Antonov, Grigory Yakovlevich

Born on October 9, 1893 in the village of Biryuchya Balka, Tsarevsky district, Astrakhan province (now the territory of the village is hidden by the waters of the Volgograd reservoir ) in a peasant family. In 1903, the Antonov family moved to Kronstadt ^[1] .

Member of the civil war .

Head of the Armored Directorate of the Central Asian Military District .

On June 4, 1940, Colonel G. Ya. Antonov was awarded the rank of Major General of the Tank Forces ^[2] .

Member of World War II. From December 1941 to March 1942 - commander of the armored and mechanized troops of the Western Front . He took part in the defense of Moscow .

From January 3 to August 8, 1943 - deputy commander for combatant part 4 of the Guards Tank Corps of the Voronezh Front .

Member of the Battle of Kursk . During the Belgorod-Kharkov offensive on August 6-7, 1943, the 13th and 12th Guards Tank Brigades of the 4th Guards Kantemirovsky Corps fought fierce battles over the bridge on the Vorskla River near Grayvoron . Corps commander P.P. Poluboyarov entrusted the direct leadership of this operation with his deputy major general Grigory Yakovlevich Antonov. The fate of the battles for Grayvoron, Veliky Pisarevka and Akhtyrka to a decisive degree depended on the outcome of the battle over the bridge.

Tankers met on the streets of Grayvoron dense artillery barrier of the enemy. A large number of tanks were concentrated in the city, including tigers and panthers . Therefore, when trying to break into the city center, Soviet tankers suffered serious losses.

Fulfilling the strategic instructions of the army commander, General Antonov decided: the 13th brigade should not engage in prolonged street battles, but rather break through the northwestern outskirts of the city towards Velikaya Pisarevka, leaving the enemy’s Grayvoron group behind. This task has been successfully completed. The tank battalion of Major A. I. Moroz, with a swift jerk along the Grayvoron – Velikaya Pisarevka highway, started fighting for that regional center of Ukraine that day.

In Grayvoron at that time, a large accumulation of tanks, vehicles, guns, tractors and tankers of the enemy formed. The 12th Guards Tank Brigade, with the support of infantry units, began to force Vorskla. The brigade's task was to destroy the enemy garrison in the city. During August 7, this task was completed, many enemy tanks were shot down, and large trophies were taken.

General Antonov in these battles was located at the location of the first tank battalion of Major A. I. Moroz. He showed the high art of leading large tank formations in battle. The situation was changing rapidly, which required a personal presence to analyze the picture of the battle. Therefore, General Antonov did not move in a tank, but in a passenger military vehicle.

On August 7, Kantemirov’s tankers liberated the Great Pisarevka and started fighting for the village of Yamnoye , on the way to Akhtyrka . Here, a large group of Luftwaffe planes staged a hunt for a command vehicle. During the shelling, G. Ya. Antonov was mortally wounded and could not be saved.

He was buried in the city of Grayvoron.

• Anniversary medal "XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army" ^[3]
• Order of the Patriotic War 1 degree (posthumous) ^[4] .

• The name of General Antonov is immortalized in the name of the street of Grayvoron
• An obelisk is installed on the grave of G. Y. Antonov

• Street of General ANTONOV