1103 infantry regiment 328 sd

Combat route of the 328th Infantry Red Banner Division of Warsaw


    The combat path of the 328th Red Banner Rifle Division of Warsaw began in the North Caucasus in the autumn of 1942.
    The soldiers of the division as part of the Black Sea Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front steadfastly held back the onslaught of the Nazi hordes, rushing to the sea and in Transcaucasia. After heavy defensive battles, the troops of the Red Army thwarted the enemy's offensive in the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range, forced him to go on the defensive. The 328th Rifle Division also made a feasible contribution to this.
    Front roads of the 328th Infantry led her through the Kuban and Donbass, Right-Bank Ukraine and Poland to the capital of Nazi Germany. The first of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, she joined in Ketzin with units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, closing the outer ring of encirclement of the enemy group in Berlin.
    The motherland appreciated the feats of arms of the soldiers of the division. She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and awarded the honorary title of Warsaw. All its parts were also awarded orders, some of them were given honorary titles. Thousands of soldiers of the division received state awards, and six of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Division formation
    The defensive battle in the North Caucasus began on July 25, 1942 at the turn of the Don River in the strip from the village of Verkhnekurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the Don.
    In August, the enemy captured Krasnodar, Maikop, Belorechenskaya and rushed to Tuapse, trying to reach the Black and Caspian Seas. The fascist German command set as its immediate task access to the coast of the Black Sea, the capture of the most important regions of the Caucasus, a breakthrough through Dagestan to Baku and the mastery of the Baku oil regions.
    The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command took urgent measures to strengthen the Transcaucasian Front.
    On August 18, the enemy launched an offensive in the zone of the Northern Group of Forces. Having shot down its forward detachments, on August 25 he captured Mozdok, hoping to break through to Grozny from here.
    To prevent this threat and create a depth of defense in the Makhachkala region, the formation of the 58th Army was hastily completed, consisting of four rifle divisions, a rifle brigade and two artillery regiments under the command of Major General V.A. Khomenko. Among the rifle divisions that became part of the 58th Army was the 328th.
    The unit under this number was created for the first time in August - September 1941 in the Kostroma region.
    For the courage and heroism of the personnel in the battle near Moscow in May 1942, the division was reorganized into the 31st Guards Rifle Division. For the second time, the 328th Rifle Division was formed on the basis of a decree of the State Defense Committee and an order of the commander of the North Caucasian Military District dated July 29, 1942.
    The formation began in the city of Beslan in the Ordzhonikidze region, but without finishing it, on August 11, the division set out for the city of Vagharshapad of the Armenian SSR. Along the way, she received a new task - by August 22, concentrate in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bBuinaksk, the Dagestan Autonomous Republic, and enter the 58th Army.
    The division included the 1103rd, 1105th and 1107th rifle regiments, 889th artillery regiment, 295th separate anti-tank artillery battalion, 606th separate engineer battalion, 446th separate communications company, 404th separate chemical protection company, 388th separate reconnaissance company, 411th separate medical -sanitary battalion and other units [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, d.1, l.1].
    Arriving in the indicated area, the division settled in the city of Buynaksk, in the villages of Buglen, Atlanaul, Lower and Upper Dzhengutai, Kazanishche.
    Colonel N.I. Pavlovsky was appointed commander of the division, senior battalion commissar A.V. Margulis was appointed commissar, lieutenant colonel N.P. Zagrebelny was appointed deputy division commander, major Yu.M. A.I. Shchetinin, artillery commander - Colonel I.P. Sabinin, regiment commanders: 1103rd - Lieutenant Colonel K.S. Tatarchuk, 1105th - Major V.I.Katrich, 1107th - Major G.D. Balbulyan, 889th artillery - Major I.Ya. Kryzhko.
    Immediately, marching teams began to arrive in the unit, as well as soldiers, sergeants and officers from hospitals.
    Officers was mainly from among the front-line soldiers, many of them were injured. On the same days, a large detachment of graduates of the Makhachkala and Telavi infantry schools arrived. At the same time, the division received materiel, instruments, weapons, vehicles, and horses. Intensive combat and political training took place, and reconnaissance of the area was carried out at the same time. The enemy was approaching, and it was necessary to be ready to meet him at any moment.
       The 58th Army was the second echelon of the Northern Group of Forces of the North Caucasian Front, and its units still had the opportunity to improve their skills and acquire the skills necessary for combat.
    In combat training, the main attention was paid to single training and cohesion of units. The fighters mastered weapons, the material part of artillery, learned to shoot, conduct reconnaissance, lay communications in relation to the mountain theater of military operations.
    By the beginning of hostilities, the division had soldiers of 22 different nationalities, including seven nationalities of the Caucasus.
    At the lessons with the command staff and headquarters, planning a defensive battle, organizing interaction, managing units and subunits were practiced. A close relationship was established with the local Soviet and party bodies. The personnel of the division, if possible, helped the collective farms in harvesting, repairing roads and buildings, and often provided vehicles for the transport of goods. Political workers spoke to the collective farmers with reports on the international situation and the situation on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, agitators conducted conversations and political information.
    With each passing day, the divisions and units grew stronger, became more and more united and combat-ready.
    Meanwhile, the situation at the front escalated. On September 3, 1942, the enemy began crossing his troops from the Crimea to the Taman Peninsula and launched an offensive against Novorossiysk, trying to cut off the Red Army troops from the sea. By September 9, part of Novorossiysk was captured by the enemy, but all his attempts to advance along the sea were unsuccessful. The enemy did not go further than Novorossiysk.
    Having failed to achieve success in the Novorossiysk direction, the Nazi troops attempted to break through to the sea in the Tuapse direction. In September, the Nazis strengthened this direction and prepared new attacks on the troops of the Black Sea Group. They intended to reach the Black Sea coast in the Tuapse region, cut off the Black Sea Group of Forces from the main forces of the front, deprive Black Sea Fleet bases and ports, to free up part of their forces for operations in other directions.
    The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command carried out a number of measures to strengthen the Black Sea Group of Forces: they were regrouped, fresh formations and units were brought in, and reserves were created. The 328th Rifle Division was also advancing towards the Tuapse direction.

