Pyotr Kirillowitsch Koschewoi

Reception at the Soviet embassy in Berlin - Koschewoi (front left)

Grave of Pyotr Koschewoi in Moscow

Pyotr Kirillovich Koschewoi ( Russian Пётр Кириллович Кошевой ; born December 8 ^{. Jul} / 21st December  1904 ^greg. In Alexandrija , Kherson Gubernia , Russian Empire , now Oleksandrija, Oblast Kirovohrad , Ukraine ; † the thirtieth August 1976 in Moscow ) was a Marshal the Soviet Union .

Life

Early career

In February 1920 he joined the Red Army and took part in the Russian Civil War. Until August 1922 he served as a soldier in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of the 8th Cossack Cavalry Division. He took part in the fighting on the Southwest Front against the White Guards , against Ukrainian nationalists of the Petlura regime and against the Poles. In 1927 he graduated from the cavalry troop school in Kiev . He then served as a platoon leader in the cavalry of the Moscow Military District. In 1931 he attended the military school of the Central Executive Committee in Moscow. From 1932 to 1936 he occupied various other personnel positions in the cavalry of the Moscow military district. In 1939 he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy .

In the German-Soviet War

At the beginning of the Second World War he was Chief of Staff of the 15th Cavalry Division in the Transbaikalia Military District . On February 29, 1940 he was promoted to colonel and took over the 65th Rifle Division in Transbaikal. In November 1941, the 65th Rifle Division was moved to the Volkhov Front and took part in the defense of the German offensive on Tikhvin . On January 10, 1942, he was promoted to major general. From July 1942 he was in command of the 24th Guards Rifle Division at the Volkhov Front and later at the newly built Stalingrad Front. Since August 1943, Koschewoi commanded the 63rd Rifle Corps in the context of the southern front in the liberation of the Donbass . His troops took part in the reconquest of Crimea on the 4th Ukrainian Front in 1944. In April – May 1944 his corps stood out in the association of the 51st Army (General Jakow Kreiser ) in the liberation of the cities of Dzhankoi , Simferopol and in the attack on the Sapun Heights of Sevastopol . For leading his units during the liberation of Crimea, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union , the "Golden Star" medal and the Order of Lenin by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 16, 1944 .

On May 17, 1944 he was promoted to lieutenant general and took command of the 71st Rifle Corps of the 31st Army , which took part in Operation Bagration at the end of June 1944 . As part of the 3rd Belarusian Front, his troops fought for the breakthrough northwest of Orsha and took part in the liberation of Belarus and the Baltic States . In January 1945 he took command of the 36th Guards Rifle Corps of the 11th Guards Army and distinguished himself in the Battle of East Prussia . His troops were involved in the storming of the cities of Insterburg , Königsberg and the port of Pillau (April 25, 1945). For his leadership in the storming of Königsberg (April 9, 1945), the Supreme Soviet awarded him a second hero title and a second “Golden Star” on April 19.

post war period

In 1946 he took over command of the 6th Guard Army in the Baltic Sea military district. In 1948 he completed a higher leadership course at the Military Academy of the General Staff. He later commanded an army in the Far East, another in the Baltic States and on 31 May 1954 he was appointed Colonel-General conveyed. From July 1955 he was first deputy commander of the Soviet armed forces in East Germany . From 1957 to 1960 he was commander of the Siberian military district, then from 1960 to 1965 commander of the Kiev military district. On April 13, 1964 he was promoted to Army General and then became Commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany , in this position he was replaced by Army General Kulikov in October 1969 . On April 15, 1968 he was appointed Marshal of the Soviet Union. From that time until his death he was given the honorary post of "Inspector General of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR." transfer. He died in Moscow in 1976 and was the first marshal to be buried not near the Kremlin wall, but at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Web links

• Biography of Pyotr Kirillowitsch Koschewoi (Russian)
• Кошевой Пётр Кириллович , warheroes.ru (Russian)