Afanasy Beloborodov biography. Afanasy Beloborodov - peasant son, commander, hero

- (1903 90) Army General (1963), twice Hero Soviet Union(1944, 1945). During the Great Patriotic War, commander of an infantry division and corps, and since 1944 commander of the army. In 1957 63 head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. IN… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Beloborodov Afanasy Pavlantievich- [p. 18(31).01.1903, village of Akinino, now Irkutsk region], army general (1963), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (22.7.1944 and 19.4.1945). Member of the CPSU since 1926. Born into a peasant family. In 1919‒20 he was in a partisan detachment Far East. IN… …

Beloborodov Afanasy Pavlantievich- (1903 1990), army general (1963), Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945). During the Great Patriotic War, commander of an infantry division and corps, and since 1944 commander of the army. In 1957 1963 head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. In 1963... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary

Beloborodov Afanasy Pavlantievich- ... Wikipedia

Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov- ... Wikipedia

Beloborodov- Beloborodov surname. Famous bearers: Beloborodov, Alexander Georgievich, one of the organizers of the execution of Nicholas II and his family, Soviet political and party leader. Beloborodov, Andrey Yakovlevich (1886 1965) Russian... ... Wikipedia

BELOBORODOV- 1. BELOBORODOV Alexander Georgievich (1891 1938), chairman of the executive committee of the Ural Regional Council in 1918; one of the direct organizers of the execution of the former Emperor Nicholas II and his family. In 1923, 27th People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR. Repressed...Russian history

Beloborodov- I Beloborodov Alexander Georgievich, Soviet statesman and party leader. Member of the Communist Party since 1907. Born in the Perm province into a working-class family; electrician. Conducted party work in the Urals.... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Beloborodov A.P.- BELOBORODOV Afanasy Pavlantievich (b. 1903), army general (1963), twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Union (1944, 1945). Member CPSU since 1926. Member Citizen. wars (partisans). In Sov. Army since 1923. Graduated from the Military. acad. them. M. V. Frunze (1936). In Jan. June 1941… … Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: encyclopedia

Beloborodov A.P.- BELOBORODOV Afanasy Pavlantievich (190390), army general (1963), twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Union (1944, 1945). In Vel. Fatherland war com. shooter divisions and corps, since 1944 commands. army. In 195763 beginning. Ch. Personnel Department of the Ministry of Defense. IN… … Biographical Dictionary

Biography

BELOBORODOV Afanasy Pavlantievich, Soviet military leader, army general (1963). Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (22.7.1944, 19.4.1945). Born into a peasant family. Graduated from 3rd grade of a rural school. During the Civil War, from 1918, he fought as part of Uvarov’s red partisan detachment in the Irkutsk province. In January 1920, the detachment united with units of the advancing Red Army, and Beloborodov voluntarily joined the Red Army and was enlisted in the 8th Irkutsk Rifle Regiment of the 1st Chita Rifle Division. In March of the same year, he was transferred to the reserve due to illness and being underage. In September 1923 he was drafted into the Red Army and studied at the 9th Irkutsk, and from September 1924 - at the 11th Nizhny Novgorod infantry school. Upon completion of the latter, in November 1926, he was appointed platoon commander in the 6th Khabarovsk Rifle Regiment of the Siberian Military District. In August 1929, after graduating from the Leningrad military-political courses named after. F. Engels, appointed company political instructor to the 107th Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division of the Siberian Military District. In 1929 he took part in battles on the Chinese Eastern Railway (near Zhalaynor in Manchuria).

