The 88th Separate Rifle Brigade (, , ), also known as the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces Teaching Brigade or the 88th International Brigade, was an international military unit of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

created during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was unique in that it incorporated the peoples of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and

Soviet Central Asia Soviet Central Asia (russian: link=no, Советская Средняя Азия, Sovetskaya Srednyaya Aziya) was the part of Central Asia administered by the Soviet Union between 1918 and 1991, when the Central Asian republics declared ind ...

in its ranks.

History

This unit was founded on 22 July 1942, to accommodate the remaining forces of the

Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was the main anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Northeast China (Manchuria) after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Its predecessors were various anti-Japanese volunteer armies organized by locals ...

, who were exiled to the Soviet Union after being driven by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...

during the war. The brigade was replenished with Soviet citizens of Chinese and Korean descent, reaching around 1,500 people. Although it was a Soviet military unit, it kept its original organization that existed in the NAJUA. Located in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

, it was under the control of the Soviet 25th Army. Chinese Lieutenant Colonel

Zhou Baozhong Zhou Baozhong (; 1902–1964) was a commander of the 88th Separate Rifle Brigade and Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army resisting the pacification of Manchukuo by the Empire of Japan. After the Chinese Civil War he was made Vice Governor of ...

was the first commander. The brigade was made up of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refe ...

, deployed in camps "A" and "B" in the suburbs of

Kerki Kerki is a city in and capital of Kerki District, Lebap Province, Turkmenistan. It was formerly known as Zamm and, between 1999 and 2017, as Atamyrat. Geography It is situated on a plain on the left bank of the Amu Darya river. Nearby towns a ...

in the

Turkmen SSR Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

. Captain Kim Song-ju, later known as

Kim Il Sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

, took command of the 1st Korean Battalion. The brigade was stationed in the village of Vyatskoye on the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...

. In 1943, General

Iosif Apanasenko Iosif Rodionovich Apanasenko (April 15, 1890 – August 5, 1943) was a Soviet division commander. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks in the subsequent Civil War. He received the Cross of St. ...

gave the brigade its official unit number. The brigade was never put into combat, as it was to fulfill only intelligence-sabotage tasks against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, with small armed groups transferred to Manchuria and Korea. In addition to intelligence and sabotage training, they underwent intensive ideological training. After a reorganization in April 1944, the brigade consisted of the following: * HQ * Political unit * Counterintelligence unit (

SMERSH SMERSH (russian: СМЕРШ) was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Josep ...

) * 4 independent rifle battalions * Machine gun battalion * Artillery squadron * Mortar company * Reconnaissance company * Sapper company * Automobile company * Rear services * Intelligence course In mid-1945, the brigade was directly subordinated to the staff of the 5th Rifle Corps of the newly-formed

2nd Far Eastern Front __NOTOC__ The 2nd Far Eastern Front (russian: 2-й Дальневосточный фронт) was a Front—a formation equivalent to a Western Army Group—of the Soviet Army. It was formed just prior to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and was a ...

. In July 1945, the brigade command developed a plan to attack a separate 100-strong detachment in Manchuria, but it was not implemented. The unit also failed to enter any major combat on August 9, when the

invasion of Manchuria began, leaving the 88th in the 25th Army's reserve. As a result, the brigade commander sent an unsuccessful request to the front commander, General

Maksim Purkayev Maksim Alexeyevich Purkayev (russian: Максим Алексеевич Пуркаев; August 14 (26), 1894, in the village of Nalitovo, Russian Empire – January 1, 1953, Moscow) was a Soviet military leader, reaching service rank of Arm ...

, for a transfer to the hostilities. By the end of August, the unit had liberated many villages in North East China. The brigade was officially disbanded on 12 October 1945. The ethnic Chinese returned to China to fight in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, whereas the Koreans were transported to Northern Korea to serve as part of the

Provisional People's Committee of North Korea The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was the provisional government of North Korea. The committee was established on 8 February 1946 in response for the need of the Soviet Civil Administration and the communists to have centralizatio ...

. Many members of the unit went on to serve in the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

Notable members

Notable members have included: *

Lim Chum-chu Yim Chun-chu ( ko, 임춘추; March 8, 1912 – April 27, 1988) was a North Korean politician. He served as Vice President of North Korea, and member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea. He was a member of the guerrilla faction. Bio ...

Kim Chaek Kim Chaek (, 14 August 1903 – 31 January 1951) was a North Korean revolutionary, military general, and politician. His real name was Kim Hong-gye (). Life Kim Chaek was born in Sŏngjin, North Hamgyong, Korea, in 1903. He and his family ...

Choe Hyon Choe Hyon (, 6 May 1907 – 10 April 1982), also known as Sai Ken (after the Japanese pronunciation of his name), was a North Korean general and politician. Born in China to ethnic Korean parents, Choe fought in the anti-Japanese struggle from ...

* Ri Yong-suk * Choe Yong-gon *

Ri Tu-ik Ri Tu-ik ( ko, 리두익/李斗益; born 1921 in Jilin, China - died March 13, 2002, in Pyongyang) was a North Korean politician of the Workers' Party of Korea and Vice-Marshal of the Korean People's Army, who was a member of the Central Military ...

Decorated fighters

Ten fighters of the 88th Brigade, including the brigade commander and battalion commander Kim Il Sung, were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Others were awarded the following awards: * 45 -

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

* 51 - Medal "For Courage" * 149 - Medal "For Military Merit" * All the personnel of the international brigade were awarded the

Medal "For the Victory over Japan" The Medal "For the Victory over Japan" (russian: Медаль «За победу над Японией») was a campaign medal of the Soviet Union established on September 30, 1945 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet ...

Legacy

There are heritage sites located on the territory of the Khabarovsk Krai dedicated to the brigade. A burial site is located on the territory of the Khabarovsk Municipal District on a road leading to the village of Vyatskoye. A copy of the military banner of the brigade is kept in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

, next to a copy of the

Victory Banner The Soviet Banner of Victory (russian: Знамя Победы, translit=Znamya Pobedy) was the banner raised by the Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 1 May 1945, the day after Adolf Hitler committed suicide. It was raise ...

References

{{reflist Brigades of the Soviet Union Red Army units and formations of World War II Infantry units and formations of the Soviet Union Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 China in World War II Korea–Soviet Union relations Expatriate military units and formations

History

Notable members

Decorated fighters

Legacy

See also

References