It was generally accepted practice to appoint from among the lower ranks in all European armies, soldiers who served officers. In mass literature of the early 20th century, this character was depicted satirically. Suffice it to recall the famous "The Adventures of the Gallant Soldier Schweik". The orderly or orderly had to carry out the officer's simple household errands, carry notes and letters, buy provisions and generally take care of the life of his commander.
In the tsarist army, such ranks gradually turned into a kind of parasitic layer, into a caste of people far from combat work. Ordermen were reputed to be the main speculators and gossips. The fame of them was spreading not the best.
The personal officer caretaker was abolished after the revolution. And in the Red Army, the tradition of having serving personnel with the commanders was not encouraged, although in reality orderlies remained. For example, the famous orderly Petka under the division commander Chapaev.
In the thirties, the position of orderly was considered simply humiliating and not deserving of respect. It seemed that in Soviet society everyone is equal, there are no servants and masters and cannot be.
But by the end of the 1930s, generals appeared in the Red Army, a military aristocracy that gravitated towards the orders of the old Russian army. By 1943 stripes and gold shoulder straps returned to military use. Together with similar attributes of the officer rank, orderlies also returned to everyday life.
In the Red Army, the rank of orderly was officially legalized during the Great Patriotic War in active forces, at the front. The orderlies were with the commanders from 1941 to 1945. They were supposed to be with persons who belonged to the command staff of the Red Army. Even platoon commanders had such assistants. Comrade Stalin himself took care of the introduction of the post of orderly as the supreme commander in chief. He stressed that orderlies are given to officers in order to improve the quality of commanding personnel.
So in the middle of 1945, the high command of the army in the USSR even issued a special order that regulated all the activities of orderlies and commanders under whom they were subordinate.
In particular, the order stated the following:
№ 317.
Order No. 0154 on the introduction of regular orderlies for generals and officers of the Red Army on August 27, 1945
1. In order to relieve generals and officers from personal economic affairs and provide them with more opportunities to improve their general and military training, I order:
Introduce regular orderlies to carry out personal chores for all generals and colonels * holding positions in the formations, * “And” added by I. Stalin.
the headquarters and institutions of the Red Army, including for generals and colonels who are in reserve and in military educational institutions.
Introduce regular orderlies for officers holding regular positions according to the attached list.
2. To appoint as orderlies Red Army men who have completed their first year of study, do not have secondary education, and mainly from among those who wish.
In military units up to the regiment, including orderlies, should be included in the lists of the corresponding units; in the headquarters and directorates of the brigade, division, corps - in the lists of brigade, divisional, corps units.
The orderlies of generals and colonels of the army, frontline, district and central apparatus of the NKO should be included in the lists of units of the corresponding subordination.
3. Establish that orderlies are subordinate to those persons to whom they are appointed. The latter exercise disciplinary power in relation to orderlies in accordance with their official position *, and they are obliged to provide orderlies three days a month to undergo drill training in the units to which the orderlies are assigned.
4. To grant the right to receive money to generals, colonels and other officers **, who are supposed to be orderlies, but who wish to replace them with the maintenance of civilian servants.
In these cases, 300 (three hundred) rubles *** per month shall be paid for the maintenance of a civilian servant.
5. The Directive of the Headquarters on orderlies No. 994235 of April 9, 1942 shall be deemed to have lost its force.
SCROLL
OF OFFICER POSITIONS FOR WHICH STATE ORDINARS ARE APPOINTED
A. Company, battery, squadron, air squadron, separate air squadron - of all branches of the military and universities
1. Commander of a company, battery, squadron, air squadron, separate air squadron.
B. Battalion, division - of all branches of the military and universities
1. Commander of a battalion, division.
2. Deputy commander of a battalion, division.
3. Assistant commander of a battalion, division.
4. Chief of staff (senior adjutant) of a battalion, division.
B. Regiment of all types of troops
1. Regiment commander
2. Deputy regiment commander
3. Assistant regiment commander.
4. Chief of staff of the regiment.
D. Directorate of the brigade of all combat arms
1. Commander of the brigade.
2. Deputy brigade commander.
3. Assistant brigade commander. 4 Chief of staff of the brigade.
5. Deputy chief of staff of the brigade.
6. Chief of the operational unit.
7. Head of the operational intelligence department.
8. Head of communications, head of the post office, head of the communications section.
9. Head of engineering service, head of engineering and technical service, brigade engineer.
E. Divisional control of all branches of the armed forces
1. Division commander.
2. Deputy division commander.
3. Assistant division commander.
4. Chief of Staff of the Division.
5. Deputy Chief of Staff.
6. Head of the Operations Department, Head of the Operations Department.
7. Head of the operational intelligence department.
8. The head of the communications department, the head of the communications department, the head of communications.
9. Divisional Engineer, Head of Engineering Service.
10. Senior navigator of the division.
11. Radar engineer, head of the radar service.
E. Directorate of the corps of all branches of the military
1. Corps commander.
2. Deputy corps commander.
3. Assistant corps commander.
4. Chief of staff of the corps.
5. Head of the Operations Department.
6. Head of the Intelligence Department, Head of the Operational Intelligence Department.
7. The head of the communications department, the head of the communications service, the head of communications.
8. Corps engineer, head of engineering service.
9. Chief of the armored service.
10. Chief navigator.
11. Chief Engineer.
G. Directorate of the fortified area
1. Commandant of the fortified area.
2. Deputy commandant of the fortified area.
3. Assistant commandant of the fortified area.
4. Chief of Staff.
5. Deputy Chief of Staff.
6. Head of the Operations Department.
7. Head of the post office.
8. Head of Engineering Service.
9. Chief of artillery.
Ptitsyn got into his orderly by accident. In the August battles under a large bombardment, Ptitsyn, along with several other soldiers who had left with the front line, was detained at the division's command post. They insisted that all of them be handed over to a tribunal, but Serpilin, having learned about them by the evening, when the general situation had improved, wanted to look at the fugitives himself - he had no habit of chopping from the shoulder.
Ptitsyn drew his attention to himself with a droopy look and thick, gray, long-unshaven stubble. This stubble made him look almost old.
Serpilin asked what year he was. It turned out that 1895 is the same age.
Serpilin ordered all the others to be sent back to the front line in the first instance, and took Ptitsyn to his orderlies, instead of the one killed the day before during the bombing.
“I’ll personally check what kind of person you are,” he said to Ptitsyn, “and again you will drape, personally and shoot you.
So Ptitsyn remained in Serpilin's orderlies. He no longer tried draping, but Serpilin liked him for his lack of talk and absolute honesty - an important quality in an orderly.
Serpilin believed that this middle-aged and multi-family soldier, a civilian accountant, was commanded by God himself to be an orderly. Still, a family is seven souls, and there is less chance of being killed in orderlies than in a company.
As for courage, Ptitsyn was not braver or more cowardly than others, a man as a man. The fear of death was outwardly expressed in him only in one thing: under fire, Ptitsyn tried to stay close to Serpilin, believing in his soul that he would not kill the general.
And now he began to step on Serpilin's heels and made him laugh with this …
