The most productive tanker of the Soviet troops Dmitry Lavrinenko managed to fight for only 2.5 months in 1941, but during this time he managed to destroy 52 enemy tanks - a result that no one in the Red Army could surpass until the end of the war. We offer you a story about him.
Article "Terrible account of tanker Lavrinenko" from "Smolenskaya Gazeta". Author Vladimir Pinyugin.
Among the military associations that made a great contribution to the Great Victory and completed their glorious path in the Smolensk region, the 1st Guards Red Banner Tank Army occupies an honorable place. The core of the army was the 4th, and then the 1st Guards Tank Brigade.
Its soldiers became the personification of iron fortitude, dedication and heroism in battles with the Nazis, the first among Soviet tank crews were awarded the rank of the Guards, in October 1941 they defeated Guderian's tanks near Mtsensk, stood to death on Volokolamsk highway, participated in heavy battles near Gzhatskoy, Syevkoy I Karmanovo, contributed to the liberation of the Smolensk region. Let's talk about one of them.
The # 1 tank ace in the Red Army is considered to be Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko, who fought in the 4th (1st Guards) Tank Brigade under the command of M.E. Katukova.
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant Lavrinenko met at the very border on the territory of Western Ukraine as a tank platoon commander. Despite the fact that his tank was damaged, he did not destroy it, as other crews did, but managed to tow it and hand it over for repair.
The high fighting qualities and skill of the tankman manifested themselves in the period from 6 to 10 October 1941 in the battles near Orel and Mtsensk, where the 4th brigade of Colonel Katukov fought against the 4th Panzer Division of the 2nd Panzer Group, Colonel General Heinz Guderian - "the king of armored attacks, "as the Nazis called it. In these battles, the crew of Dmitry Lavrinenko destroyed 16 German tanks. “South of Mtsensk,” Guderian later admitted, “the 4th Panzer Division was attacked by Russian tanks, and it had to endure a difficult moment. For the first time, the superiority of the Russian T-34 tanks manifested itself in a sharp form. The division suffered heavy casualties. The planned rapid attack on Tula had to be postponed. " 
In October 1941, during a battle near the village of Pervy Voin, a platoon of tanks under the command of Lavrinenko rescued a mortar company from destruction, where German tanks had almost burst into position. From the story of the tank driver, senior sergeant Ponomarenko: “Lavrinenko told us this:“ We cannot return alive, but we can help out the mortar company. Clear? Let's go! “We jump out onto the hillock, and there the German tanks, like dogs, dart around. I stopped. Lavrinenko - blow! Heavy tank. Then we see a German medium tank between our two burning light tanks BT - they smashed it too. We see another tank - it runs away. Shot! Flame ... There are three tanks. Their carriages are dispersed. In 300 meters I see another tank, I show it to Lavrinenko, and he is a real sniper. From the second shell I broke this one, the fourth in a row. And Kapotov is a fine fellow: he also got three German tanks. And Polyansky killed one. So the mortar company was saved. And themselves - without a single loss! "
In a battle on October 9, 1941, near the village of Sheino, Lavrinenko managed to repel the attack of 10 German tanks alone. Using proven tactics of tank ambushes and constantly changing position, Lavrinenko's crew thwarted an enemy tank attack and, at the same time, burned a German tank.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, General of the Army D.D. Lelyushenko in his book "Zarya Pobedy" told about one of the techniques that were used in the battles near Mtsensk: “I remember how Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko, carefully camouflaging his tanks, installed logs on the position that looked like the barrels of tank guns. And not without success: the Nazis opened fire on false targets. Letting the Nazis at an advantageous distance, Lavrinenko rained down on them devastating fire from ambushes and destroyed 9 tanks, 2 guns and many Nazis. "
On October 19, 1941, a single Lavrinenko tank defended the city of Serpukhov from the invaders. His thirty-four destroyed the enemy motorized column, which was advancing along the highway from Maloyaroslavets to Serpukhov. In the report of the Soviet Information Bureau on October 29, 1941, it was reported: “The tank crew of Lieutenant Lavrinenko showed courage and courage in battles with the Nazis. The other day, Comrade Lavrinenko's tank unexpectedly fell on the Germans. Cannon and machine-gun fire destroyed up to a battalion of enemy infantry, 10 motorcycles, a command vehicle, and an anti-tank gun. "
On November 17, 1941, near the village of Lystsevo, a tank group of senior lieutenant Lavrinenko, which consisted of three T-34 tanks and three BT-7 tanks, entered into battle with 18 German tanks. In this battle, she destroyed 7 enemy tanks, but at the same time she herself irrevocably lost two BT-7s and two T-34s destroyed. The next day, already one tank Lavrinenko, being in an ambush near the highway leading to the village of Shishkino, again entered into an unequal battle with a German tank column, which again consisted of 18 vehicles. In this battle, Lavrinenko destroyed 6 German tanks. Front correspondent I. Kozlov managed to meet with Lavrinenko at the very beginning of the Soviet counteroffensive near Moscow and talk to him. After the war, Kozlov wrote a short story about this meeting. Here is a small excerpt from it:
“We went to help,” said Lavrinenko. - What is the reason to fight the Germans head-on-head? We have six cars, they have five times more. We operated from ambushes. Even very successful.
I wanted to clarify what my interlocutor puts into the words "very successfully", and asked how many fascist machines he had in that battle.
- I knocked out six tanks.
- Six?
- Yes, six. It was November 18th.
I remembered that on the instructions of the editorial office I was looking for him that day. Lavrinenko, smiling, remarked:
- It was impossible to find me then. Neither the eighteenth, nor the nineteenth ... On the nineteenth there was a new battle for the village of Gusenevo. In this village was the command post of General Panfilov, and German infantry bypassed it, and the infantry was supported by twenty-four tanks. Eight cars were moving along the road we were guarded. I knocked out seven, the eighth managed to turn back.
