Heroes and feats

Rank: Senior Lieutenant. Branch of troops: Air forces. Division: 309th Smolensk Red Banner fighter aviation division. Dmitry Nikolaevich Garkunov was born into the dynasty of priests of the Vyatka province. In 1941, he graduated from the faculty of physics and mathematics of Tomsk state University with a degree in solid state physics. From 1941 to 1970, he served in the Soviet Army. He participated in the Great Patriotic war, participated in the liberation of Belarus as part of the 49th guards fighter aviation regiment. He finished the war in Dresden (Germany). In 1945 he graduated from the engineering Department of the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy. After the war, he worked at the research institute for the operation and repair of aircraft. Engineer-Colonel of aviation, awarded with 18 orders and medals of the USSR and Russia. In 1962, he defended his doctoral dissertation on "Methods for improving the wear resistance of aircraft parts". Author of 2 scientific discoveries: the phenomenon of "selective transfer" (the effect of wearlessness) and "hydrogen wear of metals". From 1970 to 2004, a proffesor, the head of departments of a range national universities. Founder of the scientific school of tribology in Russia. Winner of the Russian Government Prize in science and technology; Winner of the Russian President's prize in education. For outstanding scientific achievements, the international Council for tribology awarded Garkunov the Gold medal of the British Royal society of tribological engineers. Despite the venerable age (98 years) participates in various events dedicated to research in the field of tribology.

Nikolay Ivanovich Golubyatnikov was born on December 1, 1908, in the village of Verkhne-Kurmoyarskaya, Kurmoyarsky district, Stalingrad region. Since 1930, he was commissioned as a teacher to an elementary school. After that he was transfered to the North Ossetian pedagogical Institute of the city Dzaudzhikau, from which he graduated in 1940. After graduation, he worked in Adygea until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. On December 30, 1941, he was drafted into the army. At the same time, he was sent to junior commanders courses in the village of Shelkovskaya. After 3 month courses, in the rank of Sergeant and taking the oath, he was sent to the front as a squad leader of the 964th rifle regiment of the 296th rifle division. At the end of 1942, he studied at the Junior Lieutenant courses. After completing the course, he was sent as a platoon commander to the 276th rifle regiment of the 77th rifle division. In 1943, he was wounded in the shoulder girdle and was treated in a hospital in Baku. After recovery, he was sent to the course "The shot" in Tbilisi, which he completed within three months. After receiving the rank of Lieutenant, he was assigned to the 31st separate reserve officer regiment. At the same time, he received a company in the 311th guards rifle regiment of the 108th guards rifle division and went to the front. At the end of 1943, he was wounded in the arm and was sent to the evacuation hospital in Zheleznovodsk. After recovering, he went to the front again, but on June 20, 1944, near the city of Iassy (Romania), he was wounded in the left thigh, as a result, the leg was shortened by 10 cm. After this serious injury, he was discharged and returned home, where he worked for a long time as a teacher of chemistry and biology. In 1951, he graduated from the Stavropol pedagogical Institute. He worked as a school principal and retired in 1985. He died in the village of Tatarka, Stavropol territory.

My grandfather Grechishkin Pyotr Grigoryevich was born in 1913. He would have turned 104 this year. My grandfather went through the war and reached Berlin. He was called to the front on 23.06.1941 by the Arkhangelsk RVC of the Arkhangelsk district of the Krasnodar territory. My grandfather was a front-line driver, he used to drive a lorry and bring shells to the front line. Rank: Corporal. During one of the winter seasons there was a case when the bridge over the river was occupied by the Nazis, my grandfather taking great risks decided to cross the river by ice in a car loaded with shells in order to deliver the cargo to the front line as soon as possible. At the war time my grandfather was a driver for the legendary russian pilot Valentina Grizodubova. During the offensive operations from the Visla to the Oder river, performing combat missions as a driver on GAZ-AA car within MSS of the 1st operational group of the 16th Air Army, showed himself highly disciplined and knowledgeable in his special business. Under enemy fire in his car my grandfather, sparing no effort and life itself, performed combat missions for the delivery of mine-sapper property. His car passed 25,500 kilometers without breakdowns and accidents. When restoring the airfields of Zalesie and Negalivo by filling in craters and irregularities, my grandfather transported 150 cubic meters of land in his car. For excellent performance of tasks of the command for the delivery of mine-sapper equipment to the places of mine clearance, for excellent maintenance of his car, he was awarded the medal "for Military Merit". He was awarded many more medals. In peacetime, every year on the Victory Day, my grandfather was given awards. He lived for 95 years, and passed away in 2008. I'm proud of my grandfather and I love him as much as ever. For my entire family, my grandfather is an example of perseverance, courage and bravery. In my heart, he will live forever!

