Cossacks, Tank Crews (All Nationalities, AU) by PieJaDak on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

If you want the backstory to this unit, click here:

www.deviantart.com/piejadak/ar…

Unit Appearance:

The first Cossack units were, as we have noted, employed by the Panzer divisions and they adopted the death’s head of the German armoured forces as their own, wearing it as cap and arm badge. It also featured on their flags. Before the introduction of standard ranks, German commanders often devised rank schemes of their own invention for the “unofficial” auxiliaries. Even special “decorations” were created to reward merit at a time when granting German medals and Kriegsabzeichen was expressly prohibited. An interesting example of this sort of “award” is a facsimile of a German Panzerkampfwagen Auf. III in white metal with a large golden F upon it, which was given by von Renteln to men of his Cossack Regiment in recognition of their bravery in an action against Red Army tanks. This unit’s insignia takes the form of a red shield with a white outline. The red and white theme was employed on other Cossack arm shields of their period as well. For example, a red shield with transverse broad white “bars” and “bend” (alternatively four narrow white “bars”), was worn by one unit whose exact identity the author has been unable to establish (possibly it was either the Jungschulz or Lehmann Regiment). There was also a triangular red arm shield with a white outline worn by another (as yet) unidentified Cossack formation.

On 1 April 1942, official approval was obtained from Hitler for the employment of Cossacks “on security duties in the rear.” A formal scheme of ranks was introduced shortly thereafter. This scheme was modified from time to time and, because of this and that fact that the official “issue” items were not always readily available, a wide diversity of insignia was worn. No one, therefore, need to be surprised if photographic evidence appears to contradict published regulations!

It was laid down that no Slav was to wear German insignia or receive German awards. For this reason unique insignia had to be devised for the eastern volunteers. The first unit to be granted its own, officially approved, rank insignia was the Kosaken Reiter-Rgt. “Platov.” An Army Order of 13 June 1942 specified three officer, and four non-commissioned, grades. Officers had white shoulder straps with one, two or three silver tress bars; non-commissioned personnel, red with, again, one, two or three silver tress bars. All ranks had red collar patches which were outlined, for officers, on four sides by silver tress, but for others on the front and lower edge only.

On 11 November 1942 a second Army Order modified and enlarged the above. Collar patch and shoulder strap colour was changed to green. A higher commissioned grade, that of Abteilungsführer (Unit Commander), was created and officers received new narrow silver shoulder straps of the sort worn by army Sonderführer.

A third revision, this time a major one, was announced on 29 May 1943. All Cossack collar patches now bore white crossed lances on a red patch which was outlined in white for officers and green for others. The N.C.O. shoulder ranks of one, two or three silver tress bars remained as before, but commissioned ranks were now indicated on shoulder boards of a kind once used by the old Czarist army.

As their cap badge, Cossacks had crossed lances upon a red vertical bar on a green oval background.

Since the army’s Hoheitsabzeichen was expressly forbidden to Slavs, its place was taken by a device of roughly the same dimensions which takes the form of a vertically elongated swastika (as used by the Schuma formations), in white upon green, flanked on either side by “wings” of grey, green/grey.

At this time arm shields were introduced to denote Don, Kuban and Terek Cossacks. The colours of these derived from the coloured facings worn by the regiments that came from these areas in the old Czarist army.

A somewhat later modification was the replacement of the crossed lances and red bar cap badge by cockades in various “national” colours:

Black and red: Kuban Cossacks

Green and light blue: Terek Cossacks

Blue and yellow: Siberian Cossacks

Red and blue: Don Cossacks

A further innovation was the introduction of coloured shoulder straps – red for Kuban, light blue for Terek, and dark blue for Don Cossack units.

In December 1943 three higher officer ranks – Major General, Lt. General, and General – were added to the existing scheme of grades which was now made universal for all Russian and Ukrainian formations (no merely Cossack) within the German army. Only the ethnic legions with their own (already described) collar and shoulder ranks remained outside it.

