Headquarters of the women's "Death Battalion". Bochkarev in the center, with a red revolutionary bow, the St. George Cross of the 4th class, two St. George medals of the 3rd and 4th class. and the medal "For Diligence" on the Stanislav Ribbon. (in the initial period of WW1, this medal was awarded as a military award). Original photograph from 1917.
Maria Bochkareva was born in the village of Nikolskoye, Novgorod province, in the summer of 1889 into a peasant family. A few years later, escaping poverty, they moved to Siberia. Where the state promised support in the form of land shares and finance. At the age of fifteen, the girl was married to 23-year-old Afanasy Bochkarev. Her husband drank, and the girl went to the Jew, the butcher Yakov Buk. Personal life I didn't get along with him either. Buk was accused of robbery and exiled to Yakutsk.
The First World War began. Maria, tired of living either as a criminal or with a drunkard, decided to go to the front. But according to the laws of that time, women could not serve in the active army. Bochkareva drafted a telegram with a petition to the Tsar - and received the Highest permission to perform military service!
Bochkareva went to the front, where at first she caused laughter among her colleagues. However, her fearlessness in countless battles, two wounds in battle brought Bochkareva respect among her colleagues, St. George's Cross, three medals and the rank of senior non-commissioned officer.
Creation of the women's "Death Battalion" by Maria Bochkareva
In Petrograd, where she was taken for propaganda work “for the war to victory,” Bochkareva proposed creating shock “death battalions” consisting exclusively of women. With this idea she was sent to a meeting of the Provisional Government, where she received support. At the top, first of all, they saw this as a propaganda goal - to raise the spirit of patriotism, to stir up men who did not want to serve and fight, with the example of the Women's Battalions. The wife of the head of government, Kerensky, also took part in the creation of such a formation.
And already on June 21, 1917, near St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the banner of a new military unit with the inscription “The first women’s military command of the death of Maria Bochkareva” scattered in the wind. Iron discipline became the law for her. Subordinates even complained to their superiors that the commander hit people’s faces like a real sergeant.
Review of the death battalion conducted by the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General. Polovtsev. The photograph is more famous, as it was reproduced on photo postcards issued in a fairly large circulation.
Baptism of fire of the Death Battalion under the command of Maria Bochkareva
A week later, the battalion arrived in Molodechno, in the active army of the Western Front. On July 7, 1917, an order was received to take positions near the town of Krevo. This was the first combat experience of the Women's Death Battalion of Maria Bochkareva. The enemy launched a pre-emptive strike and crashed into the location of Russian troops. Over the course of three days, the regiment repelled 14 German attacks, launched counterattacks and, in the end, knocked the enemy out of their positions.
According to Bochkareva, in that battle she lost more than half personnel battalion wounded and killed. Having been wounded for the fifth time, she ended up in the capital’s hospital. Here she was given the rank of second lieutenant.
Heavy losses in the ranks of women volunteers led to the fact that the main supreme commander, General Kornilov, prohibited the further formation of women's battalions to participate in battles. The existing units were supposed to serve in communications, security, and medicine. As a result of this decree, many women who wanted to fight for their homeland in battles filed for dismissal from the “death units.”
After the dissolution of the death battalion, some time later, Bochkareva was detained by the Bolsheviks and she almost ended up on trial. But thanks to her colleagues, she escaped and eventually arrived in the United States for the purpose of anti-Soviet agitation. Her activities were quite active. In the summer of 1918, she was granted an audience at the White House with President Wilson, then Europe and a meeting with King George V, where she secured financial support. Then, again Russia, Arkhangelsk, Omsk, meeting with Admiral Kolchak. However, all this was already belated steps in a complete disaster on the White Front.
On January 7, 1920, the former commander of the women's Death Battalion, Maria Bochkareva, was arrested by the Bolsheviks. And she, as “the worst and implacable enemy of the workers’ and peasants’ republic,” was sentenced to death.
However, there is no evidence of the execution. There is a version that her friends freed her from prison, and she left for Harbin. Here she met a former fellow soldier-widower, who became her husband. Maria Bochkareva herself did not have any children of her own and she dedicated her love to her husband’s sons, who died in the battles of the Great Patriotic War.
GoogleLife in permafrost
The death battalion was commanded by Russian army officer Maria Bochkareva, a woman with a unique destiny. She was born in 1889, into an ordinary peasant family. A poor and large family lived in the Novgorod province, and then moved to Siberia. But Maria’s parents did not find happiness and wealth in new places either.
WITH early years the girl was forced to work as a laborer for the sake of an extra penny. At the age of 16, Maria married the peasant Afanasy Bochkarev, but her husband turned out to be a drunkard, he did not know how to manage and earn a living, and he loved her. And as is often the case with Russian women, Maria was forced to take on the role of nurse and breadwinner. A young woman went to work in construction railway, as a laborer.
