Figure 1.--Here we see Red Army soldiers after the Japanese surrender in North Korea (October 1945). Note the number of teenagers, including younger teeagers in the unit. This was not the case at the beginning of the War. By 1944 the Red Army because of huge battlefield losses was running out of men and we see increasing numbers of youth being used to bolster numbers. The younger boys here were for the most part not conscripted, but volunteered.

The children we see in Red Army units were in many ways excerptions. Notice that they are usually a single child soldier surrounded by adults. Often boys whose parents had been killed by the NAZIs and adopted by units encountering them. Children of course, ignoring the ethical issues, do not make the best soldiers. They are not only too small to handle many weapons weapons, but their psychological and physical constitution simply do not meet the demands for military service. Nor are children able to tolerate the rigor of military service. Youth meaning teenagers are another matter. They may not be as capable as adults, but they can make effective soldiers. This is especially the case for older teens by 16-17 years of age. (We can see this in the effectivenss of the American First Marine Division on Guadalcanal. The average age of the Division was 19 years, meaning that there was a very large number of 17-year olds.) We note many youth in Red Army units, boys that are clearly younger that the 17 year conscript regulation. Some boys younger than 17 can look very young, but given the nimber of youths in the photographic record, clearly there were substantisl nymbers of younger teens being accdloted for military service. As far as we know, there is no actual data on this and we know that the Soviets as a matter of policy did not publish data that reflected poorly on the system. (Something that continues in Russia today.) We see this in group photographs of Red Army units by the end of the War (figure 1). There were several factors at play here. First and perhaps more important, the Soviet Union was running out of men and older teens to conscript. We often hear that the Soviet Union had a bottomless reservoir of bodies to conscript. There is not such thing as a bottomless reservoir, and the Soviets were reaching the limits of the their manpower possibilities. Military losses had been enormous, often placed at about 11 million men. (This includes the 3.5 million Soviet POWs murdered by the Germans.) The Germans were very good at war. And Soviet commanders were willing to throw manpower at difficult objectives. This is pasrt of the reason so many more Soviets were killed in the Ostkrig than Germans. The Germans were bring driven west, but at enormous cost. Second, there was a evasive burst of patriotic outrage at both the German invasion and the barbarity of the German forces. This was fueled as in Germany with state propaganda. Thus a lot of youth wanted to join. And the recruiting personnel were not all that discerning about ages. Children were rejected, but teenagers were often accepted, especially if they had begun the growth spurt that come with the teens. Third was food. The Germans had occupied much of the rhe Soviet Union's most productive agricultural areas. Thus food became a real problem for the Soviets, only partially relieved by American Lend Lease. It is notable given the military needs, how much of Lend Lease was food shipments. Children were afforded special rations, but after 12 years of age, rations were reduced unless children had jobs. (Remember at the time, many Soviet children ended their education with primary school.) Thus youth were motivated to either get a job in war industries or join the forces. Otherwise they faced starvation.

Created: 5:44 PM 3/2/2023
Last updated: 5:44 PM 3/2/2023