Heroes and feats

Rank: Senior Sergeant. Branch of troops: Artillery. BATASHEV NIKOLAY IVANOVICH (1915-1997). Awarded with the title Hero of the Soviet Union for courage and heroism shown in the battles on the Kursk bulge, 1943. N. I. Batashev was born on 06.05.1915, in Astrakhan. In the active army - since August 1942. For successful combat operations near Voronezh, he was awarded the medal "for bravery" and appointed commander of the 128th mortar regiment (60th army, Voronezh front). 06.10.1943 in the battle for the bridgehead on the right Bank of the Dnieper river near the village of Gornostaypol (Chernobyl district, Kiev region), the enemy launched a fierce counterattack. Supporting their infantry with tanks and planes, as well as with heavy shelling, the Nazi began to push the battle formations of the Soviet troops. Senior Sergeant N. I. Batashev with his regiment was ordered to cover the withdrawal of the infantry and his division to the reserve firing positions. Up to a battalion of enemy infantry, supported by one self-propelled gun and a tank, moved to the line of senior Sergeant Batashev. The mortar crew destroyed 2 guns and 4 enemy machine guns. The self-propelled gun of the Germans came to 300-400 meters to the position and opened direct fire at the Batashovs regiment. After several shots, the mortar was smashed and the gunner and loader were killed. Twice wounded, Batashev found the strength to take an anti-tank rifle and engage in a duel with a self-propelled gun. Our artillery, which had changed battle lines, opened fire on the Ferdinand and pinned the enemy's infantry to the ground. Taking advantage of this, the division's scouts evacuated the unconscious Batashev. For the courage and heroism shown in this unequal battle, senior Sergeant N. I. Batashev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 10.01.1944. On leaving the hospital after Batashovs healtrh was recovered, he took part in the battles for the liberation of Simferopol and Sevastopol. Awarded with the order of Lenin, the Patriotic War I degree, the Glory order III degree and many medals. Then his battle path passed through the Baltic States, he took part in the defeat of the enemy's Kurland group. Demobilized in 1945. Lived in Kiev.

Rank: Sergeant. Branch of troops: Artillery. Division: 15th guards Kharkiv-Prague twice Red banner rifle division of the Order of Suvorov and Kutuzov. BOLOTSKY PYOTR MIKHAILOVICH was born in 1920 in the village of Verkhne-Kundryuchenskaya in the Razdorsky district of the Rostov region in a family of peasants. In 1939, he received a full secondary education and entered the Rostov state University at the faculty of physics and mathematics, but in the same year he was drafted into the Red Army, in the ranks of which he was until 1946. From 1941 to 1945 Bolotsky participated in military operations of the Great Patriotic war. Beeing positioned as a commander of the communications Department, he took part in combat operations on the Western and 1st Ukrainian fronts as part of the 341st howitzer artillery regiment, 347th automobile company of the 5th guards army, 47th rifle regiment of the 15th rifle division of the 155th army cannon and artillery brigade. In August 1944, he was wounded near Sandomierz (Poland). He was awarded with the medals "for Military Merit", "for Bravery", "for the Liberation of Prague", "for the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic war of 1941-1945". From the award list: " Bolotsky Pyotr Mikhailovich, Sergeant, topographer of the 155th Novorossiysk-Sevastopol artillery Army brigade adorned with Suvorov`s order. Bolotsky, working as a topographer for the brigade management during the fighting on the Oder bridgehead under enemy artillery fire, tied 12 firing positions, which enabled the divisions to conduct accurate shooting, as a result of which only near the city of Olau were destroyed up to 30 soldiers and officers, 7 wagons with cargo were broken. Later, after being wounded, Bolotsky, working at the brigade headquarters as a senior clerk, proved to be conscientious, reproduces combat documents, thereby giving more time to the brigade divisions to prepare and plan combat operations." Worthy of the order of the Red Star. May 28, 1945. In 1946, he was demobilized and entered the Rostov financial and economic University, from which he graduated in 1950. In the same year, he entered graduate school at the Department of statistics of the Rostov financial and economic University, from which he graduated in 1953 and was sent to the Kharkiv Institute of Soviet trade, where he worked as a senior lecturer at the Department of statistics and mathematics. In 1956, he defended his PhD thesis for the degree of candidate of economic Sciences. Since 1960-associate Professor, head of the Department of statistics, Dean of the faculty of trade and Economics of the Donetsk Institute of Soviet trade. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 13.06.1966 awarded the order "Badge of Honor" for many years of scientific and methodological, educational and educational work.

