Kaprov, Ilya Vasilyevich

Born on June 20, 1898 in the village of Vyazovka, now Volsky District, Saratov Region, in a peasant family. Russian. In 1921 he graduated from the village school.

From June 1917 he served as a private in the Administration of the Volsky district military commander.

Since October 1918 in the ranks of the Red Army . In 1920 he graduated from Tashkent infantry command courses named after V. I. Lenin .

Instructor of the propaganda train of the Volsky district military registration and enlistment office, Red Army soldier of the 1st rifle regiment of the Ural district (December 1918 - September 1919). Assistant Chief, Chief of the Machine Gun Team, Commander of the Company of the 9th Caucasian Rifle Regiment (January 1923 - October 1926). Head of school of the Separate Tajik Mountain Rifle Battalion (July 1929 - October 1931).

During the civil war, he took part in battles against the Basmachis in 1931 in Central Asia in the sands of the Karakum desert. According to the testimony of Z. S. Shekhtman (commander of the 1077th rifle regiment in 1941), he fought along with I. V. Panfilov , the future major general, commander of the 316th rifle division ^[2] . Member of the CPSU (b) since 1929.

At the disposal of the headquarters of the Central Asian Military District (October 1931 - November 1933), the commander of the 5th Separate Radio Intelligence Division (November 1933 - May 1938). Lecturer of military-economic courses (May 1938 - July 1939), senior lecturer at the Military-Political School of the Central Asian VO (since July 1939).

Member of the Great Patriotic War . In June-July 1941, 170 graduate officers from the Tashkent Infantry School received an appointment to various command positions in the 316th rifle division. Including, on August 3, 1941, Colonel V.I. Kaprov was appointed commander of the 1075th rifle regiment of the 316th rifle division .

By early September, the division was redeployed near Novgorod at the disposal of the 52nd reserve army planned for the formation. By September 8, 1941, the division arrived at the Sacra , where it took up positions in the second echelon of the army and equipped the defense zone for almost a month.

As part of the division, the regiment of Colonel Kaprov fought in the area of ​​the cities of Yelnya and Vyazma , retreated to the Mozhaisk line of defense . In October 1941, the regiment took part in the Mozhaisko-Maloyaroslavetskaya , and in November 1941 - the Klin-Solnechnogorsk defensive operations conducted by the troops of the 16th Army .

On November 16, 1941, the regiment was on the left flank of the division and covered the joint of the Volokolamsk Highway and the railway. The 4th company of the 2nd battalion, commanded by Captain P. M. Gundilovich and political instructor V. G. Klochkov, is stationed at the Dubosekovo junction. On the morning of November 16, the German tankers conducted reconnaissance in force. According to Kaprov’s memoirs, “there were 10-12 enemy tanks in total at the battalion site. I don’t know how many tanks went to the site of the 4th company ... Rather, the regiment destroyed 5-6 German tanks, and the Germans withdrew. ”Then the enemy pulled up reserves and with a new force attacked the regimental positions. After 40-50 minutes of battle, the Soviet defense was broken, and the regiment, in fact, was defeated. Kaprov personally collected the surviving fighters and took them to new positions ^[4] . According to the commander of the 1075th rifle regiment, Colonel I. V. Kaprov, “the 4th Gundilovich company suffered the most in battle. Survived only 20-25 people. led by a company of 140 people. The rest of the company suffered less. In the 4th rifle company, more than 100 people died. The company fought heroically. ” ^[5] In the battles on November 16, the entire 1075th regiment destroyed and destroyed 9 enemy tanks ^[6] .

Thus, it was not possible to stop the enemy at the Dubosekovo junction, the regiment’s positions were crushed by the enemy, and its remnants retreated to the new defensive line beyond the Istra reservoir. For the withdrawal of the regiment and the heavy losses, Colonel Kaprov and regimental commissar A.L. Muhamedyarov were removed from their posts ^[6] .

At the end of December 1941, when the division was assigned to the formation, the correspondent of the Red Star A. Y. Krivitsky arrived in the regiment. On the instructions of Colonel I. V. Kaprov, the commander of the 4th company, captain P. M. Gundilovich, from memory called the names of the 28 soldiers killed and missing, whom he was able to recall. On January 22, 1942, in the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Krivitsky placed an essay entitled “About 28 Fallen Heroes”, which marked the beginning of the official version of the 28 Panfilov heroes . After that, Colonel Kaprov and regiment commissar A.L. Mukhamedyarov were reinstated in their posts ^[6] .

On February 23, 1942, units of the 8th Guards Rifle Division were assigned a new numbering. Colonel I. V. Kaprov of the Guard commanded the 19th Guards Rifle Regiment.