They paid her little there, but the husband took these pennies and drank them away, and in addition beat his wife. Maria could not stand such a life for a long time and ran away. Soon she met the owner butcher shop Yakov Buk, with whom she began a whirlwind romance. But it turned out that Yakov is a real bandit, the head of a gang of thieves. Soon he was arrested and sent along a convoy to Yakutsk, for eternal settlement. Faithful lover Maria followed him, taking upon herself all the everyday burdens in a new, undeveloped place. But here Yakov managed to “distinguish himself” and was first imprisoned and then sent to a remote taiga village. Maria went after him again, although for a long time she had only seen beatings and insults from her “beau”. Most likely, this was the reason for her decisive action - fleeing to the army.
In 1914, the news reached the northern wilderness with great delay that the war with the Germans had begun. Bochkareva, without hesitation, got ready and left the disgusted Yakov for Tomsk. There she found the commander of the reserve battalion and demanded that he “enroll her as a soldier” and send her to the front. At first the commander did not even listen to her, but Maria began her own military operations against him - she lay in wait in ambushes, begged, persuaded, and sobbed. However, although her desire already aroused sympathy among those around her, no one was going to take her to the front. Then Bochkareva took a desperate step - she sent a telegram to St. Petersburg addressed to the emperor, in which she asked to be allowed to serve for the glory of the Fatherland.
And soon a message arrived in Tomsk from... Nicholas II. He expressed his approval and ordered the woman to be enrolled in the regiment. After the highest order, Maria Bochkareva was accepted into the army. At first there was a short study in the rear, and in the spring of 1915 Maria found herself at war.
If until this moment it could be said that Bochkareva’s desire to be at the front was some kind of whim or a desire to escape from a hateful and hopeless reality, then her actions on the front line showed that she is in fact a very brave woman and a real fighter. She boldly went on the attack and reconnaissance, was in no way inferior to the men, was somewhat wounded, but always returned to duty. By 1917, she had already become a full Knight of St. George and received a promotion to the rank.
Naturally, there was a lot of talk about the amazing female hero at the fronts and written in the newspapers. She soon became a very popular personality, a mascot Russian army. At the same time, numerous correspondents were amazed by her wise worldly views, wit and lively language.
Woman with a rifle
Meanwhile, serious socio-political changes were approaching Russia, caused by the protracted war. The soldiers are tired of fighting, the peasants are tired of feeding the army. The crisis was resolved by the February Revolution. Maria Bochkareva was called to Petrograd as an expert on military issues. She, as a person closely familiar with the subject, told the Provisional Government that morale in the units had dropped significantly and measures were needed to raise it.
It was then that it was decided to create a special women's battalion and send it to the front. Bochkareva was confident that the sight of weak women with rifles would inspire the demoralized army, and the soldiers would rush to fight the enemy with renewed vigor, and desertion and decay in the army would stop. But still, senior military circles doubted the success of such a bold experiment. General Brusilov asked Bochkareva: “Do you rely on women”? “I guarantee that my battalion will not disgrace Russia,” answered the female officer.
The cry was raised, and soon there were more than two thousand female volunteers. Among them, we selected women no younger than 16 and no older than 40 years old. Conscripts underwent a medical examination, which screened out sick and pregnant women.
Soon the first women's death battalion was formed. Appeals and slogans appeared in the newspapers: “Not a single people in the world has reached such a shame that instead of male deserters weak women went to the front. The women's army will be the one living water, which will make the Russian hero wake up.”
Although the ladies who had gathered for war did not expect an easy life for themselves and were prepared for hardships and hardships, nevertheless, the creation of the regiment was not without scandals associated with the service. Complaints arose against the battalion commander in connection with her cruelty and assault. The female soldiers claimed that Bochkareva “beats people’s faces like a real sergeant of the old regime.”
When they tried to influence the battalion commander, she replied that “those who are dissatisfied can get the hell out.” The dissatisfied really “got away” and ended up in another women’s battalion, whose fate turned out to be terrible. It was he who guarded the Winter Palace on the fateful night of the October Revolution. Women were raped and killed...
But that will happen later. In the meantime, those remaining with Bochkareva were preparing for the front. After the split, the battalion became much calmer, and the iron discipline that reigned in it became legendary. Before being sent to the front, the battalion was solemnly presented with a banner on St. Isaac's Square. The ceremony was attended by Kerensky and other representatives of the Provisional Government. The battalion was escorted to the front and began to await news of the strengthening of military spirit.
Execution in the basement
But, alas, this did not happen. On July 9, 1917, the women's battalion launched its first attack. Although the women tried to show their military skills, they did not succeed as well as they would have liked, and the battalion suffered significant losses.
Denikin wrote in his memoirs: “I know the fate of Bochkareva’s battalion. He was met by the unbridled soldier environment mockingly and cynically. In the town of Molodechno, where the battalion was originally stationed, at night it had to set up a strong guard to guard the barracks... Then the offensive began.
