, in addition to their decorative role, they indicate the category of military personnel.
The Red Army men have clean buttonholes, sergeants have a longitudinal stripe made of yellow (command staff) or white (commanding staff). Junior officers have one strip embroidered with gold and silver thread in their buttonholes, senior officers have two.

The dress uniform of the soldiers and sergeants of the NKVD troops is not single-breasted, as in the Red Army, but double-breasted. In addition, the trousers for the ceremonial uniform are blue, like those of the officers, but without edging (in the Red Army, the ceremonial trousers are the same color as the uniform).

The same order determines that two types of shoulder straps are introduced for privates and sergeants - everyday and field. Casual shoulder straps are designed for formal uniforms and everyday field uniforms in the event that it is used as everyday. Field shoulder straps are intended for everyday field uniform, if it is used as a field uniform.

Field shoulder straps of soldiers and sergeants internal troops were made of khaki cloth with cornflower blue piping. No emblems and numbers of regiments were relied on for field shoulder straps. Patches for ranks from silk band (braid) for the commanding staff in burgundy color; for non-combatant, technical, medical, veterinary, quartermaster - brown.
The field shoulder straps of private and junior command and commanding personnel were pentagonal, had a length of 14-16 cm and a width of 6 cm.The insignia of rank in the form of transverse stripes made of silk bason 1 cm, 3 cm and 1.5 cm wide were green buttons colors.

1-Red Army soldier; 2-corporal; 3-Junior Sergeant; 4-Sergeant, 5- Senior sergeant (commanding staff), 6 - Petty officer.

Everyday shoulder straps of soldiers and sergeants of the internal troops. Made of maroon cloth with cornflower blue piping. On the shoulder straps, the number of the regiment is applied with paint on a stencil (which, however, was not carried out everywhere).
Emblems by type of troops are placed in the middle of the shoulder strap.
All emblems are metallic gold (but the emblems of the veterinary service are silvery).
To distinguish the ranks on shoulder straps, transverse stripes are located in their upper part. These patches are in three sizes; narrow 1 cm wide, wide 3 cm wide and for longitudinal stripes of foremen 1.5 cm wide.
The color of the patches is yellow for the command personnel and grayish-white for the sergeants of the technical personnel, logistic personnel, medical and veterinary services and non-combatant personnel.
Patches are made in a factory way from silk trim (braid).
The cadets of the command schools of the internal troops have a lining on three sides of the shoulder strap made of gold braid, and the cadets of the only rear-service school - of silver braid.

1-Red Army soldier (rifle units); 2-corporal (artillery); 3-Junior Sergeant (armored vehicles), 4-Sergeant (cavalry); 5th Senior Sergeant (rifle units); 6-Petty Officer (automotive parts and divisions); 7-Cadet.

The shoulder straps are attached to the tunic with a longitudinal strap sewn into the lower part of the shoulder strap and passing along the back of the shoulder strap and threaded into the transverse patch on the shoulder of the tunic and fastened to the button sewn at the collar. The upper end of the shoulder strap is fastened to the same button. There were also combined everyday-field shoulder straps, which on the one hand were field, and on the other - everyday. If necessary, shoulder straps were simply turned over with the required side up.

Field shoulder straps for middle and senior command and command personnel(junior and senior officers) - pentagonal, had a length of 14-16 cm, and a width of 6 cm. The color of the edging of shoulder straps was cornflower blue.
The shoulder straps of doctors and military officers were somewhat narrower - 4 cm.
Insignia of rank in the form of five-pointed stars in size (diameter of the circumscribed circle) - 13 mm for junior officers and 20 mm for senior officers.
The color of the stars for the officers of the command staff is silver, for the officers of the commanding staff it is golden.
The color of the gaps for the command staff is cornflower blue, for the officers of the commanding staff - brown. Clearance width 5 mm.
All emblems are metallic in golden color and are located 10 mm below the button. The buttons are green. Field shoulder straps were intended to be worn on summer and winter field uniforms.

1st Colonel (cavalry units of the NKVD Internal Troops)),
2nd lieutenant colonel (armored units of the NKVD Internal Troops),
3rd Major (rifle units of the NKVD Internal Troops),
4th Colonel (technical service of the Internal Troops of the NKVD),
5-captain (rifle units of the Internal Troops of the NKVD).
6th senior lieutenant (cavalry units of the NKVD Internal Troops).
7th lieutenant (artillery of the NKVD Internal Troops).
8th junior lieutenant (armored units of the NKVD Internal Troops).
9th lieutenant (technical service of the Internal Troops of the NKVD).

Field shoulder straps were intended to be worn on summer and winter field uniforms.

Casual shoulder straps for middle and senior command and control personnel(junior and senior officers) had the same dimensions as the field ones, but were trimmed with galloon with gaps woven into them. They were also worn on a dress uniform.
For the command staff, gold braid, silver stars and emblems.
For the commanding staff, the braid is silver, the emblems and stars are golden.

The button for all is copper or brass yellow. Clearances on everyday shoulder straps for all officers of the internal troops are cornflower blue, as well as the edging of shoulder straps.

Command personnel shoulder straps:

1st Colonel (rifle units of the NKVD Internal Troops)),
2nd Lieutenant Colonel (cavalry units of the Internal Troops of the NKVD),
3rd major (armored units of the NKVD Internal Troops),
4-captain (cavalry units of the Internal Troops of the NKVD).
5th senior lieutenant (armored units of the NKVD Internal Troops).
6th lieutenant (cavalry forces of the NKVD).
8th junior lieutenant (rifle units of the Internal Troops of the NKVD).

