Congratulations to the veteran of the Second World War Evgeny Smyshlyaev on the day of the heroes of the fatherland. Day of Heroes of the Fatherland (Day of St. George Knights) Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory Evgeny Smyshlyaev

Today at the Danilovsky cemetery, the funeral of a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, member of the Committee of Veterans of War and Military Service of the Sloboda Council of Veterans Evgeny Vasilyevich Smyshlyaev. Full cavalier the Order of Glory is equated with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Therefore, E.V. Smyshlyaev was solemnly buried with military honors. The coffin was covered with the state flag of the Russian Federation, the servicemen carried it in their arms to the place of burial, the cadets of the military-patriotic club "Etap" held state awards of the veteran on scarlet pads. The body was interred to the sound of the national anthem performed by a military band and volleys of the guard of honor.

E.A. Rychkov, deputy head of the city administration - manager of affairs, noted at the farewell ceremony that we were seeing the hero off on his last journey not only with a sense of bitterness, but also with words of gratitude. "We are grateful and indebted to the generation of victors for our freedom and the peaceful sky above our heads, for the country raised after the war, for the legacy left to us by veterans. E.V. Smyshlyaev at all stages of his life path was a worthy son and soldier of the Fatherland. We will be proud and remember that such a person lived in our city. His departure is a great loss, not only for his relatives, but for the whole of Slobodsky," said E.A. Rychkov.

Words of condolence were also expressed by N.A. Chernykh - Chairman of the Council of Veterans, Deputy of the City Duma, N.V. Likhacheva - Head of the Center patriotic education them. G.P. Bulatov.

E.V. Smyshlyaev passed away at the age of 91. He was born on December 20, 1926. After military service, he worked in the Republic of Mari El, and from 1961 to 1986 - at the Karinsky peat enterprise in the Kirovo-Chepetsky district, where he proved to be an excellent production worker and social activist. His labor merits are marked by government awards. From 1995 to 2005 he lived in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk and did a lot of work on the patriotic education of young people.

He moved to the city of Slobodskoy in 2006 and immediately joined the work of the Sloboda Council of Veterans, the Committee of Veterans of War and Military Service. All the years, Evgeny Vasilievich actively participated in conferences and round tables on the patriotic education of youth. He willingly met with the guys, modestly talking about his service in the army during the war, about those episodes for which he was awarded the Order of Glory. E.V. Smyshlyaev was a member of the Golden Age communication club, which works at the Center for Patriotic Education. Grigory Bulatov.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, his autobiographical book "And memory haunts me ..." was published. She is transferred to everything educational establishments city and district, to the regional library. Yevgeny Vasilievich willingly gave parting words to young people going into the army on the Day of the conscript, spoke at the solemn events of the city and the region. E.V. Smyshlyaev is a participant in the All-Russian project "Our Common Victory", where he talked with volunteers, and today on the website www.41-45. ru. you can see and hear his simple story about how he fought. He was awarded the Order of Glory I, II, III degree, the medal "For Courage", for the labor feat - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the medal "Veteran of Labour", many Certificates of Honor and Thanks, the badge of honor "80 years of the Kirov Region".

Until the end of his days E.V. Smyshlyaev remained a soldier of the Fatherland, a kind, modest and decent person. His portrait is on the Walk of Fame near the Eternal Flame. Under it, to this day, there was only the date of birth of the hero ...

The bright memory of him will live in our hearts.

Today, at the Danilovsky cemetery, a funeral was held for a participant in the Great Patriotic War, a full holder of the Order of Glory, a member of the committee of war veterans and military service of the Sloboda Council of Veterans, Yevgeny Vasilyevich Smyshlyaev. A full cavalier of the Order of Glory is equated with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Therefore, E.V. Smyshlyaev was solemnly buried with military honors. The coffin was covered with the state flag of the Russian Federation, the servicemen carried it in their arms to the place of burial, the cadets of the military-patriotic club "Etap" held state awards of the veteran on scarlet pads. The body was interred to the sound of the national anthem performed by a military band and volleys of the guard of honor.

E.A. Rychkov, deputy head of the city administration - manager of affairs, noted at the farewell ceremony that we were seeing the hero off on his last journey not only with a sense of bitterness, but also with words of gratitude. "We are grateful and indebted to the generation of victors for our freedom and the peaceful sky above our heads, for the country raised after the war, for the legacy left to us by veterans. E.V. Smyshlyaev at all stages of his life was a worthy son and soldier of the Fatherland. We will be proud and remember that such a person lived in our city. His departure is a great loss, not only for relatives, but for the whole of Slobodsky, "said E.A. Rychkov.

