STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

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Der Alte Fritz
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STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#1

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 18 Oct 2021, 09:38

I read this piece about the way in which STAVKA operated:

G. A. Kumanev: Could I ask you to describe in a little more detail the Headquarters of the VGK (Ставку ВГК) and the State Defense Committee, at the meetings of which you had to attend?
A. V. Khrulev: The State Defense Committee is Stalin's cabinet. What served as the apparatus of the GKO? The special sector of the Central Committee of the Party, the apparatus of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the apparatuses of all the People's Commissariats.
And what is STAVKA? These are Stalin (and not a single person in his secretariat), the General Staff (he summoned the Chief of the General Staff or the Assistant Chief of the General Staff with a map) and the entire People's Commissariat of Defense. That was actually the Stavka.
He summons the commander of the troops of any front and says:
- We want to give you a directive to carry out such and such an operation. What do you need for this?
He replies:
- Let me consult with the front, find out what is being done there.
- Go to HF. (ВЧ)
All the communication that Stalin had was HF – one phone, but everything was subordinated to him. As soon as he said, now everyone turns him off and connects him with the one he wants to call to the phone.
There were no radio stations, no telegraph stations, nothing. The Telegraph was at the People's Commissariat of Communications in the General Staff. The General Staff also had radio stations. There was no such situation that Stalin was sitting somewhere and could review everything. He pulled everything to himself. I didn't go anywhere myself. He arrives, say, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon to his office in the Kremlin and begins to call. He has a list of who he's calling. Once he arrived, all the members of the State Committee are summoned to him at once. He didn't collect them in advance. He came - and then Poskrebyshev began to call everyone.
You may imagine all this as follows: Stalin opened the meeting, proposes an agenda, begins to discuss this agenda, etc. Nothing like that! He raised some questions himself, some questions arose in the process of discussion, and he immediately called: this concerns Khrulev, let's go here Khrulev; this concerns Yakovlev, let's give Yakovlev here; it's Peresypkin concerned, let's get him here. [231] And he gave tasks to everyone. In addition, all members of the State Defense Committee had certain areas of work in their charge. So, Molotov was in charge of tanks, Mikoyan - the affairs of food quartermaster supply, fuel supply. And he had Lend-Lease. Sometimes he was engaged in the delivery of shells to the front on separate assignments. Malenkov was engaged in aviation, Beria - ammunition and weapons. In addition, everyone came with their own questions: I ask you to make such and such a decision on such and such an issue.

From <https://general-khrulev.com/memories/ku ... ommissars/>

I am interested what he means by the term HF. (ВЧ) and what equipment was used for signalling and encoding

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#2

Post by Art » 18 Oct 2021, 12:32

Encoded telephone lines. See e.g. official publication here:
http://fso.gov.ru/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2.pdf


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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#3

Post by Dann Falk » 18 Oct 2021, 18:25

Greetings Art

Thanks for the link to the HF article.

When I copy the text and translate it, the text changes from Russian to this. It is almost scrambled/encoded. Any ideas?
Thanks

Äëÿ Â×-ñâÿçè èñïîëüçîâàëèñü àïïàðàòóðà ÍÂ×Ò-42,
òðîôåéíûå äâóõêàíàëüíàÿ TFB è êîììóòàòîð íà 100 íîìåðîâ, òðè àïïàðàòà «Íåâà», ÷åòûðå àïïàðàòà ÑÈ-15, âñïîìîãàòåëüíîå îáîðóäîâàíèå. Åñëè â Òåãåðàíå è ßëòå òåëåãðàô

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#4

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 19 Oct 2021, 07:54

Thank you Art that is excellent.
At another point in the memoirs, Khrulev referst to the secure Kremlin telephone system which roughly translates as "Turntable" "Rotator" or "Spinner"!