Branch of troops: Land forces, air forces (except naval aviation), coast guard, NKVD troops, border guards). Vasily Boldyrev was born in the village of Novozavedennoye, in February of 1921, on the Pancake week, but the date of his birth was mentioned in archives as June 21st. He studied at school with great pleasure and desire, and was considered to be the best student. The tall, slender, curly-haired brunet sang well, played the balalaika virtuosically, and was the soul of the school parties. From a young age, Vasily helped his father around the house, working with him in the field, since there were enough things to do at home: the family had many childrenand he, as the oldest, had to work in the garden and manage the household. After completing seven years of school education, Vasily Boldyrev went to the city of Stavropol, where he entered the faculty of foreign languages at the pedagogical university. In September of 1940, a 3rd-year student was drafted into the army from the city of Stavropol. Vasily Boldyrev became a sailor in the city of Sevastopol at the Black sea. He served at the 2 OAD main base of the Black sea fleet as signalman of the coast guard. But a peaceful and happy life was interrupted by the war. From its first days, the Black sea sailors heroically defended their beloved city and the Motherland. Nazi attacks were choked one after another! The sailors showed miracles of bravery and military valor. They didn't think about food, but they were thirsty and had to quench their thirst with salt water from the sea. Together with his comrades, Vasily Boldyrev protected the withdrawal of military units from the heroic city of Sevastopol, was wounded in the arm, and lived with a bullet all his life. 3.07 1942, according to the command, Boldyrev Vasily Pavlovich went missing. According to the memoirs of his great-grandfather, he had to swim across the Bay. Wounded, he was taken a prisoner. Soviet prisoners of war were driven by the Nazis to the city of Shepetovka in Ukraine. So Vasily was kept in a prison camp there. Then he and several of his companions managed to escape. Later, he ended up in a partisan unit on the territory of Yugoslavia. After the war, due to the prevailing circumstances, as well as the government's distrust to former prisoners of war, he was sent to a labor camp in the Irkutsk region, where he was without the right to correspond until 1955. Vasily Pavlovich lived and worked in the village of Chuna. In Irkutsk, he graduated with honors from the forest technical school. In 1955 he was rehabilitated. That is why his relatives were able to see Vasily only 15 years later, since he was for all this long time considered as missing. In 1965, he moved with his family to the city of Ordzhonikidze in North Ossetia, there Vasily Pavlovich worked as a master and teacher in a specialized children's institution. Father of Vasily Pavlovich - Pavel Semyonovich Boldyrev - took part in liberation of the city of Sevastopol from the Nazis. V. P. Boldyrev passed away in 1997, at the age of 76. His grandson - Oleg Pavlovich Boldyrev - lives in the city of Sevastopol and is serving in the marine corps. He serves at the very same place where the 35th battery fought during the Great Patriotic war, and his great-grandfather defended his native Sevastopol. The name of Vasily Boldyrev is immortalized on the memorial Pantheon of Glory as one of the defenders of Sevastopol.

