Afanassi Pavlantievich Beloborodov

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Afanassi Beloborodow (around 1950)

Afanassi Pawlantjewitsch Beloborodow ( Russian Афанасий Павлантьевич Белобородов ; * January 18 jul. / January 31,  1903 greg. In Akinino-Baklaschi in the Irkutsk governorate ; † September 1, 1990 ) was a Soviet general. He is considered to have conquered the Königsberg Fortress in East Prussia in 1945.

Civil war, military career

The son of a farmer fought from November 1919 to 1920 as a volunteer in a partisan group against the troops of Admiral Kolchak . In 1920 he became a soldier in the Revolutionary Troops in the 8th Regiment, which was stationed in Irkutsk . He passed the exam to attend the infantry school in Irkutsk in 1923. Then he was posted to the infantry school in Nizhny Novgorod . In 1924 he followed Lenin's call to join the CPSU . From 1926 he attended a military policy course in Leningrad . He was then transferred to the 36th Infantry Division in Sabaikalsk , where he was used as a political instructor.

In the summer of 1929 he took part in the fighting against the troops of the White and Chinese allies in the area of ​​the eastern Chinese railway, where he earned his first military award. From 1933 to 1936 he attended the Frunze Military Academy . As part of the Red Banner Far East Army , he was then used in the staff of the 66th Infantry Division. From March 1939 he was transferred to the staff of a rifle corps. From January 1941 to June 1941 he headed the training department in the staff of the Far East military district. In July 1941 he took command of the 78th Rifle Division, which was transferred to the Western Front in October 1941 .

Used in the defense operation off Moscow

On October 27, 1941, the first nine trains of the transport of the 78th Rifle Division reached the city of Istra , which was about 35 miles west of Moscow. Colonel Beloborodow was ordered there that his division was part of the reserve of the Western Front and should take up positions in the woods west and south-west of Istra. The division was subordinated to the 16th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossowski . Beloborodov knew Rokossovsky from their joint service in Siberia . Rokossovsky later wrote about the arrival of the 78th Rifle Division:

“The 78th Rifle Division, under its excellent commander, Colonel Beloborodov, who had come to us from Siberia, was greeted with particular joy. It consisted mainly of Siberians who have always been characterized by particular steadfastness "

- KK Rokossovsky

By October 31, 1941, the division had fully taken up its positions. On November 3, Beloborodov reported that the division had taken positions with 14,000 men, more than 130 guns, 60 grenade launchers, 12 heavy howitzers and 23 light tanks. On the same day the division was placed directly under the 16th Army. Beloborodov was informed that a heavy tank attack was to be expected on the army's left flank. The first contact with the enemy occurred when the battalions of the 258th Regiment under Major Sukhanov crossed the Oserna river and pushed back the units of the SS division Das Reich . In the weeks that followed, the 78th Rifle Division fought against various infantry and tank units. On November 24th, the division had to repel heavy tank attacks, where it was almost trapped on the western bank of the Istra. Intensive enemy tank advances on Leningrader Chaussee, which were supposed to lead the enemy to bypass Moscow to the northwest, had led to this situation. Beloborodow led some units of the division back to the eastern bank of the Istra in an orderly manner. In the meantime three enemy divisions had crossed the Istra north of the division. When they wanted to expand their crossing, Beloborodov managed to repel all attacks on the west and east banks of the Istra. The enemy did not succeed in conquering the city of Istra by November 26th. On that day the division was renamed the 9th Guards Rifle Division on the orders of Stalin , and Beloborodov was promoted to major general.

Again the enemy attacked intensely on a parallel street of the Wolokolamsker Chaussee in an easterly direction, and the possibility of encirclement threatened the division again. The division was able to withdraw to new positions. On December 1, 1941, the division was in a position where the city of Dewosk occupied the middle position. Dedovsk was only 38 km from Moscow. Here there was heavy fighting for every village, and the positions were fought for with varying results. The division was now supplied with bread and ammunition directly from Moscow, and a workshop repaired the division's vehicles. Beloborodov wrote about the situation on December 5:

“On December 5th, the enemy went on defense in the sector of our division to catch their breath. We too were at the end of our tether. "

- AP Beloborodov

But in the next few days Beloborodov was able to strengthen his division with new reserves. With several brigades with tanks and riflemen, a regiment of artillery and a battery of Katyushas , the division was to lead a counterattack on the western front from December 8, 1941 at the head of the shock troops of the 16th Army . Just three days later, the units reached the city of Isra, which was completely destroyed. In heavy fighting, the 9th Guards Rifle Division was able to cross the rivers Istra, Oserna, Rusa and Iskona. On January 23, 1942, the division reached the Moscow River , whereby the preliminary target was achieved.

