58 rifle division 335 regiment. On fiery earth - Stand to the death! The 1st separate communications battalion was formed in the city of Belomorsk

H Ervony Logvin Danilovich - Commander of the 121st Guards Gomel Rifle Division of the 13th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Guards Major General.

Born on October 16, 1902 in the village of Grushka, Ulyanovsk district, Odessa (now Kirovograd) region, in a peasant family. Ukrainian. Education incomplete secondary. In 1916 he graduated from the primary factory school. He worked as a turner at the plant named after March 8 in the city of Nikolaev.

In the Red Army since September 1924. In 1929 he graduated from the Odessa Infantry School. From 1924 until August 1938 he served in the 283rd Rifle Regiment of the 95th Rifle Division of the Ukrainian (UVO) and Kyiv (KVO) military districts in the following positions: cadet of the regimental school, squad leader, foreman of a company, platoon commander, company commander, head of 4 th unit, battalion commander. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1931. In 1938 he graduated from the "Shot" courses in Moscow, after which he returned to the 95th Infantry Division of the Kyiv Special Military District (KOVO) and served as assistant commander of the 90th Infantry Regiment. Since August 1939 - commander of the 406th, 335th and 170th rifle regiments of the 124th and 58th rifle divisions. Member of the liberation campaign of Soviet troops in Western Ukraine in 1939.

Member of the Great Patriotic War from June 17, 1941. Participated in battles on the Soviet-Hungarian border on the eve of the official start of the war. He was the commander of a rifle regiment, separate rifle and ski brigades, and a rifle division. He fought on the Southwestern, Western, Bryansk, Belorussian, 1st Ukrainian fronts. Wounded twice in combat.

Participated:
- in defensive battles from the Soviet-Hungarian border to the Letichevsky fortified area in the Vinnitsa region - in 1941;
- in battles in the area of ​​​​the rivers Vytebet and Zhizdra south of the city of Belev - in 1942;
- in battles on the Kursk Bulge, including in the liberation of the cities of Mtsensk, Orel, in the Bryansk and Gomel operations, including in the liberation of the cities of Mglin, Surazh, in forcing the Sozh River with access to the Dnieper River in Belarus - in 1943;
- in the Rivne-Lutsk operation, including the liberation of the city of Rivne, in the battles southwest of the city of Lutsk, in the Lvov-Sandomierz operation, including the crossing of the San, Vistula rivers, in the liberation of the Polish cities of Yaroslav, Rzeszow, in battles on Sandomierz bridgehead - in 1944;
- in the Vistula-Oder operation, including the liberation of the cities of Kielce, Piotrkow, in the crossing of the Oder River with the conquest of a bridgehead, in the Berlin operation with access to the Elbe River and the liberation of the city of Wittenberg, in the Prague operation - in 1945.

On January 15, 1945, the 121st Guards Rifle Division under the command of Guards Major General Chervony secured the capture of a heavily fortified enemy stronghold near the city of Kielce (Poland). On January 27, 1945, units of the division crossed the Oder River near the city of Steinau (Scinawa, Poland), captured and held a bridgehead.

At order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 6, 1945 for the exemplary performance of combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism of the Guards shown to Major General Chervony Logvin Danilovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin (No. 36833) and the Gold Star medal (No. 4808).

Until 1946 he commanded a division in Czechoslovakia as part of the Central Group of Forces (TsGV). In March 1947 he graduated from the Higher Academic Courses at the Academy of the General Staff, after which he served in the 7th Guards Army of the Transcaucasian Military District (ZakVO) as commander of the 26th mechanized division, and from July 1949 - deputy commander of the 24th Guards Rifle Corps. On May 18, 1950, Major General L.D. Chervoniy was retired due to illness.

Lived and worked in the city of Zaporozhye. Died January 29, 1980. He was buried at the Kapustian cemetery in Zaporozhye.

Awarded 3 Orders of Lenin (04/6/1945; 11/15/1950; ...), 3 Orders of the Red Banner (08/12/1943; 07/29/1944; 11/3/1944), Orders of Suvorov 2nd degree (01/15/1944), Kutuzov 2nd degree (05/29/1945), Patriotic War 2nd degree (04/02/1943), medals "For the liberation of Prague", "For the victory over Germany", "XXX years of the SA and Navy", other medals.

Honorary citizen of the city of Rivne.

A street in the city of Rovno was named after the Hero.

At the age of 14, Logvin Chervoniy, after graduating from the factory school, came to the machine shop and began working as a turner. Oddly enough, but in the ensuing period of chaos of revolutions and the Civil War, the plant did not stop its activities, changing only its name from Martynovsky to a consonant one - the name of March 8. The breeder turned out to be a very resourceful person, he managed to hold on under the Reds, and under the Whites, and under the Petliurists, and again under the Bolsheviks, smoothly entering the NEP. All this time, Logvin Chervoniy was building up his turning experience, in his heart, however, sympathizing with the Bolsheviks and the Soviet government, not only because of his family name. In September 1924 he was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army.

Having connected his fate with the army, for 15 years Logvin Chervoniy served in the same unit - the 95th Infantry Division, mainly in the 283rd Infantry Regiment. In it, he went through all the stages of the service of the painter. In it, he served in officer positions after graduating from the Odessa Infantry School in 1929 and joined the Bolshevik Party. And even after finishing the Shot courses in Moscow in 1938, Captain Chervoniy returned to the 95th Infantry Division and served for a year as an assistant commander of the 90th Infantry Regiment. In the summer of 1939, he received the rank of major and was appointed commander of the 406th rifle regiment of the 124th rifle division, and in November 1939 he was transferred to a similar position in the 335th rifle regiment of the 58th mountain rifle division. In these positions in 1939, Major Chervoniy participated in the annexation of Western Ukraine to the USSR, including such regions as Kamenetz-Podolsk, Chernivtsi and Stanislav.

The 170th Rifle Regiment of the 58th Mountain Rifle Division of the 12th Army, which Major Chervoniy began to command in March 1940, carried out military service on a front of 85 km, covering the area from the State border with Transcarpathia, which was part of Hungary, to large village Yaremcha now Ivano-Frankivsk region. As early as June 17, 1941, the 12th border outpost on the Chernaya Tisza River was attacked by Nazi troops. At that time, there was a strict order in our army not to succumb to provocations. Despite the ban, Major Chervoniy immediately sent his regiment to help the border guards and for 3-4 days did not allow the enemy to break through in the direction of Nadvirna - Stanislav, Yaremcha - Kolomyia. So, a week before June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began for Logvin Chervoniya.

On July 1, 1941, the troops of the 11th Wehrmacht Army in the area of ​​​​the Kamenetz-Podolsk fortified area launched a decisive offensive. The troops of our 12th Army, including the Chervoniya regiment, found themselves deep in the rear of the enemy breakthrough. With heavy fighting, they began to retreat west to Chortkov, Dunaevtsy, to the line of the Letichevsky fortified area, which was part of the general defense system along the so-called "Stalin Line". By July 17, 1941, almost the entire Letichevsky UR was broken through by the Germans. Only at the most southern point of the UR, near the village of Yaltushkov, Vinnitsa region, did units of the 58th Mountain Rifle Division hold out. On July 17, the Germans, at the position of the 170th Infantry Regiment of Major Chervoniy, launched an attack with many times superior forces. In this battle, many soldiers and commanders of the regiment died heroically, Major Chervoniy himself was seriously wounded and sent to the hospital, the remnants of the 58th Infantry Division joined the neighboring 18th Army and began to retreat to the west, and the Nazis, who had broken through the Letichevsky UR, rushed to north-west in the direction of Gaisin, where, by joint efforts, in the area of ​​​​the city of Uman, they managed to surround and completely destroy and capture the troops of our 6th and 12th armies.

After recovering in December 1941, Chervoniy was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and he was appointed acting commander of the 49th Infantry Division, which was being formed in the Moscow Military District. Having formed a division, Chervoniy ... handed it over to another commander, and he himself began to form the 257th separate rifle brigade. In the process of this action, on February 28, 1942, he was awarded the rank of colonel. Only on June 6, 1942, the Chervoniya brigade arrived in the 9th Guards Rifle Corps of the 61st Army of the Western Front.

South of the city of Belev at the junction of three regions: Tula, Kaluga and Orel - Colonel Chervoniy fought until the end of March 1943. The whole of 1942 was spent in positional battles, sometimes giving way to attempts at real offensive operations. In July-August 1942, the Chervoniya brigade took part in the battles for the village of Merkulovsky and on the Vytebet River, a tributary of the Zhizdra. In August-September 1942, in the area of ​​the Zheleznitsa station and the village of Veino, his fighters launched a flank attack on the Nazi troops advancing on Sukhinichi. From October 18, 1942, Colonel Chervoniy commanded the 51st separate ski brigade of the same corps, which held an active defense along the Ozersky-Goskovo line.