Dann
Looks like the encoding on your computer, so you probably have to load a Cyrillic alphabet into Word or whatever you are using.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#5

Post by Dann Falk » 19 Oct 2021, 17:18

OK, thanks for the info Der Alte Fritz. I will see what I can do to fix the problem.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#6

Post by Art » 19 Oct 2021, 19:29

Dann Falk wrote:
18 Oct 2021, 18:25
When I copy the text and translate it, the text changes from Russian to this. It is almost scrambled/encoded.
They encoded text just to have a professional practice. :D
I don't know how to fix it.

Long story short: in early 30s OGPU-NKVD developed a system for protected telephone communications for its own use. In a nutshell it was based on modulcation of high-frequency (tens kiloherz range) electromagnetic waves by voice signal. This modulated wave was then transmitted through a common telephone network and then demodulated into voice signal on the recieving end. From late 30s additional encoding for protection against interception was intoduced initially by simple inversion of signal fragements, then by some more advanced scrambling scheme, I don't now technical details. The system was initially used by the NKVD but was then extended to other parts of the state apparatus including military. Still NKVD remained responsible for technical maintenance and security of communications and devices. By 1941 it was still a supplement to a common civil telephone/telegraph network, rather than a separate communications system. Also fragile and cumbersome equipment made it poorly suitable for military employment in the field. During the war in addition to more advanced equipment and scrambling algorithms dedicated signal units were assigned to construction, maintenance and security of HF military telephone lines, from early 1943 these signal unit were fully absorbed by the NKVD. There was also a wider use of HQ telephony for military purpose, as the starting post suggests.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#7

Post by Art » 19 Oct 2021, 19:50

Der Alte Fritz wrote:
18 Oct 2021, 09:38
He pulled everything to himself. I didn't go anywhere myself.
He [Stalin] didn't go -that's the transaltion.
Formally that is not correct: a number of telegraph conversations of Stalin [or Zhukov, Shaposhnikov, Vasilevsky etc] with fronts via communications center of the General Staff/People's Commissariate for Defense survived. I guess, Stalin had to leave his cabinet and go to the General Staff's telegraph for that, the distance was just several hundred meters. These recorded conversations end rather abruptly in 1943, which was probably related to their replacement by HQ telephony.
Anyway, notmally communications with the front were to be carried out by the communication center of the General Staff which was headed by general Belikov and which included long-range radio stations and telegraph/teletype equipment. The General Staff alos included a group of encoders, whose task was to encode/decode telegrams. Directives and orders were sent to fronts/districts as encoded telegrams. Situation reports were recieved in a similar fashion, I guess.
As I described above, HQ telephony was not a part of military system of communications initially, and developed a sort of supplment to this system. Technical details can be found in this publication:
http://docs.historyrussia.org/ru/nodes/ ... 1-1941-t-1
There was also the second volume dealing with the war years, but I can't find it online.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#8

Post by Art » 30 Oct 2021, 20:11

A couple of relevant sources (in Russian):

B.A. Platonov "Signals center of the General Staff in the years of the Great Patriotic War"
(published in "Voprosy istoriy" journal, 1978)
https://portalus.ru/modules/warcraft/ru ... 1514112935

A.P Zharzkiy "Communcations in the higher echelons of the Red Army's command in the Great Patriotic War", 2011
https://www.prlib.ru/item/1283884

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#9

Post by Art » 02 Nov 2021, 11:04

According to the Platonov's paper by 22 June 1941 the telegraph section of the signals center was situated in a large hall on the first floor of the Defense Commissariat building (Frunze, 19 aka Znamenka, 19). The staff consisted of 40 telegraph operators and 34 technicians, but was reinforced with personnel from the signals regiment [of the Moscow Military District]. The telegraph completely lacked camouflage or any protection against the aerial bombing. Beginning from 23 June telegraph started transfer to basement of the same building, where 20 Baudot and 18 ST-35 telegraph apparatus were hastily installed.
Beginning from mid-July the main telegraph center of the Stavka/Commissariat for Defense/General Staff was organized at the underground hall of the Kirovskaya metro station (now Chistiye Prudy station). This underground complex included the telegraph station, cabinets for the Chief of the General Staff and Supreme Commander and a conference room equipped with a Baudot telegraph apparatus, which was used by the military leadership for communications with the front.
"During conversations Stalin usually sat down at the receiving apparatus and carefully watched the tape, tearing it off in small pieces, which I immediately pasted onto the form. During the transmission he dictated distinctly and clearly, when the connection was lost, he did not resent and calmly waited.”

