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10-04-2016, 06:00

Before the Great Patriotic War, the Main Naval Base of the Black Sea Fleet (GVMB Black Sea Fleet) - Sevastopol - was protected from air attack by the 61st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment (zap) with machine gun and searchlight battalions. It consisted of four divisions. Three of them, armed with medium-caliber artillery systems (SZA), were equipped with the latest at that time, 85-mm anti-aircraft guns and semi-automatic anti-aircraft guns of 76.2 mm caliber. The fourth division of small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery (MZA) had 16 automatic guns of 37 mm caliber. The machine-gun battalion consisted of 46 machine guns (28 M-4 quad mounts and 18 M-1 single-barrel mounts). There were 27 stations in the searchlight battalion.

At the request of the regiment commander, fighters of the 62nd Fighter Aviation Brigade (commander Colonel G. Dzyuba), which was operationally subordinate to the head of the fleet's air defense, Colonel I. Zhilin, and was based at four Crimean airfields, could be called to Sevastopol. It included aircraft of obsolete designs: I-15, I-16 and I-153. 61 zap served the 11th battalion of air surveillance, warning and communications (VNOS) of a three-company composition, which had 54 visual observation posts and two RUS-1 radar detection stations. The battalion was also at the disposal of the air defense chief.

The air group left for the defense of Sevastopol consisted of 51 wheeled fighters and 31 seaplanes of the fleet, to which the detachment of air barrage balloons, which had 23 twin balloons, was also subordinate. Anti-aircraft batteries of the 1st division were deployed in the north of Sevastopol and covered objects from the northern direction. The batteries of the 2nd division were located in the southwestern, and the 3rd division in the southeastern parts of the city.

Batteries of the MZA division were located on the coast of the Northern Bay with the task of destroying low-flying air targets. Anti-aircraft gun installations were located directly at the defended objects. The ships of the fleet had their own anti-aircraft artillery, which, during the stay of the ships in the bay, was part of the air defense system of the GVMB. With such an arrangement of anti-aircraft weapons, the ships were covered by three-layer anti-aircraft artillery fire.

The personnel of the air defense units and subunits were well trained, many privates and sergeants were finishing their 4th year of service. The units maintained a high degree of combat readiness. June 20 Black Sea Fleet returned from the exercises and received orders to remain in readiness No. 2. Command posts were deployed, a limited number of crew members were released ashore. A third of anti-aircraft weapons were on combat (operational) duty around the clock; one of the SZA batteries was in three minutes ready to open fire. These circumstances contributed to the fact that the sudden attack of fascist aircraft on Sevastopol on the morning of June 22, 1941 did not take the Sevastopol anti-aircraft gunners by surprise, they managed to open fire in a timely and organized manner.

It is widely known that the first German bombers did not drop bombs, but magnetic bottom mines by parachute. These mines were relatively new and well-kept weapons. With their help, the Nazis planned to block the exit from the Sevastopol Bay, after which they would destroy the ships of our fleet with air strikes. The air defense forces did not allow the Germans to fulfill this plan. As for the magnetic mines themselves, one of them fell into shallow water and did not explode. Military engineer 3rd rank M. Ivanov neutralized the mine, after which it was carefully studied. Thanks to this, the new weapon ceased to be a secret.

Until November 1941, enemy aircraft continued to carry out day and night raids on Sevastopol, by single vehicles and in small groups of 2-3 bombers, in order to conduct reconnaissance and mine fairways. During this period, coastal and naval anti-aircraft artillery, as well as fighter aircraft, destroyed 17 enemy aircraft.

During the raids, the Nazis used a variety of tactics. For example, when approaching the GVMB, reconnaissance aircraft climbed over 6800 meters and approached targets from the direction of the sun, which made it difficult to track them with optical instruments. Enemy pilots used clouds to disguise themselves. As soon as the shelling of the aircraft with anti-aircraft weapons began, it immediately went into the clouds, and then appeared in the "windows" clear of clouds and carried out reconnaissance. Soviet anti-aircraft gunners quickly learned the tactics of the enemy and began to use countermeasures. In cases where an enemy aircraft approached from the direction of the sun, protective glasses were put on the optical sights of air defense systems. If the German pilots went into the clouds, then the anti-aircraft gunners continued to accompany them with their sights, rotating the aiming flywheels at the same speeds as during visual observation. When the plane appeared in the "window", it was in the field of view of the POISOT sighters.

However, the command and headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet were criticized for the first battles with German aircraft. Cases of chaotic, unorganized fire were noted, when one enemy aircraft was fired upon by several (sometimes up to 10) batteries. Some commanders were excited and confused, too hastily gave out data for firing. This was due to the fact that command staff it was not easy to immediately gain confidence, abruptly falling from a peaceful situation into a combat one. Also, in the early days there were no remote observation posts in the maritime sector, and in fact the German aviation during this period carried out raids just from the sea, and our anti-aircraft gunners were in suspense and without normal rest at the guns and instruments, up to 18 hours a day.

