the soviet partisan movement 1941-1944 by edgar m. howell

84 THE SOVIET PARTISAN MOVEMENT
into a standup fight against superior forces, and when enemy pressure
grew too strong they carried out their withdrawals in an orderly manner
and generally according to preset plans, fighting their delaying and
covering actions skillfully and tenaciously. 104
Armament and Supply
The majority of the bands were set up under exceedingly loose tables
of organization, and even after the reorganization the structure of the
Red Army-led brigades and the irregular groups exhibited considerable
variation. There were no tables of equipment as such. Each unit
furnished its own basic needs from stock piles left by the Red Army in
its 1941 retreat and from captured German materiel. These were
basic weapons, rifles, machine guns, mortars, and occasional artillery
pieces, and a few vehicles. The more specialized items such as automatic
weapons, signal equipment, and a good portion of the ammunition other
than that for small arms, were supplied by air from the Soviet rear. By
the summer of 1942 all the better organized bands appear to have been
well armed and supplied with arnmunition. 105 Their materiel included
light mortars, light and heavy machine guns, automatic rifles, bazookas,
machine pistols, and grenades. 106
Air supply seemed to have been fairly steady in the larger partisandominated
areas. There were at least three operative air strips in the
Lake Polisto sector behind the Sixteenth Army to which ammunition
and specialized items were flown and from which casualties were evacuated
on the return trip. 107 The bands in the Bryansk area were similarly
supplied, and several of the brigades there operated their own planes. l08
Some of the bands had Russian 76-mm guns and 45-mm antitank
guns; a few had motor vehicles, and several operated reconnaissance
cars, tanks, and even tank-recovery vehicles. 109 Whether they were
able to maintain the vehicles in operating condition and supply them
104
Bericht ueber Unternehmen Vogelsang, der 339 ID, Beilage zum KTB Pz AOK 2,
Bericht Nr. 1505/42 g. 28499/58.
105 Nearly all reports listing stocks captured from the partisans bear this out; there
is no indication in the records that there were any such shortages as existed in 1941.
See: Bericht ueber Unternehmen Vogelsang der 339 ID, Beilage zum KTB Pz AOK
2, Bericht Nr. 1505/42 g. 28499/58; Bericht, Kdr., 703 Wach Bn., 7.VI.42., Band
2, Juni 42, Anl. I-111 z. KTB Bfh, H. Geb. "B", l.VI.-30.VI.42. 25124/2.
106
Bericht, Ic, Korueck 584,22.VI.42., Anl. 1582. KTB 3, Korideck 584. 38998/2.
107
Ibid.
108
Five planes were captured from the partisans in Operation VOGELSANG.
See: Bericht ueber Unternehmen Vogelsang der 339 ID, Beilage zum KTB Pz AOK
2, Bericht Nr. 1505/42 g. 28499/58.
109
Bericht ueber Unternehmen Vogelsang der 339 ID, Beilage zurn KTB Pz AOK
2. Bericht Nr. 1505142 g. 28499/58; Bericht, Kdr., 703 Wach Bn., 7.VI.42., Band 2,
Juni 42, Anl. I-III z. KTB Bfh, H. Geb. "B", 1.VII.-30.VI.42. 25124/2 ; Bericht,
Ic, Korueck 584, 22.VI.42., Bericht, Ic, Korueck 584, 22.VI.42., Anl. 582, KTB 3,
Korueck 584. 38998/2.