Tag #147154 - Interview #77954 (Miron Manilov)

In late November 1939, the Soviet Army unleashed war with Finland [see Soviet-Finnish War] [23]. That war shook our confidence a little bit. Such a small country as Finland successfully resisted and defended itself for a long time; meanwhile our army was having great losses. It wasn't only due to the battles; there were a lot of people with frostbites of arms and legs in our hospitals which resulted in amputations of frost-bitten arms and legs. That war demonstrated our helplessness and bad organization in the army. The Finnish war also pointed out the flaws in provision. After the war, new winter military uniform was introduced: fore-and-aft caps were replaced with fur caps with ear flaps. Then felt boots and sheepskins were introduced in the army.