Gimnastrika with insignia of the chief of the operational point of the GPU sample 1922. The fabric in texture and color is almost entirely consistent with the original, “talk” and flaps with insignia also do not differ from the original.
A copy of high quality. Great for movies, museum exposition, theater productions and military-historical events.
Neither VChK, nor at first GPU did not have a special uniform, and used as such a variety of items of civilian and military clothing.
The uniform for the GPU was first introduced on June 27, 1922, by GPU Order No. 119, which was based on the Order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) No. 322 of January 31, 1922, which described uniforms for the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA). The GPU Order also applied to the internal troops. The items of clothing and equipment adopted by the GPU bodies and troops differed from the Red Army only in coloring and some details. Based on Order No. 119, the GPU was provided with the Red Army cavalry uniform: – winter cloth helmet of dark blue color with a dark green patch star, over which a red metal star with a hammer and sickle was attached (the latter was worn quite rarely), buttons for fastening the folding flap were covered with dark green cloth, loops on the flap were made of black leather (judging by photographs, up to 1924 the GPU wore a helmet made of black leather). the GPU wore a helmet of the 1919 model, which had a more retracted shape in comparison with the one established in January 1922. );-fur cap of the former military pattern with a dark-blue cap and green tulia, with a red star on the cap (in fact, the form of such a cap differed markedly from the former Russian one – the tulia was smaller and did not have a rigid base);-shirt of protective color, cloth or cotton (the latter is not reflected in the order), with dark-green rectangular buttonholes, three pairs of breast flaps and a vertical flap on the left sleeve; dark-blue cloth trousers with dark-green edging in the side seams; in addition, protective trousers of light fabric without edging (not reflected in the order) were worn during the summer uniform; – overcoat of light-gray cloth with dark-green rhombic buttonholes, three pectoral flaps and a vertical flap on the left sleeve; collar and cuffs of dark gray cloth with dark green edging; the left side of the overcoat was cut in an arc from the middle of the chest to the place where the collar was fastened; vertical pockets were cut on both sides of the chest; the length of the overcoat was 13-16 cm from the floor, but in fact it was made literally up to the heels; – black leather boots of cavalry pattern; boots with winding could also be worn in the troops; – revolver in a holster of the former officer’s pattern on the shoulder strap, with a dark-blue cord (the latter was not actually worn); a checker on a belt (or shoulder) portupeau with a loose leather sling; the troops wore the usual infantry or cavalry armament and equipment; in any case the former officer’s two-shoulder equipment of the revision of 1912 could be used. 1912 г.
The order determined insignia of official position in the form of geometric figures made of red cloth (for administrative and economic personnel – blue, for the Central Administration of the GPU – white metal or sewing), placed on the sleeve flap. Insignia, as in the Red Army, designated the position held (until 1935, before the introduction of personal military ranks). It was also envisaged to introduce various alphabetic and number codes on the buttonholes of shirts and overcoats. These symbols were to be made of yellow metal (white for the Central Administration). Numbers and letters, supplemented in the troops with emblems by branch of service (in accordance with Order of the RVSR No. 322), deciphered affiliation with a particular department or military unit. Departments and institutions of the GPU in the center could be designated by the letters GPU; republican (from November 1923) and provincial departments supplemented this encryption with the initial letter of the name of the republic or province, for example: Petrograd Department of the GPU – PGPU. Employees of the GPU commandant’s office had an encryption code with the letter K – KSPU. Schools and courses had the emblem of military educational institutions (an open book with laurel and oak branches and a sword), and the encryption consisted of an Arabic number and the letters Ш or К (these encryptions could not be worn as usual – along a horizontal line, but in a column). The regiments of the GPU troops were designated by numbers in Arabic numerals, sometimes with the addition of the letter P and even the initial letter of the name, for example: 10th Tashkent Regiment – T10P. In addition to numbers, individual battalions, squadrons, batteries and companies could be assigned an Arabic numeral, the letter B, E or R, and individual brigades could be assigned a Roman numeral number and the letter B. The Special Purpose Detachment (OSNAZ), which was attached to the GPU board, and included formations of various branches of the military, was designated letters OSNAZ (later, on June 17, 1924, the detachment was reorganized into the Special Purpose Division, the regiments of which, in addition to the number in Arabic numerals, were encrypted from the letters ODON). It should be noted that metal letters and numbers were not always made according to the drawings contained in the Order of the RVSR – photographs show us significant deviations in size and style; Often the code was embroidered with yellow thread or gold thread. The personal and commanding personnel of the GPU troops on the left sleeve of their shirts and overcoats, in the middle of the distance between the upper point of the sleeve and the elbow, wore the signs established by Order of the RVSR No. 572 of April 3, 1920 for various branches of the military.
