Gervasiev, Andrey Nikitich

Born on October 28, 1906 in the village of Martonosha , now in the Novomirgorod district , Kirovograd region , Ukraine . Moldavian ^[2] .

Military Service

Pre-war time

In October 1928 he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to the 2nd Caucasian Rifle Regiment of the 1st Caucasian Rifle Division KKA . After graduating from the regimental school in September 1929, he was transferred for further study to the Transcaucasian Infantry School named after 26 Baku commissars in the city of Tiflis . In 1930 he joined the CPSU (b) . In March 1932 he was released from it and assigned to the 239th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division in the city of Slavyansk , where he served as platoon and company commander. From May 1934 to May 1938 - student of the Military-Political Academy of the Red Army in Leningrad . After graduation, he was appointed military commissar of the 188th mountain rifle regiment of the 63rd mountain rifle division . In February 1939 he was transferred to ZakVO as a military commissar of the 76th Mountain Division. K. E. Voroshilova ^[2] .

World War II

With the beginning of the war in the same post. In August 1941, with the division participated in a campaign in Iran . In September, she was relocated from Iran to Donbass at the disposal of the commander of the HVO troops, and from there she was transferred to the Perekop area. Since September 25, its units in the 38th Army of the Southwestern Front have been fighting along the railway. Kharkiv village - Poltava and on the eastern bank of the Seversky Donets river . On December 9, the 76th Mountain Division was renamed the Rifle Division . In January 1942, she, as part of the 38th Army of the Southwestern Front, participated in the Barvenkovo-Lozovsky offensive operation , then was on the defensive in the area of Volchansk and Balakliya . In May, as part of the 21st Army, she fought defensive battles on the Seversky Donets River. In the same month, the regimental commissar Gervasiev was removed from office, but during the proceedings it was found that the removal was unreasonable. On June 6, 1942, Gervasiev was appointed widow of the military commissar of the 242nd Infantry Division, which, as part of the 38th Army, defended southeast of Balakliya. The enemy, having a 5-6-fold superiority in strength, broke through the defense of the division and forced it to retreat east. On June 25, its units reached the Lozova River, on July 6 they moved to a new frontier along the Krasnaya River, and then beyond the Belaya River. Blowing up dams and crossings, the division made crossings of 50-70 km per day. From that moment on, she had no connection with the army command, continuing to go to the Don River along the routes Skosyrskaya, Tatsinskaya, Konstantinovskaya, Nikolaevka, Razdornaya. From July 17 to July 18, its units crossed the Don River and concentrated in the area of ​​B. Orlovka. Then, having made a march to the Krasyukovka area, from July 23 the division became subordinate to the 9th Army and fought on the South and North Caucasus (from July 28) fronts. In early August, she crossed the Kuban River in the Melavino area and occupied the line from Nevinnomysskaya to Armavir, where she held the defense for 7 days. On August 9, in connection with the capture of the enemy Armavir and Nevinnomyssk, the division began to withdraw in the direction of Cherkessk and Nalchik . On August 18, she crossed the pass and reached the city of Sukhumi , and from there by train. The village was sent to the city of Makharadze . With the release of the division for reformation, the regimental commissar Gervasiev was placed at the disposal of the political department of the Transcaucasian Front ^[2] .

In November 1942, Gervasiev was transferred to a command post and in December 1942 he was appointed commander of the 1179th Infantry Regiment of the 347th Infantry Division . As part of the 44th Army of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front, from January 24, 1943 - the North Caucasus , and from February 6 - the Southern Fronts participated in the North Caucasus Offensive , in the liberation of the city of Voroshilovsk ( Stavropol ). In June 1943, Colonel Gervasiev was seconded to study at the Higher Military Academy. K.E. Voroshilova , at the end of her crash course, in June 1944 he was placed at the disposal of the Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front and was admitted to command of the 76th Rifle Division Yelninsky from July 14. As part of the 47th army, he participated in the Lublin-Brest offensive operation , in the liberation of the eastern regions of Poland. In mid-September, units of the division were covered from the north by troops conducting battles for the outskirts of Warsaw - the Prague fortress . For these battles, the division was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 2nd art. At the final stage of the war, Colonel Gervasiev skillfully commanded the division during the Wisla-Oder , Warsaw-Poznan , East Pomeranian and Berlin offensive operations. By order of the Supreme High Command of February 19, 1945, for the differences in the battles during the liberation of Warsaw, it was given the name "Warsaw" ^[2] .

