Full name: SURNAME: Petrov FIRST name: Vladimir PATRONYMIC: Yakovlevich CITY: village Gvazda Vorontsovsky (now Buturlinovsky) district of the Voronezh region DATE of BIRTH: 01.01.1925 DATE of DEATH: 14.01.1945 HISTORY: Rank: Junior Lieutenant. Branch of service: army, air force (except marine aviation), the coast guard, the troops of the NKVD border troops. Division: 49th rifle Roslavl red banner order of Suvorov division. Born in 1925 in the village of Gvazda in the Vorontsovsky (now Buturlinovsky) district of the Voronezh region. His parents, my great-grandmother and great-grandfather, along with their young children, were dekulakized and sent to Kazakhstan, to the village. Samarkand, Karaganda region (now the city of Temirtau), survived the terrible famine and deprivation, but did not lose human dignity and love for the Motherland, raised their children with dignity. He was the youngest son in a large family. Very fond of horses. At the age of 16, he got a camera, after which Volodya became seriously interested in photography. Called up on 30.05.1943 Kirov RVC of the Karaganda region. Kazakh SSR. Until 1944, he was a cadet of the Kharkiv infantry military school, stationed in Namangan, Uzbek SSR, he graduated from the rank of Lieutenant Jr. and sent to the 1st Belarusian front in the 222 infantry regiment 49 Roslavl Infantry division 62 Infantry Neman corps, 33 army commander of the platoon of the 4th rifle company. Killed in action on 14 January 1945 while crossing a bridgehead on the West Bank of the Vistula. Being wounded, he fought to the last under heavy fire, went at the head of his platoon. Awarded the order of the Patriotic war, 2nd class posthumously. While studying in College wrote a touching boyish letters to parents and brothers, but as the time part in the fighting, the rare and more serious became of the letter, it felt as though growing up fast, this 19-year-old student yesterday, younger brother, and pet of the whole family. All these letters, newspaper notes about him, his drawings, and the report card for the 1941-1942 school year are carefully preserved in our family to this day. His friends who returned from the front recalled later that he wrote to them: "The game in the "Chapaya" continues. Only there we have guys fell on purpose, then to get up and again participate in the "war", and if the arm or leg who was scratched, it was considered an accident, then here is a completely different matter...". I don't know exactly how many fights he took part in, he didn't write about it in his letters. According to the memoirs of his comrade, I. Nikulin, on January 14, 1945, his platoon received a task: under cover of night, cross the Vistula, go to the Western edge of the village of Brzec (Brzesce) and cut off the path of the Nazis. When they quickly rushed into the village, the Germans saw that the squad was very small, and opened heavy fire on the platoon. Then the main forces arrived and the task was completed. But at the end of the battle, Volodya was hit by a stray bullet. The order was already received by my great-grandmother and great-grandfather. The family felt very hard about the death of grandfather Volodya. The great-grandmother did not cope with this loss for the rest of her life. My older brothers Ivan and Peter, my grandfather, kept the memory of Volodya all their lives and passed it on to their children. By the way, my father, who was born after the war, was named Vladimir in honor of his uncle. Initially buried in the village. Gmina brześć County Janowiec-puławy on the Bank of the Vistula, presumably reburied in the memorial to Kazimierz Dolny.