The uniform of the Convoy Guard was described directly in the Order of the RVSR No. 322 back in January 1922. It fully corresponded to the Red Army: the summer uniform consisted of a helmet, shirt and trousers made of light gray fabric; items of winter uniform were made of dark gray cloth (in fact, in both cases, khaki-colored fabrics were allowed). The buttonholes, valves and star on the helmet are made of blue cloth, and the buttonholes and sleeve valve had a red edging, the edgings on the cloth trousers are also red, and for the Convoy Guard Department they are blue. An infantry-type sleeve badge, but embroidered or painted on blue cloth. The emblem on the buttonholes and sleeve insignia is a crossed rifle and saber in a wreath. The department did not have encryption, but the convoy teams were assigned the letters KSR. At the beginning of 1923, independent Transport Departments of the GPU (TOGPU) were formed within the structure of the GPU bodies. On February 28, 1923 (GPU Order No. 86) they were assigned a special uniform: – winter helmet of black cloth with a crimson star; – a cap with a crimson crown and a black (velvet for commanding personnel) band with crimson edging at the edges; – a black shirt, black buttonholes and flaps (velvet for commanding personnel) with crimson edging; – a light gray cavalry overcoat with crimson edging on the collar and cuffs, buttonholes and valves like on a shirt; — black trousers with crimson piping; – boots with spurs. Insignia of official position were cut out of crimson cloth. On the buttonholes of central institutions there was a code consisting of the letters TOGPU. Departments and districts were assigned the initial letter of the department or district, the railway emblem (axe and anchor) and the letters of the GPU, for example: Petrograd district TOGPU – P emblem of the GPU. Road departments were assigned the initial letters of the name of the road (according to the list adopted by the People’s Commissariat of Railways), for example: Department of the TOGPU of the Kiev-Voronezh Railway – KV emblem of the GPU. The schools of TOGPU agents were designated by numbers in Arabic numerals and the letter Ш, for example: 3rd Ukrainian School of TOGPU Agents – ZSh emblem of the GPU.
On April 6, 1923, an extensive GPU Order No. 222 was published, describing in detail the previously established uniform. In the list of items, the colored cap was replaced by a summer helmet, and the overcoat was defined as a shortened cavalry type (in fact, overcoats of various types were worn, differing in the length of the floor and the shape of the cuffs. Instead of a single dark green instrument color for buttonholes, valves, etc., a complex system was installed colors by branch of service (the colored edging of the collar and cuffs of the overcoat was cancelled):
– directorates, political secretariats, headquarters and supply departments – black
velvet with white edging, edgings on trousers are white;
– internal troops – gray cloth with crimson edging (star without edging), the edgings on the trousers are crimson;
– escort guard – blue cloth with crimson edging (star without edging), piping on trousers – crimson; (On September 27 of the same year, the Convoy Guard became part of the internal troops in the form of convoy units (from July 14, 1924 – Convoy Troops), in connection with which encryption was established by unit numbers, for example: 1st Kharkov Convoy Regiment – 1HKP );
– communications units and motor detachments – in the form of internal troops or convoy units, but with yellow edging on the buttonholes and valves.
On June 26, 1923, Order No. 1388 of the RVSR announced the introduction of uniforms for special bodies of the GPU engaged in counterintelligence at the headquarters of the Red Army formations – special departments. With the general uniform of the GPU, they were given a green instrument color with orange edging on the buttonholes and valves, green piping on the trousers, and a dark blue collar and cuffs of the overcoat. However, already on January 15, 1924 (Order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR 18), this uniform was abolished, and employees of special bodies were ordered, for camouflage purposes, to wear the uniform of the headquarters of the formations to which they belonged.
