Lavrentiev, Mikhail Afanasevich

Mikhail Afanasevich Lavrentiev was born on September 25, 1899 in St. Petersburg.

World War I and Civil War

In March 1919 he was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army and sent by the Red Army to the 1st Petrograd Horse Regiment, which in September of that year was transformed into the 1st Petrograd Rifle. In May 1920, he was transferred by the Red Army detachment against desertion as part of the 15th Army . He took part in hostilities on the Southern and Western fronts .

In October 1920 he was sent to study at the 2nd Petrograd Cavalry School , after which in September 1922 he was appointed to the position of platoon and half-squadron commander of the brigade school of the 3rd separate cavalry brigade.

Interwar

In August 1924 he was appointed to the post of head of the regimental school, and then to the post of assistant commander of the machine gun squadron of the 44th cavalry regiment ( North Caucasus Military District ). Since June 1925, he served in the 88th cavalry regiment as commander of a saber squadron, head of the regimental school and assistant chief of staff of the regiment.

In January 1928, Lavrentiev was appointed to the post of assistant chief of the operational part of the headquarters of the 11th cavalry division , and in April 1929 - to the post of chief of staff of the 67th cavalry regiment as part of the same division.

In February 1930, he was sent to study at the MV Frunze Military Academy , after which he was appointed in July 1932 to the post of chief of rear services of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade , and in April 1936 to the post of commander of a separate training tank battalion ( Trans-Baikal Military District ), in August 1937 - to the post of head of the armored division of the operational group of the same district, and in December was again appointed to the post of commander of a separate training and tank battalion.

In October 1938 he was sent to study at the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army , after which in July 1940 he was appointed to the position of senior assistant to the head of the Far Eastern Division of the Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Red Army .

World War II

In July 1941, he was appointed to the post of chief of the rear services, supply and road service department of the headquarters of the Ural military district , in August 1942 - to the post of chief of the operational department of the headquarters of the 8th reserve army , which was soon transformed into the 66th army and participated in the fighting during the Battle of Stalingrad .

In February 1943, he was appointed chief of staff of the 25th Rifle Corps , which took part in hostilities during the Orel , Bryansk and Gomel-Rechitsa offensive operations . From December 24 to 27, 1943, Lavrentyev served as commander of the same corps, then again was the chief of staff of this corps, which took part in the course of the Bobruisk offensive and the liberation of Bobruisk . By the end of August 1944, after three days of fighting , the corps defeated the enemy group in the Baranavichy area.

In September 1944, he was appointed deputy chief of staff of the 1st Belorussian Front for organizational and mobilization issues.

Post-War Career

After the war ended, Major General Lavrentyev was in the same position as part of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany , and in August 1949 he was appointed deputy chief for organizational and mobilization issues of the chief of staff of the Belarusian military district .

Major General Mikhail Afanasevich Lavrentiev in June 1952 went into reserve. He died on July 14, 1984 in Minsk .

• Order of Lenin ;
• Three Orders of the Red Banner ;
• Order of Kutuzov 1 and 2 degrees;
• Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2 degrees;
• Order of the Patriotic War 2 degrees;
• Medals
• foreign order and medals.

Team of authors . World War II: Comcor. Military Biographical Dictionary / Edited by M. G. Vozhakin . - M .; Zhukovsky: Kuchkovo Field, 2006. - T. 1. - S. 314-315. - ISBN 5-901679-08-3 .