On March 13, 1943, Colonel Chervony was appointed commander of the 342nd Infantry Division of the 61st Army. The division under his command immediately, in the course of successful battles, liberated a number of settlements south of the city of Belev, including the village of Vygonovsky. For the skillful command of the division in early April, Colonel Chervoniy was awarded his first combat award - the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree.

At the end of March 1943, the 342nd Rifle Division was transferred to the 3rd Army of the Bryansk Front, and it moved to the line of the Zusha River on the northern face of the Oryol Bulge. For almost 4 months, Colonel Chervoniy was engaged in combat training of his fighters and achieved high military training. In turn, he led the regiments of the division to the rear, and the fighters before the decisive battles received such a necessary rest for them.

On July 20, 1943, Colonel Chervoniy ordered his units to attack. On this day, along the banks of the Zushi, the battalions, breaking the resistance of the enemy, reached the outskirts of the city of Mtsensk, and participated in street battles to liberate it. And then there was a frontal attack on Oryol, where the assault groups of the Chervoniya division smoked the Germans out of defensive structures, buildings and basements, destroyed them on the streets and squares of the city. On August 5, 1943, the city of Orel was completely cleared of the enemy, and this event was marked by the first salute in Moscow. For the liberation of the city of Oryol, Colonel Chervoniy was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The offensive, meanwhile, continued in the direction of the city of Karachev. At the end of August 1943, the 342nd Infantry Division was transferred a little further north to the area of ​​​​the city of Lyudinovo. Here, on September 1, 1943, division commander Chervony was awarded the rank of major general.

In September 1943, the Bryansk operation began, during which the Chervoniya division crossed the Desna River near the city of Zhukovka, liberated the regional center of Kletnya, and then, moving along the southern edge of the Kletnyansky forest, approached the city of Mglin on September 21, 1943. Divisional commander Chervoniy threw the 1146th rifle regiment, with the support of self-propelled guns, to storm the city. The Nazis offered stubborn resistance, but on September 22, 1943, this regional center of the Bryansk region was also liberated. And the next day, units of the Chervoniya division crossed the Iput River and liberated the village of Surazh. By September 26, 1943, they entered the territory of Belarus to the first large village of the Republic of Kostyukovichi. On the same day, joyful news came from Moscow that Major General Chervony's 342nd Rifle Division had been transformed into the 121st Guards Rifle Division.

Already in the guard rank, the Chervoniya division in November 1943 participated in the Gomel operation. The divisional commander successfully marked the places for crossing the Sozh River, which made it possible not only to seize a bridgehead behind it, but also to break the enemy’s defenses along a 30-kilometer stretch, liberate the village of Korma, and on November 25, 1943, reach the Dnieper River near the city of Rogachev, forcing the enemy to flee from Gomel. For the liberation of Gomel, the 121st Guards Rifle Division received the honorary name "Gomel", and the commander of the Guards Division, Major General Chervoniy, was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree. But all this happened a little later. During the fighting north of Gomel, Divisional Commander Chervoniy was seriously wounded and, refusing to be evacuated to a hospital, was treated in a divisional medical battalion.

In December 1943, the 121st Guards Rifle Division was transferred to the 13th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, and Chervoniy, together with the medical battalion, made a 400-kilometer march to the area of ​​​​the city of Korosten, Zhytomyr Region. For 2 months of rest and travel, Divisional Commander Chervoniy practically recovered and returned to his post.

This happened already during the Rovno-Lutsk operation, after overcoming the Sluch River near the village of Berezno and liberating the city of Kostopol by storm. Guards Major-General Chervoniy without a break threw his regiments to storm the regional center of Ukraine, during the occupation - the residence of the Gauleiter of Ukraine Erich Koch, the city of Rivne. Assault groups started street fighting. The 5-hour battle for the office building of Koch was very difficult. However, on February 2, 1944, the city of Rivne was completely cleared of the enemy, for which the Chervoniya division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On the same day, other units of the 13th Army liberated the city of Lutsk, the center of Soviet Volhynia. Here, on the Lutsk-Lviv highway, the 121st Guards Rifle Division was transferred, where during February-March 1944 it fought numerous defensive battles, repelling enemy counteroffensives from the areas of the city of Sokal and, especially, the village of Brody. All attempts by the Nazis to return Rivne and Lutsk were repulsed. Until July 1944, the Chervoniya division held the defense in this area.

On July 14, 1944, the Lvov-Sandomierz operation began. The divisions of the guards of Major General Chervony had to break through the heavily fortified enemy defense line "Prince Eugene's Eastern Wall". On the very first day of the offensive, the fighters of the Gomel division coped with this task and broke into the village of Gorokhov. After 2 days, the village of Radekhov was liberated, after which the commander Chervoniy, on orders from above, turned his division strictly to the west and on July 23 brought it to the San River. After crossing the river, parts of the division liberated the Polish cities of Yaroslav, Rzeszow, and Pshevursk. For these successful offensive operations, the 121st Guards Rifle Division was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, and its commander, Chervoniy, received a second Order of the Red Banner.

On August 1, 1944, the Chervoniya division immediately crossed the Vistula River south of the city of Sandomierz and caught on the opposite bank. In these battles, the divisional commander, being on the very bank of the river, personally led the transfer of battalions to the already conquered bridgehead. On August 3, he crossed himself and from the new command post, which was constantly exposed to enemy fire, began to lead the defense of his units. Throughout August and half of September 1944, the enemy did not abandon attempts to eliminate the Soviet bridgehead beyond the Vistula. The fighters of the division participated in repulsing numerous counterattacks of enemy infantry with the support of tanks.

The battles to hold the bridgehead gave way to battles to expand it. In September-December 1944, the Sandomierz bridgehead grew significantly along the front and in depth. There were battles for the complete liberation of Poland and access to German territory. During the autumn months of 1944, division commander Chervoniy, despite the ongoing fighting, with the help of his deputies, conducted an extremely successful preparation of the division's personnel for the upcoming large-scale offensive.

On January 12, 1945, the Vistula-Oder operation began. The 121st Guards Rifle Division advanced directly on the city of Kielce, but according to the plan of the command of the 102nd Rifle Corps, it was in the 2nd echelon on the first day. When other divisions of the corps reached the enemy's 2nd line of defense, the Nazi command brought into battle a new 20th motorized division and, in some areas, the mechanical units of the 16th and 17th tank divisions. The situation became critical. The task of breaking through the enemy defenses at the Sandomierz bridgehead could not be completed. At this moment, seeing the plight of the neighboring units, Guards Major General Chervoniy, on his own initiative, brought his division into battle. The fighters were prepared to repel tank attacks with infantry support and entered the battle. At the same time, the divisional commander skillfully used his regiments, most of which he concentrated to repel the blow of a fresh German division. As a result, all this provided the corps with the defeat of the enemy and the capture of the city of Kielce on January 15, 1945, and parts of the Chervoniya division were directly involved in street fighting in the city.

Later, during the Vistula-Oder operation, the Chervoniya division liberated the city of Piotrkow, crossed the Warta River on January 20 and entered the territory of Nazi Germany.

By the evening of January 26, 1945, the advanced units of the 121st Guards Rifle Division reached the banks of the Oder River south of the city of Steinau (Stsinava). Divisional Commander Chervoniy ordered an immediate crossing of the river, and on the night of January 27, the first assault companies crossed the Oder. In a fleeting night battle, Soviet soldiers captured a small piece of land across the river. But on the morning of January 27, the Nazis launched massive counterattacks on the defenders of the bridgehead. Aviation and artillery of the enemy crumbled the ice on the river, and the crossing of other units slowed down. The Nazis threw 15 tanks and up to an infantry regiment on those who managed to take up defense in the bridgehead. Soviet fighters entered into heavy fighting. They repulsed several enemy counterattacks during the day, set fire to 3 enemy tanks. At this time, Guards Major General Chervoniy personally supervised the transfer of new battle groups, entire battalions, to the bridgehead, and, finally, all the regiments, led by the divisional commander, crossed the Oder. By February 1, 1945, as a result of counterattacks, the bridgehead was expanded to 1800 meters in depth, artillery was crossed to it. And from the south, the tanks of the 4th Panzer Army unit came to the rescue. The bridgehead conquered by the 121st Guards Rifle Division merged with the bridgehead captured by tankers and motorized riflemen near the town of Köben (Khobenya). For the skillful management of the entrusted unit, personal heroism and courage shown in the battles for the city of Kielce and in the crossing of the Oder River, Guards Major General Chervoniy was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

From this common bridgehead, the further offensive of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front to the west continued. On February 12, 1945, units of the Chervoniya division crossed the Bober River, on February 14 they captured the city of Zorau (Zhary), on February 20 - Benau (Lubsko). On February 23, 1945, units of the 121st Guards Rifle Division reached the banks of the Neisse River, which they failed to cross immediately. A few more times, the divisional commander Chervoniy made attempts to seize the bridgehead beyond the Neisse, but all of them were unsuccessful. Careful multi-day preparation was needed to overcome this line of defense of the enemy. The Chervoniya division stayed on the Neisse until April 1945.

