29 May - Military Motorist Day
Along the roads lakes are silver,
Forests fly through the window,
And the military chauffeur song
From the tight wheel flies.
Let's go to the teachings and fight -
Will not let the motor in the way,
Car true hand
The soldier-driver leads forward ...
Forests fly through the window,
And the military chauffeur song
From the tight wheel flies.
Let's go to the teachings and fight -
Will not let the motor in the way,
Car true hand
The soldier-driver leads forward ...
For more than a hundred years, military motorists have been carrying out combat missions to transport manpower, ammunition, and other military equipment. 29 May 1910 of the year, the first training autoroot was introduced into the structure of the Russian Empire Engineering Forces. This event marked the beginning of autotechnical support for the Russian army. In memory of this event, 29 May annually celebrates the Day of the military motorist in Russia.
By the beginning of the First World War, the Russian army had at its disposal five automobile companies with 348 units of vehicles: 258 trucks, 20 cars and 30 vehicles. In order to increase the military vehicle fleet, the command approved the Provision on military automobile service, which provided for the mobilization of civilian vehicles. In connection with the unprecedented patriotic upsurge in the society that took place at the beginning of the war, citizens donated to the front 3,5 thousand cars, more than 400 trucks, and almost 2000 motorcycles. However, this amount was not enough, and in 1915, Russia began to purchase foreign equipment.
After the fall of the monarchy, with the decomposition of the army and the start of the fratricidal war, the domestic military fleet fell into decay, the army of the newly formed USSR got extremely worn out and outdated automotive equipment. With the gradual development of the Soviet automobile industry, the situation began to improve, and in 1932 the production of GAZ cars was started in the USSR. 3 years before, in 1929, automotive forces underwent a radical reform. In 1929, as part of the People’s Commissariat of Defense, the Department of Motorization and Mechanization was created, and separate district autobats were formed. In 1932, in the USSR, for the first time in the world, a mechanized corps was created, which included one tank and two mechanized brigades. The red army fleet began to be intensively replenished with ZIS-5 and ZIS-6, GAZ-AA and GAZ-AAA cars.
The Great Patriotic War became the most important stage in the development of automobile troops. Never before have hostilities taken place so rapidly that it determined the need for extreme speed in transporting personnel and military equipment and required a multiple increase in the number of automotive units, as well as the improvement of their organization and management.
A large contribution to the acquisition of automobile troops during the war years was made by foreign automobile supplies under the Lend-Lease program. So, from 1941 to 1945 years, the USSR received almost 376 thousand trucks, 52 thousand jeeps and all-terrain vehicles, as well as 3,8 million tires.
An important source of replenishment of the Soviet car park during the war was the use of captured technology.
Perhaps the most famous heroic page. stories Automobile troops became the so-called Road of Life - the only transport highway laid across the ice of Lake Ladoga, which from September 1941-th to March 1943-th linked blockade Leningrad with the rest of the country, the road. Military motorists, breaking into the city at the cost of incredible efforts and under conditions of infinite risk, saved the lives of millions of Leningraders. The Road of Life was a route to the evacuation of the population of the city, saved a significant part of its industry, and most importantly, along the Road of Life, precious food was brought to the city that was being tormented by the blockade.
Warriors motorists took part in the fighting on the territory of Afghanistan. On the broken roads, constantly at the risk of being blown up by a mine, military motorists were transporting fuel, food and ammunition. Soviet military vehicles participating in the Afghan campaign were also carrying civilian cargo — humanitarian aid for peaceful Afghans. Afghanistan has become a harsh school for automotive troops, and their experience was actively used in subsequent conflicts in the Caucasus.
Nowadays automobile troops incorporate automobile brigades, and separate battalions. The training of military motorists is conducted both in a number of military higher educational institutions and in the military departments of many civilian higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation. Automotive units are available in the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia.
Cars in uniform
A film about Russian and Soviet military vehicles.
A film about Russian and Soviet military vehicles.
Information