Potapov, Dmitry Sergeevich

Dmitry Sergeevich Potapov was born on October 5, 1924 in the village of Novaya Yukhnovsky district of the Kaluga province ^[1] in the family of a peasant Sergei Fedorovich Potapov. Russian In the late 1920s, S. F. Potapov left to work in Moscow . In the fall of 1930, he took his six-year-old son to him and placed him in school. In 1937, D. S. Potapov graduated from the seven-year plan. Then he studied at the vocational school No. 25. Until the summer of 1941, he worked as a mechanic at the factory "Red Proletarian". In the early days of World War II, Dmitry Sergeyevich came to the Moskvoretsky district military registration and enlistment office, but instead of the front he was sent to build defensive fortifications near Moscow. When he returned to Moscow, his factory was already evacuated. Potapov refused to go to the Urals and in February 1942 he was sent to the 1st Moscow Infantry School named after the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, which he graduated on February 6, 1943.

From February 25, 1943, Junior Lieutenant D.S. Potapov in the field army as commander of a platoon of the 224th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 72nd Guards Rifle Division , the formation of which ended in the Moscow Military District . In March 1943, the division was included in the 64th army of the Voronezh Front . D.S. Potapov received baptism of fire on March 19, 1943 in defensive battles at the Seversky Donets . In April 1943, the 72nd Guards Rifle Division was transferred to the 7th Guards Army and took up defense on the southern front of the Kursk Bulge in the Korochinsky direction. On July 5, 1943, on the first day of the Battle of Kursk, the second lieutenant D. S. Potapov was shell-shocked and captured. In September 1943, he managed to escape from the prisoner of war camp. Until December 1943, Dmitry Sergeyevich fought in the partisan detachment named after Dzerzhinsky, after which he crossed the front line with a group of partisans.

After a two-month check in the bodies of the NKVD, D. S. Potapov was again sent to the army in the rank of lieutenant. On February 26, 1944, he took command of a rifle platoon in the 585th rifle regiment of the 213th rifle division of the 7th Guards Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front . Participated in the Uman-Botoshanskoy operation . In March 1944, he was wounded in a battle for the Khmelevoye village of the Kirovograd region of the Ukrainian SSR . On May 18, 1944, Lieutenant D. S. Potapov returned to his regiment and was appointed commander of a platoon of anti-tank rifles . But already on May 30 he was transferred to a similar position in the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 932th Infantry Regiment of the 252nd Infantry Division of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front ^[2] . Until August 1944, a platoon of Potapov participated in defensive battles for the dominant heights north of Iass . Before the start of the Iasi-Chisinau operation, the 252nd Infantry Division was transferred to the 4th Guards Army and participated in the encirclement and liquidation of a group of German-Romanian troops east of Chisinau . A platoon of anti-tank rifles by Lieutenant Potapov in his area reflected an attempt to break through an enemy group with a force of up to 6 armored personnel carriers and 30 machine gunners. Dmitry Sergeyevich personally knocked out one armored personnel carrier in a battle, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star . On September 4, 1944, the 252nd Infantry Division was withdrawn to the reserve of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for rest and replenishment.

On November 3, 1944, the 252nd Infantry Division was again thrown into battle as part of the 4th Guards Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front during the Budapest Strategic Operation . Lieutenant D. S. Potapov with his platoon fought the way from the Danube to Lake Balaton , as part of his unit liberated the city of Szekesfehervar . At the end of February 1945, the division in which Dmitry Sergeyevich fought joined the 46th Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front and fought northwest of Budapest . During the Vienna offensive that began on March 16, 1945, units of the 46th Army defeated the opposing German and Hungarian forces and captured the right-bank part of Komarom on March 28. The army commander was assigned a combat mission in front of the 252nd Rifle Division: to force the Danube and, with the support of the 30th Breakthrough Artillery Division, clear the left bank of the city from the enemy ^[3] . The forested island of Sentpal in the Danube channel made it difficult for the enemy to see and allowed them to quietly concentrate landing forces and transfer means in the place chosen for crossing. Subsequently, the commander of the 23rd Rifle Corps S. A. Andryushchenko recalled:

The enemy’s group, defending the left bank of the Danube, as well as its fire system, could only be scanned in general terms. Therefore, we decided to start crossing the river with small reconnaissance groups. In the afternoon, they monitored the actions of the Nazis, studied the opposite shore, the location of the firing points in the enemy’s defense, and with the onset of darkness they had to begin crossing

- Andryushchenko S. A. We started on Slavutich ... - M.: Military Publishing, 1979.