In April 1933 he was sent to study in Military Academy Red Army named after. M.V. Frunze, after which, from November 1936, he served in the Far East as assistant chief and chief of the operational unit of the headquarters of the 66th Infantry Division. Since March 1939, head of the operational department of the headquarters of the 31st Rifle Corps. In June of the same year he was appointed chief of staff of the 43rd Rifle Corps, and in September he was awarded military rank colonel. From November 1940 he temporarily served as commander of this corps. In May 1941, Colonel A.P. Beloborodov was appointed head of the combat training department of the Far Eastern Front headquarters.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in July 1941 he was appointed commander of the 78th Infantry Division of the 15th Army of the Far Eastern Front. In early November, the division arrived from the Far East to the Western Front, where, as part of the troops of the 16th Army, it took part in the battle of Moscow. For the heroism shown during the defense of Ruza, the division was reorganized into the 9th Guards Division on November 27, 1941, and its commander A.P. Beloborodov was awarded the military rank of Major General. During the Klin-Solnechnogorsk offensive operation, he commanded the operational group of the 16th Army. In April - May 1942, the 9th Guards Rifle Division was at the disposal of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, and in May it was redeployed to the Southwestern Front. From June 10, as part of the 38th and 21st armies of the Southwestern, then the Stalingrad fronts, she participated in the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad and Stalingrad defensive operations. In August - September 1942, the division was re-equipped in the South Ural Military District, and then became part of the Kalinin Front. Since October 1942, Major General A.P. Beloborodov commanded the 5th Guards Rifle Corps, which, as part of the 3rd Shock Army of the Kalinin Front, took part in the Velikiye Luki offensive operation. In August 1943, he took command of the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps. As part of the 39th Army, he participated with him in the Dukhovshchinsko-Demidov offensive operation. Subsequently, the corps under his command as part of the 4th Shock and 6th Guards Armies successfully operated in the Nevelsk and Gorodok offensive operations. In February 1944, Beloborodov was awarded the military rank of lieutenant general, and in May of the same year he was appointed commander of the 43rd Army. Acting as part of the strike group of the 1st Baltic Front, its troops took an active part in the Vitebsk-Orsha offensive operation in June. In difficult conditions of wooded and swampy terrain, they managed to break through the heavily fortified, deeply echeloned enemy defenses and, pursuing him, crossed the river on the move. Western Dvina. Working closely with the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, the army participated in the encirclement and destruction of the enemy’s Vitebsk group. For skillful leadership of troops in this operation by Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR dated July 22, 1944 to Lieutenant General A.P. Beloborodov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Subsequently, the army under his command participated in the Siauliai and Memel offensive operations, in the liberation of Lithuania, the withdrawal of troops of the 1st Baltic Front to the Baltic Sea and blocking the enemy group on the Courland Peninsula. In January - April 1945, its troops as part of the 3rd Belorussian Front took part in the East Prussian offensive operation and distinguished themselves in the liquidation of the enemy group in the Königsberg area. For successful fighting during the storming of Koenigsberg A.P. Beloborodov was awarded the second Gold Star medal and was given the military rank of Colonel General. After the capture of Königsberg, the 43rd Army was transferred to the 2nd Belorussian Front and from May 1, 1945, participated in the liquidation of the enemy group surrounded in the Danzig area. On May 5, 1945, he was awarded the military rank of Colonel General.

At the end of hostilities in Europe, Colonel General A.P. Beloborodov left for the Far East, where in June he took command of the 1st Red Banner Army of the Primorsky Group of Forces. In August - September 1945, the army under his command, as part of the troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front, took part in the Manchurian strategic offensive operation. During the Harbino-Girin operation, its troops, in cooperation with the 5th Army, broke through the Dongning fortified area and captured the city of Lishuzhen on the third day of the offensive. Then, having crossed the river. Mulinghe, its advanced troops overcame the Mishan fortified area and captured the cities of Mishan and Mudanjiang, launching a rapid offensive towards Harbin. After the liberation of Harbin A.P. Beloborodov was its first military commandant and head of the city garrison.

After the war, he continued to command the 1st Red Banner Army until April 1946, then was appointed head of the Combat Training Directorate of Rifle Troops of the USSR Armed Forces. From July of the same year he commanded the 5th Guards Army in the Central Group of Forces, and from December he was Deputy Commander-in-Chief of this group of forces. In May 1947, Colonel General A.P. Beloborodov was appointed commander of the 39th Army of the Primorsky Military District, stationed in Port Arthur. From May 1953 he headed the Combat Training Directorate Ground Forces, and in September he was appointed head of the Higher Rifle and Tactical Advanced Courses for Officers of the Soviet Army “Vystrel” named after. B.M. Shaposhnikova. In July 1954, he was appointed chief military adviser to the Ministry of National Defense of Czechoslovakia and military attaché at the USSR Embassy in Czechoslovakia. From October 1955, he commanded the troops of the Voronezh Military District, and in May 1957, he was appointed head of the Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense and a member of the Board of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In February 1963 A.P. Beloborodov was awarded the military rank of army general, and in March he was appointed commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District. On October 23, 1966, he was in a car accident and received severe injuries; he was in the hospital for more than a year, but returned to duty. Since June 1968, military inspector-adviser of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He died in Moscow and, according to his will, was buried at the Snegiri Memorial Military Cemetery (Moscow region, Istrinsky district), next to the mass grave of the soldiers of his division who died defending Moscow.

