Unboxing of WW2 German Cossack insignia from the US
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Hi guys,
Here is a video on my new Cossack insignia from the US as well as a small over view of my WW2 German Don Cossack impression.
Here are the links:
Don Cossack 1st pattern arm shield:
www.ebay.co.uk...
Don Cossack 2nd pattern arm shield:
www.ebay.co.uk...
Kuban Cossack arm shield:
www.ebay.co.uk...
Cossack enlisted man's collar tabs/litzen:
www.ebay.co.uk...
Cossack officers collar tabs:
www.ebay.co.uk...
Cossack enlisted man's shoulder boards:
www.ebay.co.uk...
Don Cossack cap cockade:
www.ebay.co.uk...
Cossack universal cap cockade:
www.ebay.co.uk...
The seller will combine postage. Add them all to your basket and click "request total".
Hope you enjoy :)
The mustache makes this 10 times more amazing.
Thanks mate :) next time I do a Cossack video I'll have it waxed so it looks even better :) most if all Cossacks had facial hair from what I've seen
The uniform is amazing!!! Really good impression...is the moustache real or fake???
Thanks mate! The moustache is real :)
@@thebritishww2man It fits well with the impression!
my great-grandfather served there, it's a pity that this topic is only studied in the West 😢
@@ПасеноваЗлата Thanks for your comment. That's very interesting. Do you have any interesting stories from your great-grandfather?
Unfortunately even in the West, we aren't really told much about this and we have to do our own research.
The information about individual Cossack Units serving with the Germans is hard to find, often with only a few place names where the unit served and dates and often has a pro-allied/Soviet slant to it so is hard to pick out what is fact. You have to do a lot of work out find out about what happened to the Cossack units that weren't part of the 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps (although they are still a very interesting unit). This could be because a lot of the paperwork got destroyed during or after the war.
Unfortunately many of the Russian sources out there that I've read translations of, seem to sound as if they were written by the NKVD after the war.
have you heard about the Rassakazakhs, alas, but my cousin died from the Reds, yes, I understand it's not relevant, but this is the reason for my service, and so there is one interesting story, he was in the forest and met a young Red Army soldier @@thebritishww2man
@@thebritishww2manand took him prisoner, interrogated, beat, well, they did unpleasant things, well, my great-uncle took pity on him (alas, I don’t know more, they didn’t tell me because my great-uncle didn’t particularly like talking to my grandfather), so my great-uncle calmly went to the GDR, yes, it sounds wild, but it’s true
@@thebritishww2mansorry I didn't write down the first part, in short, because of the Cossacks, my great-grandfather went to serve, and the story goes that he met a communist boy and let him go
really good detail impression
Thanks mate :) I'm thinking of possibly changing the arm shield to the opposite arm as I've only seen 2 pictures of the arm shield on the right arm even though they were both variants of the first pattern Don shield and the only examples of the first pattern Don shield I've seen. I might also change it to the second pattern Don arm shield add well as that would fit more with me having an M43 uniform. Do you have any more German Cossack stuff?
Were they not part of the Russian Liberation army???
No the Cossacks were independent of the Russian Liberation Army. The largest Cossack formations were the 1st and 2nd Cossack Divisions. Later in 1943, they were formed into the 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps. In February 1945, they were transferred to the Waffen SS and formed into the 15th SS Cavalry Corps. There was also lots of smaller Cossack units as well.
The Germans did move some Cossacks to the West in 1942-3 with the transfer of the Eastern Troops as a few had defected/not performed very well however the Cossacks did perform very well so many managed to avoid being sent West and were kept fighting the Soviets/Soviet Partisans and their allies etc.
In France they formed a Cossack depot and training school in Casters. This was used to train new Cossacks. Many Ost battalions or other units that were transferred from the east had been trained in occupied poland up till then.
The Germans also formed many Cossacks into Ost battalions and smaller units that were used to Police rear areas and help defend the Atlantic Wall and occupied areas in France, Belgium, Holland and in Italy.
This included the 5th Don Cossack Regiment.
The Germans also allowed the Cossacks to form Cossack Villages or Stans in Northern Italy and France after the Germans were forced out of the Cossack homelands in early 1943.
The unit that I portray is Bicycle Battalion 281 which was part of the 5th Don Cossack Regiment. They fought against the French resistance and partisans along with the Americans until they were cut off in the Lorient pocket. Some parts/sections managed to escape the encirclement or managed to break through and link up with the other German units and fought their way back to Germany. The one's who managed to escape the encirclement were sent to join the 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps who had been fighting Tito in German occupied Yugoslavia.
