Ten famous selfless deeds of Soviet soldiers. Little-known feats of the Great Patriotic War Message about a man who fought
The exploits of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War
CHEREPANOV SERGEY MIKHAILOVICH (1916-1944) - Hero Soviet Union. Born on July 16, 1916 in the Vologda region. Lived and worked in the village. Novy Bor, Ust-Tsilemsky district, Komi ASSR. He went to the front as a volunteer in August 1942. Participated in battles on the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts.
On January 24, 1944, the commander of the 1249th Infantry Regiment of the 377th Infantry Division (59th Army, Leningrad Front) Cherepanov S.M. was the first to break into the village of Poddubie (Novgorod Region) and destroyed an enemy machine gun with a grenade. He was wounded in the chest, but did not leave the battlefield. After several Nazi counterattacks, Sergeant Cherepanov was left alone - his comrades were killed. With well-aimed fire from a machine gun, he continued to destroy the invaders, pressing from all sides. And when the cartridges ran out, he blew himself up and the enemies around him with the last grenade. It happened on January 24, 1944. S. M. Cherepanov was buried in the village. Poddubie, Novgorod region
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 5, 1944, Sergeant S. M. Cherepanov (posthumously) was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the village A bust of the Hero was installed in Novy Bor, one of the streets of the village was named after him.
CHERKASOV ALEXEY IVANOVICH
(1914-1980)
- Hero of the Soviet Union. Born in Moscow in a working-class family, brought up in an orphanage. He graduated from the factory school, worked as a turner. Before the war, on a Komsomol ticket, he came to the Komi ASSR to build the North Pechora Railway. He worked as a worker at the Kozhva railway station. In 1942
Kozhvinsky district military registration and enlistment office (now Pechora city) was drafted into the Red Army, became a military sapper.
On the front of the Great Patriotic War from February 1943, he built crossings, cleared passages in minefields for tanks, artillery, infantry near Voronezh, in the Battle of Kursk, in battles for Ukraine, in Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Austria. Commanding a detachment of the 392nd engineer battalion (232nd rifle division, Voronezh front), senior sergeant Cherkasov showed heroism when crossing the Dnieper near Vyshgorod (Kiev region). He was one of the first in the battalion at the beginning of October 1943, at night, under enemy fire, ferried his squad across the Dnieper by boat and firmly entrenched himself on the right bank of the river. By diverting the enemy's fire, he contributed to the successful start of the crossing of the river. He boldly acted on the crossing itself, promptly repairing watercraft, thereby ensuring the consolidation of units on the right-bank bridgehead.
On January 10, 1944, Senior Sergeant A. I. Cherkasov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, and medals.
After demobilization in 1945, he lived in the mining town of Gorskoe (Donbass). He worked in coal mines, led a mining team. Died 08/07/1980. Buried in Gorskoe.
BABIKOV MAKAR ANDREEVICH - Hero of the Soviet Union. Born in 1921 in the village. Ust-Tsilma Komi ASSR in a peasant family. Russian. He studied at the Ust-Tsilemsk secondary school, worked as a primary school teacher, then in the district committee of the Komsomol. From 1939 he served in the Northern Navy. Communist.
Participated in the Great Patriotic War from the beginning to the end of hostilities. He bravely acted in all combat and reconnaissance campaigns of the special reconnaissance detachment of the Northern Fleet behind enemy lines. In 1943, commanding a platoon in reconnaissance, he destroyed a convoy of an enemy anti-aircraft regiment, captured prisoners and provided the command with important information. He smashed the garrisons on the shores of the Barents Sea. At Cape Krestovy, he captured an artillery battery and inflicted great damage on the enemy in manpower.
In August 1945, he actively participated in the war with imperialist Japan as part of a separate reconnaissance detachment of the Pacific Fleet, commanded a platoon of paratroopers in operations to capture the South Korean ports of Yuki, Rasin and others. He distinguished himself by heroism in the operation to capture the city of Seishin. Having landed from torpedo boats, the paratroopers quickly broke into the city. Babikov's platoon captured the railway and highway bridge across the river, destroyed more than 50 soldiers, 6 vehicles. For more than 18 hours, the paratroopers held out, repelling continuous enemy attacks. Babikov fearlessly acted in other battles to hold Seishin until the main landing force approached. On September 14, 1945 Babikov M.A. was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded two orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star, the Badge of Honor and medals.
In 1946, Chief Petty Officer Babikov M.A. was transferred to the reserve. He graduated from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, worked in the Komsomol, party, Soviet work, in the KGB. Lives in Moscow, retired colonel, pensioner
SHEVELEV ANTON ANTONOVICH
(1918-1981)
- Hero of the Soviet Union. Born in the village of Neivo-Shaytanovka, Alapaevsky district, Sverdlovsk region, in the family of a peasant-otkhodnik. His childhood was spent in his father's homeland in the village. Mordino, Kortkerossky district, Komi ASSR.
Graduated from the Bataysk Civil Aviation School.
On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War since 1942 - in the 455th (30th Guards) Aviation Regiment of Long-Range Bomber Aviation. By October 1944, Guard Captain Shevelev made 222 sorties for bombing behind enemy lines, 103 times participated in the bombing of large enemy targets on the instructions of the command of the Volkhov, Leningrad, Kalinin, 1, 2, 3 Belorussian fronts.
On March 16, 1943, Shevelev's plane, which took off on a mission, was attacked by an enemy fighter. The plane received 30 holes, became difficult to control. The radio operator and gunner were wounded. However, A. A. Shevelev, having shown exceptional courage, reached the goal and successfully completed the task, masterfully landed the aircraft on one wheel at his airfield, saved the aircraft and the lives of the crew members.
On November 5, 1944, Captain A. A. Shevelev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner of War, Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, and medals.
In May 1945, Major A. A. Shevelev was demobilized after a severe wound to the guard. After the war, he graduated in absentia from the Ural Forest Engineering Institute, postgraduate studies. Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor, worked as a university teacher, died on May 10, 1981, was buried in Sverdlovsk.
GAVRILOV IVAN SAMSONOVYCH
(1913-1944)
- Hero of the Soviet Union. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1939. Born in the village. Makeevka (now a city in the Donetsk region) in a miner's family. Russian. Graduated from mining school. He worked at the mines in the Donbass, at
Svalbard, Karaganda.
In June 1942, among the volunteer miners from Karaganda, he came to the North to develop the Pechora coal basin. He worked in Vorkuta as an assistant to the head of the section of mine No. 1/2, then as the head of the section of mine No. 4.
Drafted into the Red Army in March 1943 by the Kozhvinsky district military commissariat. He fought from April 1943 as part of the 1318th Infantry Regiment of the 163rd Romensko-Kyiv Division. In October 1943, commander I.S. Gavrilov, with the soldiers of his squad, were among the first to secretly cross from the enemy to the right bank of the Dnieper in the Zhukovka region (the southern outskirts of Kiev). With a sudden throw, they knocked out the Nazis from their positions and, diverting fire on themselves, helped other units successfully cross the Dnieper.
For skillful command of the squad in battle, for repelling five counterattacks of superior enemy forces and for his courage and heroism, I.S. Gavrilov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on October 29, 1943 with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. He was awarded the medal "For Courage". In one of the battles, I.S. Gavrilov was seriously wounded and died on January 2, 1944 in a front-line hospital. Buried in the village Stavishche of the Kyiv region.
Heroes of the Great Patriotic War
Alexander Matrosov
Submachine gunner of the 2nd Separate Battalion of the 91st Separate Siberian Volunteer Brigade named after Stalin.
Sasha Matrosov did not know his parents. He was brought up in an orphanage and a labor colony. When the war began, he was not even 20. Matrosov was drafted into the army in September 1942 and sent to an infantry school, and then to the front.
In February 1943, his battalion attacked the Nazi stronghold, but fell into a trap, falling under heavy fire, cutting off the path to the trenches. They fired from three bunkers. Two soon fell silent, but the third continued to shoot the Red Army soldiers who lay in the snow.
Seeing that the only chance to get out of the fire was to suppress the enemy's fire, Matrosov crawled to the bunker with a fellow soldier and threw two grenades in his direction. The gun was silent. The Red Army went on the attack, but the deadly weapon chirped again. Alexander's partner was killed, and Matrosov was left alone in front of the bunker. Something had to be done.