Senior sergeant. He served in the 167th twice Red banner Sumsko-Kiev rifle division. Nationality: ukrainian. He was born in a peasant family and got incomplete secondary education. Pavel worked as a foreman on a collective farm. Served in the Red Army from 1937 to 1941 within the 112th cavalry regiment in Proskurov. Took part in the Red Army's liberation campaign in Western Ukraine in 1939. Next time he started to serve in the Red Army in 1943, in September. He took part in the liberation of the Sumy region, crossing the Dnieper and Oder river, took part in the battles on the right bank of Ukraine, in the liberation of the cities of Stanislav, Drohobich, Prague. During the war Pavel Stepanovich was shell-shocked. During the night time on December 15-16, 1943, in the area of the state farm Ksaverovsky, Grebenkovsky district of the Kiev region, he acted as a part of the intelligence group when successfully capturing nazi informer right from the enemy positions, and was for such a successful act awarded with the order of the Red Star (order no.:1 / n from: 10.01.1944. Published: 167 KSD 47 SK 40 A 1 of the Ukrainian front). Being encircled in 1944, from January 14 till 25, at the area of Tikhonovka in the Lysinsky district of the Kiev region, he repeatedly went on reconnaissance. On January 21, 1944, in the area of the Alexander forest along with a group of soldiers during reconnaissance, he suddenly attacked a group of nazi soldiers. As a result of this counterattack, the group destroyed up to 10 nazi soldiers. At the same time, valuable documents were seized and delivered to the headquarters. On January 27, 1944, together with a group of scouts on the Lysyanka - Zvenigorodka road, while in an ambush, they hit three cars with enemy cargo with grenades, while destroying up to 15 enemy soldiers. By order of the commander of the 167th rifle division no.: 5/n from: 21.02.1944 he was awarded the order of the Patriotic war II degree. On July 20, 1944, as an assistant to the commander of a platoon of horse intelligence of the 520th Drogobichsky rifle regiment, senior Sergeant Pavel Babchenko with a group of scouts in the depth of the enemy's defense near the village of Tifilovka South-West of the city of Stanislav, destroyed the guards, captured the headquarters and a car with valuable documents. By order of the commander of the 167th rifle division No. 042 / n of August 10, 1944, he was awarded the order of Glory of the 3rd degree for exemplary performance of command tasks in battles with the Nazi invaders. On September 18, 1944, as part of a reconnaissance group, he secretly reached the enemy trenches near the city of Sanok, as a result of which the enemy abandoned their positions. The soldiers defeated the enemy headquarters and captured the battalion commander. From September 18 to October 4, 1944, Pavel Babchenko personally exterminated up to 10 fascists, and took several prisoners. By order for the troops of the 1st guards army No. 061/n of October 29, 1944, he was awarded the order of Glory of the 2nd degree for exemplary performance of command tasks in battles with the Nazi invaders. During the liberation of the railway station Olza from 19 to 22 April 1945, he killed about 10 Nazis with a machine gun. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on may 15, 1946, he was awarded the order of Glory of the 1st degree for exemplary performance of command tasks in battles with the Nazi invaders, becoming a full knight of the order of Glory. In 1945, he was demobilized. He lived in his native village, worked as a storekeeper on the Lenin collective farm. Then he lived in the city of Lubotin, Kharkiv region. He passed away on June 15, 2001. Pavel Stepanovich was buried in the town of Lubotin.

Grigory Ivanovich Berg (23.08.1927-28.12.2002). Grigory Ivanovich Berg was born on August 23, 1927 in the village of Biyuk-Oi of the Dzhankoy district of the Crimean ASSR. During the war, his entire family of 7 people was moved from the Crimea to a great many different regions of the country. Grigory Ivanovich was sent to a special settlement in the Rostov region, then in 1943 he was mobilized into the labor army in the Kemerovo region. It was difficult for a sixteen-year-old boy to get a good job. That is why Grigory Ivanovich had to "improve" his documents, adding 3 more years to his real age. And thanks to that idea, on November 22, 1943, he was accepted to the position of a miner at "Kuznetskshakhstroy". He worked as much as adults did, experienced all the hardships of a wartime, and even more than that - he was registered by the local authorities as a "German". On December 1st, 1945, he got position of a sinker. He received his work record after the war, in 1948. And like others during that hard time, he worked not only in the slaughterhouse, but also in the collective farm fields, taking active part in sowing and harvesting. Working on mine, rented a room in the house Inhanoi Olga Filimonova. They became close friends living through the difficult war years together, and in 1948 they officially married. Olga at that time already had three children, two daughters and a son, from her first husband, who parished during the war. In 1950, the couple had two daughters, Svetlana and Nina. Grigory Ivanovich and Olga Filimonovna were married for 48 years, and were living together for more than 50 years. Grigory Ivanovich raised two of his daughters as well as two daughters and one non-native son. He treated everyone just the same. The time was like this. Through all the years of this job Grigory Ivanovich was inextricably connected with the mining business, only the names of the mines changed. He retired in December of 1993, having earned the title of "Honorary miner" by that time. During all his career he was repeatedly awarded with diplomas, letters of gratitude, valuable gifts, including the sign "miner's Glory" three degrees, the medal "For valiant labour in the great Patriotic war of 1941-1945", medal "Veteran of labour", order "Red banner of Labour". Also important to mention the title he was awarded with - "Shock worker of the communist labor". At his free time from working at the mine, Grigory Ivanovich was engaged in household. In 1954, he completed construction of a house for his large family, which made it possible to have large vegetable garden as well as the posession of various cattle in order to feed a rather large family. Even after retiring, he could not sit idle and always worked at home and actively helped the children around the house. On December 28, 2002, Grigory Ivanovich passed away at the age of 75.