Advance in 1942 and 1943

In the spring and summer of 1942 the division was integrated into the Southwest Front , where it took part in the fighting in the Donets area . In October 1942 he took over command of the 5th Guards Rifle Corps, which had three divisions , including the 9th Guards Rifle Division , which he had previously commanded. As part of the Kalininer Front he was then involved as commander of the 5th Guards Rifle Corps in the battle of Velikiye Luki (November 24, 1942 to January 1943). In August 1943 he was appointed commander of the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps. With this corps he carried out operations near Duchowschtschina in the Smolensk Oblast and north of Vitebsk in September 1943 , which dragged on until the beginning of 1944.

Army command

In May 1943 he took over command of the 43rd Army from its previous commander Konstantin Dmitrijewitsch Golubew (1896-1956), on February 22, 1944 he was raised in rank to Lieutenant General . On June 22, 1944 the Vitebsk-Orsha operation began with an attack by the 1st Baltic Front with the 4th Shock Army , the 6th Guards Army and the 43rd Army . In connection with the joint action of the 39th Army of the 3rd Belarusian Front , the Soviet armed forces succeeded in completely or partially encircling five German divisions. Beloborodow and his army had made a decisive contribution by crossing the Daugava . For this he was first awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on July 22, 1944 . Beloborodow continued the advance in the direction of the important connection Daugavpils - Schaulen in Lithuania , whereby the German connection to Riga was interrupted. The advance to the Polish border and East Prussia was then continued.

In January 1945, during the capture of Tilsit , the 43rd Army was subordinated to the 3rd Belarusian Front . In the period from the end of January to the beginning of February, East Prussia was already a major part of the German territory that the Red Army conquered. Beloborodov's army was deployed with other Soviet troops on Konigsberg , which was captured on April 9 after heavy fighting. For his successful attack on the fortress in the Battle of Königsberg , he was honored twice with the title Hero of the Soviet Union on April 19 and promoted to Colonel General on May 5, 1945 .

Battle against the Japanese Kwantung Army

In August 1945 he was appointed commander of the 1st Red Banner Army, which was subordinate to the 1st Far Eastern Front . The enemy was the Japanese Kwantung Army . Within ten days, Beloborodov and his army advanced 300 km. The Japanese surrendered on August 18, 1945. When the negotiations on the surrender came, Beloborodov demanded unconditional surrender. The Japanese General Kawagoe replied that the word would not exist in the Japanese language. Beloborodov replied that it was the Soviet army that would enrich the Japanese language with such a word. On August 20, 1945, the commander of the 5th Army, General Shimizu Naritsune, signed the document of surrender. Then Beloborodov reached the city of Harbin , where he set up the Soviet garrison.

New commands

From March 1947 he took command of special forces in the Port Arthur area , which he carried out until 1955. From 1956 to 1957 he was in command of the Voronezh military district . Then he was until 1963 head of the personnel department in the Ministry of Defense. On February 22, 1963 his rank was raised to Army General. From 1963 until his serious traffic accident in October 1966 he was in command of the Moscow military district. From 1968 until his retirement he took on another role in the Ministry of Defense.

When he died in September 1990, he expressed the wish to be buried at kilometer 41 on Wolokolamsker Chaussee. There he and his 78th Rifle Division stopped the German units on their way to Moscow. In his homeland near Irkutsk, a bronze bust of him was placed in the Hall of Fame on the hill of Poklonnaya. The Soviet writer Alexander Alfredowitsch Bek (1903–1972) paid tribute to the commander Beloborodow in the story Die Wolokolamsker Chaussee .