"The conference room at the Kirovskaya metro station was widely used until the beginning of 1943, and then as the reliability and stability of high-frequency (HF) telephony increased, it was used mainly to confirm reports and instructions transmitted via HF telephony. In addition, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the members of the Stavka made extensive use of the conference rooms in the Kremlin and some other places, which were also equipped and serviced by the Communication Center."

That piece confirms that in the initial phase of the war conversations with the front were mostly carried out via the teletype, but beginning from 1943 switched to protected telephone lines.

And one more interesting detail: beginning from the evening of 21 June 1941 the night shifts at the telegraph and radio centers of the General Staff were reinforced. The personnel of the General Staff were ordered to stay at their offices during the night 21/22 June.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#10

Post by Art » 06 Nov 2021, 19:15

Memoirists recalled that a telegraph for communications with fronts was also installed in Kremlin right near the Stalin's cabinet.

From Vasilevsky:
The telegraph conference room for Stavka Kremlin was located in the immediate vicinity of the cabinet of the Stalin's personal secretary A. N. Poskrebyshev. Next to it was a library room, which we, officers of the General Staff, used when working on documents while in the Kremlin. During telegraph negotiations with the fronts from Kremlin, operating the Baudot apparatus was entrusted to one of the best specialists in this matter in the General Staff, a military technician of the 2nd rank, A.M. Vikulov.
Shtemenko:
Frequently such orders were formulated directly at Stavka. Stalin dictated, I wrote them down. Then he made us to read the text aloud and at the same time made corrections. These documents, as a rule, were not retyped on a typewriter, but were directly sent to the operation room of the communications center located nearby and immediately transmitted to the fronts.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#11

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 01 Oct 2022, 22:01

A couple more books on this interesting subject:

Государственная охрана и специальная связь в годы Великой Отечественной войны [State protection and special communication during the Great Patriotic War]. Moskva: Printleto, 2020. http://fso.gov.ru/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2.pdf.

Рычкова, А.П., ed. Istoriya Organov Gosudarstvennoy Okhrany I Spetsial’noy Svyazi Rossii [History of State Protection and Special Communications Bodies of Russia]. Кучково Поле, 2012. http://www.hist.msu.ru/upload/iblock/d4d/fso.pdf
(This is the complete book of the section that Art posted earlier in this thread)

Troyanov, S.V., ed. Правительственная связь СССР [Government communications of the USSR.]. Vol. 2. 1941-1945 Moskva, 1998. but I cannot find an online copy

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#12

Post by Art » 18 Oct 2022, 08:31

From Khrushchev's memoirs (describing November 1943):
This is how Kiev was taken. I wrote a little message; how the battle went, how staunchly our troops fought...I sent this message to Moscow, I just wanted to please Stalin. I was happy myself and wanted to please him that, by November 7, we had taken Kiev. But to my surprise when on the second day I picked up a central newspaper I saw that my message had been published in full in "Pravda".