Until the winter of 1941, the command of the fleet took a number of measures to strengthen air defense in the maritime sector. Barrage balloons were placed at a distance of 4-6 km from the coastline. The command post of the 62nd air brigade was transferred to the air defense command post of the Black Sea Fleet, and the fighter regiments were partially located at the airfields of Sevastopol. The newly formed SZA batteries were deployed along the coastline in the Konstantinovsky ravelin area (each battery was reinforced with an MZA platoon to combat flying, low-altitude and diving aircraft). The shipyard manufactured, using the compartments of the old ship, a floating anti-aircraft battery, which was armed with 7 anti-aircraft guns (four - 76 mm guns and three - 37 mm caliber), 2 DShK machine guns and 2 searchlights. It was located 6 km from the coast on the beam of the Chersonese lighthouse.

For more efficient control of air defense systems around Sevastopol, six defense sectors were created. In two of them (in the area of ​​Kacha and the Kherson lighthouse), the commanders of fighter aviation and anti-aircraft artillery units had the right to act independently when repelling enemy air raids. Fighters were sent to the distant approaches to the base by decision of the chief of air defense of the Black Sea Fleet. Naval anti-aircraft artillery had its own sectors for firing. By the beginning of autumn 1941, more advanced RUS-2 radar installations were received, which detected enemy aircraft 15-20 minutes before they approached the base. This made it possible for fighter aircraft to move from continuous barrage in the air to a system of duty at airfields.

At the end of October German troops broke into the Crimea: Manstein's 11th army rushed to Sevastopol, the number of anti-aircraft artillery by this moment we had increased: from Nikolaev, Sarabuz, Evpatoria and other cities temporarily abandoned by our troops, 122 zap, 25, 26, 114 separate anti-aircraft artillery divisions (ozad), began to form 62 app.

In early November 1941, German troops rushed to storm the city, trying to take it on the move. The enemy concentrated more than two hundred bombers and fighters on the Crimean airfields. And in the Sevastopol defensive region (SOR), created on November 4, 1941, about 100 aircraft were based.

Enemy aviation began inflicting massive strikes on Soviet warships and on the city. The first raid was made on the night of November 2. The noise of aircraft engines was heard from several directions. Searchlights illuminated only individual targets, so the number of aircraft and their battle formations could not be immediately determined. The unit commanders were forced to open barrage fire. The Sevastopol sky lit up with hundreds of flashes of anti-aircraft shells. Of the 63 aircraft, one was shot down. Several broke through to the city and to the bay. Some residential areas and ships were damaged by the bombardment. It is worth remembering that barrage fire at that time was imperfect, ineffective, required expenditure a large number ammunition (anti-aircraft artillery spent 7039 shells on November 2), and their delivery to Sevastopol was fraught with great difficulties. Therefore, anti-aircraft gunners resorted to this method of firing only in extreme cases, firing at group, unobservable targets. Accompanying fire was usually fired at visible (illuminated) aircraft.

Massed raids in mid-November became more frequent. The objects of strikes were mainly batteries of field and coastal artillery, troops on the defensive, ships in the parking lots. The enemy used a number of new tactics. For example, before striking at altitudes up to 7000 meters, one or two air reconnaissance aircraft flew over. Anti-aircraft gunners began their shelling, and at that time enemy bombers appeared from other directions and at other heights. We had to retarget our anti-aircraft batteries and duty fighter units. The gunners needed time to prepare new data for firing, so they opened fire either too late or not organized enough. As a result, individual aircraft broke through to the objects.

The Nazis also used small groups of aircraft (9-12), echeloned in time and height. First, the first group of enemy bombers appeared, and after a minute or two, new group targets from other directions and at other heights. Usually, in such cases, fighters aimed at one of the groups of aircraft, while anti-aircraft batteries fired at the others, and strictly in their sectors.

In November, pilots and anti-aircraft gunners repelled 134 air raids, involving 380 aircraft; in December, during the second assault, 344 raids with 467 aircraft. Pilots and anti-aircraft gunners on the ground and in the air destroyed 131 aircraft.

A feature of the air defense of Sevastopol was that the air defense units had to operate under the conditions of undivided domination of enemy aircraft in the air. With each new assault on Sevastopol, the German command attracted everything large quantity aircraft to attack Soviet troops and the city. So, during the second assault (December 1941), the enemy allocated an aviation squadron consisting of 150 bombers only for operations against the ships of the fleet. The Sevastopol defensive region had only 53 serviceable aircraft.