My character that I portray joined the Germans after being captured in 1942 and was transferred to the West. He was trained in the Cossack School at Casters before being assigned to 281st Bicycle Battalion of the 5th Don Cossack Regiment. He fought the French partisans/resistance before D-Day, then fought against the Americans and managed to escape the encirclement at Lorient and linked up with German troops. He then fought all the way through France and the Netherlands until he was transferred to the 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps. He stayed with the unit when it was transferred to the Waffen SS and fought against the Soviets. At the end of the war he was cut off from his unit and decided not to surrender as he distrusted the Allies not to hand him over to the Soviets. He formed up a small band of equally lost soldiers and they fought the US in Czechaslovakia and Austria. He then formed a sort of anti-allied/anti-soviet resistance.
@@thebritishww2man you put a lot of detail into your character's backstory... Love the video by the way from the US
What’s the difference between a papakha and a Kubanka?
A Papakha is a lot taller and probably about double the height of a Kubanka. The papakha had been in use since the Tsarist Era in Russia so was a lot older.
The Kubanka was introduced in 1936 by the Soviets when they "legalised" Cossacks in the Red Army again. It was a lot shorter than the Papakha.
Really good and interesting video. As a fellow reenactor and cossack lover I have a question: where did you get your Kubanka? I'm planning to do an impression of the 5th Don Cossack Regiment, led by Ivan Kononov
Hi there,
Sorry for the late reply as I had been unable to find the place I purchased it from until today.
Here is a link to the Kubanka I got and am wearing in the video:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Red-Army-Russian-Soviet-USSR-Cossack-Hat-Cap-KUBANKA-natural-sheepskin-Size-60/262790812736?hash=item3d2f8d9440:g:7Z4AAOSwZ~5Zzk1R
They are ex-Soviet and ex-Russian Federation Kubankas, but literally the same as the wartime ones as the design didn't change.
The guy also sells the Papakhas. Here is a link to the Papakha that I got from him and also did an unboxing video on:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USSR-Red-Army-Russian-Cossack-Hat-Cap-PAPAKHA-sheepskin-Size-7-1-2-US-60/263072966458?hash=item3d405ee73a:g:rxwAAOSwiDFYOEOG
Hope these links help ;)
It's nice to hear a fellow re-enactor is doing German Cossack as it's not a much done impression.
I'm going to possibly change my Impression to the 5th Don Cossack Regiment as well as they saw more combat than my current unit I portray and probably are slightly more interesting and there is way more information out there about them.
@@thebritishww2man Thank you for your reply! Just one tip: if you want to reenact the Don Kosaken Reiter Regiment 5 the sleeve shield should go on the left sleeve. Those who put it on the right sleeve were the members of the Don Kosaken Reiter Regiment 1. I really recommend you to buy these two books: they're REALLY useful as it's really difficult to know how they used insignias; basically the Cossacks did whatever they wanted to do lol www.amazon.com/Uniforms-Insignia-Cossacks-Wehrmacht-Schiffer/dp/0764319418
ospreypublishing.com/hitler-s-russian-cossack-allies-1941-45
I also have a photo with a cossack using your same sleeve shield: I think it's the only photo existing with that sleeve insignia. If you want to see it (or just to keep in contact md exchange some tips as fellow cossack reenactors) I can give you my Facebook or instagram name
Don’t you think it’s pretty farby with all those medals
Not at all. German soldiers and their Cossack volunteers loved to wear their awards and even wore them into combat as well. You can see this in many original photos.
In photos of my great grandfather who was an Unteroffizier in the Wehrmacht Heer, he is wearing his Iron Cross 2nd Class, Infantry Assault Badge in Silver and Wound badge in Black.
Regular awards such as the Infantry Assault Badge were very common along with wound badges.
They were also encouraged to be worn as they helped improve morale for the troops and help create an espri de corps.
For the Impression that I'm doing, an Anti Partisan badge in Silver is appropriate as my unit fought against the French Resistance. As many chose not to wear it incase of captured or being seen off duty by partisans; I suppose that could be slightly innaccurate but it would be down to the individual soldier if they decided weather to wear it or not so i chose to wear it in my impression.
I have the Ostvolk medal in Silver first and second class as they were also reasonably common for German Eastern Volunteers such as Cossacks and you can find many pictures of Cossacks wearing these awards.
Awards were so commonly worn by German Soldiers that unless the person was very new to the army or in a non combat unit for a long time or non combat role, it would be very uncommon to see soldiers who had been in a combat unit for more than a few months without any awards unless they had been stripped of their awards as a punishment or ordered to remove them to help with camouflage (which was uncommon).
I would actually say that not seeing the common awards such as the Infantry Assault Badge or wound badge on at least a few impressions in a reenactment unit because "you didn't earn them" is more "farby" than me using awards that i have researched for use in my Impressions.
