70th Guards Impression Guide

All credit for this guide goes to the 70th Guards Rifle Division, they did an amazing job putting this guide together. You can find them on Facebook at 70th Guards Rifle Division. This is a guide to the uniforms and equipment that every Soviet rifleman would be issued during the period from 1943 to 1945. Within 70th Guards, this is our primary impression, as many of our events take place during this time period. Though this guide is not completely exhaustive, it covers the majority of necessary items to complete the “late war” impression.

This guide represents the equipment of a rifleman with the rank of krasnoarmeyets (the Red Army equivalent of private), not soldiers in specialized roles, e.g. combat engineers, artillery, or naval infantry. Similarly, this guide also does not reflect special equipment for officers, except to indicate where said equipment would not be carried by the lower ranks. For clarification, an officer in the Red Army was defined as anyone above the rank of junior lieutenant (mladshiy leytenant).
While this guide exists to put down a lot of the knowledge that the authors have learnt about various pieces of Soviet uniforms, it is still highly encouraged to speak with unit leadership before making a major purchase which may end up useless for reenacting. Asking questions and learning is as much a part of this hobby as fighting battles and shooting. Please do not be afraid to contact Ian Fries if you have any questions on anything.