Words of condolence were also expressed by N.A. Chernykh - Chairman of the Council of Veterans, Deputy of the City Duma, N.V. Likhacheva - head of the Center for Patriotic Education. G.P. Bulatov.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, his autobiographical book "And memory haunts me ..." was published. It was transferred to all educational institutions of the city and the region, to the regional library. Yevgeny Vasilievich willingly gave parting words to young people going into the army on the Day of the conscript, spoke at the solemn events of the city and the region. E.V. Smyshlyaev is a participant in the All-Russian project "Our Common Victory", where he talked with volunteers, and today on the website www.41-45. ru. you can see and hear his simple story about how he fought. He was awarded the Order of Glory I, II, III degree, the medal "For Courage", for the labor feat - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the medal "Veteran of Labour", many Certificates of Honor and Thanks, the badge of honor "80 years of the Kirov Region".

The bright memory of him will live in our hearts.

At the age of 17-19, they have already been awarded the Order of Glory of all three degrees.

Order of Glory - Soviet St. George's Cross. Even one such “asterisk” on the chest made its owner a real hero in the eyes of others, and even if three Glory flaunted in a row, this was evidence of the exceptional personal prowess of a warrior. Throughout history, only less than three thousand of our soldiers have managed to earn a full set of these awards. And among them are several yesterday's boys, those who became a full gentleman, not having even celebrated their own twenty years. There are only 47 such young heroes. The history of these people and their exploits was taken up by a Moscow enthusiastic researcher, a former employee of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, Yuri Galkin. Today's publication of "MK" was prepared on the basis of materials that he collected for a future book.

Ivan Kuznetsov. Photo from the personal archive of Yuri Galkin

The Chairman himself is considered the initiator of the appearance of the Order of Glory State Committee Defense I.V. Stalin. For the first time, a proposal to establish such a "soldier's" award was made on June 20, 1943 at a meeting of the People's Commissariat of Defense during a discussion of the project of another new order - Victory.

According to the original plan, the future Glory was to have 4 degrees. That is, as much as he had in Russian Empire the soldier's insignia of the military order is the famous St. George's Cross. Yes, and the orange-black stripes on the sash exactly corresponded to the former "royal" award. "Soviet George" was initially supposed to be called the Order of Bagration, but the leader of the peoples had a different opinion on this matter. Stalin ordered to call the award the Order of Glory, citing the fact that "there is no Victory without Glory." Iosif Vissarionovich approved the colors of the ribbon, but ordered to reduce the number of degrees to three, by analogy with several higher military orders that already existed in the USSR by that time.

9 artists were involved in work on sketches of the Order of Glory. Of the 26 draft drawings of this insignia prepared by them, 4 were selected. They were shown to Stalin, who ultimately chose the drawing by the artist N.I. Moskalev, having made, however, a few “technical” remarks. On October 11, 1943, the revised sketch of the order was submitted for approval to the "higher authorities" and on October 23, 1943 it was finally approved.

A few days later, on November 8, 1943, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was issued on the establishment of two new orders at once: the "soldier's" Order of Glory and the "Marshal's" Order of Victory.

The Order of Glory, according to its statute, was practically a “double” of its pre-revolutionary predecessor, George Cross. Glory was awarded to privates and sergeants, and in aviation also to persons with a rank no higher than junior lieutenant. The newly established "soldier" award was awarded only for personal feat accomplished on the battlefield, military units and formations were not awarded with it. The Order of Glory of the highest, first degree is gold, and the signs of the second and third degrees are made of silver (but the central medallion of the order of the second degree is gilded). "Asterisks" were to be issued to those awarded them in ascending order - from lowest degree to the highest.

The right to award the Order of Glory of the third degree was presented to the commanders of formations from the brigade commander and above, the Order of Glory of the second degree - from the commander of the army (flotilla) and above, only the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR could award the Order of Glory of the first degree. (From February 26, 1947, the right to award the Order of Glory of any degree passed exclusively to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.)

In the turmoil of battles, army offices sometimes made confusion, and as a result, there were, for example, cases when a soldier who had already received a "soldier's" order once and again performed a feat was awarded for him, instead of the second degree prescribed by the Order of Glory, another "asterisk" of the third degree. Already after the end of the war, work was carried out to bring the cases of repeated awarding of signs of the order of one degree into line with the statute and re-awarding was done (replacing one sign with another, the next degree).

According to information available for 1978, about a million signs of the Order of Glory of the third degree, more than 46 thousand signs of the second degree and 2562 of the first degree were issued for distinction in the battles of the Great Patriotic War and exploits in other military conflicts. However, according to updated data, today there are 2,772 full holders of the Order of Glory, and among them there are four women.

