Sergei Semjonowitsch Biryusov

Sergei Biryusov

Sergey Biryuzov ( Russian Сергей Семёнович Бирюзов ; born August 8 ^jul. / 21st August  1904 ^greg. In Skopin , Ryazan Governorate, Russian Empire , now Ryazan , Russia ; † 19th October 1964 near Belgrade ) was a Soviet military, including Marshal of the Soviet Union (1955), Commander in Chief of Air Defense (from 1955), Commander in Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces (from April 24, 1962) and First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and Chief of the General Staff (from March 1963).

Life

Education and pre-war career

After graduating from school in 1917, he joined the Red Army in 1922 and graduated from military school in 1926. Immediately thereafter he began his army career, first as platoon leader , then as company commander (1929) and as chief of staff of a training battalion (1930). In 1932 he was promoted to battalion commander, in 1937 he graduated from the military academy . After holding positions as chief of staff in a rifle division (October 1937) and as a department head in the staff of the Kharkov military district (April 1938), he was appointed commander of the 132nd rifle division in August 1939 . In June 1940 he received the rank of major general.

Second World War

At the beginning of the war in 1941 , Biryusov commanded the 132nd rifle division in the area of ​​the Kiev military district. On June 22, 1941, the division was stationed between Mirgorod and Krasnograd and was transferred to the western front via Tshausy and Poltava stations . From July 13, 1941, she fought together with the 137th Rifle Division on the Sosch River against Guderian's Panzer Group and suffered considerable losses when retreating to Gomel . At the beginning of August, Biryusov and his troops in the formation of the 45th Rifle Corps carried out unsuccessful counter-attacks in the Roslavl area and were subordinate to the newly formed 13th Army , which was pushed back to Trubchevsk . At the end of September 1941, the again circled division tried to break out to the southeast on Sevsk . The remnants of the division then took part in the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops in the Jeletz area in early December 1941 .

In April 1942 Biryusov became Chief of Staff of the 48th Army and in November 1942 Chief of Staff of the 2nd Guard Army with which he took part in the Battle of Stalingrad . In July 1943 he became Chief of Staff of the Southern Front , later renamed the 4th Ukrainian Front , and was promoted to Lieutenant General in August 1943. From May 1944 he was promoted to Colonel General Chief of Staff of the 3rd Ukrainian Front . After participating in Operation Jassy-Kishinew , he was given command of the 37th Army in October 1944, which remained in Bulgaria as a Soviet occupying power.

post war period

Byrusov's portrait on a Soviet postage stamp

From June Biryusov was deputy commander in chief of the southern group of the armed forces and commander of the 10th mechanized army, and since January 1945 he was commander of the Soviet occupation forces and deputy chairman of the allied control group in Bulgaria . In June 1947 he served as Commander in Chief of the Primorye Military District and from May 1953 as Commander in Chief of the Central Group of the Armed Forces.

From June 1954 he was first Deputy Commander in Chief of Air Defense, in April 1955 he himself became Commander in Chief of Air Defense and Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. His military career was honored on March 11, 1955 with the appointment of Marshal of the Soviet Union .

On April 24, 1962, Biryusov was appointed Commander in Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, in March 1963 he succeeded Marshal Sakharov as Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of Defense. On October 19, 1964, he was killed in a plane crash on Mount Avala near Belgrade .

Party career

A member of the CPSU since 1926 , Biryusov was elected as a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1946 and 1954 . In 1951 he was also sent as a member of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet . In 1961 he was elected a full member of the Central Committee of the CPSU .

Awards

After Bryusov's death, his urn was buried on the Kremlin wall in Moscow. In the course of his service, Birjusow received numerous medals and awards, including a. as Hero of the Soviet Union and Order of the People's Hero of Yugoslavia , five Orders of Lenin , 3 Orders of Red Banner , Order of Suvorov 1st and 2nd Class, Order of Kutuzov 1st Class, Bogdan Khmelnitsky Order of 1st Class and other Soviet and foreign decorations .

literature

• Sowjetskaja Wojennaja Enziklopedija (Soviet Military Encyclopedia), Volume 1, Moscow 1976, p. 477 f.

Web links

Commons : Sergei Semjonowitsch Biryusow  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Biography on www.peterhall.de
• Бирюзов Сергей Семёнович , warheroes.ru (Russian)