Soviet Army Honor GuardsRequest

[Bill D.]

Hey guys...
I'm interested in the uniforms worn by Soviet Army honor guards. Does anyone have any photographs of the Soviet army honor guards, or special units, that were in Berlin, or assigned to the Kremlin?
Any help would be appreciated !
Bill

[olivyaya]

My page :
http://sites.estvideo.net/cold-war/m...e/mausolee.htm

[Bill D.]

Many thanks for the link to your page! You have some great photos of both the uniform of the honor guard for Lenin's tomb, as well as of the hounor guard on duty!

The honor guard at Lenin's tomb was of course drawn from the KGB. I would still be interested in any photos of the honor guards of the Soviet army.

[Roy Queen]

It is interesting that the guards at Lenin's Tomb were drawn from the KGB rather than the Army. Does anyone know what were the standards that the KGB had to select their honor guard members?

[olivyaya]

From the info I have :
By tradition they were drawn from the draftees from 3 slav republics (Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia), Latvia (in memory f the Latvian fighters in the revolution) and Estonia (at the personal request of the chairman of the Estonian KGB).The Kremlin and the Tomb were guarded by the KGB. They were required to be politically reliable with no criminal records, good health and secondary schooling. They were to be 176 to 1989 cm tall, free of facial defects, have absolutely healthy legs, and no tatoos on their arms.
They were trained in Kupavna outside of Moscow. They began by being matched with another draftee by height, shape of the legs and oval of the face for the guards in the pair were to match perfectly.
If one of the partners fell ill or took leave, it was difficult to find a substitute. training lasted for several hours each day in the narrow courtyard of the Kremlin barracks with a replica platform and doors drawn on the wall to duplicat the front of the Tomb.

[Roy Queen]

Thank you for the information! That is very interesting!

From the info I have :
By tradition they were drawn from the draftees from 3 slav republics (Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia), Latvia (in memory f the Latvian fighters in the revolution) and Estonia (at the personal request of the chairman of the Estonian KGB).The Kremlin and the Tomb were guarded by the KGB. They were required to be politically reliable with no criminal records, good health and secondary schooling. They were to be 176 to 1989 cm tall, free of facial defects, have absolutely healthy legs, and no tatoos on their arms.
They were trained in Kupavna outside of Moscow. They began by being matched with another draftee by height, shape of the legs and oval of the face for the guards in the pair were to match perfectly.
If one of the partners fell ill or took leave, it was difficult to find a substitute. training lasted for several hours each day in the narrow courtyard of the Kremlin barracks with a replica platform and doors drawn on the wall to duplicat the front of the Tomb.

[Mike G.]

Hi Bill,

Not sure if this is in line with what you requested. You did ask about Pics of Soviet Special or Honor Guards that also were unique to Berlin. This uniform is specific to Soviet Soldiers in Berlin at the conclusion of the Cold War.

First a photo of a couple of actual soldiers wearing it.
Second a closeup photo of it. The Visor (Peaked) Hat is of the Honor Guard type. The trousers (not shown) are neat because they are of the riding type and have a thin red stripe down each side. All in all, a pretty impressive uniform, particularly given it is for an enlisted soldier.

[Mike G.]

Closeup:

[olivyaya]

Closeup:

Hello Mike !
These are Soviet/Russian post 1989 ones aren't they ??

[Mike G.]

Hello Olivier,

Affirmative. Which is why I initially responded I wasn't sure this example would fit in with what Bill was looking for. The uniform is however, "Unique" to Berlin, and is an "Honor Guard" type uniform. Up until then, all uniforms worn by Soviet Forces in Berlin were the same as that worn by all Soviet Forces everwhere - nothing to designate them as being specific to soldiers stationed in Berlin. The uniforms depicted in these two photos were the one exception.

But Olivier, Bill is probably looking for something right after Berlin fell and came under Soviet Control?