Awarded 5 Orders of Lenin, Order October Revolution, 5 Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov 1st and 2nd class, Kutuzov 2nd class, Order of the Patriotic War 1st class, “For service to the Motherland in Armed Forces USSR" 3rd class, medals; foreign orders: GDR - “For Services to the Fatherland”, Mongolia - “Polar Star”, Czechoslovakia - White Lion “For Victory”, Yugoslavia - Military Flag, medals of a number of states.

Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov(January 18 (31), 1903, village of Akinino-Baklashi, Irkutsk province - September 1, 1990, Moscow) - Soviet military leader, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 78th Infantry Division, which stopped the German offensive on Moscow on the 42nd in November 1941 kilometer of the Volokolamsk Highway, commander of the 43rd Army, which liberated Vitebsk from the German occupiers and participated in the assault on Koenigsberg, army general.

Biography

Afanasy Pavlantyevich Beloborodov was born on January 18 (31), 1903 in the village of Akinino-Baklashi, Irkutsk province (now the village of Baklashi, Shelekhovsky district, Irkutsk region), into a peasant family. In 1919-1920 he fought in a partisan detachment in the Far East. He began serving in the Red Army in 1923. In 1923 he entered the 9th Irkutsk Infantry School, which was disbanded in 1924, and completed his studies in Nizhny Novgorod, at the 11th Infantry School in 1926. He graduated from the Military-Political Courses in 1929 and the Military Academy. Frunze in 1936. Participated in battles on the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1929. Member of the CPSU(b) since 1926.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, from October 1941, he commanded the 78th (from November 26, 1941 - 9th Guards) Rifle Division, which distinguished itself in the Battle of Moscow. From October 1942, he was the commander of the 2nd Guards Rifle Corps, and from May 1944, he commanded the 43rd Army, which participated in the Belarusian operation, in particular, in Operation Bagration in June 1944, as a result of which Vitebsk was liberated. At the head of the same army he participated in the liberation of Lithuania and in the East Prussian operation. During the war against imperialist Japan in August 1945, he commanded the 1st Red Banner Army.

After the war, from 1946 to 1953, he was commander of the army, then worked as head of the Vystrel course, from 1955 he commanded the troops of the Voronezh Military District, and in 1957 he was appointed head of the Main Personnel Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since 1963, he was commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District. Since 1968 - inspector-adviser of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Member of the CPSU Central Committee from 1966 to 1971. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 3rd and 7th convocations. Honorary citizen of Vitebsk.

Afanasy Pavlantyevich Beloborodov died on September 1, 1990. He was buried at the Snegiri Memorial Military Cemetery.

Awards and titles

• Title twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 22, 1944 and April 19, 1945:
  • Order of Lenin,
  • Gold Star medals No. 4157 and 5542.
• 4 Orders of Lenin.
• Order of the October Revolution. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 30, 1973.
• 5 Orders of the Red Banner
• Order of Suvorov 1st degree.
• Order of Suvorov, II degree.
• Order of Kutuzov, II degree.
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 11, 1985.
• Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" III degree. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 30, 1975.
• Medal "For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 9, 1945.
• Medal "For Victory over Japan". Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of September 30, 1945.
• USSR medals.

Awards from foreign countries:

• Order "For Military Merit" (Mongolia) (Mongolian People's Republic);
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland (GDR) in gold;
• Order of the Military Flag (SFRY);
• Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria;
• medals.

• Honorary citizen of Irkutsk

Memories

Afanasy Pavlantyevich Beloborodov went through a glorious military path and was known as a brave and decisive military leader. He fought successfully in Belarus in subsequent operations and later in Eastern Manchuria. The last major post he held was commander of the Moscow Military District. In a car accident, he seriously damaged his health, which forced him to leave such vigorous and fruitful activity. During the Belarusian operation, despite the complexity of the combat situation, the young army commander A.P. Beloborodov very skillfully led the army troops.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky Life's work. - M: Politizdat, 1975.- P.449.