Our aviation forces were dwindling every day. Small airfields where Soviet fighters were based (on the Kulikovo field and near the Kherson lighthouse) were constantly subjected to air strikes and shelling. During the defense of Sevastopol, 3372 air bombs and 15624 artillery shells exploded at these airfields. Only in the parking lot, 40 of our aircraft were destroyed and 131 were damaged. About 100 pilots were killed and 103 wounded in the fighting. No more than two dozen of our fighters could participate in the decisive battles for Sevastopol. Bomber aircraft, in particular Pe-2 aircraft based at Caucasian airfields, bombed and assaulted enemy airfields in the Crimea and were able to destroy and disable many enemy aircraft. However, the main share of the fight against fascist aviation fell on anti-aircraft artillery and the remaining fighter aircraft.

Another feature of anti-aircraft artillery combat operations in the defense of Sevastopol was that 75% of its composition was used to repel enemy ground attacks, to fight against tanks and infantry. Therefore, anti-aircraft artillery was not fully used in the fight against German aircraft. In addition, by order of the command, in marines 4727 privates and sergeants and 83 officers were allocated from air defense units, as a result of which many guns and anti-aircraft artillery devices were serviced by reduced crews.

In November, the 880th anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the Primorsky army was included in the air defense of the Sevastopol defensive region, consisting of three divisions of the SZA and one MZA. However, the materiel of its guns was badly worn or damaged, there was not enough ammunition, and the regiment itself was not fully manned. The naval anti-aircraft gunners could not help either. On May 20, 1942, before the decisive battles for Sevastopol, they lacked shells to full ammunition: for 85-mm guns - more than 13 thousand pieces, for 76.2-mm - about 13 thousand pieces. Sometimes, due to a lack of ammunition, commanders did not open fire on single enemy aircraft, and a meager supply of shells was saved to fight ground targets.

By the spring of 1942, the number of anti-aircraft weapons in Sevastopol was significantly reduced. The newly formed 62 zap, 122 zap and a detachment of barrage balloons were transported to the Caucasus along with the ships of the squadron. In Sevastopol remained: 61 zap, 1, 55, 114 ozad, floating battery. A total of 64 medium-caliber guns, 15 small-caliber guns, 12 quadruple M-4 anti-aircraft machine guns, 29 searchlight stations. For the third assault, the Nazis pulled units and formations from all over the Crimea near Sevastopol, concentrating here up to 600 aircraft of all classes. The forces were too unequal.

On June 7, 1942, after a long artillery and aviation preparation, the Germans went on the offensive. Anti-aircraft gunners, like other Sevastopol fighters, stood to the death, inflicting significant damage on the enemy. Here are some examples.

The personnel of the 227th anti-aircraft battery of Senior Lieutenant I. Grigorov in the area of ​​Mamashayskaya Valley in a short period of time repulsed 11 enemy attacks with the participation of fascist tanks, while destroying 7 tanks, 4 vehicles, 13 mortars, 5 machine-gun points, more than an infantry battalion and 1 airplane. The 229th anti-aircraft battery of senior lieutenant N. Startsev in the area of ​​the Inkerman Heights destroyed and dispersed 8 enemy companies, suppressed 3 mortar batteries, 30 machine-gun points.

From June 7 to June 13, 1942, the 365th anti-aircraft battery of senior lieutenant I. Pyanzin, who occupied a position near the Mekenzievy Gory railway siding, fought bravely surrounded. Dozens of air and ground enemy attacks were repulsed. Nazi tanks managed to break into the firing position when the battery ran out of shells and grenades. Then the seriously wounded battalion commander I. Pyanzin transmitted in plain text on the radio: “There is nothing to fight back ... in the positions of the Nazis, open fire on our command post I will correct myself.

During the defense of Sevastopol, anti-aircraft gunners inflicted huge damage on the enemy. From June 22, 1941 to June 30, 1942, only the fighters of the 61 anti-aircraft artillery regiment destroyed 171 enemy aircraft, 84 tanks, 53 artillery and mortar batteries, 38 machine-gun points, 164 vehicles with manpower and cargo, and up to 14 thousand. German soldiers and officers. Due to the high combat readiness of the air defense units of the GVMB of the Black Sea Fleet, they thwarted the enemy's initial plan, designed to mine the exit from the port and destroy the ships of the squadron. Coastal anti-aircraft artillery, in addition to its task - the destruction of enemy aircraft, was an important tool combat ground forces of the enemy. The effectiveness of the combat operations of anti-aircraft gunners in the defense of Sevastopol was achieved thanks to a clear and flexible interaction with parts of fighter aviation and naval anti-aircraft defense, reliable and continuous control of parts of the air force.