Almost immediately, another column appeared, consisting of 10 German tanks. This time Lavrinenko did not have time to shoot: the blank pierced the side of his thirty-four, the driver-mechanic and the radio operator were killed.
By December 5, 1941, when Dmitry Lavrinenko was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 47 tanks were destroyed in his combat account. However, Lavrinenko was awarded only the Order of Lenin. But we were late with the delivery.
Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko destroyed his last 52nd heavy tank T IV of the Guards in battles on the outskirts of Volokolamsk on December 18, 1941. On the same day, the most productive tanker of the Red Army was killed by a stray fragment of a mine that hit his temple.
The brave guardsman-tanker had a chance to participate in 28 tank battles, to burn three times in a tank. In battle, he acted extremely active and resourceful. Even while on the defensive, Lavrinenko did not wait for the enemy, but looked for him, using the most effective methods of fighting. Of course, in comparison with German tank aces, such as Wittmann, Karius, Lavrinenko's number of victories is not so great. However, almost all the most productive German tankers went through the entire war from start to finish, and Lavrinenko destroyed his 52 tanks in the most critical and tragic days of 1941, in just two and a half months of fierce fighting.
Lavrinenko fought on T-34-76 tanks of the 1941 model, in which, as, indeed, on all modifications of the thirty-four equipped with a 76-mm cannon, the functions of the commander and gunner were performed by one person - the tank commander himself. On German "tigers" and "panthers" the commander was in command of the combat vehicle, and a separate crew member - the gunner - fired from a gun. The commander also helped the gunner, which made it possible to most successfully fight the enemy tanks. And the observation devices, sight and all-round visibility on the T-34 of the first samples were much worse than those of the "tigers" and "panthers" that appeared later.
... The title of Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Lavrinenko was awarded (posthumously) only on May 5, 1990.
Sergey Kargapoltsev (warheroes.ru). One combat episode
Katukov left Lavrinenko's tank at the request of the command of the 50th Army to guard its headquarters. The command of the army promised the brigade commander not to detain him for a long time. But four days have passed since that day. Katukov and the head of the political department, senior battalion commissar I.G. Derevyankin rushed to call at all ends, but they could not find traces of Lavrinenko. Emergency was brewing.At noon on October 20, a thirty-four drove up to the brigade headquarters, clanking its tracks, followed by a German staff bus. The hatch of the tower opened and from there, as if nothing had happened, Lavrinenko climbed out, followed by the members of his crew - the loading private Fedotov and the gunner-radio operator Sergeant Borzykh. At the wheel of the staff bus sat the driver-mechanic Senior Sergeant Poorny.
The angry chief of the political department Derevyankin attacked Lavrinenko, demanding an explanation of the reasons for the delay, it is not known where the lieutenant and his crew members were all this time. Instead of answering, Lavrinenko took a paper from the breast pocket of his tunic and handed it to the head of the political department. The paper read the following:
"To Colonel Comrade Katukov. The commander of the car, Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko, was detained by me. He was given the task of stopping the enemy who had broken through and helping to restore the situation at the front and in the area of the city of Serpukhov. He not only fulfilled this task with honor, but also showed himself heroically. For exemplary performance of the combat mission The Military Council of the Army expressed gratitude to all the personnel of the crew and presented them with a government award.
Commandant of the city of Serpukhov, brigade commander Firsov ".
The point turned out to be the following. The headquarters of the 50th Army released Lavrinenko's tank literally following the departed tank brigade. But the road turned out to be clogged with vehicles and, no matter how hurried Lavrinenko, he failed to catch up with the brigade.
Arriving in Serpukhov, the crew decided to shave in a hairdresser. As soon as Lavrinenko sat down in a chair, suddenly a breathless Red Army soldier ran into the hall and told the lieutenant to urgently come to the commandant of the city, brigade commander Firsov.
Appearing to Firsov, Lavrinenko learned that along the highway from Maloyaroslavets to Serpukhov was a German column up to a battalion. The commandant had no forces at hand to defend the city. The units for the defense of Serpukhov were about to come up, and before that all hope for Firsov remained on the one and only tank Lavrinenko.
In the grove, near Vysokinichy, T-34 Lavrinenko ambushed. The road was well visible in both directions. A few minutes later a German column appeared on the highway. Motorcycles rattled ahead, then a command vehicle, three trucks with infantry and anti-tank guns went. The Germans were extremely self-confident and did not send intelligence ahead.
Having let the convoy go 150 meters, Lavrinenko shot the convoy point-blank. Two guns were immediately destroyed, the third German gunners tried to turn around, but Lavrinenko's tank jumped out onto the highway and crashed into trucks with infantry, and then crushed the gun. Soon an infantry unit approached and finished off the stunned and bewildered enemy.
The crew of Lavrinenko handed over to the commandant of Serpukhov 13 assault rifles, 6 mortars, 10 motorcycles with sidecars and an anti-tank gun with full ammunition. Firsov allowed the staff vehicle to be taken to the brigade. It was under its own power that the driver-mechanic Poor, who had moved from the thirty-four, drove it. The bus contained important documents and maps, which Katukov immediately sent to Moscow.
LAVRINENKO DMITRY FEDOROVICH, was born on October 14, 1914 in the family of a poor Kuban Cossack from the village of Bessstrashnaya, Otradnensky district of Krasnodar Territory.
In 1932-1933, after completing pedagogical courses, he worked as a teacher at a school on the Sladky farm in the Armavir region, in 1933-1934 as a statistician at the head office of the state farm, then as a cashier at a savings bank in the village of Novokubinskoye.