Defense of the Caucasus
    In accordance with the combat order of the headquarters of the North Caucasian Front, the division made a combined march from September 10 to 20: from Makhachkala to Sukhumi along railway, further to Tuapse, some units by sea, and the 889th artillery regiment, mortar and rear units - on their own.
    On September 20, the division concentrated in the Tuapse area, where it became part of the 18th Army of the Black Sea Group of Forces and took up defense at the Bolshoy Pseushko, Anastasievka, Georgirpovka, Kochevka line. On September 25, she was transferred to the Tuapse defensive area (TOR) with the task of defending its outer contour. On the same day, the enemy went on the offensive. The Tuapse defensive operation began, which lasted until December 20, 1942.
    The enemy delivered the main blow from the Neftegorsk region to Shaumyan and an auxiliary blow from the Goryachiy Klyuch region also to Shaumyan with the task of encircling the main forces of the 18th Army northeast of this city.
       After powerful air and artillery raids, the enemy attacked units of the 32nd Guards Rifle Division along the Maykop-Tuapse road. The guards staunchly defended themselves and held their positions. Having not achieved success in this direction, on September 27 the enemy tried to break through the village of Gunayka (12 km east of Shaumyan). After heated battles, he managed to move forward. The Nazis achieved partial success in other areas as well. By the end of September 30, they had penetrated the defenses of the 18th Army in the Sosnovka area, Mount Geiman.
    In this regard, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command demanded that the front command in no case prevent the enemy from entering the Tuapse area. The directive of the Headquarters indicated the need for active operations and cover for the Tuapse direction, or rather, the Khadyzhinskaya-Tuapse road by units of the 32nd Guards and 328th Rifle Divisions.
    The Front Commander set the task of destroying the enemy in the Sosnovka area and restoring the situation, for which purpose to strike with the forces of the 119th Infantry Brigade, one regiment of the 328th Infantry Division and part of the forces of the 68th Naval Infantry Brigade, 32nd Guards, 236th and the 328th rifle divisions to firmly cover the road Khadyzhinskaya - Tuapse [ TsAMO, f. 371, op.6367, d.102, l.142].
& nbsp & nbsp & nbsp September 29, the 328th Infantry Division returned to the 18th Army and concentrated in the city of Shaumyan with the task of the end of October 1 to occupy the line of the Navaginskaya station, the Elizabethsky pass, Shaumyan in readiness for the offensive in the direction of the Gaina and Lysaya mountains. The 1103rd Rifle Regiment remained in the reserve of the commander of the 18th Army, and then under the operational control of the commander of the 56th Army and the commander of the 32nd Guards Rifle Division.
    However, on October 1, the enemy launched a preemptive strike, captured Mount Gunai and developed an offensive against the villages of Maratuki and Kotlovina. There was a gap in the operational formation of the 18th Army. On October 3, the Nazis bypassed Mount Geiman from the southeast, reached the northern outskirts of Guynak and began to advance along the valley of the Guynak River towards Shaumyan.
    On the evening of October 3, the rear of the 328th division was subjected to fierce bombing. Several bombs exploded near the ammunition stacks. The fire started. The sentry in the warehouse, Private V.N. Korolev raised the alarm and was the first to put out the fire. Composure and courage were shown by the head of the mobile artillery warehouse, the communist junior military engineer F.P. Vlasov, who led the fight against the fire. The fight with fire continued for three hours. Hot shells began to burst, but the soldiers did not flinch in the face of mortal danger and saved the ammunition. F.P. Vlasov was awarded a medal"For courage."
    During October 4-9, the troops of the 18th Army fought off fierce attacks by units of the 44th German Army Corps advancing in the Gunai and Kura directions. The enemy managed to push the formations of the first echelon and capture the farms of Gunayka and Kurinsky.
    The 1103rd Rifle Regiment, being under operational control of the commander of the 32nd Guards. rifle division, during October 3-4 he fought for the Kurinsky farm. On October 4, as a result of a strong enemy attack, the 2nd Infantry Battalion under the command of Captain A.M. Apishev was cut off from the main forces of the regiment and surrounded. The divisions of the battalion bravely fought, not giving the enemy the opportunity to divide them into small groups.
    During the battle, riflemen of the 4th company VF Mukhin with two fighters occupied a bunker captured from the enemy. The Nazis pressed the company, and she retreated. The soldiers did not have time to leave with her and remained in the bunker. From a light machine gun captured in battle, they fired accurately and repulsed several attacks, while destroying up to a dozen enemy soldiers and two officers. The company took advantage of the hitch, went on the attack and occupied the former line [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.8, l.5]. Private V.F. Mukhin was awarded the order Red Star.
    Squad commander A.I.Veselov, mortar platoon commander Lieutenant G.F.Bezuburchuk, gunner Private A.V.Andreev and many other soldiers bravely fought.
    Sergeant Veselov was wounded, but continued to fight, after the failure of the platoon commander of the 5th rifle company, he replaced him, led the counterattack, personally destroyed up to 12 Nazis and led the platoon out of the encirclement, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
    Lieutenant Bezuburchuk, having destroyed the enemy crew in hand-to-hand combat, seized the machine gun. Deploying it, he opened fire and helped repel the attack. The feat of the officer was awarded the medal "For Military Merit".
       Private A.V. Andreev fired from a mortar until the last mine, after which, with a rifle in his hands, he joined the shooters and went with them to counterattack. Having destroyed up to 15 Nazis, he left the encirclement with the battalion and carried out an 82-mm mortar with the help of his comrades [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.8, l.3,4,11]. The brave warrior was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
    During heavy fighting, the regiment suffered serious losses, but held back the onslaught of the enemy.
    Since October 4, the division (without the 1103rd regiment) defended farms southeast of the Pshish junction, Navaginskaya station, Elisavetpolsky pass with the task of not letting the enemy through the Gunayka river valley to Shaumyan. On October 8, the 3rd Rifle Battalion of the 1105th Regiment was attached to the 12th Guards Cavalry Division and participated in counterattacks with it. The 1105th Rifle Regiment (without the 3rd Battalion) in cooperation with the 12th Guards. cavalry division during October 8 and 9, he actively defended himself and carried out counterattacks along the valley of the Gunayka River. Having superiority in forces and means, the enemy repulsed them, the regiment went on the defensive. Continuing to advance, the Nazis penetrated the defenses in the sector of the 2nd Battalion and cut off the regiment. For two days, the 1st and 2nd battalions fought in and out of the encirclement.
    The 1107th Rifle Regiment was the second echelon of the division and has not yet entered the battle. On the night of October 9, his 1st Rifle Battalion was withdrawn to the Ostrovskaya Shchel area and took up defense there until the 107th Rifle Brigade approached.
    By the end of October 9, the stubborn defense and counterattacks of the troops of the 18th Army stopped the enemy offensive in all directions. The first attempt of the Nazi troops to break through to Tuapse failed. They went on the defensive, but at the same time strengthened their grouping in the Gunai and Kura directions.
          On October 12, the 328th division received the task of part of the units to block the height of 618.7, and with the main forces from the morning of October 13 to advance along the valley of the Gunayka River. The division commander ordered the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 1105th regiment to block the height of 618.7, then destroy the enemy there during the night, and the 1107th rifle regiment (without the 1st battalion) to capture the village of Gunayka 1st.
    The 26th NKVD Regiment (later operationally subordinate to the division) was advancing on the left, there was no neighbor on the right.
       On the morning of October 13, after a short artillery fire raid, the division went on the offensive, but met strong enemy fire resistance and did not reach its goal.
& Nbsp & Nbsp & Nbsp 14 on October 14 struck two blows at the same time: one from the Gunayka district on Shaumyan, Garden, the other from the Fanagoria region to Gardenia in order to surround the main grouping of the 18th Army and break through to the Tuapse.
    Advancing in the valley of the Gunayka River on Shahumyan, the Nazis pushed back units of the 328th division and wedged between the 1105th and 1107th rifle regiments, threatening to encircle the latter.
    The battery of 76-mm regimental guns located on the flank of the 1107th regiment was bombed and lost its commander. He was replaced by a senior officer on the battery ml. Lieutenant M.P. Poberezhnyak. He ordered a quick change of position. Having occupied it, the battery met the attackers with rapid fire and, scattering up to a company of infantry, prevented the encirclement of the regiment. ml. Lieutenant M.P. Poberezhnyak was awarded the medal "For Courage".
    The attacks continued the next day. Under heavy enemy fire, the 26th NKVD Regiment withdrew, opening the left flank of the 1107th Regiment. The 1105th regiment also withdrew, which was then transferred to the operational subordination of the commander of the 107th rifle brigade and remained in its composition until November 4.
          By the end of October 15, the advanced units of the enemy reached the Ostrovskaya Shchel railway bridge and in the area 2 km east of G. Shaumyan, submachine gunners infiltrated the southern outskirts of the city and attacked the command post of the division.
& nbsp & nbsp & nbsp personnel of the CP, headed by the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Yu.M. Abramov, using personal weapons and grenades, entered the battle with machine gunners and discarded them.
    On the same day, the driver of the 391st separate auto company, Private N.K. On a car loaded with shells, at high speed, he broke through enemy positions and safely delivered ammunition to the firing positions of the 889th artillery regiment. The division commander awarded Komendantov with the medal "For Courage".
    Other warriors of the autorote also acted selflessly: Lieutenant V.Ya.Voinov, Petty Officer I.S.Krivorot, Private S.P.Nedelsky. They uninterruptedly brought ammunition to parts of the division.
    On October 17, the enemy captured the city of Shaumyan and started a battle for the Elisavetpolsky pass. On the same day, the 1103rd Rifle Regiment returned to the division.
    The command of the 18th Army urgently prepared counterattacks from two directions to defeat the enemy in the Shaumyan area. The 328th Rifle Division was to take part in one of them [ TsAMO, f. 371, op.6367, d.102, l.148], which received the task, in cooperation with the 119th Infantry Brigade, to destroy the enemy in the area.
                                                On the morning of October 18, after a fire raid by artillery, the 1107th rifle regiment went on the attack, went to the northwestern outskirts of Shaumyan and, having met strong fire resistance, entrenched itself. Having repelled the blow of the army, the enemy troops resumed the offensive. In the course of intense fighting, the Nazis pushed back the formations of the army and captured the Elisavetpolsky pass.
    On October 20, the division, with the exception of the 1107th regiment, was withdrawn to the army reserve and deployed in the Parnev beam area. Ahead of her were units of the 32nd Guards Rifle Division.
    The next day, after a powerful artillery and aviation preparation, superior enemy forces delivered the main blow to the right neighbor of the 32nd Guards. divisions - the 408th Infantry Division from the Ostrovskaya Shchel area and the Kholodnaya gully. Fierce fighting began. The personnel of the 408th division showed stamina, heroism and did not allow the Nazis to penetrate deeply into the defense, but nevertheless was forced to retreat. The enemy entered the valley of the Pshish River to the villages of Perevalny and Goyth, threatening to bypass the right flank of the army. By October 23, he managed to capture Perevalny, reach the mountains of Semashko and Turkey, cutting the only road.
    The army command strengthened the defense of the Goythsky pass and created two army artillery groups, one of which included the 889th artillery regiment. As a result of the measures taken, the advance of the enemy was stopped.
    On October 24, the Nazis launched an offensive on the left flank of the army and, after fierce fighting, captured Sarai Gora. Then the commander gave the order to the 328th and 32nd Guards. rifle divisions to destroy the wedged enemy and restore the situation.
    By the end of October 26, the task was completed, the 328th division occupied Sarai Gora and cut the Shaumyan-Sadovoye road [ TsAMO, f. 371, op.6367, d.102, l.154]. Having repulsed numerous enemy counterattacks, she held the captured line.
    Until October 31, formations of the 18th Army fought stubborn battles in the areas of the mountains Semashko, Kamenistaya, Dva Brata, the villages of Perevalny, Goyth, inflicted significant damage on the enemy in manpower and equipment and threw him back across the Pshish River. In the forests and gullies on the northern slopes of the mountains Two Brothers and Semashko, several Nazi units were surrounded.
    The 328th division held the defense at that time, and its 1103rd regiment, transferred to the command of the commander of the 68th naval rifle brigade, was ready to act according to the situation.
    Thus the second enemy attack on Tuapse failed. The fascist German troops also went over to the defensive.
    The battles now mainly boiled down to improving the position of individual units and destroying encircled enemy groups in the areas of the Semashko and Dav Brata mountains. The first stage of the Tuapse defensive operation is over.
    The troops of the Black Sea Group fought in very difficult conditions in mountainous and wooded areas, with a constant lack of ammunition, food, and fodder. The supply was carried out along one road running along the sea. The enemy continuously bombarded her with artillery fire and delivered air strikes. There were even attempts to interrupt the message with torpedo strikes from the sea.
    The supply routes of the 328th division were also under the constant influence of enemy aircraft. There were no roadways for vehicles. The supply of everything necessary for the battle was intermittent.
    On the night of November 11, the division changed units of the 32nd Guards. divisions at the turn of the Tuk river valley, Sarai Gora (7 km northwest of Shaumyan). The 1103rd regiment with the 889th artillery regiment (without the 2nd division) and the 1105th regiment with the 2nd division of the artillery regiment were in the first echelon, the 1107th regiment was in the second echelon. The divisions were opposed by parts of the 125th German Infantry Division.
    On November 11, the 40th motorized rifle (right neighbor) and 10th rifle (neighbor on the left) brigades went on the offensive. The next day, the 328th division began to advance along the valley of the Tuk River with the task of capturing heights 475.8 and 512.0, later on - the bridge across the Tuk River on the highway.
    Having broken the resistance of the covering units, the regiments took possession of the heights and went to the main fortified zone of the enemy, where they met powerful fortifications. So, only in the area of ​​​​the 1105th regiment were discovered 12 bunkers, 3 rows of barbed wire, inconspicuous obstacles and minefields [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, d. 4, l.11].
    Enemy planes continuously hung in the air and delivered bombing and assault strikes on the combat formations of the unit. Parts of the division entrenched themselves at the reached line and repelled counterattacks. Artillerymen suppressed the most active firing points of the Nazis, their artillery and mortar batteries.
    In mid-November, the Nazi troops made a third - last attempt to break through to the sea. At the cost of huge losses, they managed to wedge in the center of the operational formation of the 18th Army to a depth of 8 km. Their further progress was stopped.
    Having gained rich experience in organizing and conducting defensive battles, the 328th division skillfully performed the task of repulsing the enemy offensive. At the same time, the personnel of the rifle units were engaged in equipping positions, improving engineering structures, and actively conducting reconnaissance. Artillerymen were shooting benchmarks and detected targets, stockpiling ammunition. The sappers mined approaches to the defense, set up wire fences, prepared passages in the mountains for undermining, and adapted the terrain for defense.
    During this period, fighter-sabotage groups (squad - platoon) successfully operated. They boldly penetrated behind enemy lines and destroyed manpower, equipment, warehouses there, disrupted the supply and evacuation, disrupted communication lines, captured prisoners and documents.
    On December 17, the division surrendered the defense line to the 119th Rifle Brigade and the 32nd Guards. rifle division and by the morning of December 19 concentrated in the area of ​​​​the village of Krivenkovskaya, Mount Neveb, Georgievskoye, the Tuapse highway and put itself in order. The 889th artillery regiment remained in its former firing positions under the command of the commander of the 119th brigade and was later withdrawn from the division.
    Three days later, the Tuapse defensive operation of the Black Sea Group of Forces ended and preparations began for the offensive. As a result of three unsuccessful attempts to break through to Tuapse, the enemy suffered significant losses and was forced to go on the defensive.