In the history of the Great Patriotic War, the only case is known when, in one battle, the entire personnel of the unit - privates, sergeants, foremen (a total of 350 people) - was awarded the Order of Glory. We are talking about the 1st Rifle Battalion of the 215th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 77th guards division, who distinguished himself during the famous Vistula-Oder operation - in the battle on January 14, 1945 across the Vistula River at the Pulawski bridgehead. This battalion was in the first echelon of the regiment, and its fighters went to break through the heavily fortified enemy defenses. They succeeded in rapidly capturing three enemy trenches in succession and expanding the attack front, where the rest of the units of the 215th regiment and other units of the 77th rifle division rushed.

The heroism of the battalion was appreciated. Battalion commander B. Emelianenko and one of his most distinguished platoon commanders M. Guryev were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The rest of the officers also received high awards: platoon commanders - the Order of Alexander Nevsky, company officers - the Order of the Red Banner. And all the soldiers were presented to the Order of Glory. In addition, the military council of the 69th Army made a unique decision: the 1st Battalion of the 215th Guards Rifle Regiment will henceforth be called the "Battalion of Glory." With this name, this unit entered the annals of the Great Patriotic War ...

- The task that I set for myself was to find the youngest of these 2772 people who have the Glory of all three degrees. That is, those who, on the day of conscription or voluntary entry into the Red Army, turned 16-18 years old, and at the time the Great Patriotic War began, they were 13-15 years old at all. Thus, we are talking about young men born in 1926-1928,” says Yuri Galkin. — Search by archival documents turned out to be difficult. In some cases, confusion was found with the years of birth of the winners of the awards: for example, in one paper a person recorded 1926, and in another - 1924 ... I had to clarify, double-check, look for reliable sources of information. This work resulted in an interesting result. It turned out that only 47 warriors fit under the framework I defined of the “youngest” complete holders of the Order of Glory: 46 of them were born in 1926 and the only one was born in 1928. Most of these heroes - then still just boys - began to fight the fascists as privates and only subsequently acquired a certain military specialty and occupied the respective position. Most of all, the list turned out to be shooters - 13 people. 10 full Cavaliers of Glory each served in reconnaissance and artillery, four more were sappers ... But mortars, airborne gunners and snipers - only one each.

The materials collected by Yu.Galkin about combat way these 47 heroes are based mainly on the information contained in the award lists. And not only those that were issued upon presentation for Glory, but also for other orders and medals awarded to the youngest "three-glorious" cavaliers for their feats. In some cases, it was possible to use essays by biographers, diaries, memoirs of loved ones.

Of course, it is interesting to know the details about the youngest, even more correctly, about the youngest full cavalier of the Order of Glory in history.

Four orders by the age of seventeen

Ivan Filippovich Kuznetsov was born at the end of 1928 - December 28. He is a native of the village of Migulinskaya, located in the north of the Rostov region. Later, the Kuznetsov family moved to the village of Bozhkovka, and from there to the neighboring town of Kamensk. During the war years, this territory was occupied by the Nazis. The troops of the Red Army liberated the Kamensky district from the Nazi invaders in mid-February 1943.

“If we talk about the very beginning of the combat biography of Ivan Kuznetsov, then there are white spots here, some inconsistencies in the surviving archival documents that have yet to be sorted out,” explains Yuri Galkin. - We can say with great confidence that in February-March 1943, Vanya, who was then only 14 years old, volunteered for the Red Army. He was enrolled as the son of the regiment (pupil) in the 686th artillery regiment. However, I have not yet been able to find out a specific date. It should also be clarified here, so that there is no confusion, that on March 19, 1943, the 686th artillery regiment was renamed the 185th Guards Artillery Regiment.

At first, the boy was a carrier of shells. Participating in the battles for the liberation of Ukraine, on September 3, 1943, near the village of Dolgenkoye (Kharkiv region), private Ivan Kuznetsov, as part of a gun crew, destroyed a machine gun and knocked out german tank"Tiger", and a few days later, on September 12, in a battle near the city of Barvenkovo, destroyed a mortar battery and an enemy observation post. By order of the 185th artillery regiment of October 6, 1943, Guards Private Kuznetsov I.V. He was awarded the medal "For Courage" - his first combat award. Just a few months later, he turned 15!

During the Nikopol-Krivoy Rog offensive operation in the area of the Otradnoye farm on February 26, 1944, as part of the calculation, Ivan Kuznetsov, who by that time had become a gunner of a 76-mm gun, repelled 4 enemy counterattacks, knocked out a tank and destroyed up to 100 Germans, and on February 27 in the same In the area, their cannon smashed 6 enemy bunkers, enabling our infantry to take possession of the heavily fortified enemy knot of resistance.

On March 26, 1944, by order of the 82nd Guards Rifle Division (it included the 185th Artillery Regiment), Guards Private Kuznetsov I.F. awarded the order Red Star, and for a wrecked tank, by order of the regiment of March 3, 1944, he received a cash bonus of 500 rubles.

