CITY: Moscow DATE OF BIRTH: 10/07/1907 DATE OF DEATH: 01/01/1991 HISTORY: Title: Lieutenant. Type of troops: Technical troops (KhV, ZhDV, AV, RTV, DV, topographic). "Men of Steel", "Iron Men"! This was the name of the railway workers - machinists, railway workers, dispatchers during the war. Their heroism, love for the Motherland, their ability to make difficult decisions made it possible to deliver military equipment, ammunition, food, uniforms to the front. The most important profession in railway transport has always been and remains the profession of a driver. There were no diesel locomotives during the war. Trains were pulled by steam locomotives. An electric locomotive needs electricity, a diesel locomotive needs diesel fuel, and a steam locomotive has enough coal or firewood. The drivers of military echelons, medical trains, armored trains showed an example of heroism. At every step they were in danger: the trains were raided by enemy aircraft, the enemy mined tracks, bridges, stations. We worked in difficult conditions. They drove trains thousands of kilometers away and did not return home for months. Sometimes the driver had to work for the stoker, the loader. My grandfather, Mikhail Dmitrievich Arkhipov, went through the entire war from 1941 to 1945. working as a train driver. Repeatedly fell under the bombing, risked his life so that the country even one step closer to Victory, was awarded orders and medals. And at home his beloved wife and four daughters were waiting for him, the eldest was 7 years old, and the youngest was 1 year old. His grandmother always supported him and was his reliable "rear". I think the fact that he is welcomed and loved at home played an important role in the fact that he returned from his trips alive. He was lucky - he met the Victory, but many of his comrades and colleagues died.