Rank: Junior Sergeant. Type of service: Ground forces, Air Force (except naval aviation), the Coast Guard, the NKVD troops, the Border Guards. Gevlya Nikolay Nikitovich was born on October 17,1924. There is probably no family in Russia that has not been affected by this grief. He was born and lived in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic , the Sarsky village near Prokhladnaya railway station. He was not even 17 years old when the war began. There were battles in the Caucasus in the summer of 1942 and trains with military equipment, freight trains with soldiers and passenger cars with officers were often located at the station. His mother used to send him and his elder sister Lyuba to these food trains on weekends. His donkey Yashka helped him a lot in this responsible job. The cart was usually loaded with fruit baskets, milk in aluminum can, and of course bread baked in a home oven on cabbage leaves. This continued for more than a month, until our troops began to retreat to the Volga. The elder sister Lyuba met her future husband here, Captain of the tank brigade Ovchinnikov Georgy Andreevich. In April 1943, he was sent to Mozdok for studies. After completing his course in the 57th Department of the Sapper Battalion, he became the commander of the Sapper Department and was awarded the rank of Junior Sergeant. He fought on the Dnieper, Danube, in Hungary, Moldova, Czechoslovakia and near Berlin. He got the fillowing Government awards: 1. Medal ""For the liberation of Belgrade"", 2. Medal ""For the capture of Vienna"", 3.Medal ""For the liberation of Budapest"", 4.Medal ""For the victory over Germany"". 5. 8 Jubilee Medals (1965 -2005 period). 6. Order of ""Military glory"". He retired to the reserve on February 4,1947 and became a worker at the railways. He met his future wife there. After they got married, he found a job at the Tersky sheep farm as a carpenter of the 4th category and worked at this state farm until his retirement. He died on April 1, 2006. Let the bright memory remain in our hearts! Thank you, my grandfather for this Victory!"

Rank: Senior Sergeant. Type of service: Ground forces, Air force (except naval aviation), the Coast Guard, the NKVD troops, the Border Guards. My grandfather, Pavel Prokofievich Gorelkin, went to the front in July 1941, a month later than his other countrymen. The reason was very strong- his daughter Nina was born two weeks before the war started and she was was the sixth child in his family. That'sa why he was given a delay of 1 month. When he went to the front, he was only 33 years old. His wife (my grandmother) - Antonina Alekseevna (maiden name Kolosova) was left in the rear alone with six children: Vladimir, Alexandra, Sergey, Anna, Raisa and Nina. The eldest son Vladimir was 11 years old, the youngest daughter Nina was only 1.5 months old. My grandmother Antonina was 28 at the time. Finally she was left alone with all hardships and terrible years of the war. Grandfather was fighting against the enemy, grandmother survived, raising six children alone. My grandfather went through the whole war, crossed the whole country, he went through the whole Europe.This long way was not just walked through, but people crawled under the whistling bullets and exploding shells, mines and bombs. He left his small inscription in Berlin at the Reichstag, and finished the German war in Hungary in Budapest. Later there was the war with Japan in the far East. He returned home in 1946 at the age of 38 years in a terrible exhaustion: he did not have a single tooth, and his hands were shaking so that he could not even drink a glass of water, because it spilled out. His wife was waiting for him, she was already 33 years old. She also survived and saved all six of kids, none of the children died of hunger, although according to their stories, it often happened that they were so exhausted from hunger that tried not to move or talk, to save energy. It happened once that they were almost dying but a man from a sugar factory helped them and gave a few lumps of sugar, and that was the only way they survived. A few small sweet sugar pieces saved lives of the whole family.Now I remember all these stories and I can imagine not only their feelings but also the taste of that sugar.How did they both get through it? How were they able to survive on their own and save others? How??? Only God knows! After the war, they had two more sons: Viktor and Eugene. We can see all of them in the photo-four brothers and four sisters.Today we all live because my grandfather Pavel Prokofievich and grandmother Antonina Alekseevna survived. In may, we will go again to visit their graves, to paint the grave stones and fence, restore everything and put flowers. Let the eternal memory of them live! we remember all soldiers who liberated our land from the fascists! We'll never forget those who worked for the Victory in the rear of our country! I bow to all of them to the ground! THANK YOU!"