Later Stalin, when I arrived in Moscow, read me something like a parental notation: "So you sent a message here in cipher, in secret, and we just took and published it." I replied: “Comrade Stalin, who reported to you that this message was encrypted? There was no cipher at all. The message was read over the phone. We transmitted it from Kiev via HF telephone, and Poskrebyshev [Stalin's secretary] wrote it down and reported to you". Stalin asked Poskrebyshev. He confirmed: "Yes, that's right, Comrade Stalin." Stalin felt, it seemed to me, a certain awkwardness: he wanted to injure me for being secret about things that contained no secret at all, but instead it turned out to be a stupid reproach.
which evidences an increased reliance on protected telephone lines for communications and transmitting reports at this point.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#13

Post by Art » 27 Oct 2022, 08:38

From official historical account about the Main Communications (or Signals) Center

https://encyclopedia.mil.ru/encyclopedi ... cmsArticle
During the years of the First World War the communications service of the Operational Army operated with Stavka of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and provided communications between its staff and the armies, as well as the internal communications of the staff. Another service was a part of the Department of Affairs of the Military Ministry and organized communications with the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command via the Central Telegraph Office in Petrograd. Internal telephone communication was provided by a telephone station. External communication was carried out via the Central Telegraph of the Main Administration for Posts and Telegraphs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After the October Revolution and the transition of the Military Ministry and the Stavka of the Supreme High Command under the control of Soviet Republic’s government, the units of the main communications services continued to fulfill their duties under the old organizational and staff structure. And only on December 4, 1917, they came under the control of the Soviet government.

On March 3, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) of the Russian Soviet Republic issued a resolution on creation of the Supreme Military Council (VVS), the first military body for the strategic command of the armed forces. It was entrusted with the following functions: command, planning and coordination of the activities of the military and naval departments; monitoring the fulfillment by the subordinate bodies of the tasks assigned to them, as well as registration and selection of military specialists for highest military positions.

In accordance with the order of the Quartermaster General under the Supreme Commander of March 20, 1918 No. 91, the Communications Service servicing the Stavka of the Commander-in-Chief switched to providing communications to the structural units of the VVS. Its bases were the postal and telegraph office No. 113, electric technical team (telephone and electric lighting stations), radio station No. 2, an automobile team and other units that previously serviced the staff of the Stavka. The head of the communications service department of the VVS was colonel of the General Staff of the tsarist army A.P. Medvedev.

On May 8, 1918, the offices of the All-Russian Collegium for the Formation and Management of the Red Army, the Main Administration of the General Staff, the Main Staff, the Main Commissariat of Military Educational Institutions and the Administration for Army Remount were merged into the All-Russian Main Staff (Vseroglavshtab). In accordance with the terms of accommodation, the Vseroglavshtab had a Communications Service - a telephone station and a garage under its Council.

On May 14, 1918, by order of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs No. 391, the establishment of its Administrations was approved, according to which the Communications Service became part of the Operational Administration. It consisted of a telegraph-telephone section and a reception-information station. This day is considered the Day of the formation of the Main Communications Center of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

On July 1, 1918, the units of the VVS Communications Service were reorganized according to the establishments announced in the order of the Administration of Military Communications (UPVOSO) No. 94 dated June 17, 1918, as follows: 113th field post office; 113th field telegraph office; 60th field telegraph labor column; 18th main field warehouse for telegraph and telephone materials; field radio station number 2.
On September 2, 1918, by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Soviet Republic was declared a military camp, the Supreme Military Council was abolished, and the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR, from August 23, 1923 - RVS of the USSR) was put in charge of all fronts and military institutions. On November 1, by order of the RVSR No. 197, the establishment of this staff [Field Staff] was founded. It included a communications department: a chief of communications, a commissar, two assistants to the communications chief, a telephone and telegraph section, a telegraph office, a radiotelegraph, an automobile team, a workshop, and a general magazine part of the Field Staff. A.P. Medvedev was appointed head of communications - head of the communications department of the Staff. Under his command in 1918-1919 came: telephone and telegraph section consisting of field telegraph offices No. 21 and 23; intermediate-power automobile radio station No. 600 of the Military Radio Engineering Laboratory; receiving-control and receiving-information radio stations; elements of post and mobile means of communications.

On June 1, 1919, the field telegraph office No. 21 and the Central telephone station of the RVSR Field Staff in Moscow were transferred to the full subordination of the VOSO Central Administration.