Among the outstanding commanders and military leaders of our country there are many who went through the harsh Far Eastern school. Here Marshals of the Soviet Union V.K. gained combat experience. Blucher, G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, K.K. Rokossovsky, I.S. Konev, N.I. Krylov, R.Ya. Malinovsky, K.A. Meretskov, S.S. Biryuzov, A.I. Eremenko, V.I. Chuikov, army generals A.P. Beloborodoye, I.I. Fedyuninsky, G.I. Khetagurov and others.

Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov lived a glorious and great life. He was born on January 18 (31), 1903 in the village of Akinino (now Irkutsk region). Already at the age of 16 he took part in civil war in the Far East as part of the 8th Irkutsk Regiment of the 1st Chita Rifle Division.

“As a sixteen-year-old teenager, I picked up a rifle and went to defend Soviet power,” recalled A.P. Beloborodov. - Received baptism of fire in Uvarov’s partisan detachment in Irkutsk. In 1923, together with three fellow countrymen, he crossed the threshold of the Irkutsk Infantry School and became a cadet. In 1926 he graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Infantry School. The cadets Krysin, Shestakov, and Aksenov and I were given the right to choose our place of service, since we had the highest scores in the final exams. All four asked to go to the Far East...”. After graduating from the infantry school, A.P. Beloborodoye served in the 6th Khabarovsk Regiment as a platoon commander. Senior comrades, for example political worker V.N. Bogatkin, tried to help him achieve high results in his service, to become an example for the Red Army soldiers and regiment commanders. To be honest, there was once a period when Beloborodov spent his free time carelessly. In the company of older officers who had been trained in the pre-revolutionary army, he sometimes played preference with them until the morning. As a result, he showed up for duty sleep-deprived. Naturally, this harmed his official activities. Conversations with V.N. Bogatkin (during the Great Patriotic War - lieutenant general (1942), member of the Military Councils of the North-Western, 2nd Baltic, Leningrad fronts) forced the young platoon commander to think seriously about himself and the quality of his service. And the result was not slow to show. Soon his platoon became the best in the unit. Then he studied at the Engels military-political courses in Leningrad and was appointed political instructor of the company of the 107th Vladimirovsky Regiment. In the Far East, in particular on the Amur land, the young commander of a machine gun platoon underwent a brilliant school of military training. It was here, already in the position of political instructor of a rifle company, that he had the opportunity to take part in his first battle.

On November 17, 1929, Soviet soldiers launched an offensive against large forces of White Chinese and Russian White Guards. “By order of the company commander Lepeshko, we turned into a chain,” recalled A.P. Beloborodov,” they dashed towards the hill. The fire intensified, the first wounded appeared, the company lay down. Lepeshko rose to his full height: “Comrades, forward, follow me, hurray!” And then he fell, struck by a bullet. He rushed towards him - he was killed! I can’t say that at that moment I was thinking somehow coherently. There was only one thought: “The commander has been killed, I am a political instructor, the soldiers are looking at me, I must...”. He jumped up, shouted something, and ran towards the hill. I didn’t feel the ground beneath me, I heard the clatter of boots behind me, bullets were whistling, freshly dug trenches, blackened by parapets, seemed to be moving towards me, people in black clothes were getting out of there and running away from us up the slope of the hill... They jumped into the trenches, into They are only killed white Chinese. "Forward!"

In this battle, A.P. Beloborodov showed not only personal courage, but also remarkable leadership abilities. The battle was won, Beloborodov’s company was the first to break into Zhalainor. Soon the first Order of the Red Banner appeared on the chest of the future army commander - the highest award of the Soviet state of those years.

A.P. Beloborodov served for about four years in the 107th Infantry Regiment in Transbaikalia, in a taiga village. “Once they sent us from the district headquarters a thick book,” he recalled, “the exam program for the M.V. Military Academy. Frunze". At first, he was overwhelmed by doubts: whether he was able to study at this famous university. However, supported by his wife in his decision to study, he draws up a strict preparation schedule. For more than two years, Beloborodov purposefully prepared to enter the academy, studying for two hours on weekdays, four on Saturday, and six on Sunday. I canceled my vacation trips.