During the Berlin operation, which began on April 16, 1945, parts of the division of the guard, Major General Chervony, successfully crossed the Neisse River, and then on April 20 - the Spree. By April 25, his fighters reached the Elbe River and started fighting for the ancient capital of the Saxons - the city of Wittenberg. At the same time, the divisional commander planned the capture of the city by his regiments from different sides, and the enemy completely lost the orientation of the directions of the strikes of the Soviet units. April 27, 1945 Wittenberg was completely cleared of the enemy, for which the 121st Guards Rifle Division was awarded the Order of Lenin. Divisional Commander Chervoniy also received the Order of Kutuzov 2nd degree.

And then in May 1945 there was a historic attack on Prague. The regiments of the Chervoniya division participated in the liberation of the Czech city of Most, the settlement of Komorzha, on May 8 they entered the city of Chomutov, and on May 11, 1945, in the Czech city of Karlovy Vary. Here, in a historical place founded by Emperor Charles IV, the war ended for the Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Major General Chervony. As it began for him even before the start, it ended after Victory Day.

After the end of hostilities, Chervoniy commanded his division for another year as part of the Central Group of Forces (TsGV). Then he was a student of higher academic courses at the Academy of the General Staff named after K.E. Voroshilov. For the last 3 years of service, he commanded a mechanized division and was deputy commander of a rifle corps in the Transcaucasian Military District.

Having retired in May 1950 for health reasons, Logvin Danilovich Chervoniy and his wife Anna Nikolaevna moved to the city of Zaporozhye, where they lived for the rest of their lives. Chervony's son Vasily followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a military officer in the Soviet Army.

A street in the Basov Kuta area of ​​the city of Rivne was named after L.D. Chervoniya. He was also awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Rivne". Until the beginning of the 90s, his portrait hung on a stand among other honorary citizens of the city. But with the formation of independent Ukraine, the building of Industrialbank was built on the site of this stand ...

Combat line-up:
333rd Guards Rifle Order of Kutuzov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Regiment
335th Guards Rifle Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Regiment
338th Guards Rifle Regiment
305th Guards Artillery Regiment
119th Guards Separate Anti-Tank Fighter Battalion
115th Guards Separate Reconnaissance Company
129th Guards Engineer Battalion
160th Guards separate communications battalion
120th Medical Battalion
118th Guards Separate Company of Chemical Protection
116th motor transport company
123rd field bakery
108th Divisional Veterinary Infirmary
2301st field post station
1255th field cash desk of the State Bank.

For some reason, the regalia of some parts are not indicated.
Correct like this:
338th Guards Rifle Oder Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Regiment;
305th Guards Artillery Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Regiment;
119th Separate Guards Fighter Anti-tank Artillery Division of the Order of the Red Star;
160th Separate Guards Order of the Red Star Signal Battalion.

Source:
RGVA. F. 4. Op. 11. D. 80. LL. 59-63.
Order of the NPO of the USSR of June 28, 1945 No. 0124 (with the announcement of the Decree of the USSR PVS of February 19, 1945 "On awarding orders to formations and units of the Red Army"): "... For the exemplary performance of command assignments in battles during the breakthrough of the German defenses west of SANDOMIR and the valor and courage shown at the same time, award:
... THE ORDER OF SUVOROV III DEGREE
... 335 Guards Red Banner Rifle Regiment

... 338 Guards Rifle Regiment
... 305th Guards Artillery Regiment...". Source - RGVA: f. 4, op. 11, d. 80, ll. 59, 68-70.

Order of the NPO of the USSR of June 28, 1945 No. 0124 (with the announcement of the Decree of the PVS of February 19, 1945 "On awarding orders to formations and units of the Red Army"): "... For the exemplary performance of command assignments in battles with the German invaders, for the capture of the city of PIOTRKOW (PETROKOV) and the valor and courage shown at the same time, award:
... THE ORDER OF KUTUZOV III DEGREE
... 333 Guards Rifle Regiment". Source - RGVA: f. 4, op. 11, d. 80, ll. 144-148.

Order of the NPO of the USSR dated June 28, 1945 No. 0130 (with the announcement of the Decree of the USSR PVS dated 4.6.45 "On awarding orders to formations and units of the Red Army"): "... For the exemplary performance of command assignments in battles with the German invaders during the liquidation of a group of German troops surrounded southeast of Berlin and the valor and courage shown at the same time, award:
... THE ORDER OF BOGDAN KHMELNYTSKY II DEGREE
... 333 Guards Rifle Order of Kutuzov Regiment
... THE ORDER OF THE RED STAR
... 119 separate guards anti-tank battalion
... 160th Separate Guards Communications Battalion". Source: Collection of orders of the Supreme High Command, NGOs, MVS, VM and the Minister of Defense of the USSR on the assignment of names to units, formations and institutions of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Part III. 1945-1967 years. Administration of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. Moscow, 1967, pp. 53-54.

Order of the Supreme Commander of April 5, 1945 No. 062: "The formations and units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which distinguished themselves in battles during the crossing of the Oder River, north-west of the city of Breslau (Breslavl), shall be given the name "Oder" and henceforth they will be called:
... 338 Guards Rifle Oder Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Regiment.
I also draw your attention to the fact that in accordance with the directive of the General Staff of the KA dated December 27, 1943 No. Org / 2 / 2143n / s, a sequence was established in the name of units and formations: first, the name should be separate (separate), and only then guards (guards ); a sapper battalion, a medical battalion should also go with the prefix "separate".
About 335 Guards. cn there are uncertainties: the Order of the Red Banner the regiment got from the 81st separate rifle brigade, awarded by the Decree of the PVS of 12/13/42. 10/10/1943 The 81st brigade was reorganized into the 335th guards. cn.
In the order of the NPO of the USSR dated June 28, 1945 No. 0124 with the announcement of the Decree of the USSR PVS dated February 19, 1945, it is called the 335th Red Banner Guards Rifle Regiment (awarded the Order of Suvorov, 3rd degree). But on the Feat of the People http://podvignaroda.mil.ru/filter/filterimage?path=VS/329/033-0687572-2357%2B022-2356/00000220.jpg&id=37715654&id=37715654&id1=in the order of the regiment commander dated July 20, 1945 No. 013 / n regiment is already the 335th Guards Rifle Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky. When 335 Guards. joint venture was awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky?

The division was formed on the basis of the composition of the 8th Guards Rifle Brigade, the 81st Naval Rifle Brigade and the 107th Rifle Brigade in October 1943 as part of the North Caucasian Front. The 8th Guards Rifle Brigade became the 333rd Guards Rifle Regiment, the 81st Marine Rifle Brigade became the 335th Guards Rifle Regiment, and the 107th Rifle Brigade became the 338th Guards Rifle Regiment. In mid-October 1943, the division was stationed in Gadyuch Kut (8 km west of Taman).

The first combat operation of the division was participation in the Kerch-Eltigen landing operation, during which on 11/03/1943, 840 soldiers of the 335th Guards Rifle Regiment were able to reach the bridgehead captured near the village of Eltigen south of Kerch.

From the report of the intelligence department of the 5th Army Corps of the Wehrmacht.

Secret
5th Army Corps KP, 12/18/1943
Intelligence Department N 490/43

Enemy assessment.

About the Soviet landing in Eltigen (south of Kerch) from November 1, 1943 and about the battles for the bridgehead until it was cleared from the enemy on December 11, 1943.

... 3a “On the night of November 2-3, the enemy suffered heavy losses. Judging by the cross-examination of prisoners, the losses in manpower increased to 1,400 people. from the sinking of ships. The missile launchers that were being transported also drowned.

The regiment transported four 76-mm and three 45-mm guns, 18 tons of ammunition and food with them. It should be noted that the figures of losses during the crossing are probably underestimated, since 3,300 people were sent from the Taman Peninsula as part of a rifle regiment, artillery and special units.