On July 26, 1919 [the Field Staff] was accommodated in the building of the former Aleksandrov Military School (presently the 1st House of the Ministry of Defense). On August 12, the 23rd field telegraph office was situated there.

On August 9, 1919, the commission, formed by order of the head of the Main Military Engineering Directorate No. 73 of May 2, 1919, determined the construction site for a powerful radio station of undamped oscillations of the Military Radio Engineering Laboratory in Sokolniki on the Bolshaya Olenya street, 20.

In accordance with the order of the RVSR No. 219/43 of February 6, 1920, the establishment of the communications department of the RVSR Field Staff and the Regulations on its chief were approved and put into effect. The department included: command - 13 men; office - 7; dispatch and magazine section - 40; telephone and electrical installation section - 30; telegraph office No. 23 (special establishment); labor telegraph column No. 47 (special establishment); radiotelegraph (10 radio stations by a special establishment); separate automobile team.

On October 20, 1919, by order of the RVSR No. 1736/362, a central body for management of communications in the Armed Forces of the RSFSR was created - the Communications Administration of the Red Army [USKA], which was subordinate to the Field Staff of the RVSR. The centralization of communications management contributed to the development of common views on many issues of organization and maintenance of communications, to faster dissemination of accumulated experience to all signals units and facilitated provision of necessary assistance to them. This allowed a more systematic development of communication department of the Staff. The department began a gradual transformation into the leading unit of the military communications system. Its chief acquired the rights and duties of the commander of a separate unit, whose tasks were not only to ensure uninterrupted communication between command and control bodies, but also personnel issues, development of communications means, comprehensive training and education of personnel.

In October 1920, chief of communications of the Red Army I.A. Khalepsky approved the “Regulations on Military Communication Centers”, which formulated the main theses on the composition, structure, situation of communication centers of various command bodies and organization of a communication service at the centers. In accordance with this Regulation, communication centers were meant to secure communication between all staffs, administrations and institutions according to the operational situation or wartime situation. The communication center of the RVSR Staff was declared senior and was obliged to provide telegraph and telephone communications to two Staff (Field Staff and All-Russian Main Staff) whenever they were.

On February 10, 1921, the All-Russian Main Staff and the Field Staff of the RVSR were reorganized into a single Staff of the Red Army. To provide it with all types of communications, on February 15, 1921, a communications detachment of the Red Army’s Staff was created. It consisted of a field military telegraph and military postal stations, radio stations, a telephone electric lighting team and an automobile company with a total strength of 1164 men. All radio stations assigned to the Staff of the Red Army were under operational control of the detachment commander. However, on May 31, 1921, these radio stations were consolidated into the radiotelegraph battalion of the Red Army’s Staff and subordinated to the head of the USKA with the task of providing radio communications to this headquarters.

In August 1921, the strength of the detachment was reduced to 608 people. The communication detachment was successively headed by V.I. Gruzinov, S.M. Kubasov, from January 1923 - N.A. Volodin. The task of reforming the department as part of the optimization of the command structures of the Red Army, switching to peacetime establishment, fell to his lot.

On October 31, 1921, the communications detachment of the Red Army Headquarters was reorganized into the communications department of the Red Army’s Staff. It consisted of a command, an office, a telegraph station, a telephone and electric lighting section, a flying mail department (an expedition for the delivery of urgent mail by couriers), an automobile and military postal station. In September 1922, the department was again reorganized into a detachment with a strength of 419 men. In July 1923, the detachment was disbanded. Part of the personnel was transferred to the communications regiment of the Moscow Military District, the other part and materiel – for replenishment of the RVSR communication unit. The technical communications section was part of the Administrative and Economic Department of the Main Directorate of the Red Army (AHO GURKKA) and its strength in November 1924 was 90 men.