The women's battalion, attached to one of the corps, valiantly went on the attack, not supported by the “Russian heroes.” And when the pitch hell of enemy artillery fire broke out, the poor women, forgetting about the scattered formation technique, huddled together - helpless, alone in their section of the field, loosened by German bombs. We suffered losses. And the “heroes” partly returned, and partly did not leave the trenches at all...” In the same battle, Maria Bochkareva was also wounded.
But the government decided to continue the experiment, and several more women's battalions were created. After returning from the hospital, Maria was already in command of the regiment. But then the October Revolution occurred, the regiment was disbanded, Bochkareva was arrested and imprisoned Peter and Paul Fortress. She was offered to go over to the side of the Bolsheviks and fight the White Guards, but she refused. At that time, the bloody terror was just beginning, the former royal officers they were not pursued yet, and Bochkareva was soon released.
Maria decided to play on her side - by hook or by crook she moved to the territories remaining with the whites in the Volunteer Army. Soon, on the orders of General Kornilov, she went on a trip to the USA and England, where she met with Woodrow Wilson and the English king. The details of this trip are little known; its purpose was to ask for help from powerful allies. Returning to Russia, she ended up in Kolchak’s army, but in November 1919, after the Bolsheviks captured Omsk, she was arrested. The security officers were involved in her case for a long time, trying to find all the connections with the White Guards. On May 16, 1920, Maria Bochkareva was shot.
On August 31, filming began for the film “Death Battalion,” which tells the story of a women’s battalion that fought on the fronts of the First World War. Filming will take place in Northern capital, on this moment filmed on Vasilkov Island.
While specific details about the plot of the film have not been disclosed, it is known that director Dmitry Meskhiev intends to create an antique stylization not only with scenery and costumes, but also with image quality. It is not yet clear what this means, but, as the director said, there will be neither black and white film nor 3D format.As the creators say, the film “Death Battalion” is “a film about the heroism of Russian women”... And how can you not believe it now, when it is known that almost 60 girls shaved their heads for the sake of the film, and at the head of all was actress Maria Kozhevnikova.In addition to Maria Kozhevnikova, such famous actors as Marat Basharov, Maria Aronova and Evgeny Dyatlov, Vladimir Zaitsev are attached to the project. The director asks actor Nikolai Auzin, from Tyumen, to especially remember. The director is confident that he has discovered a new star.The release date of the film “Death Battalion” is August 2014. The filming process is scheduled until December 2013.Shaved imageMaria Kozhevnikova ...
Original taken from melena1001“Sometimes there are no names left from the heroes of bygone times...” These lines of a popular song can easily be attributed to the fate of the creator of the first women’s shock battalion, Maria Bochkareva.
During her lifetime, the fame of this amazing woman was so great that she could be the envy of many stars of modern politics and show business. Reporters vied with each other to interview her, illustrated magazines featured her photographic portraits and enthusiastic articles about the “hero woman” on the covers. But, alas, several years later, only Mayakovsky’s contemptuous lines about the “Bochkarevsky fools” who stupidly tried to defend the Winter Palace on the night of the October Revolution remained in the memory of compatriots...
The fate of Maria Leontievna Bochkareva is akin to the love-adventure novel so fashionable today: the wife of a drunken worker, the girlfriend of a bandit, a servant in a brothel. Then an unexpected turn - a brave front-line soldier, non-commissioned officer and officer of the Russian army, one of the heroines of the First World War. A simple peasant woman, who only learned the basics of literacy towards the end of her life, had the opportunity in her lifetime to meet with the head of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky, two supreme commanders-in-chief of the Russian army - A.A. Brusilov and L.G. Kornilov. “Russian Joan of Arc” was officially received by US President Woodrow Wilson and the English King George V.
Maria was born in July 1889 in Siberia into a peasant family. In 1905, she married 23-year-old Afanasy Bochkarev. Married life did not work out almost immediately, and Bochkareva broke up with her drunkard husband without regret. It was then that she met her “fatal love” in the person of a certain Yankel (Yakov) Buk, who, according to documents, was listed as a peasant, but in reality was engaged in robbery in a gang of “hunhuz”. When Yakov was finally arrested, Bochkareva decided to share the fate of her beloved and, like a Decembrist, went after him along the convoy to Yakutsk. But even in the settlement, Yakov continued to do the same things - he bought stolen goods and even participated in an attack on the post office.
To prevent Buk from being sent even further to Kolymsk, Maria agreed to give in to the advances of the Yakut governor. But, unable to survive the betrayal, she tried to poison herself, and then told Book everything. Yakov was hardly restrained in the governor’s office, where he went to kill the seducer, then he was again convicted and sent to the remote Yakut village of Amga. Maria was the only Russian woman here. True, her previous relationship with her lover has not been restored...