Lavrinenko volunteered for the Red Army in 1934. Of course, as a born village dweller - in the cavalry. But a few months later he entered the Ulyanovsk Armored School, which he graduated in May 1938.
Before Hitler's attack on the USSR, Dmitry Lavrinenko took part in campaigns in Western Ukraine and Bessarabia.
Lavrinenko's father died in battles with the White Guards during the Civil War.
The 15th Panzer Division of the Red Army, where Lavrinenko served as a platoon commander, was stationed near the city of Stanislav, on the territory of Western Ukraine.
Lavrinenko participated in 28 bloody battles with enemies in just a few months of 1941.
His car burned three times, but the brave tanker got out of the most difficult situations unharmed. Only 52 Nazi tanks were destroyed.
There was no other such example in the history of the last war. Moreover, he destroyed the last tank an hour before its death in the village of Goryuny.
From the combat biography of the first guards Chertkovskaya twice the Orders of Lenin, the Red Banner, the Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov, Bogdan Khmelnitsky Tank Brigade named after Marshal M.E. Katukov during the Great Patriotic War.
In September 1941, he found himself in the newly formed 4th Tank Brigade, commanded by Colonel M.E. Katukov. At the beginning of the next month, the brigade entered heavy battles near Mtsensk with units of the 2nd German tank group of Colonel-General Heinz Guderian.
Lavrinenko opened his account of destroyed tanks on October 6 during a battle in the area of a village with a characteristic name - First Warrior. Less than a week later, Lieutenant Lavrinenko's T-34 had seven tanks, an anti-tank gun and up to two platoons of German infantry. And this is only by the most conservative estimates.
Nobody knows the truth, it was not up to arithmetic then near Mtsensk. Not before accounting and statistics. The destruction of enemy vehicles was not only good luck and excellent training, but also military ingenuity and accurate calculation of the Soviet officer.
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, General of the Army D. D. Lelyushenko in his book "Dawn of Victory" told about one of the techniques that Lavrinenko used in the battles of Mtsensk:
“I remember how Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko, having carefully camouflaged his tanks, installed logs on the position that outwardly resembled the barrels of tank guns.
And not in vain: the Nazis opened fire on false targets. Letting the Nazis at an advantageous distance, Lavrinenko rained down on them devastating fire from ambushes and destroyed 9 tanks, 2 guns and many Nazis. "
In the November battles in the Volokolamsk direction, a tank group under the command of Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko, consisting of three T-34 tanks and three BT-7 tanks, was allocated to support the 1073rd rifle regiment of the 316th rifle division of Major General I.V. Panfilov ... Exactly eight minutes near the village of Lystsevo, the battle between six Soviet tanks and eighteen German tanks lasted.
Ours won, but only two cars remained on the move, and the enemy, meanwhile, was already in the rear of the division. As a result of maneuvers and positioning, Lavrinenko's tank was alone against 18 Panzerwaffe vehicles. The guards' crew knocked out three light and three medium vehicles and quietly eluded pursuit, allowing the Soviet units to escape the encirclement.
On December 5, 1941, the Guard Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The award list noted:
“Fulfilling the combat missions of the command from October 4 to the present, I was continuously in battle. During the period of battles near Orel and in the Volokolamsk direction, Lavrinenko's crew destroyed 37 heavy, medium and light enemy tanks. "
Documents, letters, memoirs of his comrades in arms tell about the famous Soviet tank officer Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko.
From the memoirs of Marshal of Armored Forces M.E. Katukov:
“Literally every kilometer of the combat path of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade was associated with the name of Lavrinenko. There was not a single serious military case in which he would not participate. And he always showed an example of courage, courage and courage, commanding sharpness and prudence ...
Twenty-eight bloody battles on his account. Dmitry Lavrinenko's car burned three times, but the brave tanker got out of the most difficult situations unharmed. He destroyed 52 Nazi tanks. The history of the last war knows no other such example.
A remarkable tanker, the son of a poor Kuban Cossack from the village of Fearless, lived for only twenty-seven years. Yes, the village has lived up to its name. She gave the Motherland fearless sons. Father Dmitry Fedorovich during the civil war was a red partisan and died a hero's death in battles with the White Guards. His son gave his life in mortal combat with damned fascism. "
Retired Colonel P. Zaskalko says:
We fought with Dmitry Lavrinenko together from the first day of the war. And they met her in Stanislav, now Ivano-Frankivsk, where they served in one dig of the 15th Panzer Division.
Outwardly, he looked a little like a dashing warrior. By nature, he was a very gentle and good-natured person. In the first days of the war, Dmitry was not lucky - his tank was out of order.
When retreating, we wanted to destroy the faulty tanks. And then suddenly our quiet Lavrinenko reared up:
“I will not give the car to death! It will still come in handy after repairs. " And he got his way. No matter how hard it was, he towed the tank and handed it over for repair. When in Stalingrad I received a new car - "thirty-four", he said: "Well, now I will settle accounts with Hitler!"
“The crew of Lieutenant Lavrinenko showed courage and courage in battles with the Nazis. The other day comrade. Lavrinenko unexpectedly attacked the Germans. Cannon and machine-gun fire destroyed up to a battalion of enemy infantry, 10 motorcycles, a command vehicle, and an anti-tank gun. "
From the memoirs of the Hero of the Soviet Union, retired colonel A. Raftopullo:
“When the enemy wedged into our defense on the right flank, the brigade commander sent a group of four tanks under the command of Lavrinenko to help the infantrymen. I saw how several enemy vehicles burst into flames, the rest backed away. Lavrinenko's tanks disappeared as suddenly as they appeared, but after a few minutes they appeared to the left, because of the hillock. And again their cannons flashed with fire. For several rapid attacks Lavrinenko and his comrades destroyed 15 Nazi tanks. "
Retired senior lieutenant V. Kotov recalls:
After the battles near Mtsensk, our tank brigade, which became the 1st Guards, was transferred to the Volokolamsk direction. When they arrived at Chismena station, it turned out that Lavrinenko's crew had disappeared. Quite recently, the head of the political department was worried, he was accepted as a candidate for party membership, and such an emergency! But the next day, Dmitry's tank with a German command bus in tow drove up to the brigade headquarters ...