On 11/08/1943, 731 people remained in the regiment. The regiment held the defense on the southern flank of the bridgehead until 12/06/1943, 12/04/1943 suffered heavy losses. On December 6, 1943, the remnants of the regiment participated in the breakthrough of troops from the bridgehead to Kerch, making up the rear guard of the group, gathering the lightly wounded and the rear. The group split up, and apparently, the remnants of the regiment were completely destroyed.

The remaining parts of the division were transferred to Ukraine at the end of November, where the division took part in the Zhytomyr-Berdichev operation. The first days of the operation was in the second echelon, with access to Korostyshev she entered the battle. 01/05/1944 took part in the liberation of Berdichev, fighting on the streets of the city; also took part in the battles near the city of Brody. In early January 1944, she fought at the Petrikovtsy-Volchinets line. Then she continued the offensive during the Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation, 04/14/1944 took part in the liberation of Ternopil.

From 07/13/1944, he takes part in the Lvov-Sandomierz operation, advancing on the right wing of the front, north of Lvov, through Rava-Russkaya. During the operation, the division crossed the Western Bug, San. In early August, the division crossed to the Sandomierz bridgehead, where it participated in the battles to hold and expand the bridgehead.

From 04/16/1945, she takes part in the Berlin operation, by 04/22/1945 she occupied the line to the east

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the 117th division arrived at a permanent location in Berdichev, where it was located in a military camp on Krasnaya (Lysa) Gora. Here it existed for more than 50 years - before its disbandment already in independent Ukraine. Its successor was the 62nd separate mechanized brigade, on the basis of which, in turn, the 26th artillery brigade was created (based on the Directive of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine No. 312/1/014 of 06/18/2004). Now (November 2010), the issue of recognizing this brigade as the successor of the 117th Infantry Division is being decided.

Many veterans of the 117th Division became Honorary Citizens of the city of Berdichev. Among them is the division commander Volkovich Timofey Ivanovich, as well as veterans who live in Berdichev - Stepan Iosifovich Livinsky, Ivan Vasilyevich Pavlenko and others.

58th Oder Red Banner Rifle Division

58th rifle division of the first formation has been in Ukraine since the Civil War. In September 1939, she took part in the liberation of Western Ukraine as part of the 13th Rifle Corps of the Ukrainian Front. After fierce battles and losses in the first months of the Great Patriotic War (in August 1941, she tragically died in the Uman cauldron (in the Green gate) on the Southwestern Front), she was formed (replenished) in the city of Melekes (now Dimitrovgrad) of the Ulyanovsk region. In April 1942, she went to the front and arrived in the Kaluga region, which she defended and liberated. Later she took part in the liberation of the Smolensk, Kyiv, Volyn, Lvov regions; in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation. Liberated Poland, for crossing the river. The Oder and the development of the offensive on its western bank received the honorary name "Oder". For valor and successful military operations, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and Kutuzov II degree, took part in the Berlin and Prague operations. I met Victory Day in the capital of Czechoslovakia, the city of Prague.

12. 1941 - formed in Melekes (now Dimitrovgrad) (PriVO) of the Ulyanovsk region as the 431st SD (GKO Decree No. 935 of 11/22/41
25.12.1941 - Renamed 58th Rifle Division

Names and awards

09.08.1944 - awarded the Order of the Red Banner
05.04.1945 - awarded the honorary name "Oderskaya"
04.06.1945 - awarded the Order of Kutuzov

The Great Patriotic War

In the active army: 04/07/1942 - 11/25/1943, 01/01/1944 - 02/24/1944, 04/18/1944 - 05/11/1945
02/21/1942 - transferred to Stalinogorsk as part of the 24th rez.A

Compound

Commander of the 170th joint venture, Major A.M. Martynov;
Commander of the 270th joint venture, Major N.Ya. Pryadko;
Commander of the 335th joint venture, Major M.P. Averikhin;
Commander 224 ap, lieutenant colonel V.M. Seregin;
Commander of the 81st separate engineer battalion, senior lieutenant P.P. Troshin.

244th ap, 138th oiptd, 126th mind (until 11/10/1942), 544th RR, 126 (81) sapb, 100th obs (392nd ors), 114th medical battalion, 528th orghz, 132nd attr, 444th pkhp, 909th dvl, 1657th PPS, 1086th PKG

Division commanders

Colonel Shkodunovich Nikolai Nikolaevich - 12/25/1941 - 11/10/1942
Colonel, from 09/13/1944 Major General Samsonov Vasily Akimovich - 11/11/1942 - 04/30/1945
Colonel Shikita Alexander Andreevich - 05/01/1945 - 05/11/1945

Division formation

It took about two months (from December 25, 1941 to February 17, 1942) for the military units of the newly formed division, consisting of 170, 270 and 335 rifle regiments (sp), 224 artillery regiments (ap), 138 separate anti-tank artillery battalions (optad), 81 separate engineer battalions (OSB), 114 separate medical and sanitary battalions (OSMB), 100 separate communications company (ORS), 544 separate reconnaissance companies (ORR), 528 separate chemical protection companies (ORHZ), 132 separate supply auto companies (oarp), 444 field bakeries (groin) and 909 veterinary infirmaries (vl).

For the period of fighting on Zaitseva Gora, starting from April 1942, the command staff of the division consisted of:

Division commander, Colonel N.N. Shkodunovich;
Chief of Staff, Colonel N.N. Gusev;
Division commissar, senior battalion commissar A.A. Akinfiev;
Chief of the 1st Department of the Division Headquarters, Major N.V. Sinitsyn;
Head of the 2nd Department, Captain I.T. Illarionov;
Head of the 3rd department, Major Parkhomenko;
Head of the 4th department, quartermaster technician of the 1st rank Ya.V. Grishkov;
Head of the 5th department, Major Ya.N. Makarenko;
Head of the 6th department, senior lieutenant I.D. Barakin;
Head of the political department of the division, senior battalion commissar M.K. Maksimenko;
Deputy head of the political department, battalion commissar V.S. Zaitsev;
Assistant to the head of the political department of the division for Komsomol work, junior political instructor Yu.M. Semenov;
Editor of the divisional newspaper "Fighter of the Red Army", political instructor A.V. Gerasimenko;
Division Artillery Chief, Colonel S.S. Vasiliev;
Divisional sanitary doctor, military doctor of the 2nd rank M.S. Sergeev;
Divisional engineer, captain G.F. Remezov;
Divisional veterinarian, veterinarian of the 2nd rank L.N. Evreinov;
Head of the chemical service of the division, senior lieutenant V.N. Smirnov;
Head of financial support, quartermaster of the 2nd rank Petrenko;
Senior instructor of the political department, senior political instructor N.F. Abrashin;
Platoon commander of the division headquarters, junior lieutenant K.N. Shkodunovich.

From February 17 to February 23, 1942, 13 echelons of the division, numbering 11215 people, was redeployed near Tula, and Stalinogorsk, now the city of Novomoskovsk, at the disposal of the 20th Army.

On fiery land

The landing of troops of the 18th and 56th armies was originally scheduled for the night of October 28, 1943. However, a sharp deterioration in the weather forced the front commander to postpone the operation. The seven-point storm did not subside for three days. At the same time, the active operations of the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front on the northern approaches to the Crimea demanded that offensive operations also be launched through the Kerch Strait. Therefore, as soon as the storm began to subside, on October 30, the front commander appointed the landing of both armies on the night of November 1, 1943 and determined the beginning of the landing on the Crimean coast at 3 o'clock in the morning, which made it possible to complete the landing of the first echelons before dawn. The beginning of the movement of ships from the start line was scheduled for 2 hours.

In order not to attract the attention of enemy reconnaissance, the army commander only from the afternoon of October 31 allowed the concentration of landing craft at the landing sites - in Taman, Krotkovo and at the pier of Lake Salt. Based on the need to achieve secrecy in the concentration and landing of troops, he allowed to start landing only after dark.

Meanwhile, a strong northeast wind (up to 5 points) and rough seas made it difficult to concentrate small-tonnage vessels, their parking at open piers, and refueling. The reception of landing troops, weapons and cargo was delayed. By 2 o'clock on November 1, part of the ships that had finished loading were already at the start line, the other part was still loading. The loading of the personnel of the 1337th Infantry Regiment at the Krotkov pier was delayed, where, in a change of schedule, an artillery battalion was first loaded onto eight barrel rafts: twelve 76-mm guns, six Jeeps, 25 tons of ammunition, 4 tons of food and 748 personnel composition. Towed by eight minesweepers, the rafts slowly moved west. This group was additional - the 7th detachment of landing craft.

