Rakov, Vasily Sergeevich

Vasily Sergeevich Rakov was born on January 1, 1914 in the village of Selichnya, Sevsky district, Oryol province (now the village of Suzemsky district, Bryansk region ) in a peasant family. Russian . He graduated from four classes of primary school. He worked in the personal farm peasant father. In 1932, as a result of the famine that began in the USSR, Vasily Sergeevich moved to the Urals in search of a better lot. He worked at the Prigorodny State Farm of the city of Nizhny Tagil as a shepherd and milk curer. He graduated from zootechnical courses.

V. Rakov was drafted into the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army by the Nizhny Tagil city military registration and enlistment office in April 1936. He served in the Far East in the 23rd separate sapper battalion of the 40th rifle division of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army . He graduated from the school junior commanders, was appointed commander of the demining department. After serving urgent service, remained on the extra urgent.

In connection with the increase in tension on the border with Manchuku, the OKDVA command was actively developing the border area in engineering terms. In the summer of 1938, the division of the junior squad platoon of V. S. Rakov as part of his battalion worked on the construction of the Voroshilov road ^[1] - Khasan near the village of Barabash . In response to the continuing provocations by the Japanese military on the Soviet-Chinese border, on July 1, 1938, the OKDVA was deployed to the Red Banner Far Eastern Front (from July 23, 1938 - the Far Eastern Red Banner Front), and the 40th Infantry Division entered the 1st Primorskaya army . Soon began the redeployment of its parts in the area of ​​Lake Hassan . The 23rd separate sapper battalion was redeployed to the area of ​​the village of Kraskino , where it carried out engineering support for the parts of the division advancing to the border. On July 12, 1938, the Soviet border guards occupied the controversial frontier hills Zaozernaya and Bezymyannaya, which was the reason for the further escalation of the conflict.

On July 24, 1938, Japanese troops attacked the positions of Soviet border guards at disputed heights, and having captured them on July 31 from the third attempt, they began to hastily build fortifications. Until August 6, 1938, the 23rd separate sapper battalion did not participate directly in hostilities. His personnel heroically worked on the arrangement of the road through difficult and highly wetland terrain, through which parts of the 40th rifle division and tanks attached to it were transferred to the southern tip of Lake Hassan. During the general offensive, which began on August 6, 1938 at 16.00 local time, the branch of the junior squad commander, V. S. Rakov, carried out engineering support of the tanks assigned to the division and ensured their access to the foot of the Zaozernaya hill. Then Vasily Sergeevich with his fighters together with the tank crews and infantrymen of the 118th Infantry Regiment participated in the assault on the height. His squad was one of the first to burst into enemy trenches and, in a fierce hand-to-hand fight, acting with grenades, rifle butts and sapper blades, broke the resistance of the enemy and knocked him out of the occupied lines. By 10 pm, part of Zaozernaya Hill was in the hands of Soviet soldiers. The Japanese soon launched a fierce counterattack, but the junior squadron A.V. Rakov with the rest of his squad in the ranks kept the lines occupied. When repelling the Japanese counterattack, Vasily Sergeevich was seriously contused, and after the end of the battle he was evacuated to the hospital. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 25, 1938, the junior military platoon Rakov Vasiliy Sergeevich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Thus, Vasily Sergeevich became the first military man of the engineering troops to be awarded the highest rank of the USSR.

More than two months A.V. Rakov was treated at the hospital. Back in service, Vasily Sergeevich decided to associate his further service with the army, and soon he was sent to study at a military engineering school. After graduation, the hero hasanovan was left there for teaching work and until 1943 he trained engineering personnel for the front. In August 1943, after graduating from the post-graduate courses for officers of the engineering troops, A.V. Rakov was assigned to the 231st rifle division of the 1st Red Banner Army , where he took command of the sapper company of the 339th separate sapper battalion. Until the summer of 1945, the battalion was engaged in the construction of roads in the border strip. Before the beginning of the Soviet-Japanese war, Captain V.S. Rakov held the position of deputy battalion commander. In August-September 1945, he took part in the Manchurian operation , during which the sappers were engaged in restoring the roadway in the lane of the 1st Red Banner Army. According to the battalion commander captainV.P. Romashkova, Captain Rakov, “quickly eliminated traffic jams that were created on the roads. When an enemy aircraft raided, they skillfully organized group fire ” ^[2] .

After the war, Captain V. S. Rakov continued to serve in the engineering units of the Far Eastern Military District as a regimental and divisional military engineer. In 1961, during the military reform of N. S. Khrushchev , accompanied by large-scale reductions in the army, Major V. S. Rakov was transferred to the reserve. After completing his military service, Vasily Sergeevich settled in Bryansk . Until the early 1980s, he worked as a master of the production association Electron of the All-Union Society of the Blind . After entering the well-deserved rest, he actively participated in the military-patriotic work among the youth and the veteran movement. Vasily Sergeevich died on June 26, 2001. He was buried in Bryansk in the Soviet cemetery.

• The title of Hero of the Soviet Union (10.25.1938) ^[3] ;
• Order of Lenin (10/25/1938);
• Order of the Red Banner ;
• Order of the Patriotic War, 1 st degree (11.03.1985)
• two orders of the Red Star (10/03/1945; ??);
• medals, including:
  • Medal "For the victory over Japan . "

• Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. College I. Shkadov . - M .: Military Publishing , 1988. - T. 2 / Lyubov - Yashchuk /. - 863 s. - 100 000 copies - ISBN 5-203-00536-2 .
• Golden Stars of Sverdlovsk: a collection of essays and memories of Sverdlovsk - Heroes of the Soviet Union. - 2nd ed., Corr. and add. - Sverdlovsk: Middle Ural Prince. Publishing house, 1970. - p. 408. - 454 p.
• I. I. Kuznetsov, I. M. Dzhoga. The First Heroes of the Soviet Union (1936-1939). - Irkutsk: Publishing House of Irkutsk State University, 1983. - P. 110-111. - 223 s.

• The publicly available electronic bank of documents "The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." (Unidentified) .

Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (information from the card awarded to the 40th anniversary of the Victory) (Unidentified) .

Order of the Red Star (award list and award order) (Neopr.) .

• Rakov, Vasily Sergeevich (Rus.) . The site " Heroes of the country ."
• Rakov Vasily Sergeevich on www.az-libr.ru ( Neopr .) .
• Suzem region. Rakov Vasily Sergeevich (Neopr.) (inaccessible link) . The date of circulation is October 16, 2013. Archived October 16, 2013.
• Bryansk region. Rakov Vasily Sergeevich (Neopr.) .