And the thing turned out to be the following. Dmitry's tank, having completed the task, tried to catch up with the brigade on the march. In Serpukhov, the commandant of the city, brigade commander Firsov set Lavrinenko the task of stopping the enemy column moving from Maloyaroslavets. The commandant had no other forces at hand.
Lavrinenko decided to act in an already tested way - from an ambush. Letting the fascists go 150 meters, he shot the convoy point-blank. Destroyed several guns, trucks. The Nazis fled in panic. The crew captured 10 motorcycles, 6 mortars, an anti-tank gun and a command bus. The brigade commander Firsov gave Lavrinenko a document explaining his delay in his unit, and allowed the crew to seize the bus as a trophy.
From a letter from Dmitry Lavrinenko to relatives:
“The accursed enemy continues to rush to the capital, but he will not reach Moscow, he will be defeated. The hour is not far off when we will chase the fascist, so much so that he will not know where to go. Don't worry about me. I'm not going to die ... "
Retired Colonel A. Zagudaev reports:
Our brigade, together with the Panfilov division and Dovator's cavalry corps, continued to wage heavy battles. On a bitter November day, when General Panfilov was killed by a fragment of an enemy mine, Lavrinenko witnessed this tragic event: he was instructed to cover the command post of the division commander.
The situation was extremely difficult: the enemy tanks that had broken through were already approaching the village where the division's command post was. Dmitry counted eight cars with crosses on the sides.
Start! - He commanded the driver-mechanic Sergeant M. Poor, and the "thirty-four" rushed towards the Nazis.
Lavrinenko himself sat down at the sight and set seven German tanks on fire with seven shells - that was such a master of fire. But at this time, several more enemy tanks broke into the village. One of the shells they sent hit the side of the thirty-four and pierced it.
Lavrinenko and Fedorov pulled out the mortally wounded radio operator Sharov, and Sergeant Bedny died behind the levers of a burning tank.
The next day, having received a new car, Lavrinenko distinguished himself again, destroying several enemy tanks.
"Comrade. Lavrinenko, performing combat missions of the command from October 4 to the present, was continuously in battle. During the period of battles near Orel and in the Volokolamsk direction, Lavrinenko's crew destroyed 37 heavy, medium and light enemy tanks ...
For the shown courage and courage in the battles with the German invaders, Comrade. DF Lavrinenko is worthy of being awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. "
“The glory of General Katukov's tank guards thunders along the entire front. The bravest of the brave among them is Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko. There was no case that he did not win in battle. In recent days, the brave tanker has brought his personal score to 40 destroyed enemy tanks. "
Help from the Council of Veterans of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade:
“By order of the commander of the Western Front No. 0437 of December 22, the guard senior lieutenant Lavrinenko was awarded the Order of Lenin. The brave tanker did not manage to receive this award. On December 18, in the area of the village of Goryuny, he died. An hour before that, Dmitry Fedorovich destroyed his last, fifty-second enemy tank. "
From a letter from retired colonel L. Lehman:
“We developed an offensive in the Volokolamsk direction. We went forward with heavy battles. Bursting into Pokrovskoe, our company destroyed the Nazis with fire and caterpillars. As always, our commander set an example for subordinates.
Maneuvering, Lavrinenko led us into an attack on a neighboring village, where fascist tanks and armored personnel carriers rushed. At this time, the main forces of the brigade began to approach here. The Nazis, trapped on both sides, were defeated and fled. But the Goryuny remained under artillery fire and machine-gun fire.
Lavrinenko jumped out of the tank and went to the brigade commander with a report. And suddenly there was an explosion. Dmitry fell ... A tiny fragment of a mine struck to death our best friend and commander.
In the battle for Volokolamsk, we captured an interesting trophy - a box with Iron Crosses. We handed them over to the political department, and the Nazis instead of the Iron Crosses received Russian birch crosses. This was our revenge for Dmitry. "
From a letter from members of the Patriot military-patriotic club in the Krasnodar Territory:
“The Kuban people sacredly honor the memory of their hero-countryman. One of the schools bears his name. During subbotniks, young people earned money for a monument to a brave tankman. A documentary about Lavrinenko's mother, Matryona Prokofievna, has been made at the amateur film studio Yunost. A bust of D.F.Lavrinenko is installed in our club.
Katukova, a veteran of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, says:
We received some good news recently. One of the streets of the city of Volokolamsk, on the outskirts of which the common favorite of the brigade, Dmitry Lavrinenko, died, is named after him.
Lavrinenko destroyed his last 52nd tank in battles on the outskirts of Volokolamsk on December 18, 1941. On the same day, the most productive tanker of the Red Army was killed by a stray fragment of a mine that hit his temple.
The composition of the white tank T-34 by Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko:
D. F. Lavrinenko - crew commander;
driver mechanics Ponomarenko, senior sergeant M.I.Bedny (1918 - November 18, 1941; destroyed 37 tanks in the crew), M. M. Solomyannikov;
radio operator gunners Sergeant I.S.Borzykh (1908 - disappeared in action on July 16, 1944), Private A.S.Sharov (1916 - November 19, 1941);
charging private Fedotov.
