Bykov, Ivan Ivanovich

Born on January 20, 1923 in the village of Bykovo, Irkutsk District, Irkutsk Province (now the Kabansky District of Buryatia ). Having lost his father early, he was brought up in a stepfather's family, then an older brother. Graduated from 5 classes. He worked at the Vydrino railway station, on the eve of the war - in a bakery.

In March 1942, he was called up to the Red Army by the Kabansky district military enlistment office. After training in a reserve regiment in August 1942 he was sent to the front - first to the 986th artillery regiment, then to the 185th artillery regiment of the 82nd Guards Red Banner Rifle Division artillery reconnaissance. With this regiment he marched through front-line roads until the end of the war. Next to him the whole war was fought by his countryman Nikolai Fedorovich Suvorov.

Bykov received baptism of fire in battles on the Don River , on the distant approaches to Stalingrad . The task of Bykov was to detect the firing points of the enemy and inform the coordinates of the division’s management. But in this battle he acted as an ordinary artilleryman : both a carrier and a loader, replacing the dead. Later he participated in the defense of Stalingrad, surrounded by an enemy group, an offensive in the south of Ukraine .

In mid-March 1943, the regiment took on the counterattack of the German tank unit, numbering up to 30 vehicles. Bykov noticed these tanks on time and immediately transferred by telephone the data on their number and target coordinates to the division. At Bykov's command, the gunners opened fire. This attack, like the next three, was repelled with great losses for the enemy. For this fight, Ivan Bykov received the first military award - the medal "For Courage" .

As part of his unit, he participated in the liberation of Ukraine. Particularly distinguished himself at the final stage of the war, in battles in Germany .

On the night of February 15, 1945 , being reconnaissance on the left bank of the Warta River in the vicinity of the city of Poznan Guard, Corporal Bykov, being in the reconnaissance of the route and choosing a firing position for direct fire, approached the enemy, where he found a machine gun. Grenades destroyed the enemy machine gun along with the servant.

By order of the commander of the 82nd Guards Rifle Division dated March 6, 1945, Corporal Ivan Ivanov Bykov was awarded the Order of Glory of the 3rd degree.

Again distinguished himself in battles south of the city of Küstrin at the end of March.

On March 27, 1945, the division, together with other formations, approached the Altstadt fortress and surrounded it. Artillery entered the business. Bykov, being in the battle formations of the infantry, found a battery of 105-mm enemy guns, an anti-aircraft gun and 4 heavy machine guns at the leading edge. Having transmitted the data of their location, he then adjusted the fire of our guns. Its competent and accurate adjustment contributed to the destruction of discovered targets. March 29, observing under enemy fire, I discovered a bunker and 3 machine-gun points, which were also destroyed by well-aimed fire of our artillery.

By order of the 8th Guards Army dated May 15, 1945, Corporal Ivan Ivanov Bykov was awarded the Order of Glory of the 2nd degree.

In mid-April 1945, the 82nd Guards Rifle Division started fighting directly on the outskirts of Berlin . In these battles, on the Zeelovsky heights , Corporal Bykov distinguished himself as a guard.

On April 18, 1945, in a battle near the Zeelovsky Heights, while at the front-line observation post in infantry fighting formations, under enemy fire I found and spotted 3 machine guns, one mortar battery, two observation posts that were destroyed by our artillery fire. This enabled our infantry to move forward.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 15, 1946, Corporal Ivan Ivanovich Bykov was awarded the Order of Glory of the 1st degree and thus became the full holder of the Order of Glory for exemplary performance of command assignments in battles with invaders at the final stage of the guard war.

After the war, he continued serving for 2 years as part of the occupation forces in Germany . In April 1947, Sergeant Bykov was demobilized by the Guard.

He returned to his homeland, worked in a road maintenance section on the construction of highways. In 1968, for health reasons, he was forced to ask for another, easier job. He was appointed a forester in the Slyudyansk forestry. He worked there for 19 years, before leaving for a well-deserved rest. He lived in the village of Vydrino, Kabansky district of Buryatia .

He passed away in 2000 . He was buried in the cemetery of the village of Vydrino.

He was awarded the orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, Glories of 3 degrees, medals.

Ivan Ivanovich Bykov (Russian) . Site " Heroes of the country ". Date of treatment August 31, 2014.

• Cavaliers of the Order of Glory of three degrees: A Brief Biographical Dictionary / Prev. ed. collegium D. S. Sukhorukov . - M .: Military Publishing House , 2000 .-- 703 p. - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-203-01883-9 .
• Tsyrenov D.M. Heroes of Buryatia. - Ulan-Ude, 1995.