Rank: Junior Sergeant. Branch of troops: land forces, air forces (except marine aviation), the coast guard, the troops of the NKVD, borderguard troops. Division: 170th Rechitskaya Red Banner rifle division of the order of Suvorov. My grandfather, Grigory Petrovich Bukaev, went to war in 1942. He had a leg injury that is why he was not called up, but he joined armed forces as a volunteer. Unfortunately, my grandmother – his wife – is no longer there, and I collected memories of my grandfather literally bit by bit. My grandfather fought in the 170th rifle division of the 2nd formation. The division was formed in the Molotov region at the end of 1941 and in April of 1942 was sent to the North-Western front. From May 1942 to March 1943, my grandfather participated in the Demyansk offensive. In February 1942, near the city of Demyansk, Novgorod region, for the first time in the history of the Great Patriotic war, a large group of enemy troops was surrounded. In April 1942, the enemy managed to break through the encirclement ring. So the Demyansk bridgehead of the enemy was formed. The front line resembled a jug with a bottle – "ramasheuski corridor" (the name of the village). My grandfather participated in the liquidation of the Demyansk bridgehead. Unfortunately, the offensive operation in the forests and swamps of the Novgorod region did not develop too successfully and quickly for our troops. In May-June 1942, my grandfather participated within the division in the battles against nazi enemy in the area of the village of Mirokhny, Khilkovo, Kirilovshchina. In July of 1942, Bukaev`s division was transferred to the "ramushevsky corridor", and it participated in the battles next to village Vasilievshina and Byakovo against the German SS unit "Totenkopf" and the Danish corps "Danmark". During the fighting, the corridor was narrowed to 2 km. In August of 1942 once again fighting resumed at the area of the village Vasilievshina. In September-October 1942, my grandfather participated in the battles for the capture of the Knevitsy-Lychkovo railway as part of the 170sd. During the fighting, they broke through the enemy's defenses in the area of the Knevitsy station, searched for and terminated nazi among the forests to the South-West of Knewitz. In November 1942-January 1943, Bukaev participated in the heaviest battles next to the area of villages Obino and Savkino. In February 1943, the division was transferred to Staraya Russa. At the end of February 1943, soviet troops occupied Demyansk, and the bridgehead ceased to exist. At the end of February, the 422nd rifle regiment, in which my grandfather fought, was ordered to clear the Northern part of the grove opposite the villages of Kotovo and Chirikovo, from which our units were constantly being shelled. For 7 days, the regiment fought the hardest battles to capture the grove, losing up to 90% of its personnel. In one of the battles on March 1st, 1943, my grandfather-the squad commander, Junior Sergeant Grigory Petrovich Bukaev - died a death of the brave. The grandfather and his dead fellow soldiers were buried in the forest at the distance of about 3 km to ther East of village Kotovo, Starorussky district of Novgorod region, on the right Bank of the Porus river. In 1969, the remains of the soldiers from the burial place at the Kotovo village were reburied in the village of Marfino, Starorussky district. At the moment, my grandfather's name is inscribed on the memorial plates at the mass grave near the village of Marfino.