In 1933, A. Beloborodov passed the exams, first at the division headquarters, and then at the headquarters of the Transbaikal Group of Forces. With several comrades he was sent to Moscow. Having successfully passed exams in 17 subjects in 45 days, he was enrolled to study at the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze.

After graduating with the rank of senior lieutenant, he again received an appointment to the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army - assistant chief of the operational unit of the headquarters of the 66th Infantry Division.

The authors of many publications about the military path of A.P. Beloborodov was not mentioned that in the pre-war years he served in units of the 12th Infantry Division, located on the territory Amur region. And the service there, as they say, “didn’t seem like honey” to him. In a recently published book by the famous military historian, Doctor of Sciences O.F. Suvenirova “Tragedy of the Red Army 1937-1938” - (M.: TERRA, 1998) the authors found the following material. In the chapter “Atmosphere” there are the following lines: “Commanders, especially young ones, reacted very painfully to the manifestation of outright rudeness, and even outright rudeness on the part of senior commanders. Many of them sincerely believed that with the abolition of military ranks and insignia, any politeness was almost bad form.

A number of commanders, unencumbered by culture, mastered the “obscene language” almost perfectly. One of these lovers of “obscene education” of subordinates was the commander of the 12th Infantry Division (Blagoveshchensk) Smirnov. The future general of the army, and then the chief of staff of the 35th rifle regiment of this division A.P. Beloborodov complained in 1935: “And the work is going well, and you want to work, but you have to run away from the division. It’s impossible to live with a division commander.”. He was echoed by the chief of staff of the training artillery division Proskuryakov: “It’s stuffy. I can't breathe. They bother you with dirt, but you remain silent".

On the eve of the war A.P. Beloborodoye headed the combat training department of the Far Eastern Front headquarters. He was awarded the military rank of "Colonel". Soon after the German attack on the USSR - July 11, 1941 - he was appointed commander of the 78th Infantry Division in Khabarovsk.

In mid-October 1941, by order of the command, the division, plunging into 36 echelons, departed to the West at the speed of courier trains.

And so the 78th Division2 joined the ranks of the defenders of the capital. On October 14, 1941, she received a directive from the Supreme Command Headquarters on her inclusion in the active army. On the last October night of 1941, the division unloaded in the forests southwest of the city of Istra, positioned on both sides of the railway and the Volokolamsk highway. On November 3, the division was included in the 16th Army, commanded by K.K. Rokossovsky.

In fierce battles to defend the capital of our Motherland, the 78th Infantry Division under the command of AL. Beloborodova fought to the death. Even their enemies noted the particular resilience of the Far Easterners. Thus, the German General Gepner, commander of the 4th Panzer Army, trying to justify the failure of one of his divisions, noted in his notes: “It is opposed by the 78th Siberian Division, which does not leave a single village, not a single grove without a fight.”.

In these battles A.P. Beloborodov brilliantly passed the harsh test of military leadership maturity. He was promoted to major general and awarded the second Order of the Red Banner. In the battles in the Stalingrad direction, the Siberian successfully commanded the 5th Guards Rifle Corps. And he and his troops more than once received gratitude from the command there.

During the Belarusian operation A.P. Beloborodov confidently leads the 43rd Army, which distinguished itself in the defeat of the Vitebsk enemy group. Commander of the 1st Baltic Front, Marshal I.Kh. Bagramyan later noted in his memoirs “the exceptional persistence and determination of the commander of the 43rd Army, Lieutenant General A.P. Beloborodov, and the high fighting qualities of the troops he led, which manifested themselves during the operation.” For his military skill, the army commander was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on July 22, 1944.

He became a Twice Hero on April 19, 1945 for his skillful leadership of troops during the assault on Konigsberg, the citadel of Prussian militarism. Colonel General A.P. demonstrated the high art of troop leadership, personal courage and determination. Beloborodov, commanding the 1st Red Banner Army of the 1st Far Eastern Front in the war against Japan. Having overcome seemingly impassable mountains and taiga, Beloborodov’s army reached the city of Mudanjiang, cutting off the retreat route Vth Japanese army, and then capturing her. The army commander was awarded the Commander's Order of Suvorov.

After the war A.P. Beloborodov held a number of major posts in the Soviet Army: he commanded troops in Port Arthur, was the head of the combat training department of the Ground Forces, the head of the higher officer courses “Vystrel”, and successively commanded the Voronezh and Moscow military districts.