Despite the very difficult weather conditions for such small vessels, the 1st and 2nd detachments, transporting the 1331st Rifle Regiment and the battalion of the 255th Marine Rifle Brigade from the pier of Lake Salt, passed the start line for about 3 hours. At about the same time, the 5th and 6th detachments, leaving Taman, crossed the starting line, carrying the 1339th rifle regiment and the 386th separate battalion of marines. The 3rd, 4th and 7th detachments of ships that left Krotkov, with the 1337th rifle regiment and artillery division on board, passed the start line about an hour later. During the passage in the dark, the ships were scattered by a storm, but they continued to move towards the designated landing sites. From the composition of the 1st detachment, three boats were blown up by mines. On one of them, the commander of the 1331st Infantry Regiment, Colonel A.D. Shiryaev, and officers of the regiment headquarters were killed.

Despite the fact that the march formation of the ships was disrupted, the landing detachments under the command of captains 3rd rank D. A. Glukhov, A. A. Zhidko, N. I. Sipyagin, captain-lieutenant M. G. Bondarenko, senior lieutenant V. E. Moskalyuk , captain of the 3rd rank G. I. Gnatenko, having more than 5700 landing troops on board, persistently moved towards the enemy coast. Fleet aviation periodically bombarded objects in the landing area and thereby masked the noise of the engines of approaching ships. The enemy did not show any signs of anxiety. The stormy weather apparently calmed him down.

Having received reports from the detachment commanders about the passage of the launch line, the landing commander asked the operation commander to schedule the start of artillery preparation at 4 hours 30 minutes and the transfer of fire to the depth of the enemy defense by 500 m in 15 minutes. The calculation turned out to be correct. At about 4 hours 50 minutes the boats of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th detachments approached the shore at a distance of 5-6 cables (about 1 km). Landing boats and motor launches, which were in tows, gave up their tugboats and rushed to the shore.

The fighters of the right-flank detachment landed first in the area of ​​​​the village of Eltigen, without encountering significant resistance. After he landed, at about 05:20, the enemy illuminated the area with searchlights and opened heavy rifle-machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire on the ships. The 1st and 2nd detachments of ships, somewhat lagging behind at the crossing due to a large wave in the open part of the strait, began landing on the left flank near the commune "Initiative" under heavy enemy fire.

Part of the boats and vessels, which had a large draft, maneuvered in the roadstead in anticipation of the return of motorboats, launches and other means of landing that had gone ashore. But the latter, when approaching the shore, suffered significant losses from enemy fire, some were thrown ashore or smashed against the rocks by a large rolling wave. Without waiting for the return of the landing craft, without which it was impossible to unload guns and heavy loads ashore, some commanders sent boats to the shore in order to independently land troops and unload equipment. If they succeeded, then at the cost of severe damage or loss of ships.

In the Kerch Strait, under the influence of the surf, sandy shoals, the so-called bars, sometimes appear and then disappear near the coast. Such a shoal turned out to be several tens of meters from the coast in front of the landing site. She did not allow the boats to come close to the shore. With dawn, the effectiveness of enemy fire increased. There was nowhere to expect landing craft for reloading from boats to the shore. The landing commander, after reporting to General I.E. Petrov, with his permission, ordered all ships to withdraw to the eastern shore of the strait.

Over 2500 people, 17 anti-tank guns, 15 mortars, 19.5 tons of ammunition were landed on the Kerch coast. Almost half of the personnel of the units of the first echelon turned out not to be landed. The commander of the 318th Rifle Division, Colonel V.F. Gladkov, and the head of the political department, Colonel M.V. Kopylov, could not go ashore. Patrol boat No. 044, on which they were, was damaged by shells and, together with other ships, returned to Taman. For similar reasons, the commanders of the regiments, the chief of staff of the division, Colonel P.F. Bushin, who went with the 1339th Infantry Regiment, and the deputy commander of the division, Colonel V.N.

Thus, due to the storm and strong opposition from the enemy, the insufficient number of landing craft and the unexplored shallows in front of the landing site, the landing force fell into difficult conditions and could not land all the troops. The landing rate was half as fast, and it was not possible to increase it due to the general lack of landing craft and landing craft.

At the most crucial - initial - moment of the battle for the bridgehead, the landing units were scattered on the shore, and they had to fight on their own. However, the commanders of battalions and companies proved to be quite prepared to organize battle in the most difficult conditions.

The assault on Eltigen was first launched on the northern landing site by the soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of Captain P.K. Zhukov of the 1339th Infantry Regiment and the 386th Marine Battalion of Captain N.A. Belyakov. They were brought to the shore and landed almost without loss by the ships of the detachment under the command of Captain 3rd Rank G. I. Gnatenko, who showed examples of courage even in the Novorossiysk operation. The fighters of Zhukov's battalion were already on the shore, when a sailor's "polundra" was heard from the right and grenade explosions were heard. The soldiers of these two battalions boldly broke into the trenches and firing positions of the enemy, started close combat.

The company of Lieutenant D. V. Tulinov swam to the shore and, having destroyed the German firing points, captured a small bridgehead in the village of Eltigen. Machine gunners led by foreman I.N. Ilyev destroyed 10 soldiers and drove the Germans out of the first bunkers and trenches. The mortar platoon of Lieutenant H. H. Topolnikov carried out his mortars on his hands and quickly opened fire on the enemy trenches. Taking advantage of this, foreman V.E. Fursov, with a group of soldiers from his company, organized the pursuit of the enemy. When the enemy launched the first counterattack, an armor-piercer of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 1339th Infantry Regiment, Private P. G. Butov knocked out a tank, which was the first tank destroyed by the paratroopers. Having knocked out the enemy from the northern part of Eltigen, Zhukov's battalion launched battles for the heights to the north-west of the village.

Units of the 386th Separate Marine Battalion landed on the right flank. The first to reach the shore and began the battle with the enemy was a platoon of machine gunners of Lieutenant K. F. Stronsky. He quickly launched an attack on the northern outskirts of the village. A platoon of submachine gunners foreman V. T. Tsymbal stumbled upon barbed wire and a minefield. The sanitary instructor of the battalion, chief foreman G.K. Petrova, in front of the machine gunners, ran across the minefield and dragged the fighters who had stopped to attack with her. By morning, marine units led by company commanders Lieutenant L. I. Novozhilov and senior lieutenant I. A. Tsibizov captured two 75-mm artillery batteries and captured three German officers.

With the 386th separate battalion of the Marine Corps, Captain S.A. Borzenko, a correspondent of the army newspaper Znamya Rodiny, landed. When the boat, forty meters from the shore, ran aground against the bunker, from which a machine gun was firing, Borzenko, with an exclamation of “Follow me!” jumped overboard first. On the shore, having overcome the minefield, his group went in from the rear and neutralized the bunker. Then she knocked out the Germans from the houses on the northern outskirts of the village of Eltigen.

At dawn, units of the marines began to fight for the most important position - the anti-tank ditch and captured it with a friendly attack. The Germans continuously counterattacked, trying to regain the lost position. The paratroopers at the end of the day, left without ammunition, were forced to retreat. But on the morning of November 2, the company of Lieutenant P. G. Deikalo went on a second assault on the ditch. The attack was supported by attack aircraft and was successful. The position has been restored. The defense of the anti-tank ditch was later headed by the Komsomol organizer of the battalion, Lieutenant F. A. Kalinin, who was then appointed chief of staff of the battalion.

A high-rise building (with a mark of 47.7) rose behind the moat, which was the stronghold of the enemy. It was defended by no less than a company of German soldiers. In order to view the road leading from Kamysh-Burun and deprive the enemy of a place to concentrate forces for counterattacks, Lieutenant A. D. Shumskikh with his platoon, using a successful attack by attack aircraft, swiftly attacked the height and captured it in close combat. To return it, the enemy counterattacked a platoon of 18 people several times. By the evening, when a few fighters remained in the platoon, by order of the battalion commander, they retreated from the height.

Northwest of the village of Eltigen, a company of the 1339th regiment under the command of Captain A. S. Miroshnik fought for an important height. Armor-piercers, led by junior sergeant V.N. Tolstov, captured and fortified the high-rise, which controlled the approach to the village. The enemy went on the counterattack. Armor-piercers repelled it, knocking out three tanks. The sergeant was left alone with his partner, Private S. Funikov, when a group of soldiers arrived to help them, led by a representative of the political department of the army, Major A. A. Movshovich. For this high-rise, then two days there were stubborn battles. The company of Captain Miroshnik, who organized the defense perfectly, managed to repulse all attacks and hold an important position.