Vladimir Kornilovich Belomestnykh was born on July 14 (new style – 27), 1913 in the village of Bargaday (now-Ziminsky district of the Irkutsk region) in a peasant family. He graduated from Novo-Udinsk seven-year school. His parents had many children - besides Vladimir, there were 14 more. A large family lived in poverty, so even as a child, Vladimir had to go to work for hire. In 1935, he graduated from the Chita mining and metallurgical technical school and was sent to the Kirov mine of the Solovyevsky mine of the Dzheltulaksky (now – Tynda district). He worked as a foreman and the manager of mine No. 1. In 1937, he was conscripted to the army, and in 1939, after demobilization, he returned to the mine. Soon he got married. After nazi attack on the Homeland, Vladimir Kornilovich was called to the army. At the end of 1941 at the Skovorodino station Amur region 48th cavalry regiment of the NKVD was formed , and in 1942 the regiment was disbanded and sent to the front. The 106th Beyond-The-Baikal rifle division was formed from the local border guards. Vladimir Kornilovich served within the 12th sapper battalion in a platoon of miners. The experience of combat crossings was useful to him when crossing the Dnieper by our troops. Belomestnykh's boat was the third. The first two boats were machine-gunned by the Nazis. The men leaned desperately on their oars. But now it's time to land the troops. - Come on, follow me! the Sergeant-Major ordered, and was the first to plunge into the icy water. The fight on the beach was short and fierce. During this night and using its darkness as a cover Sergeant-Major Belomestny on his humble boat managed to transport 150 common soldiers under the hurricane fire of the enemy. He made 12 such routes till the morning light came. For almost a day, he was on the verge of death. In hand-to-hand combat, the group captured an enemy machine gun and two medium-caliber guns. Many of the fighters were killed, but the "fire bridgehead" was held. On the conquered bridgehead, Sergeant-Major V. K. Belomestny hoisted a flag indicating – “Dpieper belongs to us!”. For his courage and bravery during the crossing of the Dnieper, on October 30, 1943, he was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In January 1945, Belomestny was seriously wounded and concussed, frostbite on his feet, and narrowly escaped gas gangrene. The hero completed his front-line career on the Austrian soil. He was twice concussed and twice wounded, as a result of which he was deaf and dumb for 18 days. June 24, 1945 Hero of the Soviet Union V. K. Belomestny took part in the Victory parade on Moscow's Red square. He began to beat the enemy as a private, and ended the war in the reserve of junior commanders. The war claimed the lives of six of Vladimir's brothers. All nine sons of his mother Darya Fyodorovna were called up to the front line and she was waiting for them along with the victory, and could not sleep at night. But war takes its toll. Six brothers of Belomestny parished during the battles. Each funeral was a hard blow to the mother's heart. But the Siberian woman endured everything. Vladimir Kornilovich was discharged in 1946 and returned to Solovievsk - to the places that became his native land. He worked as the head of the mining sector, deputy chief engineer for safety, head of dredge No. 67 of the Solovyevsky mine. Then he went to Yakutia there he retired. After completing journalism courses, in 1965-1990 he worked as a tour guide at a local travel and sightseeing agency. He performed at schools and businesses. He is an honorary citizen of the Lazarevsky district of Sochi. He was awarded the memorial medal of the Krasnodar territory "for outstanding contribution to the development of the Kuban". Vladimir Belomestny passed away on August 08, 2009, and was buried in the cemetery of the village of Dagomys (Sochi).

Bevzyuk Vasily Timofeevich was born on 24.12.1917 in the village of Osipovka, Frunzovsky district, Odessa region, Ukrainian SSR. In 1938, he was drafted into the Red Army. In 1939, he took part in the war with Finland. In one of the battles he was heavily concussed. In 1941 Vasily was called up from Tiraspol to the ranks of the active Red Army because of the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Place of military service: 69 separate air regiment based in Tiraspol. During WWII he served as the Commander of the Squad of drivers within 131st Battalion Airfield Services in the rank of Junior Sergeant at technical service. From the first days of the Patriotic War, he continuously worked on one BZ-35 machine. Due to his impeccable care and effective use of the special vehicle, Vasily achieved excellent results. During the 4 years of the war, he did not require a single repair of a car, despite the fact that it had a long combat path as part of the regiment. Thousands of refueled aircraft and hundreds of tons of gasoline transported over distances of thousands of kilometers led to the outstanding result of his combat work. From January to April of 1945, he made 5785 km behind the wheel, carrying 167 tons of gasoline and saving 141 kg of fuel. Throughout the combat work, he proved to be a disciplined, executive, strong-willed commander. Hero's battle path ran through the cities of Tiraspol, Nikolaev, Kherson ... from the Kalach station, a regiment with reinforcements is sent to protect Stalingrad. After nazi were defeated at Stalingrad, his regiment was relocated for Kerch liberation and then transferred to the 1st Belorussian front. Bevzyuk Vasily Timofeevich liberated Krasnodar, Belarus, Poland. On Victory day he was in Germany, in the city of Neubrandenburg. Awarded: - medal " for Military Merit "(order b/n of 22.05.1945); - order of the Patriotic War II degree; - order of Glory II-III degree; - medal "for the Victory over Germany"; - medal " for the Defense of the Caucasus" (order of 11.11.1944, entry 1530617954); - five anniversary medals. During the war, in the liberated Krasnodar, he met his future wife, Valentina Volkova, born on 27.07.1923, who studied at the radio operator courses. Until the end of the war, they were like a pen friends. At the end of the war, they met again in Shakhty, Rostov region. 2 years later, in 1947, they moved to Tiraspol. Vasily and Valentina raised two daughters: Tamara and Galina. More than 40 years behind the wheel, covered distance of about 3 million km. For the hard work in the post-war period, he was awarded the badge "Winner of the five-year plan" three times.