He didn't even have a few seconds to make a decision. Not wanting to let his comrades down, Alexander closed the embrasure of the bunker with his body. The attack was successful. And Matrosov posthumously received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Military pilot, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment, captain.
He worked as a mechanic, then in 1932 he was called up for service in the Red Army. He got into the air regiment, where he became a pilot. Nicholas Gastello participated in three wars. A year before the Great Patriotic War, he received the rank of captain.
On June 26, 1941, the crew under the command of Captain Gastello took off to attack a German mechanized column. It was on the road between the Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Radoshkovichi. But the column was well guarded by enemy artillery. A fight ensued. Aircraft Gastello was hit by anti-aircraft guns. The shell damaged the fuel tank, the car caught fire. The pilot could eject, but he decided to fulfill his military duty to the end. Nikolay Gastello directed the burning car directly to the enemy column. It was the first fire ram in the Great Patriotic War.
The name of the brave pilot has become a household name. Until the end of the war, all the aces who decided to go for a ram were called Gastellites. According to official statistics, almost six hundred enemy rams were made during the entire war.
Brigadier scout of the 67th detachment of the 4th Leningrad partisan brigade.
Lena was 15 years old when the war began. He already worked at the factory, having finished the seven-year plan. When the Nazis captured his native Novgorod region, Lenya joined the partisans.
He was brave and determined, the command appreciated him. For several years spent in the partisan detachment, he participated in 27 operations. On his account, several destroyed bridges behind enemy lines, 78 destroyed Germans, 10 trains with ammunition.
It was he who, in the summer of 1942, near the village of Varnitsa, blew up a car in which the German Major General of the Engineering Troops, Richard von Wirtz, was located. Golikov managed to obtain important documents about the German offensive. The enemy attack was thwarted, and the young hero for this feat was presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
In the winter of 1943, a significantly superior enemy detachment unexpectedly attacked partisans near the village of Ostraya Luka. Lenya Golikov died like a real hero - in battle.
Pioneer. Scout of the partisan detachment named after Voroshilov in the territory occupied by the Nazis.
Zina was born and went to school in Leningrad. However, the war found her on the territory of Belarus, where she came for the holidays.
In 1942, 16-year-old Zina joined the underground organization Young Avengers. It distributed anti-fascist leaflets in the occupied territories. Then, under cover, she got a job working in a canteen for German officers, where she committed several acts of sabotage and only miraculously was not captured by the enemy. Her courage surprised many experienced soldiers.
In 1943, Zina Portnova joined the partisans and continued to engage in sabotage behind enemy lines. Due to the efforts of defectors who surrendered Zina to the Nazis, she was captured. In the dungeons, she was interrogated and tortured. But Zina was silent, not betraying her. At one of these interrogations, she grabbed a pistol from the table and shot three Nazis. After that, she was shot in prison.
Underground anti-fascist organization operating in the area of modern Luhansk region. There were over a hundred people. The youngest participant was 14 years old.
This youth underground organization was formed immediately after the occupation of the Lugansk region. It included both regular military personnel, who were cut off from the main units, and local youth. Among the most famous participants: Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vasily Levashov, Sergey Tyulenin and many other young people.
The "Young Guard" issued leaflets and committed sabotage against the Nazis. Once they managed to disable an entire tank repair shop, burn down the stock exchange, from where the Nazis drove people to forced labor in Germany. The members of the organization planned to stage an uprising, but were exposed because of the traitors. The Nazis caught, tortured and shot more than seventy people. Their feat is immortalized in one of the most famous military books by Alexander Fadeev and the film adaptation of the same name.
28 people from the personnel of the 4th company of the 2nd battalion of the 1075th rifle regiment.
In November 1941, a counteroffensive against Moscow began. The enemy did not stop at nothing, making a decisive forced march before the onset of a harsh winter.
At this time, the fighters under the command of Ivan Panfilov took up a position on the highway seven kilometers from Volokolamsk, a small town near Moscow. There they gave battle to the advancing tank units. The battle lasted four hours. During this time, they destroyed 18 armored vehicles, delaying the enemy's attack and frustrating his plans. All 28 people (or almost all, here the opinions of historians differ) died.
According to legend, the political instructor of the company, Vasily Klochkov, before the decisive stage of the battle, turned to the fighters with a phrase that became known throughout the country: “Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind!”
The Nazi counteroffensive ultimately failed. The battle for Moscow, which was assigned the most important role during the war, was lost by the occupiers.
As a child, the future hero suffered from rheumatism, and the doctors doubted that Maresyev would be able to fly. However, he stubbornly applied to the flight school until he was finally enrolled. Maresyev was drafted into the army in 1937.
He met the Great Patriotic War at the flight school, but soon got to the front. During a sortie, his plane was shot down, and Maresyev himself was able to eject. Eighteen days, seriously wounded in both legs, he got out of the encirclement. However, he still managed to overcome the front line and ended up in the hospital. But gangrene had already begun, and the doctors amputated both of his legs.
For many, this would mean the end of the service, but the pilot did not give up and returned to aviation. Until the end of the war, he flew with prostheses. Over the years, he made 86 sorties and shot down 11 enemy aircraft. And 7 - already after amputation. In 1944, Alexei Maresyev went to work as an inspector and lived to be 84 years old.
His fate inspired the writer Boris Polevoy to write The Tale of a Real Man.
Deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Victor Talalikhin began to fight already in the Soviet-Finnish war. He shot down 4 enemy planes on a biplane. Then he served in the aviation school.
In August 1941, one of the first Soviet pilots made a ram, shooting down a German bomber in a night air battle. Moreover, the wounded pilot was able to get out of the cockpit and descend by parachute to the rear of his own.
Talalikhin then shot down five more German planes. Killed during another air battle near Podolsk in October 1941.
After 73 years, in 2014, search engines found Talalikhin's plane, which remained in the swamps near Moscow.
Artilleryman of the 3rd counter-battery artillery corps of the Leningrad Front.
Soldier Andrei Korzun was drafted into the army at the very beginning of World War II. He served on the Leningrad front, where there were fierce and bloody battles.
November 5, 1943, during the next battle, his battery came under fierce enemy fire. Korzun was seriously wounded. Despite the terrible pain, he saw that the powder charges were set on fire and the ammunition depot could fly into the air. Gathering the last of his strength, Andrey crawled to the blazing fire. But he could no longer take off his overcoat to cover the fire. Losing consciousness, he made a last effort and covered the fire with his body. The explosion was avoided at the cost of the life of a brave gunner.
Commander of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade.
A native of Petrograd, Alexander German, according to some sources, was a native of Germany. He served in the army from 1933. When the war began, he became a scout. He worked behind enemy lines, commanded a partisan detachment, which terrified the enemy soldiers. His brigade destroyed several thousand fascist soldiers and officers, derailed hundreds of trains and blew up hundreds of vehicles.
The Nazis staged a real hunt for Herman. In 1943, his partisan detachment was surrounded in the Pskov region. Making his way to his own, the brave commander died from an enemy bullet.
Commander of the 30th Separate Guards Tank Brigade of the Leningrad Front
Vladislav Khrustitsky was drafted into the Red Army back in the 1920s. In the late 30s he graduated from armored courses. Since the autumn of 1942, he commanded the 61st separate light tank brigade.
He distinguished himself during Operation Iskra, which marked the beginning of the defeat of the Germans on the Leningrad front.
He died in the battle near Volosovo. In 1944, the enemy retreated from Leningrad, but from time to time made attempts to counterattack. During one of these counterattacks, Khrustitsky's tank brigade fell into a trap.
Despite heavy fire, the commander ordered to continue the offensive. He turned on the radio to his crews with the words: "Stand to the death!" - and went forward first. Unfortunately, the brave tanker died in this battle. And yet the village of Volosovo was liberated from the enemy.
Commander of a partisan detachment and brigade.
Before the war, he worked on the railroad. In October 1941, when the Germans were already standing near Moscow, he himself volunteered for a difficult operation, in which his railway experience was needed. Was thrown behind enemy lines. There he came up with the so-called "coal mines" (in fact, these are just mines disguised as coal). With the help of this simple but effective weapon, a hundred enemy trains were blown up in three months.
Zaslonov actively agitated the local population to go over to the side of the partisans. The Nazis, having learned this, dressed their soldiers in Soviet uniforms. Zaslonov mistook them for defectors and ordered them to be allowed into the partisan detachment. The path to the insidious enemy was open. A battle ensued, during which Zaslonov died. A reward was announced for living or dead Zaslonov, but the peasants hid his body, and the Germans did not get it.
