Zholudev, Victor Grigorievich

Victor G. Zholudev was born March 22, 1905 in the city of Uglich in a working class family.

After receiving an incomplete secondary education at the age of 14, he went to work as a raftsman on the Volga . With moving to Moscow in 1921 he worked in the port.

Pre-war time

In May 1922 he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to study at the Moscow Engineering Courses, but was soon transferred to the 2nd Petrograd Infantry Courses, after which in September 1923 he was appointed junior commander of a division school in the 36th Infantry Division ( 5th Red Banner Army ), and in 1924 he was transferred to the 106th Sakhalin Rifle Regiment and appointed to the position of platoon commander.

After completing the Siberian re-training courses of the Red Army command personnel stationed in Irkutsk , in August 1925 he returned to the regiment and was appointed commander of the machine gun platoon of the regimental school, and in 1927 - the post of company commander, after which he took part in hostilities during the conflict on CER , during which he was wounded in the leg.

In November 1929, Zholudev was sent to study for advanced training courses for the command staff for physical education, deployed in Leningrad , after which he was appointed in 1930 to the post of physical training instructor of the 36th Infantry Division (Trans-Baikal Group of Forces OKDVA ), in May 1932 - to the post of commander of a training battalion in the 107th Vladimir Rifle Regiment of the same division, and in May 1934 - to the post of commander of the 36th airborne detachment (Trans-Baikal OKDVA group of forces). After completing two courses of the MV Frunze Military Academy in July of the same year, he was sent to advanced training courses for command personnel for airborne training deployed in Chita , after which he returned to the airborne squad (since May 1935 he was part of ZabVO ). In 1935 he graduated from the conductors courses in Chita.

In July 1936, he was re-appointed to the post of commander of a rifle battalion as part of the 107th Vladimir Rifle Regiment (36th Rifle Division), in August - to the post of commander of a motorized battalion as part of the 57th Special Corps deployed in the MPR . While in this position, Zholudev from July to August 1938 took part in the hostilities near Lake Hassan . In September of the same year he was appointed assistant commander for the combatant unit of the 159th Infantry Regiment ( Volga Military District ), and in July 1939 - to the post of commander of the 110th Separate Infantry Regiment ( Trans-Baikal Military District ), after which he took part in fighting on the Khalkhin Gol River .

In August 1939, Zholudev was appointed deputy head of the combat training department of the headquarters of the Volga Military District, and since January 1940 he served as commander of the first of the 20th and then the 18th reserve rifle brigades deployed in Kazan .

In March 1941, he was appointed commander of the first 199th Infantry Division ( Kiev Military District , but did not take up this position, and in early April he was appointed commander of the 234th Infantry Division , and in May of that year - to the post of commander of the 6th airborne brigade ( 3rd airborne corps , Odessa Military District ), formed in Pervomaisk ( Nikolaev region ).

World War II

With the outbreak of war he was in his former position. The team under the command of Zholudev in the corps in early July was relocated to the Kiev region. Soon , the army group “South” of the enemy reached the Kiev fortified area and occupied the airfield and the village of Zhulyany , located under the city. The commander of the Southwestern Front, General M.P. Kirponos, launched a 3rd airborne corps , the first of which was launched by the 6th airborne brigade, to conduct a counterattack. Zholudev made the decision: to attack the penetrating enemy units from the front with two battalions, when, like the other two, they must strike from the flanks, and then surround and destroy the enemy at the airport. On the morning of August 6, Zholudev gave this order, and as a result, the airfield and the village were liberated, but on the same day the enemy launched a counterattack on the enemy’s positions, and in one of the attacks a group of enemy machine gunners went to the CP brigade. Gathering the staff officers and the commandant platoon, Zholudev organized the defense, after which the attack was repelled. During this battle, Zholudev was wounded, but remained in service.

On the morning of August 7, from the left flank of the 6th brigade, the 212nd airborne brigade was commanded under the command of Colonel I.I. Zatevakhin , and in the evening the 5th airborne brigade was commanded by Colonel A.I. Rodimtsev . During August 8-12 , the enemy launched counterattacks in the defense zone of the 3rd airborne corps, as a result of which he was occupied by the airport, but at dawn on August 13 the corps went on the offensive, during which parts of the enemy retreated from Kiev by 15 kilometers.

At the end of August, the corps was relocated north of Konotop to the Seim River line in order to repel the blow of the 2nd Panzer Group . In early September, Colonel Zholudev was appointed commander of the 212nd Airborne Brigade . On September 7, the 2nd tank group of the enemy launched an attempt to force the river, but the attacks were repelled. On September 9, after German five - hour artillery and aviation training, an attack on enemy tanks began. The reflection of the German attack continued until the evening, when the corps retreated to the Lizogubovsky forest , in the area of ​​which it was surrounded. Parts of the corps united by Zholudev began raids on villages behind enemy lines. On September 17, an order was received to withdraw the corps from the encirclement, after which, after fighting about 200 kilometers, withdrew from the encirclement and on September 29 took up defense on the right flank of the 40th Army . On the same day, Zholudev was recalled to Moscow and on October 1 was appointed to the post of commander of the 1st Airborne Corps , which was being formed in the city of Marxstadt ( Volga Military District ).

