The Railways during the Second World War (1941 – 1945)

During the years of the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1923, the Red Army accumulated vast experience in the use of armoured rolling stock, in other words armoured trains. These armoured trains were used both for providing fire support to the troops and for independent, sometimes very daring combat operations in the zones where the railways could operate. At the same time, the Red Army fully exploited the advantages of armoured trains, such as their speed of movement and manoeuvrability, fire power, powerful armour protection and the ability to use armoured trains as a traction force for transporting up to 15 carriages carrying particularly important freight. In October 1920, the armoured forces of the Red Army included 103 armoured trains.

At the end of the Civil War, the number of armoured trains fell sharply and at the end of 1923 they were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Main Artillery Directorate, which made no contributions to their further improvement since the Directorate considered armoured trains only as artillery mounted on railway platforms.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, there were 54 armoured trains, 48 ​​motorised armoured cars, 345 anti-aircraft gun cars.

Armoured trains usually operated as part of divisions. For example, the armoured train Kozma Minin, along with the same type of armoured train Ilya Muromets, was part of the 31st Independent Special Gorky Armoured Train Division. To support combat operations, the division was provided with a black S-179 steam locomotive, a BD-39 armoured railcar, two BA-20 armoured cars, three motorcycles, and ten vehicles. The division’s personnel, including the attached airborne mortar company, totalled 335 people.

The Red Army used armoured trains throughout the Great Patriotic War. In addition to supporting rifle units operating in the railway zone, they were used to defeat enemy troops around the areas of ​​important railway stations, to protect the coast, and to combat artillery. Anti-aircraft armoured trains armed with 25-mm and 37-mm anti-aircraft guns and 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine guns played an exceptionally important role in protecting railway stations from enemy air strikes.

The successful use of armoured trains in the first months of the war contributed to the deployment of their construction at the wagon depots in a number of cities. At the same time, the design and armament of armoured trains were largely improvised and depended on the availability of armoured steel, weapons, and the technological capabilities of the depots. A significant portion of the armoured trains in service with the Red Army at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War were manufactured at the Bryansk Armoured Train Base.

The most common type of armoured train in the second half of the Great Patriotic War was the so-called 1943 armoured train model, the BP-43, which was developed in 1942.

As a rule, the BP-43 armoured train consisted of a PR-43 armoured locomotive, placed in the middle of the train, 4 PL-43 artillery armoured platforms, with 2 armoured platforms on both sides of the armoured locomotive, 2 armoured platforms with PVO-4 anti-aircraft weapons at both ends of the armoured train and 2 to 4 control platforms, on which the materials necessary for repairing the railway lines were transported. Usually, the armoured train included 1 or 2 BA-20 or BA-64 armoured cars which had been adapted for transportation by rail.

During the war, 21 BP-43 armoured trains were manufactured for the Red Army. The NKVD troops also received a significant number of armoured trains of this type.

Heavy armoured trains were armed with 107 mm guns with a firing range of up to 15 km. Armour measuring up to 100 mm provided protection for vital components from 75 mm armour-piercing shells.

On one tank of fuel and water, an armoured train could travel up to 120 km at a maximum speed of 45 kph. Coal (10 tons) or fuel oil (6 tons) were used as fuel. The weight of the armoured train’s combat unit did not exceed 400 tons.

The combat unit crew consisted of the command, control platoon, armoured car platoons with turret crews and onboard machine gun sections, an air defence platoon, a traction and movement platoon, and a platoon of rail armoured cars, which had 2 light armoured cars BA-20zhd and 3 medium armoured cars BA-10zhd which had been adapted for transportation along the railway track. They were used for reconnaissance at a distance of 10-15 km and as part of security (patrol) on the march. In addition, a landing force of up to three rifle platoons could be located on the cover platforms.

Employees from the People’s Commissariat of Railways fought as part of the crews staffing armoured trains. To help the front during the Great Patriotic War, hundreds of new armoured trains were built and equipped by rail crews by the People’s Commissariat. A total of 151 armoured trains, 7 armoured steam locomotives and 20 armoured air defence platforms, 126 anti-aircraft armoured trains and 1,690 anti-aircraft gun cars were additionally equipped to escort military trains. Armoured trains played a special role in the first, most difficult years of the war, and 89 armoured trains out of 336 were destroyed in battles with the enemy.

