WW2 Painting Guide – Soviet Cossack Cavalry

Okay, I’ve been obsessing about Cossacks in World War 2 lately, hence my post on Soviet Cavalry Regiments in Crossfire. So I went looking for 15mm Cossacks and found that the figures from Flames of War and from Peter Pig look totally different. I wanted to understand why and how to paint each appropriately. This post explains all about that and is a painting guide for both styles.

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Introduction

Broadly speaking the Soviet Cossacks of WW2 wore uniforms ranging from the standard Red Army cavalry uniform through to full Transcaucasian native regalia. The Steppe Cossacks (Don, Siberian) wore the Red Army cavalry uniform supplemented by a minimum of Cossack elements e.g. the furry kubanka cap. The Transcaucasian Cossacks (Kuban, Terek) could also adopt Red Army cavalry uniform but had the option to wear more traditional Transcaucasian styles.

In terms of 15mm the miniatures, the Flames of War Cossacks are Steppe Cossacks and the Peter Pig miniatures are Transcaucasian.

This post is just about the Soviet Cossacks and is not about Cossacks fighting in German service.

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Steppe Cossack Uniform

This covers all of the Cossacks in a Red Army Style uniform but with Cossack cap. Just to be clear, all Cossacks in Soviet services, regardless of the Cossack Host (Don, Siberian, Kuban or Terek), could wear this uniform. The Flames of War Cossack figures have the Steppe Cossack uniform.

Kubanka: The Kubanka was the dominant Cossack cap in WW2. They were made from lambskin. Most hosts had black fur, although the Siberians had white. The cap had a coloured crown on top (usually red although Terek host used dark blue and the Siberians had deep yellow). The crown had a white cross regardless of the host.

Tunic: The cavalry started the war with a tunic (gymnastiorka) in Soviet khaki with blue collar tabs piped black. In 1943 they were issued a Soviet khaki tunic with a standing collar and shoulder boards piped blue.

Telogreika: Like a lot of Soviets, the Cossacks liked the quilted jacket (telogreika). The quilted trousers were less popular and the cavalrymen were more likely to wear normal breeches alongside the telogreika jacket. Both quilted items were in Soviet khaki.

Greatcoats: Cavalry were issued long greatcoats in grey or brown. Officers favoured the grey greatcoats. From 1943 the greatcoats got the shoulder boards of the updated uniform.

Breeches: Regulation cavalry breeches were dark blue with different colours of piping down the outside of the leg. Piping was wide red for Don Cossacks, wide deep yellow for Siberians, narrow red for Kuban, and wide black for Terek. Some officers chose to wear Soviet khaki breeches with blue piping. Later in the war the other ranks were also issued Soviet khaki breeches as the dark blue became difficult to supply.

Boots: Most cavalrymen wore knee length black boots. The cavalry boot had a heel making it uncomfortable for dismounted duty, so some men preferred an ankle boot with gaiters (both blackened).

Sabre: 1927 pattern sashka sabre in scabbard on a shoulder belt.

Small arms: Commonly a carbine although SMGs became more common after 1943. Officers carried a revolver.

Horse cloth: The standard horse cloth was blue with a small red star in the rear corner. Apparently some men rode bareback, but that seems remarkably uncomfortable.

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Transcaucasian Cossack Uniform

The Cossacks of the two Caucasian hosts (Kuban, Terek) often wore a native Transcaucasian style of uniform. The Peter Pig Cossacks are depicted in Transcaucasian Cossack Uniform.

The full Transcaucasian regalia included a furry kubanka, a cherkeska caftan/coat over a beshmet tunic, with a bahlyk hood, and a large burka cape. However, these native elements were combined with the regulation dark blue breeches and black boots. In addition the regulation tunic was more common than the bright beshmet. The Soviet authorities officially suppressed many of these items in 1941 but none-the-less they were worn throughout the war. If anything they were more common at the start of the war than later. And many Transcaucasian Cossacks would have combined traditional elements with more conventional kit described above in the Steppe Cossack section.

Cherkeska: Cheresska means ‘of/from Circassia’ (hence Circassian in English) and is part of the traditional male dress of peoples of the Caucasus, including the neighbouring Terek and Kuban Cossacks. It is a knee length kaftan-style woollen coat with a high neck that open to the waist. The Soviets added regulation shoulder straps/boards to the cheresska. The coat included the cartridge pockets on each breast, but by WW2 the cartridges attached to the coat were purely decorative. Cheresska were grey for the Terek Cossacks and either dark blue or black for the Kuban Cossacks. “Black” cheresska are described as traditional so perhaps these were more common. The coat had large and wide cuffs, which were often turned back to reveal the facing colour (either red or blue).

