Tsesarevich Alexey Nikolaevich Romanov

Tsarevich Alexei's main hobby was everything related to battles and maneuvers. In Tsarskoye Selo, he even had his own "company", consisting of 25 local high school students, and the sailors who looked after the heir on the yacht Shtandart helped him gain new knowledge in the field of naval affairs.

The heir was the head of the lifeguards of Ataman, Finland, the 51st Lithuanian Infantry Regiment and the 12th East Siberian Rifle Regiment, the Tashkent Cadet Corps and the ataman of all Cossack troops. He was allowed to visit his regimental barracks and dine with the officers in the mess hall. During these visits, he communicated with great pleasure and asked the interlocutors about his families, just as the emperor did. Alexey's favorite food was cabbage soup, porridge and wholemeal bread. These simple but tasty dishes were brought to him from the kitchen of the soldiers of the Consolidated Regiment.

I want to eat what my soldiers eat,” he said.

At the height of World War I, on October 1, 1915, Nicholas II and Tsarevich Alexei set out for the Supreme Commander's Headquarters, where the emperor took command of the army. The heir rode in the military uniform of one of his patronage units. A few days later, the Tsarevich received the IV degree of the Cross of Saint George for being with his father in the war zone in Galicia: “In memory of the visit to the wounded in the area of ​​the Klevan station in the area of enemy war." artillery fire on the night of October 12, 1915.” The heir spent all of 1916 at Headquarters or traveling with the Emperor. In May Alexei Nikolaevich was promoted to corporal. During his stay at the Headquarters, the Tsarevich awarded illustrious fighters and performed military exercises with a toy gun, demonstrating excellent skills for his age. He categorically did not want to return to Tsarskoye Selo, however, the illness made its own adjustments to the heir's plans. When Alexei got so sick that he couldn't move independently, they had to take him away. While at home, he constantly wrote letters to Nicholas II, lamenting that he was not allowed to return to the See.