Grechko, Andrey Antonovich

1938 year

Andrei Antonovich Grechko was born on October 4 (17), 1903 in the settlement of Golodaevka (now the village of Kuibyshevo , Kuibyshevsky District , Rostov Region ) into a peasant family. Ukrainian ^[1] .

In the Red Army - since 1919. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1926.

He graduated from the cavalry school (1926), the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze (1936) and the Military Academy of the General Staff (1941).

Member of the Civil War , private.

After graduating from the cavalry school, he commanded a platoon , a squadron .

Since October 1938 - chief of staff of the Special Cavalry Division of the BOVO , participated in the campaign in Western Belarus in September 1939.

In the early days of World War II, Lt. Col. Grechko served in the General Staff .

From July 1941, he commanded the 34th Cavalry Division, which entered the battle with the Nazi invaders south of Kiev in the first half of August and, until January 1942, fought with the 26th Army , 38th Army , then the 6th Army on the Left Bank Ukraine.

Since January 1942 - the commander of the 5th cavalry corps, who took part in the Barvenkovo-Lozovsky offensive operation . Since March 1942, he led the operational group of forces, which, as part of the Southern Front, operated in the Donbass .

From April 1942, he was the commander of the 12th army defending in the Voroshilovgrad direction, from September he was the commander of the 47th army , and from October he commanded the 18th army fighting in the Tuapse direction .

Since January 1943, he was the commander of the 56th Army , which, in the course of fierce battles, broke through the strongly fortified enemy defenses and entered the approaches to Krasnodar , and in February-April, as part of the North Caucasus Front, it participated in the Krasnodar offensive operation . In September 1943, troops of the 56th Army, in collaboration with the 9th Army and the 18th Army, liberated the Taman Peninsula during the Novorossiysk-Taman offensive operation.

From October 1943, A. A. Grechko was deputy commander of the Voronezh troops (from October 20 - the 1st Ukrainian ) front.

Since December 1943 - the commander of the 1st Guards Army , which participated in the Zhytomyr-Berdychiv , Proskurovo-Chernivtsi , Lviv-Sandomierz , West Carpathian , Moravian-Ostrava and Prague operations. Victory Day met in Prague.

I knew Andrei Antonovich from the first days of the war. In this difficult time of 1941, he worked in the Operations Directorate of the General Staff. Even then, he was distinguished by the desire for independent work in the troops. Andrei Antonovich persistently asked for the front and soon went to the North Caucasus on a business trip and there, on the recommendation of the commander, he was appointed commander of the cavalry division. In the war we did not often have to meet, but I knew the reviews about him well, and they were the most positive. Soon A. A. Grechko became army commander, and then deputy front commander and ended the war, again at his very request, commander of the 1st Guards Army. A. A. Grechko has extensive combat experience and already in the war gained recognition as a talented commander ....

- Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union A. Vasilevsky The business of a lifetime. Second edition, supplemented. - M: Publishing house of Political literature, 1975. S.399.

After the war ended until 1953, A. A. Grechko commanded the troops of the Kiev Military District .

Since 1953 - Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (since 1954 - Group of Soviet Forces in Germany ); in this position he organizes the suppression of the June 1953 popular uprising .

In 1955, he was awarded the highest military rank “ Marshal of the Soviet Union ”. Since November 1957 - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces of the USSR .

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 1, 1958, for the courage and heroism shown in the struggle against the Nazi invaders, Andrei Antonovich Grechko was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the awarding of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Since 1960 - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR - Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Armed Forces of the States Parties to the Warsaw Pact .

From April 1967 until his death in 1976 - Minister of Defense of the USSR . One of the organizers of the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1961 - 1976 (candidate from 1952 ), member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1973 - 1976 (first minister of defense included in the Politburo after a 16-year break from Zhukov’s resignation).

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 16, 1973, for his services to the Motherland in the construction and strengthening of the Armed Forces of the USSR and in connection with the 70th birthday, Andrei Antonovich Grechko was awarded the second Gold Star medal.

Since 1973 he was the editor-in-chief of the 12-volume encyclopedic publication History of World War II 1939-1945.

USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union Andrei Antonovich Grechko died on April 26, 1976 . He was buried in Moscow , on Red Square , an urn with ashes was walled up in the Kremlin wall.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Andrei Antonovich was a keen fan of CSKA ^[2] .

Andrei Antonovich was a football fan in the good sense of the word. In CSKA did not expect a soul. I remember when after the war we came to play in Kiev, where Grechko was the commander of the military district, he always met and hosted us. I went to our matches. And having moved to Moscow, he began to pay more attention to CSKA. How much good he did for the club! It is a pity that the other military leaders who headed the Ministry of Defense did not differ in this. Malinovsky, Ustinov, Sokolov was not very interested in sports.

- Yuri Nyrkov , defender of CDSA and the USSR national football team ^[3] .

For CSKA, Marshal Grechko did more than all the USSR defense ministers combined. Thanks to him, the club received at its disposal not only a new stadium , but also an arena, and a base in Arkhangelsk, and a host of other sports facilities ^[3] .