Father - a miner (died in 1920), mother - a housewife (died in 1924). In 1901, the father was laid off from work and the whole family (including the elder brother born in 1896) moved to the village of Dmitryashovka, Zadonsky district, Voronezh region(in those days - provinces), where part of the economy was received from the father's brother, and parents began to engage in agriculture. The economy was poor, so the father was forced to leave for the winter to work on the landowners' estates.

From 1910 to 1913 studied at the Dmitryashevskaya rural school (finished 3rd grade), later received only a military education.

From 1914 to 1917 he worked for hire, at first (until 1916) as a farm laborer on the estate of the landowner Bunin, then as a laborer at the Ramon sugar factory (Voronezh region).

From 1917 to 1919 was in the village of Dmitryashovka, worked in agriculture.

May 15, 1919 drafted (on mobilization) by the Zemlyansky District Military Commissariat to the Red Army, where he served for 38 years (until 1957), having gone a glorious path from an ordinary Red Army soldier to a colonel, regiment commander. Member of three wars - Civil, Soviet-Finnish and the Great Patriotic War.

Service in the Red Army (Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army) and SA ( Soviet army - renamed 1946 )

May - October 1919- Red Army soldier of the 31st Valuysky Rifle Regiment.

October 1919 - April 1921- Red Army soldier of the 80th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Don Division. Participated in battles on the Southern Front ( Civil War, 1917 - 1922) against the gangs of ULUGAY and WRANGEL, as well as in the elimination of banditry in the mountains (Chechnya).

April 1921 - September 1922(EDUCATION) - cadet of the 54th Petrovsky courses of red commanders, Port-Petrovsk (later Makhachkala, Dagestan). Upon their completion, he was promoted to the “Red Commanders of the Red Army”.

In February 1922 joined the ranks of the CPSU (b)- All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

September 1922 - September 1923- junior commander of the 37th infantry regiment of the 13th Dagestan division, Derbent.

September 1923 - September 1924(EDUCATION) - cadet of the 8th infantry school of the Petrograd command staff, Leningrad, which in 1924 became part of the Kyiv United military school.

September 1924 - August 1925(EDUCATION) - cadet of the Kyiv United Military School (artillery department), housed in the building of the Suvorov Military School, Pechersky district of Kiev.

August 1925 - October 1926- platoon commander, head of communications division of the 9th artillery regiment of the 9th rifle division, Rostov-on-Don.

October 1926 - August 1927(EDUCATION) - cadet of the Radiotelegraph, telephone courses of the command staff of the Red Army, Moscow.

September 1927 - December 1931- head of intelligence of the division (until May 1928), commander of the headquarters battery of the 9th artillery regiment of the 9th rifle corps, Kamensk. While serving in the city of Kamensk (since 1929 - the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov region) met and married a native of this city, Anna Matveevna ANTONOVA. Two sons were born in the same city - Vladimir (born 1932), Nikolai (born 1937).

December 1931 - December 1933- commander of the battery of the 13th artillery regiment of the 13th rifle division, Taganrog.

December 1933 - August 1936(STUDY) - student of the Leningrad Artillery Academy named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky, Leningrad. Completed 2 courses.

August 1936 - September 1939- assistant division commander (until January 1939), division commander of the 2nd Air Defense Regiment of the Belarusian Special Military District (Kalinin Military District), Velikiye Luki.

September - December 1939- commander of a separate anti-aircraft artillery battalion of the 138th rifle division of the Kalinin military district.

December 1939 - April 1940- Head of anti-aircraft artillery of the air defense department of the 7th Army of the North-Western Front (Soviet-Finnish war, 11/30/1939 - 03/13/1940). In total, the front had four armies (7, 8, 9 and 14). The 7th army advanced on the Karelian Isthmus, fought the most difficult and bloody battles. For the successful fulfillment of the assigned combat missions, personal courage and courage SUShKOV P.P. awarded the order"Red Star"(handed in the Kremlin personally by the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M.I.KALININ).

April - May 1940- commander of the 372nd separate air defense division of the Kalinin military district.

May - June 1940- assistant commander of the 454th anti-aircraft defense regiment of the North Caucasian Military District (SKVO), Novorossiysk.

June 6, 1941 - March 15, 1942- Chief of Staff (until December 1941), deputy commander of the 734th anti-aircraft artillery regiment of air defense, North Caucasian air defense zone ( southern front, Great Patriotic War, 06/22/1941 - 05/09/1945, 1418 days), Rostov-on-Don. Here, near Rostov-on-Don, he took the first "baptism of fire" in repelling Nazi air raids, awarded a medal "For courage." The family (wife with two children aged 9 and 4) was evacuated to Baku, Azerbaijan SSR. On the way, the echelon came under severe bombing, but everything worked out.