Private A.S. Sharov - tank radio operator. Killed in a battle near Gusenevo on November 18, 1941.
Senior Sergeant M.I.Bedny - a tank driver. Killed in a battle near Gusenevo on November 18, 1941.
Initially, D. F. Lavrinenko was buried at the site of the battle, near the highway, between the villages of Pokrovskoye and Goryuny (now Anino).
In 1967, the burial place was found by a search detachment of students from the 296th secondary school in Moscow and the guard sergeant Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko was solemnly reburied in a mass grave in the village of Denkovo.
You pass this village on the road to Moscow, that along New Riga, that along Volokolamka. Stop by, leave flowers on the grave of this 27-year-old guy, whom generals and marshals were proud to meet on the fields of war.
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The T-34 tank, according to the general opinion of historians and experts, was the most successful among all those who participated in the Second World War. And if such a car was lucky with the crew, then the enemies trembled. About the legendary tank ace Lavrinenko and his wonderful "thirty-four" - in this article.
Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko was born in 1914 in the Kuban village with the telling name Fearless. In the Red Army he served in the cavalry, then graduated from a tank school. Already there, fellow students nicknamed him "the sniper's eye" for his phenomenal shooting accuracy.
Since September 1941, Lavrinenko was enlisted in the 4th Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel Katukov, where a month later he "shot" his first four tanks. But in the beginning the situation did not bode well. So, on October 6, not far from Mtsensk, German tanks and infantry unexpectedly attacked the positions of Soviet motorized riflemen and mortars. Several anti-tank guns were destroyed, and as a result, the infantry was left almost bare-handed against an entire enemy tank column.
Upon learning of the surprise attack by the Germans, Colonel Katukov urgently sent four T-34 tanks to help, senior lieutenant Lavrinenko was appointed commander. Four tanks were supposed to cover the retreating infantry and, if possible, drag out until the main forces arrived, but everything turned out differently. From the memoirs of the tank driver Lavrinenko, senior sergeant Ponomarenko:
"Lavrinenko told us this:" You can't return alive, but you can help out the mortar company. Clear? Forward! We jump out onto the hillock, and there German tanks dart around like dogs. I stopped. Lavrinenko - blow! A heavy tank. Then we see a German medium tank between our two burning light tanks BT - they broke it too. We see another tank - it runs away. Shot! Flame ... There are three tanks. Their carriages are dispersed.
In 300 meters I see another tank, I show it to Lavrinenko, and he is a real sniper. From the second shell I smashed this, the fourth in a row. And Kapotov is a fine fellow: he also got three German tanks. And Polyansky killed one. So the mortar company was saved. And themselves - without a single loss! ".
One of the most widespread myths about the Great Patriotic War is that Soviet tanks were everywhere weaker and more primitive than German tanks. Indeed, the main fleet of Soviet armored vehicles was made up of light tanks and "tankettes", which, due to the weakness of armor and guns, were not capable of much. But the approaching military threat from the Third Reich forced the country's leadership and designers to think about new promising models of technology. As of June 22, 1941, more than one and a half thousand of the newest T-34 and KV-1 tanks were produced, the very "conspiratorial" vehicles that the German tankers cursed. In the situation with Dmitry Lavrinenko, the fast and mobile "thirty-fours" literally tore apart the German column, which consisted of the PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV tanks. These German tanks - the pride and threat of the entire conquered Europe - were absolutely powerless against the latest Soviet tanks. Guns with a caliber of 37 and 75 millimeters stubbornly did not want to harm the armor of tanks under the command of Lavrinenko, but the 76-millimeter T-34 guns regularly pierced German steel.
But back to our hero, because the battle at Mtsensk was not the only feat of Lavrinenko's crew. For example, who knows how a visit to a hairdresser can turn into a fight alone against an entire enemy convoy? Very simple! When the battles for Mtsensk were over, the entire 4th Tank Brigade departed to defend the Volokolamsk direction. Everything, except for the tank of the platoon commander Lavrinenko, which disappeared in an unknown direction. A day, two, four passed, and only then did the lost car return to the comrades along with the entire crew, but not one, but with a gift - a captured German bus.
The story that the platoon commander told the agitated fellow soldiers was amazing. His tank was left for a day to guard the headquarters by order of Colonel Katukov. At the end of the day, the tank under its own power tried to overtake the brigade along the highway, but it was overflowing with equipment, and all kinds of hopes had to be abandoned in time. Then the crew decided to turn to Serpukhov and look into the hairdresser there. Already here, at the mercy of scissors and shaving brushes, a Red Army soldier found our heroes. Having run into the barber shop, he asked the tankers to urgently come to the commandant of the city. There it turned out that in a few hours Serpukhov would be at the mercy of the Germans, unless, of course, some miracle happened. The crew of the T-34 could have been such a miracle.
"Thirty-four", disguised by branches and fallen leaves, almost completely merged with the surrounding landscape of the forest edge. Therefore, it was easy to lure a German tank column as close as possible, and only then, having begun shelling and sowing panic, proceed to destroy the enemy.
The tankers were in ambush and soon the enemy's motorcycles and tanks appeared on the road. Started. Having knocked out the first and last vehicle in the convoy, the T-34 began to zigzag along the road, simultaneously crushing the enemy's guns and equipment. To say that the Germans were stunned is to say nothing. Within a few minutes, six tanks were hit, several guns and vehicles were destroyed, the enemy was put to flight. Lavrinenko's reward for this operation was a German staff bus, which he, with the commandant's permission, brought with him to the unit.