The Order of Glory of the third degree became the third combat award of the young man, who by that time had already received the rank of guard corporal. The gunner Ivan Kuznetsov was awarded this "asterisk" on February 7, 1945 for the fact that three weeks earlier, in a battle on January 15 at locality Zabadrove in Poland, being wounded, continued to fire direct fire and destroyed 2 enemy machine guns and 2 bunkers.

ex son the regiment at the very end of the war famously "grew" with ranks, positions and awards. According to the award list, the Order of Glory of the second degree of the Guard, Junior Sergeant Kuznetsov I.F. received an order for the 8th Guards Army for the fact that on March 28, 1945, being already a gun commander, during the assault on the Altishtadt fortress, with fire from his gun, he set fire to two houses in which the enemy’s firing points with three heavy machine guns were located, and on the same day destroyed 2 more German machine guns with their crews.

Literally a few days before the victory, Ivan was again presented for the award. This time, for the fact that on April 25, 1945, in the battle for the Berlin suburb of Neuköln, under heavy enemy machine-gun fire, he destroyed anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, 3 machine guns and a house in which German machine gunners were located. It is curious that at first they wanted to present him with the Order of the Patriotic War. This submission was considered at the army headquarters by several officials, but the final decision was made by the commander of the 8th Guards General V. Chuikov himself. He ordered to present Kuznetsov to the Order of Glory of the first degree.

The corresponding Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was delayed and came out only a year later - on May 15, 1946. So Ivan received his third soldier's "star" when he was already 17 years old. He thus became the youngest full cavalier of the Order of Glory in the history of the Great Patriotic War.

The young hero went through the battle path from his native Don land to Berlin, left his signature on the wall of the defeated Reichstag ... And already in the victorious summer of 1945, he was demobilized. Here is an excerpt, quite extraordinary in its wording, from the order of the commander of the 185th artillery regiment dated August 11, 1945: “Exclude from the lists of the personnel of the regiment and all types of allowances who left for demobilization as a minor (pupil of the regiment) ... Guards Junior Sergeant Ivan Filippovich Kuznetsov.”

Subsequently, he continued his military service. Graduated military school, for almost 20 years he held officer positions in armored forces. After being transferred to the reserve in 1969, I.F. Kuznetsov worked for some time at a plant of automotive and tractor electrical equipment in the Belarusian city of Borisov. At the end of his life, the "three-glorious" hero was seriously ill and died of heart failure on January 20, 1989.

“Of course, it is necessary to perpetuate the memory of this wonderful person, the youngest holder of three Orders of Glory,” Yuri Galkin is sure. - Last spring, his bust was made, and on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Victory, it is planned to solemnly install it on the newly created Alley of Russian Glory.

"Colonel" for the hero

“While working on military biographical essays about young soldiers who were full holders of the famous “soldier’s” award, to my great joy, it turned out that one of these 47 heroes is still alive and well,” said Yu. Galkin. - Evgeny Vasilyevich Smyshlyaev now lives in the city of Slobodskoy, Kirov Region. The 88-year-old full cavalier of the Order of Glory is preparing to celebrate the next anniversary of the Victory together with other veterans. In the summer of 2013, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Order of Glory, we met and talked with Evgeny Vasilyevich. Here is a transcript of his story.

Evgeny Smyshlyaev. Photo from the personal archive of Yuri Galkin

“I’ll start with the saying: “The trunk is long, life is short.” - So the soldiers-artillerymen spoke with bitter humor. The losses in the battles with the enemy were great, and many of my fellow soldiers only managed to take part in one or two battles. I was lucky enough to be the exception to this sad rule. While these events are alive in my memory, I will tell my biography of a fighter from the gun crew, since I have been keeping periodic diary entries for a long time.

I was born on December 20, 1926 in the village of Pigilmash, Mari ASSR, where I spent my childhood and youth. In addition to me, a brother and three sisters grew up in the family. Our father worked as a tractor driver, and we also kept a cow, sheep, piglets, chickens, bred bees and cultivated a garden on our personal farmstead. So financially they lived well. It's wrong to complain. A year before the war, my father bought me a lame accordion. That was joy! Gradually I learned to play and became a regular in the evenings and village festivities.

The war has begun. Now I played the accordion on the wires of fellow villagers to the army. I was at that time 17 years old. Father, along with other tractor drivers, was called up in September 1941, when the harvest was harvested and winter crops were sown. I accompanied him all the way to Yoshkar-Ola, where I managed to buy a bottle of wine at the market and furtively give it to my father. Later in a letter he thanked me for this service. From the letters we understood that my father was an armored car driver. With the departure of the men from the village, the hard work fell on us teenagers. For a couple of years, I was not only a foreman in the field, and a hammer in the forge, and just a collective farmer. In the winter of 1942/1943, together with all my peers, I was sent to logging in the village of Tyumsha. On working days we sawed wood, and on weekends we were taught military science - they taught us to be snipers. But by mid-April they were allowed to go home.