The commander of a small partisan detachment.
Yefim Osipenko fought back in the Civil War. Therefore, when the enemy seized his land, without thinking twice, he joined the partisans. Together with five other comrades, he organized a small partisan detachment that committed sabotage against the Nazis.
During one of the operations, it was decided to undermine the enemy composition. But there was little ammunition in the detachment. The bomb was made from an ordinary grenade. The explosives were to be installed by Osipenko himself. He crawled to the railway bridge and, seeing the approach of the train, threw it in front of the train. There was no explosion. Then the partisan himself hit the grenade with a pole from the railway sign. It worked! A long train with food and tanks went downhill. The squad leader survived, but lost his sight completely.
For this feat, he was the first in the country to be awarded the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War."
The peasant Matvey Kuzmin was born three years before the abolition of serfdom. And he died, becoming the oldest holder of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
His story contains many references to the history of another famous peasant - Ivan Susanin. Matvey also had to lead the invaders through the forest and swamps. And, like the legendary hero, he decided to stop the enemy at the cost of his life. He sent his grandson ahead to warn a detachment of partisans who had stopped nearby. The Nazis were ambushed. A fight ensued. Matvey Kuzmin died at the hands of a German officer. But he did his job. He was in his 84th year.
A partisan who was part of the sabotage and reconnaissance group of the headquarters of the Western Front.
While studying at school, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya wanted to enter a literary institute. But these plans were not destined to come true - the war prevented. In October 1941, Zoya, as a volunteer, came to the recruiting station and, after a short training at a school for saboteurs, was transferred to Volokolamsk. There, an 18-year-old partisan fighter, along with adult men, performed dangerous tasks: she mined roads and destroyed communication centers.
During one of the sabotage operations, Kosmodemyanskaya was caught by the Germans. She was tortured, forcing her to betray her own. Zoya heroically endured all the trials without saying a word to the enemies. Seeing that it was impossible to get anything from the young partisan, they decided to hang her.
Kosmodemyanskaya steadfastly accepted the test. A moment before her death, she shouted to the assembled local residents: “Comrades, victory will be ours. German soldiers, before it's too late, surrender!" The courage of the girl so shocked the peasants that they later retold this story to front-line correspondents. And after the publication in the Pravda newspaper, the whole country learned about the feat of Kosmodemyanskaya. She became the first woman to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War.
The war demanded from the people the greatest exertion of strength and huge sacrifices on a national scale, revealed the steadfastness and courage of the Soviet man, the ability to sacrifice himself in the name of the freedom and independence of the Motherland. During the war years, heroism became widespread, became the norm for the behavior of Soviet people. Thousands of soldiers and officers immortalized their names in the defense of the Brest Fortress, Odessa, Sevastopol, Kiev, Leningrad, Novorossiysk, in the battle of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, in the North Caucasus, the Dnieper, in the foothills of the Carpathians, during the storming of Berlin and in other battles.
For heroic deeds in the Great Patriotic War, over 11 thousand people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (some of them posthumously), 104 of them twice, three three times (G.K. Zhukov, I.N. Kozhedub and A.I. Pokryshkin ). During the war years, this title was first awarded to Soviet pilots M.P. Zhukov, S.I. Zdorovtsev and P.T. Kharitonov, who rammed Nazi planes on the outskirts of Leningrad.
In total, over eight thousand heroes were trained in the ground forces in wartime, including 1,800 artillerymen, 1,142 tankers, 650 engineering troops, over 290 signalmen, 93 air defense soldiers, 52 soldiers of the military rear, 44 doctors; in the Air Force - over 2400 people; in the Navy - over 500 people; partisans, underground workers and Soviet intelligence officers - about 400; border guards - over 150 people.
| Representatives of the nations | Number of heroes |
|---|---|
| Russians | 8160 |
| Ukrainians | 2069 |
| Belarusians | 309 |
| Tatars | 161 |
| Jews | 108 |
| Kazakhs | 96 |
| Georgian | 90 |
| Armenians | 90 |
| Uzbeks | 69 |
| Mordovians | 61 |
| Chuvash | 44 |
| Azerbaijanis | 43 |
| Bashkirs | 39 |
| Ossetians | 32 |
| Tajiks | 14 |
| Turkmens | 18 |
| Lithokians | 15 |
| Latvians | 13 |
| Kyrgyz | 12 |
| Udmurts | 10 |
| Karelians | 8 |
| Estonians | 8 |
| Kalmyks | 8 |
| Kabardians | 7 |
| Adyghe | 6 |
| Abkhazians | 5 |
| Yakuts | 3 |
| Moldovans | 2 |
| results | 11501 |
Among the military personnel awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, privates, sergeants, foremen - over 35%, officers - about 60%, generals, admirals, marshals - over 380 people. There are 87 women among the Wartime Heroes of the Soviet Union. Z. A. Kosmodemyanskaya was the first to receive this title (posthumously).
About 35% of the Heroes of the Soviet Union at the time of awarding the title were under the age of 30, 28% - from 30 to 40 years old, 9% - over 40 years old.
Four Heroes of the Soviet Union: artilleryman A. V. Aleshin, pilot I. G. Drachenko, commander of a rifle platoon P. Kh. Dubinda, artilleryman N. I. Kuznetsov - were also awarded Orders of Glory of all three degrees for military exploits. More than 2,500 people, including 4 women, became full holders of the Order of Glory of three degrees. During the war, over 38 million orders and medals were awarded to the defenders of the Motherland for courage and heroism. The motherland highly appreciated the labor feat of the Soviet people in the rear. During the war years, the title of Hero of Socialist Labor was awarded to 201 people, about 200 thousand were awarded orders and medals.
Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin
Born September 18, 1918 in the village. Teplovka, Volsky district, Saratov region. Russian. After graduating from the factory school, he worked at the Moscow meat processing plant, at the same time he studied at the flying club. He graduated from the Borisoglebokoe military aviation school for pilots. He took part in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. He made 47 sorties, shot down 4 Finnish aircraft, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star (1940).
In the battles of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. Made more than 60 sorties. In the summer and autumn of 1941, he fought near Moscow. For military distinctions he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (1941) and the Order of Lenin.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal was awarded to Viktor Vasilyevich Talalikhin by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 8, 1941 for the first night ramming of an enemy bomber in the history of aviation.
Soon Talalikhin was appointed squadron commander, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant. The glorious pilot participated in many air battles near Moscow, shot down five more enemy aircraft personally and one in a group. He died a heroic death in an unequal battle with Nazi fighters on October 27, 1941.
Buried V.V. Talalikhin with military honors at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. By order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR dated August 30, 1948, he was forever included in the lists of the first squadron of the fighter aviation regiment, in which he fought the enemy near Moscow.
Streets in Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Borisoglebsk, Voronezh region and other cities, a sea vessel, GPTU No. 100 in Moscow, and a number of schools were named after Talalikhin. An obelisk was erected on the 43rd kilometer of the Varshavskoye Highway, over which an unprecedented night duel took place. A monument was erected in Podolsk, in Moscow - a bust of the Hero.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub
(1920-1991), air marshal (1985), Hero of the Soviet Union (1944 - twice; 1945). During the Great Patriotic War in fighter aviation, the squadron commander, deputy regiment commander, conducted 120 air battles; shot down 62 aircraft.
Three times Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub on La-7 shot down 17 enemy aircraft (including the Me-262 jet fighter) out of 62 shot down by him during the war on La fighters. One of the most memorable battles Kozhedub fought on February 19, 1945 (sometimes the date is February 24).
On this day, he flew out on a free hunt paired with Dmitry Titarenko. On the traverse of the Oder, the pilots noticed an aircraft rapidly approaching from the direction of Frankfurt an der Oder. The plane was flying along the riverbed at an altitude of 3500 m at a speed much greater than the La-7 could develop. It was Me-262. Kozhedub instantly made a decision. The Me-262 pilot relied on the speed qualities of his car and did not control the airspace in the rear hemisphere and below. Kozhedub attacked from below on a head-on course, hoping to hit the jet in the belly. However, Titarenko opened fire before Kozhedub. To the considerable surprise of Kozhedub, the premature firing of the wingman was beneficial.