More than once the crew demonstrated their resourcefulness. So, on November 17, in a battle near the village of Shishkino, T-34 Lavrinenko destroyed six enemy vehicles, profitably using the terrain. The tank was prudently painted with white and was completely invisible in the fresh snow. The moving column of enemy tanks suddenly turned into heaps of metal, and the thirty-four instantly disappeared into the forest. The next day, the lieutenant's tank knocked out seven more tanks, although it was itself damaged, in addition, the driver and radio operator were killed.
During the battle near the village of Goryuny on December 18, 1941, Lavrinenko knocked out his last, 52nd, tank. Immediately after the battle, he ran with a report to his superiors and, by a tragic accident, was killed by a fragment of a mine that exploded nearby.
Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko is the best tank-ace of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. The amount of equipment destroyed by him is simply amazing. If in two and a half months he was able to destroy fifty-two tanks, then how much would he be able to shoot if not for the ridiculous death?
He received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union only 49 years later, in 1990.
Soviet tank ace, guard senior lieutenant, Hero of the Soviet Union, the most effective tanker in the Red Army.
In 1934 he volunteered for the Red Army and was sent to the cavalry. In May 1938 he graduated from the Ulyanovsk Tank School. He took part in the campaign to Western Ukraine and in the campaign to Bessarabia. After retreating from the western borders of the USSR in August 1941, he arrived in the 4th (from November 11 - 1st Guards) tank brigade of Colonel M.E. Katukov. For two and a half months of fighting, he took part in 28 battles and destroyed 52 enemy tanks, becoming the most effective tanker in the Red Army during the entire Great Patriotic War. On December 18, on the outskirts of Volokolamsk after the battle, D.F. Lavrinenko was killed by a mine fragment.
After World War II, Marshal of the Armored Forces M.E. Katukov, General of the Army D.D.Lelyushenko, as well as Kuban writers and local historians sought to award Lavrinenko, and only on May 5, 1990 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, posthumously.
early years
Dmitry Lavrinenko was born on October 1 (14), 1914 (according to other sources - September 10) in the village of Fearless (now the Otradnensky district of the Krasnodar Territory) in the family of a Kuban Cossack. Russian.
Father, Fyodor Prokofievich Lavrinenko, a participant in the First World War, was a Red Guard during the Civil War and died in battles with White Cossacks. Mother - Matryona Prokofievna - after the establishment of Soviet power, she joined the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and became the chairman of the Stansoviet on the Sladky farm in the Armavir region; after the death of her husband, she raised her son alone.
In 1931, Dmitry Lavrinenko graduated from the school of peasant youth in the village of Voznesenskaya, and then - teacher's courses in the city of Armavir. After that, in 1931-1933, Lavrinenko came to work as a teacher at a school on the Sladky farm, chairman of the village council, in which his mother was. On his initiative, a drama club, a string orchestra and sports sections - wrestling, football, volleyball and athletics - appeared in the village school. According to one of his former students: “I must confess that we girls were simply in love with our teacher, but he either did not notice, or pretended not to notice. Dmitry Fedorovich spent his lessons uninhibited, with invention, with imagination. And what is surprising - he taught classes in two classes at once - one room, and classes two, second and fourth, each occupied two rows of desks ... Not without his influence, I became a teacher. "
In 1933-1934 he worked as a statistician at the head office of the Khutorok state farm, then as a cashier at a savings bank in the village of Novokubanskoye (12 km north of Armavir).
In 1934, Lavrinenko volunteered for the army and was sent to the cavalry. In May 1938 he graduated from the Ulyanovsk Armored School on a compressed program. According to the company commander, Lieutenant Dmitry Lavrinenko is "a modest, efficient and orderly tank commander." According to the memoirs of his former brother-soldier Hero of the Soviet Union AA Raftopullo, “he passed the exams with good and excellent grades, because he came to the army with the specialty of a teacher. Dmitry was given science well, he was distinguished by special diligence, endurance, kindness and modesty. He was very fond of technology and tried to master it as soon as possible. He fired excellently from all types of weapons, as his friends called him: "Sniper's Eye". "
In 1939, Lavrinenko took part in the campaign to Western Ukraine, in 1940 - in the campaign to Bessarabia. In Stanislav, at a youth evening, he met his future wife, Nina, whom he married in the summer of 1941 in Vinnitsa, where Dmitry's military unit retreated from the western borders of the USSR.
At the western borders
See also: Battle of Dubno - Lutsk - Brody and Battle of Uman
At the beginning of World War II, Lieutenant Lavrinenko served as the commander of a tank platoon of the 15th Panzer Division of the 16th Mechanized Corps, stationed in the city of Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankovsk, Ukraine). The division did not take part in hostilities for quite a long time. So, on July 2, the withdrawal of units of the 16th Mechanized Corps across the Dniester River began, and on July 4 it was withdrawn from the Southern Front for redeployment to the Mozyr region (Gomel Region, Belarus). Thus, by the morning of July 7, 1941, the 15th Panzer Division, which did not participate in battles, after leaving its deployment in Stanislav, before loading at Derazhnya station, had already covered about 300 km, losing material that was out of order for technical reasons. Due to the lack of rolling stock in Derazhna, the loading of divisional units was delayed until July 11, which led to the disorganization of corps units and formations.
Damaged BT-5, similar to those in service with the 15th Panzer Division, Southern Front, June 1941
On July 7, the Wehrmacht with the forces of the 11th Panzer Division broke through to Berdichev (Zhytomyr region of Ukraine) and occupied the city. On July 8-11, Soviet units with the forces of the newly formed group of forces of the division commander A.D. Sokolov (the commander of the 16th mechanized corps with attached subunits) tried to recapture Berdichev, initially reaching its southwestern outskirts. However, having suffered heavy losses, as well as because of the threat of encirclement, the Soviet troops stormed the city were withdrawn. With a breakthrough to Kazatin, the 1st Panzer Group (Colonel General Ewald von Kleist) split Sokolov's group into two parts. By the end of July 15, Sokolov's group left the city of Kazatin. In the area of the village of Komsomolskoye, a battalion of the 15th tank division was surrounded, but at night it managed to break through to the main parts of the division.