If people think "you shouldn't wear awards as you didn't earn them" then surely using that logic, no reenactor should be allowed to wear the uniform or be an NCO or Officer or specialist soldier as we haven't gone through the training that they went through during the war in real life and we aren't part of the real Wehrmacht, Waffen SS or other paramilitary organisation of the time. As long as the awards are researched well, worn correctly, fits in with the impression and back story that had been created and is done respectfully, i have no problem with awards being used.
Obviously the people who have like 5 tank destrucion badges in gold, 4 plane destruction badges, close combat class in gold, the sniper badge in gold, anti partisan badge in gold, knights cross with oak leaves, swords and diamonds along with many other awards on their tunic and they are a Gefreiter, it is being "farby", however just because an impression has more than 1 award and a bravery award doesn't automatically make it "farby".
If bravery awards are banned or considered "farby" then that essentially means that no one can reenact Feldjager Korps as they had a requirement to join of a minimum of the Iron Cross 2nd Class. Also any impressions of Officers above the rank of Hauptmann would also be made impossible along with any impressions of generals such as Rommel who had the Pour le Merite and Knights Cross with oak leaves, swords and diamonds.
@@thebritishww2man still farby, we only get issued ours after being in the group for a certain amount of time/doing a certain act that would warrant our officer to award us the medal.
@@prestoncooper8227 I can see why some units do that.
However as I have researched my awards, they are accurate for my unit and fit in with my impression, I have them entered into my Soldbuch and I wear them correctly, I think it's not farby to wear them.
If you really want to know, I have been reenacting German for between 9 and 10 years with my reenactment group and on my own, I am my groups Hauptmann, I make, paint and bring authentic sign posts for my group, I bring my ZB37 HMG on a tri-pod along with ammo belts in boxes and sand bags, bring a zeltbahn set up along with lots of other kit to the events I go to, I have helped with weapons and kit for members of my group that don't have them and with any information or help they need, I help with authentic paperwork for my group, I was injured in the hand during a skirmish for which I was awarded a wound badge and I have permission from the person in charge of my group to basically wear awards that are accurate as long as I pass them through him. So I think it is OK for me to wear these awards.
Is the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps uniform the same as your Cossack uniform?
Yes they did use the same uniform and insignia as this, although they more often used the arm shields that were quarteted with the regional colours with the syrillic letters, rather than the one I'm wearing here as mine is more of an early pattern arm shield. I'm going to be changing my current arm shield to the later pattern one with "D A" on it (sorry I don't have a Syrillic keyboard but they are the closest English letters to it).
Even though they would have used the Cossack uniform I've made, it would often vary between soldiers and individual units that made up the XV Cossack Cavalry Corps and many would be issued whatever tunics they had to hand. You can find pics of Cossacks wearing anything from Captured modified Dutch tunics, to M40, M41 and M42 tunics. I've only seen a few Cossacks in M43 tunics in original photos (although that doesn't necessarily that mean they didn't use them or that there aren't more pics that I've not seen). Personally M40 tunics seem to be the most commonly used tunics by the Cossacks, so that would be a good place to start.
I hope this helps ;)
Where did you get the jacket, brother?
Sorry for the late reply, RUclips doesn't seem to have given me a notification of your comment.
I got the tunic from Hikishop, however they are based in Hong Kong and have been dealing with the civil unrest recently and then the Corona Virus and I've heard that they haven't been shipping recently, but I'm not sure personally. I've tried dry shaving them to remove any excess fluff to help my tunic slightly better. I've also tried slightly burning off some of the fluff as well. It can make the tunics look very good if done correctly.
Here is a link to the M42 tunic on Hikishop if your still interested:
www.hikishop.com/wwii-german-field-grey-wool-m42-em-field-tunic-wh-p-450.html
I got the shoulder boards I'm wearing from Hikishop as well, but I have changed them to the ones I got in this video from eBay.
I got the special Cossack insignia from eBay and the breast eagle from epic militaria.
Here is a link to the epic militaria breast eagle but it's ran out at the moment:
www.epicmilitaria.com/army-tunic-eagle-field-grey.html
Here is a link to the guy on eBay who does the Cossack insignia:
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=trident-military&hash=item1ca6c67fb9%3Ag%3AKLoAAOSwwy5Z0PeS&item=123057110969&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=cossack&_sacat=0
Hope this helps and sorry again for not replying earlier ;)
Wouldn’t they carry swords or something like that?
Good question. It really depended on the type of unit. Some Cossacks did carry the famous Shashka sabre, some also carried old Imperial Russian Cavalry Sabres and some carried the Kindjal dagger; however it would usually depend on the unit type and how flexible with the rules their commanding officer was. They would often get encouraged to wear traditional dress and cary traditional weapons.
