In November 1914, German units broke through the Russian North-Western Front in the Lodz area. To cover the Warsaw-Skarnevitsy railway, by order of the head of the 6th Siberian Infantry Division, the 4th Railway Battalion hastily equipped an armored train. Time was running out, so for its construction two 4-axle and one 2-axle metal gondola cars and a passenger steam locomotive of the Y series were used. From the inside, the cars were simply sheathed with boards, and loopholes for rifles and machine guns were cut in the sides. The locomotive and the tender were covered from the sides with steel sheets to protect against bullets. Staff-captain of the 7th Finnish Rifle Regiment Vasiliev was appointed commandant of the train.
Despite its primitive design and weak armament (machine guns and rifles), this armored train provided great support to our troops. Attached to the 40th Infantry Regiment to strengthen the defense of Skarnevitsa, the train entered the battle on November 10, 1914 at the Kolyushki station.
On November 12-13, 1914, already under the command of the captain of the 4th railway battalion A. Savelyev, the armored train “scattered enemy units, restored communication, correcting the damaged track repeatedly under fire, and took two trains with firearms and food, which were badly needed our troops are in the city of Lodz”.
On November 19, the composition not only repelled the attack of the German infantry, but, counterattacking, pursued the enemy to the Kolyushki station, and on November 23, in cooperation with the 6th Siberian Infantry Division, captured it. Subsequently, Captain A. Savelyev for courageous actions in November 1914, was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree.
Subsequently, this armored train was included in the garrison of the Russian fortress Ivango-rod, where it was served by a team from the special naval regiment, commanded by Major General Mazurov. This unit operated on the Western Front and had a special organization. On July 12, 1915, Major General Mazurov reported to the commandant of Ivangorod, Major General A. Schwartz:
“I inform Your Excellency that according to your order, today at 6 o'clock in the morning, the equipment of the armored train has been completed. The armament of the train consists of 2 37-mm guns, 8 machine guns and 80 riflemen. The supply of the train consists of: 144 equipped machine-gun belts, 250 rounds each; 5 unloaded belts, which will be equipped in the carriage, so that they know how to equip in a cramped place; 72,000 spare cartridges for machine guns without clips; 9000 (approximately) cartridges in the hands of the shooters; 19,000 spare cartridges in rifle clips; 2 machines for equipping machine-gun belts; 200 rounds for 37 mm cannons. In addition, there are spare parts for cannons and machine guns, there is also an explosive (four 18-pound cartridges and eight 6-pound bullets) and a supply of provisions (canned food and crackers) for 2 days."
A week later, the armored train entered into battle with the advancing Austrian units, which was reported to the regiment commander on July 19, 1915 by Midshipman Fleischer:
Manufacturing of a typical armored locomotive according to the project of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade. 1915, Kiev Main Workshops of the South-Western Railways (VIMAIVVS).
“I inform Your Excellency that I was in action with Warrant Officer Shevyakov and with half a company of the company entrusted to me that day from 1 pm to 7.30 pm on a jacketed train under the command of Lieutenant Mukhin. The train was entrusted with the task of helping the withdrawal of our troops from the 2nd line of the fortress positions to the Sekhetsov positions. This retreat along the railway line was carried out under the onslaught of the superior forces of the Austrians, and some of our units (the 1st battalion of the Bashkadekar regiment) were in danger of being cut off.
The train attacked the advancing enemy six times, each time turning him into a hasty flight and thus rescuing its units. The first time the train went on the attack along the Radom branch in the Bankovetsky forest. At the same time, he came under very strong enemy fire, which, however, did not cause losses, but only ruined one rifle. The Austrians, in the strength of several companies, were driven off. The second, third, fourth and fifth times the train went on the attack in the same forest along the Kozenitskaya branch. Here the forces of the Austrians operated, at first from 2 battalions, gradually increasing. Each time the train drove the Austrians over a mile away and inflicted significant losses on the enemy. The Austrians ran straight away from the train. The train itself was also subjected to heavy fire all the time, and during one of the attacks several hand bombs were thrown at it, which exploded about 15 steps away and did no harm.
Manufacturing of standard armored platforms according to the project of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade. 1915, Kiev main workshops of the South-Western Railways. Please note that the door for boarding the team in the right armored car is still missing: it was cut out in the already riveted steel sheet (VIMAIVVS).
Manufacturing of standard armored platforms according to the project of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade. 1915, Kiev main workshops of the South-Western Railways. The design of the armored vehicle for the gun mount is clearly visible, as well as the embrasure for firing from the front machine gun - such were the first two armored trains. Subsequently, its design was changed, and the machine gun could fire not only forward, but also sideways (VIMAIVVS).
For the most part, the fire was conducted at a distance of 100-150 steps, but often the train approached individual groups of people at 1012 steps. During one of the attacks, we successfully fired at a column of enemy cavalry, crossing the canvas, from a machine gun. Attempts by enemy artillery to fire at the train were unsuccessful, due to the fact that the train was inside the enemy's location. Attempts to destroy the path behind the train were repelled by our machine-gun fire. During the attacks on the Kozenitskaya branch, we picked up several enemy rifles and one wounded lower rank of the Tambov squad …
The presence of the train had a wonderful moral effect on our troops. After a 1, 5 hour break, during which the train, by order of the authorities, stood in reserve - in the zone of only weak shrapnel fire - it was again moved into an attack on the edge of the forest, already occupied by significant enemy forces. When the train approached, the Austrians partly fled, and partly fled to the huts, from where they were knocked out by the fire of our 37-mm guns, scattered and destroyed by machine-gun and rifle fire. After this attack, in view of the approaching darkness, as well as the successful completion of the combat mission assigned to the train, the train was withdrawn from the battle line and placed beyond the Vistula. I report that the people both in my carriage and in the carriage of Warrant Officer Shevyakov behaved perfectly. We worked cheerfully, calmly and without fussing at all. Not a single shot was fired in vain. I can’t imagine those who distinguished themselves, since everyone was at the height of their duty. I must convey, however, that the more difficult work fell on the gunners' lot.