Sergey Efimovich Butov was born on may 26, 1924 in the city of Tiflis (now Tbilisi), where his family lived next to the place of his father's service. His naval service along with the biography of the participant of the WWII he started in Baku within Caspian fleet on graduation from school on June 6, 1942. Sergey took part in the defense of the Caucasus as a sailor of the Red Army on the gunboat Pravda, and then continued to fight within Baltic fleet. His heroism during these years was awarded the medal "for Military Merit" and the order of the Patriotic War II degree. After the end of the war, he graduated from the naval school in Vyborg and The Military-political Academy named after Lenin (now-Military humanitarian University of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation). Butov served his Fatherland in the Navy, within which he spent 34 years of life, starting his career as a common sailor and retired as the captain of the first rank. He was a soldier in the third generation. A significant part of his military biography was associated with the black sea fleet and Sevastopol (1954-1966). During his navy service, Butov took part in a number of the campaigns on submarines and within groups of ships on the Black and Mediterranean seas, participated in long voyages in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. Later on, while serving in Moscow in the Main political Directorate of the Soviet army and Navy of the USSR, as a member of the crew within soviet Navy group of ships played important role in a combat operation while resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict and was awarded the order of the Red Star. During his service, he visited all the fleets, flotillas and seas of the Soviet Union. After retiring, from December 1976 to 2010, he worked as a senior researcher at the Institute of military history of the USSR Defense Ministry. All his life, even while serving in the Navy, he studied the programs, events, and fates of Decembrist sailors, creating, in fact, a catalogue of their names, photos, biographies, and statements. This material proved to be very significant in scientific work at the Institute. Having collected a huge amount of material about the Decembrist movement, Sergey Efimovich decided to tell the truth about the significance of the rightful cause of Russian patriots for the future of Russia, unfairly underestimated by generations of the new time. As a result of this work his books saw the light of the day, all about the Decembrist sailors - "Merit that can never be repaid"(awarded with the prize of the Union of journalists), "Confessions of Decembrist sailors", "In the wake of the formation", "For the cause of truth and honor". The book tells of the courageous victors of the war of 1812, who were unified sacrificial love of the Fatherland, belief in the better future for Russia, its progress and might. All of the convicted officers-seamen - participants of the uprising, described their views on the system of governance in Russia and its development. It was convincingly shown by the author that all the Decembrists were open minded personalities and with the brave hearts, high ideals of service to the Motherland, sacrifice for the homeland and loyalty to the word. These same qualities formed the basis of the character of Sergey Efimovich Butov himself. He passed away in 2012, being a bright example of an exeptional attitude to ones life, the Motherland, and women for his children, grandchildren and successors.