In 1925, a manual telephone station (RTS) for 50 telephone numbers was subordinated to the telephone section. It was intended for internal telephone communications of the administrations of the central apparatus situated in the 1st House of the Revolutionary Military Council and provided communications for the leadership of the RVSR and the Red Army’s Staff, as well as the heads of central administrations. In December 1925, the 50-number station was replaced by an automatic telephone station (ATS) with 100 numbers, a year later it was supplemented by another station of a decade-step system with a capacity of 600 numbers, and in 1935 - of 1800 numbers. The stations were installed in the 1st and 2nd Houses of the USSR’s RVS. The distribution network in the buildings was re-laid and connected to the city telephone network via connecting cable lines. All work on the development of telephone communications in these years was carried out under supervision of N.A. Volodin, head of ATS V.P. Fedorov and with participation of technicians V.G. Zubareva, N.A. Kurdyumova, S.S. Shirokozhukhova, S.V. Novorodnova.

In April 1926, AHO GURKKA with all attached institutions was transferred to the Administration of Affairs of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs (NKVM) and the RBS USSR with the task of servicing the departments located in the 1st House of the Revolutionary Military Council. Beginning from October 1, 1926, the technical communications section becomes the 3rd section of the 3rd department of the Administration for Affairs of the NKVM’s with a strength of 188 men, which on April 1, 1928 became the 2nd section of the 5th department. It consisted of a telephone, telegraph and generator stations, a garage and a warehouse with strength of 163 men. In November 1929, the 5th department was reorganized as the 6th sector of this Administration, and the strength of section was reduced to 43 men, allowing hiring of specialists as needed. In February, the sectors of the NKVM and the RVS of the USSR were again renamed as departments; the communications elements became part the 4th department of the Administration for Affairs. At the same time, a separate telegraph station of the Signal Troops Inspectorate was now called a separate station of the Red Army’s Staff with subordination to the head of the USKA. The main burden of work on providing communications for the Red Army’s Staff during the armed conflict on the Chinese Eastern Railway fell on this station.

In July 1934, in connection with the reorganization of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs into the People's Commissariat of Defense (NKO), the Administration for Affairs of the NKVM and RVS became known as the Administration for Affairs of the NKO, the structure of the Administration did not change and the 4th department headed by N.A. Volodin remained in the structure.

In September 1934, the radio hub of the NKO, consisting of the receiving (“Tarasovka”) and transmitting (“Sokolniki”) centers, was removed from the control of the Research Institute of the Red Army, and included in the radio communication center of the NKO and began regular work to provide radio communications to the People's Commissariat of Defense on medium, long and short waves.

Radio receiving center. Tarasovka, 1934

Until 1935, the Center developed according to creation and improvement of telegraph and telephone technique for civil communications.
After in February 1935 the RVSR communications center was visited by the Chief of Staff of the Red Army, Army Commander 1st Rank A.I. Yegorov, it was decided to establish the position of the head of the Communications Center (US) of the NKO. Subordinated to him were a separate telegraph station of the Red Army’s Staff, the NKO radio center and the OSNAZ [interception] radio center. The latter in 1936 was excluded from the composition of the US NKO.

By a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of September 22, 1935, the Staff of the Red Army was reorganized into the General Staff and organizationally became part of the People's Commissariat of Defense. At the end of 1936 kombrig N.D. Psurtsev (later Colonel General, Minister of Communications of the USSR) became the head of the US NKO.

In June 1937, the economic department was separated from the NKO Affairs Administration and transformed into the Economic Administration (HOZU) and the communications department, automatic telephone station, radiotelegraph and electric generator station were transferred to its structure.

In December 1937, N.D. Psurtsev was replaced as a head of the Communication Center by M.T. Belikov (since March 13, 1943 Lieutenant General of the signal troops), who commanded the Center until April 4, 1961.

In 1938, the Center finally took shape as a united complex of communication means. The communications department from the HOZU NKO and the USKA communications center (the telegraph station of the General Staff and the radio center of the NKO) were transferred to its composition. On June 1, the Center was transferred to a new establishment with the following composition: headquarter, telegraph center, radio center, telephone center, service elements, and power generating station. The strength of the center was 90 military personnel and 237 civilians.

