Rank: senior sergeant. Troop type: Armored and mechanized troops. Unit: 43rd Armored Division. Nikolai Petrovich Kuzmin was born on May 21, 1911 in the village of Baksheyka, Kostroma district, Yaroslavl province. Was called up for military service by the Kostroma regional military registration and enlistment office. After completing military service, he graduated from the 5th grade of the combine harvester school of the Yaroslavl District of the Yaroslavl Region in 1938. He worked as a combine operator in his native collective farm. In winter 1941 Nikolai Petrovich married Christina Alexandrovna Dubova, but six months later, on June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. With tears in her eyes, the young woman, who carried a child under her heart, accompanied her husband to the front. Nikolai Petrovich was called for mobilization by the RVC Kostroma on June 23, 1941." Don’t worry, Nikolai reassured his wife, - "it's not for long time, I am coming back for the birth of my son". But the meeting was postponed for long and difficult years, and so he learned about the birth of his first child at the front. His comrades congratulated him on the good news: "Happy birthday to your son, Kolya! With triple fury, the former combine operator beat the enemy, who changed the steering wheel of the combine for the tank levers. Beat for "Beloved Motherland, for the native land"! On his T34 he made daring breakthroughs, crushed the enemy's fire teams with fire and tracks. More than once I got into trouble, slept in the hospital - and again into battle! He started the war in the 118th rifle division, the security company - with a submachine gunner. Where he was seriously wounded in the left thigh on August 6, 1941. After the hospital he continued to serve in the 569th separate sapper battalion as a sapper. Then, after completing the training, he was transferred to the 895 separate tank battalion, as a tank driver. There he finished his service in October 1945 with the rank of Guard Senior Sergeant. During the war he received 3 injuries and a concussion. He was awarded the red order Star Patriotic War 2 degrees, the Patriotic War 1 degree, a medal "for courage", the medal "for the conquest of Koenigsberg" and other medals which testified orders and prize sheets. Many battle episodes were deleted from the memory of Nikolai Petrovich. Wounds and shell shock affected his health. But there was one episode he remembered until the last days: The tank unit, in which he acted as driver and knocked out the Germans, took their original positions and prepared for a new offensive. In this sector of the front there was a relative lull. And only a reckless enemy tank platoon with the fire of its guns caused much trouble. It was invisible. It appeared like a ghost, bombed our positions - and disappeared. And so the command gave the order to destroy this unfortunate tanker train. A tank led by Nikolai Petrovich was also sent to investigate. Machine gunners were attached to the armor of the tank. When approaching the station of the brave, the enemy encountered heavy fire. An armored train slowly rolled out of the station in clouds of steam, with its muzzles moving. A battle followed. With precise fire, the armored cars turned the railway tracks, reducing the maneuverability of the armored train. He flailed around like a hunted animal. The artillery duel continued. Paratroopers took up defensive positions along the railway line. Nikolai does not remember the outcome of the battle. An armor-piercing grenade smashed the armor of the tank and injured the driver badly. The armored cars hardly managed to pull Nikolai out of the burning tank when the grenades inside the tank started to explode. Only in the medical unit he learned that the combat mission was successful, the tank train was destroyed. For this achievement he was awarded the Order of the Red Star! Excerpt from the award list: " Guard senior sergeant Kuzmin N.P., participating in battles on the 2nd Belorussian Front as part of the 3rd Tank Brigade, showed courage. The Panzer Brigade showed courage and bravery. Acting in the operational depth of the enemy as part of a reconnaissance platoon, he skilfully maneuvered on the battlefield and broke through the enemy squadron as part of the crew of the T-34-85 tank with military equipment," there were other achievements for which he was awarded state honors. Here are further quotations from the award lists: "Comrade Kuzmin took part in the battles with the German invaders when he broke through the enemy defenses in the Bischofswerd area in Pomerania. On February 25, 1945, as part of the crew, he destroyed 1 gun during the offensive, thus helping our tank to advance unhindered. He continued the attack on Stegers, comrade Kuzmin group fire with three tanks destroyed 2 guns, up to 30 enemy soldiers. In the area of m. Draven he destroyed in battle up to 10 enemy submachine gunners. Honored with the medal of valor "for bravery", "he acted boldly and decisively in the battles for the amount of 125.6 on January 10 and 11, 1944. On January 11, when the commander of the company was killed, Kuzmin took command, and on the attack signal, he quickly organized what was left of the company and led them forward to take the German trenches. Through his personal example he inspired the fighters to this achievement. In these battles, comrade Kuzmin showed courage and bravery. Worthy of the award of the government with the order "Patriotic War of the 2nd degree". Nikolai Kuzmin had the chance to fight at the front North-Western, the front North Caucasus and the 2nd Belarusian front. He ended the war in East Prussia. After the war Nikolai Petrovich returned to his homeland Baksheyka, worked in the collective farm "Dawn of Socialism" as the head of a horse farm, Deputy Chairman the collective farm. Later he managed the Baksheevsky Department of the Sawolzhskoye farm. He worked in the starch and syrup factory. Two sons were raised by Nikolai Petrovich and Christina Alexandrovna. The oldest, Vyacheslav, was born at the beginning of the war, the second, Yuri, in the peaceful days of 1946. After a long illness, Nikolai Petrovich Kuzmin died in his home village on March 14, 1987.