Rank: Sergeant Branch of troops: Artillery Subdivision: 71st Guards Rifle Kharkiv-Vitebsk Order of Lenin Red Banner Division Military path: My grandfather,Smolyaninov Fedor Vasilyevich, went long and heroic military path. He was drafted into the 151st Artillery Regiment at the very beginning of the war, in June 1941. The youngest daughter of my grandfather, at that time, was not even a month old. As part of the 71st Rifle Division, my grandfather went through many battles, fought on the Don and Voronezh fronts, as well as on the 1st and 2nd Baltic fronts. Fyodor Vasilyevich took part in the battles for Konigsberg and Polotsk, and defended Stalingrad. My grandfather was wounded more than once, once seriously. After being treated in the hospital, he was given a short leave and returned home. After a short rehabilitation, my grandfather returned to the front. Since 1943, Fedor Vasilyevich fought for Ukraine, took part in the Kiev operation, known as the crossing of the Dnieper. After the end of the Battle of the Dnieper, the division continues to operate as part of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Since October 1944, the division has been part of the 1st Belorussian Front. Later, until the end of the war, the division fights on the territory of Northern Poland. From January 1945, my grandfather took part in the East Prussian offensive. During this operation, he had a chance to fight for Modlin, Torun, Chojnitz and Danzig. My grandfather was awarded many medals and orders. Fyodor Vasilyevich received the Order of the Red Star for a heroic effort. Under heavy shelling in a combat, he fixed three vehicles, and in the immediate vicinity of the enemy brought them to a given point in the location of the forces of the red army. My great-grandfather was awarded the medal "For Valor". During combat for the city of Polotsk, in the territory overseen by the enemy, with heavy artillery fire, he, neglecting the danger, repaired and put out of fire broken car. Life path (life story after the victory): After the Victory, my grandfather returned to his native village Shumilovka, Tambov region, to his family, his wife Daria Nikitichna and 5 children. Until his retirement, Fyodor Vasilyevich worked as a driver at a sovkhoz. He traveled both on a gasoline tanker and on a "gait", a small truck equipped as a workshop to help in the fields during the harvesting campaign. My grandfather was a mechanic and had extensive experience working with machines, including during the war, and always helped him to quickly repair broken cleaning equipment. After retirement, my grandfather continued to work as a groom on the farm, as he was very fond of horses. Indeed, in the regular army, even before the war, my grandfather served in the Cavalry. Fyodor Vasilyevich lived a long life after the war. He had two more children, a son in 1946 and a daughter at the very beginning of 1953. This is the youngest, 7th daughter was my mother, Galina Fedorovna. I hardly remember my grandfather, because he died in 1984, I was very little. But, I heard many stories of my mother about her heroic father. Our war Veteran participateв in: Kursk Bulge, Liberation of Konigsberg, combats for Polotsk, Battle for Stalingrad, Liberation of Warsaw.