Kamenchuk, Matvey Polikarpovich

He graduated from a seven-year school in 1925 and two courses of a professional technical school.

In September 1928 he was called up for service in the Red Army and sent to study at the military engineering school. After graduating from the Leningrad United Red Banner Military Engineering School named after the Comintern in 1932, he was appointed platoon commander of the 3rd separate training motor battalion. In March 1933 he was appointed head of the sapper-camouflage training of the 3rd separate training motor transport battalion ^[1] . In January 1934 he was appointed company commander of the 7th separate engineering-airfield battalion of the Kiev military district . January 26, 1936 awarded the rank of senior lieutenant ^[2] . In June-December 1937, he temporarily acted as chief of staff of the battalion ^[3] . Since March 1939 he taught engineering at the Kiev Artillery College ^[4] . April 25, 1939 awarded the rank of captain ^[5] . In November 1939, he was appointed assistant chief of the 1st division of the engineering troops department of the Kiev Special Military District ^[6]. In September 1940 he was appointed senior masking engineer of the engineering department of the Kiev Special Military District ^[7] .

At the beginning of the war, Captain Kamenchuk served as senior assistant chief of the operational department of the engineering department of the South-Western Front . He took part in the defense of bridges across the Dnieper , Pripyat and Desna rivers . On August 25, 1941, during the defense of the city of Oster, he blew up bridges over the Desna River and prevented the capture of the city. In the post of chief of the 1st (operational) department of the headquarters of the engineer troops of the Southwestern Front, Major ^[8] Kamenchuk did a great job of forming and staffing the engineering units of the front and "for courage and bravery" by order of the troops of the Southwestern Front was awarded the medal " For courage ” ^[9] .

In July 1942, he was appointed chief of staff of the engineering troops of the 57th Army , in whose troops he participated in the defense of Stalingrad . August 23, 1942 awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel ^[10] . In September 1942 he was appointed chief of the engineering forces of the formed 24th Army ^{[11] of the} Stalingrad Front. In November 1942, by the order of the Chief of the Engineering Troops of the Don Front, he was appointed Acting Chief of the Engineering Troops of the 65th Army , participated in defensive operations on the right bank of the Don .

In December 1942 he was appointed commander of the 61st separate engineer and combat engineer brigade ^[12] . The brigade forces rebuilt the bridges across the Mius River and organized the engineering support for the offensive of the 5th shock army during the Mius operation . During one of the battles, Lt. Col. Kamenchuk was wounded and “for courage, determination and ability to work” by order of the troops of the Southern Front was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree ^[13] .

In May 1943, the 61st engineer-combat engineer brigade was reorganized into the 14th assault engineer-combat engineer brigade ^[14] . In command of the 14th assault engineering and combat engineer brigade, in July-September 1943 he restrained the use of obstacles to break through tanks near Verkhnyaya Olshanka, secured the fence in the offensive zone of the 5th Guards Army and 5th Tank Army , rebuilt the bridge in the area under enemy fire Yakovlev and "for personal courage and skillful leadership" on October 18, 1943 by order of the troops of the Voronezh Front was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky ^[15] .

In November 1943 he was appointed chief of the engineering forces - deputy commander of the 3rd Guards Tank Army ^[16] with the rank of colonel ^[17] . For exemplary engineering support of the army’s actions during the liberation of the city of Zhytomyr, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner ^[18] , and for exemplary performance of combat missions for the engineering support of the liberation of Lviv and Przemysl, he was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner ^[19] . For his long service, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star ^[20] .

He was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky II degree ^[21] for the excellent organization of work on mine clearing of minefields, for engineering support of units at the entrance of the offensive operations of the army during the Sandomierz-Silesian operation . For the well-assigned work on the engineering support of the units, which contributed to the rapid advancement of the army units, the invasion of Berlin and their mastery, he was awarded the Order of Kutuzov I degree ^[22] .

After the reformation of the 3rd Guards Army, he was appointed chief of the engineering forces - deputy commander of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Army ^[23] as part of a group of Soviet occupation forces in Germany . In May 1947, the 3rd Guards Army was reorganized into the 3rd Guards Separate Personnel Tank Division, and Colonel Kamenchuk was appointed head of the division’s engineering service. In August 1948 he was appointed chief of the engineering forces of the 1st Guards Mechanized Army . May 11, 1949 awarded the rank of Major General of the Engineering Troops ^[24] . On June 20, 1949 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his long service ^[25] . In March 1950, he was appointed chief of the engineering forces of the Belarusian Military District ^[26] . He graduated from the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Engineering Academy. November 3, 1953 was awarded the Order of Lenin for length of service ^[27] . On August 8, 1955, the rank of Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops was awarded ^[28] . In September 1960, he was appointed chief of the engineering forces of the Ural Military District .

In March 1962 he was appointed head of the scientific and technical department - deputy chief of staff of the Civil Defense of the USSR ^[29] . September 5, 1964 was appointed acting chairman of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Civil Defense of the USSR ^[30] . March 19, 1965 was placed at the disposal of the chief of the Civil Defense of the USSR. September 1, 1965 was transferred to the reserve due to illness ^[31] .