Young people now know very well popular actors and singers, prominent politicians, and not everyone is interested in people who have done something great decades ago. But the older generation is well aware of the General Panfilovās 316 rifle division, which frustrated the capture of Moscow at the cost of their own lives. In the war and postwar years, many newspapers wrote about the division, and all 28 Panfilovās posthumously became Heroes of the Soviet Union. It would seem that what could be wrong here? Indeed, the feat of these fearless people is evident. But there were materials proving that the 316th rifle division was no worse and no better than other units holding back the fascists on the outskirts of Moscow. In each of them, our soldiers heroically died, for which for some reason no one says anything, but not all of the 28 Panfilovās died. Moreover, not all of them were heroes, some of them even became traitors. What is it - pouring mud on the feat of Soviet soldiers or the desire to reveal the truth to people? In this article, based on genuine documents, we restore the course of events of those years so that both young people and the older generation will learn the whole truth about heroes.
General Panfilov
The commander of the 316th rifle division, the famous I.V. Panfilov, was an extraordinary man. He was born on 12/20/92 (old style) or 01/01/93 (new), so he found both the revolution and the First World War. In 1915, he fought in the tsarist army, but from 1918 he became a Red Army soldier, fought along with the great Chapai, and was personally acquainted with him.
The legendary commander appointed the young Panfilov as a scout and more than once noted his courage, insolence, courage and ability to cope with the most dangerous tasks with virtually no loss. This commander and human talent - to protect his fighters and at the same time win victories over the enemy - the commander of the 316th rifle division and just a wonderful person will save until the last minutes of his life. In any circumstances, he will take care of each of his fighters, as his own son, for which he will be called Aksakal, and later Batey. Even 3.5 years after the ridiculous death of Panfilov, one of the soldiers of his division would write in Berlin on the wall that he was a Panfilov and add the words: "Dad, thanks for the boots."
Birth of the 316th Rifle
After graduating from the Kiev infantry school, Panfilov ended up in Central Asia, where he fought with the Basmachi. And everywhere, even in the most dangerous mountainous regions teeming with Basmachi, next to him was his dear wife and the most faithful friend Mashenka, Maria Ivanovna. Battle-hardened, courageous, courageous and at the same time wise fighter of the Soviet army I.V. Panfilov in 1938 was appointed military commissar of the Kyrgyz Soviet Republic. And in this position, he paid the lion's share of attention to young fighters, but not only their drill training, but also ordinary household needs, which is not characteristic of all commanders.
At the beginning of July 1941 I.V. Panfilov left for Alma-Ata, where he proceeded to form a strong combat unit, called the "316th Rifle Division." Panfilov personally selected people into it, preferring Komsomol activists and young communists. Creating such a large unit, the main task of which was the fight against the Nazis, Panfilov did not forget that his fighters were primarily people, and only then soldiers, so he knocked out for them normal accommodation conditions, food supplies, suitable amenities, even organized music concerts, and all women got stockings and skirts instead of footcloths and trousers.
Military training
The legendary 316 rifle division, having accomplished hundreds of exploits, was not at first a well-coordinated combat unit, since the fighters who made it had little knowledge of military art, and many were even afraid of tanks. Therefore, I.V. Panfilov made military training of his division staff the main task, for which he was allocated only one month. He demanded that the company commanders and battalions train people in discipline, endurance, and at the same time, given that the composition of the 316th rifle division included people of 34 nationalities (there were even people who did not understand a word in Russian), indicated a special approach to the soldiers to unite them all into a friendly family. The training consisted of long march-throws, forcing rivers, taking high-rises, digging trenches and trenches, conducting combat, and erecting crossings. In order to overcome the fear of tanks in his fighters, Panfilov arranged training tractor attacks, during which the soldiers sat in the trenches, waited for the tractors to pass over them, and then threw them with training grenades.
Baptism of fire
The soldiers of the 316th Infantry Division took the oath on July 30, and on August 18 arrived near Novgorod and joined the 52nd Army. While not at the forefront, division fighters conducted a series of reconnaissance operations. Lieutenant Korolev was especially distinguished with his platoon, capturing the "tongue", a machine gun and destroying several Germans. This was their first sortie, ending with a success that greatly enhanced the mood of the fighters.
But large-scale military operations near Leningrad 316 the rifle division did not carry out and in early autumn was sent to the Moscow direction, to the 16th army of Rokossovsky. The Panfilov 316th rifle division was to block the path of the Nazis to Volokolamsk and took up defense on a 50-kilometer stretch of the front. Here, Kurganovās 857th artillery regiment joined the division, but Panfilov didnāt have enough anti-tank military equipment, although even anti-aircraft mounts and our glorious Katyushas were used.