In the spring of 1942, three formed brigades were withdrawn from the corps and sent to missions: the 204th brigade landed in the rear of the enemy’s enemy grouping; 1st went to the aid of the surrounded 2nd shock army ; The 211st was landed behind enemy lines in the area of ​​operation of the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps , but only the 1st Brigade returned to the location, after which Zholudev proceeded to form two new brigades. In the same year he joined the ranks of the CPSU (b) .

In July 1942, the 1st Airborne Corps was transformed into the 37th Guards Rifle Division , and Zholudev was appointed its commander. Soon the division was sent to the Stalingrad front and counterattacked the enemy, who crossed the Don in the area of ​​the village of Trekhostrovskaya , as a result of which the enemy bridgehead was liquidated.

On September 30, the division was transferred to the 62nd Army under the command of General V.I. Chuikov and was relocated to Stalingrad on the night of October 3 and then went to the Mokraya Mechetka River , where it counterattacked the enemy, who soon retreated from several streets in the vicinity of the Tractor Plant . On October 14, the enemy went on the offensive at the division site. In the middle of the day, 30 bombers bombed a ravine behind the Tractor Plant, where the Zholudev command post was located. As a result of the bombing, staff dugouts were overwhelmed, and V. G. Zholudev was shell-shocked . Then a week was fought in the workshops of the Tractor Plant, and then they were transferred to the area of ​​the Barricades and Red October factories, during which the division was practically destroyed. After the counterattack near Stalingrad , leaving the consolidated regiment in the city, the 37th Guards Division was sent to reorganize. Soon, in the winter of 1943 , the division conducted military operations during the Kursk operation.

In May 1943, Zholudev was appointed commander of the 35th Rifle Corps , who soon took part in the fighting during the Battle of Kursk and the Bryansk Offensive , as well as in the liberation of the cities of Trubchevsk , Starodub and Novozybkov , and soon in Gomel-Rechitskaya , Rogachev-Zhlobin and Uman-Botoshansk offensive operations .

In the summer of 1944, during Operation Bagration, the corps under the command of Zholudev took part in the Bobruisk operation , during which it was part of the northern strike group of the 1st Belorussian Front . On the first day of the fighting, the corps broke through the enemy’s defenses, and then forced the Olsa and Berezin rivers , liberated the cities of Klichev , Berezino and Svisloch, and over 5 days of combat operations went about 100 kilometers. Then, during the Minsk offensive operation, the corps, after forcing the Drut River and breaking through the enemy’s defense, went to the Mogilev - Bobruisk highway section, and then took part in the liberation of the cities of Cherven and Minsk .

On July 21, 1944, Major General Zholudev, at the head of a group of corps officers, drove to the front line in the Volkovysk area and died in battle. He was buried in Volkovysk ( Grodno region ).

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 11, 1944, for the exemplary performance of command missions at the front of the battle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown to them, Major General Viktor G. Zholudev was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union .

• Medal "Golden Star" (11/11/1944, posthumous);
• Order of Lenin (11/11/1944, posthumous);
• Two Orders of the Red Banner (01/09/1942, 1943);
• Order of Kutuzov 1st degree (07/23/1944);
• two orders of Suvorov 2 degrees (08/27/1943, 1944);
• Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" (1943).

A bust of Zholudev is installed near the building of Volkovysk school number 1, and on the streets of his name in Volkovysk and Volgograd - memorial plaques.

Streets in Kiev , Volgograd, Uglich ( Yaroslavl region ), Volkovysk and Marx ( Saratov region ) are named after him.

In Uglich, the name of V. G. Zholudev was immortalized in Victory Park at the Eternal Flame, and in Volgograd - at the memorial on Mamaev Kurgan .

• Team of authors . World War II: Comcor. Military Biographical Dictionary / Edited by M. G. Vozhakin . - M .; Zhukovsky: Kuchkovo Field, 2006. - T. 1. - P. 18-19. - ISBN 5-901679-08-3 .
• Team of authors . World War II: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary / Ed. Coll .: N. B. Akberdin, I. I. Basik, S. A. Botzvin, n. I. Nikiforov, I. A. Permyakov, M. V. Smyslov . - M .: “Kuchkovo Field”. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation , General Directorate of Personnel, State Institution for Work with Personnel, Institute of Military History of the General Staff Military Academy. The Central Archive ., 2014 .-- T. III. Commanders of rifle, mountain rifle divisions, Crimean, polar, Petrozavodsk divisions, Rebolsky divisions, fighter divisions. - S. 977-979. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0382-3 , UDC 94, BBK 63.3 (3) 722.78.

• Zholudev, Victor Grigorievich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".