Kapusta Norm Wrote:My two cents is that during the chaos of units getting destroyed and/or scattered at that time, a bunch of guys called themselves the 992nd then became something else.
Tens of thousands of men were raised in Peoples Militia units in the first months of the war, and perhaps telling is that a "Peoples Militia Corps" was formed in the Dnepropetrovsk area in August, 1941. (Where this citation references his fighting.) Can't find any specific numeric references re: 992nd (or any number near that high), though the Corps is mentioned in multiple places. Many of the militia divisions were transformed into Rifle divisions soon after formation, but again perhaps tellingly the "Peoples Militia Corps" was not, instead the men were portioned out as replacements for existing divisions. And by that time Comrade Topchii had been wounded and evacuated.
So, years later and hundreds of miles away (his home of record is in central Asia, though he was born on the Dnepr), when asked who he fought and bled with it wouldn't be surprising if there was no record of a numbered unit. Whatever is a bureaucrat to do to fill in the appropriate blanks? :)
Probably never know for sure, but it's not a stretch to say your man was a militiaman, an accountant turned rifleman hurled into the line after the disaster at Kiev (the Germans had just killed/captured over half a million, utterly destroying 43 (!) RKKA divisions in a pocket there in August/September), when the east Ukraine was a shambles.
Great catch up award!
Steiner: "Why do you want it so badly? It's just a worthless piece of metal. Look."