ARMOURED TRAIN KOZMA MININ

The most successful design was the armoured train Kozma Minin, built in February 1942 at the carriage depot in the city of Gorky, which has since reverted to its original mediaeval name of Nizhny Novgorod.

The combat unit of this armoured train included an armoured locomotive, 2 covered armoured platforms, 2 open artillery armoured platforms and 4 two-axle control platforms. Each covered armoured platform was armed with two 76.2-mm guns installed in T-34 tank turrets. In addition to 7.62-mm machine guns paired with these guns, the DT armoured platforms had four 7.62-mm heavy Maxim machine guns in ball mounts on the sides. The open artillery platforms were divided lengthwise into three sections. The front and rear compartments housed 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, and the central compartment housed a launcher for M-8 rockets. The armoured platforms had side armour 45 mm thick, while the covered armoured platforms had 20 mm thick upper armour. The armoured locomotive, protected by 30-45 mm thick armour, was used as traction only in combat conditions. An ordinary steam locomotive was used on campaigns and manoeuvres. The tender of the armoured locomotive was equipped with a commander’s cabin connected to the driver’s cabin by an armoured door. From this cabin, the armoured train commander controlled the actions of the armoured platforms using telephone communication. For external communication, he had a long-range radio station RSM at his disposal. Thanks to the presence of four long-barrelled 76.2 mm F-32 guns, the armoured train could provide highly concentrated artillery fire and carry out targeted fire at a range of up to 12 km, while the M-8 launchers allowed it to successfully destroy enemy manpower and equipment.

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ARMOURED TRAIN ILYA MUROMETS

The armoured train Ilya Muromets was built in 1942 in Murom. It was protected by 45 mm thick armour and did not suffer a single hole during the entire war. The armoured train travelled from Murom to Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. During the war, it destroyed 7 aircraft, 14 guns and mortar batteries, 36 enemy firing points, and 875 soldiers and officers. In recognition of its military successes, the 31st Independent Special Gorky Division of armoured trains, which included the armoured trains Ilya Muromets and Kozma Minin, was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. In 1971, the armoured steam locomotive Ilya Muromets was placed on permanent display in Murom.

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ARMOURED TRAINS AT TOMSK RAILWAYS

In early December 1941, on the instructions of the State Defence Committee, the formation of three armoured train divisions began on the Tomsk Railway. The depot workers built 11 armoured trains, including Kuzbass Railwayman, Soviet Siberia, Pobeda, Luninets, which was named after the driver Nikolai Aleksandrovich Lunin.

In July 1942, on the Yelets – Kastornaya section, armoured train No. 704 Luninets underwent its baptism of fire. The commander of the armoured train was tasked with landing infantry in the rear of the fascists near Terbuny station who held an important elevated strategic position and supporting it with fire. The Nazis, not expecting a rapid attack to their rear, abandoned the position. The armoured train was attacked by 11 fascist aircraft. Anti-aircraft gunners staunchly defended the steel fortress. Two bombers were shot down during the attack.

On 8 September 1942, the armoured train was taking on water at the station when 18 German aircraft attacked. The track ahead was destroyed by bombs. Engine driver P.A. Khursik and sixteen workers restored the track. At that time, the engine driver M.F. Shchipachev was at the rear of the train and, manoeuvring on a small section of the surviving track, saved the train from fascist bombs.

On 27 April 1943, armoured trains No. 663 Zheleznodorozhnik Altaya and No. 704 Luninets of the 49th Independent division were transferred to the defensive sector of the 13th Army on the Central Front. On 6 July 1943, in the Ponyri area, the armoured trains of the 49th division entered the battle, supporting the regiments of the 81st and 307th rifle divisions.

With active fire support from the armoured trains Luninets and Zheleznodorozhnik Altaya, the army units managed to stop the desperate enemy offensive. The Nazi command launched a special operation to destroy the armoured trains, in which the main role was assigned to aviation. When Luninets and Zheleznodorozhnik Altaya reached the selected positions for another fire strike on the enemy, 36 enemy aircraft appeared above the armoured trains. They managed to destroy the tracks, depriving the armoured train Zheleznodorozhnik Altaya of the opportunity to retreat. But the crews of the steel fortresses fired from all their anti-aircraft weapons and the fascists lost several aircraft. The crews of the armoured trains and the railway workers worked all night, raising the armoured platforms and laying new rails. In the morning, the 49th Separate Armored Train Division again went on a combat mission.