March 15 - July 13, 1942- commander of the 32nd reserve anti-aircraft artillery regiment of air defense (Southern Front), Maykop.

July 13, 1942 - April 24, 1943- Chief of Staff of the Ryazhsko-Tambovsky artillery divisional air defense area.

April 24, 1943 - April 22, 1950- commander of the 1572 anti-aircraft artillery regiment of small caliber (zenap MK), field mail 44703. The regiment was formed on the basis of the 96 separate anti-aircraft division of small caliber in the period from April 25 to June 20, 1943 in the Voronezh region, consisting of five divisions, 3 batteries (a total of 1330 people in the regiment, a significant part of them are women). The armament consisted of 37-mm and 25-mm anti-aircraft guns (15 batteries of 6 guns in a battery, a total of 90 guns). The formation took place in the conditions of ongoing intense hostilities.

Reference: On May 5, 1943, an enemy raid on the railway bridge near the Cheremisino station repulsed the 2nd division, consisting of two batteries under the command of senior lieutenant BELOSTOKOV. 18 Yu-87 and 4 Yu-88 took part in it under the cover of a group of Me-109 fighters. The raid began at 19:00. 35 min. When approaching the object, the aircraft reorganized into a "column of links" and from one direction began bombing from a dive. At the time of the bombing of the bridge, the Me-109 flew at low altitudes above the battle formations of the batteries, firing at them from machine guns. The fight lasted 10 minutes. The planes managed to drop over a hundred bombs. Anti-aircraft gunners disrupted the enemy's battle formation with barrage fire, the bridge remained unscathed.

For personal courage and heroism shown in the battles near Voronezh, Sushkov P.P. awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

From November 12 1943 divisions of the regiment occupied the air defense of the bridges under construction across the Dnieper River near the city of Kyiv.

December 7, 1943 the headquarters of the regiment was relocated to the city of Kyiv and stood up for the defense of administrative facilities (the house of the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR, the house of the Central Committee of the CPB (U)), bridges, railway stations(Vasilkov, Boyarka, Motovilovka, Darnitsa), Borispol airfield.

Total regiment shot down: aircraft - 11, SAB (luminous aerial bombs) - 145.

Regiment commander (lieutenant colonel Sushkov P.P.), was appointed head of one of the three combat sectors of air defense in Kyiv. The command post was located on the slopes of the Dnieper - in Anosovsky Park (Park of Glory). For the successful completion of these combat missions awarded the Order of the Red Banner(03.11.1944)and the Order of Lenin(21.02.1945).

He has eight combat awards in total., including order"Lenin" two orders"Red Banner" order"Red Star" order"Patriotic War" 1st degree, medals"For courage", "For military merit", "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945".

After the war, the regiment remained in Kyiv, carried out the tasks of combat and political training according to peacetime plans, carried out combat duty to cover important objects from air strikes.

April 30, 1955 1572 zenap MK redesignated 276 zenap SK(medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery regiment), which was armed with S-60 complexes (57-mm AZP - automatic anti-aircraft guns and RPK-2 radio instrumentation systems).

He was elected a deputy of the Kyiv City Council of Workers' Deputies of the 2nd convocation ( 1948).

April 1950 transferred to serve in the headquarters of the 7th Air Defense Corps (Kyiv), but then, at his personal request, he was appointed head of the air defense range(city of Oster, Chernihiv region, military unit 25994). From the "general" position (in Moscow) refused, he loved the city of Kyiv and thought about children. The Soldier's Word says: "It's better to sit backwards in the fire than to get to serve in Oster!". Apparently, the service there was not sugar, but Pavel Polikarpovich preferred it to a cozy general's office in Moscow, and this is his whole life credo.

fired with valid military service in reserve in 1957 in rank "Colonel".

Lived in Kyiv on the street. Moscow, 23 (from 1944 to 1979), after the demolition of the house, he received an apartment on Lesnoy, st. Bratislava. Last years lived in Vinogradar, st. Svetlitsky (moved closer to his daughter).

was engaged social activities and a garden at their summer cottage, chubinsky railway station (by train, yagotinsky direction, 40 minutes to go).

Pavel Polikarpovich had a brother and two sisters.

Brother (born 1896)- before the start of the Great Patriotic War, he worked in the Donbass at a mine (mine) as a simple worker. After the war, no information about his fate was established.

Sister (born 1911)- in 1946 she lived in the village of Dmitryashovka, a collective farmer. Further fate is unknown.

Sister (born 1920)- in 1946 she lived in the Donbass. Further fate is unknown.

Died August 17, 1984. He was buried at the Berkovets cemetery in Kyiv (plot No. 82, row 17, place 21).