Panfilov's military tactics
Panfilov, beloved by both commanders and soldiers, the general of the 316th Infantry Division paid much personal attention, because he well understood the complexity of the task. To increase the chance of victory, he himself applied the developed battle tactics, convincing the personnel that the offensive, even in the most unpredictable situations, was preferable to defense. Later this technique will save the lives of hundreds of fighters, in fact confirming the main law of his Bati, who has repeatedly told fighters that he does not want their death, wants them all to survive.
Here is just one of many glorious examples where Lieutenant Kraev distinguished himself. His company occupied a high-rise, but was taken into a tight ring by tanks and enemy infantry. Kraev, being doomed to die, suddenly went on the offensive and not only broke through the ring, but also destroyed 3 tanks and a large number of fascists, and himself with the company escaped from the encirclement. Later, one of the Germans wrote that it was very difficult to defeat the soldiers of the āwildā 316th division, since they always acted suddenly, not obeying any rules of warfare.
Fights near Volokolamsk
Many innovations were introduced by the commander of the 316th Infantry Division. One of the tricks was even dubbed the āPanfilov loopā and began to be used in other sectors of the front. However, despite all efforts, the 316th also suffered defeats. So, the Germans launched a powerful attack on October 15, throwing a large number of tanks at Panfilovās division. Only on the left flank, where the 1075th regiment courageously fought, there were more than 150 units. The battles were incredibly heavy, but the 316th rifle division escaped encirclement, destroying the plans of the Nazis, as Panfilov managed to help his 1075th with a large amount of anti-tank artillery in time.
After 4 days, the Germans got closer to Moscow and occupied individual villages. In these battles, the highest heroism was shown by Captain Lysenko, who held the defense of the village of Ostashevo, Captain Molchanov, who killed 6 tanks with his soldiers. But the Germans were eager for Moscow, ignoring their losses. Already on October 25 they threw about 120 tanks to Panfilovās division. To save his soldiers, Panfilov ordered to retreat and surrender Volokolamsk. From the tribunal for this act Rokossovsky saved him, and the same from execution - Zhukov.
The battle for Moscow
Inspired by success, the Nazis continued to attack. November 16 came, the day of the most difficult (according to Zhukov) battle for Moscow and the day when 28 soldiers of the 316th rifle division completed their unprecedented feat. The Germans went all-in, the Wehrmacht threw as many as 2 divisions into the Volokolamsk direction. The infantry division helped them. According to the recollections of the surviving fighters, tanks were going on them, on which the infantry was sitting and firing ceaselessly. Our fighters did not even have to raise their heads in order to look where to throw grenades. At the same time, planes bombed them from above. All this avalanche of death was opposed by one 316th Panfilov Rifle Division.
At dawn, a powerful attack began on Dubosekovo, where the 1075th Infantry Regiment was stationed. He was commanded by Ilya V. Kaprov. At the same time, the 6th company defended Shiryaevo, the 4th ā directly Dubosekovo, the 6th ā the section between Petelino and a height of 251. The enemy threw about 60 tanks into the 4th company, and ours only had 1 anti-tank gun and 2 PTR platoons !
The battle lasted 4 hours. During this time, Panfilovās killed 18 enemy tanks and destroyed several hundred soldiers. The official version is as follows: all 28 fighters of the company were killed, but the enemy was stopped. Also killed was a political instructor, thirty-year-old Vasily Klochkov, who owns the famous phrase that Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat, since Moscow is behind.
The death of Panfilov
For the great feat of the 316 Panfilovās rifle division on November 17 became the Eighth Guards Rifle. In addition, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Panfilov was very happy about this, since he had long dreamed that his division would become a guard. On November 18, he met with his daughter Valentina, a nurse in his own division. During the meeting, Ivan Vasilievich was summoned to headquarters in the village of Gusenevo to talk with Moscow correspondents. The conversation was in the dugout and was interrupted by a message about a new tank attack by the Nazis. Panfilov hastened to the street, to his fighters, jumped out of the dugout. At that moment, a shell exploded nearby. In front of amazed people, the general began to settle. By a diabolical coincidence, a tiny splinter hit him right in the temple. The glorious hero was buried in Moscow, at the Novodevichy cemetery, and his divisions were given the name Panfilovskaya.