Mikhail Artemyevich was drafted into the Red Army on 09.01.1942 by the Bayan-Aul RVC of the Pavlodar region, Kazakh SSR. Retired Lieutenant Colonel. He died on January 30, 1999 in Novorossiysk. He was drafted into the army immediately after finishing high school, as soon as he turned 18, and was sent to the reserve regiment in the city of Bogotol of the Krasnoyarsk region for primary training. After three month training he was sent to the front line. In the middle of the 1942 Bykadorov arrived at the final unloading station in Ostashkov, Kalinin region, and was assigned as the first number of the Maxim machine gun system to the machine gun company of the 918th rifle regiment of the 250th rifle division of the 53rd army of the North-Western front (an area at the distance of 10 km to the west of the village Votolino in the Demyansk district).The fighting here went on with great tenacity almost all the summer of 1942. The squad of the Maxim machine gun many times was involved in ensuring the combat operations of regimental and divisional scouts to capture a prisoner for interrogation and to participate in the conduct of reconnaissance by combat. At the end of January 1943, M. A. Bykadorov was offered to go to a tank school with accelerated 8-month training. At the end of February, he arrived in Samarkand, where the 2nd Kharkiv tank school was located. On November 15, he was appointed a squad leader in the same company. On November 19, new SU-76 self-propelled guns were delivered to the tank school. He was retrained on them, studied the material part of the ACS, its weapons, theory and practice of shooting. In the third decade of August, he acceeded Communist Party, became member of CPSU (b) and on September 7 got his party ticket. On September 24, right after Mikhail successfully passed the exams, he was awarded the military rank of "Junior Lieutenant", and he was commissioned to the center for the formation of self-propelled artillery units in the city of Mytishchi, Moscow region, where he obtained personnel, got the material part and left for the front line. In January 1945, the 31st tank brigade in the 5th guards TA was alerted. Started Mlawska-Albinska operation. From 5 to 6 rifle men from the motorized rifle brigade were assigned as landing troops for each tank and self-propelled gun. On the night of January 23-24, M. A. Bykadorov personally received an order from the commander of the 31st tank brigade to stand in an ambush with the task of preventing the Germans from breaking through the bridge on the road 200-250 m away. The self-propelled gun took up a fighting position, masked it with a snow parapet, and prepared for battle. As a result of this battle, a column of nazi vehicles of about 150 units was stopped. Many of the vehicles had anti-aircraft guns on their trailers.The Germans fled, fearing capture. The battle lasted about 1.5 hours. For this night battle, the entire crew of the ACS was presented with a reward. M. A. Bykadorov and driver-mechanic I. M. Zvyaglov were awarded the order of the Red Star, gunner P. M. Mayorov - the order of Glory of the III degree, and loader I. I. Cherenkov - the medal "for Bravery". All February and March Bykadorov squad never stopped fighting. During one of the battles, a self-propelled gun, that was to the left at 40-50 meters away, caught fire. A moment later, M. A. Bykadorov's self-propelled gun caught fire from a direct hit. The crew left the car and survived. In the second crew, two were killed, the commander of the ACS received severe burns, was hospitalized, from where he returned to the unit after the end of the war. In one of the battles in East Prussia, the SAU-76 of his combat friend Georgy Tolkachev was burned down due to the direct hit from a German shell. The crew survived, but Georgy was seriously wounded. M. A. Bykadorov helped him climb into his self-propelled gun and took him out of the battlefield. After he had recovered his health and left hospital before Victory day on the 9th of May, he made a gift of his photo card, which is still stored in the family archive... This is exactly what he wrote on it : "to my dear friend and the comrade as a token of memory ... in the days of the greatest victory over Hitler's Germany. Never forget those days when we fought together for our Country and you saved my life when I was wounded. Thank you, my dear! May 9, 1945. Germany. Tolkachev". Unfortunately, it is not known how his friend`s post-war life developed. On the same day, M. A. Bykadorov learned about his award of the order of the Patriotic War of the first degree for the January battles. In the end of the great Patriotic war he served as a commander of the SU-76 self-propelled artillery installation with the rank of "Junior Lieutenant". For military valor he was awarded: the order of the "Patriotic War" 2nd degree and the order of the "Red Star", and soon after the end of the war -with medals: "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", "for the Liberation of Warsaw", "for the Capture of Konigsberg" and the medal of the Polish people's Republic "for Warsaw". During his participation in the fighting, he was twice wounded and shell-shocked. After the war, he continued to serve in the Soviet Army. Retired from the post of chief of staff of the regiment of strategic missile forces in 1968 due to an illness.

Rank: Midshipman Branch of troops: Soviet Navy and Naval forces border troops of the NKVD. He fought in the Finnish war in the 13th u-boat division, 1st brigade of the DKBF. Alexander served on the legendary submarine S-1-flagship as radio operator. In 1940, the brigade was based in Liepaja (for the military actions during the war against Finland was awarded the order of the Red Star. The boat made two combat trips - as the the result, Finnish transport ship Boholm had sunk and a seaplane was shot down). On June 22, 1941, the boat was docked for technical maintenance. When nazi appeared on the outskirts of the city, the crew had blown up the boat at the dock following the orders of the commandment and moved to Kronstadt on the boat C-3 (with damaged main ballast tanks) along with more than 20 workers of the Tomsaar plant. Next both crew`s (C-1 and C-3) and factory workers on the transition come under attack by German torpedo boats. An artillery battle ensued that lasted more than 3 hours, but the boat was torpedoed. According to some reports, all were killed, but according to other sources, the nazi captured several Soviet sailors. If Alexander Andreevich died in 1961, then there is the only option - he was captured. During the war, he changed several concentration camps, escaped several times and was caught. Ran away again - and again was caught. He returned home to Leningrad in 1957 (he returned to the Soviet Union from the camp in 1947 and was sentenced to 10 years without the right to correspond). The model of the legendary C-1 boat is located in the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg.