To preserve the combat capability of the 16th Mechanized Corps units with attached units, they began to retreat to Ruzhin and Zarudintsy (Zhytomyr region of Ukraine). During the fighting, the corps suffered heavy losses in materiel, and also experienced serious interruptions in the supply of fuel and ammunition. By the end of July 24, the corps withdrew to the Skala-Kozhanka defensive line. From the remnants of the 240th Motorized Division, 15th and 44th Panzer Divisions, an infantry detachment was formed with a force of up to a battalion. At the same time, by order of the command, the recall of the most valuable tank personnel from the front began, who did not have the material part and were used in battles as ordinary infantrymen.
In these first battles, Lieutenant Lavrinenko did not succeed in distinguishing himself, since his tank was out of order. During the retreat, Dmitry Fedorovich showed his character and did not obey the order to destroy his faulty tank. Following the retreating units of the 15th Panzer Division, he handed over his car for repair only after the remaining personnel of the division were sent to reorganize. The remnants of the 15th Panzer Division died in the Uman cauldron in the group of P.G. Ponedelin in early August 1941. On August 14, 1941, the division was disbanded.
In the 4th tank brigade
On August 19, 1941, in the village of Prudboy, Stalingrad Region, from the evacuated personnel of the 15th and 20th tank divisions, the 4th tank brigade began to form, the commander of which was appointed Colonel M.E. Katukov (former commander of the 20th tank division of the 9th mechanized corps). The brigade received new KV and T-34 tanks from the assembly line of the Stalingrad Tractor Plant. Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko was appointed commander of the T-34 tank platoon. According to the recollections of fellow soldiers, having received a new T-34 car, he said: "Well, now I will pay off with Hitler!"
On September 23, the personnel and materiel were loaded into echelons, and on the morning of September 28, the brigade concentrated in the village of Akulovo, in the area of the Kubinka station (Odintsovsky district of the Moscow region). Upon arrival in Kubinka, the brigade additionally received light tanks BT-7, BT-5 and obsolete BT-2, which had just come out of repair. Having completed its formation by October 3, 1941, the brigade entered the operational subordination of the 1st Special Guards Rifle Corps of Major General D. D. Lelyushenko.
A family
Father - Fedor Prokofievich Lavrinenko, a Cossack from the village of Fearless, a participant in the First World War, an artilleryman. Moved to the Kuban from the Chernigov region. He fought on the Turkish and Eastern fronts. With the outbreak of the civil war, he joined the Red Guard detachment, died in 1918 in battles with the White Cossacks.
Mother - Matryona Prokofievna Lavrinenko (Sitnikova; 1892-1985) - after the death of her husband, single-handedly raised her son Mitya. During the civil war, she was forced to move with her parents to the neighboring village of Otvazhnaya, fleeing the reprisals of the White Guards General V.L. Pokrovsky. After the establishment of Soviet power, the family received a land plot in Gryaznukha. She worked as the head of the canteen, joined the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, became the chairman of the Stansoviet on the Sladky farm. In the post-war years, the former brother-soldiers of Dmitry Lavrinenko did not forget her, the Katukites established a constant correspondence with Matryona Prokofievna. At the initiative of Marshal of Armored Forces M.E. Katukov, she came to a meeting of veterans, and her photograph was transferred to the museum of the former 1st Guards Tank Brigade. Former fellow soldiers accompanied her along the entire combat path of her son, invited her to the reburial of Dmitry's remains in a mass grave in the village of Denkovo. She lived in Armavir. She died in 1985 at the Ust-Labinsk boarding school for the elderly and disabled.
Wife - Nina, originally from the village of Andryuki, met Dmitry before the war in Stanislav at a youth evening. According to Matryona Prokofievna's recollections, “the first time Mitya came home, he brought her, his bride, right on a tank, we lived here in a military town. They climbed out of the hatch, he took it off the caterpillar, grabbed it in the frame, carried it into the room, and it bursts out - so shy. " They got married in Vinnitsa in the summer of 1941, where, with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Dmitry's military unit retreated with battles. She was forced to part with Dmitry in Stalingrad, from where he, together with a part, left for Moscow. Soon, together with the families of the officers, she was evacuated to Central Asia, to the city of Fergana. She studied at the nursing courses, then at the beginning of August 1942 she was sent to the front. When her train passed through Armavir, she asked to go to the city to visit Matryona Prokofievna. She died during the German bombing of the Armavir railway station.
14.10.1914 - 18.12.1941
The hero of the USSR
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L Avrinenko Dmitry Fedorovich - company commander of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade (16th Army, Western Front), Guard Senior Lieutenant.
Born on October 14, 1914 in the village of Fearless, now Otradnensky district, Krasnodar Territory, in a peasant family. Russian. In 1931 he graduated from the school of peasant youth in the village of Voznesenskaya, then teacher's courses in the city of Armavir. In 1931-1933 he worked as a teacher at a school on the Sladky farm in the Armavir region, in 1933-1934 he worked as a statistician at the head office of a state farm, then as a cashier at a savings bank in the village of Novokubanskoye.
In 1934 he volunteered for the Red Army and was sent to the cavalry. A year later he entered the Ulyanovsk Armored School, which he graduated in May 1938. Junior Lieutenant Lavrinenko took part in a campaign in Western Ukraine in 1939, and in June 1940 in a campaign in Bessarabia. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1941.