Afanasy Pavlantievich paid great attention to the military-patriotic education of youth. His books of memoirs “Through Fire and Taiga”, “Feat of Arms”, “Breakthrough to Harbin”, “Always in Battle” are very popular. Since 1953, on Labor Square in Irkutsk there has been a bronze bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General A.P. Beloborodov, made by sculptor G.I. Motovilov and architect L. M. Polyakov. The name of the remarkable army commander is etched in the centuries.

Notes:
1. Souvenirov O. F. The tragedy of the Red Army 1937-1938. - M.: TER RA, 1998. P. 51-52.
2. The 78th Rifle Division began its formation in June 1939 in Novosibirsk and ended it on the banks of the Amur. At the beginning of November 1941, under the command of Colonel A.P. Beloborodova fought in the Volokolamsk direction near Moscow.
On May 3, 1942, she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and her 22nd Infantry Regiment was awarded the Order of Lenin. Subsequently, the 9th Guards, fighting near Stalingrad near the city of Serafimovich, distinguished itself in the battles for Vitebsk and liberated the Kalinin region. The division ended the war in the Baltic states - it liberated the city of Shauliap, participating in the liquidation of the Kurland group.

Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov was born January 31, 1903 in the village of Baklashi, Shelekhovsky district, Irkutsk region. Beloborodov was the first military professional in his peasant family and devoted his entire life to military affairs. Near Moscow in 1941, on the Volokolamsk highway, Beloborodov’s division won its first and far from last victory. Twice - for the Vitebsk operation and for the capture of Koenigsberg - he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. There were other high awards: the “Marshal Star” insignia, the Order of Lenin, Suvorov, the Red Banner - in total more than 50 domestic and foreign regalia. But, having reached such heights, Afanasy Pavlantievich remained simple in communication and never hid the fact that he came from a very poor Siberian family.