Rank: Lieutenant Branch of troops: Land forces, air forces (except naval aviation), coast service, NKVD troops, border guards. There were unwritten laws at the front line: the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to a military pilot was represented for the downed 20-25 enemy aircraft, and to the scout of an infantry unit - for capturing of 15-20 prisoners for interrogation. But actually just a few people know that during the Great Patriotic war, the commander of the intelligence platoon, retired Lieutenant Ivan Petrovich Galaktionov, also became famous. During a battle he participated in, about a hundred Nazis were captured. The command of the regiment in which he served documented that this was the case. Heroic deed of Galaktionov was marked by orders of the Red Banner, the Red Star, two orders of the Patriotic War 1st degree, order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree, many medals and commendations of commandment. He and his scouts repeatedly had to cross the enemy's line of defense in order to get to its rear. He prepared for those raids very carefully, considering plans of operations together with his soldiers thoroughly and with all possible details. As an example he mentioned the following ocasion: there were fierece battles in Romania. Once in the evening he got a call from the regimental commander who mentioned that the division was in a great need of a prisoner for interrogation. Before that all the aces of the divisional intelligence been to the enemies rear but their attempts failed. Ivan Petrovich promised the division commander to get such a valuable prisoner and told him his name. The platoon completed the task. All participants of the raidwere awarded orders. Galaktionov had many similar cases. Quite often Ivan Petrovich had to be in the very heat of a battle, that is why he was wounded and shell-shocked. For hours he was lying on the snow, in the swamp, and all in order to learn more about the enemy, to help the infantrymen and gunners. Until the very end of the war, he regularly carried out harsh and dangerous service, selflessly worked for the common Victory. He went to war as a volunteer at the age of 17 and lived a long life after the Victory. He passed away in 1997.

Branch of troops: the Soviet Navy and Naval forces of the NKVD border troops. Peter was born in 1919 in the village of Kazakevichevo, Khabarovsk region, in a family of a peasant. He studied at the primary school of the village of Kazakevichevo, then finished 7 classes at the Krasnorechinskaya school. From 8th to 10th grade, he studied in Khabarovsk at school No. 33 of the Energomash plant. In 1939, he was drafted into the Navy. He joined the school of communications on the Russian island, graduated from it, was sent to the radio center of the fleet, and then the war started. He was just 22 years old. From the memoirs of Peter Petrovich: participated in the battle with the Japanese from August 9, 1945 to September 3, 1945. Participated in landings to capture coastal fortifications and the city of Seisin. Was decommissioned to the frigate "The Deuce" before the start of the war. The naval brigade embarked on the frigate, and on August 11 or 12 at night moved away from the walls of Novikov Bay to the port of Seisin. It was a major port. There were numerous strongholds all around. When we entered the port, there was almost no resistance. It was night time when we start to conquer the city. But then the Japanese woked up and began to push our small landing force. Right after that our squad start to have losses, killed and wounded. I was on the beach with the radio station and the commander. When the Japanese began to come closer and began to fire at our ship, it had to move away from the walls of the city and fire from the sea. Our gunners covered the targets well so it was difficult to withdraw the wounded and took away the dead. Reinforcements arrived: patrol boats and minesweepers effectively removed the minefields in the Bay. After that the landing craft began to approach. The Japanese were not willing to surrender for a long time and were trying hard to withstand us, since Seishin was the base city: troops were transferred to it from Japan to Korea and back.

