Potapov, Dmitry Kapitonovich

Dmitry Kapitonovich Potapov was born on November 7, 1911 in the village of Prokudskoye, Tomsk district, Tomsk province of the Russian Empire (now Kochenevsky district of the Novosibirsk region ) in a working class family. Russian Grade 6 education. After school he graduated from tractor courses. Prior to being drafted for military service, he worked as a specialist in a state farm . In 1933-1935, D. K. Potapov served in the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army . After demobilization he returned to his native places. He worked as a signalman in a regional communications center. In 1939, Dmitry Kapitonovich graduated from the courses of junior reserve lieutenants. In 1940, through partial mobilization, he was again drafted into the Red Army in connection with the difficult foreign policy situation.

In battles with the Nazi invaders, Junior Lieutenant D.K. Potapov from January 12, 1942 on the Bryansk Front . As commander of a small platoon, he participated in the Bolkhov offensive operation , then in defensive battles in the Belev area. On May 30, 1942, Dmitry Kapitonovich was transferred to the 107th Rifle Division, recently formed as part of the 3rd Reserve Army, and was appointed commander of the rifle company of the 504th Rifle Regiment. On July 7, 1942, the 3rd Reserve Army was transformed into the 60th Army , which occupied the defense north of Voronezh as part of the Voronezh Front . Junior Lieutenant D.K. Potapov participated in the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad operation and subsequent defensive battles on the Don . On August 12, 1942, he was seriously wounded and evacuated to the hospital.

For almost half a year Dmitry Kapitonovich was on treatment. Having received the rank of lieutenant, he returned to the Voronezh Front in February 1943. He continued his service in the 167th Infantry Division of the 38th Army as commander of the infantry platoon of the 2nd Infantry Company of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 520th Infantry Regiment. Participated in the Voronezh-Kastornenskaya and Kharkov operations . After the defeat of the Red Army near Kharkov, the 167th Infantry Division took up defensive positions in the Sumy region of the Sumy region at the Kiyanitsa - Pushkaryovka line , which it held until August 1943. On August 5, 1943, the division went on the offensive during the Belgorod-Kharkov operation of the Battle of Kursk . Having forced the Psel river, the platoon of lieutenant D.K. Potapov through skillful actions contributed to the breakthrough of the enemy defenses near the village of Velikaya Chernetchina . In the battle for the village, Lieutenant Potapov personally destroyed 10 enemy soldiers. He himself was wounded, but did not leave the battlefield and continued to command the platoon. As a result of fierce fighting, the enemy was driven back for Psel and the units of the 167th Infantry Division went to the river directly opposite Sum .

On August 26, 1943, the troops of the Voronezh Front practically without a pause began the Sumy-Pryluky operation . On September 2, 1943, the platoon of lieutenant D.K. Potapov again forced Psel north of Sumy and participated in the assault on the Topoli farm ^[1] . Having defeated five German divisions during the offensive, the troops of the Voronezh Front advanced 270-300 kilometers to the west and reached the Dnieper at the end of September. On September 26, 1943, Lieutenant D.K. Potapov, who was transferred to the post of machine-gun company commander of the 1st Rifle Battalion of the 520th Rifle Regiment during the offensive, crossed the Dnieper near the village of Vyshgorod as part of an assault detachment under the fierce fire of the enemy. The paratroopers quickly seized the bridgehead on the right bank of the river, onto which the main forces of the division crossed. September 28, 1943 Vyshgorod was completely cleared of the Germans. The appearance of Soviet troops directly near Kiev forced the Germans to transfer large reserves to this section of the front. In addition, German aviation managed to bomb the crossing across the Dnieper, which did not allow the command of the 38th Army to introduce tanks and heavy artillery to the bridgehead. On September 29, German troops launched a counterattack near Vyshgorod. For several days, the division’s units repulsed numerous enemy counterattacks, but by decision of the command in the first days of October they were assigned to the Dnieper. On October 8, 1943, Lieutenant D.K. Potapov with his company crossed to the Lyutezhsky bridgehead and participated in fierce battles for his retention. At the beginning of November 1943, the command of the 1st Ukrainian Front managed to covertly concentrate large forces on the Lyutezh bridgehead. It was from here on November 3, 1943, that the Soviet troops dealt the main blow during the offensive operation that began by Kiev . Lieutenant D.K. Potapov particularly distinguished himself in the battles for the liberation of the city of Kiev from November 3 to 5, 1943.

On November 4, 1943, when breaking through the enemy defenses near the Pushcha-Voditsa village, the machine-gun company under the command of Lieutenant D.K. Potapov acted boldly and decisively. Having placed the fire weapons on the tanks, the Potapov machine gunners broke into enemy positions, and firing on the move, inflicted great damage on the enemy. After breaking through the German defense, Dmitry Kapitonovich moved with his fighters towards Kiev and in the evening freed the village of Berkovets , where he was counterattacked by superior enemy forces. Having taken up defense on the outskirts of the village, the company held its position until dusk. With the onset of darkness, Lieutenant Potapov with two soldiers bypassed the Germans from the rear and opened heavy fire at them. Throwing weapons, killed and wounded, the enemy fled in panic. Continuing to clear the way for the rifle units and artillery that followed, the machine gun company Potapov in three days of fighting repelled a total of 13 enemy counterattacks. On November 5, 1943, Dmitry Kapitonovich with his soldiers was one of the first in the division to go to the northern outskirts of the city and engage in street battles. For the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 10, 1944, Lieutenant Potapov Dmitry Kapitonovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

The German command did not accept the loss of Kiev and in November 1943 launched a series of powerful counterattacks on the stretched communications of the 1st Ukrainian Front. D.K. Potapov participated in repelling enemy tank counterattacks in the Fastov region. For the skillful command of the company, Dmitry Kapitonovich was awarded the rank of senior lieutenant. In the winter of 1943-1944, Senior Lieutenant Potapov participated in the liberation of Right-Bank Ukraine ( Zhytomyr-Berdychiv and Korsun-Shevchenkovskaya operations) ^[2] . In the spring of 1944, the 167th Infantry Division was transferred to the 1st Guards Army and participated in the Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation .

Senior Lieutenant D.K. Potapov again distinguished himself during the Lviv-Sandomierz operation . On July 16, 1944, with a breakthrough of the enemy’s defense near the village of Danilovtsi, with a well-organized fire, the machine-gun company of Senior Lieutenant Potapov ensured the successful offensive of the rifle company. On July 19, 1944, the Germans launched a counterattack by force to the infantry battalion with the support of several tanks. With effective fire, the Potapov machine gunners cut off the infantry from the tanks, which forced the enemy to retreat. The skillful actions of the machine gun company did not go unnoticed, and during the operation Dmitry Kapitonovich was transferred to the post of deputy commander of the 1st infantry battalion. During the further offensive, D.K. Potapov was constantly in the battle formations of the infantry. When the commander of the 3rd rifle company failed in battle on July 26, 1944 during the breakthrough of the enemy’s defense on the Gnilaya Lipa River, Senior Lieutenant Potapov, taking command of the company on himself, broke the enemy’s resistance and successfully crossed the water line. On August 1, 1944, he participated in organizing the forcing of the Dniester by rifle companies near the town of Rozdol, Drohobych Region ^[3] , and on August 6, in the liberation of Drohobych . In contrast to the liberation of the city, the 520th regiment of the 167th Infantry Division was awarded the honorary name Drohobychsky.

Even during the Lviv-Sandomierz operation on August 5, 1944, the 1st Guards Army, which included the 167th Rifle Division, was transferred to the 4th Ukrainian Front . From September 1944 to February 1945, the army fought heavy battles in the Carpathians . During the East Carpathian and West Carpathian operations, Senior Lieutenant D.K. Potapov participated in the liberation of the towns of Michalovce and Nowy Targ . In March-May 1945, Dmitry Kapitonovich, as part of his unit, liberated the Moravian-Ostrava industrial region during the Moravian-Ostrava operation . He ended the battle path in Prague .

After the end of World War II, D.K. Potapov was sent to refresher courses for officers. After graduating from them in the same 1945, Dmitry Kapitonovich continued his service in the armed forces of the USSR . He left the reserve in 1955 with the rank of major. Returning to Prokudskoye, he worked as a signalman. In 1965 he moved to the city of Pavlodar . August 11 ^[4] 1974, Dmitry Kapitonovich died. He was buried in the city of Pavlodar of the Republic of Kazakhstan .

• Medal "Golden Star" (01/10/1944);
• Order of Lenin (01/10/1944);
• Order of Alexander Nevsky (12.16.1943);
• two orders of the Red Star (08/31/1944; ??);
• medals, including:
  • Medal "For Courage" (08/28/1943);
  • Medal “For courage before the enemy” ( Czechoslovakia ).

• Streets in the villages of Kochenyovo and Chik of the Novosibirsk Region are named after the Hero of the Soviet Union D.K. Potapov.
• A plaque in honor of the Hero of the Soviet Union D.K. Potapov was installed in the city of Pavlodar of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the address: 13 Mira Street.
• The name of Hero of the Soviet Union D.K. Potapov is MKOU Chikskaya secondary school No. 6 and a school in the village of Prokudsky.

• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium I. N. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1988. - T. 2 / Love - Yashchuk /. - 863 s. - 100,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-00536-2 .
• Stars of valor warrior. About Heroes of the Soviet Union / comp. E. D. Golovin, L. M. Zhivoglyadova. - 2nd ed., Ext. and rev. - Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk Book Publishing House, 1986. - S. 280-281. - 429 p.
• Terenik M. S. On the defense of native borders: on the 65th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. - Pavlodar: House of the Press, 2010 .-- 407 p. - ISBN 978-601-7112-43-1 .
• Pavlodar Irtysh: encyclopedia. - Almaty: Evero, 2003 .-- S. 492. - 677 p. - ISBN 9965-539-13-8 .

• Public electronic document bank “The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 6, 2013. Archived March 13, 2012. :

Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (neopr.) . Date of treatment December 1, 2015. Archived on February 14, 2013.

Order of Alexander Nevsky (award sheet and award order) (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 6, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.

Order of the Red Star (award sheet and award order) (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 6, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.

Medal "For Courage" (award sheet and order for awarding) (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 6, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.

• The generalized database “Memorial” (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 6, 2013. Archived on May 10, 2012.

TsAMO, f. 33, op. 563784, d. 27 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 33, op. 746921, d. 57 (neopr.) .

• Potapov, Dmitry Kapitonovich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Potapov Dmitry Kapitonovich on www.az-libr.ru (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 6, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.
• Novosibirsk book of memory (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 6, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.
• Potapov Dmitry Kapitonovich (neopr.) . Date of treatment May 29, 2019. Archived February 14, 2013.   Kazakhstan