In the summer of 1942, among other commanders of the 8th Guards Rifle Division, they went up. From June 12 to October 30, 1942, Colonel I. V. Kaprov commanded the 31st separate rifle brigade . From October 30 to December 3, 1942 - Commander of the 238th Infantry Division (second formation). Participated in Operation Mars , in battles in the valley of Luchesy . The division was unable to knock out parts of the German 86th Infantry Division from the strongholds of the first line of defense, and on the third day after the beginning of the offensive (November 27) the division commander Kaprov was removed from command, and his place was taken by the intelligence chief of the 22nd Army .

From December 6, 1942 to April 7, 1944 - Commander of the 155th Infantry Division (second formation). As part of the troops of the 27th Army, the division commanded by Colonel I. Kaprov participated in many operations on the Steppe and Voronezh fronts, including participating in the Battle of Kursk , crossing the Vorskla River, liberating the city of Okhtyrka .

At the end of September 1943, as part of the army, the division was redeployed to the area of ​​the city of Kanev , where, after forcing the Dnieper River , it launched an offensive, expanding the Bukrin bridgehead . Thanks to the skillful organization of offensive actions, the division’s combat mission was accomplished, and Colonel I. Kaprov, the guard, was introduced to the third order of the Red Banner. However, the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky .

Two months later, for participation in the Kiev strategic offensive operation , Colonel I. V. Kaprov was awarded the Order of Kutuzov, II degree , by the guard.

In March 1944, the 155th Infantry Division of I. V. Kaprov was part of the 38th Army of K. S. Moskalenko . In one of the battle episodes, along with the remnants of the 62nd Guards Tank Brigade, the division was encircled in the forest near the village of Penki (near Kamyanets-Podilsky ), where it remained practically without ammunition, and was soon unlocked by Soviet troops suitable from the east.

In April 1944, he took part in the Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation .

Three contusions received in battles seriously affected the state of health, forcing Colonel I. V. Kaprov to leave the active army. In order to transfer his combat experience to the younger generation of officers, on August 13, 1944, he was appointed head of the Tashkent Lenin Infantry School . He was in this position until the end of the war (until May 1945).

He died in 1967 in Moscow .

• Order of Lenin (No. 18713 - Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 21, 1945).
• Three Orders of the Red Banner (No. 1576 — Order of the Commander of the Western Front No. 044 / N of January 17, 1942; No. 29204 — Order of the Commander of the Kalinin Front No. 0196 / N of June 6, 1942; No. 131546 — Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 3 1944);
• Order of Kutuzov II degree (No. 605 - Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 10, 1944);
• Order of Alexander Nevsky (No. 17067 - Order of the Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, No. 0226 / N, dated November 24, 1943);
• medals, including:
  • Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
  • Medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
  • jubilee medal "XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army" (1938)

Wife - Irina Petrovna Kaprova.

The testimony of the former commander of the 1075th rifle regiment I. V. Kaprov ^[7] :

... There was no battle between 28 Panfilovs and German tanks at the Dubosekovo junction on November 16, 1941 - it was a complete fiction. On this day, at the junction Dubosekovo, as part of the 2nd battalion, the 4th company fought with German tanks, and really fought heroically. More than 100 people died from the company, not 28, as it was written in the newspapers. None of the correspondents turned to me during this period; I never told anyone about the battle of 28 Panfilovs, and I couldn’t speak, since there was no such battle. I did not write any political reports about this. I do not know on the basis of what materials they wrote in the newspapers, in particular in the Red Star, about the battle of 28 guardsmen from the division to them. Panfilov. At the end of December 1941, when the division was assigned to the formation, the Red Star correspondent Krivitsky came to my regiment, along with representatives of the political department of the division Glushko and Egorov. Here I first heard about 28 Panfilov guardsmen. In a conversation with me, Krivitsky said that it was necessary that there be 28 Panfilov Guardsmen who were fighting with German tanks. I told him that the whole regiment, and in particular the 4th company of the 2nd battalion, fought with German tanks, but I don’t know anything about the battle of the 28 Guardsmen ... The memory of Krivitsky was given by Captain Gundilovich , who led him on this topic, there were no documents about the 28 Panfilov’s combat in the regiment and there could not be. Nobody asked me about the names. Subsequently, after lengthy clarifications of the names, it was not until April 1942 that the divisional headquarters sent ready-made award sheets and a general list of 28 guardsmen to my regiment for signature. I signed these sheets for assigning the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to 28 guardsmen. I did not know who initiated the list and award lists for 28 guardsmen.

• Kaprov, Ilya Vasilyevich / Alekseev, MA A., Kolpakidi, A. I., Kochik, V. Ya. Encyclopedia of Military Intelligence. 1918-1945 M. , 2012, p. 386–387.

• Guard Colonel Kaprov Ilya Vasilyevich (Neopr.) . The club of graduates of the Tashkent Higher All-Arms Command School named. V.I. Lenin (March 22, 2008). Date of treatment December 16, 2013. (unavailable link)
• Kaprov, Ilya Vasilyevich (Neopr.) . The website of the "Cavaliers of the Order of Alexander Nevsky." The appeal date is December 16, 2013.