Up to this time Germans serving with Cossack units wore German rank insignia, while the Cossacks wore the specially designed Cossack type. Pannwitz, however, insisted that all the men under his command should wear German insignia. He argued that to have two different sets of ranks created an invidious distinction between Cossack and German. To increase the self-esteem of the volunteers yet further, Pannwitz authorized the wearing of a wide variety of traditional Cossack items of dress and the carrying of native Cossack weapons (for ceremonial purposes). German officers in the division/corps were encouraged to adopt these habiliments for full-dress parades. Pannwitz himself often donned Cossack garb.

The various insignia and clothing worn by members of the two Cossack brigades/divisions (and latterly corps) were as follows:

1st Brigade/Division

1st Don Cossacks Cav. Regt. headgear was a black Papacha ( a tall fur cap wider at the top than the bottom), with a red top on which was a cross made of silver tress. On the outer seams of the trousers, a red stripe. The arm shield (right arm) was red and blue (red, upper and lower segments; blue, left and right segments). This was surmounted by the word DON in white in the first versions, but after July 1944 “DON” was replaced by a Cyrillic V D (Voysko Donskoye), which resembles B.A. in Latin script.

2nd Siberian Cossacks Cav. Regt. headgear was a white Papacha with a yellow top and silver tress cross. Trouser stripe was broad yellow. The arm shield (right arm) was yellow and light blue (yellow upper and lower segments, light blue left and right segments). This is surmounted by the Cyrillic letters P S V (which resemble the Latin N C B).

4th Kuban Cossacks Cav. Regt. headgear was a black Kubana ( a “lower” fur cap than the Papacha, approximately seven inches high), with a red top and silver tress cross. Narrow red trouser stripe. Arm shield (right arm), black and red (red the upper and lower segments, black the left and right segments, but after July 1944 the black was omitted). Above this is a Cyrillic K V (Kubanskoye Voyski.) (It resembles a Latin K B.)

2nd Brigade/Division

3rd Kuban Cossacks Cav. Regt. dress as for the 4th Kuban Cossacks Cav. Regt., except that the arm shield was worn on the left arm.

5th Don Cossacks Cav. Regt. dress as for the 1st Don Cossacks Cav. Regt., except that the shield was worn on the left arm.

6th Terek Cossacks Cav. Regt. headgear a black Papacha. Down the outer seams of the trousers a 25mm light blue stripe edged on either side by black (the black edging being approximately 4mm wide). The arm shield (left arm) was cornflower blue and black (blue the upper and lower segments, black the left and right segments.) This is surmounted by the word TEREK in white, but after July 1944 this was replaced by a Cyrillic T V (Tereskoye Voysko.) (It resembles a Latin T B.)

The colour and style of the trousers worn by members of the brigades/divisions varied. Dark blue was worn by the Don Cossacks, blue-grey (often ex-Luftwaffe) by the Siberians, and black by the Kuban Cossacks. But this was not an invariable rule since any, or all, of the above could wear normal German army field grey. Officers wore breeches.

Divisional personnel who were not members of the above regiments (i.e., all those belonging to sections with the number 55), wore on their right arm a shield in horizontal yellow/red/blue (yellow being the upper colour). A bar, or “bend,” in the appropriate Waffenfarbe was worn across it at a 45-degree angle by the artillery and signals section (red and yellow, respectively). The Don artillery had DON in light blue above this, but the Kuban artillery had nothing.

Headquarters staff wore on the right upper arm and oval badge which is blue with a white Ataman’s staff between two black Shashkas (curved Cossack sabres), the whole has a narrow inset red surround. Members of Pannwitz’s Personal Bodyguard wore on both sleeves, about three inches above the cuff, a broad inverted, gold double chevron.

The alternate part in this chart is the last uniform. Even though the Reich struggled with giving their soldiers leather boots and Y-straps, it doesn't seem like the Cossacks were ever given less than a cavalryman's attire. Their rider boots and trousers or breeches seemed to be of good quality and, as stated before, the Germans were giving all ethnic Cossack groups their own look. I wanted to make the last uniform into the most practical for the way the Cossacks within the Heer actually fought, they dismounted from their horse before actually going into combat. Thus to me ankel boots and an M43 type uniform with subdued German insignia (since they were allowed to wear it in the end) with a smaller roundel like on all German M43 field caps to denote their ethnic group seems more than enough, but again, that's my personal take.

Disclaimer: I do not support any of the views these people might have had, this is just for creative purposes and alt-history curiosity!