We rushed to the front

I was drafted into the Red Army on May 10, 1943, by which time I was already 17 years old. The course of a young soldier, along with other conscripts, took place near Stalingrad in the 46th reserve rifle regiment. After completing the course, together with his colleagues, he was sent for further service in the 281st OZAD (separate anti-aircraft artillery division), which was stationed in Kazan. We were assigned to gun crews. I hit the third gun as a gunner, and Fedya Reshetnyak, my friend and countryman, hit the first gun, also as a gunner. The first thing we did was dug out caponiers (shelters) for guns, built dugouts for gun crews.
Intensive training began, the division was armed with 85 mm heavy guns, gun weight - 5 tons, vertical firing range - 10 km, horizontal - 15 km, projectile weight - 16 kg, gun crew - 7 people. This equipment entered service with the Red Army on the eve of the war in 1940.
There were 18 girls in the division on the battery, who performed the duties assigned to them on an equal basis with us, steadfastly endured the hardships of military service. Their task was to service the PUAZO locators (anti-aircraft artillery fire control device). The calculation of this device consisted of 7 people. There were girls in the positions of nurses, medical instructors and telegraph operators.
At the battery, we all took part in amateur performances with pleasure. The boys are 17-18 years old and the girls are 18-20 years old. Here, on the battery, we took the military oath and joined the Komsomol, despite the fact that each of us joined the Komsomol at school.
They gave us a small book from the series "Library of a Red Army Soldier", which contained poems by the poet Vasily Lebedev-Kumach. Here they are:
Komsomol ticket,
You are warm in the heart
Faithful companion of courage and honor.
You call for a feat
Komsomol ticket,
Relentlessly crying out for revenge.
After intensive training for six months State Commission a decision was made: to conduct exams, including with live firing. Which is what was done. The conclusion of the commission: the division is prepared to carry out a combat mission at the front. We began to prepare for sending to the front. While we were doing the task of air defense. At that time, two aircraft factories, evacuated from Moscow, were working in Kazan, which produced PE-2 dive bombers, we called them pawns.

First battle baptism e

In December 1943, the battalion was alerted at night, and they began loading guns with combat kits into echelons. The path lay through Saransk, Liski, Voronezh, Kharkov, approaching the front, and echelons with the wounded were moving towards us. At the stops, we willingly talked and exchanged with them. We crossed the Dnieper on a pontoon bridge. Artillery cannonades were already heard, the ominous breath of the front was felt. Then they proceeded by car. We determined a firing position for our division not far from Zhytomyr, on the outskirts of Berdichev. Specifically, our division was tasked with protecting the Berdichev railway junction, as it provided supplies for two fronts - the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian. Here, near Zhytomyr, we received our first baptism of fire. Before they had time to dig in properly, an ominous rumble of German Junkers was heard somewhere very close by. They quickly brought the guns into combat position, and as soon as enemy planes appeared over the city, they opened fire on them. For us it was the first baptism of fire. Our girls from the instrumentation department fought boldly and bravely, fulfilling their duties, this gave us strength and courage.
After the new year 1944, enemy air raids became more frequent, the Germans made every effort to restore their position. They bombed mainly at night, they were afraid of our anti-aircraft guns. I especially remember the evening of February 22, 1944, on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the Red Army. That evening, a whole armada of enemy aircraft rushed to our object. Our 85 mm guns roared, and next to it was an anti-aircraft regiment with 37 mm guns, they were abbreviated as MZA - small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery. Colored the whole sky with tracer shells. Together with us, many other anti-aircraft divisions, regiments and pulbats repelled the attacks of the vultures. Every now and then, the air pirates left flaming trails in the black sky and crashed into the ground. Those shells that lay in the ditch near the gun ran out. There was a continuous roar of anti-aircraft artillery and enemy bombs. It was necessary to bring shells from a warehouse located a few meters from the battery. All personnel who did not directly participate in repelling the attack of German vultures were mobilized on their tray - cooks, telephone operators, scouts, radio operators, instrumentation girls and even nurses. As you know, the shell weighed 16 kg, and during the battle it was not easy for the girls to bring these shells. The cannons, like furious animals, turned their muzzles in one direction or the other, or even 360 degrees, spitting out fiery flames. Nothing could be seen near the gun because of the powder smoke. The Junkers flew away, and fires blazed around, but the station and other important objects suffered little damage.
In this battle, the instrumentation girls Lida Krylova, Valya Lapochkina, Lida Privalova, Lyuda Filatova were especially remembered, who, led by the Komsomol organizer of the battery, Zoya Korzunova, brought shells to the guns. The fact is that the mandatory set of 72 shells was constantly at the gun. It ended a long time ago, and the battle flared up serious. It must be said that in this battle not a single enemy bomb fell on our battery. After the fight, I always, as a rule, discussed various moments of the fight with my friend Fedya Reshetnyak. We often recalled our school, where we studied with him in the same class.

