A rare photo of the corporal of the Petrograd military police Telegraph

Original photo postcard format. One of the oldest in Russia St. Petersburg military police Telegraph was founded in 1858 "for quick messages between the Winter Palace, the military and police institutions situated in the capital." Because of its exceptional value 1860 he was directly subordinate to the Military Ministry, but later became the responsibility of the military headquarters of the Guards and Petersburg military district. According to the state of 1893, consisting of the Telegraph were 4 officers, 1 "master mechanic" and 160 enlisted men. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Telegraph took part in a residential building of the Guards corps headquarters (the neo-Renaissance building at No. 38 on the street of a Million, built in 1884, a few steps from the Winter Palace, opposite the New Hermitage).

Prior to world war II St. Petersburg military police Telegraph was not supposed epaulettes khaki – since 1911 he has been exclusively a scarlet cloth shoulder straps with a special sign of telegraphers, not painted stencil, as all the other Telegraph pieces, and overlaid metal "red copper". Any orders during the First world war, relating to the uniform and insignia of this military establishment has not yet been identified. This is due to the fact that since 1915 the majority of such questions passed from the Central bodies of military management on the level of district and army headquarters, documents which, firstly, has reached our days is not fully and second, because of the large number of very poorly studied. However, the photo shows that a soldier of the Petrograd military police Telegraph: letter P denotes the service or in the Central district headquarters or in one of its subordinate military agencies, and special sign (logo) in the form of crossed lightning – belonging to a Telegraph piece. There are no other telegraphs in the conduct of the Petrograd district staff was not; the St Petersburg of the spark Telegraph, he relied entirely different emblem on the shoulder straps.

About Dating photo on cloth shirt random sample, as is commonly believed, they came into use not earlier than 1915 cipher on the shoulder straps of the protective corps of engineers was supposed to put brown paint. Efreytorskaya's stripes on the shoulder straps white lace sample in peacetime, due to acute shortage of dark orange lace, regular intended for protective shoulder straps. Soldier awarded two medals of St. George (4-th century without a bow and 3-d art with a bow). Thus, it is possible to assert with confidence that he had previously served at the front, and the appointment to the rear received after the limitations date due to injury. Today it is the only known photo of a soldier of the Petrograd military police Telegraph relating to the period of the First world war. The guarantee of authenticity.