All the guys older than me (born in 1922-1925) were drafted into the army until the spring of 1943, and by the fall many had already received funerals. The trouble did not bypass our house either: we received a notice that my father was missing on March 12, 1943.

After letting me work for the summer on a collective farm, I was drafted into the army in the fall, on November 10, 1943. They brought him to the Kostroma region, to the 27th training regiment. I ended up in an artillery battery under the command of Guards Lieutenant Andreev.

Personnel batteries, 108 people, was housed in one large dugout. In the mornings, they were taken out for physical exercises in any frost - in shirts, trousers and boots with windings. And immediately after physical exercises - washing in the hole.

Throughout the winter of 1943/1944, we were taught military affairs. It was known that after the end of the course we should become junior commanders. However, life has made its own adjustments. In May 1944, we were all prematurely promoted to the rank of corporal and sent to the front. I was only 17 and a half years old at the time.

Military fate determined me to serve in the calculation of the 76-mm regimental gun assigned to the 426th rifle regiment of the 88th rifle division, which was part of the 31st army of the Third Belorussian Front. The artillery platoon was commanded by lieutenant Yarilin, and the second commander was junior lieutenant Pirozhkov (by the way, a gypsy by nationality). The task of the unit was to quickly suppress enemy firing points. The infantry affectionately called our guns "regiments".

We stood on the defensive on the eastern outskirts of Belarus, about 20 kilometers from Orsha. The first commandment of a fighter on the front line: "The deeper you dig in, the longer you live." However, the line of defense of the 426th regiment passed through swampy terrain, there was nowhere to dig in, instead of trenches, walls laid out by turf soldiers served as protection. The firing position of our gun was immediately behind the trench, where the foot soldiers were hiding. In the very first days, one of my fellow artillerymen, Yura Chulkov, died - he barely had time to look out of the trench, as a German sniper struck him on the spot.

It was the first front-line grief that befell us on the front line and remained in our memory forever. However, military life went on as usual. Very soon we got used to both death and blood. The first days of the offensive are especially etched in my memory. The turning point came on the morning of June 23, 1944. At that moment, we, ordinary soldiers, could not, of course, know that a grand offensive operation was beginning to liberate Belarus, which went down in the history of the war under its code name "Bagration". The first to hit the enemy positions were Katyusha rocket launchers, whose sound always gave rise to fear among the Nazis. The rest of the artillery joined next, including our crew.

2013 Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory E. Smyshlyaev at home. Photo: Yuri Galkin

I acted as a castle clerk. My duties included: firstly, to close the gun lock after the loader drives the projectile into the barrel, and, secondly, after the shot, immediately open the lock so that the empty cartridge case falls out. On June 23, our artillery preparation was so powerful and long that by the beginning of the infantry attack, I had already knocked my hand to the blood on the gun iron, I had to bandage it. As soon as a wave of Red Army soldiers went to break through the enemy defenses, the order sounded: "The guns follow the infantry." Some of us grabbed special straps with hooks, others began to push from behind - and so they dragged the 900-kilogram "polkovushka" through the front line trench. But before they had time to roll even a few meters along the former no man's land, the gun hit a mine with a wheel. Several people were injured by the explosion, but after bandaging the slightly wounded continued to move. But my brother-soldier and fellow countryman Zaichikov was out of action. Then I found out that he was completely blind.

On this first day of the offensive, June 23, 1944, our "76-graph paper" distinguished itself: they broke 2 German bunkers, set fire to a car with ammunition and destroyed up to 30 Nazis (the exact number of Germans killed was always counted at headquarters). For these combat successes in breaking through the German defenses, by order of the 88th Infantry Division of July 23, 1944, three of our gun crew - Boris Toreev, Efim Pugachevsky and me - were awarded the Order of Glory of the third degree. These "soldier stars" were handed over to us in September 1944 by the commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Yuzvak.

The advance continued. Following the infantry, we crossed the Berezina and Neman rivers, fought along Belovezhskaya Pushcha... I had to go days and nights for more than a dozen kilometers per crossing. Everyone understood the meaning of the round-the-clock exhausting movement: it was impossible to allow the Germans to take a breath and gain a foothold in the defense. None of us murmured. After all, as soon as the enemy gets a few extra hours, he will dig in, gain a foothold in defense in accordance with all the rules military science— and try to smoke it out of there!

