Yakov Nikitovich Gabov Branch of service: army, air force (except naval aviation), the coast guard, the troops of the NKVD, border troops. Division: 150th rifle division (1st formation). Yakov Nikitovich Gabov went through the entire war and ended it on the Western front with the rank of senior Lieutenant. But he was drafted to the front in very beginning of Great Patriotic war, on June 22, 1941. He was wounded three times, and showed bravery and bravery in battle. As a senior political officer of the 4th Separate Rifle battalion of the 150th Rifle brigade, he raised and strengthened the spirit of the soldiers in every possible way. He especially distinguished himself in the battles near the village of Khlepen in Smolensk region, where, after losing battles, in 1942, the fascists strengthened themselves on the steep Bank of the Vazuza river. For three days our 148th and 150th brigades tried in vain to dislodge the enemy from the village, suffering serious losses. Then Ilya Mikhailovich Podberezin, the commander of the 150th brigade, suggested a diversionary maneuver: on the night of November 29, 1942, two groups of fighters attacked the German bunker from the East and West, thereby causing fire on themselves. And at this time, the main capture group of 47 soldiers of Lieutenant Dorofeenko and 12 volunteers of the assistant commander Yakov Gabov made their way, under cover of darkness to the Khlepen Church captured by the Nazis and knocked them out of it. Soldiers under the command of Yakov Gabov blocked the entrance to the Church with bricks and defended it for 36 hours, despite heavy fire from the Nazis and their use of smoke bombs. The Church was defended, and at dawn on December 1, our soldiers occupied the village of Khlepen. An important bridgehead of the fascists with numerous bunkers ceased to exist. On February 14, 1943 Yakov Nikitich Gabov was awarded the order of Patriotic war of 1 degree for the operation near Chlepen. Here, at the front, there was another happy event - he met his future wife Nina Danilovna Pisachkina, who was the typist of the 150th division. In February, the young couple got a vacation for a few days and went to Moscow, where they got married. Then a bit later, Nina, was sent from the front to Moscow to her parents because of her pregnancy. After the fighting in the Rzhev-Vyazma direction, the brigades were re-formed. On October 10, 1943, Yakov Gabov was awarded the order of the red Star. Having become a commander, he skillfully trained agitators and editors of combat leaflets to strengthen the mood of the fighters before crossing the Dnieper. Yakov Nikitich directly carried out all the political and mass work in the divisions himself. During the crossing of the Dnieper, he was among the soldiers in the most dangerous areas, setting an example of courage and bravery to the privates. It also helped to avoid significant losses. Then he was already in the rank of senior Lieutenant of the 594th Rifle regiment of the 207th Rifle division of the Western front. Yakov Nikitovich liberated Prague, and after the war, having managed to see his daughter Nina, who was born in Moscow, soon left for work in the Baltic States. There Yakov Nikitich taught history at a school in Riga and later became its Director. Unfortunately, the marriage with Nina Danilovna did not survive, and she raised her daughter alone. In 1965, daughter Nina married Igor Raulevich, grandson of the famous Kazakh writer Sabir Sharipov and son of another veteran of the great Patriotic war - Raul Sabirovich. Yakov Nikitovich's granddaughter, Valeria, was born in this marriage. Traditionally, on Victory day, veterans of the 150th rifle division gathered in Moscow, near Khlepn, in Karmanovo and Sychevka, in the places of fierce battles during the great Patriotic war. They also gathered together in Riga, and even went to the village to visit Yuri Gagarin's parents.