Rank: red army soldier. Branch of the armed forces: signal troops. Babikova Tamara Georgievna - my great-aunt, was born in Orenburg in 1923. Before the war, she lived with her parents and her younger sister Lydia in the large grain farm "worker", in the Chapaevsky areas of Orenburg. The region developed and flourished before our eyes, new houses were built, the first kindergarten in the village, clubs worked. In 1940, Tamara entered a pedagogical school, worked as a school counselor, and dreamed of becoming a school teacher. But the war started. On the first day of the war, Tamara applied to the military enlistment office with a request to send her to the front as a volunteer. Refused - the age did not come out. All men were called to the front and teachers too. Schools continue to work, because it is necessary to teach rural children, and she went to one of the rural schools near Buguruslan - to teach. They helped the front together with the children as much as they could, went to the fields after school, collected spikelets, knitted warm clothes for the soldiers, and sent parcels to the front. So a year passed. And again submitted documents to the military enlistment office. This time the application was accepted. After a short training, they were sent to fight in a separate battalion - air surveillance, notification and communication. The task was to determine the direction of flight of enemy aircraft, accurately guess the height of the flight, determine the brand of the aircraft by sound, conduct reconnaissance and fire correction. At their signal, our artillery and anti-aircraft guns were ready to meet the enemy fully armed. Tamara received her first baptism of fire in the Kotelnikovo area, in the bloody battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad. In mid-July 1942, the battalion, which temporarily became a combatant, received an order to stop the tanks rushing to Stalingrad. Each was given three grenades and Molotov cocktails. The main task was to hold out for at least two hours, keep the enemy out of the city and wait for reinforcements. At sunset, we saw a terrible sight-tanks were moving in a predatory formation with searchlights turned on. The girls said goodbye to each other and prepared for battle. Just as the command " Get ready for battle!"was about to sound, artillery shots rang out from behind, which began to hit the tanks with direct fire. Many fighters and front-line friends died then, only a little more than 30 people remained alive, who were later put in charge of posts. Then she participated in the liberation of Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv. She finished her combat career in Breslau. As the head of the post, she was the first to accept the message of VICTORY! Tamara Georgievna was awarded: - the order of the "Patriotic war I degree", - a certificate signed by Marshal Chuikov "for bravery and courage shown in battle". We remember the feat of our grandmother and are very proud that our family had such a hero!