Kuznechik (, meaning "

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

") was a

Bactrian camel The Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''), also known as the Mongolian camel or domestic Bactrian camel, is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of Central Asia. It has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped drom ...

that became known for following the Soviet

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 ...

in its advance towards Germany in

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 ...

Camels in World War II

Sometime after the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, many military units of the Soviet

took to using

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

s in the southern theatre of the war in order to transport ammunition, fuel for tanks and aircraft, food, water for kitchens, fuel, and even wounded Red Army soldiers. The use of these animals as transport means was made necessary by the Kalmyk

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

s' open terrain, their primitive roads and lack of water, as well as a shortage of adequate auxiliary vehicles in the Soviet armed forces."History of Kalmykia: Camel Battalion at war"
(in Russian) In a notable case, a so-called "camel

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

" of around "one thousand camels" was carrying, for a "respectable distance," some "twelve thousand tons of various cargo," which would otherwise have required the use of approximately "134 trucks."

From Stalingrad to Berlin

The

308th Rifle Division The 308th Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. The division was formed three separate times during the course of the war. First Formation The 308th Rifle Division first started forming on 25 December 1 ...

, formed on 21 March 1942 as part of the 1st Guards Army of the Soviet

, started using a

brought over from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

"A Brief History of Operation Bagration"
/ref> which the soldiers called (Russian for "

"), for transport of food and cookery material. It is said that the camel also made it easier for soldiers returning to the camp to locate their unit from the "tall and imposing animal, visible at a great distance". Grossman, Vassily. ''A Writer At War'', edited and translated by

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. Early life Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at two ...

and Luba Vinogradova, English edition, Pimlico (

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

), 2006, The 308th Rifle Division, in honor of its heroic performance, was renamed the

120th Guards Rifle Division 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and, as part of the 3rd Army of

Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who becam ...

’s

Front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

, took active part in the

under Colonel Leonty Gurtyev (where it defended the factory), the liberation of Orel,

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

, the campaign for the recapture of Belarus, the East Prussian Offensive and finally the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. Kuznechik, carrying out its

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

duties in the rear, was to follow this mostly Siberian military formation all the way to Berlin, where its driver is said to have led the animal to the Reichstag to spit on the ruined building. Other sources relate that Kuznechik was killed in a 1945 German air raid, near the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

.Kuznechik
, ''The Young Naturalist'' 1980-2002, p.47 (in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

)

Decorations

Kuznechik reportedly was awarded three wound stripes for injuries during various bombardments of the division as well as the

Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" The Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" (russian: Медаль «За оборону Сталинграда») was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union. Medal history The Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" was established on ...

Notes

{{reflist Military animals of World War II Soviet Union in World War II Individual camels Deaths by airstrike during World War II

Camels in World War II

From Stalingrad to Berlin

Decorations

See also

Notes