The German turned to the left, towards Kozhedub, the latter had only to catch the Messerschmitt in the sight and press the trigger. Me-262 turned into a fireball. In the cockpit of the Me 262 was non-commissioned officer Kurt-Lange from 1. / KG (J) -54.
On the evening of April 17, 1945, Kozhedub and Titarenko flew their fourth combat sortie to the Berlin area in a day. Immediately after crossing the front line north of Berlin, the hunters discovered a large group of FW-190s with suspended bombs. Kozhedub began to gain altitude for the attack and reported to the command post about establishing contact with a group of forty Focke-Vulvof with suspended bombs. German pilots clearly saw how a pair of Soviet fighters went into the clouds and did not expect that they would appear again. However, the hunters showed up.
Behind from the top, in the first attack, Kozhedub shot down the leader of the four fokkers that closed the group. The hunters sought to give the enemy the impression of the presence of a significant number of Soviet fighters in the air. Kozhedub threw his La-7 right into the thick of the enemy aircraft, turning Lavochkin left and right, the ace fired cannons in short bursts. The Germans succumbed to the trick - the Focke-Wulfs began to free them from bombs that prevented air combat. However, the Luftwaffe pilots soon established the presence of only two La-7s in the air and, taking advantage of the numerical advantage, took the guards into circulation. One FW-190 managed to get into the tail of the Kozhedub fighter, but Titarenko opened fire before the German pilot - the Focke-Wulf exploded in the air.
By this time, help had arrived - the La-7 group from the 176th regiment, Titarenko and Kozhedub were able to get out of the battle on the last remaining fuel. On the way back, Kozhedub saw a single FW-190, which was still trying to drop bombs on Soviet troops. Ace dived and shot down an enemy plane. It was the last, 62nd, German aircraft shot down by the best Allied fighter pilot.
Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub also distinguished himself in the Battle of Kursk.
Kozhedub's total score does not include at least two aircraft - American R-51 Mustang fighters. In one of the battles in April, Kozhedub tried to drive off German fighters from the American Flying Fortress with cannon fire. US Air Force escort fighters misunderstood the intentions of the La-7 pilot and opened barrage fire from a long distance. Kozhedub, apparently, also mistook the Mustangs for Messers, left the fire with a coup and, in turn, attacked the “enemy”.
He damaged one Mustang (the plane, smoking, left the battlefield and, after flying a little, fell, the pilot jumped out with a parachute), the second R-51 exploded in the air. Only after a successful attack did Kozhedub notice the white stars of the US Air Force on the wings and fuselages of the planes he shot down. After landing, the regiment commander, Colonel Chupikov, advised Kozhedub to keep quiet about the incident and gave him the developed film of the photo-machine gun. The existence of a film with footage of burning Mustangs became known only after the death of the legendary pilot. Detailed biography of the hero on the website: www.warheroes.ru "Unknown Heroes"
Alexey Petrovich Maresyev
Maresyev Aleksey Petrovich fighter pilot, deputy squadron commander of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Guards Senior Lieutenant.
Born on May 20, 1916 in the city of Kamyshin, Volgograd Region, in a working class family. Russian. At the age of three, he was left without a father, who died shortly after returning from the First World War. After graduating from the 8th grade of secondary school, Alexei entered the FZU, where he received the specialty of a locksmith. Then he applied to the Moscow Aviation Institute, but instead of the institute, he went to build Komsomolsk-on-Amur instead of the institute on a Komsomol ticket. There he sawed wood in the taiga, built barracks, and then the first residential quarters. At the same time he studied at the flying club. He was drafted into the Soviet army in 1937. He served in the 12th Aviation Border Detachment. But, according to Maresyev himself, he did not fly, but "wafted his tails" at the planes. He really took to the air already at the Bataysk Military Aviation Pilot School, which he graduated in 1940. He served as a flight instructor.
He made his first sortie on August 23, 1941 in the Krivoy Rog region. Lieutenant Maresyev opened a combat account at the beginning of 1942 - he shot down a Ju-52. By the end of March 1942, he brought the number of downed Nazi aircraft to four. On April 4, in an air battle over the Demyansky bridgehead (Novgorod region), Maresyev's fighter was shot down. He tried to land on the ice of a frozen lake, but released the landing gear early. The plane began to quickly lose altitude and fell into the forest.
Maresyev crawled to his own. He had frostbite on his feet and had to be amputated. However, the pilot decided not to give up. When he got the prostheses, he trained long and hard and got permission to return to duty. He learned to fly again in the 11th reserve aviation brigade in Ivanovo.
In June 1943, Maresyev returned to service. He fought on the Kursk Bulge as part of the 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, was a deputy squadron commander. In August 1943, during one battle, Alexei Maresyev shot down three enemy FW-190 fighters at once.
On August 24, 1943, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Senior Lieutenant Maresyev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Later he fought in the Baltic States, became a regiment navigator. In 1944 he joined the CPSU. In total, he made 86 sorties, shot down 11 enemy aircraft: 4 before being wounded and seven with amputated legs. In June 1944, Major Maresyev of the Guards became an inspector-pilot of the Office of Higher Educational Institutions of the Air Force. The legendary fate of Alexei Petrovich Maresyev is the subject of Boris Polevoy's book "The Tale of a Real Man".
In July 1946, Maresyev was honorably discharged from the Air Force. In 1952 he graduated from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU, in 1956 - postgraduate studies at the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the CPSU, received the title of candidate of historical sciences. In the same year, he became the executive secretary of the Soviet Committee of War Veterans, in 1983 - the first deputy chairman of the committee. In this position, he worked until the last day of his life.
Retired Colonel A.P. Maresyev was awarded two Orders of Lenin, Orders of the October Revolution, Red Banner, Patriotic War 1st degree, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, Orders of Friendship of Peoples, Red Star, Badge of Honor, "For Merit to the Fatherland" 3rd degree, medals, foreign orders. He was an honorary soldier of a military unit, an honorary citizen of the cities of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kamyshin, Orel. A minor planet in the solar system, a public foundation, and youth patriotic clubs are named after him. He was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Author of the book "On the Kursk Bulge" (M., 1960).
Even during the war, Boris Polevoy's book "The Tale of a Real Man" was published, the prototype of which was Maresyev (the author changed only one letter in his last name). In 1948, director Alexander Stolper shot a film of the same name based on the book at Mosfilm. Maresyev was even offered to play the main role himself, but he refused and this role was played by a professional actor Pavel Kadochnikov.
He died suddenly on May 18, 2001. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery. On May 18, 2001, a gala evening was planned at the Theater of the Russian Army on the occasion of Maresyev's 85th birthday, but an hour before the start, Alexei Petrovich had a heart attack. He was taken to the intensive care unit of a Moscow clinic, where he died without regaining consciousness. The gala evening nevertheless took place, but it began with a moment of silence.
Krasnoperov Sergey Leonidovich
Krasnoperov Sergey Leonidovich was born on July 23, 1923 in the village of Pokrovka, Chernushinsky district. In May 1941, he volunteered for the Soviet Army. For a year he studied at the Balashov Aviation School of Pilots. In November 1942, attack pilot Sergei Krasnoperov arrived in the 765th assault aviation regiment, and in January 1943 he was appointed deputy squadron commander of the 502nd assault aviation regiment of the 214th assault air division of the North Caucasian Front. In this regiment in June 1943 he joined the ranks of the party. For military distinctions he was awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded on February 4, 1944. Killed in action June 24, 1944. "March 14, 1943. Attack pilot Sergei Krasnoperov makes two sorties one after another to attack the port of Temrkzh. Leading six "silts", he set fire to a boat at the pier of the port. In the second flight, an enemy shell hit the engine. A bright flame for a moment, like it seemed to Krasnoperov, the sun eclipsed and immediately disappeared in thick black smoke. Krasnoperov turned off the ignition, turned off the gas and tried to fly the plane to the front line. However, after a few minutes it became clear that it would not be possible to save the plane. And under the wing - a solid swamp. There is only one way out As soon as the burning car touched the marsh hummocks with its fuselage, the pilot barely had time to jump out of it and run a little to the side, an explosion rumbled.
A few days later, Krasnoperov was back in the air, and in the combat log of the flight commander of the 502nd assault aviation regiment, junior lieutenant Krasnoperov Sergey Leonidovich, a brief entry appeared: "03/23/43". With two sorties, he destroyed a convoy in the area of \u200b\u200bst. Crimean. Destroyed vehicles - 1, created fires - 2 ". On April 4, Krasnoperov stormed manpower and firepower in the area of a height of 204.3 meters. On the next flight, he stormed artillery and firing points in the area of \u200b\u200bKrymskaya station. At the same time, he destroyed two tanks, one gun and mortar.
