"Forward for the Motherland" - Armored train

Light Armored Train VSYUR  Bronepoezd (Armored Train)

Armored Train VSYUR Bronepoezd (Armored Train)

White Forces South of Russia

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‘Forward for the Motherland’ Armored Train

This armored train was also formed from armored platforms, recaptured from the Reds at the station. Tikhoretskaya on July 1, 1918. It included a platform with a 75 mm gun, a platform with a 3-inch gun and a machine-gun platform. Captain Visevko became the commander. What name this armored personnel received during its formation is unknown. The name "Forward for the Motherland" was given to him only in November 1918.

In July 1918, the armored train took part in the offensive of General Drozdovsky's division on Yekaterinodar. August 1, 1918 2 days before the capture of Yekaterinodar, Captain Vysevko was killed in a battle at the Loris junction, and Lieutenant Colonel Grigoriev took command of the armored train.

In the second half of August, the armored train took part in the attack on Armavir from the side of the Kavkazskaya station. In a battle at the Otrada-Kubanskaya station on September 1, the armored train lost two armored platforms (gun and machine-gun) and was sent to Yekaterinodar to receive new ones.

After repairs, "Forward for the Motherland" returned to the front only on September 14, consisting of one gun (3-inch gun) and two machine-gun armored platforms. He proceeded to perform the same task as before the repair - to storm Armavir from the Caucasian side, which during this time had already been in the hands of volunteers, but was again occupied by the Taman army.

Soon the armored train also received an armored platform with a 75 mm gun in a rotating turret. With this composition, he participated in the battles for Armavir on October 2, 1918. In that battle, the armored train used up all the shells, but did not leave the position in order to maintain the morale of the rest of the troops with its presence, and was evacuated only after the boiler of the armored locomotive was destroyed by a shell of the Red battery and the armored train lost its speed. In the same battle, Lieutenant Colonel Grigoriev was mortally wounded, and Colonel Kelberer took command.

After the capture of Armavir by the Volunteer Army, the armored train was transferred to the Stavropol-Kavkazskaya line to support the attack on Stavropol. On October 14, he arrived at Ryzdvyanaya station. Colonel Gadd was appointed commander. The armored train took part in the battles for Stavropol and the village of Mikhailovskoye (Mikhailovsk).

After the capture of Stavropol and the pushing back of the Reds to the east, the armored train "Forward for the Motherland" again got to Tuapsinka, to the Stavropol - Petrovskoe (Svetlograd) section, where it operated from 13 to 16 November. On November 17, returning to Stavropol in the evening to replenish water and fuel supplies, an armored train ran into a quarry switch on the stretch, which was transferred to the field as a result of sabotage. The entire combat staff derailed and was badly damaged. After that, the armored train was sent for repairs at the Tikhoretskaya station.

Nothing is known about the actions of this armored train in 1919.

At the beginning of 1920, the Forward for the Motherland armored train was again on the Armavir - Tuapse sector, conducting hostilities with a group of so-called "greens". Upon arrival of the armored train "General Kornilov" , "Forward for the Motherland" was sent to the Krymskaya station, but at the time of its arrival in Armavir on February 26, the Kavkazskaya station was occupied by the Reds. Thus, the path to Krymskaya was cut and the armored train remained on Tuapsinka.

Since March 4, 1920, the Forward for the Motherland armored train, at the head of a convoy of armored trains, took part in the successful breakthrough of the Greens by the Volunteer Army, clearing up the debris in the tunnels. The same column also included armored trains "Stepnoy", "General Kornilov" , "General Drozdovsky", "Atamanets" and "3rd Battery of Marine Heavy Artillery".

By March 10, the convoy of armored trains arrived in Tuapse. In the future, the Tuapse group of armored trains, which also included "Forward for the Motherland", defended Tuapse from the Reds advancing from Armavir.

The last battle "Forward for the Motherland" took place on March 24, 1920 at Tuapse near the Goyth station. After that, 2 guns and towers from the armored platforms were removed from the armored train and loaded onto a steamer, where part of the armored train team also moved. The rest of the train defended Tuapse on March 25, after which the sites of the Forward for the Motherland armored train, as well as the sites of the rest of the armored trains, were thrown into the sea. The personnel of the armored train, after being evacuated to the Crimea, joined the command of the armored train "Sevastopolets".