The 5th Don Cossacks Cavalry Regiment Cross.
Instituted on
Rarity – Very Rare.Known Makers – Unmarked.
The 5th Don Cossacks Cavalry Regiment Cross - Obverse.
The 5th Don Cossacks Cavalry Regiment Cross - Reverse.
This decoration is in the form of
a 45 mm aluminium cross that is superimposed over a shield. The outer edge of the cross and shield has a
raised edge line. At the centre of the
cross is a circular boss with similar raised edge line. Round the arms of the cross and within the
boss, are thinner lines producing a tramline effect. The field of the tramlines are infilled with
black paint. The resultant fields of the
arms of the cross and the boss are stippled and left plain. On to the field of the upper arm of the cross
is superimposed the numeral '5' with raised outer line. The field is filled with black paint. The lower field has, in two lines, in similar
construction, '28 X 1941.' The left-hand field, in cyrillic characters,
has, 'K O H O', and on the right, 'H O B', in similar construction. All are infilled with black paint. The significance of the numerals is the
regimental number and the date of the foundation of the regiment. The cyrillic characters translate to the name
of its commander, Kononov. The field of
the central boss has a swastika, again with raised edge and black paint
infill. Through this and superimposed
across the shield are crossed Shashkas or Cossack swords, with their hilts
breaking the outer edge of the shield in the lower quadrants of the cross, and
their tips the outer edge of the shield in the upper quadrants of the
cross. The panels produced adjacent to
the vertical arms of the cross are infilled with red paint and those next to
the horizontal ones are infilled with blue paint, representing the red and blue
shield of the Don Cossacks.
The reverse is flat with a single
raised line that represents the outline of the obverse. The centre has a flat smooth circle that
corresponds to the obverse's central boss.
The upper and lower arms have a protrusion with a central slit that has
a steel 'safety pin' inserted into it.
This is then pressed over by the protrusions. The whole of the reverse is finely
pebbled. It was worn on the left pocket
of the uniform.
The 5th Don Cossack Regiment and
the 2nd Siberian Cossacks Regiment both had their own regimental crosses. These are not decoration per se but rather
items of dress. The wearing on the
breast pocket of regimental crosses, enamelled badges or other emblems to
distinguish a unit or training establishment is common to many continental
countries, particularly Poland. However,
these crosses were unique in the German armed forces and took on the
resemblance of a campaign award or tradition badge for, in October 1941 an
entire Cossack regiment with all its officers, including its commander Colonel
Kononov, deserted from the Red Army and offered their services to the Germans.
The 5th Don Cossack Cavalry
Regiment was the first completely Russian unit, with its own officers, to fight
for the Germans. Kononov, by the end of
the war, had been promoted to Major General and given command of all the
Cossack formations in the German Army.
The German officer most closely associated with the Cossacks was
Oberstleutnant Helmuth von Pannwitz. He
had struck up a close friendship with Nikolai Kulakov, the clan chief or Ataman
of the Terik Cossacks, who promised the active co-operation of his people in
the struggle against Stalinist Communism.
Pannwitz broached the matter to the Chief of the General Staff, General
Zeitzler, suggesting that it could be possible to raise a regiment of Terik
Cossacks. Zeitzler approved and promised
that Pannwitz would command such a regiment if it were ever raised. However, when Pannwitz asked the poignant
question, where were the troops he was to command the General ruefully
answered, “You'll have to find them for yourself”. The resourceful Pannwitz proceeded to tour
the front in his Fieserler Storck 'plane, resorting to methods which cannot be
described as entirely orthodox. He
managed to 'find' about 1000 men and six tanks.
The Pannwitz cavalry unit proved its worth in combat and convinced of
their value as a fighting force, he urged the creation of a Cossack Cavalry
Division. The horrific losses in the
east made the Army welcome any reinforcements of its overstretched
manpower. The raising of such a division
was approved and in April and May 1943 the first Cossack Cavalry Division was
formed at Kherson in the Ukraine, comprising of Don, Terik and Kuban
Cossacks. The Army also sent a regiment
of Kalmuks to Kherson, who had traditionally formed part of the Don Cossack
Army and subsequently over 12000 men were assembled. They were then moved to Malwa, north of
Warsaw. It must be assumed that by this
time the Germans had discovered the distinction between Cossacks and Kalmuks,
since the latter did not accompany the others to Malwa.
More than half of the new
division consisted of men recruited directly from the Cossack areas. The rest were volunteers from the POW camps
or from among the Ostarbeiters in Germany.
The troops at Malwa included the German commanded Jungschulz, Lehmann
and Wolff Regiments, as well as Major Kononov's Kos. Abt. 600. The volunteers were then grouped into two
brigades of three regiments each.
1st Brigade.
1st Don Cossack Cavalry Reg. Commanded by
Oberstleutnant Graf zu Dohna.
2nd Siberian Cossack Cavalry
Reg. Commanded by Major Freiherr von Nolcken.
4th Kuban Cossack Cavalry Reg. Commanded by
Oberstleutnant Freiherr von Wolff.
2nd Brigade.
3rd Kuban Cossack Cavalry Reg. Commanded by
Oberstleutnant Jungschulz.
5th Don Cossack Cavalry Reg. Commanded by
Oberstleutnant Kononov.
6th Terik Cossack Cavalry Reg. Commanded by
Major H-D von Kalben.
Fake.
These were produced in the late 1970's and were sold by the UK Dealer T B Oliver. They were sold as copies and the price was in the region of 10 Shillings. The main point of variance is the tail of the 9 in the lower arm of the cross.
The 5th Don Cossacks Cavalry Regiment Cross - Obverse - Fake.
The 5th Don Cossacks Cavalry Regiment Cross - Commemorative Restrike - Obverse.
