"Red Army medics" Topic

Not an topic which comes naturally to mind (and we're not talking Rachel Weisz here....) but does anyone know the organisation and training of Red Army medics at battalion/regimental level ? Any web sites out there ?

Mgith try looking here:
link

That's supposed to be "might" by the way

Not to be ignorant, but I really didn't think the Red army had combat medics. My curiosity is aroused...

I know that until Autumn of '43(might be '42 but I think its '43) Soviet infantry divisions had no established way of resupplying . STAVKA thought they should fight until they were utterly destroyed and then they would rebuild the division from the ground up.

I have an article somewhere from Militaria magazine on Red Army medics at Stalingrad. I'll have to search for it to see if any training info is mentioned. Uniformwise they wore standard Red Army issue with a big bag worn over the shoulder containing their medical kit. The bag could have a small red cross device but no arm bands were shown in the Militaria reconstruction. Red Army medics were also armed.

Soviet Medics were available from the start. As the Soviet Union did not sign the Geneva convention, they were armed with either the Mosin Nagant or the PPSh-41. What the Soviet medics did not have until Lend-Lease kicked in, was supplies. With the emphasis being on the movement of troops and bullets, creature comforts including medical supplies, did not make the trip to the front as often as they should and being armed as combat troops would lead for many perhaps running ot to a comrade to be shot as a combatant and recorded as such even though they may have been a medic. I think what we have with the Soviet medical corps is a case of where so many casualties happen in such a short time span that their work is lost in the numbers. Somebody was out there taking care of the wounded, but we did not record their deeds. I would venture this will remain a murky area until a Soviet medical person's journal is published or translated.

The soviets did have medics...a team of about 20 per division..They were all volunteers and mostly young women. They were very heroic and saved many mens lives, also they did go armed and kill enemy soldiers!! A good account of the Soviet army can be found in Anthony Belvoirs(pronounce beaver!) book 'Stalingrad'....The Soviet general didn't have much regard for wounded soldiers as they had no further use...A bit brutal but very practical!

also, company-level had combat-medics authorized, five per Infantry company in the 1944 table of organization.

bigredone,

You do realize that you have just let the "Cat out of the bag."
I can just see it now. 100's of big breasted Soviet medic chick figures on everbodys table!

HU AH!

Come to think of it. Does anybody make a Medic Chick figure?
Cause if they do, I want 1 or 2 or 3 or .......

West Wind makes a few Russian Women with SMGs in skirts with a big forage bag, and even one of their snipers in camo-suit looks 'womanly.' I made them into a sniper team that has taken many a tank commander on the table.

I've never played with medics in any game actually, too much bother for no on table benefit. Although I can see it being fun if it mattered for victory points.

Funnily enough the British Army trained the Red Army Medical services in the 1930's so they follow 1918 British practice the same as we did until the US entered the war when we changed to their way of doing things.

There are some memoirs by medical personnel here link
as well as a few female medics covered in the Osprey Heroines of the Soviet Union by Henry Sakaida.

And here I always thought a Soviet medic was a Commissar with a pistol =p

Cheers

I have been reading a book called 'Heroines of the Soviet Army' which is quite interesting, at the start of the 'Great Patriotic War' the only way a woman could get into the red army was through the medical units, as the war progressed women became accepted into the other arms and then shifted from medical into whatever. From the list of women recipients of the HSU, including tank drivers, snipers, pilots etc. most started the war as medics! And yes they did carry weapons, and fought to the death to save wounded comrades.