On 9 July 1943, the armoured train Luninets once again opened fire on the enemy. On the southwestern outskirts of the village of Ponyri, in the area of ​​the railway station, it repelled dozens of attacks by the fascists. Together with the soldiers of the 4th Guards Airborne Division, the crew of the armoured train carried out the order of the commander of the Central Front, Army General Konstantin Rokossovsky: "Do not surrender Ponyri!" The crew of the armoured train did not leave the battle for 24 hours. The commander of the armoured forces of the 13th Army, General M.A. Korolev, through the commander of the armoured train, Captain B.V. Shelokhov, expressed his gratitude to all personnel. During the battles in the Ponyri area, the fighters of the 49th division destroyed more than 800 fascist soldiers and officers.

After the defeat of the Nazi armies on the Kursk Bulge, the combat route of the armoured train lay in Ukraine. On 13 February 1944, the 49th Separate Armored Train Division under the command of Captain D.M. Shevchenko was awarded the honorary title of Shepetovsky by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. In the battles for Shepetovka, the crews of the armoured trains carried out 56 fire raids and repelled 15 enemy attacks. The armoured trains participated in the liberation of Czestochowa, Piotrkow, Radom. The division finished its combat route in Lower Silesia, in the city of Oppeln.

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ARMOURED TRAIN BALTIETS

On 3 July 1941, at a meeting at the Leningrad-Baltic Electric Depot, it was decided to build an armoured train using the Op-7599 steam locomotive and two four-axle platforms with a load capacity of 60 tons. The rolled steel for the locomotive's sheathing was supplied by the Izhora Plant.

The armoured train was armed with six 76-mm guns, two 120-mm mortars and 16 machine guns, including four large-calibre ones. The armoured train was named Baltiets by the workers themselves. The armoured train crew was drawn from volunteer rail workers at the electric depot and career artillerymen.

Since the Autumn of 1941, the armoured train Baltiets stood in defense of Leningrad’s borders. It could fire from fifteen firing positions along various sectors on the front: from the Myaglovo-Gora position - at Mga; from Ugolnaya Gavan - at Sosnovaya Polyana and Strelna; from Predportovaya - at Uritsk, Krasnoye Selo, Voronya Gora; from the Levashovo, Beloostrov, Oselki, Vaskelovo positions - to the area behind Lembolovo - Orekhovo.

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ARMOURED TRAIN PEOPLE'S AVENGER

The People's Avenger armoured train was built by the railway workers from the Leningrad-Warsaw junction. The armoured train’s armament consisted of two anti-aircraft 76-mm guns, two tank 76-mm guns and 12 Maxim machine guns.

The combat path of the People's Avenger began on 7 November 1941. At the Warsaw Station, during a rally, the railway workers presented the Red Banner to the armoured train crew, 85% of whom were volunteer railway workers. During its service, the armoured train participated in many operations to defend Leningrad, smashing the enemy in and around Pushkin, Aleksandrovka, Uritsk and Pavlovsk.

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ARMOURED TRAINS IN THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD

In August 1942, when the Nazis came very close to Stalingrad, armoured trains were called upon to play an important role in the defence of the city.

Among the first armoured trains to arrive at Stalingrad was armoured train No. 73 of the NKVD troops. In September 1942, the armoured train did not cease fighting. On 2 September, the headquarters of the 10th Rifle Division of the NKVD troops warned that a large group of tanks was moving toward Sadovaya station. The armoured train met them fully armed. In retaliation, the enemy unleashed aircraft on the train, pursuing it with artillery and mortar fire. All four control platforms and the BA-20 armoured car burned down. But the very next day, the armoured train launched a surprise attack on the concentrated troops of the invader northwest of Sadovaya station, destroying three tanks and scattering the infantry. By the evening, the crew had carried out two more fire raids in the area of ​​Opytnaya station.

The 14 September turned out to be the last day in the combat history of armoured train #73. At six in the morning, 40 enemy aircraft flew in and scored a series of direct hits on the armoured platforms, causing the train’s own ammunition to explode and enveloping the train in clouds of smoke. The crew removed the surviving weapons and went down to the Volga. The mangled skeleton of armoured train #73 remained lying at the foot of the Mamayev Kurgan. But soon, a new fortress on wheels was sent to the front under the same number. It was manufactured in Perm by former soldiers from armoured train #73, who also formed the new crew.