On April 29, 1945, for the battles surrounding Berlin, Colonel Gervasiev was introduced by the commander of the 125th Rifle Corps, Lieutenant General A. M. Andreev, to the rank of Hero of the Soviet Union ^{[3] [4]} , however, the commander of the 47th Army was Lieutenant General F. I. Perhorovich reduced the status of the award to the Order of Lenin .

During the war, Commander Gervasiev was personally mentioned seven times in letters of thanks in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief ^[5] .

Post-war time

Since June 1945, Gervasiev commanded the 175th Rifle Division in the GSOVG , and after its disbandment, in June 1946 he was transferred to Moscow and in August he commanded the 1st Guards Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Guards Rifle Division ^[2] .

From December 1946 to February 1949, Major General Gervasiev studied at the Higher Military Academy named after K. E. Voroshilova, then was appointed chief of staff of the 3rd mountain rifle corps of the 38th Army of the PrikVO ^[2] .

Since September 1950, he commanded the 128th Guards Mountain Rifle Division ^[2] .

Since August 1952, he commanded the 73rd Rifle Corps (from March 4, 1955, the 21st Rifle Corps) ^[2] .

Since November 1956 - 1st Deputy Commander of the 15th Army of the Far Eastern Military District in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ^[2] .

From September 1958 to September 1961, he was First Deputy Commander of the 14th Guards Combined Arms Army of the Odessa Military District ^[2] .

On November 25, 1961, Lieutenant General Gervasiev was sacked ^[2] .

At the end of the service and going to the reserve, Gervasiev was elected chairman of the Council of Veterans of Moldova. In 1988, he attended a solemn meeting in Moscow in honor of the 70th anniversary of the USSR Armed Forces. After 1989, Gervasiev moved to Belarus permanently, unable to withstand the radical changes that took place in Moldova ^[6] .

He died in 1997. He was buried in the Eastern cemetery of Minsk ^[7] .

• two orders of Lenin (05/29/1945 ^[8] , 11/03/1953 ^[9] )
• two orders of the Red Banner (02/19/1943 ^[10] , 06/20/1949 ^[9] )
• Order of Suvorov II degree (04/06/1945) ^[11]
• Order of the Patriotic War I degree (1985) ^[12]
• Order of the Red Star (11/03/1944) ^[9]

medals including:

• • " For the defense of the Caucasus "
  • “ For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. "
  • “ For the capture of Berlin ”
  • “ For the liberation of Warsaw ”
  • " Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR "
• sign "50 years of stay in the CPSU"

Orders (thanks) of the Supreme Commander in which A.N. Gervasiev was noted ^[5] .

• For the capture of the Prague fortress - a suburb of Warsaw and an important stronghold of the German defense on the eastern bank of the Vistula. September 14, 1944 No. 187.
• For the mastery of the cities of Deutsch-Krone and Merkish-Friedland - important communication centers and strong strongholds of German defense in Pomerania. February 11, 1945. Number 274.
• For the mastery of the cities of Berwalde, Tempelburg, Falkenburg, Dramburg, Vangerin, Labes, Freienwalde, Schiefelbein, Regenwalde and Karlin - important communication centers and strong strongholds of the German defense in Pomerania. March 4, 1945. Number 288
• For the capture of the city of Altdamm and the liquidation of the heavily fortified bridgehead of the Germans on the right bank of the Oder River east of Stettin. March 20, 1945. Number 304.
• For the complete encirclement of Berlin and the mastery of the cities of Nauen, Elstahl, Rohrbeck, Marquardt. April 25, 1945. Number 342.
• For the capture of the cities Rathenov, Spandau, Potsdam - important road junctions and powerful strongholds of the German defense in Central Germany. April 27, 1945. Number 347
• For the capture of the capital of Germany, the city of Berlin - the center of German imperialism and the center of German aggression. May 2, 1945. Number 359

Other states

• Knight's Cross of the Order of Virtuity Military ( Poland )
• medal "For Warsaw 1939-1945" ( Poland )

• Gervasiev A.N. Versts of courage. Chisinau: Cartya Moldova, 1976.- 303 p. : ill .; 20 cm

• Public electronic document bank “Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”

• Team of authors . World War II: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary / Ed. Coll .: N. B. Akberdin, I. I. Basik, S. A. Botzvin, n. I. Nikiforov, I. A. Permyakov, M. V. Smyslov . - M .: “Kuchkovo Field”. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation , General Directorate of Personnel, State Institution for Work with Personnel, Institute of Military History of the Military Academy of the General Staff. The Central Archive ., 2014 .-- T. III. Commanders of rifle, mountain rifle divisions, Crimean, polar, Petrozavodsk divisions, Rebolsky divisions, fighter divisions. - S. 588-589. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0382-3 , UDC 94, BBK 63.3 (3) 722.78.