Since ancient times, men have protected their Homeland. If the enemy attacked, the soldiers defended it, protected their families, homes, and cities. The defender of the Motherland among our relatives was my great-grandfather on my mother's side - Alexander Grabov. He was born in the village of Chernolesky in 1919. I never saw my great-grandfather, and I don't know what his voice sounded like when he laughed, sang, or spoke. But from the memories of his son, my grandfather, I formed the image of a wonderful man, a true patriot and hero of his time. He was 22 years old when the war started. Great-grandfather Sasha went to the front in the summer of 1941. He fought bravely for the world I now live in. During the battle for Stalingrad, he was the commander of a rocket launcher, which the soldiers affectionately called "Katyusha". After the liberation of Stalingrad, he went a long way in battle and reached Koenigsberg. For which he was awarded the medal "for Bravery". My grandfather told me about how fearlessly my great-grandfather fought. There were offensives and retreats. He saw destroyed villages and settlements, tears of children and women, and buried many comrades. But the bullet spared him. My great-grandfather endured 1418 hard days and nights. Under the bursts of shells in rain and snow, heat and cold, he confidently approached Victory. At the end of 1945, my great-grandfather returned to his native village of Chernolesskoye. After the war, great-grandfather Sasha worked on a collective farm as a driver. He passed away in July of 1980. He was buried in his native village. Tulips bloom on his grave in spring. I am proud that my great-grandfather took part in this long war, which ended with the victory of our soldiers. I'm glad he came back alive, even though I have never saw him. Thanks to such people, there is a happy, peaceful childhood for us, kids. The memory of him is a kind of an oath of loyalty to the ideals that my close relative defended.

Branch of troops: army, air forces (except marine aviation), the coast guard, the troops of the NKVD border troops. Golovin Nikolay Fedorovich was born on December 19, 1924 in the town of Gorlovka. His family lived in a mining village. Father - Fyodor Antonovich - worked as a miner at the mine No. 5. Childhood and youth passed just the same as all the miner's children had it. With the beginning of the war, the older brother went to the fron linet, and his father was evacuated to Kuzbass, where he was of great practical helped to the front engaged in his professional mining activity. After the liberation of Gorlovka as a result of the Donbass operation, Nikolai Golovin was drafted into the ranks of the Active army. He fought as an infantryman in the ranks of the 4th Ukrainian front under the command of Marshal F. I. Tolbukhin. During the liberation of the Odessa region, he was severely concussed during one of the attacks of the Red Army. For a long time he was treated in the Odessa hospital, where, according to him, they were overfed with fried flounder. Then his treatment continued in the city of Saratov. After demobilization, he dedicated his entire life to the mining industry region. On May 9, 1945, Nikolai Fyodorovich's father perished during his job in the mine that became native to him - mine No. 5, named after Lenin. He graduated from the Gorlovka industrial technical school and worked as the head of the mining section at the Ruduch mine. His entire career was connected with the mine No. 5: the Head of the section, the Chairman of the trade Union Committee, the Deputy Director for administrative and economic work - these are the steps of the career growth of Golovin Nikolay Fedorovich. In retirement, he worked in the construction shop of his mine. Then his work was connected with the state farm "Stavki" of the Krasnolimansky district. Awarded with military and labor awards of the Motherland.

Rank: Red Army Soldier Branch of troops: signal troops. Division: 416th Taganrog Red Banner division of the order of Suvorov. Gritsenko Nikolay Ivanovich served in the cable and pole company of the 4th separate communications batallion of the Red Star order of the 32nd rifle corps of the Suvorov order. Participated in the fighting during WWII: from March 1943 at the 3rd and 4th Ukrainian front, in 1944 and 1945 - at the 1st Belorussian front. Gritsenko Nikolay worked as a wagon driver in offensive operations from the Oder river to the city of Berlin. He was engaged in timely delivery of communication equipment to his work team. In spite the difficult conditions of street fighting in the city of Berlin and under heavy enemy fire he managed to deliver communcations equipment on time, which ensured the timely setup of a communication line from the corps commander's LP (lookout post) to the commander's LP 60 in the Pritzhagen area. For this outstanding result, he was awarded the government award - the medal "for Military Merit". In the battles during the breakthrough of the defense on the Visla river (January 1945), N. I. Gritsenko acted within the 32 rifle corps as a signalman of the line supervisor. Under heavy artillery mortar fire of the enemy, he continuously provided command of the corps with the commander of the 416 tank rifle division through his line. Due to the strong artillery fire of the enemy the communication line was heavily damaged quite often and Gritsenko N. I. had to restore it so eventually he corrected about 15 wire-disconnection faults of the line, which contributed to the due management of the battle. In the battles when crossing the Oder river (March 1945), N. I. Gritsenko, taking great risks for his life under heavy enemy artillery mortar fire, crossed the river and setup communication with the LP of 60 rifle division, which was the only one on the bridgehead. The communication line passed in the close vicinity with the location of enemies. Gritsenko N. I. provided uninterrupted communication (restored at least 11 wire-disconnection faults), for which he was awarded the government award - the order of the Patriotic War II .