Major D.S. Koveshnikov, Chief of Staff of the 1339th Rifle Regiment, took over the leadership of the disembarked units and groups. He established contact with individual groups, organized interaction between them, gave instructions on how best to organize defense and repulse counterattacks. He was assisted by Major A. A. Movshovich, who took up the post of deputy regiment commander for political affairs. By 09:45, the 1339th Infantry Regiment established radio contact with the headquarters of the 18th Army. Koveshnikov reported on the situation on the bridgehead, asked to open artillery fire on the enemy's batteries and the accumulation of his troops. The army commander could now directly influence the course of the battle on the bridgehead.

In the central landing area, individual small groups of the 1337th Infantry Regiment conducted combat operations. The commander of the battalion, Captain Kireev, turned out to be the senior in this direction, who managed to unite disparate groups and organize the defense of the site.

The units and groups of the 1331st Rifle Regiment that landed south of Eltigen were united by the battalion commander, Major A. K. Klinkovsky. The paratroopers knocked out the enemy from a small height and equipped their stronghold on it. Soon they discovered the stronghold of the enemy, dominating the area - a school with trenches dug around it. The paratroopers fought all day and only in the evening took possession of the building. At the same time, they used artillery fire from the Taman coast, which was controlled by the landing correction posts. The next day, with only a few grenades and a limited amount of ammunition, they repelled all enemy attacks and held the school.

On the southern flank near the sea, the battalion of the 255th brigade of Major S.T. Grigoriev took up the defense. He advanced only 800 m from the coast and was forced to go on the defensive and gain a foothold. After Grigoriev was wounded, Deputy for Political Affairs Captain 3rd Rank Gromov took command of the battalion. The battalion successfully operated together with the 1331st regiment. On the commanding heights there was a position from which the enemy fired heavily. From this direction, the enemy launched an offensive to cut off the landing force from the coast and destroy it. Heavy, bloody battles unfolded here. The success of the landing and the capture of the bridgehead on the Kerch coast in the Eltigen area ensured the skillful and courageous actions of the company and battalion commanders, the determination and dedication of all soldiers and sailors. Assistance to the commanders in rallying the battle groups on the bridgehead was provided by the employees of the political department of the army I. I. Treskunov, M. M. Levin, I. I. Pavlenko. Many of the heroes were awarded high government awards; some commanders and fighters were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In the afternoon of November 1, a motorboat left Taman and headed for the Crimean coast. On the way to the bridgehead, he was attacked by enemy aircraft, but the bombs fell behind and to the side. The risk taken by the front commander, General I.E. Petrov, who allowed Colonel V.F. Gladkov to move to the bridgehead in the afternoon on an unarmed longboat, turned out to be justified. The command of the 318th Rifle Division and the commanders of the regiments landed from the motorboat. Colonel V.N. Ivakin, deputy division commander, took command of the left-flank 1331st Rifle Regiment.

The division commander stated with satisfaction that the landing troops had seized a bridgehead up to five kilometers along the front and one and a half kilometers in depth with the village of Eltigen in the center. From the west, north and south, the bridgehead is covered by hills with low heights. The battalion and company commanders, who led the first battle and repulsed enemy counterattacks in the afternoon, showed maturity and skill. The fortified position of the enemy was broken through by an attack from the sea. All tactically important positions were recaptured and adapted for the defense of the bridgehead, with the exception of the area of ​​​​the commune "Initiative", which dominated the area and gave the enemy good opportunities for attack. Throughout the night of November 2, hard work was going on to organize defense, install minefields, establish fire communications and interaction. On the bridgehead, they prepared in the morning to repel enemy attacks again.

The further course of the struggle on the bridgehead and the complete solution of the task set by the army depended on the reliability of communication with the Taman coast and the speed of building up forces in Eltigen. Therefore, the Military Council of the Army took measures to develop success. At 08:30 on November 1, 1943, he ordered the commander of the 20th Rifle Corps to allocate one regiment of the 117th Guards Rifle Division, transfer it to the bridgehead, so that later it would be used as a motorized detachment.

For mobility and increased firepower, he was given the 1174th anti-tank artillery regiment, a company of the 5th Guards Tank Brigade (10 tanks), a reconnaissance detachment, and an auto company. The landing commander was instructed to concentrate in Taman by 19 o'clock the means for their transportation. It was assumed that upon the exit of the 318th Infantry Division to Churubash, the motorized detachment would advance along the Marfovka-Feodosia road and capture the city and port of Feodosia. However, this combat order turned out to be somewhat premature.

During the landing by the enemy on the first night, a significant number of landing craft were destroyed. By the morning of November 1, out of 121 units of various boats and landing craft that took part in the transfer of troops, 37 units were killed and 29 were out of order, having received various damages. By the evening of November 1, the landing commander had at his disposal only 46 small-tonnage vessels capable of receiving up to 2,000 soldiers. From the Azov military flotilla, six armored boats arrived for transportation, each of which could take on board 60 fighters, but could not transport equipment. The landing craft were needed to deliver to the bridgehead those troops of the first echelon who remained unlanded on the first night. After 6 p.m., the landing detachments began to move from Taman, Krotkov and from the pier of Lake Salt. As the ships approached the shore, the enemy opened intense artillery and mortar fire, inflicting significant damage on them. Despite this, during the night, the landing units made two flights. By the morning of November 2, an additional 3270 soldiers and officers, four 45-mm guns, 9 mortars, 22.7 tons of ammunition and 2 tons of food were transported to the bridgehead. As a result, the landing of the 318th division and the units attached to it was basically completed.

The transfer to the bridgehead of the 117th Guards Rifle Division was scheduled for the day of November 2. But the enemy conducted heavy artillery fire on the ships at the landing sites, and aircraft attacked them at the crossing. Several moorings burned down from enemy strikes in Taman, four boats were killed and four motorized boats were seriously damaged. Nevertheless, an attempt to transport the 1st Rifle Battalion of the 335th Guards Rifle Regiment during the daytime did not bring success. On approaching the shore, the enemy concentrated fire to such a density that the boats could not approach the landing points. Only about a hundred people, led by the head of the political department of the division, Colonel B. B. Kabanov, made it to the shore by swimming. The transportation of troops and their supply at the bridgehead in Eltigen during the daytime had to be abandoned.

For those who landed, the second day was especially difficult, since the enemy pulled up units of the 98th Infantry Division from the Kerch direction to Eltigen and, with the support of aviation, tried to cut off the landing force from the coast with a blow from the south. He struck the second blow from the west to the center, trying to cut the bridgehead and destroy its defenders in parts. During the day, the landing force repulsed twelve attacks. The fights turned into hand-to-hand combat. Due to heavy losses, the 1331st Rifle Regiment on the left flank left its positions, but, reinforced by the reserve of the division commander, restored the position by the end of the day with a counterattack. In other directions, all enemy attacks were also repelled. The paratroopers were greatly assisted by artillery from the Taman coast, which concentrated fire on enemy concentration areas. Attack aircraft also operated successfully. The division commander, at the request of the regimental commanders, conveyed: “The soldiers of the front line warmly thank the artillerymen and pilots for their help!” .

The report of the political department of the army reported: “The mood in the active units, in spite of everything, is cheerful, fighting. Everyone is sure of victory. Fighters, sergeants and officers show exceptional courage and bravery. In one small area, the enemy threw 7 tanks and a large number of infantry against our units. Our fighters, sergeants and officers, in an exceptionally difficult situation, repulsed tank counterattacks and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy in manpower. Sergeant Khasanov went to the tank with an anti-tank grenade and knocked it out. At this time, Khasanov was wounded, but continued to advance. With a second grenade, he knocked out another tank. By the force of fire from all types of weapons, the remaining tanks and infantry of the enemy were put to flight.

The captured German testified that the commander of the 17th Army, Colonel-General E. Eneke, came to the Kerch Peninsula (in the Bagerovo region), and ordered to destroy the Eltigen landing no later than November 3.

On a piece of liberated Crimean land, hard work went on all night: the soldiers deepened and dug new trenches, installed fire weapons, and pulled communication lines. A responsible and dangerous task was carried out by sappers under the leadership of divisional engineer Major B.F. Modin. They removed the German mines installed on the shore and then they were also installed in front of the front line of defense in tank-dangerous directions. Artillerymen, under the leadership of the artillery commander of the division, Colonel Novikov, prepared captured guns for battle.