One day, a junior lieutenant received a task for a free flight in pairs. He was leading. Covertly, on a low-level flight, a pair of "silts" penetrated deep into the rear of the enemy. They noticed cars on the road - they attacked them. They discovered a concentration of troops - and suddenly brought down destructive fire on the heads of the Nazis. The Germans unloaded ammunition and weapons from a self-propelled barge. Combat entry - the barge flew into the air. The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Smirnov, wrote about Sergei Krasnoperov: “Such heroic deeds of Comrade Krasnoperov are repeated in every sortie. The pilots of his flight became masters of the assault business. created for himself military glory, enjoys well-deserved military authority among the personnel of the regiment. And indeed. Sergei was only 19 years old, and for his exploits he had already been awarded the Order of the Red Star. He was only 20 years old, and his chest was adorned with the Golden Star of a Hero.
Seventy-four sorties were made by Sergei Krasnoperov during the days of fighting on the Taman Peninsula. As one of the best, he was entrusted 20 times to lead a group of "silts" to attack, and he always carried out a combat mission. He personally destroyed 6 tanks, 70 vehicles, 35 wagons with cargo, 10 guns, 3 mortars, 5 points of anti-aircraft artillery, 7 machine guns, 3 tractors, 5 bunkers, an ammunition depot, a boat, a self-propelled barge were sunk, two crossings across the Kuban were destroyed.
Matrosov Alexander Matveevich
Matrosov Alexander Matveyevich - rifleman of the 2nd battalion of the 91st separate rifle brigade (22nd Army, Kalinin Front), private. Born February 5, 1924 in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk). Russian. Member of the Komsomol. He lost his parents early. 5 years was brought up in the Ivanovo orphanage (Ulyanovsk region). Then he was brought up in the Ufa children's labor colony. At the end of the 7th grade, he remained to work in the colony as an assistant teacher. In the Red Army since September 1942. In October 1942 he entered the Krasnokholmsk Infantry School, but soon most of the cadets were sent to the Kalinin Front.
In the army since November 1942. He served in the 2nd Battalion of the 91st Separate Rifle Brigade. For some time the brigade was in reserve. Then she was transferred near Pskov to the area of \u200b\u200bthe Big Lomovaty Bor. Right from the march, the brigade entered the battle.
On February 27, 1943, the 2nd battalion received the task of attacking a stronghold near the village of Chernushki (Loknyansky district, Pskov region). As soon as our soldiers passed through the forest and reached the edge of the forest, they came under heavy enemy machine gun fire - three enemy machine guns in bunkers covered the approaches to the village. One machine gun was suppressed by an assault group of machine gunners and armor-piercers. The second bunker was destroyed by another group of armor-piercers. But the machine gun from the third bunker continued to shell the entire hollow in front of the village. Efforts to silence him were unsuccessful. Then, in the direction of the bunker, Private A.M. Matrosov crawled. He approached the embrasure from the flank and threw two grenades. The machine gun fell silent. But as soon as the fighters went on the attack, the machine gun came to life again. Then Matrosov got up, rushed to the bunker and closed the embrasure with his body. At the cost of his life, he contributed to the combat mission of the unit.
A few days later, the name of Matrosov became known throughout the country. The feat of Matrosov was used by a journalist who happened to be with the unit for a patriotic article. At the same time, the regiment commander learned about the feat from the newspapers. Moreover, the date of the death of the hero was moved to February 23, coinciding the feat with the day of the Soviet Army. Despite the fact that Matrosov was not the first to perform such an act of self-sacrifice, it was his name that was used to glorify the heroism of Soviet soldiers. Subsequently, over 300 people performed the same feat, but this was no longer widely reported. His feat has become a symbol of courage and military prowess, fearlessness and love for the Motherland.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Matveyevich Matrosov was posthumously awarded on June 19, 1943. He was buried in the city of Velikiye Luki. On September 8, 1943, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, the name of Matrosov was assigned to the 254th Guards Rifle Regiment, he himself was forever enrolled (one of the first in the Soviet Army) in the lists of the 1st company of this unit. Monuments to the Hero were erected in Ufa, Velikiye Luki, Ulyanovsk, etc. The Museum of Komsomol Glory in the city of Velikiye Luki, streets, schools, pioneer squads, motor ships, collective farms and state farms bore his name.
Ivan Vasilievich Panfilov
In the battles near Volokolamsk, the 316th Infantry Division of General I.V. Panfilov. Reflecting continuous enemy attacks for 6 days, they knocked out 80 tanks and destroyed several hundred soldiers and officers. Enemy attempts to capture the Volokolamsk region and open the way to Moscow from the west failed. For heroic actions, this formation was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and transformed into the 8th Guards, and its commander, General I.V. Panfilov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He was not lucky enough to witness the complete defeat of the enemy near Moscow: on November 18, near the village of Gusenevo, he died a heroic death.
Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov, Major General of the Guards, commander of the 8th Guards Rifle Division of the Red Banner (former 316th) Division, was born on January 1, 1893 in the city of Petrovsk, Saratov Region. Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1920. From the age of 12 he worked for hire, in 1915 he was drafted into the tsarist army. In the same year he was sent to the Russian-German front. Voluntarily joined the Red Army in 1918. He was enrolled in the 1st Saratov Infantry Regiment of the 25th Chapaev Division. Participated in the civil war, fought against Dutov, Kolchak, Denikin and the White Poles. After the war, he graduated from the two-year Kyiv United Infantry School and was assigned to the Central Asian Military District. He took part in the fight against the Basmachi.
The Great Patriotic War found Major General Panfilov at the post of military commissar of the Kyrgyz Republic. Having formed the 316th rifle division, he went with it to the front and in October - November 1941 fought near Moscow. For military distinctions he was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner (1921, 1929) and the medal "XX Years of the Red Army".
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Vasilievich Panfilov was awarded posthumously on April 12, 1942 for his skillful leadership of division units in the battles on the outskirts of Moscow and his personal courage and heroism.
In the first half of October 1941, the 316th Division arrived in the 16th Army and took up defensive positions on a wide front on the outskirts of Volokolamsk. General Panfilov was the first to widely use the system of in-depth artillery anti-tank defense, created and skillfully used mobile barrier detachments in battle. Thanks to this, the stamina of our troops increased significantly, and all attempts by the 5th German Army Corps to break through the defenses were unsuccessful. Within seven days, the division, together with the cadet regiment S.I. Mladentseva and dedicated units of anti-tank artillery successfully repelled enemy attacks.
Attaching great importance to the capture of Volokolamsk, the Nazi command sent another motorized corps into the area. Only under pressure from superior enemy forces, parts of the division were forced to leave Volokolamsk at the end of October and take up defenses east of the city.
On November 16, fascist troops launched a second "general" offensive against Moscow. A fierce battle broke out near Volokolamsk again. On this day, at the Dubosekovo junction, 28 Panfilov soldiers under the command of political instructor V.G. Klochkov repelled the attack of enemy tanks, and held the occupied line. The enemy tanks also failed to break through in the direction of the villages of Mykanino and Strokovo. The division of General Panfilov firmly held its positions, its soldiers fought to the death.
For the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command, the mass heroism of the personnel, the 316th division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on November 17, 1941, and the next day it was transformed into the 8th Guards Rifle Division.
Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello
Nikolai Frantsevich was born on May 6, 1908 in Moscow, in a working-class family. Graduated from 5 classes. He worked as a mechanic at the Murom Locomotive Plant of Construction Machines. In the Soviet Army in May 1932. In 1933 he graduated from the Lugansk military pilot school in bomber units. In 1939 he participated in the battles on the river. Khalkhin - Gol and the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. In the army since June 1941, the squadron commander of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment (42nd bomber aviation division, 3rd bomber aviation corps DBA), Captain Gastello, on June 26, 1941, carried out another flight on a mission. His bomber was hit and caught fire. He directed the burning aircraft at a concentration of enemy troops. From the explosion of the bomber, the enemy suffered heavy losses. For the accomplished feat on July 26, 1941, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Gastello's name is forever listed in the lists of military units. On the site of the feat on the Minsk-Vilnius highway, a memorial monument was erected in Moscow.
Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya ("Tanya")
Zoya Anatolyevna ["Tanya" (09/13/1923 - 11/29/1941)] - Soviet partisan, Hero of the Soviet Union was born in Osino-Gai, Gavrilovsky district, Tambov region, in the family of an employee. In 1930 the family moved to Moscow. 
She graduated from 9 classes of school number 201. 
In October 1941, the Komsomol member Kosmodemyanskaya voluntarily joined a special partisan detachment, acting on instructions from the headquarters of the Western Front in the Mozhaisk direction.
Twice sent to the rear of the enemy. At the end of November 1941, while performing the second combat mission in the area of the village of Petrishchevo (Russian district of the Moscow region), she was captured by the Nazis. Despite severe torture, she did not give out military secrets, did not give her name.
On November 29, she was hanged by the Nazis. Her devotion to the Motherland, courage and selflessness have become an inspiring example in the fight against the enemy. On February 6, 1942, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Manshuk Zhiengalievna Mametova
Manshuk Mametova was born in 1922 in the Urdinsky district of the West Kazakhstan region. Manshuk's parents died early, and the five-year-old girl was adopted by her aunt Amina Mametova. Childhood Manshuk passed in Almaty.
When the Great Patriotic War began, Manshuk studied at the medical institute and at the same time worked in the secretariat of the Council of People's Commissars of the republic. In August 1942, she voluntarily joined the Red Army and went to the front. In the unit where Manshuk arrived, she was left as a clerk at the headquarters. But the young patriot decided to become a front line fighter, and a month later Senior Sergeant Mametova was transferred to the rifle battalion of the 21st Guards Rifle Division.
Short, but bright, like a flashing star, was her life. Manshuk died in the battle for the honor and freedom of her native country, when she was in her twenty-first year and had just joined the party. The short battle path of the glorious daughter of the Kazakh people ended with an immortal feat accomplished by her near the walls of the ancient Russian city of Nevel.
On October 16, 1943, the battalion in which Manshuk Mametova served was ordered to repulse the enemy's counterattack. As soon as the Nazis tried to repulse the attack, the machine gun of Senior Sergeant Mametova started working. The Nazis rolled back, leaving hundreds of corpses. Several violent attacks of the Nazis have already choked at the foot of the hill. Suddenly, the girl noticed that two neighboring machine guns fell silent - the machine gunners were killed. Then Manshuk, quickly crawling from one firing point to another, began to fire at the pressing enemies from three machine guns.
The enemy transferred mortar fire to the positions of the resourceful girl. A close explosion of a heavy mine overturned a machine gun, behind which lay Manshuk. Wounded in the head, the machine gunner lost consciousness for a while, but the triumphant cries of the approaching Nazis forced her to wake up. Instantly moving to a nearby machine gun, Manshuk lashed the chains of fascist warriors with a lead shower. And again the enemy attack choked. This ensured the successful advance of our units, but the girl from distant Urda remained lying on the hillside. Her fingers froze on the Maxim trigger.
On March 1, 1944, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Senior Sergeant Manshuk Zhiengaliyevna Mametova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Aliya Moldagulova
Aliya Moldagulova was born on April 20, 1924 in the village of Bulak, Khobdinsky district, Aktobe region. After the death of her parents, she was brought up by her uncle Aubakir Moldagulov. With his family, she moved from city to city. She studied at the 9th secondary school in Leningrad. In the fall of 1942, Aliya Moldagulova joined the army and was sent to a sniper school. In May 1943, Aliya submitted a report to the school command with a request to send her to the front. Aliya ended up in the 3rd company of the 4th battalion of the 54th rifle brigade under the command of Major Moiseev.
By the beginning of October, Aliya Moldagulova had 32 dead fascists on her account.
In December 1943, Moiseev's battalion was ordered to drive the enemy out of the village of Kazachikha. By capturing this settlement, the Soviet command hoped to cut the railway line along which the Nazis were transferring reinforcements. The Nazis fiercely resisted, skillfully using the benefits of the area. The slightest advance of our companies came at a heavy price, and yet slowly but steadily our fighters approached the enemy's fortifications. Suddenly, a lone figure appeared ahead of the advancing chains.
Suddenly, a lone figure appeared ahead of the advancing chains. The Nazis noticed the brave warrior and opened fire from machine guns. Catching the moment when the fire weakened, the fighter rose to his full height and dragged the entire battalion with him.
After a fierce battle, our fighters took possession of the height. The daredevil lingered in the trench for some time. There were traces of pain on his pale face, and strands of black hair broke out from under his cap with earflaps. It was Aliya Moldagulova. She destroyed 10 fascists in this battle. The wound was light, and the girl remained in the ranks.
In an effort to restore the situation, the enemy rushed into counterattacks. On January 14, 1944, a group of enemy soldiers managed to break into our trenches. A hand-to-hand fight ensued. Aliya mowed down the Nazis with well-aimed bursts of the machine gun. Suddenly, she instinctively felt danger behind her back. She turned sharply, but it was too late: the German officer fired first. Gathering the last of her strength, Aliya threw up her machine gun and the Nazi officer fell to the frozen ground...
The wounded Aliya was carried out by her comrades from the battlefield. The fighters wanted to believe in a miracle, and they offered blood to save the girl. But the wound was fatal.
On June 4, 1944, Corporal Aliya Moldagulova was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Sevastyanov Alexey Tikhonovich
Sevastyanov Aleksey Tikhonovich, flight commander of the 26th Fighter Aviation Regiment (7th Fighter Aviation Corps, Leningrad Air Defense Zone), junior lieutenant. He was born on February 16, 1917 in the village of Kholm, now the Likhoslavl district of the Tver (Kalinin) region. Russian. Graduated from the Kalinin Carriage Building College. In the Red Army since 1936. In 1939 he graduated from the Kachin Military Aviation School.
Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. In total, during the war years, junior lieutenant Sevastyanov A.T. made more than 100 sorties, shot down 2 enemy aircraft personally (one of them by ramming), 2 - in a group and an observation balloon.
The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Tikhonovich Sevastyanov was awarded posthumously on June 6, 1942.
On November 4, 1941, junior lieutenant Sevastyanov on an Il-153 aircraft patrolled on the outskirts of Leningrad. At about 22.00, an enemy air raid on the city began. Despite the fire of anti-aircraft artillery, one He-111 bomber managed to break through to Leningrad. Sevastyanov attacked the enemy, but missed. He went on the attack a second time and opened fire at close range, but again missed. Sevastyanov attacked for the third time. Coming close, he pressed the trigger, but there were no shots - the cartridges ran out. In order not to miss the enemy, he decided to go for a ram. Approaching behind the "Heinkel", he chopped off his tail with a screw. Then he left the damaged fighter and landed by parachute. The bomber crashed in the Tauride Garden area. The crew members who jumped out on parachutes were taken prisoner. The fallen Sevastyanov fighter was found in Baskov lane and restored by specialists of the 1st Rembaza.
April 23, 1942 Sevastyanov A.T. died in an unequal air battle, defending the "Road of Life" across Ladoga (shot down 2.5 km from the village of Rakhya, Vsevolozhsk district; a monument was erected in this place). He was buried in Leningrad at the Chesme cemetery. Forever enrolled in the lists of the military unit. A street in St. Petersburg, the House of Culture in the village of Pervitino, Likhoslavl District, are named after him. The documentary "Heroes Don't Die" is dedicated to his feat.
Matveev Vladimir Ivanovich
Matveev Vladimir Ivanovich Squadron commander of the 154th Fighter Aviation Regiment (39th Fighter Aviation Division, Northern Front) - captain. Born October 27, 1911 in St. Petersburg in a working class family. Russian Member of the CPSU(b) since 1938. Graduated from 5 classes. He worked as a mechanic at the factory "Red October". In the Red Army since 1930. In 1931 he graduated from the Leningrad military-theoretical school of pilots, in 1933 - Borisoglebsk military aviation school of pilots. Member of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940.
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War at the front. Captain Matveev V.I. On July 8, 1941, when repulsing an enemy air raid on Leningrad, having used up all the ammunition, he used a ram: he cut off the tail of a Nazi aircraft with the end of the plane of his MiG-3. An enemy plane crashed near the village of Malyutino. He successfully landed at his airport. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal was awarded to Vladimir Ivanovich Matveev on July 22, 1941.