Soon Belarus was left behind, and Lithuanian lands opened before us. Ordinary Lithuanians looked at us without great enthusiasm, not even rejoicing at their liberation. They were accustomed to living in farms where everyone was their own boss, and the prospect of living on a collective farm in the Soviet way was not to their liking. On November 19, 1944, by order of the commander of the 426th Infantry Regiment, I was awarded the medal "For Courage" - for the fact that, when repelling one of the German counterattacks in the area of \u200b\u200bheight 170.4, I knocked out an enemy self-propelled gun, which prevented the advance of our infantry forward. But I became aware of this award many years later.

After Lithuania they entered Poland. Having liberated the city of Suwalki, they went through agricultural areas. locals we were well received. I remember that the command gave us Polish money several times - zlotys. And where should the fighter put them among the fields? The most reasonable thing was to give it to the Poles they met. Which is what we did.

Already in the deep autumn of 1944, they entered East Prussia. The Prussian land appeared before us rich and well-organized. Even between farms the roads were paved. However, units of the Red Army met here with fierce, redoubled resistance from the enemy. I think the fact that this territory was the private property of high-ranking German officers had an effect. The Nazis carried out propaganda like this: they say that the Russians destroy everything upon arrival, leaving no stone unturned. Therefore, even the civilian population, who could only move, abandoned their belongings and left with the Wehrmacht troops.

At that time I was already a gunner, and in the absence of the commander, I replaced him. In the battles for the city of Lansberg, our crew again distinguished itself: on February 6, 1945, repelling an enemy counterattack, we defeated his observation post and destroyed up to 25 Nazis. For this, by order of the 31st Army of February 14, 1945, I was awarded the Order of Glory of the second degree. True, the presentation of this award (as well as the medal "For Courage") took place after the war, in 1954, in the district military registration and enlistment office of his native Pigilmash.

Toward the end of the war, I concluded for myself: some high power Whatever you call it keeps me safe. There was, for example, such an episode: a shrapnel pierced through my boot, but my leg was only slightly scratched. The second case: a fragment pierced a jersey, trouser belt, trousers and stopped at the very body, but did not injure him, but only burned the skin. Or such amazing story. One day, the rider and I took the cannon to the artillery workshop to change the oil in the hydraulic recoil. On the road, no matter how cautious they were, they nevertheless ran a wheel into an anti-tank mine. The "Colonel" was disfigured by the explosion so badly that it was no longer subject to restoration, and it almost did not hurt us with the rider. Only one stray fragment, passing along a tangent, scratched my head and tore off my hat, throwing it so far that I could not find ...

Ask any of the front-line soldiers, they will confirm you: the last minutes before a serious injury are always remembered very sharply. Through the years, they hang in my memory like a picture on the wall. Here I am, if I close my eyes, I see this day, March 2, 1945. A German farm and a stone shed, three meters from which our 76-graph paper stands in position. The gun commander had recently landed in the medical battalion, so I replaced him. A new batch of shells had just been delivered, and everyone was busy carrying them to the cannon. And then the enemy shell hits straight into the wall of the barn. The gunner was killed (a fragment hit him right in the head), everyone else was wounded. We were bandaged and taken to the medical battalion on the same wagons that had brought the shells. The doctors found that I had "caught" several fragments in the thigh and lower back. On this military service mine on the front line is over.

Only 25 years after the Victory, I learned that by order of the 31st Army of April 2, 1945, I was awarded the Order of Glory of the second degree for the battles on February 28 and March 2 during the attack on the village of Shenvalde, where I was wounded. In these battles, our calculation suppressed the fire of an easel machine gun, repelled three fierce attacks of the Nazis, and destroyed another enemy firing point and 17 Nazis.

I am grateful to my fellow countryman from Yoshkar-Ola (I don’t remember his last name, and I didn’t know him personally), who found my award list and organized a petition for a re-award. Major Sizov later joined this issue. Through their joint efforts, my reward found me. Many thanks to them for the work they have done.

On December 31, 1987, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, instead of the Order of Glory of the second degree, to which I was presented in April 1945, I was re-awarded with the Order of Glory of the first degree. It was handed to me on March 17, 1988. And until 1987, it turns out that, according to archival documents, I was still listed as a “three-glorious” gentleman, but I just didn’t know about it.

And a few more words to complete my military biography. After the medical battalion there was a field hospital, and I was sent to the Lithuanian city of Kaunas for aftercare. He was discharged from the hospital there on June 15, 1945. Then he served for another year and a half in Western Belarus in the city of Novogrudok - in the 6th Guards engineering team. He was demobilized in January 1947 with the rank of junior sergeant and immediately returned to his native Pigilmash.