When did the first one start? World War, Maria decided to finally break with Yankel and go as a soldier to the active army. In November 1914, in Tomsk, she addressed the commander of the 25th reserve battalion. He invited her to go to the front as a sister of mercy, but Maria continued to insist on her own. The annoying petitioner is given ironic advice: to contact the emperor directly. For the last eight rubles, Bochkareva sends a telegram to the highest name and soon, to the great surprise of the command, receives permission from Nicholas II. She was enrolled as a civilian soldier. According to an unwritten rule, soldiers gave each other nicknames. Remembering Buk, Maria asks to call herself Yashka.
Yashka fearlessly carried out bayonet attacks, pulled the wounded out of the battlefield, and was wounded several times. “For outstanding valor” she received the St. George Cross and three medals. She is awarded the rank of junior and then senior non-commissioned officer.
February Revolution turned the world familiar to Maria upside down: endless rallies took place in the positions, fraternizations with the enemy began. Thanks to an unexpected acquaintance with the Chairman of the Provisional Committee State Duma M.V. Rodzianko, who came to the front to perform, Bochkareva ended up in Petrograd at the beginning of May 1917. Here she is trying to implement an unexpected, bold idea - to create special military units of female volunteers and, together with them, continue to defend the Motherland. There were no such units before in any of the countries that participated in the world war.
Bochkareva’s initiative received the approval of the Minister of War A.F. Kerensky and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief A.A. Brusilov. In their opinion, the “female factor” could have a positive moral impact on the decaying army. The idea was also supported by patriotic women's public organizations. Over two thousand women responded to the call of Bochkareva and the Women’s Union for Helping the Motherland. By order of Kerensky, female soldiers were allocated a separate room on Torgovaya Street, and ten experienced instructors were sent to train them in military formation and handling of weapons. Food for the shockwomen was brought from the barracks of the nearby 2nd Baltic Fleet Crew.
Initially, it was even assumed that with the first detachment of female volunteers, Kerensky’s wife Olga would go to the front as a nurse, who gave an undertaking “if necessary, to remain in the trenches all the time.” But, looking ahead, let’s say that the “Madam Minister” never made it to the trenches...
Numerous publications and photo reports depicted the life of female soldiers in very idyllic, colorful colors. The reality, alas, was more prosaic and harsher. Maria established strict discipline in the battalion: getting up at five in the morning, studying until ten in the evening, short rest and a simple soldier’s lunch. “Intelligent people” soon began to complain that Bochkareva was too rude and “beats people’s faces like a real sergeant of the old regime.” In addition, she prohibited the organization of any councils and committees in her battalion and the appearance of party agitators there. Supporters of “democratic reforms” even appealed to the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General P. A. Polovtsev, but in vain: “She (Bochkareva. - A. K.), he wrote in his memoirs “Days of Eclipse,” waving fiercely and expressively fist, says that those who are dissatisfied should get out, that she wants to have a disciplined unit.”
In the end, a split occurred in the formed battalion - approximately 300 women remained with Bochkareva, and the rest formed an independent shock battalion. Ironically, some of the “shock girls” expelled by Bochkareva “for easy behavior” became part of the new 1st Petrograd Women’s Battalion, whose units on October 25, 1917 unsuccessfully defended the Winter Palace, the last residence of the Provisional Government.
But let’s return to Bochkarev’s “shock performers” themselves. On June 21, 1917, on the square near St. Isaac's Cathedral, a solemn ceremony was held to present the new military unit with a white banner with the inscription “The first female military command of the death of Maria Bochkareva.” This day is captured in the second photograph from the museum collection. On the left flank of the detachment, in a brand new ensign uniform (she was promoted to the first officer rank by a special order from Kerensky), stood the excited Maria: “I thought that all eyes were fixed on me alone. Petrograd Archbishop Veniamin and Ufa Archbishop bid farewell to our death battalion with the image of Tikhvin Mother of God. It’s finished, the front is ahead!” Finally, the battalion marched solemnly through the streets of Petrograd, where it was greeted by thousands of people, although insulting cries were also heard from the crowd.
June 23 unusual military unit went to the front. Life immediately dispelled the romance. Initially, they even had to post sentries at the battalion barracks: the revolutionary soldiers pestered the “women” with unambiguous proposals. The battalion received its baptism of fire in fierce battles with the Germans near Smorgon in early July 1917. One of the command reports said that “Bochkareva’s detachment behaved heroically in battle” and set an example of “bravery, courage and calm.” And even one of the leaders white movement General Anton Ivanovich Denikin, who was very skeptical of such “army surrogates,” admitted that the women’s battalion “valiantly went on the attack,” not supported by other units.