Killed in air combat January 1, 1942, covering the "Road of Life" on Ladoga. Buried in Leningrad.
Polyakov Sergey Nikolaevich
Sergei Polyakov was born in 1908 in Moscow into a working-class family. He graduated from 7 classes of incomplete secondary school. Since 1930 in the Red Army, he graduated from the military aviation school. Member of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939. In air battles, he shot down 5 Franco aircraft. 
Member of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War from the first day. The commander of the 174th Assault Aviation Regiment, Major S.N. Polyakov, made 42 sorties, inflicting precise strikes on airfields, equipment and manpower of the enemy, while destroying 42 and damaging 35 aircraft.
On December 23, 1941, he died while performing the next combat mission. On February 10, 1943, for courage and courage shown in battles with enemies, Sergey Nikolaevich Polyakov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). For the period of service he was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner (twice), the Red Star, and medals. He was buried in the village of Agalatovo, Vsevolozhsk district, Leningrad region.
Muravitsky Luka Zakharovich
Luka Muravitsky was born on December 31, 1916 in the village of Dolgoe, now the Soligorsk district of the Minsk region, into a peasant family. He graduated from 6 classes and school FZU. Worked on the subway in Moscow. Graduated from the Aeroclub. In the Soviet Army since 1937. He graduated from the Borisoglebsk military school for pilots in 1939. B.ZYu 
Member of the Great Patriotic War since July 1941. Junior Lieutenant Muravitsky began his combat activity as part of the 29th IAP of the Moscow Military District. This regiment met the war on outdated I-153 fighters. Sufficiently maneuverable, they were inferior to enemy aircraft in speed and firepower. Analyzing the first air battles, the pilots came to the conclusion that they needed to abandon the pattern of straight-line attacks, and fight on turns, in dives, on a "hill" when their "Seagull" gained additional speed. At the same time, it was decided to switch to flights in twos, abandoning the link of three aircraft established by the official position.
The very first flights of "twos" showed their clear advantage. So, at the end of July, Alexander Popov, paired with Luka Muravitsky, returning after escorting the bombers, met with six Messers. Our pilots were the first to attack and shot down the leader of the enemy group. Stunned by the sudden blow, the Nazis hurried to get out.
On each of his planes, Luka Muravitsky painted the inscription “For Anya” on the fuselage with white paint. The pilots at first laughed at him, and the authorities ordered the inscription to be erased. But before each new flight, on the fuselage of the aircraft on the starboard side again appeared - "For Anya" ... No one knew who this Anya was, whom Luka remembers even going into battle ...
Once, before a sortie, the regiment commander ordered Muravitsky to immediately erase the inscription and more so that it would not happen again! Then Luka told the commander that this was his beloved girl, who worked with him at the Metrostroy, studied at the flying club, that she loved him, they were going to get married, but ... She crashed jumping from an airplane. The parachute did not open... Even if she did not die in battle, Luka continued, but she was preparing to become an air fighter, to defend her Motherland. The commander relented.
Participating in the defense of Moscow, the commander of the 29th IAP, Luka Muravitsky, achieved brilliant results. He was distinguished not only by sober calculation and courage, but also by his willingness to do anything to defeat the enemy. So on September 3, 1941, acting on the Western Front, he rammed an enemy He-111 reconnaissance aircraft and made a safe landing on the damaged aircraft. At the beginning of the war, we had few planes, and that day Muravitsky had to fly alone - to cover the railway station, where an echelon with ammunition was being unloaded. Fighters, as a rule, flew in pairs, but here - one ...
At first everything went smoothly. The lieutenant vigilantly watched the air around the station, but as you can see, if there are multi-layered clouds overhead, rain. When Muravitsky was making a U-turn over the outskirts of the station, he saw a German reconnaissance aircraft in the gap between the tiers of clouds. Luka sharply increased the engine speed and rushed across the Heinkel-111. The Lieutenant's attack was unexpected, the "Heinkel" had not yet had time to open fire, as a machine-gun burst pierced the enemy, and he, descending steeply, began to flee. Muravitsky caught up with the Heinkel, opened fire on it again, and suddenly the machine gun fell silent. The pilot reloaded, but apparently ran out of ammunition. And then Muravitsky decided to ram the enemy.
He increased the speed of the plane - "Heinkel" is getting closer and closer. The Nazis are already visible in the cockpit ... Without reducing speed, Muravitsky approaches almost close to the Nazi aircraft and hits the tail with a propeller. The jerk and propeller of the fighter cut through the metal of the tail unit of the Non-111 ... The enemy plane crashed into the ground behind the railroad tracks in a wasteland. Luca also hit his head hard on the dashboard, aim and lost consciousness. I woke up - the plane falls to the ground in a tailspin. Gathering all his strength, the pilot with difficulty stopped the rotation of the machine and brought it out of a steep dive. He could not fly further and had to land the car at the station...
Having healed, Muravitsky returned to his regiment. And again fights. The flight commander flew into battle several times a day. He was eager to fight and again, as before the injury, the fuselage of his fighter was carefully displayed: "For Anya." By the end of September, the brave pilot already had about 40 air victories, won personally and as part of a group.
Soon one of the squadrons of the 29th IAP, which included Luka Muravitsky, was transferred to the Leningrad Front to reinforce the 127th IAP. The main task of this regiment was to escort transport aircraft along the Ladoga highway, cover their landing, loading and unloading. Acting as part of the 127th IAP, Senior Lieutenant Muravitsky shot down 3 more enemy aircraft. On October 22, 1941, Muravitsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command, for the courage and bravery shown in battle. By this time, 14 enemy aircraft were already downed on his personal account.
On November 30, 1941, the commander of the 127th IAP, Senior Lieutenant Maravitsky, died in an unequal air battle, defending Leningrad ... The total result of his combat activities, in various sources, is estimated differently. The most common figure is 47 (10 victories won personally and 37 as part of a group), less often - 49 (12 personally and 37 in a group). However, all these figures do not fit in with the figure of personal victories - 14, given above. Moreover, in one of the publications it is generally stated that Luka Muravitsky won his last victory in May 1945, over Berlin. Unfortunately, exact data is not yet available.
Luka Zakharovich Muravitsky was buried in the village of Kapitolovo, Vsevolozhsky District, Leningrad Region. A street in the village of Dolgoe is named after him.
What feats of the Great Patriotic War do we know about? Alexander Matrosov, who closed the embrasure; Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was tortured by the Nazis; pilot Alexei Maresyev, who lost both legs, but continued to fight ... It is unlikely that anyone will be able to remember the names of other heroes. Meanwhile, there are a lot of people who have done the impossible to protect their homeland. The streets of our cities are named after them, and we do not even know who they are and what they have done. The editors decided to correct this situation - we invite you to learn about the 10 most incredible feats of the Great Patriotic War.
Nicholas Gastello Nicholas Gastello
Nikolai Gastello was a military pilot, captain, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment. Before the Great Patriotic War, Gastello worked as a simple mechanic. He went through three wars, a year before the Second World War he received the rank of captain.
On June 26, 1941, the crew, commanded by Nikolai Gastello, took off to hit the German mechanized column, located between the Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Radoshkovichi. During the operation, Gastello's plane was hit by an anti-aircraft gun - the plane caught fire. Nikolai could have ejected, but instead he directed the burning plane at the German column. Before that, during the entire period of the Second World War, no one had done this, therefore, after the feat accomplished by Gastello, all the pilots who decided to go to the ram were called Gastellites.
Lenya Golikov Lenya Golikov
Lenya Golikov during the Great Patriotic War was in the Leningrad partisan brigade as a brigade scout of the 67th detachment of the 4th. When the Second World War began, he was 15 years old, he joined the partisan detachment when the Germans captured his native Novgorod region. During his stay in the partisan brigade, he managed to take part in twenty-seven operations, destroy several bridges behind enemy lines, destroy ten trains carrying ammunition, and kill more than seventy Germans.
In the summer of 1942, near the village of Varnitsa, Lenya Golikov blew up a car in which the German major general of engineering troops, Richard von Wirtz, was driving. As a result of this operation, Golikov was able to obtain important documents that spoke of the German offensive. This made it possible to thwart the impending German attack. For this feat, Golikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He died in battle in the winter of 1943 near the village of Ostraya Luka, he was 16 years old.