The final definition of the status of the Communications Center was facilitated by the publication of the order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 0108 of 1938, according to which it became operationally subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff, while the technical supervision and support remained with the head of the Communications Department of the Red Army. The same order put into effect the Regulation on the Communication Center, according to which it was intended to provide operational communications of the General Staff, both by wire and by radio in peacetime and wartime. The Head of the Center received instructions on the establishment of these signal lines and the procedure for their use from the Chief of the General Staff directly or from his deputy. This regulation was the first significant attempt to regulate the activity of the Communication Center.

In 1938, extensive work began on the reconstruction and construction of new communications facilities, including a radio receiving center and new buildings for telegraph and telephone centers.

Along with the work on the reconstruction of old and construction of new communication facilities and the constant fulfillment of the main tasks of ensuring communication between the General Staff and the headquarters of military districts, the Communications Center was repeatedly involved in the performance of important government tasks. So, for example, in July 1936, the personnel of the Communications Center participated in providing radio communications to the crew of V.P. Chkalov, who made a non-stop flight on the route Moscow - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - Udd Island, the crews of V.P. Chkalov and M.M. Gromov during their flight to the USA via the North Pole, V.S. Grizodubova during the flight to the Far East.

During hostilities at Lake Khasan in the summer of 1938 and at the Khalkhin-Gol River in the summer of 1939, the personnel of the Center provided communications to the General Staff for command and control. For excellent performance of this task, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 31, 1939, the head of the Center, colonel M.T. Belikov and assistant chief of the telegraph center, military intendant 2nd rank A.M. Trigubenko were awarded the Order of the Red Star, and 5 people from the staff of the telegraph center were awarded medals.

In the period 1938–1940 the communication center provided stable communication between the General Staff and the troops during the campaign of the Red Army in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, the Soviet-Finnish war and annexation of the Baltic countries by the USSR. The military personnel of the Communication Center were constantly assigned to troops. So, under the leadership of the battalion commissar of the center V.D. Solodukhov a field communications center for the operational group of the General Staff was created in the area of the city of Tikhvin, and specialists of the center, headed by military engineer 2nd rank B.A. Platonov during the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940 for the first time organized and conducted broadcast to the enemy troops. For the successful fulfillment of the tasks by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 14, 1940, 9 men of the Center, including military engineer 2nd rank B.A. Platonov, battalion commissar V.D. Solodukhov, military engineer 3rd rank D.D. Deniskin, military engineer 3rd rank A.A. Rudnev were awarded orders and medals.

By the order No. 0251 of July 28, 1941 “On the reorganization of the Communications Directorate of the Red Army as the Main Directorate of Communications of the Red Army” the Communications Center was subordinated to the head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Red Army (GUSKA), as the Communications Center of the NKO of the USSR. Its main tasks and functions were determined by the new “Regulation on the NKO Communications Center” put into effect by the NKO order No. 0368 of September 19, 1941. According to this regulation, the Center received the status of the GUSKA department, the head of the Center was granted the rights of the head of the GUSKA department. The Center was given the tasks of providing telephone, telegraph and radio communications between the Stavka of the Supreme High Command (General Staff) with staffs of fronts, armies, operational groups, formations of the reserve of the Supreme High Command, and staffs of military districts. In essence, the Center became their "ears, eyes and nerves". Its strength increased from 409 to 1512 men (531 military personnel, 981 workers and employees), of which 65% were women.

The principal communications with the staffs of the fronts and armies was provided by the Center’s telegraph, opened in July 1941 at the Kirovskaya metro station, and with the second echelons and rear districts - at the Belorusskaya metro station.