In one of the battles on July 9, Bochkareva was shell-shocked and sent to a Petrograd hospital. After recovery, she received an order from the new Supreme Commander-in-Chief Lavr Kornilov to inspect the women’s battalions, of which there were already almost a dozen. A review of the Moscow battalion showed its complete incapacity for combat. Frustrated, Maria returned to her unit, firmly deciding for herself “ more women I won’t take you to the front because I’m disappointed in women.”
After the October Revolution, Bochkarev, at the direction of Soviet power, was forced to disband her battalion home, and she herself again headed to Petrograd. In Smolny, one of the representatives of the new regime (she herself claimed that it was Lenin or Trotsky) spent a long time convincing Maria that she should defend the power of the working people. But Bochkareva stubbornly insisted that she was too exhausted and did not want to take part in the civil war. Almost the same - “I was in combat during civil war I don’t accept,” a year later she told the White Guard commander in the North of Russia, General Marushevsky, when he tried to force Maria to engage in the formation of combat units. For refusal, the angry general ordered Bochkareva’s arrest, and he was stopped only by the intervention of the British allies...
However, Bochkareva still sided with the whites. On behalf of General Kornilov, she, wearing forged documents and dressed as a nurse, made her way through civil war-torn Russia to make a propaganda trip to the United States and England in 1918. Later, in the fall of 1919, a meeting took place with another “supreme” - Admiral A.V. Kolchak. Aged and exhausted from wanderings, Maria Leontyevna came to ask for resignation, but he persuaded Bochkareva to continue serving and form a voluntary sanitary detachment. Maria made passionate speeches in two Omsk theaters and recruited 200 volunteers in two days. But the days of the “Supreme Ruler of Russia” himself and his army were already numbered. Bochkareva’s detachment turned out to be of no use to anyone.
When the Red Army occupied Tomsk, Bochkareva herself came to the commandant of the city, handed over a revolver to him and offered her cooperation to the Soviet authorities. The commandant took her undertaking not to leave the place and sent her home. On Christmas night 1920, she was arrested and then sent to Krasnoyarsk. Bochkareva gave frank and ingenuous answers to all the investigator’s questions, which put the security officers in a difficult position. No clear evidence of her “counter-revolutionary activities” could be found; Bochkareva also did not participate in hostilities against the Reds. Ultimately, the special department of the 5th Army issued a resolution: “For more information, the case, along with the identity of the accused, should be sent to the Special Department of the Cheka in Moscow.”
Perhaps this promised a favorable outcome, especially since the resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars the death penalty in the RSFSR was once again cancelled. But, unfortunately, here the deputy head of the Special Department of the Cheka, I.P. Pavlunovsky, arrived in Siberia, endowed with extraordinary powers. The “representative of Moscow” did not understand what confused the local security officers in the case of our heroine. On the resolution, he wrote a short resolution: “Bochkareva Maria Leontievna - shoot.” On May 16, 1920, the sentence was carried out. “Russian Joan of Arc” was thirty-one years old.
Women's battalions- military formations consisting exclusively of women, created by the Provisional Government, mainly for propaganda purposes - to raise the patriotic spirit in the army and shame by example male soldiers refusing to fight. Despite this, they participated to a limited extent in the fighting of the First World War. One of the initiators of their creation was Maria Bochkareva.
History of origin
Senior non-commissioned officer M. L. Bochkareva, who was at the front with the Highest permission (since women were prohibited from being sent to units of the active army) from 1914 to 1917, thanks to her heroism, became a famous person. M. V. Rodzianko, who arrived in April on a propaganda trip to the Western Front, where Bochkareva served, specifically asked for a meeting with her and took her with him to Petrograd to campaign for “war to a victorious end” in the troops of the Petrograd garrison and among the delegates of the congress soldiers' deputies of the Petrograd Soviet. In a speech to the delegates of the congress, Bochkareva spoke for the first time about the creation of shock women’s “death battalions.” After this, she was invited to present her proposal at a meeting of the Provisional Government.
I was told that my idea was great, but I needed to report to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Brusilov and consult with him. Together with Rodzianka, I went to Brusilov’s Headquarters... Brusilov told me in his office that you have hope for women and that the formation of a women’s battalion is the first in the world. Can't women disgrace Russia? I told Brusilov that I myself am not confident in women, but if you give me full authority, then I guarantee that my battalion will not disgrace Russia... Brusilov told me that he believes me and will try in every possible way to help in the formation of women volunteer battalion.
M. L. Bochkareva
The appearance of Bochkareva’s squad served as an impetus for the formation of women’s squads in other cities of the country (Kiev, Minsk, Poltava, Kharkov, Simbirsk, Vyatka, Smolensk, Irkutsk, Baku, Odessa, Mariupol), but due to the intensifying processes of destruction of the Russian state, the creation of these female shock troops parts were never completed.