Rank: Sergeant. Type of troops: Land Forces, Air Force (except naval aviation), Coast Service, NKVD troops, Border troops. In January 1991 an article was published in the newspaper " Soviet Transbaikalia" It was devoted to my grandfather -Fedor Kirillovich Gordeev. Here is the story told by him personally. " Our village Udycha was very good. The place is beautiful, a lot of people lived there. They hunted, fished, and worked in artels. I was drafted into the Army on the 1939th. I served only for two years, then the the war began. I didn't have to fight for long. They took us to the front in September. The army was retreating, you know. Our division fought on the Borodino field, the famous one. That's where I was concussed. I woke up and couldn't find a machine gun.I could hardly figure out where was I, and the Germans were walking around the field, picking up who was still alive. They came up to me and told me to get in line. I was taken a prisoner. First we were in Vyazma camp. Many of our people were killed there. We lived in a great hunger. German guards threw briquettes of pea soup to crowds from a tower, and then watched how the prisoners grabbed them. They often threw a grenade instead of a briquette or gave gun shots. They just had fun. Later we were transferred to the camp of Klintsy. I spent almost six months there. Here our people were sent to mine clearance. They formed a line from people, who were moving forward follewed by German guns. I was lucky,I never got into this team. Later I got to Germany. All of us were divided into groups of four. When someone of those four escaped another soldier was shot. We worked together with free Germans. They treated us well, even gave us food. Our section of the mine has closed. They began to send prisoners to different places, and three of us were lucky again: we got to the mill, where coal was ground into dust, so we packed bags of coal dust there.The fields of rutabagas were growing nearby. We ran away, pulled it from ground and ate. We did it together with German workers. After working at the mill we were sent to the railways to load the bags. The Americans bombed us almost on May, 1945. The guards were sitting by the fire warming themselves. When I asked them to join, they allowed. They began to recognize me after I explained to them my origin. One asks: "Are you Mongol?" And I said to him: "Neither Mongol nor Russian, but so in the middle." They laughed for a long time, and then they began to understand They gave me sigarets and bread. I had two days off in a month. We all lived in a camp, where the Chief Guard amused himself by throwing pieces of bread through the wire and watching the prisoners fight. But he didn't shoot at least, he only smiled. The Americans released us and later handed гы over to Soviet side. I was checked in a special Department for a month and left to serve in Germany for another year. Only in May,1946 I was discharged. I returned back to the village of Udycha. After two years of working I was called to the investigator. I was asked about everything in details. He filled in the information card and released me. I began to forget about this visit. Ten years have passed and I was called to the military enlistment office. They gave me the Medal "For military merit". I was really lucky again that I didn't get to our camp after captivity, like many people did. I stayed alive again while working at the railways. An American plane threw a bomb at the station. I hid under the car and was safe. The next car was smashed to splinters, but my car was intact, and so was I. And after the war, they often insulted me with this captivity. seemed like I was captured of my own will. It was a shame to tears. And they called me a traitor. I don't blame them. Today the military enlistment office forgot about us. They even don't congratulate on Victory Day. I forgave them all". Fyodor Kirillovich's face was slightly touched by a smile. This is the smile of a kind, good person who, in spite of everything, believes that he has often been lucky in life.

Rank: Red Army soldier. Type of troops: Armored and Mechanized troops. Started his combat path in the composition of the 3d Belorussian Front. Golovach Davyd Nikiforovich was born on June 23,1911,in the Krasnoyarsk region, Irbeysky district, village Galushka. He was drafted into the Red Army on June 1, 1941 by the Irbeysky RVC, Krasnoyarsk region, Irbeysky district. He was fighting as part of the 3d Belorussian Front. He actively participated in the following combat operatioms: Vitebsk offensive operation (Operation of the 5th strike) -June 23,1944-June 28,1944; Vitebsk-Orsha offensive operation (Operation of the 5th strike)- June 23,1944-Junu 28, 1944; Minsk offensive operation (Operation of the 5th shot)- June 29, 1944-July 7, 1944; Vilnius offensive operation (Operation of the 5th shot) - July 5,1944-July 20,1944; Kaunas offensive operation (Operation of the 5th shot)- July 28,1944-August 20,1944; Memel offensive operation (8th strike operation)- October 5,1944-Ocober 12,1944 ; Gumbinnen offensive operation (October 16,1944-October 27, 1944); Insterburg-Konigsberg offensive operation (January 13, 1945-January 27,1945); East Prussian offensive operation of the 3rd and 2nd Belorussian fronts (January 13,1945-April 25,1945); Mlavsko-Elbing offensive operation (January 14,1945-January 26,19450); the destruction of the East Prussian enemy unity southwest of the city of Konigsberg(March 13,1945-March 29,1945); Konigsberg offensive operation( April 6,1945-April 9,1945); Destruction of the Zemland group of Germans (April 13,1945-April 25,1945). Medal "" For military merit» (June 14,1945)"

