Rank: Captain _x000D_ Branch of troops: Artillery _x000D_ My grandfather, Staratonov Nikolai Prokhorovich, was born in 1923, in the village. Lamskoe, Volynsky District, Oryol Region (now Stanovlyansky District, Lipetsk Region), in a peasant family. When the Great Patriotic War began, he was only nineteen years old. In July 1941, Nikolai Prokhorovich Staratonov was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army in the Volyn Commissariat. And he took part in military operations from June 1942, as indicated in the documents. There is reason to believe that this year he could have been in a military school. Until 1943, we know nothing about the military fate of Nikolai Prokhorovich Staratonov. We could not find information on the Internet either. It is known for certain that until July 1943 my grandfather fought on the Western and Bryansk fronts. Specific information about the military unit or at least the army in which N.P. Staratonov could be located during this period we don’t have. _x000D_ At home we used to have two Orders of the Patriotic War, I and II degree left from Uncle Nilolay. One of them was intact, and another was split by a shell, only half of it remained with a piece of his tunic. These orders were brought later to the parents by Nikolai's friends. Unfortunately, they were stolen. _x000D_ The Order of Alexander Nevsky was not issued, we only have a temporary certificate of awarding. At the time Staratonov, Nikolai Prokhorovich had the rank of Guard Senior Lieutenant and commanded a control platoon of the division of the 60th Guards Corps Artillery Regiment, which was part of the 61st Army. _x000D_ He was destined to be a part of the Kurksk Bulge, the key battle of WWII in terms of its scale, the forces and means involved, the tension, the results and political consequences. During the offensive battles from 11 to 20 July 1943 on the city of Bolkhov in the area of the villages of Tolkachevo - Bagrinovo he adjusted the division's fire for infantry. As a result, 2 mortar batteries, 1 Artillery battery, 12 enemy firing points and up to 2 companies of enemy infantry were destroyed. _x000D_ On July 14, 43 he organized a repulse of the enemy's counterattack by battalion force, and at the same time adjusted the division's fire on the counter-attacking infantry and German firing points. The counterattack was repulsed with heavy losses for the enemy: up to two infantry companies killed and wounded, 1 self-propelled gun and 2 direct-fire guns. _x000D_ For his courage in the fight against the enemy, my grandfather was nominated for the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree. On October 19, 1943, in the Hatka-Udalivka area on the Braginka River, he moved his battery to an open firing position and with direct fire made two passes in the barbed wire, destroyed 3 firing points and one direct-fire gun. As a result, a supported infantry unit, on the offensive, knocked the Germans out of the first trenches, occupied them and began to pursue the enemy. _x000D_ From the 19th to 25th October 1943, my grandfather pursued the enemy to the settlement of Maly Avtyutsevichi with the infantry with fire and wheels. _x000D_ From 8th to 14th January 1944, during the breakthrough of the enemy's defenses in the Aleksandrovka area, Golevitsy and Kalinkovichi Staratonov Nikolay neutralized the enemy's front edge by direct fire, allowing the infantry to knock the enemy out of the first trenches and break into the southern outskirts of the village Aleksandrovka, destroying: 5 machine-gun points, one machine-gun bunker, one separate gun. After the breakthrough, together with the infantry, he pursued the enemy beyond the outskirts of Kalinkovichi, where he suppressed the fire of three machine guns and one battery. For this feat he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky. _x000D_ My grandfather also was distinguished on the Baltic front. As the Commander of the 3rd battery of the 60th Guards Corps Artillery Kobrin Red Banner Regiment of the Guard, Captain Nikolai Prokhorovich Staratonov on the approaches to Riga in the Laugas area on September 30 and October 1, 1944 repelled three enemy counterattacks with battery fire, scattering and partially destroying up to 2 companies of the German infantry, suppressed two machine guns and destroyed one 75 mm cannon. _x000D_ In the combat east of the Sigulda line on September 5, 1944t, he discovered a concentration of enemy infantry, up to a battalion, preparing for a counterattack and, opening battery fire, destroyed more than 30 German soldiers and officers. _x000D_ On October 10, in the Vesturi Region, with battery fire, he suppressed the enemy's mortar battery and destroyed the heavy machine gun, which was an obstacle with the advance of our infantry, thereby ensuring the crossing of the Maza-Jugla River. For his courage in the above combat, my grandfather was presented with a state award, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. _x000D_ The soldier’s fate kept him, he had passed the Western, Bryansk, Belorussian and Baltic fronts with no scratch. _x000D_ However, he was not destined to return home. On March 5, 1945, just two months before the Victory, Nikolai Prokhorovich Staratonov passed away. And only 70 years later did we find out where Nikolai was buried. _x000D_ As a result of our searches, it was found out that the Commander of the 3rd battery of the 60th Guards Corps Artillery Kobrin Red Banner Guards Regiment, Captain Nikolai Prokhorovich Staratonov, died of wounds on 03/05/1945. _x000D_ The primary burial place is the village of Zaghelev, now Sadlovo in Poland. On July 23, 1952, he and 14 other soldiers were reburied in Stargard at the Stargard-Szczecinski International Military Cemetery. Now he rests in mass grave number 42. Eternal Glory!