Officially, as of October 1917, there were: 1st Petrograd Women's Death Battalion, 2nd Moscow Women's Death Battalion, 3rd Kuban Women's Shock Battalion (infantry); Marine women's team(Oranienbaum); Cavalry 1st Petrograd Battalion of the Women's Military Union; Minsk separate guard squad of female volunteers. The first three battalions visited the front; only Bochkareva’s 1st battalion took part in the fighting.
Attitude towards women's battalions
As the Russian historian S.A. Solntseva wrote, the mass of soldiers and the Soviets received the “women’s death battalions” (as well as all other shock units) “with hostility.” The front-line shock workers did not call them anything other than “prostitutes.” At the beginning of July, the Petrograd Soviet demanded that all “women’s battalions” be disbanded as “unsuitable for military service” - moreover, the formation of such battalions was regarded by the Petrograd Soviet as “a secretive maneuver of the bourgeoisie who want to wage the war to a victorious end.”
Let us pay tribute to the memory of the brave. But... there is no place for a woman in the killing fields, where horror reigns, where there is blood, dirt and deprivation, where hearts harden and morals become terribly coarse. There are many ways of public and government service that are much more consistent with a woman’s calling.
Participation in the battles of the First World War
On June 27, 1917, a “battalion of death” consisting of two hundred people arrived in the active army - in the rear units of the 1st Siberian Army Corps of the 10th Army of the Western Front in the area of the Novospassky forest, north of the city of Molodechno, near Smorgon.
On July 9, 1917, according to the plans of the Headquarters, the Western Front was supposed to go on the offensive. On July 7, 1917, the 525th Kyuryuk-Darya Infantry Regiment of the 132nd Infantry Division, which included shock troops, received an order to take positions at the front near the town of Krevo. The "death battalion" was on the right flank of the regiment. On July 8, 1917, he entered into battle for the first time, since the enemy, knowing about the plans of the Russian command, launched a preemptive strike and wedged itself into the location of the Russian troops. Over three days, the regiment repelled 14 attacks by German troops. Several times the battalion launched counterattacks and knocked the Germans out of the Russian positions occupied the day before. This is what Colonel V.I. Zakrzhevsky wrote in his report on the actions of the “death battalion”:
Bochkareva’s detachment behaved heroically in battle, always in the front line, serving on an equal basis with the soldiers. When the Germans attacked, on his own initiative he rushed as one into a counterattack; brought cartridges, went to secrets, and some to reconnaissance; With their work, the death squad set an example of bravery, courage and calmness, raised the spirit of the soldiers and proved that each of these female heroes is worthy of the title of warrior of the Russian revolutionary army.
According to Bochkareva herself, out of 170 people who took part in the hostilities, the battalion lost up to 30 people killed and up to 70 wounded. Maria Bochkareva, herself wounded in this battle for the fifth time, spent a month and a half in the hospital and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant.
Such heavy losses among female volunteers also had other consequences for the female battalions - on August 14, the new Commander-in-Chief, General L.G. Kornilov, by his order banned the creation of new female “death battalions” for combat use, and the already created units were ordered to be used only in auxiliary sectors ( security functions, communications, sanitary organizations). This led to the fact that many female volunteers who wanted to fight for Russia with weapons in their hands wrote statements asking to be dismissed from the “death units.”
Defense of the Provisional Government
One of the women's death battalions (1st Petrograd, under the command of the Life Guards Kexholm Regiment: 39 Staff Captain A.V. Loskov) in October, together with cadets and other units loyal to the oath of the Februaryists, took part in the defense of the Winter Palace , in which the Provisional Government was located.
On October 25 (November 7), the battalion, stationed near the Levashovo station of the Finnish Railway, was supposed to go to the Romanian front (according to the command’s plans, it was planned to send each of the formed women’s battalions to the front to raise the morale of male soldiers - one for each of the four fronts of the Eastern Front). But on October 24 (November 6), the battalion commander, Staff Captain Loskov, received orders to send the battalion to Petrograd “for a parade” (in fact, to protect the Provisional Government). Loskov, having learned about real problem and not wanting to drag his subordinates into a political confrontation, he withdrew the entire battalion from Petrograd back to Levashovo, with the exception of the 2nd company (137 people).
The company took up defense on the first floor of the Winter Palace in the area to the right of the main gate to Millionnaya Street. At night, during the storming of the palace, the company surrendered, was disarmed and taken to the barracks of the Pavlovsky, then the Grenadier Regiment, where with some shock troops "mistreated"- as a specially created commission of the Petrograd City Duma established, three shock workers were raped (although, perhaps, few dared to admit it), one committed suicide. On October 26 (November 8), the company was sent to its previous location in Levashovo.
Elimination of women's death battalions
Shape and appearance
The soldiers of Bochkareva’s Women’s Battalion wore the “Adam’s Head” symbol on their chevrons. Women underwent a medical examination and had their hair cut almost bald.
Songs
March forward, forward to battle,
Women soldiers!