Stavka’s command post at the “Kirovskaya” metro station

The main type of communication for the General Staff was the telegraph communication via Baudot and ST-35 apparatus. The personnel of the Center, with their selfless work, ensured receipt of reports on the situation of own and hostile troops, the nature of hostilities and transmission of orders and negotiations of the central bodies of military command, including the Supreme Commander I.V. Stalin. For him six communication points were established: four in Moscow, one each at the near dacha in Kuntsevo and one at the far dacha at the 70th km of Dmitrov Highway, and a senior telegraph technician of the Center, senior lieutenant N.V. Ponomarev, was attached.

The main telegraph of the NKO Communication Center at the “Kirovskaya” metro station

The Center provided communication to I.V. Stalin during the Tehran Conference. Additionally, the specialists of the Centered serviced reserve communication centers of the Stavka of the Supreme High Command in Arzamas and Minsk, the People's Commissariat of Defense in Kuibyshev, the communication train of G.K. Zhukov, during his trips to the front, they were sent to the fronts, where they were entrusted with the most important communication tasks, especially in critical situations and during the most important operations.
An important place during the war years was assigned to the receiving radio hub of the Center. The degree of intensity of the work of the receiving radio hub (at Vatutinki) is evidenced by the fact that about 500 radiograms passed through the hub daily through the auditory channels alone, each of which had 100-200, 500 groups, i.e. structural units of the text, consisting of five telegraph code characters. An extensive radio exchange was also carried out by Baudot-radio.

It was the telegraph hub of the Center on the night of May 9 that recieved the text of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of the German Armed Forces, and then all the radio stations of the USSR reported on the long-awaited Victory.

During the Great Patriotic War, by decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 310 generals, officers, sergeants, soldiers and workers of the Center were awarded orders and medals. During the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945, the Center ensured uninterrupted communication between the Supreme Command Headquarters and the High Command of the Soviet Forces in the Far East, with the headquarters of the Trans-Baikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, and the troops of the Mongolian People's Republic.
The question which seems very obscure to me is if the Soviet Navy, which became a separate Commissariat after 1937, had its own communication system or relied on Communication Center of the NKO

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Der Alte Fritz
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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#14

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 27 Oct 2022, 09:39

It does not seem to mention the Navy. A seperate channel would seem to be the case.

Also its interesting that there was one channel for the Front and Army commands and another for the Deputy Front and Army Commands of the Rear and Military Districts:

"The principal communications with the staffs of the fronts and armies was provided by the Center’s telegraph, opened in July 1941 at the Kirovskaya metro station, and with the second echelons and rear districts - at the Belorusskaya metro station.

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Re: STAVKA communications with Fronts, Armies and individuals

#15

Post by Art » 27 Oct 2022, 09:46

Locations, mentioned in the text (from a wartime aerial image):
Moscow3.png
1 - 1st House of the Revolutionary Military Council aka 1st House of the People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs aka 1st House of the NKO on Znamenka st. 19 (or Frunze st. how it was called in 1930-40s). Former Apraksin's palace built in late XVIII century, barracks of the Aleksandrov Military School before the revolution. A residence of the Revolutionary Military Council and the military office (under various titles) after the revolution. A place were a part of the NKO central apparatus including the General Staff and the telegraph center of the GS was situated by 1941.

2 - 2nd House of the Revolutionary Military Council aka 2nd House of the NKO. Formerly so-called Middle Trading Rows on the Red Square - a complex hosting various wholesale trade offices before the revolution. After the revolution belonged to the military office and accommodated a part of its central apparatus.

Additionally:

3 - New building of the People's Commissariat for Defense erected in 1930s on the Kolymazhniy (or Antipievskiy) Lane. A residence of the People's Commissariat for Navy (and I guess, some NKO offices) in 1941.

4 -Former Shchukin's mansion on the Bolshoy Znamenskiy Lane (aka Gritsevets st. back in 1940s). Confiscated by the state after the revolution, initially an art gallery with an extensive collection of contemporary painting formerly belonging to Sergey Shchukin. From 1930s the building went to the military Commissariat. Location of the office of the People's Commissar for Defense in 1941.

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