The division commander withdrew the 386th Separate Marine Battalion to his reserve. By morning, the 335th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 117th Rifle Division arrived from the Taman coast, which was placed in the second echelon behind the 1331st Rifle Regiment, which made it possible to condense the battle formations in this direction. It was here that the most powerful blow of the enemy was expected. Despite the fact that only 840 fighters, four 76- and three 45-mm guns, 18 tons of ammunition and food were deployed as part of the 335th regiment, this was a significant help to the landing force. This regiment, formed from the remnants of the 81st Separate Marine Rifle Brigade, was hardened in battle. They were commanded by the former commissar of the brigade, an experienced and courageous officer, Colonel P. I. Nesterov.

Meanwhile, the enemy tried to eliminate the landing force as soon as possible. On the night of November 3, the enemy's high-speed landing and artillery barges for the first time tried to prevent the delivery of reinforcements to the bridgehead. On the morning of November 3, the commander of the 18th Army, General K. N. Leselidze, ordered the commander of the landing, Admiral G. N. Kholostyakov, to resume daytime transportation of troops and equipment to the bridgehead. This decision took into account possible changes in the situation in the Kerch Strait in connection with the landing of troops of the 56th Army northeast of Kerch. A detachment of seven high-speed boats, having received 309 people and one gun in Krotkovo, tried to break through the curtains of artillery fire, but could not approach the shore. One boat was lost, two were seriously damaged and out of action. The enemy fire on the ships was well organized, and this precluded daytime transport. An organized blockade of the bridgehead began, which posed a serious threat due to the large loss of landing craft in the first three days of the operation, the lack of a reserve of ships and combat boats.

On the morning of November 3, stubborn battles began on the ground and in the air. The southern section of the bridgehead was attacked by an infantry regiment and 15 enemy tanks; Colonel Krieger's infantry group, supported by 10 tanks, simultaneously attacked the center of the bridgehead. Aircraft at low level flight and from a dive bombed the bridgehead. All day long, a small patch of reclaimed land was in smoke and fire. The fierceness and persistence of the enemy's attacks were explained by the fact that on the night of November 3, northeast of Kerch, troops of the 56th Army successfully landed on the Yenikal Peninsula and fought to expand the bridgehead. In order not to be under a double blow, the German command sought to eliminate the Eltigen bridgehead, which it considered the main one and against which significant forces had already been deployed. The situation developed in such a way that the stubborn struggle of the 18th Army for the Eltigen bridgehead contributed to the successful landing of the troops of the 56th Army.

The operational summary of the front headquarters for that day says that the 98th Infantry Division, supported by tanks, self-propelled assault guns and aircraft, went on the attack 10 times in order to destroy the landing units. According to Colonel V.F. Gladkov, who led the battle, during November 3, the defenders of the bridgehead repulsed 19 attacks. At the cost of huge losses, the enemy managed to somewhat push our units in the southern sector. His tanks and infantry broke through along the coast, crushed the 3rd battalion of the 1331st regiment and advanced to the southern outskirts of Eltigen. The German command tried to develop success. It hastily landed troops on the tanks, which attacked the flank of Major Klinkovsky's neighboring battalion. The regiment was in danger of encirclement. Lieutenant Colonel N. M. Chelov, who had taken command of the 1331st regiment the day before, gathered a group of fighters and himself led it to a counterattack. Together with the reserve company of the division commander who came to the rescue, they stopped the enemy tanks, pressed the enemy infantry to the ground with machine gun fire. At the same time, they acted not only selflessly and skillfully, but also cunningly. L. I. Brezhnev reported on one such heroic feat of Sergeant P. A. Krivenko in a political report of the army dated November 7: “When a German tank went to the unit, Krivenko got up and boldly went towards the enemy vehicle. Submachine gunners sat on a German tank. From the tank, the Germans fired a long machine-gun burst at the hero. Krivenko fell and pretended to be dead. When the tank came very close, Krivenko got up and quickly threw a grenade under the caterpillar. The enemy car spun in place and stopped. The Nazi submachine gunners took to flight. The fighters of the unit, who saw this amazing duel, shouted: “Glory to the Novorossiysk hero, glory to Sergeant Krivenko!”

On that day, radio communications operated reliably and uninterruptedly. Artillerymen quickly concentrated powerful fire on any specified point. Precise bombing and assault strikes from a strafing flight of Il-2 attack aircraft aroused the admiration of the paratroopers. The squadron commander of the 47th Assault Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant B.N. The battalion commander of the 1331st Infantry Regiment, A. K. Klinkovsky, called heavy artillery fire from Taman on the height, which he held with a handful of fighters. Fire on themselves helped repel the German attack and hold the height.

At the end of the day, artillery and aircraft delivered a massive blow to the enemy south of Eltigen. The 335th Guards Regiment and the Marines resolutely counterattacked the enemy, imposed hand-to-hand combat on him and, having thrown him back, restored the positions partially lost in the morning.

The German command did not achieve its goal - the Eltigen bridgehead, called "land of fire" that day, was held by the soldiers of the 18th Army. In stubborn battles for Eltigen, the army pinned down more than three regiments and a tank unit of the enemy, which could not be used against the troops of the 56th Army, which had seized a bridgehead northeast of Kerch. The enemy suffered heavy damage. The defenders of the bridgehead also suffered considerable losses: by the end of the day there were over a thousand wounded, there was not enough ammunition, water, food. At this moment of crisis, the command and political department of the 318th Novorossiysk Rifle Division turned to the defenders of the bridgehead: “Fighting friends, officers, sergeants, privates! Today is 3 days since you are fighting a heroic battle with fascist monsters. The enemy is trying to liquidate the bridgehead we have conquered and thereby prolong its vile existence on the Crimean peninsula. Against us, he throws infantry and equipment. Over the past 3 days, we have repulsed up to 50 enemy counterattacks and destroyed over 1,500 German bandits ...

The Military Council of the Army and the Military Council of the Front are taking all possible measures to provide us with all possible assistance and support in carrying out the tasks ... We are confident in you and in our formidable weapons, we are confident that you will not give up the recaptured bridgehead and this will create conditions for the landing of our main forces. Forward, to the complete defeat of the Nazi occupiers!” .

The text of the appeal was reproduced and read out in all divisions. It inspired the fighters and commanders, raised their morale. It was obvious that as long as there was someone and what to defend the bridgehead, the enemy would not be able to eliminate it. On November 3, the Military Council of the 18th Army noted the good combat work of the gunners and pilots. He sent a telegram addressed to the Commander of the Air Force of the Black Sea Fleet: “Tell the flight personnel supporting us in the battle for the eastern coast of the Kerch Peninsula, thanks from the infantry of our army. The pilots rendered us great assistance in repulsing 37 enemy counterattacks with tanks, which the enemy undertook within two days. The names of Lieutenant B. N. Vodovodov and Second Lieutenant V. L. Bykov, who rammed the German Junkers-88 aircraft, we will write down in the lists of heroes of our army.

The German high-speed landing barges blocking the Eltigen area at night outnumbered our boats in artillery armament and were partially armored (wheelhouse, engine compartment). With the onset of darkness, they left Kamysh-Burun and Feodosia into the strait and maneuvered in front of the bridgehead, preventing landing craft from approaching it. They were assisted by aviation, dropping illuminating bombs on the way. Sometimes, in the absence of Soviet ships in the strait, German landing barges approached the bridgehead and fired at the positions of our troops and rear units located near the steep banks. The landing commander, Admiral Kholostyakov, did not have the necessary naval forces to fight the German barges and torpedo boats. Only on November 8, the combat boats and vehicles of the Novorossiysk base managed to break through to the Kerch coast in a fight and deliver 392 people, 6 tons of ammunition and 8 tons of food to the bridgehead. On the return flight, they evacuated 167 wounded. That night, two boats were blown up by mines, one was sunk by enemy ships, and one was destroyed by enemy artillery while unloading near the coast. It became obvious that in order to supply the landed troops, expand the bridgehead and transport the main forces of the army, new vehicles, larger fleet and aviation forces were needed.

Starting on November 9, the build-up of forces and the delivery of supplies to the bridgehead effectively ceased. From November 9 to December 6, only 438 people were transported to the bridgehead by sea, up to 45 tons of ammunition and 17 tons of food. During the same time, 462 wounded were evacuated from the bridgehead.

In order to destroy enemy ships and break through the blockade, artillery launched two massive strikes on the port of Kamysh-Burun (November 19 and December 8), and aviation - four strikes (November 9 and 20, December 1 and 6). In addition, aircraft inflicted 16 strikes on ships at sea. Groups of torpedo and armored boats searched for enemy ships three times (November 16, December 5 and 9). A minefield was placed at the exit from Kamysh-Burun. As a result of all these actions, more than 20 self-propelled barges and various boats were sunk, 32 ships were significantly damaged, but the blockade has not yet been eliminated.