Note. The same shoulder straps were worn in the NKVD (state security officers, officers of the internal service). But there, shoulder straps were worn without any emblems. But in the VV NKVD, emblems were required.

Note by Yu.G. Veremeev. In general, where did this name "gaps" come from, which are called longitudinal narrow stripes on the officer's shoulder straps?
The thing is that in 1854, when galloon shoulder straps were introduced for officers, it was decided that the shoulder strap itself remains the same as that of the lower ranks, but two wide so-called. "harness" lace with one gap between them. It turns out the shoulder strap of the chief officer. Stars are then attached to the shoulder strap according to the rank of the officer. In this interval, you can see the shoulder strap field. Hence the term "skylight".
In order to obtain the shoulder strap of a headquarters officer, one wide braid (harness) and two narrow braids (the so-called "headquarters officer braids") were sewn along its length along its length. It turned out two gaps - gaps.
On the shoulder straps of the marching form, this gap was indicated by a narrow dark orange ribbon. With timefactories began to produce braid, in which the former harness and staff officer braids and gaps were combined.

When in 1943 they began to make officer's gold shoulder straps, the galloon was woven with a width equal to the width of the shoulder strap without edging. A colored narrow strip (one for the braid of junior officers, two for the senior) was woven into the braid itself, making up one whole with it, but the term "clearance" remained.

Shoulder straps of the commanding staff (examples):
1-engineer-colonel,
2nd Lieutenant of the Quartermaster Service,
3rd lieutenant of the medical service.

Veterinary officers have a silver emblem.

By the way, in 1943, there are galloons of officer shoulder straps with various weave patterns. Obviously, the patterns of the interlacing of the shoulder straps of the tsarist army (in which there were more than 20 different patterns of braid) were taken as a basis, different factories produced braid with different patterns, there was a process of searching for a single pattern of braid, which approximately ended only by 1955.

I would like to draw the attention of uniformitarianism lovers to two more not very noticeable, but very significant details.
The first is the arrangement of stars on the shoulder straps of the colonel and lieutenant colonel. The stars are not located in the gaps, but shifted to the edge of the shoulder strap. This is how the stars were worn on the shoulder straps of the tsarist army, placing them on the sides of the encryption. But the fact is that in the tsarist army all the stars were of the same size - 11 mm (1/4 inches), and they were perfectly placed between the gap and the edge of the shoulder strap. And the stars of the 1943 model of the senior officers were much larger in size - 20 mm, and when placed between the gap and the edge of the shoulder strap, the sharp ends of the stars often went beyond the edge of the shoulder strap and clung to anything - for example, the lining of the overcoat.
These stars will only shift into the clearances around 1947. Apparently, the displacement of the stars into the gaps was at first largely spontaneous, and later standardized.

And the second - up to the beginning of the sixties, the emblems were made of brass and, accordingly, either gilded or silver-plated. From the beginning of the sixties, they began to be made of white metal, which was anodized to give a golden color (if necessary).

All shoulder straps were attached to the uniform with a longitudinal belt loop sewn on the back of the shoulder strap. These epaulettes were designed to be worn on casual and dress uniforms.

Shoulder straps of the generals of the Internal Troops.

Unlike the army, there were few generals in the Internal Troops. During the Great Patriotic War, even the commanders of the Internal Troops of the NKVD did not rise in ranks higher than the "major general":
- A.I.Guliev (1941-1942)
- I.S. Sheredega (1942-1944).

And only A. N. Apollonov, who commanded the Internal Troops in 1944-1946, rose to the rank of "Colonel General".
The shoulder straps of the generals of the Internal Troops differed from the army generals only in the color of the edging of the shoulder straps (cornflower blue), which was adopted at that time in the Internal Troops.

Only everyday shoulder straps are known. There is no information about field shoulder straps for the generals of the Internal Troops.

In the picture on the left:
1. Major General of the Internal Troops.
2. Lieutenant General of the Internal Troops.
3. Colonel General of the Internal Troops.

In subsequent years, the uniform and insignia of the Internal Troops more and more approached the army.
In 1955, with the abolition of the colored edging on the shoulder straps of soldiers and sergeants of the Soviet Army, cornflower-blue edging and the shoulder straps of soldiers and sergeants of the Internal Troops were leaving.

In 1970, with the introduction of a new uniform in the Soviet Army, a similar one was adopted for the Internal Troops. The cornflower blue color completely and completely leaves the objects of the form and insignia of the BB. It remains the main color of the KGB military. Already in the early fifties, this department was completely separated from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and became completely independent.

From that time on, the military officer can be distinguished from the army officer only by the maroon color of the gaps on the shoulder straps, and the same maroon color of the buttonholes, edging on the uniform, and the soldiers and sergeants by the maroon color of the epaulettes and the letters BB on the shoulder straps.

From the author. To distinguish the maroon color of an explosive from an army red can only be a person who subtly distinguishes colors and shades, or when an explosives officer and an army (motorized rifleman) are standing side by side. In the seventies and eighties, among the civilian population, it often gave rise to an erroneous opinion that all the "red-runners" are the Internal Troops, and the "black-runners" are the Soviet Army. Moreover, only motorized riflemen wore red shoulder straps in the SA, and most of the Army (tankers, artillerymen, rocket men, engineers, chemists, signalmen, ...) wore black shoulder straps.

Sources and Literature