After the battles near Ivangorod, the train was left for repairs in Brest, where for a short time it was "privatized" by the 3rd Zhelbat. The combat log of the 4th company of this battalion contains the following entries:
“August 5, 1915. The company arrived in Brest.
August 8, 1915. Beginning of work. The armored train found in the Brest workshops was taken to the company and repaired."
The first standard armored train, manufactured according to the project of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade. Kiev main workshops of the South-Western Railways, September 1, 1915. A nameplate is visible on the driver's booth; on the right is its drifting (RGVIA).
General view of a typical armored train of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade "Khunhuz", built by the 4th company of the 2nd Zaamur railway battalion in Kiev workshops. September 1, 1915. At the composition are officers of the 2nd Zaamur brigade and workshop engineers who supervised the design and construction of the composition (RGVIA).
While retreating from Brest on August 16, 1915, Kobrin's train repulsed three attacks of the Germans who were advancing on the Pereyaslavsky infantry regiment near the village of Polyanichi and, moving forward, took up enemy positions.
But with the departure of the 3rd railway battalion from the Western Front, the armored train again entered the Special Purpose Marine Regiment. As part of this unit, with white anchors painted on the armor, the train operated until the summer of 1917.
On March 10, 1916, leaving for a combat operation, train number 4 was ambushed by the Germans, was seriously damaged and lost two carriages, shot by a German battery. After that, the train was taken for repairs to the Gomel workshops, where it stood until November 1916. After restoration, the armored train included two metal 4-axle armored gondola cars "Fox-Arbel" and an armored locomotive of the Y.
In the spring of 1917, the command of the Western Front filed a petition for the transfer of the armored train from the army sailors. On April 26, 1917, the following report was sent to Headquarters:
“On the Western Front there is an armored train of the Separate Marine Brigade of Special Purpose. Being attached to the 10th railway battalion, and serving under the leadership of the same battalion, the above train remains part of a separate naval brigade.
This situation creates some inconvenience in using the train, since the personnel of the train consists of the ranks of the Naval Brigade, and the replenishment and change of ranks of the train must take place with the knowledge and consent of the head of the said brigade, who is not at all subordinate to the head of military communications of the Western Front.
The commander-in-chief of the armies of the Western Front is petitioning for the inclusion of this armored train in the 10th railway battalion."
In June 1917, the decision to transfer the armored train from the sailors to the railroad workers was made, and the brigade commander, General Mazurov, agreed to leave all the weapons on the train - two 37-mm cannons and 8 Maxim machine guns. But despite this, until the fall of 1917, the 10th railway battalion was never able to equip the armored train with a normal command - there were no artillerymen or machine gunners in the battalion.
Inspection of the first standard armored train of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade "Khunhuz" by officers of the headquarters of the South - Western Front. Kiev, September 1, 1915. In the center stands the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Southwestern Front N. Ivanov (with a beard) (RGVIA).
In the fall of 1917, the soldiers of the 10th Zhelbat went over to the side of the Soviet regime. The armored train received the name "Revolutionary armored train", while its armament was strengthened - instead of the Hotchkiss cannons, one 76, 2-mm field gun of the 1902 model was installed in the armored cars. In addition, the armored train additionally included a Fox-Arbel metal gondola with two 76-mm Lender cannons from the 3rd separate railway battery for firing at the air fleet.
At the beginning of 1918, the armored train received a new name - No. 1 “Minsk Communist named after Lenin”. The history of this squad said the following:
“Former armored train of the 10th railway battalion. He joined the Red Army in the days of the October Revolution, and was placed at the disposal of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The first military clashes were with the Germans and the Haidamaks near Zhlobin in February 1918, in the battles with which the sites were defeated, and the armored train left for a new reservation at the Bryansk plant in early March."
However, one armored platform and a Fox-Arbel gondola with two 76-mm Lender cannons were not destroyed, but fell into the hands of Polish legionnaires, who included them in the General Konarzewski * armored train.
The armored locomotive of series I from the "Minsk Communist" after repair was included in the new armored train number 6 "Putilovtsy". This composition had two armored platforms, built at the Sormovo plant, and operating on the South-Eastern and Southern fronts, as well as near Petrograd in 1919-1920.
Armored train number 6 "Putilovtsy" named after Comrade He graduated from Lenin in 1922, when he was disbanded in the Ukrainian Military District. By this time, it still had an armored locomotive of the I series, which had previously been part of the armored train of the Special Purpose Marine Brigade.
Typical armored train of the 2nd Zaamur railway brigade, served by the command of His Majesty's own railway regiment. 1916 year. Please note that, in contrast to the Hunghuz, the installation of the front machine gun has been changed, and allows you to fire not only forward, but also to the side (photo from S. Romadin's archive).