in the Kuban
    On December 24, the 328th Rifle Division was withdrawn from the 18th Army to the reserve of the Black Sea Group of Forces. Soon, in accordance with the order, she transferred part of her personnel to the 8th Guards Rifle Brigade and was redeployed by rail to the Sochi, Matsesta region for staffing.
    Arriving at the place, the units began to arrange dugouts and combat training, summing up the results of the September-December battles in the Tuapse direction.
    During the period from September 30 to December 17, 1942, the enemy suffered significant damage: up to 3 thousand soldiers and officers were killed and wounded, 10 people were captured, 25 bunkers were destroyed, 40 vehicles, 30 machine guns were destroyed, 6 artillery fire was suppressed and 8 mortar batteries [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, d.1, l.4].
    Immediately upon the arrival of the division, reinforcements from reserve regiments, as well as weapons, materiel and everything necessary for combat, began to arrive in the deployment area. Most of the soldiers who arrived were rather poorly trained and did not participate in the battles, so the main task of the commanders was to quickly and efficiently teach the soldiers to use weapons and fight, to put together units and units. The solution of this problem was greatly complicated by the lack of junior and middle command personnel.
    On January 6, 1943, the division became part of the 46th Army, and on January 13, the 687th artillery regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel I.S. Kovalev, arrived at the formation [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, d.4, l.13].
    Previously, the 687th artillery regiment was part of the 236th rifle division, which in December 1941 landed in the port of Feodosia as part of an amphibious assault. The soldiers of the division fought bravely on the Kerch Peninsula. When leaving the Crimea in May 1942, the regiment suffered heavy losses, but the gunners gained rich combat experience.
    After being completed, the 236th Rifle Division as part of the 18th Army fought in the Kuban and the North Caucasus.
                                      At the end of October the division was again withdrawn for staffing, after which in January 1943 it left for the front, and the artillery regiment, which did not yet have means of traction, remained in place and was transferred to the 328th Rifle Division (instead of the 889th rifle regiment).
                            In February 1943, instead of Colonel I.P. Sabinin, who had departed for a new duty station, a new division artillery commander, Lieutenant Colonel D.N. Kalinin, arrived, and Major I.E. Rodionov was appointed to the post of commander of the 1107th Infantry Regiment.
    Intense combat training of units and subunits took place over a monthly training period and continued until March 14th. After that, the commission of the Black Sea Group of Forces for two days checked the combat training and strength of the unit.
    The Commission noted in its conclusions that "the 328th Rifle Division is quite combat-ready and prepared for combat operations... The personnel are eager to take part as soon as possible with the entire Red Army in the speedy defeat of the hated fascists..." [ ]. However, she pointed out that for the division to be fully ready, it must be understaffed with traction equipment and vehicles.
    Soon an order was received to concentrate in the area of ​​the village of Severskaya (20 km southwest of Krasnodar). On March 17, the division set out on the march and by the morning of March 25 had completed its concentration in the indicated area.
    After arriving in the area of ​​​​the village of Severskaya, the division made up the reserve of the North Caucasian Front and was again checked - this time by the commission General Staff. In her act, she confirmed the conclusions of the Commission of the Chernomorchka Group of Forces and indicated that "the command and command staff of the units of the division is knocked together ... and when equipped with everything necessary, the division will be able to perform combat missions"[ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, d.4, l.14-15].
    Combat training continued in the new concentration area, and at the same time, the incoming means of traction and transport were received.
    In March 1943, the troops of the North Caucasian Front launched a successful attack on the Kuban. They captured Krasnodar, the village of Abinskaya and reached the near approaches to the village of Krymskaya - a major junction of railways and highways, which is the backbone of the enemy's defense in the Novorossiysk and Taman directions.
    The village was turned by the enemy into a powerful knot of resistance, the approaches to it were covered by engineering and explosive barriers. To the east of Krymskaya passed a heavily fortified and deeply echeloned defense, called " blue line". It consisted of two defensive lanes with a total depth of 20-25 km and cut-off positions. Each lane included a system of trenches and strongholds covered with barriers.
    At the end of March, due to the strong resistance of the enemy, the offensive of the troops of the North Caucasian Front was suspended. They began to prepare for the new offensive operation- Breaking the Blue Line.
    The offensive of the troops of the North Caucasian Front began on April 4 with a strike by the 56th Army north of the village of Krymskaya.
    The enemy offered stubborn resistance and often counterattacked. The command of the North Caucasian Front shifted the direction of the main attack to the south of the Crimean.
    On May 1, the 328th division concentrated in camps south of the village of Abinskaya in the reserve of the 56th army. The 687th artillery regiment was transferred to the command of the commander of the 61st rifle division, went into its lane and took up firing positions. The next day, enemy aircraft attacked the command post of the division. Among the dead were the deputy commander of the division, Lieutenant Colonel N.P. Zagrebelny, the head of the operational department of the headquarters, Major I.P. Sapronov, was seriously injured.
    Instead of N.P. Zagrebelny, Lieutenant Colonel V.I. Katrich became the deputy division commander, and Major A.U. Manzhosov was appointed commander of the 1105th regiment. Major A. A. Tvorogov arrived at the post of head of the operational department of the division headquarters.
    Having completed the regrouping and withdrawal of formations to their original position, the 56th Army on the morning of May 3 went on the offensive. She dealt the main blow with the left flank with the task of reaching the Adagum River.
    After a stubborn battle, the shock grouping of the army broke the resistance of the Nazis, broke through their defenses and entered the Krymskaya-Neberdzhaevskaya road.
    The 328th division, having made a night march, by the end of May 3, concentrated in the second echelon of the army east of the village of Neberdzhaevskaya in readiness to enter the battle.
    The successful offensive of the 56th Army formations created a threat of encirclement of the enemy in the Krymskaya area and forced him to retreat. On May 4, the village was liberated.
    In the second half of May 5, in order to develop the success of the formations of the first echelon of the army from the line of the Krymskaya - Neberdzhaevskaya road, the 328th Rifle Division was brought into battle with the task of advancing in the direction of Nizhne-Bakanskaya [ TsAMO, f. 412, op.10282, d.93, l.10].
    The division commander formed a battle formation in two echelons. In the first echelon, the 1103rd and 1105th rifle regiments advanced, in the second - the 1107th regiment. On the right, the 1st division of the NKVD advanced, on the left, on the village of Neberdzhaevskaya, the 83rd mountain rifle division.
       The 328th division crossed the Neberdzhayka river, broke the resistance of units of the 9th German infantry division and reached the line of the slope of height 141.7 1 km north of Neberdzhaevskaya. Immediately after the crossing, the 1107th regiment was brought into battle.
    In the 1103rd Rifle Regiment, the 2nd Rifle Company of Senior Lieutenant M.E.Galuev was the first to break into the height of 141.7. At the signal "Attack", the rifle squad of senior sergeant P.N. Tomilov rushed forward and reached the wire fence. The squad leader made a passage through the wire fence with a sapper shovel, others followed his example. The detachment, and then the whole company, overcame the wire, went to the front edge of the enemy, threw grenades at the trench, broke into it and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Art. Sergeant Tomilov destroyed several enemy soldiers, captured an officer, two privates and delivered them to the battalion headquarters.
    At the head of the company during the entire battle was its commander, he personally took part in hand-to-hand combat and was seriously wounded. Art. Lieutenant Galuev and Art. Sergeant Tomilov were awarded the Order of the Red Banner [ TsAMO, f. 412, op.10308, d.111, l.8,22].
    The battalion's offensive was supported by the 5th battery of the 687th artillery regiment under the command of Art. Lieutenant V.M. Zhestkov. Artillerymen with well-aimed fire cleared the way for the battalion and ensured its advance. High skill was shown by the senior officer on the battery ml. lieutenant N.A. Lenko. The battery suppressed the fire of the machine gun, destroyed the dugout, dispersed and destroyed up to a company of fascists [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.8, l.122].
    In the 1105th Rifle Regiment, the 1st Rifle Battalion reached Hill 141.7 earlier than the others. In the forefront of the attackers were the deputy commanders for political affairs of the 3rd and 2nd rifle companies, Lieutenant A.T. Panfilenko and Art. Lieutenant T.T. Tajibekov. When the machine gun from the bunker fired at the 3rd rifle company and it lay down, Panfilenko crawled to the firing point, threw grenades at it and raised the company to attack.
    Art. Lieutenant Tadzhibekov, setting an example for the fighters, with the exclamation "For the Motherland!" he was the first to break into the enemy's trench, seized an enemy machine gun and opened fire from it.
    At the same time, the 1st rifle company of art. Lieutenant F.G. Aristova made a maneuver, got out from under enemy fire, blocked 4 bunkers and, after a stubborn battle, captured them. Having penetrated deeply into the enemy defenses, she disrupted his fire system and ensured the advance of the battalion. The company destroyed several firing points, captured 10 machine guns and disabled 8 guns of the Nazis.
    For courage and skillful management of his unit Art. Lieutenant F.G. Aristov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
    The offensive of the 1st battalion was reliably supported by a mortar company. With her fire, she broke 3 machine guns, dispersed and destroyed up to a company of enemy infantry. During the battle, the deputy company commander for political affairs Art. lieutenant S.G. Chumchalov. He skillfully mobilized mortarmen for the successful completion of a combat mission and often himself replaced in the calculations fighters who had retired after being wounded. Despite repeated raids by enemy aircraft, the company did not stop firing. An example of steadfastness and fearlessness was shown to the soldiers by the political officer. Being wounded twice, he did not leave the firing position. For fearlessness and heroism, S.G. Chumchalov was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
    The crews of the 2nd and 3rd machine-gun companies accurately hit the enemy. Commander of the 3rd machine gun company Art. Lieutenant I.A. Daurtsev, after the failure of the commander of the 8th rifle company, led it and led the attack. The company blocked the bunker, destroyed its garrison and successfully attacked the Nazis on high. For courage and initiative Lieutenant I.A. Daurtsev was also awarded the Order of the Red Star [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.8, l.77,112].
   The 60th Infantry Brigade advanced behind the division, which finished off the remnants of the Nazis. After forcing the Neberdzhaika River, the brigade turned sharply to the south with the task of cutting off the Nazis defending in the mountains against the 83rd Mountain Rifle Division.
& nbsp & nbsp & nbsp on May 6, transferring part of the 73rd and 125th German infantry divisions from Novorossiysk, the enemy undertook a number of strong counterattacks against formations of the 56th Army by force from the infantry battalion to the regiment with the support of tanks and aviation.
    During the day, the division repelled 7 counterattacks. When repulsing one of them, a platoon of 45-mm guns of the 1105th regiment, under the command of Lieutenant G.I. Borodin, distinguished itself. Imperceptibly pushing the platoon's guns to a tank-dangerous direction, the platoon commander ordered to disguise themselves. When the enemy tanks launched a counterattack, the gunners knocked out two of them with several shots. The infantry following the tanks stopped and then withdrew [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.8, l.109].
    Repelling counterattacks on the right flank, the division on the left flank continued to advance on Nizhne-Bakanskaya.
    On that day, Colonel I.G. Pavlovsky, who had previously commanded the 9th Guards Rifle Brigade, took command of the division, distinguished himself in battle and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
    Due to the great superiority of enemy aircraft and the lack of reinforcement in artillery, parts of the division advanced slowly. On May 11, the 56th Army went on the defensive.
    In preparation for a new offensive, the army regrouped. The 328th division moved to the right, replacing on the night of May 12 the 169th rifle regiment and the 175th separate rifle battalion of the 1st division of the NKVD at the turn of Upper Adagum, the Proletarsky farm. The division received artillery for reinforcement. She was given the 1195th howitzer artillery regiment of the RVGK, the 34th anti-tank artillery regiment, the 101st separate guards. mortar battalion, in addition, it was now supported by: the 1230th artillery regiment, the 2nd division of the 1147th howitzer artillery regiment and the battery of the 136th howitzer artillery regiment of high power [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, d.127, l.2].
    The units secured themselves at a new line, conducted reconnaissance and prepared for a new thrust forward.
    On May 13, the 328th division became part of the 10th rifle corps, commanded by Major General K.P. Neverov. The next day, the enemy carried out three strong counterattacks in the zone of the division and its neighbors with the forces of units of the 9th German Infantry Division.
    The battle, as usual, began with a fire raid by enemy artillery and air strikes, and at 8 o'clock a counterattack by infantry and tanks against the 1103rd regiment followed. Having lost up to 100 men and 2 tanks, the enemy withdrew. At 10 o'clock, up to 120 machine gunners, supported by 7 tanks, again struck at the regiment. At the same time, up to two infantry battalions with 15 tanks counterattacked the left neighbor, the 9th Mountain Rifle Division. After a stubborn battle, the counterattacks were repulsed, the Nazis retreated to their original positions. The respite was short-lived. At 13 o'clock the artillery struck again, the "Junkers" flew in, tanks appeared, behind them - thick lines of infantry. This time the blow fell at the junction of the 1103rd regiment and the 221st regiment of the 9th mountain rifle division.
    At the cost of heavy losses, the enemy managed to wedge into the joint, seep into the rear of the 221st regiment and cut off its headquarters from the battalions. The regiment withdrew, opening the left flank of its neighbor. The Nazis penetrated the location of the 1103rd Infantry Regiment and surrounded its 3rd Battalion, but at night, having broken through the ring, the battalion in full strength left the encirclement. By order of the division commander, the 1103rd regiment withdrew to the eastern bank of the Neberdzhaika. On this day, up to 800 sorties of enemy aircraft were noted in the directions of counterattacks and up to 2 thousand bombs were dropped [ TsAMO, f. 412, op.10282, d.96, l.18].
                                                