Rank: Colonel. Military branch: Artillery. Unit: 164th Rifle Division (1st formation). He was drafted into the army in early 1943, with the rank of Private. At first, he was an infantryman, and after being wounded, he was transferred to the artillery. Where he received the Order of the great Patriotic War of 2nd class and the Order of the Red Star. During the war and after it, he received 21 medals, including the following: the Medal ""For bravery"", the Medal ""For combat fightings"", the Medal ""For courage"", the Medal named after Georgy Zhukov, the Medal ""For rescue of the Republic of Belarus from the Nazi invaders"". He had one light and serious wounds during the war. He developed from a technical Lieutenant to a Colonel during his service. I found his Award list from the 84th Rifle Corps of the Red Army (August ,1944). Goncharov Mikhail Vasilyevich, the gunner of the 5th battery of the 494th Artillery Regiment of the 164th Rifle Combat Division. His feat was marked as the following: "" On June 23,1944 T. Goncharov destroyed two enemy machine-gun points that prevented the advance of our infantry when breaking through the German defenses in the area of Zamoshentsy village. On June 26,1944 he destroyed up to 20 enemy soldiers in the Sharki area, during the reflection of the enemy counterattack. On the night of June 26,1944 to June 27,1944 in the area of Otwarty village , reflecting the opponent's counterattack, he destroyed 15 enemy soldiers. He was given the Order of the ""Patriotic war of the 2nd class"" for the bravery.He was also awarded the Medal ""For bravery"" at the end of the war: ""Junior Sergeant Goncharov M. V., the gunner of the battery, destroyed from his gun: one light machine gun, up to 10 soldiers and officers, smashed a house with an enemy machine-gun in the area of the Libyi village. On January 24,1945 destroyed the enemy machine-gun being under the heavy fire»"

Branch of service: Army, Air Force (except marine aviation), the Coast Guard, the NKVD troops, Border troops. Division: 8th Guards Rifle Rezhitskaya order of Lenin Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Division named after I. V. Panfilov. Malik Gabdullin- Kazakh Soviet scientist, teacher, writer, full member of the APS of the USSR (1959), honored scientist of the Kazakh SSR (1961), doctor of Philology, Professor (1959), Hero of the Soviet Union (1943). Member of the CPSU since 1940. He was born on November 15, 1915 in the village of Koysalgan (now Zerendinsky district of Akmola region of Kazakhstan). He is a direct descendant of Kanai Kuttymbetuly-Kazakh Biy, one of the leaders of the Kazakhs of the Middle Zhuz, a Major Commander, chief adviser to Abylai Khan and a public figure of the XVIII century. He belonged to the Middle Zhuz, subgenus karauyl of the Argyn genus. From the age of 14, the boy was brought up in the family of the famous Kazakh writer Sabit Mukanov. He graduated from the Abai Kazakh pedagogical Institute in 1935. After graduating from the Institute, Malik Gabdullin served in the military (1935-1937). Then he worked as a literary worker in the newspaper "" Sotsialistik Kazakhstan ""(1937), Deputy editor of the newspaper"" Kazakhstan pioneri "" (1938), researcher at the Institute of language and literature of the KazFan USSR (1938), in 1938-1946 — graduate student of Abai KazPI Institute. In 1941-1945, he participated in the great Patriotic war as part of the Panfilov Guards Division. In January — March 1942, in the battles near the city of Kholm in the Novgorod region, Gabdullin led a group of soldiers who,hit 2 tanks with grenades, destroyed a large number of fascists and captured 12 of them in a battle with the predominant forces of the fascists. Gabdullin was wounded in the battle, but did not leave the battlefield. For this feat, Senior Political Instructor Malik Gabdullin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the order of Lenin and the Medal of ""Gold Star"" by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on January 30, 1943. After the war, he was engaged in scientific and pedagogical activities, worked as Director Of the Institute of literature and linguistics of the Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences (1946-1951), rector of the Abai KazPI (1951-1963), head of the folklore Department Of the Auezov Institute of literature and art of The Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences (1963-1973). The main topic of Malik Gabdullin's research is the heroic epic, folk songs, fairy tales, proverbs and sayings of the Kazakh people. He participated in the preparation and publication of a multi-volume history of Kazakh literature. His scientific work ""Kazakh heroic epic"" was awarded the Ch. Ch. Valikhanov prize in 1972. Malik Gabdullin is the author of a number of works of art: ""My front-line friends ""(1947),"" Golden star ""(1948),"" Front-line essays ""(1949),"" Everyday life of war ""(1968),"" About friends- combat comrades ""(1969),"" Terrible years "" (1971). Some of the works were published in Russian in translation by I. P. Shchegolikhina. He died on January 2, 1973. He was elected a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd-4th convocations."