Victory Day

Enemy planes often appeared at night, especially when visibility was poor, then we fired barrage fire. On the battery, we had a cannon master Dudin, who adapted the PTR (anti-tank gun) for firing at low-flying aircraft.
In mid-June 1944, enemy planes began to appear less frequently, the front moved far to the west, and our division was relocated to Moldova, in the city of Bender, where they set the task of protecting the crossing across the Dniester and the field airfield from enemy air raids.
Less than a year remained before the end of the war, we had a very high morale, we sincerely rejoiced at the successes of the Red Army on the fronts, firmly believed that the enemy would be defeated, victory would be ours. With the removal of the front, we were constantly relocated to new important facilities.
Further, the combat path of our division passed partly through the territory of Romania. Iasi, Bontoshany, through Western Ukraine, gg. Stanislav, Stry Sambor. On the territory of Poland, Krosno, Jaslo, Krakow, Katowice, Auschwitz, Bielsko-Biala. The last base point of our division was the Polish city of Bielsko-Biala. I met Victory Day at the firing position of our battery, in the vicinity of the city of Bielsko-Biala, not far from the Czechoslovak border. Here our battery performed the combat mission of guarding the field airfield, where the IL-2 attack aircraft were based.
I consider my main merit to the Motherland to be participation in the Great Patriotic War from May 10, 1943 to May 10, 1945.

Front friends

I would like to tell separately about my front-line friend Fyodor Reshetnyak. He studied with him at the same school, we are the same age, we were drafted into the Red Army together on the same day, we fought together on the same battery. It was a true friend - a guy from the Salsky steppes. Unchildish trials fell on our lives of teenagers at that time before the war: studying and working on a collective farm, all the difficulties of rural labor, the famine of 1933, the capture of the village by the Nazis and the good news - on January 21, 1943 - the liberation after a five-month occupation of our village Shablievka as a result of bloody fights.
I remember how, at the age of 17, with our peers, we collected and buried the dead Red Army soldiers, how we took the wounded to the hospital of our military stud farm named after S.M. Budyonny.
After serving in the army in 1950, F. Reshetnyak became a staff member of the Salsky Bolshevik newspaper. In 1971 he published the book "A ticket to life" about the proletarian orphanage. In 2006 he published the book "Nabat over Russia", in which he described fighting of our 281st separate anti-aircraft artillery battalion. The book is quite impressive - 423 pages. I received this book as a gift from him with the inscription: “To my dear friend of front-line youth Vasily Martynovich Vasilchenkov and his faithful friend in life Annushka from the author of this book. With deep respect, Fedor Reshetnyak. 26.10.06"

Historical formulary

521st anti-aircraft missile regiment

(military unit 51838)

1804th anti-aircraft artillery regiment of small caliber (04/03/1955)
521st Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (08/09/1960)

04/28/1944 the regiment was awarded the Red Banner

Formation

In Leningrad on June 16, 1943, the commander of the 243rd regiment of the MZA, lieutenant colonel Kutaev the formation of 1804 small caliber zenap(small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery).

The basis of the formation were:

• 243rd Directorate of the MZA regiment;
• divisions MZA 115, 169, 189, 192, 194, 351 zenap of the Leningrad Air Defense Army ( Dir. Org of the Directorate of the General Staff).

Assigned field mail number 51838.

Participation in battles and campaigns

War time

1943

From the day it was formed, the regiment took part in the Great Patriotic War as part of the Leningrad Air Defense Army.

The regiment defended the most important objects of Leningrad:

• Smolny,
• 5th HPP,
• Kirov plant,
• plant them. marty,
• plant them. Stalin
• plant "Red Vyborzhets",
• factory "Bolshevik",
• plant GOMZ,
• factory "Krasnaya Zarya"
• airfields: Uglovo, Yanino, Smolnaya, Kasimovo.

Regiment Command Post: Leningrad, New lane, 6.

Rear of the regiment: Leningrad, st. Herzen, 55.

During the raid on St. Lake Ladoga, our aircraft fought with enemy aircraft, when returning to the airfield, the 12th FV-190 was attacked. The 12th battery opened fire and knocked out one FV-190.

06/23/1943 during a raid on st. Lake Ladoga, our aircraft fought with enemy aircraft, when returning to the airfield, the 12th FV-190 was attacked. The 12th battery opened fire and knocked out one FV-190.

