Rank: Major Branch of troops: Artillery From February 1940 to September 1942 he was a cadet of the Automobile School at the Omsk Artillery Command. From September 1942 to July 1943 he was a Divisional Artillery Supply Chief on the Kalinin front. From February 1943 to December 1943 he was at the North-Western Front. From December 1943 to May 1945 he was at the Central Front, 1st Belorussian Front. My great-grandfather, from 1940 to September 1942, studied at the Omsk Automobile School under the Artillery Administration, after which he was sent as the commander of a reconnaissance group to the 20th Anti-Tank Destroyer Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Brigade, which was part of the North-Western Front. At this time, heavy fighting took place near the city of Staraya Russa. My grandfather said that one day his group captured a very valuable "tongue", an officer of the German army. From his testimony, our command learned about the plans for the offensive of the fascist troops in their sector. For this my grandfather was awarded the medal "For Military Merit". In June 1943, its unit took part in breaking through the heavily fortified German defenses west of the city of Kovel with access to the Western Bug River. My great-grandfather recalled:“A column of tanks was advancing on us. Our battalion suffered heavy losses. One of the crews of the anti-tank gun was killed, and the commander directed me and my driver to the gun. We drove up to the cannon in a truck and took up defenses. The column of tanks passed through a narrow place, and when we knocked out the first and the last tanks with the remaining two shells, it was trapped and destroyed. " In this battle, my grandfather was seriously wounded and contused. For his heroism he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. After recovering in September 1943, he was sent to the Central Front in his brigade as the chief of artillery supplies of the division. At this time, an incident happened to him, which I heard about in our family. Once, during the offensive of our troops, my grandfather saw his younger brother, who ran away from home to the front. From that moment until the end of the war, they served together. As part of the 1st Belorussian Front in the summer of 1944, he participated in the liberation of the cities of Minsk, Mozovetsky, Sedlets, Lukov of Belarus. In autumn 1944 he took part in the capture of the Prague Fortress. My grandfather recalled: One evening, walking through the brigade's location, I saw three suspicious people in civilian clothes. At my shout, they rushed to run, opening fire on me. The fighters arrived in time to the sound of the shots, and together we arrested them. In the commandant's office it turned out that these were recons, an oberleutenant and two privates. They carried out reconnaissance at the location of our brigade. " For the operation to arrest the saboteurs, Ivan Petrovich was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In January 1945, the medal "For Liberation of Warsaw" was added to the remaining awards. In March 1945, during the capture of the city of Altdam, the unit commanded by the great-grandfather destroyed the guard at the junction station and seized two fuel tanks. All vehicles going into battle were filled with this fuel. For the heroism shown Starikov I.P. was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree. Grandfather also took part in the capture of the cities of Spandau and Potsdam. He celebrated Victory Day in Berlin, for which he was awarded the medal "For the capture of Berlin".