Here, in the city of Slobodskoy, I moved on the threshold of my 80th birthday. My two grandsons, Oleg and Dmitry, live here, and now there is also a great-grandson. In Slobodskoye, my portrait is placed on the Walk of Fame near the Eternal Flame, which I did not even think about. I am grateful to the city authorities and the Slobozhans for their attention to me. Today, there are only a few dozen of us, front-line veterans, in Slobodskoye, and every printed word about us is more durable than a person. The lines of our memories will outlive us. During the war years, moving towards a great common goal, we did not ask ourselves the question: will we be able to or not? Our answer is yes! Millions of fighters laid down their heads for the Victory, and they did not ask each other if we were doing the right thing? .. Today is a different life, when everyone can stop, think: where and why am I going? If you are also thinking about this, let our experience of front-line soldiers be useful to you.”

"Young Cavaliers of Three Stars". This is the heading of the material in Moskovsky Komsomolets, dedicated to young heroes Great Patriotic War, who at the age of 17-19 they were already awarded the Order of Glory of all three degrees. Among them is 88-year-old Yevgeny Vasilievich Smyshlyaev, who lives today in Slobodskoye. "MK" published the story of the hero, which we will partially quote:

All the guys older than me (born in 1922-1925) were drafted into the army until the spring of 1943, and by the autumn many had already received funerals. The trouble did not bypass our house either: we received a notice that my father was missing on March 12, 1943.

Having let me work for the summer on the collective farm, I was drafted into the army in the fall - November 10, 1943. They brought him to the Kostroma region, to the 27th training regiment. I ended up in an artillery battery under the command of Guards Lieutenant Andreev.

The personnel of the battery, 108 people, were housed in one large dugout. In the mornings, they were taken out for physical exercises in any frost - in shirts, trousers and boots with windings. And immediately after physical exercises - washing in the hole.

We stood on the defensive on the eastern outskirts of Belarus, about 20 kilometers from Orsha. The first commandment of a fighter on the front line: "The deeper you dig in, the longer you live." However, the line of defense of the 426th regiment passed through swampy terrain, there was nowhere to dig in, instead of trenches, walls laid out by turf soldiers served as protection. The firing position of our gun was immediately behind the trench, where the foot soldiers were hiding. In the very first days, one of my fellow artillerymen, Yura Chulkov, died - he barely had time to look out of the trench, as a German sniper struck him on the spot.

I acted as a castle clerk. My duties included: firstly, to close the gun lock after the loader drives the projectile into the barrel, and, secondly, after the shot, immediately open the lock so that the empty cartridge case falls out. On June 23, our artillery preparation was so powerful and long that by the beginning of the infantry attack, I had already knocked my hand to the blood on the gun iron, I had to bandage it. As soon as a wave of Red Army soldiers went to break through the enemy defenses, the order sounded: "The guns - after the infantry." Some of us grabbed special straps with hooks, others began to push from behind - and so they dragged the 900-kilogram "polkovushka" through the front line trench. But before they had time to roll even a few meters along the former no man's land, the gun hit a mine with a wheel. Several people were injured by the explosion, but after bandaging the slightly wounded continued to move. But my brother-soldier and fellow countryman Zaichikov was out of action. Then I found out that he was completely blind.

On this first day of the offensive, June 23, 1944, our "76-graph paper" distinguished itself: they broke 2 German bunkers, set fire to a car with ammunition and destroyed up to 30 Nazis (the exact number of Germans killed was always counted at headquarters). For these military successes in breaking through the German defenses, by order of the 88th Infantry Division of July 23, 1944, three of our gun crew - Boris Toreev, Efim Pugachevsky and me - were awarded the Order of Glory of the third degree. These "soldier stars" were handed over to us in September 1944 by the commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Yuzvak.

The advance continued. Following the infantry, we crossed the Berezina and Neman rivers, fought through the Belovezhskaya Pushcha ... We had to go day and night for more than a dozen kilometers per crossing. Everyone understood the meaning of the round-the-clock exhausting movement: it was impossible to allow the Germans to take a breath and gain a foothold in the defense. None of us murmured. After all, as soon as the enemy gets a few extra hours, he will dig in, gain a foothold in the defense according to all the rules of military science - and try to smoke him out of there!

Soon Belarus was left behind, and Lithuanian lands opened before us. Ordinary Lithuanians looked at us without great enthusiasm, not even rejoicing at their liberation. They were accustomed to living in farms where everyone was their own boss, and the prospect of living on a collective farm in the Soviet way was not to their liking. On November 19, 1944, by order of the commander of the 426th Infantry Regiment, I was awarded the medal "For Courage" - for the fact that, when repelling one of the German counterattacks in the area of \u200b\u200bheight 170.4, I knocked out an enemy self-propelled gun, which prevented our infantry from advancing forward. But I became aware of this award many years later.

After Lithuania they entered Poland. Having liberated the city of Suwalki, they went through agricultural areas. The locals welcomed us well. I remember that the command gave us Polish money - zlotys - several times. And where should the fighter put them among the fields? The most reasonable thing was to give it to the Poles they met. Which is what we did.