Cossack Cavalry units mainly carried Shashka sabres alongside their small arms. Cossack Infantry or Plastun units would usually carry Kindjal daggers alongside their small arms. However you can find pictoral evidence of both Infantry with Shashkas and Cavalry with Kindjals but this was probably unusual. Some chose to or were ordered by their officers to avoid having traditional daggers/swords as they might get in the way. It usually depended on the unit.
I hope this helps 😉👍
@@thebritishww2man thanks, also another quick question we’re did you get the hat?
@@Soldierb0y42 No problem 😃
I got the Kubanka from eBay. It cost around £35. I think it came from ex-Soviet surplus from Ukraine, but because of what's going on there, I'm not sure if they are still being sold. I'll check later when i get the chance and see if i can get a link for you.
@@thebritishww2man thanks, and have a good day keep going at it with the videos
@@Soldierb0y42 No probs!
I think this was the person I got them off on eBay:
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_blrs=recall_filtering&_ssn=kuzn_ua2014&store_cat=0&store_name=craftsmenua&_oac=1&_nkw=kubanka
They don't seem to have any of the 60cms ones in the same pattern as mine (Red top cloth with thin silver cross and black wool), but I think this is the same, just size 58cms:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224422301106?itmmeta=01HY4G52Z17DDQJ3FCB633VPN7&hash=item34409c8db2:g:2O4AAOSwr2Zi9tqh
I also got their Papakha:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224823339009?itmmeta=01HY4G4Y25FHC22WPS7MF15QJ8&hash=item345883e801:g:izEAAOSwLE9iAuDh
Again these would vary widely on what unit you're representing. Red tops were usually reserved for Kuban and Don Cossacks and the wool was usually black or brown. Blue tops were for Terek and Siberian and the wool could be grey or white.
I believe that the Ural Cossacks and Ukrainian Cossacks would have either black, blue or yellow tops and wool could be black, grey or white, but I'm not 100% sure on that as I've found it difficult to find a good source in English to read about it so far and unfortunately my Russian/Ukrainian is very, very basic at the moment.
Also Kubankas are probably the best ones to go for if you're portraying a younger Red Army deserter as they often kept their old caps and re-used them. This is probably better than using a Papakha because as the Red Army had issued an order from May 1941, the taller Papakhas became reserved for only Colonels, Brigadiers, Generals and Marshalls so any deflectors would likely be wearing Kubankas.
There would have still been massive stock piles/depots of Papakhas lying around as Cossack units handed in their old Papakhas and switched to the newer Kubankas, though that I bet the Germans would have captured many when they took the Ukraine, Don and Kuban Regions in 1941/1942 and re-issued them to their Cossack defectors or new volunteers who were raised.
Papakha's are also good for impressions of older people who might have been in the Tsarist Army and joined the Germans after the Soviets were kicked out or people who were Civilians so weren't part of the Red Army (thus having a Papakha as part of their traditional dress that they took with them) and decided to joined the Germans.
I hope this helps 😀
Incredible stuff m8 ive just put together my Russian liberation army officer uniform now. Where did u get that green button ribbon ive been trying to get hold of one.
Thanks!
Nice to hear someone else doing a German Eastern volunteer.
I got the Ostvolk Medal 2nd Class in Silver ribbon from "the Regalia Specialist". Here is a link to it: www.theregaliaspecialist.com/Third_Reich_Germany/Awards/Ribbons_and_Ribbon_Bars/Ostvolk__Medal_in_Silver__ribbon
Here is a link to the medal with the ribbon:
www.theregaliaspecialist.com/Third_Reich_Germany/Awards/Ribbon_Medals/Ostvolk_Decoration_2nd_Class_in_Silver_with_Swords
and here is a link to the paper presentation envelope for it:
www.theregaliaspecialist.com/Third_Reich_Germany/Awards/Ribbon_Medals/Paper_issue_envelope_for_the_Ostvolk_decoration_2nd_Class
Hope these help ;)
Where can i find a repro kubanka ?
You can find tons of Russian federation ones on etsy
Hi there,
Sorry for the late reply.
I think this was the person I got from on eBay:
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_blrs=recall_filtering&_ssn=kuzn_ua2014&store_cat=0&store_name=craftsmenua&_oac=1&_nkw=kubanka
They have lots of different types, but they don't seem to have any of the 60cms ones in the same pattern as mine (Red top cloth with thin silver cross and black wool) in stock at the moment, but here is a link to the one I purchased:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224422301106?itmmeta=01HY4G52Z17DDQJ3FCB633VPN7&hash=item34409c8db2:g:2O4AAOSwr2Zi9tqh
Maybe if you send them a message on eBay, they might be able to help.
@@thebritishww2man thank you 🙏🙏