One of such reconnaissance groups also included a platoon of anti-tank rifles of Lieutenant D. S. Potapov.

On the night of March 30, 1945, the Potapov armor-piercers, sitting on the bow of the landing boats, were among the first to set sail from the right bank of the Danube. The enemy discovered the crossing point when there were 100-150 meters to the coast, and opened heavy automatic and machine-gun fire. By returning fire from anti-tank rifles, the fighters of Potapov suppressed the identified enemy firing points. Having landed on the left bank, the paratroopers ford overcame a canal, flowing parallel to the riverbed, and attacked German positions on the dam in the vicinity of the village of Utruy-Flots ^[4] four kilometers west of Komarom. In a short hand-to-hand battle, the German soldiers defending this section were destroyed, and the landing detachment was fixed on the conquered bridgehead . At dawn on March 30, the Germans launched a counterattack by large infantry forces with the support of 10 tanks, 2 self-propelled artillery mounts and 5 armored personnel carriers. Skillfully arranging fire from anti-tank rifles, Lieutenant D. S. Potapov ensured the repulsion of several counterattacks of superior enemy forces. At the same time, D. S. Potapov showed exceptional courage in battle: constantly changing his position, he always found himself with his anti-tank rifle in the most difficult part of the defense and forced enemy equipment to retreat with precise aiming fire. While the battle was on, the main forces of the division were already crossing the bridgehead captured by the paratroopers. However, by the time reinforcements arrived, Lieutenant D. S. Potapov heroically died. He was buried near the dam at the battlefield ^[5] . For the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command at 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 May 15, 1946, Lieutenant Potapov Dmitry Sergeyevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

• The Gold Star Medal (05/15/1946, posthumous);
• Order of Lenin (05/15/1946, posthumously);
• Order of the Red Star (09/18/1944);
• Medal "For Courage" (12/30/1944).

• 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 .
• Heroes of the Fire Years: Essays on Muscovites - Heroes of the Soviet Union / ed. ed. A. M. Sinitsyn. - M .: Moscow Worker, 1985. - T. 8. - S. 623-630. - 703 s.
• Polenkov K.A., Khromienkov N.A. Kaluzhane - Heroes of the Soviet Union. - Kaluga: Prince. Publishing House, 1963. - S. 256—257. - 402 s.
• Polenkov K.A., Romanova T.V., Khromienkov N.A. Kaluzhane - Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of Russia. - Kaluga: Golden Alley, 2000 .-- S. 303-304. - 478 p. - ISBN 5-7111-0320-2 .

• Public electronic document bank “The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived March 13, 2012.

Presentation to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (Neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.

Order of the Red Star (award sheet and award order) (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.

Medal "For Courage" (award sheet and order for awarding) (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.

• The generalized database “Memorial” (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived May 10, 2012.

TsAMO, f. 33, op. 11458, d.769 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 33, op. 11458, d. 658 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 58, op. 18001, d.306 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 33, op. 11458, d. 269 (neopr.) .

TsAMO, f. 33, op. 11458, d.52 (neopr.) .

• Potapov, Dmitry Sergeevich (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".
• Potapov Dmitry Sergeevich on www.az-libr.ru (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.
• All Kaluga residents are heroes (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.
• Buried thrice. Kaluga Provincial Gazette. No. 9 (7843) 08/23/2012 (neopr.) . Date of treatment February 9, 2013. Archived February 14, 2013.