Already in the late autumn of 1944 they entered East Prussia. The Prussian land appeared before us rich and well-organized. Even between farms the roads were paved. However, units of the Red Army met here with fierce, redoubled resistance from the enemy. I think the fact that this territory was the private property of high-ranking German officers had an effect. The Nazis carried out propaganda like this: they say that the Russians destroy everything upon arrival, leaving no stone unturned. Therefore, even the civilian population, who could only move, abandoned their belongings and left with the Wehrmacht troops.

Toward the end of the war, I concluded for myself that some higher power, whatever you call it, is protecting me. There was, for example, such an episode: a shrapnel pierced through my boot, but my leg was only slightly scratched.

The second case: a fragment pierced a jersey, trouser belt, trousers and stopped at the very body, but did not injure him, but only burned the skin. Or such an amazing story. One day, the rider and I took the cannon to the artillery workshop to change the oil in the hydraulic recoil. On the road, no matter how cautious they were, they nevertheless ran a wheel into an anti-tank mine. The "Colonel" was disfigured by the explosion so badly that it was no longer subject to restoration, and it almost did not hurt us with the rider. Only one stray fragment, passing on a tangent, scratched my head and tore off my hat, throwing it so far that I could not find ...

And a few more words that complete my military biography. After the medical battalion there was a field hospital, and I was sent to the Lithuanian city of Kaunas for aftercare. He was discharged from the hospital there on June 15, 1945. Then he served for another year and a half in Western Belarus in the city of Novogrudok - in the 6th Guards Engineering Brigade. He was demobilized in January 1947 with the rank of junior sergeant and immediately returned to his native Pigilmash.

... Here, in the city of Slobodskoy, I moved on the threshold of my 80th birthday. My two grandsons, Oleg and Dmitry, live here, and now there is also a great-grandson. In Slobodskoye, my portrait is placed on the Walk of Fame near the Eternal Flame, which I did not even think about. I am grateful to the city authorities and the Slobozhans for their attention to me. Today, there are only a few dozen of us, front-line veterans, in Slobodskoye, and every printed word about us is more durable than a person. The lines of our memories will outlive us. During the war years, moving towards a great common goal, we did not ask ourselves the question: will we be able to or not? Our answer is yes! Millions of fighters laid down their heads for the Victory, and they did not ask each other if we were doing the right thing? .. Today is a different life, when everyone can stop, think: where and why am I going? If you are also thinking about this, let our experience of front-line soldiers be useful to you.”

Russia celebrates Heroes of the Fatherland Day. it memorable date dedicated to the valor and feat of people who consider it their duty to serve for the good of the country. Heroes Soviet Union, heroes of Russia, full cavaliers of the Order of Glory and cavaliers of the Order of St. George. Veteran of the Great Patriotic War Yevgeny Smyshlyaev on this day in full dress. Each time he proudly puts on a jacket studded with military decorations. The full cavalier of the Order of Glory has something to tell about the war years. As in the 43rd, two months before his 17th birthday, he was drafted into the army, as after training as an artilleryman, he fought on the third Belorussian front.

“The whole front began to advance in one day. We also participated here. The 76-mm regimental gun was. Artillery preparation first.

Yevgeny Smyshlyaev showed himself to be a brave soldier. As part of the calculation, he destroyed two bunkers, a car with ammunition and a lot of enemy manpower with direct fire. For this he was awarded the Order of Glory. And then there were fights again and awards again. Until a serious injury occurs.

EVGENY SMYSHLYAEV, FULL BENEFICIARY OF THE ORDER OF GLORY:
“While we started carrying shells, the Germans are not sleeping either. They wanted to destroy our gun, and hit the wall above the gun. Leader to death. The rest were all hurt. And me too".

Victory Day Evgeny Vasilyevich met already in the hospital. After demobilization, he arrived in the Kirov region, and then in Slobodskaya. There is a memorial plaque to the veteran. On the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland, flowers are laid at the monument to soldiers. The governor and chief federal inspector for the Kirov region came to personally congratulate Yevgeny Smyshlyaev.

NIKITA BELYKH, GOVERNOR OF THE KIROV REGION:
"Evgeny Vasilievich. Good afternoon. Let me congratulate you on the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland. You are our most honored hero. Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory. Flowers".

Gift for a veteran washing machine and a large cake with a symbolic drawing: an order of glory and a military weapon.

VLADIMIR KLIMOV, CHIEF FEDERAL INSPECTOR FOR THE KIROV REGION:
“And now the Order of Glory was drawn by yours, and the gun is ancient.”

But still there are two wheels. I also have two wheels.
- The basic principles have been preserved.
- Well, yes.

On the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland, congratulations are received by people of different fates, but all of them are united by courage and valor, following their official duty, no matter what. Such as Evgeny Smyshlyaev.

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