Awards

Fonts

  • Na Istrinskom naprawleni (German: In the direction of Istra), in: Wiz. God 4, 1962, No. 2, pp. 89-103 (As commander of the 9th Guards Rifle Division, the author reports on the fighting to recapture the city of Isra in 1941 west of Moscow.)
  • Wojennije kadri Sowjetskogo gosudartswa w Velikoi Otechestwennoi woini 1941–45 as editor-in-chief (German translation of the title: The military cadres of the Soviet state in the Great Patriotic War 1941–45), Moscow 1963
  • W rajone Witebska , (German: Im Rajon Witebsk), in: Polki idut na sapad, Moscow 1964
  • Ratnij poswig (German: A heroic deed in war), Moscow 1965
  • Sibirjaki w welikoi bitwe sa Moskwu , (German: Siberians in the great battle for Moscow), in: Bitwa sa Moswu, Moscow 1966
  • Skvoz ogon i tajgu , (German: Durch Feuer und Taiga), Moscow 1969
  • Vitebsky 'kotel' , (The Vitebsk Cauldron), Moscow 1970
  • 43-ja armija w Vitebskoi oprazi (German: The 43rd Army in the Vitebsk Operation), in: Wiz. God 16, 1974, No. 7, pp. 50-55
  • Sibirjaka w welikoi bitwe sa Moskwu (German: Siberians in the great battle for Moscow), in: W godi Welikoi Oteschestwoi, Irkutsk 1975, pp. 21–45
  • Wsegda w boju , (German: Always in the fight), Moscow 1978
  • Na sopkach Mantschuri , (German: On the hills of Manchuria), In: Wiz. God 22, 1980, No. 12, pp. 30-35; ibid. God 23, 1981, No. 1, pp. 45-51
  • 9-ja gwardejskaja strelkowaja diwizija w bojach pod Moskwoi (German: The 8th Guards Rifle Division in the fighting near Moscow), in: Pobeda pod Moskwoi, Moscow 1982, pp. 137-144
  • Proryv na Kharbin , (German: Breakthrough after Harbin), Moscow 1982

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Akinino-Baklashi on a map
  2. ^ In Andrew I. Lebed et al. (Eds.), Who is Who in the USSR 1965-66, New York 1966, p. 102, it is stated that he became a member of the CPSU in 1926
  3. ↑ Afanasi Beloborodov, as we position based on the Volokolamsk highway, in: New Germany from December 6, 1986
  4. ^ KK Rokossowski: Soldiers' Duty - Memories of a Commander-in-Chief , Berlin 1971, p. 94
  5. ^ Walter Scott Dunn, Soviet blitzkrieg: the battle for White Russia 1944, Boulder and London 2000, p. 95
  6. ↑ Nyota Thun, War and Literature - Studies on Soviet Prose from 1941 to the Present, Berlin 1977, pp. 158–165. - The author reports that Bek had considerable difficulties with the censorship in describing his own thoughts on the situation of Beleborodov's division off Moscow in December 1941.
  7. ↑ The author reports on his war effort in Vitebsk Raion in 1944
  8. ↑ As the commander of the 9th Guard Rifle Division, the author describes the defensive battles off Moscow in 1941
  9. ↑ The author reports on the deployment of the 78th Rifle Division - renamed the 9th Guards Rifle Division at the beginning of December 1941 - which came from Siberia and was used in the defensive battles in 1941 near Moscow
  10. ↑ Memories of the deployment of the 1st Red Banner Army on the 1st Far Eastern Front
  11. ↑ The author reports on the encirclement of several German divisions in a pocket in the Vitebsk region as commander of the 43rd Army in 1944
  12. ↑ The author reports from 1944 as commander of the 43rd Army in the Vitebsk Operation
  13. ^ The 9th Guards Rifle Division as Siberians in the great battle for Moscow in 1941/1942
  14. ↑ Memories of the battles of the 9th Guards Rifle Division, the 5th Guards Rifle Corps, the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps and the 43rd Army in the years from 1941 to 1945
  15. ↑ Memories of August 1945 when the 1st Red Banner Army deployed the 1st Far Eastern Front in Manchuria
  16. ↑ The author reports on memories from the war effort as commander of the 1st Red Banner Army on the 1st Far Eastern Front fighting Japanese forces in 1945
personal data
SURNAME Beloborodow, Afanassi Pavlantjewitsch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Белобородов, Афанасий Павлантьевич (Russian spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION soviet general
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Akinino-Baklaschi near Irkutsk
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1990