The dashing sound calls you into battle,
The adversaries will tremble
From the song of the 1st Petrograd Women's Battalion
In culture
Writer Boris Akunin wrote the detective story “Battalion of Angels,” which takes place in 1917 in the women’s death battalion. Of the real prototypes, the book shows the daughter of Admiral Skrydlov (under the name Alexandra Shatskaya) and Maria Bochkareva.
In February 2015, the Russian feature film “
There are so many legends about this amazing woman that it is impossible to say one hundred percent whether it is true or fiction. But it is reliably known that an ordinary peasant woman, who remained illiterate for almost her entire adult life, was called by King George V during a personal meeting “the Russian Joan of Arc.” Fate was destined for her to become the first female officer in the Russian army. The whole truth about the women's battalion death - in our article.
Youth, childhood, love
The creator of the women's death battalion, Maria Bochkareva, was born in a small village in the Novgorod province into an ordinary working-class family. Besides her, her parents had two more children. They lived quite poorly and, in order to improve their deplorable situation, decided to move to Siberia, where at that time the government provided assistance to newcomers. But hopes were not justified, so it was decided to marry Maria to a man whom she did not love, and who was also a drunkard. She got her famous surname from him.
After a short period of time, Maria Bochkareva (the women's death battalion was her idea) breaks up with her husband and begins a free life. It was at that time that she was lucky enough to meet her first and only love. Unfortunately, she had no luck with the stronger sex: while the first was a constant drinker, the second was a criminal and member of the Honghuz gang, which included people from Manchuria and China. His name was Yankel Buk. When he was arrested and redirected to Yakutsk, Bochkareva followed him, as the wives of the Decembrists did.
Sad outcome of the relationship
But the desperate Yakov could not be corrected, and even while in the settlement, he sold stolen goods, and later took up robberies. In order to prevent her beloved from going to hard labor, Maria had to follow the lead of the local governor, who harassed her. Subsequently, she could not survive her own betrayal, trying to poison herself. This difficult story ended in tears: upon learning about what had happened, the man, in the heat of anger, tried to kill the official. He was put on trial and sent to an unknown location, after which contact with his loved one was lost.
To the front by imperial favor
The outbreak of war led to an unprecedented surge of patriotic feelings. A huge number of volunteers went to the front, and Maria Leontievna Bochkareva did the same. The story of her entry into service is quite interesting. Arriving in 1914 to the commander of the reserve battalion, which was located in Tomsk, she was faced with a disregardful attitude and ironic advice to make a similar request to the Emperor. Contrary to his expectations, the woman dared to write a petition. To the surprise of the public, she soon received a positive response signed by Nicholas II.
After an accelerated training course, in February of the following year, Maria Leontyevna Bochkareva found herself at the front as a civilian soldier. Having taken on such a difficult task, she, along with the rest of the soldiers, went into bayonet attacks, helped the wounded escape from fire, and also showed real heroism. She was given the nickname Yashka, which she invented for herself in honor of her lover.
When the company commander died in March 1916, Maria took over his post and led her comrades in an offensive that became devastating. For the courage shown in the offensive, the woman received the St. George Cross, as well as three medals. While at the forefront, she was wounded more than once, but despite this, she was still in service. Only after being seriously wounded in the thigh was she sent to the hospital, where she spent several months.
Creation of women's death battalions
Returning to duty, Bochkareva found her own regiment in complete disintegration. While she was away, the February Revolution happened, and the soldiers endlessly rallied and tried to “fraternize” with the Germans. Maria, who did not want to put up with such a situation, never tired of looking for an opportunity to influence the situation. Very soon a similar opportunity presented itself.
The chairman of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma was sent to the front to carry out propaganda work. Bochkareva, having secured his support, went to Petrograd, where she began to implement her long-standing idea - the opening of military formations, which included women ready to defend the Motherland. In her endeavor, she felt the support of the Minister of War Kerensky, as well as Brusilov, who was the Supreme Commander-in-Chief General. Thus began the history of the women's death battalion.
Battalion composition
In response to the calls of the courageous woman, several thousand Russian women responded, wanting to take up arms in the ranks of the new unit. It is worth noting the fact that among them most were literate girls - graduates of Bestuzhev courses, and a third had secondary education. At that time, no unit consisting of men could show such indicators. Among the shockwomen were representatives of all walks of life - from simple peasant women to aristocrats (bearers of famous surnames).
Among the subordinates in the women's death battalion (1917), commander Bochkareva immediately established strict discipline and strict subordination. The rise took place at five in the morning, and until ten in the evening there were constant classes with little rest. Many women who previously lived in fairly wealthy families found it difficult to accept soldier life and the established routine. But this was not their greatest difficulty.