Zina Portnova Zina Portnova
Zina Portnova was a scout of the Voroshilov partisan detachment, which operated in the territory occupied by the Germans. When the war began, Zina was in Belarus on vacation. In 1942, at the age of 16, she joined the underground organization "Young Avengers", where at first she was engaged in distributing anti-fascist leaflets in the territories occupied by the Germans. Then Zina got a job in the canteen for German officers. There, she committed a series of sabotage, the Germans did not capture her only by a miracle.
In 1943, Zina joined a partisan detachment, where she continued to engage in sabotage behind enemy lines. But soon, thanks to reports from traitors who sided with the Germans, Zina was captured, where she was subjected to severe torture. However, the enemies underestimated the young girl - the torture did not force her to betray her own, and during one of the interrogations, Zina managed to grab a gun and kill three Germans. Soon after this, Zina Portnova was shot, she was 17 years old.
Young guard Young guard
This was the name of an underground anti-fascist organization that operated in the area of the modern Luhansk region. The "Young Guard" included more than a hundred participants, the youngest of whom was only fourteen years old. The most famous members of the Young Guard are Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vasily Levashov, Sergey Tyulenin and others.
Members of this underground organization issued and distributed leaflets in the German-occupied territory, and also committed acts of sabotage. As a result of one of the sabotage, they were able to disable an entire repair shop in which the Germans repaired tanks. They also managed to burn down the stock exchange, from where the Germans drove people to Germany.
The traitors handed over the members of the Young Guard to the Germans just before the planned uprising. More than 70 members of the organization were taken prisoner, tortured and then shot.
Viktor Talalikhin Viktor Talalikhin
Victor Talalikhin was the deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. Talalikhin took part in the Soviet-Finnish war, during which he managed to destroy four enemy aircraft. After the war, he went to serve in an aviation school. During the Second World War, in August 1941, he shot down a German bomber, going to ram him, and survived, getting out of the cockpit and parachuting down to the rear of his own.
After that, Viktor Talalikhin managed to destroy five more fascist aircraft. However, already in October 1914, the hero died while participating in another air battle near Podolsk. In 2014, the plane of Viktor Talalikhin was found in the swamps near Moscow.
Andrey Korzun Andrey Korzun
Andrey Korzun was an artilleryman of the 3rd counter-battery artillery corps of the Leningrad Front. Korzun was drafted into the army at the very beginning of the Second World War. His battery came under heavy enemy fire on November 5, 1943. In this battle, Andrei Korzun was seriously wounded. Seeing that the powder charges were set on fire, due to which the ammunition depot could fly into the air, Korzun, experiencing severe pain, crawled towards the burning powder charges. He no longer had the strength to take off his overcoat and cover the fire with it, so he, losing consciousness, covered him with himself. As a result of this feat of Korzun, the explosion did not occur.
Alexander German Alexander German
Alexander German was the commander of the 3rd Leningrad partisan brigade. Alexander served in the army since 1933, and when the Great Patriotic War began, he joined the scouts. Then he began to command a partisan brigade, which managed to destroy several hundred trains and cars, kill thousands of German soldiers and officers. The Germans tried for a long time to reach the partisan detachment of German, and in 1943 they succeeded: in the territory of the Pskov region, the detachment was surrounded, and Alexander German was killed.
Vladislav Khrustitsky Vladislav Khrustitsky
Vladislav Khrustitsky was the commander of the 30th Separate Guards Tank Brigade on the Leningrad Front. Vladislav served in the army from the 1920s, at the end of the 30s he graduated from armored courses, and in the fall of 1942 he began to command the 61st separate light tank brigade. Vladislav Khrustitsky distinguished himself during Operation Iskra, which gave impetus to the future defeat of the Nazis on the Leningrad front.
In 1944, the Germans were already retreating from Leningrad, but the tank brigade of Vladislav Khrustitsky fell into a trap near Volosovo. Despite fierce fire from the enemy, Khrustitsky radioed the order "Stand to the death!", After which he was the first to go forward. In this battle, Vladislav Khrustitsky died, and the village of Volosovo was liberated from the Nazis.
Yefim Osipenko Yefim Osipenko
Yefim Osipenko was the commander of a partisan detachment that he organized with several of his comrades immediately after the seizure of his land by the Germans. Osipenko's detachment committed anti-fascist sabotage. During one of these diversions, Osipenko was supposed to throw an explosive made from a grenade under a German train, which he did. However, there was no explosion. Without hesitation, Osipenko found a railway sign, and hit a grenade with a stick attached to it. It exploded, the train with food and tanks for the Germans went downhill. The hero survived, but lost his sight. For this operation, Yefim Osipenko received the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War", this was the first award of such a medal.
Matvey Kuzmin Matvey Kuzmin
Matvey Kuzmin became the oldest participant in the Second World War, who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but, alas, posthumously. He was 83 years old when the Germans took him prisoner and demanded to lead them through the forest and swamps. Matvey sent his grandson ahead to warn the partisan detachment that was next to them about the approaching Germans. thus the Germans were ambushed and defeated. During the battle, Matvey Kuzmin was killed by a German officer.
Today we want to remember 5 heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose exploits are sometimes in the shadows ... Ekaterina Zelenko If everyone knows the feat of Talalikhin, then the name of the first woman who committed ...
Today we want to remember 5 heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose exploits are sometimes in the shadows...
Ekaterina Zelenko
If everyone knows the feat of Talalikhin, then few know the name of the first woman who committed an aerial ramming. On September 12, 1941, Zelenko, on her Su-2 light bomber, entered into battle with the German Messers, and when her car ran out of ammunition, she destroyed an enemy fighter precisely in an air ram. In that battle, the heroine did not manage to survive.
Zelenko's husband, military pilot Pavel Ignatenko, also died in the battles of the Great Patriotic War in 1943.
Dmitry Komarov
Selfless ramming tactics are unique in modern warfare - all the more surprising when one relatively small tank goes to ram an entire armored train! The only documented case of such a feat is the story of Lieutenant Dmitry Komarov, who on June 25, 1944, at full speed on a burning "thirty-four" rammed a German train near Chernye Brody in western Ukraine.
By some miracle, the hero in that battle survived, although almost all members of his crew died. Nevertheless, Dmitry Evlampievich, as the people say, “hurried to God”: he died heroically in the battles for Poland in the autumn of the same 1944.
Ivan Fedorov
This Hero of the Soviet Union has one of the most mysterious biographies. Undoubtedly possessing remarkable skills in air combat and having shot down more than a dozen German aircraft, Ivan Evgrafovich, however, earned himself not very corresponding to his rank.
Hero of the reputation of "Baron Munchausen" of the domestic Air Force. Being the commander of one of the aviation penal battalions, he often later boasted of greatly exaggerated or simply false "exploits".
The most ridiculous was the case when he began to tell the cadets of the Kachinsky School that he allegedly participated in the operation to rescue the crew of the Chelyuskin steamer. When it became known about Fedorov's misconduct, he only miraculously escaped the tribunal and for a long time later went under suspicion, so he received the Golden Star of the Hero relatively late.
Nikolai Sirotinin
His biography is little known and unremarkable: a simple guy from Orel, he was drafted into the army in 1940. But it is Nikolai Sirotin who, with his incredible feat, confirms the statement "And there is only one warrior in the field, if he is tailored in Russian."
On July 17, 1941, Sirotinin, together with his battalion commander, covering our retreating units, took an unequal battle with the Germans at the bridge over the Dobrost river in Belarus. The battalion commander, having been wounded, retreated, and Nikolai Sirotinin remained in the firing position, from where he only stepped straight into history.
In that battle, he single-handedly destroyed 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and 57 soldiers of the enemy army, and when the shells ran out and the Germans offered to surrender, he answered them only with fire from his carbine. When it was all over, the Nazis buried the twenty-year-old Red Army soldier - with military honors, paying tribute to his heroism.
Nevertheless, the Motherland noted the feat of Sirotinin only with the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, and then only in 1960.
Epistinia Stepanova
How to measure heroism? How to determine who can be considered a hero and who is not? Probably the most worthy of all who could bear this proud title is she, a simple Russian woman who gave birth to 15 children - Epistinia Stepanova.
She gave the Motherland the most precious - nine sons, seven of whom never returned home from the Great Patriotic War, and two more died in the Civil War and Khalkhin Gol. The authorities awarded her the title of "Mother Heroine" and, after her death in 1974, buried her with full military honors.