Sokolov, Alexey Ivanovich (tanker)

Born in 1918 in the village of Petrovka now in the Asekeyevsky district of the Orenburg region in a peasant family. Russian. Having lost his mother early, he grazed cattle from the age of seven. He graduated from 6 classes of junior high school. After the death of his father, he moved to his sister in Kuibyshev , worked as a student of a turner. In 1936 he moved to his brother in Stalingrad . Prior to conscription, he worked as a turner at the Barricades factory ^[2] .

In 1938 he was drafted into the Red Army . He participated in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 . After demobilization, he worked at the plant ^[2] .

With the beginning of World War II, he was again drafted into the army. Participated in defensive battles near Tula , defended Stalingrad . He was wounded three times. The driver of the T-34 tank of the 328th tank battalion of the 118th tank brigade of the 3rd shock army of the 2nd Baltic front, senior sergeant A. I. Sokolov, made a feat in the battles for the liberation of the Pskov and Novgorod regions ^[2] .

On December 17, 1943, a tank battalion, in which senior sergeant Sokolov served, received the combat mission to take control of the heights near the village of Demeshkovo, Nevelsky District, Pskov Region . Fighting vehicles went on the attack, but fell under heavy enemy fire. Only the lieutenant’s tankS. I. Tkachenko managed to break through closer to strengthening the enemy, but he was stuck in a swamp bog. After the battle with the German infantry attacking a fixed tank, only one radio operator, Viktor Chernyshenko, remained in the tank. Under the cover of darkness, Senior Sergeant Sokolov got to the tank, was wounded along the way, started the engine and tried to pull the tank out of the quagmire, but to no avail. Two tankers took an unequal battle, shooting at the enemy only when he came close. Sokolov was wounded a third time. He was almost unable to move, however, fired shells, helped Chernyshenko to fire until the ammunition ran out. Further, grenades were used ^[2] .

From the award sheet ^[2] :

... In this position, they were 13 days, bleeding, hungry, in the cold, continued to defend their tank. On December 30, 1943, as a result of the advance of our units, the territory on which the tank was located was liberated, Sokolov and Chernyshenko were taken out of the tank and sent to the medical battalion ^[3] , where Sokolov died of wounds on December 31 ...

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 10, 1944 "for exemplary performance of command missions on the front of the struggle against Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time", senior sergeant Alexei Ivanovich Sokolov was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union ^[2] .

He was buried in a mass grave in the village of Turki-Perevoz, Nevelsky District, Pskov Region ^[2] .

• Hero of the Soviet Union (March 10, 1944, posthumously);
• Order of Lenin (March 10, 1944, posthumously) ^[2] .

At the battle site near the village of Demeshkovo, an obelisk with the names of tankers was installed ^[2] . By Victory Day in 2010, the monument was restored, a new granite obelisk was erected ^[4] .

In Volgograd, in 1965, a street was named after A. I. Sokolov, at the beginning of which a memorial plaque was installed. A memorial plaque was also installed on the building of the administrative building of the Barricades factory in 1969. The name of Alexey Sokolov is the Lovetsky school. Forever enrolled in the lists of the military unit ^[2] .

The fate of other tank crew members was different:

• tank platoon commander lieutenant S. I. Tkachenko (born 1918) was seriously wounded during the first German attack on a stationary tank ^[5] , and was taken out of the tank at night to his ^[6] . There is no further information about his fate.
• gunner-gunner of the tank sergeant V. S. Chernyshenko (1925-1997), together with Sokolov, stayed in the tank for 13 days, was discovered by the approaching Soviet units and evacuated to the hospital, where both legs were amputated. The hero of the USSR. After the war he worked as a national judge of the Kalinin district of Chelyabinsk.
• tower shooter senior sergeant A. M. Kavlyugin (1924-1943) at night brought commander Tkachenko to his own; was sent to another crew and the next day, December 18, burned down in a tank ^[7] . Posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree ^[8] .
• driver sergeant M. N. Bezukladnikov (1910-1943) died on December 17 during the first German attack on a stationary tank; posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree ^[9] . He was buried in a mass grave near the village of Ust-Dolyssa ^[10] .

Sergeant Victor Chernyshenko ^[6] :

Frankly, these battles in the siege merged in my memory into one endless battle. I cannot even distinguish one day from another. The Nazis tried to approach us from different angles, in groups and alone, at different times of the day. We had to be on the alert all the time. We slept in fits and turns, one by one. Cold tormented, metal burned hands. Only working with a gun and a machine gun did they get a little warm. But hunger was even harder. No matter how we stretch the miserable food supplies, it lasted only a few days. We both were greatly weakened, especially Sokolov, who was seriously injured ...

What an amazing person he was! He suffered greatly from a severe wound, but I have never heard a word of complaint. On the contrary, Sokolov tried to show that he was feeling well, in every way he encouraged me. It is unlikely that I could stand it if it were not for him ...

• 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 .
• Forever in the ranks. Album. Vol. 2.M., 1973.- S. 158.
• Korznikov A. Thirteen days in a besieged tank / Forever in service. Book 6. M .: Military Publishing, 1973. P. 174-184.
• Sokolov Alexey Ivanovich (1921-1943) / Rossovsky V.P. Golden Stars of the Orenburg Region. Biographical reference. Chelyabinsk, South Ural Book Publishing House, 1989. - 512 p. - S. 405-406.
• Glazunov G. Until the last grenade / G. Glazunov // On the land of Asekeev: dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the district. - Buguruslan, 2004 .-- S. 176-179.
• Korznikov A. Thirteen days of achievement / A. Korznikov // Heroes of thunderstorms. - Donetsk, 1973. - S. 74-81.
• Sokolov A.I. // Zaitsev A.D. Enrolled forever. Prince 2. / A. D. Zaitsev [et al.]. - M., 1990. - S. 254—255.
• Glazunov G. Courage of the tankman / G. Glazunov // Native open spaces (Asekeevo). - 2005. - Apr 7
• Mukhametzyanova R. Feat of the tankman / R. Mukhametzyanova // Native open spaces (Asekeevo). - 2009. - May 7.
• Samarkin M. Immortality / M. Samarkin // Orsk. working. - 1977. - Jan 22
• Secret M. In the besieged tank / M. Secret // South. Ural. - 1983 .-- May 9.
• Sirotkin E. Heroic deed of Sokolov / E. Sirotkin // Testament of Ilyich (Asekeevo). - 1978. - May 9, 11.
  • Bortakovsky T. V. Lost! Unknown pages of the Great Patriotic War. - Veche, 2015. - ISBN 978-5-4444-3590-8

Kargapoltsev S.V. Sokolov, Alexey Ivanovich (tanker) (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ".

• Elena Shiryaeva. Two tankers held back the fascist offensive for 13 days (neopr.) . Arguments and Facts (May 19, 2010). Date of treatment February 24, 2013.
• Leonid Pisanov. Rusk for two. In armor (neopr.) . Parliamentary week, No. 10, С.1,4 (2010). Date of treatment February 24, 2013. Archived March 22, 2013.
• 13 days from the life of one T-34 (neopr.) . oper.ru (02.19.2013). Date of treatment February 25, 2013.