SOVIET REGULAR CAVALRY (1939-1941)

The Soviet Union, despite the intensive mechanization and motorization of its armed forces in the 1930s, did not dissolve its cavalry units, on the contrary - formed them at that time, as well as during World War II, into independent divisions of this type of weapon. This fact can be explained on the one hand by the experiences of the civil war in Russia, but also of the Polish-Bolshevik war of 1919-1921. Just before the German aggression against the USSR in June 1941, the regular Soviet cavalry division consisted of four cavalry regiments, a horse artillery battalion with 8 cannons of 76 mm and 8 howitzers of 122 mm, a tank regiment of 64 vehicles, an anti-aircraft battalion and support units (engineer, communications, etc.). It is worth adding that a single cavalry regiment consisted of four cavalry squadrons and artillery, machine gun and support units. In total, a single Soviet cavalry division numbered about 8,950 soldiers and about 7,600 horses. However, in 1943 most of the USSR cavalry divisions numbered about 6,000 men. It is worth adding that during World War II, divisions were often combined into corps with the strength of 2-3 divisions. Many new divisions were also created in the period 1941-1942. Soviet cavalry units played a significant role in several operations of World War II, for example during the battles near Moscow in November and December 1941, during Operation Bagration in 1944 or during the Operation in Manchuria in 1945.