Leonid Alexandrovich Govorov

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Leonid Alexandrovich Govorov

Leonid Govorov ( Russian Леонид Александрович Говоров ; born February 10, jul. / 22. February  1897 greg. In Butyrki , Vyatka Governorate ; † 19th March 1955 in Moscow ) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944) and Hero of the Soviet Union (27 January 1945).

Life

He was born as the son of Alexander Goworow (1869-1920) and Maria Alexandrowna Panfilowa (1867-1919) in the Governorate of Vyatka, northern Russian lowlands . His father, a seaman, left home to look for work. Leonid and his three younger brothers went to high school in Yelabuga . In 1916 Leonid attended the vocational school and the Polytechnic Institute in Saint Petersburg and strove for a job in shipbuilding. In December 1916 he was mobilized for the Russian army and sent to study at the Konstantinovsky Artillery School, whereupon he was promoted to ensign in June 1917 and trained as a battery officer for the garrison in Tomsk . In March 1918 he was demobilized from the army and returned to his parents in Yelabuga.

Early military career

Goworow with his wife 1923

At the beginning of the Russian Civil War , he briefly served in the army of Alexander Kolchak in 1918 before he succeeded in defection to the Red Army . Under Blücher he fought in the Crimea and in the Union of the Red 6th Army (General AI Kork ) against the army under General Wrangel . In August 1920 he was wounded in defensive battles near Kachowka, in September he received a gunshot wound on the arm at the Battle of Antonowka and was then awarded the Order of the Red Banner .

After the civil war, he attended the Frunze Military Academy and in 1936 founded the Military Academy of the General Staff . At the same time he was appointed commander of the artillery in the Kiev military district .

During the Finnish-Soviet winter war , Goworow was assigned as artillery commander of the 7th Army . In this position he was awarded the Order of the Red Star for the artillery preparation for the breakthrough through the Mannerheim Line and was appointed major general of the artillery on June 4, 1940 .

In the German-Soviet War

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union , Goworow was initially artillery commander of the Western Front . On July 30, 1941 he organized the artillery defense system in preparation for the counter-offensive near Jelnja . From October 5th to 9th, he built the defense system on the Moshaisk defensive line. On October 15, at the request of General Zhukov, he took command of the 5th Army and proved himself in the Battle of Moscow . On November 9, 1941, he was promoted to lieutenant general of the artillery and from December 6, he proved himself in the Klin - Solnnogorsk counter-offensive.

In June 1942 Govorov took command of the Leningrad Front . In January 1943, in cooperation with the Volkhov Front , during the Second Ladoga Battle (Operation Iskra), land connections to the city of Leningrad were restored. For this he was promoted to colonel general on January 15, 1943 . On November 17, 1943, he was promoted to army general. During the Leningrad-Novgorod operation in January and February 1944, the Leningrad blockade was finally broken. On April 24, 1944, the independent 3rd Baltic Front under Army General Maslennikov was formed from the south wing of his Leningrad Front . In mid-June 1944, Govorow carried out the successful Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation and was appointed Marshal of the Soviet Union on June 18, 1944 . After Finland left, his armies advanced through Narva on the Baltic coast to Dorpat . At the beginning of October he coordinated the attacks of the 3rd Baltic Front on Riga and was able to liberate all of Estonia from German occupation by November 1944 . After the reconquest of Riga, the 3rd Baltic Front was disbanded on October 16, 1944, and the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts began to blockade the cut off German troops in Courland . By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Govorov was honored on January 27, 1945 with the title Hero of the Soviet Union , the Order of Lenin and the medal “Golden Star” were also awarded to him. At the beginning of February 1945 he also took over command of the 2nd Baltic Front , whose command was dissolved on April 1 and whose troops then became part of the Leningrad Front. At the end of the war he led the attack on the German Army Group Courland in Latvia , which on May 8th was forced to accept and surrender the terms of the Soviet ultimatum. By decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 31, 1945 Goworow was awarded the Order of Victory for the successful conclusion of the fighting in the Baltic States .

post war period

After the war, Govorov acted as the commander of the Leningrad military district and inspector general of the land forces . In 1948 he was appointed inspector general of air defense. In 1952 he was promoted to deputy minister of defense and was still in command of air defense in 1954/55 . Goworow suffered a first stroke in the summer of 1954 ; he succumbed to chronic heart disease in 1955. His urn was buried on the Kremlin wall in Moscow.

Goworow's son Vladimir Leonidowitsch Goworow (1924-2006) became Colonel General of the Soviet Union and was married to Ludmilla, the daughter of Marshal Nedelin (1902-1960).

Orders and awards

Web links

Commons : Leonid Goworow  - collection of images
personal data
SURNAME Goworow, Leonid Alexandrovich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Говоров, Леонид Александрович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Marshal of the Soviet Union
DATE OF BIRTH February 22, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Butyrki
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1955
Place of death Moscow