    Continuous artillery fire, air strikes led to frequent outbursts wired connection, violated the management of parts and subunits. There was a lot of work for signalmen. It was especially difficult for line overseers, i.e. signalmen who had to monitor the condition of the telephone line and correct it in case of damage.
    The soldiers of the 446th separate communications company selflessly fulfilled their duty. The privates - S.A. Sergeev and N.M. Magomedov especially distinguished themselves. Sergeev during the day, under enemy fire, eliminated gusts on the line 4 times and ensured continuous communication between the division commander and the commander of the 1107th regiment. Magomedov on the line of communication with the 1105th regiment eliminated 14 damage. Interruptions in communication did not exceed 15 minutes [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.8, sheet 85.97]. S.A. Sergeev was awarded the medal "For Courage", and N.M. Magomedov the medal "For Military Merit".
    The division commander decided to restore the situation in the sector of the 1103rd regiment. Having reinforced it with the 3rd battalion of the 1107th regiment and two divisions of the 687th regiment, he ordered to advance in the direction of height 141.7, go to the western bank of the Neberdzhayka River and gain a foothold there.
    With the onset of darkness, division commanders P.P. Dudinov and P.I. Barkov arrived at the command post of the 1103rd regiment, received an order from the regiment commander, lieutenant colonel K.S. Tatarchuk, met with the commanders of the supported battalions and agreed on tasks with them. Returning to their observation posts, they prepared the initial data for firing, and transmitted the necessary instructions to the battery commanders. At the firing positions, they recorded the initial data on the gun shields, laid out the ammunition for each target. Signalers checked the connection, organized its duplication through various channels.
    On the same night, a group of scouts led by Lieutenant K.R.Choporov left behind enemy lines. The task of the group was to clarify the position of the enemy, blow up the ammunition depot at a height of 141.7, explored earlier, and scatter 1,000 leaflets calling on enemy soldiers to surrender.
                   The group along the passage made by sappers sergeant V.K.Spanyuk and corporal R.Khabibulaev safely penetrated the enemy front line, but the Nazis found it near the warehouse and fired. The scouts entered the battle, distracting the guards, while the sappers, meanwhile, blew up the warehouse, destroying up to 20 soldiers in the process. On the way back, the scouts scattered leaflets. All participants in the sortie were awarded the medal "For Courage" [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.9, l.40,70].
                    At 9 o'clock on May 18, after a fire attack by artillery, the 1103rd regiment and the 3rd battalion of the 1107th regiment went on the offensive. The enemy met the attackers with heavy fire. Enemy aircraft appeared in the sky. The firing positions of artillery and mortars were subjected to especially intensive bombing, which, of course, could not but affect the activity of their fire.
          The 3rd battalion of the 1103rd regiment under the command of Captain A.G. Godunov crossed the Neberdzhayka River and by 12 o'clock was the first to reach the wire barriers on its western bank. With the 3rd battalion of the regiment was the head of intelligence of the 1st division of the 687th artillery regiment st. lieutenant N.A. Seroshtan with several intelligence officers and signalmen. A brave and energetic officer, he quickly and clearly conveyed the orders of the battalion commander to open fire and skillfully corrected the firing of batteries. But communication with the division was often broken. Signalers did not have time to restore it. We had to send scouts to the line.
    At the most critical moment of the battle, telephone communication with the division commander was interrupted. The commander of the reconnaissance department, Sergeant G.V. Yachkula, went to the line. Holding the wire in his hands, he dashed along the line. The gust was not far from the observation post, but the sergeant could not connect the ends of the cable - the explosion tore out a piece of wire half a meter long. Having cleaned the places of cliffs with his teeth, the scout flattened himself on the ground, holding the ends of the wire in his hands. He immediately realized that the connection was working, as the division resumed fire. When the enemy fired again, the wire in his hands weakened again - which means another impulse. Throwing the wire, Yachkula rushed to look for the ends. Stumbled upon the firing position of the mortars. They gave him a few meters of wire and the connection was restored.
    Having reached the wire fences, the soldiers of the 3rd battalion began to make passages in them, but other units of the regiment could not cross the river and support them. The battalion entrenched itself on the western bank of the river, the sappers began to mine the approaches to its positions. Soon the 1103rd Rifle Regiment, which suffered significant losses in battle, was withdrawn to the second echelon. For personal courage, initiative and skillful management of his unit in battle, Captain A.G. Godunov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
    On May 26, after an hour and a half artillery preparation, the troops of the 56th Army again went on the offensive, this time with their right flank. Formations of the 10th Rifle Corps, performing private offensive missions, actively fettered the enemy in the center of the operational formation of the army. The reinforced 1107th Rifle Regiment participated in the offensive from the 328th Rifle Division. He managed to overcome the wire barriers and reach the eastern and northeastern slopes of height 141.7.
   During the battle, a detachment of the 1st rifle company under the command of Sergeant Yu.A.Karasev blocked a large dugout. Getting closer to him, the sergeant threw two grenades, and the squad burst into the dugout. Three of the soldiers there were killed, the rest raised their hands. It turned out that this was the headquarters of the enemy battalion. Important documents were seized in the dugout[ TsAMO, f. 412, op. 10308, file 111, l. 192]. The squad leader was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
& nbsp & nbsp & nbsp the right neighbor-216th Infantry Division could not advance, but parts of the left neighbor-the 83rd mountain rifle division reached the southeastern slopes of the height of 141.7.
    Until June 1, the 328th, 216th Rifle and 83rd Mountain Rifle Divisions fought for the capture of Hill 141.7, which dominated the surrounding area in this area. Parts of the neighboring divisions went around it to the right and left, but this allowed the enemy to fire at them on the flank.
    Therefore, the corps commander again and again attempted to master the height. However, poor knowledge of the enemy's fire system, insufficiently reliable suppression of his strongholds, mainly due to a lack of ammunition, did not allow us to successfully solve the problem.
    The battles were heavy, the losses were significant. Under these conditions, medical workers selflessly fulfilled their duty. Medical instructor of the 388th separate reconnaissance company, Art. sergeant of the medical service E.E. Kozachenko repeatedly participated in reconnaissance and carried 14 wounded from the battlefield. The nurse of the surgical surgical dressing platoon of the 411th medical battalion L.I. Litvinova (Mochalova) made several hundred dressings in one day. Nurse E.I. Sorokopud (Shmushkovich) also distinguished herself. Working at the forefront of the medical battalion, even under the heaviest fire, she did not stop providing first aid to the wounded, having made hundreds of dressings during these days [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.2, d.8, l.130]. The brave girls were awarded the medal "For Military Merit".
    The doctors of the medical battalion worked selflessly - the commander of the battalion, military doctor of the 3rd rank S. Pevzner, surgeons - majors of the medical service M.I. Babiyan, M.N. Shiushkovich and others. Successfully coped with their duties and the medical staff of the units.
    M.I.Babiyan and M.N.Shmushkovich were awarded the Order of the Red Star for these battles.
    On July 1, offensive battles ceased. Parts of the division began to improve the defense, mined the approaches to the positions, set up wire fences, while intensive combat training was launched.
    The divisions held classes on the topics "Rifle Platoon in Defence", "Rifle Squad in Offensive", "Material Part of Weapons and Rules for Its Storage and Saving", "Responsibilities of Submachine Gunner in Offensive Combat" and others.
    During this period, snipers were very active. Every day they destroyed dozens of fascists. The snipers of the 1103rd regiment, privates G. Mikoyan, L. Mikhnyak, V. Gritsai, st. sergeants G. Arsiyan, G. Demchenko, ml. Lieutenant A. Bobik; 1107th regiment Art. sergeant D. Vinnikov, a pair of snipers, privates P. Gochelovsky and K. Tembich.
    Party-political work was carried out systematically. The divisional newspaper "Forward for the Motherland" was regularly published under the direction of the editor of Art. Lieutenant G.G. Kondrashov. Work among the enemy troops under the leadership of art. Instructor Major S.M. Dykhne was engaged in the political department of the division. A group of mouthpieces was created in the political department. It also included representatives of the national Committee "Free Germany".
    All reconnaissance assets were used to obtain reliable information about the enemy. Artillerymen round the clock conducted visual reconnaissance and detection of targets from ground observation posts, military intelligence conducted searches in order to capture control prisoners. In the conditions of a pre-prepared, defense in depth of the enemy, this was very difficult. But on July 8, the reconnaissance group of the division finally managed to capture the chief corporal of the 57th infantry regiment of the 9th German infantry division at a height of 141.7.
    For this feat, Sergeant N.A. Taniashvili was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the rest of the scouts were awarded the medal "For Courage", and the head of intelligence of the division, Captain E.N. Dikarev, received a valuable gift from the command of the 56th Army [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, d.44, l.136].
    As a result of certain organizational measures carried out by the commanders, noticeable damage was inflicted on the enemy in a short time. So, in the period from June 1 to July 27, 1943, the 687th artillery regiment destroyed 13 bunkers and an observation post, destroyed 5 guns, up to 40 enemy soldiers, suppressed 9 artillery batteries; The 295th separate anti-tank battalion destroyed 3 bunkers and suppressed the fire of 2 machine guns; artillery of rifle regiments suppressed the fire of 8 bunkers and 5 mortars [ TsAMO, f. 1641, op.1, file 171, sheet 20].
    On August 17, the 10th Rifle Corps was withdrawn to the reserve of the North Caucasian Front. The division concentrated in the area of ​​​​Gladko-Izyumsky, Petropavlovsky, Vesely. The 889th artillery regiment (from August 1943 the artillery regiment received the number 889) remained in firing positions and supported the 32nd Guards rifle division and only on August 21 did he return to his unit.
                         At the end of August, the 328th Rifle Division as part of the 10th Rifle Corps was transferred by rail to the Semeikino and Daryevka stations of the Voroshilovgrad Region and included in the 51st Army of the Southern Front.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

More than 75 years have passed since the Tula land was liberated from the Nazi invaders. Sacred milestones in the military chronicle of the formations and units that liberated their native land were the mass graves of the dead soldiers. On the bright day of Victory, on the day of Remembrance and Sorrow, on frosty December days, when we remember the counter-offensive of the Red Army in 1941, we talk about the liberation of our native villages, villages, towns and cities, we proudly say: - No one is forgotten! We remember!

We do remember a lot. We respect the memory of the dead. However, there are still little-known pages in the history of the war, there are names of dead soldiers that we have forgotten.

During December 7, our troops fought the enemy on all fronts. On a number of sectors of the WESTERN Front, our units, having repulsed the fierce attacks of the enemy, with their counterattacks inflicted heavy damage on German troops in equipment and manpower, and moved forward.