Golovenkov Fyodor Sergeevich was born on September 13,1913 in the Kursk province in a peasant family. He has got a primary education. In 1938, according to the Komsomol recruitment he was sent to Zabaikalski Krai and joined the Internal Affairs department. In the same year, his brother, Vasily Sergeevich, was drafted into the Army (he went missing in 1941). In 1940, Fyodor Sergeyevich married. In February 1941, his son Viktor was born. He was drafted into the service in August 1942 by Khiloksk RVC in Chita region. He was promoted to Junior Sergeant and was sent to the front line in the 53rd army near Leningrad after a month-long course of machine gunners. He fought at the Mga station, where he was wounded in the leg. He was in hospitals for about 4 months.He was awarded the medal ""For military merit"" in November 1942 for the first time. Then the Army was transferred to Voronezh, he took part in the battle of the Dnieper, liberated the Donbass, Moldova. Participated in the Iasi-Kishenev operation, in the liberation of Romania, Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia. Especially heavy fighting was in the area of Budapest. He was wounded on October 25,1944. He was also wounded on December 23,1944 and received the Medal ""For bravery"" in Budapest. He was wounded for the fourth time in Austria in March 1945 and was treated in a hospital until May 6, 1945. After being discharged from the hospital, he was sent to the 110th Rifle Division. He was transferred to Mongolia in July. His division crossed the Great Khingan and, after fighting for more than 700 km, completed the encirclement of the Japanese army in Manchuria. All these awards say about his eternal courage: the Medal ""For bravery"", the Medal ""For military merit"", the Medal ""For the capture of Budapest"", the Medal ""For the victory over Germany in the great Patriotic war of 1941-1945"", the Medal ""For the victory over Japan"", the order of the ""Red Star"".He worked in the linear police Department in Petrovsk Zabaykal'skiy after the war. He retired in 1965. He was awarded by the medal of the Ministry of internal Affairs ""20 years of impeccable service"" and has many certificates."

Branch of the army: Land forces, Air Force (except naval aviation), Coast Service, NKVD troops, Border Guard. Unit: 230th Stalin Rifle Division of the order of Suvorov. After graduating from the 10th grade he was sent to the Mogilev infantry school which was evacuated to the city of Volsk, Saratov region. He graduated from school as a mortar. In July 1943, the entire school was sent to the front on alert. He participated in the battles for the liberation of Kharkov, Poltava and the city of Kobeliaky. On September 27, 1943, they reached the Bank of the Dnieper river opposite the large village of Mishurin Rog. On the right high bank of the Dnieper, the Regiment captured a bridgehead and was fighting to expand it . In the afternoon they received orders to cross the Dnieper and support their infantry with fire. Their mortar company ran to the shore, where the pontoons were served. At night, an order was received to go to the ferry for landing on the other side of the Dnieper. They landed near the village a bit later. They were ordered to join their battalion, which was already fighting. Leaving their rolls, gas masks, and duffel bags on the Bank, they caught up with their battalion and began to support their comrades with fire. On October 29, 1943 the Regiment was encircled near Krivoi Rog. They left the encirclement without mortar's support, and after checking, they were sent to the infantry. They were advancing on Odessa. On August 20,1944 the offensive of Chisinau began. V.Gordeev was ordered to destroy a group of fascists and remove the dead adjutant from the battlefield. He was marked with the Order of the ""Patriotic War of the 1st class"" fot this fight. On January 10, 1945, their 230th Stalinist Division in the 9th Corps moved to the bridgehead behind the Vistula. On January 12, due to bad weather, without artillery and air training, the offensive began, broke through the German defenses and quickly went to the Oder. On February 1, 1945, the Germans were driven out of the city of Zellin. In the evening, they received orders to cross the Oder, to understand the enemy's position and capture the ""informer"". Five of them walked along the Oder river in white coats. It was a high causeway on the opposite bank . Their commands were sure there was a defense behind the dam. They crawled behind the dam and made sure that there was no one behind it. There was a small house not far from the shore where they found a sleeping German soldier near the phone. They learned from him that the entire company had gone to the nearest German estate, and they promised to come for him later. V.Gordeev sent 2 soldiers to the headquarters to inform them that crossing the Oder at this point was possible. After 1.5 hours, company of machine gunners came to support them near that estate. Machine gunners quickly captured the estate, destroying all the Germans. By morning, the entire Regiment was on the defensive at the indicated point , and the 148th Rifle Division next to us was ordered to cross the Oder, where our division had passed. In the morning, the attacks of the fascists began, but the bridgehead expanded in depth and width. Heavy fighting with German tank divisions began. At night, they received an order to capture the city in the nearest locality. They also captured the informer and took him to the regimental headquarters. In the future, heavy fighting continued, and part of the regiment was forced to withdraw behind the coastal dam. V.Gordeev was presented with the Order of the ""Great Patriotic War of 2nd class"" for the perfect fulfilling of all the missions. The war ended on May 2, 1945 in Berlin. For fighting in Berlin, he was awarded the Order of the ""Red Star"". Later he served in the 5th Shock Army, which served as a garrison in Berlin."