Beshmet: The beshmet was a native Cossack tunic that replaced the tunic of the standard uniform. It was brightly coloured, high-collared (piped in blue) and fastened down the front. The Kuban Cossacks had scarlet beshmet and the Terek wore light blue. My impression this item was less common than others and men were likely to wear the regulation Soviet khaki tunic under their cheresska.

Bashlyk: The bashlyk was a combination hood and scarf. It was commonly worn hanging down like a cape. These were grey for Don Cossacks, scarlet for Kuban Cossacks and blue for Terek Cossacks. All were edged in black.

Burka: In cold weather the Transcaucasian Cossacks adopted the wooly black burka instead of the greatcoat. The burka had a wooden yoke at the shoulders making the man look very wide and square.

Kubanka: The Kubanka was the dominant Cossack cap in WW2. They were made from lambskin. Most hosts had black fur, although the Siberians had white. The cap had a coloured crown on top (usually red although Terek host used dark blue and the Siberians had deep yellow). The crown had a white cross regardless of the host.

Papakha: The papakha was the earlier Cossack furry cap. Common in WW1 it was replaced by the lower and wider kubanka in WW2. I mention it here because the Peter Pig Minatures seem to be wearing the papakha.

Nagaika: Although issued sabres, Transcaucasian Cossacks often carried a Nagaika dagger as well.

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Distinctive elements of each Cossack Host

Each Cossack host had distinctive elements. There were more distinctive elements amongst the Transcaucasians than the Steppe Cossacks.

Host	Furry Cap (Kubanka)	Breeches	Coat / Caftan (Cherkeska)	Tunic (Beshmet)	Hood/Cape (Bashlyk)
Don	Black fur band. Crown in brick red with with white cross	Dark blue trousers with wide red stripe	N/A	N/A	N/A
Siberian	White fur band. Crown in deep yellow with white cross	Dark blue trousers with wide deep yellow stripe	N/A	N/A	N/A
Kuban	Black fur band. Crown in scarlet with white cross	Dark blue trousers with narrow red stripe	Dark Blue or black caftan	Scarlet tunic with collar piped in blue	Scarlet hood edged black
Terek	Black fur band. Crown in dark blue with white cross	Dark blue trousers with wide black stripe	Grey	Light blue tunic with collar piped in blue	Blue hood edged black

The image of two “WW2 Soviet Kuban Cossacks” shows the Kuban variation of the Transcaucasian Cossack Uniform. Both figures have the black boots, dark blue breeches with a narrow red stripe (although hidden), scarlet Beshmet, and furry black Kubanka hat. The dark blue Cherkeska of the figure on foot is visible but that of the mounted figure is hidden under his large black burka. The man standing is armed with a sabre and Nagaika dagger, whereas the horseman has a PPSh-41 submachine gun.

Don Cossack Distinctive Elements

Kubanka: Black fur band. Crown in brick red with with white cross.
Breeches: Dark blue trousers with wide red stripe.

Siberian Cossack Distinctive Elements

Kubanka: White fur band. Crown in deep yellow with white cross.
Breeches: Dark blue trousers with wide deep yellow stripe.

Kuban Cossack Distinctive Elements

Kubanka: Black fur band. Crown in scarlet with white cross.
Cherkeska: Dark blue or black caftan
Bashlyk: Scarlet hood edged black.
Beshmet: Scarlet tunic with collar piped in blue.
Breeches: Dark blue trousers with narrow red stripe.

Terek Cossack Distinctive Elements

Kubanka: Black fur band. Crown in dark blue with white cross.
Cherkeska: Grey caftan.
Beshmet: Light blue tunic with collar piped in blue.
Bashlyk: Blue hood edged black.
Breeches: Dark blue trousers with wide black stripe.

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References

Darren Baker – Review of 1/35th Zvezda Soviet Cossacks – Soviet Cossacks of World War II

Flames of War: Painting Cossacks

JTam: WW1/WW2 Cossack Cavalry

North, Jonathan. (2016). An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War II: An expert guide to the uniforms of Britain, America, Germany, USSR and Japan, together with other Axis and Allied forces. Lorenz Books.