Guards part of Comrade. Oslikovsky, operating in one of the sections of the Stalinogorsk direction of the front, in a few days of stubborn fighting, drove the Germans out of 20 settlements, while exterminating more than a thousand German soldiers and officers. The soldiers destroyed 2 German tanks, 4 artillery and mortar batteries and captured a lot of trophies.

Our soldiers in a fierce battle with the enemy on one of the sectors of the Western Front destroyed 6 German tanks, 2 mortar batteries, 8 heavy machine guns and captured 21 enemy tanks.

The Guards unit of Major Zubov, operating in the Stalinogorsk direction of the front, drove the Germans out of 6 settlements. In the battle with the enemy, our fighters exterminated over 1,000 fascist soldiers and officers, captured 12 vehicles, 1 tank, 2 radios and many other trophies.

IN THE LAST HOUR.THE FAILURE OF THE GERMAN PLAN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE CAPTURE OF MOSCOW. THE DEFEAT OF THE GERMAN TROOPS ON THE APPROACHES OF MOSCOW

(short extract)

a) the troops of General LELYUSHENKO, knocking down the 1st tank, 14th and 36th motorized infantry divisions of the enemy and occupying Rogachev, surrounded the city of Klin;

b) the troops of General KUZNETSOV, having captured the city of Yakhroma, pursue the retreating 6th, 7th tank and 23rd infantry divisions of the enemy and left southwest of Klin;

c) troops where the chief of staff, General SANDAPOV, pursuing the 2nd tank and 106th infantry divisions of the enemy, occupied the city of Solnechnogorsk;

d) the troops of General ROKOSSOVSKY, pursuing the 5th, 10th and 11th tank divisions, the SS division and the 35th infantry division of the enemy, occupied the city of Istra;

e) the troops of General GOVOROV broke through the defenses of the 252nd, 87th, 78th and 267th enemy infantry divisions and occupied the Kulebyakino-Lokotnya areas;

f) the troops of General BOLDIN, having defeated the enemy’s 3rd, 4th tank divisions and the “SS” (“Great Germany”) regiment northeast of Tula, develop the offensive, crowding and covering the enemy’s 296th infantry division;

g) the 1st guards cavalry corps of General BELOV, having successively defeated the 17th tank, 29th motorized infantry and 167th infantry divisions of the enemy, pursues their remnants and occupied the city of Venev and Stalinogorsk;

h) the troops of General GOLIKOV, pushing back units of the enemy's 18th Panzer and 10th Motorized Infantry Divisions to the southwest, occupied the towns of Mikhailov and the town of Epifan.

After going on the offensive, from December 6 to 10, over 400 settlements were occupied and liberated from the Germans by parts of our troops.

Both at the front and in the rear, they always waited impatiently for the messages from the Soviet Bureau. With bitterness and sorrow they listened to the reports about the retreat of the Red Army. With joy, with tears in their eyes, they met the news of the liberation of cities and towns from the German yoke. One of the first cities liberated during the December counter-offensive of 1941 was the ancient city of Mikhailov. Of course, the mean lines of the summary could not convey all the tension of the situation, all those difficulties and incredible efforts that fell to the fighters of the 10th Army of General Fyodor Golikov.

"... pushing back the enemy, they occupied the city of Mikhailov and the city of Epifan." It just so happened that when driving to the Kulikovo field, I have to pass through these places. Novomoskovsk (former Stalinogorsk), Kimovsk (Epifan station), Epifan settlement. I happened to be in Mikhailov. This cozy, green town with ancient history, today lives its measured, partly, one might even say, sleepy life.

On the outskirts of Kimovsk, almost at the exit from it, not far from the local cemetery, a military memorial was erected in memory of the fallen soldiers-liberators. Here, to this holy place, I am also taxiing. Stand, bow and commemorate the fallen soldiers.

Today, a huge number of books have been written about the war. Both artistic and historical. There are also memoirs, memoirs of famous commanders, more and more telling about victories. Well, yes, the generals do not want to remember about retreats, about "boilers", about desperate and courageous battles surrounded. As well as about the thousands of soldiers who disappeared without a trace in those fierce battles. Today, in every region, and what is there in the region, in each district, there are their own Books of MEMORY, the mournful pages of which are full of personal data of those killed, disappeared without a trace, died from wounds or died in captivity.

And yet, despite the huge number of memoirs, memoirs and simply stories of front-line soldiers, I have never come across a truthful answer to a simple question: - What is war?! For the marshals, for the divisional commanders, for the regimental commanders, the war seemed different than for the same soldiers who fought on the front. The soldiers had their own view of the war. Like the commanders of platoons and companies, who raised the fighters to attack. Yes, and they survived, real front-line soldiers, only a few. The ones who really could tell the truth. And only a few lines of archival documents, in part, allow us today to understand and appreciate the great tragedy of the war...

A few years ago, when I was actively searching for my grandfather, I happened to find and read the book by Alexander Ilyich Shumilin "Vanka of the Company". In his book, the author tells about fierce battles in the same places where in the summer and autumn of 1941 the 922nd rifle regiment of my grandfather fought desperately and died heroically. The author of the book was born in 1921. Called to serve in the Armed Forces of the USSR on 10/25/1939, demobilized on 03/17/1946 with the rank of captain of the guard. He was wounded five times, once severely. It has military awards. Died in 1983.

Here is his recollection of the war. Believing that in this passage it is impossible, it is simply physically impossible to shrink or cut something, I quote it in full. "In October 1975, I received a letter from Komsomol members of the military-patriotic detachment "Maresyevets" of school No. 42 in Kalinin with a request to tell about the battles for the station of Chupriyanovka. The circumstances were such that since then I decided to put my memories in order, I fulfilled the request of the guys, then wrote about the battles for the station Chupriyanovka.

Actually, that first letter of mine served as the beginning, to restore in detail everything experienced in memory. Now, when the finish line is close, I want to have time to do more. There is little free time, I get sick, then I work, and time runs faster than thought.

In those harsh days of the war, the whole burden in the battles to liberate our land fell on the infantry, on the shoulders of ordinary soldiers. Receiving replenishment in people, we fought continuous battles, knowing neither sleep nor rest. Very many, having a superficial idea of ​​what war is, self-confidently believe that they are sufficiently aware. They read about the war in books and watched movies.

For example, I am outraged by the "books about the war" written by the front-line "front-line soldiers" and "comfrey" staff and rear services, in the literary processing of journalists. And what do those write who have been elevated to the rank of preachers of the truth? Take, for example, K. Simonov with his novels about the war. K. Simonov himself did not see the war, he did not look death in the eyes. He traveled along frontline roads, rubbing the soft seat of a passenger car. He speculated about the war and imagined it from the stories of others, and in order to write about it, you need to experience it in your own skin! You can't write about what you don't know. What can a person say if he was tens of kilometers away from the war?...

Many of the war is judged by the movies. One of my acquaintances, for example, claims that when there is a fight in the forest, the trees are on fire.

Why? I asked him.

Haven't you seen it in the cinema?

Only children judge the war in movies. They do not understand the pain of a soldier's soul, they are given shooting, hand-to-hand with tinkering and trees blazing with fire, doused with gasoline before shooting.

A work of art staged in the cinema, or the so-called "chronicle of events", gives a collective image of battles, battles and episodes, vaguely reminiscent of a war. I must disappoint you, from cinema to reality in the war, very far. What happened ahead, during the offensive of the rifle companies, did not reach the cinema. The infantry took those terrible days with them to the grave.

War cannot be imagined according to the reports of the Information Bureau. War is not a sentimental movie about love on the "front". These are not panoramic novels with their romanticization and varnishing of war. These are not the works of those prose writers - "front-line soldiers" in whom the war is only a background, a background, and in the foreground, obscuring all the space in the lace of literary turns and fringe, is fiction. This is not a curved arrow, drawn in red pencil and indicating on the map the point of the main attack of the division. This is not a circled village on the map...

War is a living, human step - towards the enemy, towards death, towards eternity. This is human blood on the snow, while it is bright and still pouring. These are soldier corpses abandoned until spring. These are full-length steps, with open eyes - towards death. These are shreds of a rough soldier's overcoat with clots of blood and intestines, hanging on knots and tree branches. This is pink foam in a hole near the collarbone - the entire lower jaw and larynx have been torn off from the soldier. It's a tarpaulin boot filled with pink mush. These are bloody splashes in the face of a soldier torn apart by a shell. These are hundreds and thousands of other bloody pictures on the path along which the front-line "front-line soldiers" and "comfreys" of battalion, regimental and divisional services passed behind us.

But war is not only a bloody mess. This is a constant hunger, when salted water, mixed with a handful of flour, in the form of a pale gruel, instead of food, reached the soldier's company. This is cold in frost and snow, in stone cellars, when living matter in the vertebrae freezes from ice and frost. These are inhuman conditions of being alive on the front line, under a hail of shrapnel and bullets. This is shameless swearing, insults and threats from the staff "front-line soldiers" and "comfreys" (battalion, regimental and divisional authorities).

War is exactly what they don't talk about because they don't know. From the rifle companies, from the front line, singles returned, no one knows them, and they are not invited to TV shows, and if one of them decides to say something about the war, then they politely shut his mouth ...

It begs the question. Who among the surviving eyewitnesses can say about the people who fought in the companies? It's one thing to sit under the rolls, away from the front line, it's another thing to go on the attack and look straight into the eyes of the Germans. War must be known inwardly, felt with all the fibers of the soul. War is not at all what people who did not fight in the companies wrote.

I divide those who were assigned to the DKA during the war into two groups, into front-line soldiers and "participants", into those soldiers and officers who were in the companies, on the front lines during the battle, and into those who sat behind them in the rear. The war was different for both of them, they talk about it and remember it differently.

These were inhuman tests. Bloody, snowy fields were littered with the bodies of the dead, pieces of scattered human meat, scarlet scraps of overcoats, desperate cries and the groans of the soldiers. All this must be experienced, heard and seen for yourself in order to present these nightmarish pictures in all details.

And now, I write and see, they are in front of me as if alive. I see the exhausted, pale faces of the soldiers, and each of them, dying, wanted to say something. To tell those who remain after them to live on this earth soaked in their blood. These thoughts do not give me rest.

With what hopeless longing for life, with what human suffering and imploring eyes for help, these people died. They died not due to carelessness and not in the silence of the deep rear, like those front-line "front-line soldiers" and "comfreys" who were well-fed and warmed by the warmth of village huts and residents.

They are front-line soldiers and comfreys of rifle companies, before death, they severely froze, froze and froze in the snowy fields in the wind. They went to their death with open eyes, knowing about it, expecting death every second, every moment, and these small periods of time dragged on like long hours.

Condemned to death, on the way to the scaffold, just like a soldier with a rifle in his hands, going to the German, with all the fibers of his soul he feels the preciousness of the passing life. He just wants to breathe, to see the light, the people and the earth. At such a moment, a person is cleansed of self-interest and envy, hypocrisy and hypocrisy. Simple, honest, free from human vices, soldiers each time approached their last fatal line.

Soldiers won't go forward without "Vanka company". I was "Vanka company commander" and walked with them. Death spared no one. Some died instantly, others bled in agony. Only some of the hundreds and thousands of fighters were left alive by chance. Rare loners survived, I mean comfrey from the infantry. Fate gave them life as the highest reward.

Many people came from the front, there were a lot of people behind us, but from the infantry, from these very rifle companies, almost no one returned.

I have been at the front since September 1941, wounded many times. I had a chance to fight hard and long way along the roads of war. Hundreds and thousands of soldiers and junior officers perished next to me.