In the period 16.10-24.10.1943 from the air. The 10th and 12th batteries were removed at an angle, from the aer. Kasimovo - 4th battery and redeployed to cover the City reservoir, Kirovsky bridge, 2nd hydroelectric power station, instead of them, the 13th and 14th batteries were placed to cover the airfields. The 3rd battery was relocated: the 1st platoon - to a strong point near the Finland Station, the 2nd platoon - to a strong point near the 5th hydroelectric power station. 12/23/1943 The 12th battery was placed to cover the loading of troops to break through the blockade in the area of ​​​​the village of Lisiy Nos.

1944

On January 17, the 13th, 15th batteries and DKP-5 were relocated to the area of ​​the railway bridge in Shlisselburg.

04/28/1944 the regiment was awarded Red flag.

In March 1944, the second platoons of the 1st, 2nd, 9th batteries were included in the nomadic platoons to cover airfields and communications with operational subordination to the commander of the 77th air defense.

During the first half of 1944, the batteries of the regiment fought to destroy small groups of enemy aircraft. 55 combat firings were carried out.

In August, all 15 batteries were reorganized from 4 to 6 gun batteries.

post-war period

1945

In August 1945, the batteries of the regiment were removed from the air defense facilities and transferred to the barracks (Leningrad, Izmailovsky Prospekt, 13).

In September, the regiment was reorganized into 3 divisions, of which one was training and two were linear (923 people).

1946

The regiment switched to peacetime states.

1949

4 gun batteries were understaffed to 8 gun batteries.

1955

The 1804th small caliber zenap was assigned the number 521st zenap.

1958

1960

Changed name to 521st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment letter "A" and transferred to the 28th Air Defense Corps.

Since May 22, 1960, it has been part of the 28th air defense and is based in the city of Borshchev, Ternopil region.

Name changed 521st Air Defense Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment (DGSh VPVO dated 08/09/1960).

1961

The chief of staff of the regiment is called Chief of Staff - Deputy Commander of the Regiment. In divisions, the senior adjutant is the chief of staff, deputy. division commander, in divisions groups are called divisions, in technical divisions (tdn) the first group is the second division, the second group is the third division, the third division is the first division.

1962

Two framed divisions are deployed in the regiment to the full strength.

1967

A group of specialists for the S-200 air defense system has been formed.

1988

The S-75 division of the 312th srp was introduced into the 521st srp.

1989

The 4th S-75 and 1 S-200 battalions were disbanded.

1999

Regiment disbanded November 30, 1999.

Command

Regiment commanders:

• post office Kutaev Konstantin Konstantinovich (1943-1945)
• p/p-to Bliznyuk Vasily Mikhailovich (1945-1946)
• colonel Nakashidze Anton Mikhailovich (1946-1951)
• colonel Nosov Boris Anatolyevich (1951-1954)
• p/p-to Semyonov Semyon Ivanovich (1954-1960)
• p/p-to Shulyakovsky Konstantin Stepanovich (1960-1963)
• p/p-to Yakovlev Nikolai Vasilyevich (1963-1966)
• colonel Zeynalov Mantur Abdulalievich (1966-1971)
• p/p Shashkov Anatoly Yakovlevich (1971-1973)
• p/p Davidenko Stanislav Vladimirovich (1973-1974)
• p/p Fomenko Vasily Ivanovich (1974-1977)
• p/c Matveev Anatoly Alexandrovich (1977-1982)
• colonel Urgachev Vladimir Demyanovich (1982-1987)
• p/p-to Skarkov Oleksandr Vasilyevich (1987-1989).

Chiefs of Staff:

Political officers:

• Mr. Rakitchenko Nikolai Kondratievich (1943)
• Mr. Tyrov Sergey Nikolaevich (1943-1944)
• p/p-to Petrov Andrey Ivanovich (1944)
• Mr. Tarasov Nikolai Alekseevich (1944-1946)
• p/p Sazhin Panteleimon Mikhailovich (1946-19...)
• p / p-to Shirokov Petr Ivanovich (1949)
• p/p-to Reshetnyak Georgy Eliseevich (1950)
• p/p Klyuchko Andrey Alexandrovich (1958)
• Mr. Yakovlev Nikolai Vasilyevich (1960)
• Mr. Fedyanin Ivan Petrovich
• p/p-to Chebaturkin Victor Efimovich (1966)
• Mr. Lyubimsky Leonid Alexandrovich (1967)
• Mr. Korenitsky Alexander Alexandrovich (1970)
• p/p-to Zadahya Ivan Romanovich (1974)
• Mr. Firsov Fedor Frolovich (1976)
• Mr. Shabunevich Bronislav Bronislavovich (1978)
• Mr. Novgorodsky Anatoly Dmitrievich (1979)
• Mr. Usoltsev Alexander Leonidovich (1985)
• Mr. Kardash Alexander Viktorovich (1987).