Meanwhile, fierce battles with superior enemy forces continued on the Eltigen bridgehead. During November 4, the troops of the army repulsed the attack of the enemy on the left flank. On the night of November 5, the landing units themselves went on the offensive in order to improve their positions. They captured the height and a group of mounds, seized weapons and ammunition. With further advancement, the paratroopers would have gone beyond the firing range of artillery from the Taman coast and would have lost its support. Given this and the general lack of ammunition, the offensive was suspended.

On November 5, the Military Council of the 18th Army decided to supply the landing force by air. For this purpose, the 47th regiment of Il-2 attack aircraft of the 11th assault air division of the fleet was allocated. On November 6, on the eve of the celebration of the 26th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the first drop of cargo on the bridgehead took place. 6 tons of food and 7 tons of ammunition were dropped. However, it turned out that the products, even canned in metal cans, broke when they hit the ground, mixed with the soil and became unsuitable for consumption. The rear of the army had to organize two bases for special packaging of food and ammunition. In addition, attack aircraft had a high speed, and bales of cargo sometimes fell into the sea or into enemy territory. Enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire also made it difficult to accurately drop cargo. Therefore, on November 10, by decision of the Military Council of the Army, two Il-2 regiments of the 214th assault air division were allocated to supply the landing force, which dropped cargo during the day with parachutes, and two regiments of U-2 night bombers that dropped cargo at night without parachutes. The 46th Taman Guards Women's Aviation Regiment under the command of Major E. D. Bershanskaya operated especially successfully. Each crew of this regiment made several sorties per night, sometimes the regiment as a whole made up to 140 sorties per night.

From November 1 to December 6, 753 tons of all types of supplies were sent to the bridgehead by sea and air, but the paratroopers received only 276 tons. Nevertheless, this helped the defenders of the Tierra del Fuego to hold out in the blockade.

By November 7, when the landing force of the 56th Army secured a bridgehead north of Kerch, the landing force of the 18th Army held a bridgehead in the Eltigen area three kilometers in front and two in depth. Subdivisions and units improved their defenses and repelled the fierce attacks of the enemy. On the morning of November 7, the enemy carried out artillery preparation and went on the offensive on the right flank of the bridgehead with two battalions. The enemy was driven back by the fire of rifle subunits with heavy losses.

By November 8, there were 3668 people on the bridgehead - the 1331st Rifle Regiment (301 people), the 1337th Rifle Regiment (481 people), the 1339th Rifle Regiment (848 people), the 335th Guards Rifle Regiment (731 people), 386th marine battalion (386 people), assault battalion of the 255th brigade (232 people), 490th anti-tank artillery regiment (158 people), 6 separate companies (317 people), medical battalion (105 people) and management (109 people). The armament of the landing party consisted of 23 heavy machine guns, 61 light machine guns, 1121 rifles, 1456 machine guns, 53 anti-tank rifles, four 76- and twelve 45-mm guns, as well as 53 mortars. Due to the lack of ammunition, their strictest economy was introduced.

The troops of the 56th Army were preparing for an offensive from the bridgehead captured north of Kerch. The command of the 18th Army was instructed to firmly hold positions in Eltigen for 4-5 days, accumulate ammunition and prepare for the offensive. General A.M. Baranov, Deputy Army Commander for Logistics, was ordered to remove all the wounded from the bridgehead within 3 days and supply 70 tons of ammunition and 15-20 tons of food to Eltigen daily. But the offensive of the neighboring army led only to a slight expansion of the northern bridgehead. At the same time, the blockade of the southern - Eltigen - bridgehead intensified so much that attempts made on November 9, 10 and 11 to deliver goods to Eltigen by sea were unsuccessful. The position of the landing group became very difficult: there was not enough ammunition, every cartridge was taken care of, while the enemy was shooting through the bridgehead from all types of weapons; there were not enough medicines, warm uniforms; the daily diet consisted of 100-200 grams of crackers, half a can of canned food and a cup of boiling water. But nothing could break the will of the paratroopers. This was acknowledged by the enemy. The report of the 5th Army Corps, for example, said: "The Bolshevik ideology, which is strongly saturated with the entire officer corps, the moral uplift in connection with the successes of the Red Army this year - all this contributes to the fact that the enemy troops are able to work miracles." This recognition of the enemy is not only the highest assessment of the moral and combat qualities of fighters and commanders, but also recognition of the invincibility of a soldier who defended his homeland.

Despite the extremely difficult conditions of the struggle, all the personnel who took part in the landing showed exceptionally high political and moral qualities, courage and military art. The Soviet Supreme High Command closely followed the drama in Kerch. On November 18, 1943, Pravda published a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on awarding the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to officers, sergeants and privates of the Red Army for crossing the Kerch Strait, seizing a bridgehead on the Kerch Peninsula. The high rank was awarded to 58 people, including the division commander, Colonel V.F. Gladkov, the battalion commanders N.A. Belyakov, P.K. Zhukov, A.K. Klinkovsky, the chief of staff of the regiment D.S. G. Deikalo, F. A. Kalinin, A. S. Miroshnik, L. I. Novozhilov, K. F. Stronsky, D. V. Tulinov, P. L. Tsikoridze, A. D. Shumskikh, sergeants and privates S. G Abdullaev, P. G. Butov, N. A. Dubkovsky, V. P. Zakudryaev, I. N. Ilyev, K. I. Ismagulov, N. A. Krivenko, N. D. Kiselev, G. K. Petrova, V. N. Tolstov , V. E. Fursov, M. Yu. Khasanov, V. T. Tsymbal, V. M. Yesebuai and others. There were 11 Heroes of the Soviet Union in the company of Captain A. S. Miroshnik, and 22 in the 1339th Infantry Regiment. In total, in the 318th Infantry Division, 38 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for their exploits during the liberation of Novorossiysk and in the Eltigen region. In the 386th separate battalion of the marines of captain H. A. Belyakov, 12 fighters and commanders were awarded this high rank. The Order of Lenin was awarded to colonels M. V. Kopylov, V. N. Ivakin, lieutenant colonel I. Kh. Ivanyan, captain N. V. Rybakov. Orders and medals were awarded to all fighters and commanders who took part in the battles on the "fiery land". The Military Council of the 18th Army awarded orders and medals to 99 sailors who distinguished themselves in the first days of the landing, as well as a large group of gunners and pilots who contributed to the successful struggle of the paratroopers.

Due to a change in the situation on 11/15/1943, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command disbanded the administration of the North Caucasian Front, and transformed the 56th Army into a Separate Primorsky Army, which included the 20th Rifle Corps as part of the 318th, 89th and 414th Rifle Corps. divisions, 83rd and 255th Marine Rifle Brigades. The 18th Army was withdrawn to the reserve of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. It was planned to remove from the bridgehead the headquarters of the 117th Guards Rifle Division, which had been moved there on November 8. The 335th Guards Rifle Regiment, the 115th Separate Guards Reconnaissance Company, the 129th Separate Guards Engineer Battalion of the 117th Guards Rifle Division were transferred to full subordination to the commander of the 318th Rifle Division.

At 04:15 on November 17, in dense fog, ten boats left Krotkov and safely reached the bridgehead. Having landed 52 people and unloaded 11 tons of cargo, they took on board 62 wounded soldiers and 60 people from the control of the 117th Infantry Division. When returning boat number 10 was blown up by a mine. Among the dead was the division commander, Colonel L.V. Kosonogov, who was awarded the rank of major general that day. Using the dark time, the boats made another trip, delivering 32 people and 6.5 tons of ammunition to the bridgehead. 27 wounded and 82 people from the division's command were evacuated from the bridgehead.

On November 20, the Separate Primorskaya Army with two corps (11th Guards and 16th Rifle) went on the offensive from the bridgehead north of Kerch in order to liberate the entire Kerch Peninsula. But by this time, units of the 50th German Infantry Division, artillery and tank units had been brought up from the central part of Crimea to the Kerch Peninsula. The second line of defense was prepared and occupied by the troops, passing through the entire peninsula from Adzhibay through Marfovka to Uzunlar. Five divisions defending in the Crimea and reinforcements were supported by the 4th Air Fleet. Therefore, despite the fact that the advancing troops of the Separate Primorsky Army fought well, they could not advance. To overcome a powerful defense, it was considered necessary to create a double superiority in manpower and tanks and a triple superiority in artillery, as well as to have air supremacy. Offensive operations on the Kerch Peninsula and on Perekop were planned to begin later and agreed on time. In the current situation on the Kerch Peninsula, further retention of the Eltigen bridgehead became inappropriate.