Many names have disappeared from memory. Sometimes I didn’t even know the names of my soldiers because the company in battle was enough for a week. Lists of soldiers were at the headquarters of the regiment. They kept records and reported on losses. They sent notices to families.

The lieutenant in the company had heavy duties. He was responsible for the outcome of the battle with his head. And this, I tell you, is not easy! - like in a movie - sit down and watch. The German beats - do not raise your head, and "Vanka company" - the nose bleeds, must raise the company and take the village, and not a step back - such is the combat order.

And now, those nightmarish days of the war, when our forward companies fought fierce battles, vividly appeared before my eyes. All of a sudden it came flooding in. Soldiers' faces flashed by, retreating and fleeing Germans, liberated villages, snow-covered fields and roads. It was as if I again smelled the smell of snow, gloomy forests and burnt huts. I again heard the rumble and the growing rumble of German artillery, the low voice of my soldiers and the near babble of the Germans who had settled down.

Probably, many of you think that war is an interesting performance, romance, heroism and combat episodes. But it's not. No one then, young or old, wanted to die. Man is born to live. And none of the fallen in battle thought to die so quickly. Everyone hoped only for the best. But the life of an infantryman in battle hangs on a thin thread, which can easily be cut off by a German bullet or a small fragment. The soldier does not have time to do anything heroic, and death overtakes him.

Every person has the power to do something big and significant. But this requires conditions. There must be a situation so that the impulse of a person is noticed. And in the war, in the shooting battle, where we were left to ourselves, it often happened that each such impulse ended in death.

Our land lost millions of its best sons in the war. Were those who in 1941 with a rifle in their hands and a handful of cartridges going to certain death not a hero?! I think they are the one and only true heroes. They saved our land from invasion and their bones remained in the ground. But to this day, they lie unknown, no graves, no names.

Just for the fact that the Russian soldier suffered on his shoulders, he is worthy of the sacred memory of his people! Without sleep and rest, hungry and in terrible tension, in severe frost and all the time in the snow, under heavy enemy fire, the forward companies advanced. The unbearable torment of the seriously wounded, who sometimes had no one to endure, all this fell to the lot of the infantryman going to the enemy.

Life is given to a person once and this is the most valuable and dear thing that everyone has. Many were at the war, but even more remained lying in dead silence. But not all living and returning people know what it means to go to certain death as part of a rifle company.

In my book "Roly of the Company", there is more human grief and suffering than joyful and cheerful combat episodes.

Perhaps I was not able to fully and impartially convey everything I experienced, but it was all in my life, in the war, in reality and in fact. You must understand this harsh truth!

A comfrey would have understood me immediately and without thinking. And not only understood, but also added on my own behalf that I spoke painfully gently about some of the strokes of the war and did not say a strong word about the war from the bottom of my heart.

Read the book "Roly of the Company" and think about how a front-line soldier differs from another "front-line soldier" and what war is!

The archival documents available at TsAMO of the irretrievable losses of divisions, regiments, individual units, medical battalions and mobile field hospitals, with their impartiality and dryness of staff lines, not only fully confirm what Alexander Ilyich said, but, moreover, allow us to present events on various fronts and in various periods . It happens that reading these documents becomes scary!

However, let us return to the first days of December 1941 and read the memoirs of the commander of the 10th Army F.I. Golikov.

“The center of gravity of efforts on the first day of the army's offensive was concentrated on the city of Mikhailov. It contained the main grouping of the 10th motorized division of the enemy.

To guarantee the success of the attack on Mikhailov, three divisions had to move: the 328th from the front, and the 330th and 324th from the flanks.

The front commander approved the decision without comments, amendments or any advice... The length of routes for a number of divisions reached 100-115 km. Some had to move in reinforced marches up to 45-50 km per day. At the same time, it must be taken into account that most of the army divisions were in almost continuous motion, starting from the day they were unloaded from the wagons. First they went to areas of temporary concentration. As soon as they gathered in them, they immediately moved to the line of deployment to go on the offensive.

The marches were very hard. By this time it had become very cold. For the sake of secrecy, the troops marched only at night. Frosts reached 28-35°. Movement was greatly hampered by deep snow cover and snowstorms, especially when crossing numerous ravines and river floodplains.

Under the conditions of the situation, the 10th Army entered the battle on the move. This was done involuntarily - due to the complete lack of time for any advance preparation .... "

Having liberated the city of Mikhailov with a fight, the rifle divisions of the 10th Army continued their offensive forward, towards Stalinogorsk, freeing villages and villages from the German evil spirits along the way.

Today, in the memoirs of former German generals, one can read complaints about the Russian "General Frost", about Russian impassability, and about the actions of partisans. They try to find "objective" explanations for their defeat. Did nature create different weather conditions for the Red Army? Snowdrifts in open places, deep snow cover prevented the advance of troops and their deployment in battle formations. We had to use the roads on which the Nazis built strong defense centers and strongholds in convenient places. One of these defense nodes was located on the road from Mikhailov in the direction of Stalinogorsk, in the village of Gremyachey.

Here is what General F.I. Golikov. “Gremyacheye is an important stronghold in the enemy’s defense system on the river. Pronya. Owning it, the enemy covered the main routes towards the cities of Novomoskovsk and Epifan. The Nazis thoroughly fortified it. The village is located on a high and very steep rocky bank of the Pronya, and the approaches to it are open. The Nazis built machine-gun nests along the bank and flanked the river valley.

Gremyachey was held by the main forces of the motorized regiment of the 25th motorized division, reinforced by divisions of two heavy artillery regiments, a significant number of tanks and armored vehicles with machine gunners.

As the participants in the battles for Gremyacheye recall, the advance detachment sent from the 328th Infantry Division to intercept the enemy's withdrawal routes from Gremyacheye to the west, could not complete the tasks. He was inactive and had no tanks. The commander of the detachment nevertheless made an energetic attempt to seize the stronghold on the move, but this did not succeed.

The division commander sent two rifle regiments to Gremyachey, giving each division an artillery regiment. The 1105th rifle regiment bypassed the village on the right in order to take possession of its northern half. The 1103rd regiment was part of the forces to pin down the enemy with an attack on the eastern outskirts of the village, and the main ones to cover it from the south. However, the offensive of this regiment developed in an unorganized manner and was directed head-on. The regiment immediately suffered heavy losses from strong flank and frontal machine-gun and artillery fire, and after several enemy counterattacks, it suspended the offensive on the western slopes of the nameless heights, located directly east and southeast of the village.

The division commander had to bring in the 1107th rifle regiment from his second echelon. It was introduced correctly - bypassing Gremyachey from the south. The attack of the regiment was preceded by a short strike of artillery and mortars on the discovered firing points. At the same time, the other two regiments of the division went on the attack. By joint efforts, the resistance of the enemy was broken. The ensuing street fight did not last long. The battalion of the 1105th regiment played an important role in the outcome of the battle. At the height of the events, this battalion, bypassing the enemy from the north, cut him big road leading from Gremyacheye to Novomoskovsk. Having discovered the impending danger of encirclement, the Nazis began to retreat. By 14 o'clock the village was cleared of the enemy. Two tanks, five armored vehicles, 30 motorcycles, four 105 mm guns, motor vehicles, weapons and ammunition were taken. The 5-kilometer section of the road between Gremyacheye and Yatskoye was clogged with abandoned military equipment, cars, carts and motorcycles of the enemy.

During the battle, the platoon commander of the 1107th regiment, junior lieutenant Kolosov, distinguished himself. He broke into the collective farm barnyard, occupied by the Nazis, and destroyed 20 enemy soldiers with machine gun fire. The commander of the hand-held flamethrowers section of the 1103rd regiment, junior commander Ilyin, also distinguished himself. With three fighters, he secretly made his way to the rear of the enemy and broke into the building, from where the enemy machine gun fired with disastrous fire. The machine gun was destroyed, and the machine gun crew was killed. Great help was provided by the artillerymen of the division, especially the 2nd division of the artillery regiment under the command of senior lieutenant Ostapenko. He maneuvered fire and wheels very well. His batteries, advancing to open firing positions, tirelessly hit enemy tanks, armored vehicles and submachine gunners. Astakhov, the commander of the escort gun, knocked out two enemy tanks during one of the enemy counterattacks.

In the center of the village, a terrible picture appeared before our fighters and commanders. Residents removed their relatives and fellow villagers from the gallows. These were fifteen patriots who, to the demand of the Nazis to enter their service, answered with a decisive refusal. The occupiers dealt with these people and, under threat of death, did not allow relatives to remove the hanged for burial. So the corpses hung until the liberation of the village.

And at the entrance to Gremyachey one could see many corpses of the Nazis: up to 250 killed soldiers and officers.

This victory also cost the units of the 328th Rifle Division a lot of sacrifices. The 1103rd Infantry Regiment lost the most soldiers. The death of the brave, dragging the fighters into the attack, killed the commander of the regiment, Major I.M. Talubyev. In the same battle, the commander of the 1107th Infantry Regiment, Major M.K. Markov, was seriously wounded. These lines were written by the commander of the 10th Army, Filipp Ivanovich Golikov, in the book "In the Battle of Moscow: Notes of the Commander".

Of course, after the war, the gallant General Golikov could have been blamed for the losses suffered by the division on the “incompetence” of the regimental commander I.M. Talubyev. Justify his own mistakes with the mistakes of his subordinates. In December 1941, there were not many regimental commanders who personally raised soldiers to attack! And I am very sorry that the feat of the commander of the 1103rd regiment, Major Ivan Mitrofanovich Talubyev, was not properly noted. The circumstances of his death turned out to be very similar to the death of the commander of the 922nd Infantry Regiment of the 250th Division, Major Dmitry Ignatievich Kuznetsov. First week at the front. The first fierce bloody battles. No combat experience yet. But there is an ardent love for the Motherland, personal courage and courage!

By the way, when checking the information in the OBD-Memorial, it was revealed that the surname of the regiment commander was indicated with an error on the fraternal military grave - Tolubiev I.M. It will be true - Talubyev I.M. Yes, actually it's not a mistake, but the fact that even immediately after the war, when the events were fresh in my memory. Neither later, by the 25th anniversary, nor later, neither the commander F.I. Golikov, nor the glorious victorious generals did not bother to pay tribute to their fighters, who forever remained in the Tula land. As, however, in other places of fierce fighting. Killed and forgotten. Mass graves and monuments on them were built by local residents, but not fellow soldiers.

I was lucky to be acquainted with two front-line soldiers. This is Sergeant Matytsin Sergey Nikiforovich, who in the 70s initiated the construction of a monument to fallen fellow soldiers near the village of Kholmets, near Olenino. And the Guards foreman of the regimental foot intelligence Antonina Vladimirovna Efremova (Vanysheva), who built the Slava memorial near Serpukhov in memory of the soldiers of the 5th Guards Rifle Division who died in 1941. It was they who, by their example, inspired me to build a memorial in memory of the soldiers of the 922nd Infantry Regiment of the 250th Infantry Division (first formation), among whom is the name of my grandfather ....

And the Germans in 1941 were far from fools! They had excellent training and combat experience. Excellent weapons and skills to use them. And this is not praise to the enemies. This is a statement of fact - what an enemy our grandfathers and great-grandfathers had to fight! And to defeat the enemy soldiers, to break their backbone, to grind these elite units with each battle, in the end - to force the enemy to retreat - there is a real soldier's prowess!

The enemy defense system during this period was built on the principle of organizing strongholds and centers of resistance, the base of which in winter conditions were settlements. The defensive position of each formation consisted of company strongholds and battalion resistance centers with gaps between them. The latter were covered by a system of flanking cross machine-gun fire, mortar battery fire and submachine gunners; in some places the gaps were filled with snow trenches and snow (poured with water) ramparts.