Rank: Lance-Corporal. Military Branch: Artillery. My great-grandfather was born and raised in the Altai territory of the Loktevsky district in the village of Gilevo. He graduated from 5 classes. On December 12, 1931, his family was declared as ""kulaks"", as the farm had a plow and 2 mares.After the verdict, my great-grandfather, along with his father, mother and brother Nikolay, was sent to a special settlement in the Tomsk region. They lived there for several years,but later returned to their native land,but a local village Council was organized in their house,where they lived for quite a long time. They had to go to the Kazakh SSR, Semipalatinsk region, Novopokrovsky district in Belagach (now Borodulikha district). From those places my great-grandfather was drafted into the 1064th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment named after Kutuzov in Lviv. Grandfather did not like to talk about those times,because they brought a lot of grief and sadness not only to his family,but also to many other people. Later, we found documents that said that on April 25, 1945, my great-grandfather, during the fights in Berlin, broke into the house first, destroyed 2 soldiers and took 3 prisoners. His private documents inform about the following heroic deeds: capture of Tarnopol on April 14, 1944; capture of Cracow on January 19, 1945; capture of Dombrowski Coal district on January 28, 1945 ; possession of Ratibor and Beskow on March 31, 1945; capture of Berlin on May 2, 1945. He was awarded the Medal ""For bravery"", the Medal ""For the capture of Berlin"", the Medal ""For the victory over Germany"" and the order of the ""Patriotic war of 2nd class"" for exemplary performance of combat tasks of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders. In 1946, he was discharged from the Army with the rank of Corporal. After the war, my great-grandfather married Goncharova (Zapasnaya) Evdokia Vasilyevna. They supportedeach other in all difficult situations. In 1947, they had their first child, Anatoly Pavlovich Goncharov,and later in 1951, their second son, Nikolay Pavlovich Goncharov, was born. My great-grandfather lived in Kazakhstan in the village of Aul (village of Aul) until the last days of his life. In 2001, at the age of 82, my great-grandfather passed away. His children,grandchildren and great-grandchildren will remember him forever!"

Rank: Corporal. Branch of service: Army, Air Force (except marine aviation), the Coast Guard, the NKVD troops, Border troops. Division: 65th Rifle Division of the NKVD internal troops. My grandmother Testova (Grigorieva) Galina Trofimovna (September 11,1929- April 30,2009) told me the story of her brother's life. Her brother, Grigoriev Gury Trofimovich, was born in 1926 in Toreva village, Yalchiksk district of the Chuvash ASSR. 12 children were born in total in their family, and Gury was the 11th child. However, due to starvation and disease, the elder ones died. Only three children remained alive in those difficult times: Maria (born in 1924), Gury (born in 1926), and Galina (born in 1929). Their father, Trofim, died before my grandmother Galina was born due to infection of a callus on the foot. Their mother, Darya Grigoryevna, was a very strong woman. During the day, Darya Grigoryevna worked with everyone in the field, and at night she worked with sheep skins. She went on foot to Kanash, which was located 50 km from their village to sell ready-made skins. She didn't sleep at night to feed her children. She used to tell that even in those terrible times , when other families ate ""mezga"", she tried to feed her children with boiled potatoes. At the beginning of the great Patriotic war, the elder sister Maria was 16 years old. She was called to dig trenches for the front. After the war, she stayed in Moscow. In 1940, brother Guri turned 14. He was a very talantedin music boy. My grandmother Galina told me that one day Gury made a violin out of the dried guts of a goose. As soon as he had free time, he loved to play a homemade violin. Gury led Amateur art activities in the village club in his spare time from field work. My grandmother Galina has been working on the field and on the farm along with adults since the age of 13. During the war years, she rode oxen for timber in the neibouring forests. On October 25, 1943, Grigoriev Gury Trofimovich, at the age of 18, was drafted into the Army to defend his Homeland from the German invaders by the Yalchiksk RVC of the Chuvash ASSR. He became a Corporal of the 311th Rifle regiment. He was a member of the Komsomol. He met his last morning during the battle for the height of 258.3 in the Murmansk region. Killed in action on October 09, 1944 at the age of 19. He was buried in a mass grave at an altitude of 23x82 258.3 in the Murmansk region. Sleep well! We are proud of you!"

