"?? on Soviet cavalry and airborne 1939-1940" Topic

SOme question on the use of Soviet cavalry and airborne during Winter War:

According to the "Red Army Handbook" (pg 105), "The cavalry played no part in the Winter War against Finland…"
Conversely, in the book Frozen Hell (pg 158) Trotter writes: "…bicycle battalion PPP-6, which was given the task of clearing out some Russian cavalrymen who were operating along a primitive road…" (at Suomussalmi)
Do we know which is correct? Did Soviet cavalrymen participate in the Winter War? If so where?

As long as we are discussing Trotter, he describes an anecdote (pg 157) during the battle of Suomussalmi where Lieutenants Huovinen and Virkki confronted a T28 with only their sidearms. I didn't think there were any T28s in that theater. I thought all the T28s were in the Isthmus.
Anybody know any more about this?

Finally, trying to find out more about Soviet airborne forces in the Winter War and where they might have been deployed. The "Red Army Handbook" (pg 137) says that 201st, 214th and at least one of the Kiev brigades (meaning 204th and 211th) participated in the Russo-Finnish war of 1939-40." But it doesn't say where.
I do know they fought as regular infantry and didn't make any jumps or landings. Does anyone know where they fought?
Also, how was their squad/platoon organized compared to standard infantry?

From doing far too much research on Tolvajarvi, I can tell you that Finnish accounts have about as many errors as any first-hand account from the Second World War. Soldiers often get the designations of enemy equipment wrong.

Every Red Army rifle regiment was required to have a mounted reconnaissance platoon, and every rifle division was required to have a cavalry squadron. I believe this refers to a Russian mounted reconnaissance detachment.

I found no mention of the use of the T-28 in this role in Russian sources. The 312th Separate Tank Battalion was supposed to have fifteen T-26 tanks and twenty-two T-37 tanks. Only seven or eight (T-26) of these were armed with cannons; the rest were machine gun-equipped.
link

Paratroopers in the Winter War:
201st Parachute Brigade.
• Brigade Commander I.S. Bezugly, Commissar of the Brigade of the Red Army Kireyev, Chief of Staff Major Borisov.
Stationed in the Leningrad Military District in 1939. Joined the 8th Rifle Corps on 13 February 1940. Operated as a separate brigade. Withdrawn from Mantsinsaari and Valaam Islands on 23 March 1940 and redeployed to Leningrad on 24 March 1940.

204th Parachute Brigade.
• Regimental Commander I.I. Gubarevich, Regimental Commissar Barilko, Chief of Staff Colonel Dosik.
Transferred from the Kyiv Military District to the Leningrad Region. Joined the 8th Rifle Corps on 13 February 1940. Operated as a separate brigade. As part of the 56th Rifle Corps (9 March 1940), then transferred back to the 8th Rifle Corps. Withdrawn from the Pitkyaranta-Yulia-Ristoia area on 23-25 ​​March 1940 and redeployed to Volkhovstroy.

214th Parachute Brigade.
• Regimental Commander A.F. Levashov, Commissar Senior Political Instructor I.V. Kudryavtsev, Chief of Staff Major A. Kazankin.
Transferred from the Belorussian Military District to the Leningrad Region. Joined the 8th Rifle Corps on February 13, 1940. Operated as a separate brigade, and then again as part of the 8th Rifle Corps. Withdrawn from the Pitkyaranta-Yulia-Ristoia area on March 23-25, 1940, and relocated to Volkhovstroy.
terijoki.spb.ru/kannas/rkka.htm

… an anecdote … where Lieutenants Huovinen and Virkki confronted a T28 with only their sidearms.

Soldiers often get the designations of enemy equipment wrong.

There are many places that such errors might be interjected into the story. Might be the good Lieutenants themselves, or whomever they gave their reports to, or whomever was writing it into history.

Only seven or eight (T-26) of these were armed with cannons; the rest were machine gun-equipped.

Those that were MG-equipped would have been twin-turreted T-26s. So imagine the exchange …

Lt. Frontline: "We saw an enemy tank."
Cpt. Backathq: "What kind?"
Lt. Frontline: "I don't know what kind. What am I, some kind of expert on Russian tanks? The big scary kind with multiple turrets with machine guns."
Cpt. Backathq: writes down "T-28 tank confronted in our sector."

Lt. Frontline: "We saw an enemy tank."
Cpt. Backathq: "What kind?"
Lt. Frontline: "I don't know what kind. What am I, some kind of expert on Russian tanks? The big scary kind with multiple turrets with machine guns."
Cpt. Backathq: writes down "T-28 tank confronted in our sector."

Well written sir!
And I like the names. May use them myself!