The strongholds located at the heights made it possible to view the terrain and attack the advancing on the distant approaches. Moreover, in Gremyachy, in front of the strongholds, the Pronya River flowed, which extremely complicated the position of the advancing troops.

The Germans located their firing points in stone or wooden structures adapted for defense, as well as in wood-earth snow points specially built for this purpose and in snow trenches. Some of the houses and outbuildings were converted, some were ruthlessly burned or dismantled into logs to reinforce machine-gun nests. The usual technique for the Fritz was equipment right in the dugout house, in which it was possible to survive the shelling, and then jump out and take up positions at the loophole. The machine-gun nest in the house was additionally protected from above, with logs and sprinkling with earth. At the same time, the walls and roof of the house "took" shells and mines, causing them to explode ahead of time. To protect the machine gunner, they often made a fence between the wall of the building and the machine gun point, where a layer of rubble, stones, bricks and earth was poured between the walls. "Defense and field fortifications of the German army" (M.: Voenizdat, 1942)

The enemy made extensive use of thermal insulation in dugouts located along the main lines of communication. In these dugouts, the Germans with machine guns and machine guns sat out from artillery and mortar shelling, leaving only outposts in the trenches. And when the moment came for the attack of the Red Army, the Fritz ran out and took up positions in the nearby trenches and firing points. Quite often, the Germans placed their firing points on the reverse slopes, at a distance of 150-200 m from the crest of the height. That made it possible to avoid losses from artillery or mortar attacks. In addition, the Germans set up several reserve positions for fire weapons; machine gunners, submachine gunners and individual guns, which made it possible to move from one position to another.

Given the winter time, frost and artificial ice created by the Germans on the slopes in front of the strongholds, the situation for the attack of the 1103 regiment was extremely unfavorable.

Here's what it says Veteran 238 Infantrydivisions of P.N. Kuzmenko in his book “The Fiery Wind of Glory”:“The task of the 328th Infantry Division was to liberate the Gremyacheye area. Gremyachee was held by the enemy with the forces of a motorized regiment of the 25th motorized division, reinforced by divisions of two artillery regiments, two tank battalions and armored vehicles with a landing of submachine gunners. The enemy managed to equip the entire village with all-round defense before the approach of the 328th division. In an effort to thwart our offensive, the enemy threw into battle a significant number of armored vehicles, up to a company of tanks with a landing of submachine gunners and up to two infantry battalions. Colonel P. A. Eremin sent two rifle regiments to Gremyachey, giving each division an artillery regiment. The 1105th regiment bypassed the village on the right in order to take possession of its northern half. This was entrusted to the 1st and 3rd battalions, while the 2nd covered the right flank of the division advancing along the Pronya River. The 1103rd regiment was part of the forces to pin down the enemy with an attack on the eastern outskirts of the village, and with the main forces to cover it from the south.

However, the offensive of this regiment did not develop in an organized manner and was directed head-on. The regiment immediately suffered heavy losses from strong flank and frontal machine-gun and artillery fire, and after several enemy counterattacks, it suspended the offensive on the western slopes of the nameless heights, located directly east and southeast of the village. The division commander had to bring in the 1107th regiment from his second echelon. It was introduced correctly - bypassing the village of Gremyachey from the south. The attack of the regiment was preceded by a short strike of artillery and mortars on the discovered firing points. At the same time, the other two regiments of the division went on the attack. By joint efforts, the resistance of the enemy was broken. The ensuing street fight did not last long. For the outcome of the battle, the 2nd battalion of the 1105th regiment of captain A.F. Seleznev played a big role. At the height of the events, this battalion, bypassing the enemy from the north, occupied the village of Yatskoye, cutting off the high road leading from Gremyachy to Stalinogorsk (Novomoskovsk). Having discovered the impending danger of encirclement, the Nazis began to retreat in a southwestern direction, abandoning equipment and weapons. The five-kilometer section of the road between Gremyacheye and Yatskoye was filled with abandoned military equipment, cars, carts and motorcycles of the enemy. During the battle, the platoon commander of the 1107th regiment, junior lieutenant Kolosov, distinguished himself. He broke into the collective farm barnyard, occupied by the Nazis, and destroyed 20 enemy soldiers with machine gun fire. Ilyin, commander of the light machine gun section of the 1103rd regiment, also distinguished himself. With three fighters, he secretly made his way to the rear of the enemy and broke into the building, from where the enemy machine gun fired with disastrous fire. The machine gun was destroyed, and the machine gun crew was killed. Great help was provided by the artillerymen of the division, especially the 2nd division of the artillery regiment. He maneuvered fire and wheels very well, his battery advanced to open firing positions, indefatigably hit enemy tanks, armored vehicles and submachine gunners. Astakhov, the commander of the escort gun, knocked out two enemy tanks during one of the enemy counterattacks. On December 9, 1941, by 2 p.m., the village was liberated. In this battle, the battalion of the 71st regiment of the enemy was completely defeated, 7 armored vehicles, 8 mortars, 4-105 mm guns were knocked out. 10 light and 6 heavy machine guns, over 150 rifles, up to 1000 machine gun belts, 12 vehicles were captured, one of them with personal belongings and correspondence of Adjutant Guderian and 5 prisoners. At the entrance to Gremyachey there were up to 250 killed Nazi soldiers and officers

This victory was also worth a lot of sacrifices to parts of the division. The 1103 Rifle Regiment lost the most. Its commander, Major Ivan Mitrofanovich Talubyev, was killed.

In Gremyachy, 224 soldiers of the 328th Infantry Division, who liberated the village of Gremyachey, were buried in a mass grave. Including: known 215, unknown - 9. The mass grave was formed during the fighting on December 8-9, 1941.

Kuzmenko Pyotr Nikitovich, the author of the book "The Fiery Wind of Glory", did a titanic work, collecting archival materials and testimonies of participants in the battles about combat way 31st Guards division from the moment of its creation in the autumn of 1941 until the end of the war. The author himself went all the way from the beginning to the end of the war as part of this division. The dead were buried directly in the area of ​​death. The dead were recorded in the lists of casualties and, in most cases, the places of death were reported to relatives. Those who could not be identified were listed as missing. Initially, a wooden monument was erected and the area was surrounded by a wooden fence.

From the memoirs of the old-timers of the village of Gremyacheye, it is known how the dead were collected on the field between Pushkar and Streltsy and taken to a silo pit, making mass grave. And in the spring, when the snow melted, they again collected corpses: where they found them, they buried them there.

From the memoirs of a resident of the village of Kazaki, Alexandra Nikiforovna Bychkova, it is known how she found a wounded Russian soldier, who had a wound in the head and forearm, and how she looked after him. When the soldier died, they buried him and another soldier (7 people in total) outside the village of Cossacks. A large stone was placed on the grave. A few years later, the remains of the soldiers were transferred to a mass grave, which is on the edge of the village of Gremyacheye.

In the 1960s, the burials in Berezovka, Pushkary, Streltsy, on the field where the Krasnobogatyrsky garden, it was decided to transfer to a mass grave in the village of Gremyacheye.

Years have passed. Being in Mikhailov at the invitation of Yu.V. Buchnev, local historian and artist, founder of the Mikhailovsky Museum of Local Lore, I happened to pass through Gremyachey, Pushkari, Streltsy ... I remember that then I was impressed not only by the amazing names of local villages and villages, but also by a huge reservoir in the Gremyachey area.

All this wealth was carefully kept in memory. And finally, already this year, postponing all the cases, I tried to restore the names of the dead soldiers of the 1103rd Infantry Regiment, I checked the nominal lists of irretrievable losses of the regiment. I managed to establish, it seems to me, several dozen names of soldiers who were "lost" in time. In the course of the research, questions arose, moreover, doubts about the validity of perpetuating the names of the fighters of the 1103 regiment on the territory of the Leninsky district of the Tula region, in the area of ​​Plavsk and Efremov. Judging by wartime documents, they died on December 08, 1941, in the same battle for Gremyachey. But their names are immortalized for some reason in a completely different place. And I hope that local historians will be able to understand this issue. I believe that there was a ridiculous mistake and s. Gremyachey of the Novomoskovsky district was confused with Gremyachevo of the Leninsky district. An error or inattention has led to a distortion of information.

In addition, more than 80 percent of the dead from the 1103 regiment of the 328 division were natives Yaroslavl region. And I believe it would be appropriate if the Tula people in honor of the Yaroslavl - the soldiers of the liberators will install commemorative sign as an expression of gratitude and appreciation. We talk a lot about patriotism, about the education of citizenship, about the unity of the people. And such a memorial, no doubt, will play a great educational role for the youth of the Tula region, will become a clear example of the unity of the people in front of a cruel and insidious enemy!

I sent the results of my research to the Office of the Ministry of Defense for perpetuating the memory of those who died defending the Fatherland, to the head of the Gremyacheye department, to the Novomoskovsk district newspaper and the regional council of veterans. I hope that the veteran organization of the Tula region, which has authority both at the level of the regional government and at the level of districts and districts, will provide me with all possible assistance in such an important issue as preserving the names of the dead soldiers. I hope so...

1103, 1105 and 1107 rifle regiment,
889 artillery regiment,
295 separate anti-tank battalion,
613 separate anti-aircraft artillery battalion,
505 mortar division,
388 reconnaissance company,
606 sapper battalion,
777 separate communications battalion,
411 medical battalion,
404 separate company of chemical protection,
391 motor transport company,
180 field bakery,
749 divisional veterinary infirmary,
654 field post station,
767 field cash desk of the State Bank.


Combat period
2.12.41-24.5.42

Transformed into 31st Guards Rifle Division 24/5/42

The combat path of the 328th Warsaw Rifle Division of the Red Banner began in the North Caucasus in the autumn of 1942.
The soldiers of the division as part of the Black Sea Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front steadfastly held back the onslaught of the Nazi hordes, rushing to the sea and in Transcaucasia. After heavy defensive battles, the troops of the Red Army thwarted the enemy's offensive in the foothills of the Main Caucasian Range, forced him to go on the defensive. The 328th Rifle Division also made a feasible contribution to this.
The front roads of the 328th Infantry led it through the Kuban and Donbass, Right-Bank Ukraine and Poland to the capital of Nazi Germany. The first of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, she joined in Ketzin with units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, closing the outer ring of encirclement of the enemy group in Berlin.
The motherland appreciated the feats of arms of the soldiers of the division. She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and awarded the honorary title of Warsaw. All its parts were also awarded orders, some of them were given honorary titles. Thousands of soldiers of the division received state awards, and six of them became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Division formation

The defensive battle in the North Caucasus began on July 25, 1942, at the turn of the Don River in the strip from the village of Verkhnekurmoyarskaya to the mouth of the Don.
In August, the enemy captured Krasnodar, Maykop, Belorechenskaya and rushed to Tuapse, trying to reach the Black and Caspian Seas. The fascist German command set as its immediate task access to the coast of the Black Sea, the capture of the most important regions of the Caucasus, a breakthrough through Dagestan to Baku and the mastery of the Baku oil regions.
The headquarters of the Supreme High Command took urgent measures to strengthen the Transcaucasian Front.
On August 18, the enemy launched an offensive in the zone of the Northern Group of Forces. Having shot down its forward detachments, on August 25 he captured Mozdok, hoping to break through to Grozny from here.
To prevent this threat and create a depth of defense in the Makhachkala region, the formation of the 58th Army was hastily completed, consisting of four rifle divisions, a rifle brigade and two artillery regiments under the command of Major General V.A. Khomenko. Among the rifle divisions that became part of the 58th Army was the 328th.
The connection under this number was first created in August - September 1941 in the Kostroma region.
For the courage and heroism of the personnel in the battle near Moscow in May 1942, the division was transformed into the 31st Guards Rifle Division.

