penal battalions

penal battalions were Red Army punishment units. At the start of the German–Soviet war there was just one penal battalion to each army, but in May 1942 the numbers were increased so that, additionally, there were between ten and fifteen at the disposal of each front (Army Group) commander. They comprised a guard company and three penal companies containing soldiers whose loyalty or courage in battle was in doubt, or who had been found guilty of various offences. They also sometimes contained partisans who had accidentally failed to keep behind German lines. Each battalion was 360 strong, and they included officers who had been stripped of their rank and all decorations. Penal battalions were normally kept in the rear, but when a breakthrough of a German position was to be attempted they were brought forward under guard. Once the heavily armed guard company had positioned itself behind the penal companies the latter were given their weapons and were ordered to attack. If they turned back they were shot. Massed attacks by penal battalions were not uncommon, 34 being used by Marshal Zhukov on one occasion during the fighting in Belorussia. The few who survived such operations took part in the next one so that eventually all were killed, but they proved a very effective means of clearing the way forward for the élite infantry that followed them. There were also mine clearing and air force penal units. The former were said to have been dispatched across minefields to make a safe path for the following infantry; the latter were air gunners.