Complaints about the commander
As the sources say, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief soon began to receive complaints regarding arbitrariness, as well as rude treatment on the part of the commander of the women’s death battalion in the First World War. The reports noted facts of beatings. In addition, the appearance within its walls of agitators leading political activity, representatives of all kinds of parties, which was a violation of the rules adopted following the uprising. As a result large quantity disagreements, 250 shockwomen left the 1st Petrograd Women's Death Battalion and moved to another formation.
Sending to the front
Soon the twenty-first of June 1917 arrived, the day when, in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral, in front of a large audience, the newly created unit was awarded the honor of receiving a battle flag. Needless to say, what emotions was experienced by the hero of the occasion, who stood in a new uniform.
But the holiday was replaced by trench life. The young defenders were faced with realities that they had never even imagined before. They found themselves in the midst of morally corrupt and degrading soldiers. In order to protect them from violence, it was sometimes necessary to post sentries on duty at the barracks. But after the first real battle, where Maria’s battalion took direct part, showing unprecedented courage, the shock troops began to be treated with respect.
Hospital and inspection of new units
The Women's Death Battalion in the First World War took part in operations along with other units and suffered losses. Maria Bochkareva, who received a severe concussion on July 9, was sent to Petrograd for treatment. During the period that she spent at the front, her ideas about the women's patriotic movement found a wide response in the capital. New formations were created, which were staffed by defenders of the Fatherland.
After being discharged from the hospital, by order of Kornilov, Bochkareva was given the task of checking such units. The results of the inspection were extremely negative. None of the battalions were truly combative. However, the atmosphere of turmoil that hovered in Moscow did not allow any tangible results to be achieved in a short time.
Soon the initiator of the creation of women's death battalions is sent to her native unit, but right now her fighting spirit is cooling down a little. She has said more than once that she was disappointed in her subordinates and believes that they should not be sent to the front. Maybe her demands on her subordinates were too high, and what she, a combat officer, could handle without problems was beyond the capabilities of ordinary women.
Features of the deadly part
Due to the fact that all these events were close to the episode with the defense of the Winter Palace (government residence), it is worth understanding in more detail what the military unit, the creator of which was Bochkareva, was then. In accordance with the law, the Women's Death Battalion ( historical facts this is confirmed) was equated to an independent unit and in its status corresponded to a regiment in which 1000 soldiers served.
The officer corps included representatives of the strong half who had considerable experience acquired on the fronts of the First World War. The battalion should not have had any political overtones. Its main purpose is to protect the Fatherland from external enemies.
Palace Defense
Suddenly, one of the units of the women's death battalion in the First World War receives an order to go to Petrograd, where a parade was supposed to take place on October 24th. In reality, this was only an excuse to attract shockwomen to defend the facility from the Bolshevik attack with weapons in their hands. During this period, the palace garrison consisted of units of Cossacks and cadets, and therefore had no real military power.
The women who arrived at the scene were ordered to defend the southeastern wing of the building. For the first 24 hours they managed to push back the Red Guards and take control of the Nikolaevsky Bridge. But a day later, troops of the revolutionary committee settled around the building, which resulted in a fierce clash.
It was after this that the defenders of the residence, not wanting to give their lives for the newly appointed government, began to retreat from their positions. The women managed to hold out the longest, and only at ten o’clock were negotiators sent out with a statement of surrender. This opportunity was provided, but only on the conditions of complete disarmament.
The arrival of the Bolsheviks and subsequent events
After an armed coup in October, the decision was made to disband the Women's Death Battalion of the First World War, but it was dangerous to return home in uniform. Not without the participation of the Security Committee, the women managed to find civilian clothes in order to get to their homes.
It has been confirmed that during the events described, Maria Leontyevna was at the front and did not take part in them. Despite this, there is a myth that she commanded the defenders of the palace.
IN future fate threw up many more unpleasant surprises. During the outbreak of the civil war, Bochkarev found himself between two fires. First in Smolny senior officials new government persuaded her to take command of the Red Guard unit. After this, Marushevsky, the commander of the White Guards, also tried to win her over to his side. But everywhere she refused: it was one thing to fight against foreigners and defend her homeland, another thing was to kill her own compatriots. Maria almost paid with her freedom for her refusal.
Legendary life
After the capture of Tomsk, Bochkareva herself came to the commandant’s office to hand over her weapons. After some time, she was taken into custody and sent to Krasnoyarsk. The investigators were in prostration, not knowing what to present to her. But the head of the special department, Pavlunovsky, arrives in the city from the capital. Without even trying to study the situation superficially, he makes a decision - to shoot, which was done. Maria Bochkareva was killed on May sixteenth, 1919.
But her life was so unusual that her death gave birth to great amount legends. It is impossible to say exactly where Maria Leontyeva’s grave is located. Because of this, rumors arose that she managed to avoid execution, and she lived until the forties, taking for herself a completely different name.
But the main legend, of course, remains the woman herself, whose biography can be used to make an exciting film novel.
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