It began to take shape on the decisions of the State Defense Committee of August 11, 1941. in Kostroma since August 16, 41 The camp for the formation of the division was 27 km southwest of the city of Kostroma. The conscripts were from those liable for military service in Yaroslavl. By September 15, the formation was completed.

On October 24, 1941, the division was included in the 10th Army. On December 1, the division arrived at the front. On December 4, she set out from the Astromino area in order to take the ref. position for an attack on the city of Mikhailov. On December 7, 1941, the division was late in reaching its original position, so participation in the attack on the city of Mikhailov ( Ryazan Oblast) did not accept, but liquidated enemy units that retreated from Mikhailov to the southwest.

By dawn on December 9, 1941, the division approached a large settlement, the regional center Gremyachey. Gremyachey is an important stronghold in the enemy defense system on the river. Pronya. Owning it, the enemy covered the main routes towards the cities of Novomoskovsk and Epifan. The Nazis thoroughly fortified it. The village is located on a high and very steep rocky bank of the Pronya, and the approaches to it are open. The Nazis built machine gun nests along the coast and flanked the river valley. The vanguard detachment, sent from the 328th Infantry Division to intercept the enemy's retreat from Gremyacheye to the west, was unable to complete the task. He was inactive and had no tanks. The commander of the detachment nevertheless made an energetic attempt to seize the stronghold on the move, but this did not succeed. The division commander sent two rifle regiments to Gremyachey, giving each division an artillery regiment. The 1105th rifle regiment bypassed the village on the right in order to take possession of its northern half. The 1103rd regiment was part of the forces to pin down the enemy with an attack on the eastern outskirts of the village, and the main ones to cover it from the south. However, the offensive of this regiment developed in an unorganized manner and was directed head-on. The regiment immediately suffered heavy losses from strong flank and frontal machine-gun and artillery fire, and after several enemy counterattacks, it suspended the offensive on the western slopes of the nameless heights, located directly east and southeast of the village.

The division commander had to bring in the 1107th rifle regiment from his second echelon. It was introduced correctly - bypassing Gremyachey from the south. The attack of the regiment was preceded by a short strike of artillery and mortars on the discovered firing points. At the same time, the other two regiments of the division went on the attack. By joint efforts, the resistance of the enemy was broken. The ensuing street fight did not last long. By 14 o'clock the village was cleared of the enemy. Two tanks, five armored vehicles, 30 motorcycles, four 105 mm guns, motor vehicles, weapons and ammunition were taken. The 5-kilometer section of the road between Gremyacheye and Yatskoye was clogged with abandoned military equipment, cars, carts and motorcycles of the enemy.

On the morning of December 11, the 330th and 328th divisions began fighting outside the Don. The fiercest fighting reached 12 December. They ended at this turn on the morning of December 13th. The fierceness of the fighting is enough evidenced by the fact that in the 328th division on December 11–12 all the commanders of rifle regiments were wounded and five of the nine battalion commanders and most of the company commanders were out of action. By the morning of December 13, after fierce fighting, the division managed to drive the enemy out of the station and the village of Bobrik-Donskoy (now within the city of Donskoy).

In the afternoon of December 17, units of the division as part of the 10th Army began to reach the enemy's defensive line along the river. Upa. On December 19, the division carried out a successful offensive in the Krapivna area. Its main forces were advancing directly on this city from the south and southeast in cooperation with the 1st Guards Cavalry Division of General V.K. Baranov from the corps of P. A. Belov. She was advancing from the northeast, bypassing the city on the right. Before the eastern outskirts of the city, the commander of the 328th Infantry Division, Colonel P. A. Eremin, had a meeting with General Baranov. Their blow just hit the junction of the regiment " Greater Germany"and the 167th Infantry Division.

During the offensive of the 10th army on the river. The floating 328th division played a big role. In the preceding days, she vigorously pursued the enemy from Uzlovaya to the west. The enemy offered serious resistance to it when entering the Tula highway in the area of ​​a large locality Karamyshevo. The division commander, Colonel Eremin, having received intelligence data and the testimony of prisoners, decided to deliver the main blow with two regiments bypassing Karamyshevo from the south and south-west, and the auxiliary one with one regiment from Vyglyadovka. After a 20-minute artillery raid, parts of the division went on the attack. On the outskirts of Karamyshev and on the southern outskirts of the Ponds, a stubborn battle ensued. Its outcome was decided by the initiative of the battalion commander of the 1103rd Infantry Regiment, Lieutenant Rozhdestvensky. Coming out on the highway south of Karamyshevo, Rozhdestvensky turned his battalion to the north and attacked the village with a blow from the south. At the same time, the cavalry units of General Belov were advancing on him from the north. Together with them, Karamyshevo and Prudy were liberated on December 18.

In the battle for Krapivna, the 328th Infantry Division had against itself the defending regiment of the enemy's 167th Infantry Division. Having limited themselves to active reconnaissance operations from the front, two rifle regiments of the first echelon of the division used a detour maneuver from the south and southeast. The city was taken by the 1107th Infantry Regiment of the division and the 1st Guards Cavalry Division of General Baranov. During the remainder of the day on December 20, the 328th Division moved further west. Compared with other formations of the army, this division, like the cavalry corps, advanced 10-12 km forward.

Having crossed the Oka River, the regiments made a roundabout movement and captured the city of Belev on December 31 with a blow from the west. Large trophies were captured here: 10 guns, 10 artillery pieces, 12 anti-aircraft guns, 307 vehicles, 112 motorcycles and a large number of other trophies.

January 5, 42 concentrated in the Melovoye region. From January 13, 42 1107sp and battery 889pa were subordinated to headquarters 10A and then 322sd to provide a junction with 61A. They returned to the squad only on March 14th. January 19 moved to Gultsevo. On January 18, German troops launched a counteroffensive to help the encircled Sukhinichi garrison. The defenses of 322nd and 323rd rifle divisions in the area of ​​Zikeevo and Lyudinovo on the left flank of 10A were broken through, and on January 24 the deblocking group joined up with the encircled garrison. 328sd, which was in reserve 10A, was advanced towards enemy units rushing towards Sukhinichi and fought for Khludnevo, preventing the enemy from expanding the wedge driven into our defenses. On January 28, the 16A Rokossovsky department was transferred to the Sukhinichi area, uniting parts of the 12gv, 322, 323, 324 and 328sd. Since the enemy had only a narrow corridor shot through by our troops, the Germans did not hold it, leaving Sukhinichi on January 27-29, having withdrawn the garrison of the city from the encirclement. As trophies at the station, our troops captured 7 locomotives, 100 wagons, 2 tanks, 2 heavy. guns, 100 vehicles, 100 horses, warehouses and other military property. On January 31, the division occupied Khludnevo, on February 3, Polyany. February 15 took up defensive positions in the Sukhinichi area. On February 21, they took the 11gvsd section, occupying Tsepovaya, Gusuvo. March 5 resumed the offensive and occupied Pechenkino, Sosnovka, Zhivodovka. April 2 captured Borovoe. On April 4, she replaced 97th and 324th divisions by taking up defense along the Zhizdra River. From April 6 to April 12, he was fighting for the capture of Dubrovka and Rechitsa. April 14 withdrawn to the reserve 16A.

On May 10, it concentrated in the Vinnozavodchik area, the Villagers, putting themselves in order and replenishing with personnel and mat. part.

The flag of the Airborne Forces 328th Airborne Regiment 104th Airborne Forces will remind everyone who has ever had the honor to serve in the 328th Airborne Regiment that there are no former paratroopers.

Characteristics

• 328 RAP
• 328 Guards. RAP
• Ganja
• military unit 93626

Flag of the Airborne Forces 328th Guards Airborne Regiment

The 328th Airborne Regiment belongs to the first generation of these elite guard formations, born in the fire of the battles of the Great Patriotic War. This fact can be proud of every paratrooper who had the honor to serve in the 328th Guards Infantry Regiment. On the other hand, it imposes additional responsibility. A guardsman cannot afford even a fleeting weakness in the performance of a combat mission in the interests of the Motherland, the protection of his loved ones and peace in our land.

Perhaps it is worth starting a story about this illustrious unit by watching video of 328 RAP of the 104th Airborne Division. Here is a short video with rare footage from the Geran training ground near Kirovabad.

And here is a video edited by one of the paratroopers of the regiment.

328 pdp in the battles of World War II

In May 1943, the 1st separate airborne brigade was created in the Moscow region with a staff strength of about 6,000 people. In September 1943, the brigade was planned to land on the Kanev site, however, the landing did not take place for various reasons.

Until the end of 1943, the 1st Airborne Brigade fought as part of the 1st Baltic Front, where it entered the 8th Airborne Corps together with the 2nd and 11th Airborne Brigade. In December 1943, these three airborne brigades formed the 11th Guards Airborne Division.

In August 1944, the 11th Guards. VDD is part of the 38th Guards Airborne Corps. In December 1944, the 11th Airborne Division was reorganized into the 104th Guards. rifle division on the territory of the Byelorussian SSR.

At the last reorganization, the former 1st Guards. ovdbr gets the name of the 328th Guards. rifle regiment. But already in September of the same, 1944, 104th Guards. sd again becomes an airborne division, and rifle regiments become airborne brigades with the return of the previous numbering.

Until the end of the war, the organization and names of the formations of the 104th Guards. divisions did not change. As for the 1st airborne brigade, it successfully fought as part of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts in Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia.

After graduating from the Great Patriotic War in the Prague region, 1 vdbr, the former predecessor of 328 pdp 104 vdd, was based in Hungary until 1946. In the winter of 1946, the division was redeployed to the Leningrad region.

328 Airborne Regiment as part of the 104th Airborne Division in Ganja (Kirovabad)

When transferred to Soviet Union The 1st airborne brigade again receives the name of the 328th Guards Parachute Regiment (328th parachute regiment). The initial place of deployment is the city of Kingisepp in the Leningrad region.

From 1947 to 1960, the 104th Guards Airborne Division, and with it the 328th Airborne Regiment, were based in the Pskov region in the city of Ostrov.

In 1960, the 328th Airborne Regiment was transferred to Azerbaijan in the city of Kirovabad (now - the city of Ganja).

As for the events that took place during the war in Afghanistan, according to documents 328, the PDP did not participate in hostilities as part of a limited contingent Soviet troops. However, there are a number of oral testimonies from officers of the regiment stating that they took part in Afghan war in the spring of 1984

328 pdp 104 vdd in Ulyanovsk

After the collapse of the USSR, the regiment and division were relocated from Ganja to Ulyanovsk, where a new stage in the life of the unit began.

On May 1, 1998, the 104th Airborne Division was reorganized into the 31st Separate Airborne Brigade with the transfer of historical forms, awards and battle flags.

Twice the regiment takes part in the operations of federal forces in the North Caucasus - in Chechnya (1994-1995), as well as in Dagestan and Chechnya (1999-2001). We have already written about these events in more detail.

On the this moment The successor to the 328th Guards PDP 104th Airborne Division is the 54th OPDB, which received all the regalia of the glorious 328th Airborne Regiment. Now the 54th separate airborne battalion is engaged in combat training in peacetime, but is always ready to defend Russia, like the formations whose awards and banners it bears.