Trophies and Losses
During the most difficult military operation of World War II, which was November 16-19, not only the beloved commander of the 316th rifle division, defending Moscow, was killed. The motherland in these battles lost thousands of its heroes. So, at the beginning of the formation, the 316th division consisted of 11,347 fighters, and by November 16 there were about 7,000 of them left. In particular, in the 1075th regiment there were 1534, in 1073th - 1666, and in 1077th - 2078 soldiers and commanders. After the fatal battle in the 1075th regiment, 120 people remained, including the wounded, in 1073th - 200, and in the largest regiment, 1077th - there were only about 700 soldiers. The losses, of course, are terrible. In the famous 4th company, only 20 out of 140 people survived. In total, in the infernal boiler Dubosekovo - Kryukovo, the Panfilovites "cooked" for two months. During this time, they destroyed 9,000 Nazi soldiers, about 100 tanks, defeated 4 German divisions - 1 tank, 1 motorized and 2 infantry.
Afterword to the Feat
The materials show that on November 16 several thousand of our glorious fighters who defended Moscow died. Why is the whole world known only the feat of 28 soldiers of the 316th Infantry Division? This happened with the filing of the workers of the newspaper "Red Star" Otenberg, Krivitsky, Koroteev. Krivitsky admitted that he invented his essay under the pressure of circumstances. The 1075th commander, surviving after the battle, I.V. Kaprov officially stated that the journalists had not personally met with him and received no information and that in that famous battle, not more than 28, but more than 100 Panfilovās were killed. They all fought like devils, defending every inch of their native land, but there was no feat of 28 people. All the names (which I remembered) of their fighters, who became famous Panfilov, Krivitsky was dictated by the captain of that same 4th company, Gundilovich, and this happened 2 months after the battle, and Klochkovās phrase was composed by Krivitsky himself.
Fatal and Annoying Mistakes
Undoubtedly, the 316th rifle division fought not just heroically, but on the verge of human capabilities, only 28 not glorified people, but every single one. But thanks to the dishonesty of those who personally did not risk their lives, the feat of all the soldiers was reduced to the heroism of a small group of people. So, Krivitsky lied that he managed to hear about the battle in the hospital from one of 28 Panfilovās members, Natarov, who soon died. But he could not do this, since at the time of the famous battle he had been dead for 2 days. Among the dead and awarded posthumously Panfilovās there is Daniil Kuzhebergenov (Kozhabergenov), who was captured by the Germans during the battle. Subsequently, he fled to the forest, wandered there until he was found by the cavalry of the Soviet general Dovator. By that time, the title and award had already been written out to him, so in the documents his name and surname were urgently replaced by Askar Kuzhebergenov, who was awarded it. But this fighter also did not participate in the famous battle, since he arrived in the 316th division only in January 1942.
The following errors are happy. So, Panfilovās Pavel Gundilovich (commander), Illarion Vasiliev, Dmitry Timofeev, Grigory Shemyakin, Ivan Shadrin were posthumously awarded. After the battle, they all survived and received their awards, being in good health. Gundilovich, unfortunately, died in April 1942, the rest managed to survive the war.
Hero or traitor?
The most egregious fact overshadowing the glory of the 316th Infantry Division is the episode with Ivan Evstafievich Dobrobabin, the former division commander. Gundilovich, when he called his last name, did not know that Dobrobabin was captured and went to serve as a policeman and even became the head of the police, so eagerly performed his duties, although he was considered a Hero of the Soviet Union, like the rest posthumously. When he was arrested, the decree granting him the title was canceled, and the traitor was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Later, Dobrobabin petitioned to remove the shameful stigma from him, but he was refused all the time. He was rehabilitated only in 1993, after the declaration of independence of Ukraine.
Other panfilovtsi
Not only the 4th company of the 316th Infantry Division distinguished itself on November 16. For example, 120 soldiers of the 1st company defended the village of Matrenino. They were commanded by Lieutenant Filimonov. They destroyed several tanks and 300 fascists. Of the 6th company that stood near Petelino, only 15 people survived the attack. This handful held the defense for several hours, blew up 5 tanks, but all 15 soldiers died. Under the command of the young lieutenant Kraev, the 2nd company held a skyscraper 231.5 and generally did not have anti-tank shells and weapons, but somehow managed to undermine 3 tanks, destroy 200 Nazis, take a trophy of 3 machine guns and 1 car. Near the village of Yadrovo, 20 of our soldiers, commanded by lieutenants Islamkulov and Ogureev, defeated a battalion of fascist submachine gunners.
Feats were performed on other days. On November 17, 17 soldiers of the 1073th regiment stood to death near the village of Mykanino. 15 fighters were lost, but 8 of 25 tanks going to them were destroyed. On November 18, 11 soldiers of the 1077th regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Firstov, beat off the attacks of a whole battalion of fascists and tanks at the village of Strokovo for several hours (until the last living person). It is a pity that so little is known about the exploits of these heroes.