On 23 July, fascist planes bombed our military trains at Archeda station three times. Armoured train No. 677 underwent its baptism of fire here, shooting from its anti-aircraft guns and repelling an air attack. As a result of the raid, the station and the railway bed were destroyed. The armoured train soldiers and rail workers restored the track. On 25 July the 677th was assigned the combat sector Kalach-on-the-Don – Krivomuzginskaya – Karpovskaya – Stalingrad. The task was to support our troops with cannon and machine gun fire, prevent the fascists from breaking through the Don, and fight enemy landings.

Armoured trains of the 28th division were dispatched to the Stalingrad front.

On 5 August, armoured train No. 677 was transferred to the 64th Army in the Abganerovo-Plodovitoye area. German tanks broke through into the depths of our defence, but were immediately thrown back. The 47th kilometre siding repeatedly changed hands. The steel fortress destroyed pillboxes, suppressed mortar and artillery batteries.

On 9 August, the troops on the Stalingrad Front launched a counterattack on the enemy group that had broken through. Armoured train No. 677 accompanied the advance of the 38th rifle division with gunfire together with the 133rd tank brigade. During the day, the crew repelled eleven air attacks, restoring the rail bed and filling up the deep craters caused by aerial bombs. By evening, the armoured train passed the exit signal at Tinguta station. Having reached the firing line, it fell upon the enemy with the full force of its firepower. Fascist bombers showered it with high-explosive and incendiary bombs. The armoured train received over six hundred dents and holes from fragments from aerial bombs.

In September 1942, armoured train No. 708 was on the Stalingrad – Sarepta section. The track workers from Beketovskaya station serviced the 11-kilometre section along which this armoured train was sent on combat missions. The section was shelled and bombed by the fascists every day. Over a distance of three kilometres alone, there were about 150 damaged pieces of rail, not counting the destruction of the embankment, sleepers, and fastenings. In order to fix all the damage, the track workers had to work mainly at night.

In September 1942, armoured train No. 1 of the 59th Independent Division received an order to leave for Stalingrad and make for the Archeda-Ilovlya-Kotluban section. Near Stalingrad, the division was subordinated to the 22nd mechanised brigade of the 4th tank army. The division’s task was to prevent German troops from crossing the river Don near the mouth of the Ilovlya River, to cover Ilovlya station from German air raids, and to ensure the safety of the bridge across the river.

On 15 September, train No. 1 arrived at Log station, and then went to Ilovlya, where it subsequently had its main stop, which was subjected to daily bombing. Train No. 1 left Ilovlya several times at night, travelled to the Tishkino siding, which was closer to Stalingrad, and from there fired at German positions on the right bank of the river Don.

The 40th Independent Division, operating north of Stalingrad, controlled the Ilovlya-Kotluban section. It included the Kirov armoured train, which had been built in Omsk, and the Severokazakhstanets, which left the Petropavlovsk depot. In this section, the enemy captured the commanding heights and controlled all the trains advancing nearby. The armoured trains took turns moving to convenient positions for fire raids on the enemy. At dawn on 23 August, the Kirov went out to fire directly at the elevated positions. An artillery duel ensued which saw three enemy guns put out of action, but the armoured train also suffered considerable damage.

On the Ilovlya-Kotluban section, when the invaders went on the offensive, the armored trains repelled attacks by tanks and artillery. But two armored platforms of the Kirov were derailed by enemy shells. The other two continued to meet the Nazis’ manpower and equipment with fire. By evening, the railway track was destroyed. The Kirov fighters spent the whole night restoring it, but after a technical check, they had to leave for repairs in Saratov.

In the second half of October 1942, the 39th Separate Armored Train Division arrived near Stalingrad. Its base was at Filonovo station, while the armored trains were stationed at Archeda station. On 19 November, after the start of our general offensive near Stalingrad, the armored trains left for Log and Ilovlya stations to support the attacking Soviet units and protect them from air raids. On 26 January 1943, the division’s anti-aircraft gunners shot down one Junkers airplane and several others and, leaving the smoking ruins behind them, went back home.

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