Valeria Osipovna Gnarovskaya was born October 18, 1923 in the Modolitsi village, Kingiseppsky district of Leningrad region. Branch of the armed forces: Military medical staff. Division: 244th Rifle Zaporozhye Red Banner order of Suvorov Division. Her father was drafted into the Red Army with the beginning of the great Patriotic war, and with the approach of German troops to Leningrad, the Gnarovsky family was evacuated to Ishim in the Tyumen region. They were sent to the village of Berdyuzhye, where Valeria, along with her mother, began working in the local post office. From the very beginning of the war, Valeria repeatedly appealed to the local military Commissariat with a request to send her to the front, but each time she was rejected. In the spring of 1942, the Komsomol members of t of Berdyuzhye village went to the Ishim station and joined the 229th Rifle Division that was being formed there. Valeria, along with her friends, went through military training and studied sanitary. In July 1942, the division was sent to the Stalingrad front and was immediately engaged in heavy fighting, in which Valeria Gnarovskaya showed bravery and carried the wounded from the battlefield. According to the memoirs of her front-line friend E. Doronina: ""On the approaches to the front, in the heat, on a dusty road, in full equipment, we went day and night… Not far from Surovikino station, our unit came into action. There were strong fights... I felt uneasy, especially in the first few minutes. We were so confused that we were afraid to come out of hiding on the battlefield. The impact of artillery shells, the explosion of bombs-all mixed up in a continuous roar. The world around us was dying and the ground was collapsing under our feet. As I remember now, Valeria was the first to run out of the trench and shouted: ""Comrades! Let's die for the Motherland! Let's go! "" and everyone left the trenches and rushed to the battlefield without any hesitation"". The division was fighting heavy battles with the enemy for 17 days, was surrounded totally and its way back to Soviet side for a week. Valeria courageously performed the duty of a medic. But soon she fell ill with typhoid fever. The soldiers broke through the encirclement and carried out a barely alive girl in their arms. Gnarovskaya Valeria Osipovna was awarded the Medal ""For courage"". After recovery she returned again to the front. In the summer of 1943 V.Gnarovskaya again came to the hospital with a concussion, but soon returned to her division. In a letter to her mother dated by August 22, 1943 she wrote that she was alive and well, that she had been to the hospital for the second time, could not hear well after the concussion, but hoped that everything would pass: ""From August 15 to August 21,1943, there was a hot battle with the Germans. They rushed to the high-rise where we stood, but all their attempts to break through didn't work out. Our fighters, me dear friends,fought bravely. Many of them died ,but I survived, and I must tell you, my dear, that I did a great job. About 30 seriously wounded soldiers were carried out from the battlefield.""During the period of offensive battles Gnarovskaya Valeria Osipovna saved the lives of more than 300 wounded. On September 23, 1943 Valeria Gnarovskaya pulled out on herself many wounded and took them to the dressing station during the fight near the village Verbove (farm Ivanenkova) . At this time, two German ""tigers"" broke through in the direction of the dressing station. Valeria Gnarovskaya rushed under one of them with a bunch of grenades and blew it up, the second tank was hit by the Red Army soldiers who arrived in time. Valeria Gnarovskaya was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 2, 1944 for her courage and heroism, and exemplary performance of tasks. From the presentation to the award: ""Only in the battle for the city of Dolitsa near the river Seversky Donets she took out 47 wounded soldiers and officers with their weapons from the battlefield.Personally destroyed 28 German soldiers and officers.Two enemy Tiger tanks broke through our defense line Under the Ivanenkovo state farm and rushed to the location of the regiment's headquarters. At this critical moment Valeria Gnarovskaya grabbed a bunch of grenades and rushed ahead of the enemy tank risking her life. The tank was stopped by the explosion. Colonel Pozhidaev,the Commander of the 907th Infantry Regiment of the 244th Zaporizhia Red Division said on March 21, 1944:"" Valeria Gnarovskaya was awarded the ""Gold Star"" medal of Hero of the Soviet Union (June 2, 1944, posthumously), order of Lenin (2 June 1944, posthumously), the Medal ""For courage"" (1942). Later Verbove village (farm Ivanenkova) was renamed in Gnarovskoe in her honor. A memory obelisk was errected there. There is a monument in honor of Valeria Gnarovskaya in the city of Podporozhye, and a street named after her. There are streets named after her in Tyumen, the Ukrainian city of Volnyansk and the village of Beguile. A monument was erected on the street named after her in the village of Plyussa, Pskov region in 2008. About her family. Her father Osip Gnarovski returned home from the front after the war and died. Mother Evdokia Mikhailovna lived in the city of Podporozhye, Leningrad region.Her sister Victoria worked as a teacher in 1970ies."

