Ivan Tikhonovich Grishin

Iwan Tichonowitsch Grischin ( Russian Иван Тихонович Гришин ; * December 3 ^July / December 16,  1901 ^{greg. In} the place Vnukowitschi, Roslavl district in Smolensk Oblast ; † June 20, 1951 in Moscow ) was a Soviet colonel- general and was in World War II as Hero of the Soviet Union awarded.

Life

Grishin was in 1901 in the village of Wnukowitschi in the Oblast Smolensk born and came from a farming family. He attended fourth grade at a country school and then worked in the parents' household.

Early career

During the Russian Civil War he joined the Red Army in July 1920 and served in the 16th Rifle Regiment in Dorogobusch . After the crash course in the cadet institute in Kaluga , he fought the peasant uprising under Alexander Antonov in the Tambov district, which was suppressed by the summer of 1921. In April 1922 he ordered a platoon in the 163rd Rifle Regiment, then he served in the 12th and 18th battalions of the OGPU's border troops . In April 1924 he led a machine gun division in the 81st Rifle Regiment of the 27th Rifle Division deployed there in the Omsk area . In 1925 he came to the infantry school at his own request, obtained his diploma in 1926 and took several courses at the military academy in Moscow until 1928. Since 1927 he was a member of the CPSU . After graduating from high school , in April 1928 he became the commandant of the Donetsk 132nd Rifle Regiment. For five years he served in Zhitomir with the 44th Rifle Division in various positions and in February 1933 was appointed deputy chief of staff of the division. Returning to Moscow in April 1933, he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy , which he graduated with honors in 1936. From October 1936 he served as chief of staff in the Central Office of the People's Commissariat for Defense in Moscow. In September 1937 he became chief of staff of the 17th Rifle Division and from December 1938 commander of the 2nd Rifle Division. On October 25, 1940, he became the commander of the 137th Rifle Division in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod ) and in August 1940 took part in the containment of a demonstration in the Moscow military district. Colonel Grischin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for this mission .

In the German-Soviet War

During the German invasion (June 1941), Grischin's division was alerted to the Gorky summer camp and transferred to Orsha on the western front. Grishin's division fought in the battle of Smolensk with the 13th Army . In the Schkloff area his troops prevented the German crossing on the Dnieper for seven days and then returned to Krichevsk via the Sosh . From August 2 to 6, 1941, he was also the commander of the 4th Airborne Corps; his division successfully fought Guderian's tank units for two weeks near Trubchevsk in September . In October 1941 the 137th Rifle Division was included in the 3rd Army in the Bryansk area . In the defense of Tula , the German advance was stopped in mid-November. During the Jelez operation in mid-December 1941, his troops advanced 150 kilometers to the west and liberated 140 settlements from the German occupation. During this time, Grischin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner three times for his commitment - a unique case in the first year of the war.

On May 3, 1942, Grishin was promoted to major general and chief of staff in Ivan Boldin's 50th Army . In April 1943 he moved in the same position to the 11th Guard Army , which was preparing an offensive in the direction of Bolchow . From June 1943 until the end of the war in May 1945 he was finally commander of the 49th Army . In August – September 1943, his troops took part in the Smolensk- Roslavl Offensive on the Western Front , liberated the cities of Spas-Demensk , Roslavl, Chislavichi and Mstislavl and crossed the Desna River . For active participation in the liberation of Roslavl he was awarded the Suworoworden 1st class to received the rank of lieutenant general on September 9, 1943 . After his home village was liberated, it was found that his entire family had fallen victim to the German reprisals. The troops of the 49th Army came into the command area of ​​the 2nd Belarusian Front (Army General Sakharov) from April 1944 and distinguished themselves in Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944 . The troops Grischins crossed successively the rivers Pronya River and Dnieper, liberated Mogilev on June 28 and pushed further over the Drut the Berezina before where the 49th Army and on the narrowing of the boiler in Cherven involved. The army remained until July 9th to fight down scattered enemy formations in the Minsk area , more than 35,000 soldiers and officers as well as 12 generals were captured. For participating in this operation, Grishin was awarded the Kutuzov 1st class. In the Battle of East Prussia that broke out on January 12, 1945 , he led the 49th Army under the command of Rokossowski from the Narew bridgehead of the Lomscha through the Masuria to West Prussia . His troops took part in the East Pomeranian Offensive part and on 10 March 1945 he was appointed Colonel-General conveyed. Until March 30, 1945 his troops were involved in the capture of the port of Danzig . By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on April 10, 1945, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Medal of the Golden Star. In April the 49th Army took part in the Berlin operation and, after crossing the Oder north of Schwedt , reached the Elbe at Lenzen and Ludwigslust at the beginning of May , where communication with the British troops was established.

post war period

After the war, Colonel General Grischin was appointed commander of the 6th Guard Army in July 1945 . In July 1946 he was appointed head of combat training for the land forces, followed in February 1950 as the head of the physical training of the ground forces. He died at the age of 50 in June 1951 and was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Web links

• Biography on www.warheroes.ru (Russian)