Red Army Child Soldier 1943 |
A Russian child soldier of Red Army. He use standard issue PPSh sub machine gun, he proudly poses as smiling for the photographer in 1942.
A number of child soldiers served in the Soviet Union's armed forces during World War II. In some cases, orphans also unofficially joined the Soviet Red Army. Such children were affectionately known as "son of the regiment" (Russian: сын полка) and sometimes willingly performed military missions such as reconnaissance. Officially, the age of military conscription was lowered to 18 for those without secondary education and 19 for those who had been educated beyond that ( source wiki )
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