Rank: Junior Sergeant. Type of service: Ground Forces, Air Force (except naval aviation), the Coast Guard, the NKVD troops, the border guards. Division: 163d Rifle Romnensk-Kiev order of Lenin Red Banner order of Suvorov and Kutuzov division. My uncle Ivan Samsonovich Gavrilov, was born in 1912 in the family of a worker in Khanzhenkovo village, Taganrog district of the Don Army Region of the Russian Empire (now in the city of Makeyevka, Donetsk region of Ukraine). He graduated from seven classes of secondary school in Khanzhenkovo village and the school of apprenticies at the mine No. 21. He worked in the mines of Makeyevka as a foreman and assistant .In July 1941, Ivan Samsonovich was sent to Karaganda, where he worked at mine No. 12 as the head transport department. In June 1942, among the volunteers, he was sent to develop the Pechora coal basin. He lived in the Kozhvinsky district of the Pechora district of the Komi ASSR in the town of chekists. He worked as an assistant at the mine No. 1/2, then as the head of the section of mine No.4. On March 8, 1943 I.Gavrilov was drafted into the Red Army by the Kozhvinsky district military Commissariat. After a short training course, Junior Sergeant Gavrilov was sent to the 1318th Rifle Regiment of the 163d Rifle Division of the 27th Army of the Voronezh front. Ivan Samsonovich served in active Army from April 14, 1943 as a squad leader of the 3rd Rifle Batallion. Until August 1943, the 27th Army was in the front reserve and went on the offensive in August 1943 during the Belgorod-Kharkiv operation of the battle of Kursk. The battle for the Dnieper began very soon. He reached the Dnieper river opposite Kiev at the end of September 1943 as part of the 6th Guards Army, then the 38th Army, the 163d Rifle Division, he liberated the cities of Romny and Priluki during the Sumy-Priluki offensive operation of the Voronezh front. The first attempt to cross the river was unsuccessful. The second attempt was made by the division's regiments South of Kiev near the village of Bortnichi. The 1318th Rifle Regiment had to cross the Dnieper river at the southern edge of Kiev in the area of Zhukov island. On the night of October 2, 1943, the Rifle Department headed by Junior Sergeant I. S. Gavrilov forced the water barrier, attacked the German positions and captured the trenches. The enemy launched five counterattacks to destroy the landing party, but all attacks were repulsed by the squad with great damage to the enemy. Thanks to the actions of Gavrilov's squad, the rest of the regiment successfully crossed the Dnieper and soon liberated the village of Chapayevka on the outskirts of Kiev. On October 29, 1943, Sergeant Ivan Samsonovich Gavrilov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for successful crossing the Dnieper river, for firm securing of a bridgehead on the Western Bank of the Dnieper river, and for his bravery and heroism. In early November 1943, the 163rd Rifle Division was transferred to the Lutezhsky bridgehead. Ivan Samsonovich took part in the Kiev offensive and defensive operations (from the end of November 1943 as part of the 40th army of the 1st Ukrainian front). At the end of December 1943 I. S. Gavrilov was seriously wounded in the battle of Fastov. Ivan Samsonovich was evacuated to a hospital in the village of Stavishche, but could not be saved. He died of his wounds on January 2, 1944. I. S. Gavrilov was buried in the village of Stavishche, Kiev region of Ukraine."