I decided to start a new topic. This theme will be devoted to the heroism of individual soldiers and groups as well. I wrote about some of the feats in theme "Heroes of the Soviet Union." But the fact is, reading the various military records and memories, I met the description, where a soldiers did not receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Although, in my opinion, these people were Heroes too. But I need to make two clarifications before. At first, sometimes these feats do not confirmed by official documents. In any case, I will point out where I got this information. Secondly, as I understand it, there is a difference in the concept of "Heroism" - the different cultures and nations. I mean the following. In the Wehrmacht was considered: a Hero - who shot down a lot of tanks and shot down many planes, killed a lot of enemies. But, in my opinion, this is more like skill, ability, experience and talent to be a good fight. In my country, historical culture (and perhaps propaganda) believes that the feat is the willingness to give his life (to die) for any purpose (aims). And in this case the result is secondary. That is, it is likely "self-sacrifice." Therefore, not all the soldiers, whom I consider heroes, did a lot. And this is the first characteristic case. Source: a book of British historian Robert Kershaw "In 1941 through the eyes of the Germans." One of the episodes in this book - memoirs of German gunner of artillery anti-tank gun: 1941. The invasion of Russia began. "We met with Russian light tank T-26. It was easy to knock out him out of the 37-mm guns. When the smoke cleared, we began to approach to the tank. At this time, the tower hatch started to open. Russian soldier began to come out of it. He could be seen just before the half body. We thought, "He decided to surrender." But he started shooting at us from the pistol. We killed him. Then it turned out that when the tank was hit, his both legs were cut off. But despite this, he did not give up and fired at us from the pistol. " I do not know why, but this short story made a big impression on me. He had no hope. He had no witnesses to his heroism. But he did so. So, from my point of view, this unknown Russian soldier was a Hero. Nevertheless, I'll be glad if someone knows about other cases of self-sacrifice, bravery and heroism (including the enemy). For example, I have seen mention of a mysterious scout (presumably Finn), who single-handedly managed to destroy a whole company of Russian infantrymen with a knife. (This was in 1942, the Volkhov Front). In turn, I will continue to give examples of soldiers' heroism.
One man comes to mind but I have to check for his name. He was a Belgian who depsite being deadly wounded managed to crawl to a detonator and blow up a bridge on the Meuse River. I also have a thought for a U.S. airman who was shot down near my hometown in August 1944. He could have surrendered to the Germans but chose to fight with the Maquis. When his group was surounded in a convoy, he jumped off the last truck with three Frenchmen and with a captured MG42 they stopped the Germans long enough so others could evade .His group was eventually massacred. (details in Lorris Maquis thread) Another thought goes to this German in Britanny who jumped in the sea on july 28th 1944 and saved three French female civilians when their ferry was sank by Mosquittoes. (details in Festung Quiberon thread)
The next case was described in several sources. In short the situation was as follows: 23 - 24 June 1941. Zone of advance of Army Group "North". On the road, which connected the vanguard and rear of the 6th Panzer Division Wehrmacht was a Russian tank KV. There was a crew of 4 Red Army men. Only the enemies were around them. The tank was standing in the road for two days, on June heat. Two days the crew sat in this iron box, firing on all targets that they could see. They understood that they would die. At night, they did not tried to escape. They was tried to shoot out from tanks, antitank weapons and from 88mm anti-aircraft gun. Engineers tried to blow them up. As a result, they died, but were able to destroy many German soldiers and equipment. Source (here you can read in detail): Erich Raus: Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941-1945. David Glantz: The Initial Period of War on the Eastern Front, 22 June - August 1941. And this site is dedicated to the KV tanks. There are several hundred military photos of different modifications of this tank. http://kv1ehkranami.narod.ru/index.html