The widow of the “first guard” of the Marshal of Armored Forces M. E. Katukov E. S. Katukov describes Grechko as an arrogant, indifferent and callous person who believed that “everything is allowed to him, everything is possible” ^[4] . An unflattering description was left in the book of memoirs by V.P. Bryukhov , Hero of the Soviet Union, who served as an officer for special assignments at the headquarters of the Main Command of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany in the early 1950s: “taut, with a stone expression on his face ... contempt ” ^[5] .

With the appointment of A. Grechko in 1967 as the USSR Minister of Defense and the beginning of conscription for those with criminal records in the army, hazing blossomed.

• Colonel - assigned 10.07.1941,
• major general - 11/09/1941,
• lieutenant general - 04/28/1943,
• Colonel General - 10/09/1943,
• Army General - 08/03/1953,
• Marshal of the Soviet Union - 03/11/1955.

Soviet awards

• Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (02/01/1958, 10/16/1973).
• 6 orders of Lenin (12.1942, 1945, 02/01/1958, 10.1963, 02.22.1968, 10.16.1973).
• 3 orders of the Red Banner (1941, 1944, 1950).
• 2 orders of Suvorov I degree (1944, 1945).
• 2 orders of Kutuzov I degree (09.10.1943, 08.25.1944).
• Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky I degree (I.1944).
• Order of Suvorov II degree (II.1943).
• Order of Kutuzov II degree (?).
• An honorary weapon with a golden image of the State Emblem of the USSR (02.22.1968).
• Medals of the USSR .

Foreign awards

• Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (10/03/1969).
• Order "For Military Valor" ("Virtuti militari") I degree ( Poland ).
• Order of the “Grunwald Cross” 2nd degree (Poland).
• Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 1st degree (Czechoslovakia).
• Order of Merit, 1st degree (VNR).
• Order of Merit, 5th degree (VNR).
• Commemorative medal of the Czechoslovak Army abroad (Czechoslovakia).
• Dukel Commemorative Medal (Czechoslovakia).
• Medal of Victory and Freedom (NDP).
• Other foreign medals and orders.

• A bronze bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union A. A. Grechko is installed in his homeland, in the village of Kuibyshevo, Rostov Region ^[6]
• His name was given to the Naval Academy (now the N.G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy ).
• Marshal Grechko Avenue existed in Moscow in 1976-1992 (now included in Kutuzovsky Prospekt ). The memorial pylon and annotation boards have been preserved.
• The Marshal Grechko oil carrier , which was part of the NMP fleet.
• Streets in Kiev , Krymsk , Slavyansk, Donetsk region and Rovenky, Luhansk region are named after him.
• A memorial plaque was installed on the headquarters building of the Kiev Military District.
• A memorial plaque is installed on the building of the former Military Academy of the General Staff in Moscow (14 Khulzunova Lane).
• In Krymsk , on the street named after Marshal A. A. Grechko, there is a granite stone with a commemorative plaque on the liberation of the Crimean region by Marshal Grechko.
• A bronze bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union A. A. Grechko is installed in the Czech Republic, on the Alley of Heroes on Dukla ^[7]
• Since January 14, 2015, the name of A. A. Grechko has been held at a secondary school in the Kuybyshevo district center, in the homeland of the marshal.

In the film epic of Yuri Ozerov “ Soldiers of Freedom ” (1977), the role of A. A. Grechko was played by Vasily Lanovoi .

• In the Russian television series "Landing Dad" (2008), the role of A. A. Grechko was played by Vladimir Korenev .
• In the Russian film " Hockey Games " (2012), the role of A. A. Grechko was played by Yuri Chigrov .
• A. A. Grechko was the initiator of filming at the Moscow film studio. Gorky in the 1971 film directed by V. Rogov “Officers” , and the words “There is such a profession - to defend the homeland ”, were said precisely by him.

• Grechko A.A. Through the Carpathians. - M .: Military Publishing , 1970 .-- 432 p. - 100,000 copies.
  • . - 2nd ed., Ext. - M .: Military Publishing, 1972.- 484 p. - 100,000 copies.
• Grechko A.A. Years of war. 1941-1943. - M .: Military Publishing , 1976 .-- 574 p. - 400,000 copies.
• Grechko A.A. Battle for the Caucasus. - M .: Military Publishing, 1967 .-- 424 p. - 50,000 copies.
  • . - M .: Military Publishing, 1969 .-- 424 p. - 50,000 copies.
  • . - M .: Military Publishing, 1971. - 524 p. - 50,000 copies.
  • . - M .: Military Publishing, 1973.- 496 p. - 100,000 copies. - (Marshal G.K. Zhukov gave a low rating to the book ^[8] )

• To the 110th anniversary of the birth of Marshal of the Soviet Union A. A. Grechko (website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation)
• Grechko Andrey Antonovich on the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
• Grechko, Andrei Antonovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".