1st Bulgarian Army Division "Vladimir Stoychev"

The 13^th Guards also has uniforms and equipment to portray a small Bulgarian Peoples Army section in 1944/5. The equipment needed to do this is similar but not the same as Soviet.

The most obvious difference is the Bulgarian M36 steel helmet. Also the BPA used Mannlicher ammunition pouches, bayonet holder and a unique shovel carrier.

The M36 Bulgarian Steel Helmet

The history of the Bulgarian Peoples Army begins on 14/09/1944. After the Socialist Fatherland Front led by Gerogii Dimitrov (head of the Comintern) won control of the country, it quickly established a Socialist Guard, from which the first BPA units were formed. This included the elite First Infantry Division and the First Infantry Regiment. Moreover, units and sub-units of these Socialist Guards were incorporated into all regular Bulgarian armies, divisions, brigades, regiments, and battalions.

Bulgarian and Soviet troops cross advance in Slovenia April 1945 

Under the protection of the of the Bulgarian Army units stationed along the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border, a mobilization of the entire armed forces took place between 19 and 20 September of 1944; the size of the armed forces increased to 450 000 troops (including 40 000 volunteers), or as much as 7% of the country's total population; active servicemen numbered 265 000. The mobilized units consisted of 16 infantry divisions, one cavalry division, two cavalry brigades, one armoured brigade, and two brigades of border guards.

A Bulgarian Peoples Army "Maybach IV" Tank

After 09/09/1944 the armed forces were purged of monarchist-fascist elements. The German units present in Bulgaria were also liquidated or surrendered directly to the new Bulgarian government. After this, the Fatherland Front government ordered the Bulgarian occupation forces in Serbia to start disarming their German counterparts; consequently, the Bulgarian occupation forces in Serbia, Macedonia, and northern Greece took up arms against the Germans and their Albanian and Greek collaborators. The air force was too small to sufficiently support its ground forces, therefore, it was reinforced with the Soviet 189th Air Assault Division and the Soviet 288th FighterDivision. The Bulgarian navy also participated in engagements against the Germans, principally the Danube Flotilla.

By the end of 1944, when the war theatre moved to the middle Danube region, a new Bulgarian 1st Army Division was organised and named after its Lietnant General Vladimir Stoychev. It was composed of two corps, six infantry divisions, and other lesser army units amounting to around 100,000 soldiers). Since late December of 1944, the new 1st Army Division fought in the area of Srem. After success there, it moved into south-western Hungary and occupied defensive positions on the left bank of the Drava river, facing enemy forces to the south of the river in modern day Croatia. In March of 1945 it was heavily engaged against the German 2nd Panzer Army, later it advanced westwards and participated in the liberation of eastern Slovenia; eventually its march ended in southern Austria in early May. Over 31000 Bulgarian troops were either killed or wounded in the battles against the Axis.