This summer my family and I traveled to the north of France. We visited Brittany and, of course, Normandy. In the St. Mere Eglise town, I saw a dummy paratrooper, hanging on the spire of the church. And then I saw the movie "The Longest Day." Thus I have learned about the problems that arose during the landing of the 101st Airborne Division in D-day. I have to say that similar problems occurred in the military paratroopers of the Red Army during the operation to seize a bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper River in 1943. It was the largest operation of airborne troops of the Red Army during World War II. In order to capture the enemy fortifications on the coast and supporting cross of the main forces, the General Staff decided to make a landing in an amount of 10 thousand people. This operation involved some 200 transport aircraft and 150 aircraft of cover. The landing began on 24 September 1943. It started very badly. In my opinion the main reason - it is poorly trained pilots. In addition, there was poor communication (this weakness of the Red Army is present in all battles). Landing place was not very accurate. Part of the paratroopers landed in the position of our troops (they were lucky). Another part of the landed directly on enemy positions and killed in battle at once. Part of the paratroopers landed in the river and they drowned. (The water was already cold, the width of the river at the site of the landing - about 1 kilometer. Swimming facilities at the troopers were not). Most of the paratroopers were scattered over an area of 60 kilometers. Gradually some of them managed to gather in groups. According to historians, a day after the landing about 2,500 paratroopers continued to fight behind enemy lines. Assessing losses in landing, the General Staff has decided not to continue with the transaction. The paratroopers, who were still alive, continued to fight behind enemy lines until November 13. On this day the crossing of the Dnieper began. There were still alive a few hundred people. And the fate of many of them have remained unknown. By the way, maybe you know about the Russian war film "Ballad of a Soldier." This film was made in 1959, and it even received an Oscar. So, director of the movie - Grigori Chukhrai - participated in this battle (he was a paratrooper) and he managed to survive. You can read about this operation in English here: Lower Dnieper Offensive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Perhaps the most famous story about wrong award is the story about the lieutenant Kolobanov. In August 1941, he was commander of a company of heavy panzers KV - 1. He had 5 panzers and combat mission - to block three roads, leading to Leningrad. He did right everything: choose a good position, disguised well, missed a reconnaissance, allowed the tank column approached nearer, knocked out leading panzers, then - the closing. After that he shot the rest of the column. Its result - 22 panzers were destroyed in one battle. This was a record of the Red Army`s tankers. Other 4 panzers of his company destroyed another 21 German panzers. For this feat Lieutenant Kolobanov was to receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union. But somebody crossed this award in his award - paper by red pencil. And instead of somebody written another award - the Order of the Red Banner. There may be many reasons. Perhaps the High Command did not believe in just such a result. Another reason: Kolobanov participated in the Finnish war. During the announcement of the ceasefire his soldiers fraternizing with the Finnish soldiers. Kolobanov was severely punished for this. Perhaps his conviction prevented him to did not become a Hero of the Soviet Union. Still wondering what Erhard Raus (German general) in his memoirs, describes this day modestly. He makes no mention of casualties, but simply writes: "August 19, we have moved very little and the next day we began the defense." However, Russian historians have compared the data on the number of tanks in the 8th Panzer Division of Wehrmacht in August - September 1941, and they found that the number of irrecoverable losses of tanks confirmed. These losses are shown in the report not a single day. They were shown as losses of a few days. Apparently the Germans were too afraid to show his command of such great loss. Here you can see description of his feat: Zinoviy Kolobanov - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in English http://tankfront.ru/snipers/ussr/kolobanov_zg.html#2 - in Russian (in detail) Scan of his award - paper here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Zinoviy_Kolobanov_award_nomination.jpeg
I would like to organize the information about all types of military awards in the Red Army. In order of importance and significance, they are divided into three groups: - medals (they have basically been awarded the soldiers and sailors), - orders (for rewarding officers), - the highest degree of excellence - the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (it could get soldiers and officers). But such a system was not formed immediately. The fact that the Bolsheviks, after coming to power in 1917, abolished all the awards that existed before. And they did not plan to have them in the future. However, a year after the outbreak of civil war (September 1918), the Bolsheviks put into circulation "The Order of the Red Banner". For a long time it was the only one kind of military awards in the Red Army. And since the civil war continued and people performed feats, they were awarded this order several times. For example, Vasily Blucher received this award four times. The second military award was established only in 1930. This was "The Order of the Red Star". In 1938, Jubilee Medal was appeared - "20 Years of the Red Army." In addition, in late 1938, had been established another two types of medals: " For