Pavel Migalev

The beginning of the military journey
Two years before the start of the Great Patriotic War, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, the formation of the 78th Infantry Division began in Novosibirsk as part of the Siberian Military District. At this time, fighting was already taking place in the area of ​​the Mongolian Khalkhin Gol River (May 1939). A fresh division was urgently transferred from the city to the Ob River to the Far East.
The location of the 78th Infantry Division was the Khabarovsk Territory with its headquarters in Khabarovsk. Less than a month had passed since the beginning of the war, when it was headed (from July 11) by Colonel Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov. He immediately launched energetic work to improve the military skills of the soldiers and officers of the division entrusted to him. The training took place in the harsh Ussuri taiga conditions, as close as possible to a combat situation. Before this, Afanasy Beloborodov headed the combat training department of the headquarters of the Far Eastern Front and had almost 20 years of service experience in the Red Army. In 1936, the Siberian graduated from the Military Academy named after. M.V. Frunze.
He received his baptism of fire in a partisan detachment in 1919-1920. At the age of 20 he became a fighter in the Red Army. At the age of 25 - a company commissar, a participant in the battles on the Chinese Eastern Railway. At the same time, Beloborodov received his first award - the Order of the Red Banner.
Legendary Siberian regiments
The division departed for the front from the Far East on October 17, 1941. 36 letter trains moved west at courier speed, towards Moscow. Even at junction stations, stops were no more than five to seven minutes. On October 28, 1941, units of the division unloaded near Moscow, at the Nakhabino, Istra, and New Jerusalem stations. It was a full-fledged personnel division, staffed according to wartime standards (14,161 soldiers and officers). Most of them are Siberians. On November 1, 1941, the division became part of the 16th Army, which was then commanded by Lieutenant General K.K. Rokossovsky, the future Marshal of the Soviet Union and twice Hero of the Soviet Union.
The 78th Rifle Division took its first battle in the Volokolamsk direction on November 4. The enemy group that the Siberians had to face included the 252nd Infantry, 10th Panzer and Motorized SS Division "Reich" with its regiments "Führer", "Deutschland" and "11 SS". The Germans immediately felt that they were Siberians. This was written about in German headquarters reports; the fortitude and courage of the Siberians was discussed at the headquarters of Colonel General Gepner, commander of the 4th Panzer Group and the entire Army Group Center, Field Marshal Bock.
"My division, my general"
A rare case, frankly, an outstanding one, but after three weeks of hostilities, the 78th Rifle Division became the 9th Guards Division. November 28, 1941 People's Commissar Defense of the USSR Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin signed the corresponding order. The document noted the courage, perseverance, courage, heroism of the entire division personnel and the special merits of the division commander Afanasy Beloborodov. He was awarded the military rank of major general. After the end of the Moscow Battle, the banner of the division of the fearless fellow countryman was decorated with the Order of the Red Banner.
The famous Soviet writer Alexander Bek, in his book “At the Front and in the Rear,” talked about how the Siberian regiments fought near Moscow: “The first days of the November German offensive on Moscow,” writes Beck, “I, a military correspondent for the magazine “Znamya,” spent in the 78th Infantry Division they fought not just like that, but according to all the rules of combat training, not only combat soldiers, but also drivers, clerks, signalmen, and cooks. During these days, I met many people from the division and spent several hours with it. commander - Colonel Beloborodov. He seemed to me as extraordinary as his division, and I confess - I fell in love with him. A few days later, when I returned to Moscow, I read in the newspapers that the 78th Infantry was a reward for courage and perseverance. the division was renamed the 9th Guards, that Colonel Beloborodov was awarded the rank of major general. I read and smiled: it seemed to me that this was my division and my general.”
Seven parades on Red Square
After the successful counter-offensive of the Red Army near Moscow, Major General Beloborodov commanded the division in the fierce battles near Vyazma as part of the 33rd and 43rd armies.
Soon the division commander was awarded the rank of lieutenant general, and he headed the 43rd Army. When she finished fighting off the coast of the Baltic Sea, near Koenigsberg, Beloborodov was sent to command the army in the Far East. As part of the 1st Far Eastern Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov), Beloborodov's army distinguished itself in the Harbino-Mukden offensive operation.
On June 24 of the victorious year of 1945, Beloborodov walked in the line of army commanders of the 3rd Belorussian Front, which was headed by the front commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky.
After the defeat of the Kwantung Army on September 8, 1945, a parade took place in Manchuria Soviet troops in honor of the victory over imperialist Japan. In Harbin, the parade was assigned to the head of the city's garrison, Colonel General Beloborodov.
Later, when he was commander of the Moscow Military District, already with the rank of army general, Afanasy Pavlantievich commanded the parade on Red Square in Moscow seven times.
Honorary citizen of many cities
After the end of the war, General Beloborodov commanded the army in the Central Group of Forces - in Eastern Europe. In 1947 he was again in the Far East. He headed a group of troops on the Liaodong Peninsula, in the Port Arthur area; then - head of the "Vystrel" courses, chief military adviser in Czechoslovakia, commanded the troops of the Voronezh Military District. For seven years, Beloborodov was the head of the Main Personnel Directorate and a member of the board of the USSR Ministry of Defense, and then the commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District, which included formations and units stationed in sixteen regions of central Russia and the capital.
Next - an absurd accident: while traveling to one of the formations, Beloborodov got into a car accident. Fortunately, he survived. After recovery, he was appointed to the post of military adviser-inspector of the group of inspectors general of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Actually up to last days our fellow countryman was in military service.
Beloborodov was buried with full military honors in the cemetery of the military memorial complex at the 42nd kilometer of the Volokolamsk highway. It was here that in 1941 there was an impregnable line for the enemy, at which the Siberian Beloborodovites stopped the Germans.
A bronze bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov was installed in Irkutsk. The famous commander was an honorary citizen of the cities of Irkutsk, Istra and Krasnogorsk in the Moscow region, Vitebsk and Shumilin in Belarus. Streets in Moscow, Mytishchi, and Vitebsk are named after him. The films “One Day in the Life of a Division Commander” and “The Peasant’s Son” were created about the army general. Afanasy Pavlantievich himself managed to write several books: “Always in Battle”, “Breakthrough to Khingan”, “Feat of Arms”, “Through Fire and Taiga”.
Unfortunately, the house where Afanasy Beloborodov was born and lived until he was 16 has not been preserved in Baklashakh. But his fellow countrymen remember him. Both as a general and as a patron. Beloborodov came to Baklashi and made a lot of efforts to have the local dilapidated wooden school rebuilt into a brick one. In 2003, a memorial plaque, and the school itself was named after him. This means that the memory of the village boy who went through the horrors of war, became a general and twice a Hero, lives on.