Service in Battle " and "For Courage". Thus, at the beginning of WWII in the Red Army was only six types of awards: - The anniversary medal "20 Years of the Red Army" - The medal "For Service in Battle" - The medal "For Courage" - "Order of the Red Star" - "Order of the Red Banner" - Hero of the Soviet Union (it was founded in 1934). During this period (before the WWII), medal "For Courage" were most prized among men, as it was given for the specific manifestations of bravery in battle, not simply for taking part in hostilities. Now, about new orders and medals, which have appeared during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). First, about the orders. The most interesting was "The Order of the Patriotic War." It was established May 20, 1942. It had two degrees. It was intended for soldiers and officers. This is the only order that could stay with relatives of the award, after his death. (Until 1977, all other orders should have been to pass the state in case of death of award). And most importantly, the order was awarded for specific quantitative and qualitative indicators of the fighting. For example, who personally shot down three aircraft, destroyed two heavy tanks and so on. In July 1942, were established another three orders: - "Order of Suvorov" (had three degrees) - "Order of Kutuzov" (had three degrees) - "Order of Alexander Nevsky" (one degree). These were the so-called "orders for the commanders." They were awarded all the commanders (from platoon to Army) in the case of skillful organization of the fight. In October 1943, came "The Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky" (it had three degrees). At that time passed the liberation of Ukraine from the Germans. Most of the order awarded was from Ukrainian Fronts, as well as guerrillas who fought in the Ukraine. In November 1943, (when it became clear that the Red Army won the war) for senior officers was established "Order of Victory." It was a very expensive decoration (rubies, diamonds, platinum, gold, silver). Altogether, they were awarded 17 men (Zhukov, Stalin, Konev, Rokossovsky and other marshals, as well as Eisenhower and Montgomery). At the same time was established by another kind of order. It had three degrees and was intended only for the soldiers and sergeants. This "Order of Glory." In appearance and purpose, it was repeated to the soldier order of the before-Bolshevik era - George Cross. Finally, for the Navy, in March 1944, were established "The Order of Ushakov" (two degrees) and "The Order of Nakhimov" (two degrees). These were special awards for naval officers. For the sailors were established "Medal of Ushakov" and "Medal of Nakhimov". Other medals of the Great Patriotic War. As a rule, their production and their awards were the result of some events of the war. In 1942, there were a medal "For Defense of Leningrad", "For Defense of Odessa", "For Defense of Sevastopol", "For Defense of Stalingrad." In 1943 there was a medal, "Partisan of the Patriotic War" (there were two degrees). In 1944: "For Defense of the Caucasus", "For Defense of Moscow", "For Defense of Soviet Arctic" In 1945: "For the capture of Berlin," "For the capture of Vienna," "For the capture of Budapest", "For the capture of Königsberg", "For the liberation of Belgrade", "For the liberation of Warsaw", "For the liberation of Prague "," For Victory over Germany " . In the postwar years was added only one combat medal "For Defense of Kiev." It established in 1961. The remaining post-war medals were simply commemorative and jubilee.
Wasn't one of the first recipients of the Hero of the Soviet Union an LaGG-3 pilot around Leningrad who took on a bomber escort single handedly, saved his wingman, ran out of ammunition and then rammed the bomber, awarded posthumously? An investigator was sent to assess the recommendation and although many details were difficult to corroberate, he was later awarded (1-2 yrs later) on the basis that every single member of the squadron repeatedly testified as to his bravery and the fact he saved members of the flight and then turned his attention to protecting civilians from the bombers, without any regard for his own life. So it was the first awarded, but not the first actually received, or something like that, I'm going on a long memory here, can anyone confirm/correct me here?
There were lots of heroes on any side and their stories weren´t seen in the books! There were so many Russians killed in senseless actions like the ones they had to took of the rifles from their killed comrades because they haven´t one ones. Some may say that they were idiots going to war without equipment, but they had no choice. Grandpa has seen them falling by mass and was sad to see why they had to do this. The reason why, i think we all know it. I call them heroes as i calling every single soldier a hero, no matter which nationality he was, who was risking his live to help out his comrades or even enemy soldiers to give them first aid or try to give reinforcement or such things! Not only the great actions are making a hero, tohelp others to make their daily job in a war and giving others psychological support is a act of heroism too! Only a opinion. Good Thread!