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Lieutenant Lavrinenko met in the position of platoon commander of the 15th Panzer Division, which was stationed in the city of Stanislav on the territory of Western Ukraine. It was not possible to excel in the first battles, his tank was damaged. During the retreat, the young officer showed character and flatly refused to destroy his faulty tank. Only after the remaining personnel of the division was sent to reorganize, Lavrinenko handed over his faulty car for repair.
In September 1941, he arrived at the newly formed 4th (from November 11 - 1st Guards) tank brigade of Colonel Katukov and from October 4 he had already fought near the city of Mtsensk. On October 6, during a battle near the village of Perviy Voin, Lieutenant Lavrinenko's tank group, consisting of four T-34 tanks, decisively attacked a column of German tanks. Constantly changing firing positions, appearing in different places, four thirty-fours made the impression on the Germans of the actions of a large tank group. In this battle, the tank crews destroyed 15 enemy tanks, four of which were on the account of Lavrinenko. By October 11, the brave tanker had 7 tanks, an anti-tank gun and up to two platoons of German infantry on his account.
From the end of October, the tank brigade fought on the outskirts of the capital, in the Volokolamsk direction. Here again, senior lieutenant Lavrinenko distinguished himself. On November 7, near the village of Lystsevo, his group of three T-34 tanks and three BT-7 tanks entered the battle with 18 German tanks. In this battle, the Germans lost 7 tanks.
Soon, the brave tanker fought a unique battle with an enemy tank group that broke through to our rear. Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko secretly brought his T-34 towards the German tank column near the highway leading to Shishkino. He ambushed his tank in an open field, taking advantage of the fact that the tank was painted in white and was almost invisible on the snow-covered field. One tank Lavrinenko, practically point-blank, shot from the flank a column of 18 tanks, destroying 6 of them. By his actions, he allowed the troops that were under the threat of encirclement to leave. On November 19, near the village of Gusenevo, in an oncoming battle with seven shells, he destroyed seven tanks.
On December 5, 1941, the Guard Senior Lieutenant Lavrinenko was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The award list noted "... carrying out combat missions of the command from October 4 to the present, he was continuously in battle. During the period of battles near Orel and in the Volokolamsk direction, Lavrinenko's crew destroyed 37 heavy, medium and light enemy tanks ..."
The brave tanker spent his last battle on December 18 on the outskirts of Volokolamsk, near the village of Goryuny. Attacking the enemy that had broken through our positions, he destroyed his 52nd German tank, 2 anti-tank guns and up to fifty German soldiers. On the same day, after the battle, Senior Lieutenant Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko was struck by a mine fragment.
For two and a half months of fierce battles, the hero-tanker took part in 28 battles and destroyed 52 Nazi tanks. He became the most productive tanker in the Red Army, but did not become a Hero. On December 22, he was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Already in peacetime, numerous performances for the hero's award at the highest levels (Marshal Katukov, General of the Army Lelyushenko) had an effect on the bureaucratic routine.
Have By the decree of the President of the USSR of May 5, 1990, Lavrinenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously for the courage and heroism shown in battles with the Nazi invaders.
The Hero's relatives were awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11615).
He was buried at the site of the battle, near the highway, between the villages of Pokrovsky and Goryuny. Later he was reburied in a mass grave in the village of Denkovo, Volokolamsk District, Moscow Region.
School number 28 in the village of Fearless, streets in his native village, Volokolamsk, Krasnodar are named after the Hero.
One combat episode
Katukov left Lavrinenko's tank at the request of the command of the 50th Army to guard its headquarters. The command of the army promised the brigade commander not to detain him for a long time. But four days have passed since that day. Katukov and the head of the political department, senior battalion commissar I.G. Derevyankin rushed to call at all ends, but they could not find traces of Lavrinenko. Emergency was brewing.
At noon on October 20, a thirty-four drove up to the brigade headquarters, clanking its tracks, followed by a German staff bus. The hatch of the tower opened and from there, as if nothing had happened, Lavrinenko climbed out, followed by the members of his crew - the loading private Fedotov and the gunner-radio operator Sergeant Borzykh. At the wheel of the staff bus sat the driver-mechanic Senior Sergeant Poorny.
The angry chief of the political department Derevyankin attacked Lavrinenko, demanding an explanation of the reasons for the delay, it is not known where the lieutenant and his crew members were all this time. Instead of answering, Lavrinenko took a paper from the breast pocket of his tunic and handed it to the head of the political department. The paper read the following:
"To Colonel Comrade Katukov. The commander of the car, Dmitry Fedorovich Lavrinenko, was detained by me. He was given the task of stopping the enemy who had broken through and helping to restore the situation at the front and in the area of the city of Serpukhov. He not only fulfilled this task with honor, but also showed himself heroically. For exemplary performance of the combat mission The Military Council of the Army expressed gratitude to all the personnel of the crew and presented them with a government award.
Commandant of the city of Serpukhov, brigade commander Firsov ".The point turned out to be the following. The headquarters of the 50th Army released Lavrinenko's tank literally following the departed tank brigade. But the road turned out to be clogged with vehicles and, no matter how hurried Lavrinenko, he failed to catch up with the brigade.
Arriving in Serpukhov, the crew decided to shave in a hairdresser. As soon as Lavrinenko sat down in a chair, suddenly a breathless Red Army soldier ran into the hall and told the lieutenant to urgently come to the commandant of the city, brigade commander Firsov.
Appearing to Firsov, Lavrinenko learned that along the highway from Maloyaroslavets to Serpukhov was a German column up to a battalion. The commandant had no forces at hand to defend the city. The units for the defense of Serpukhov were about to come up, and before that all hope for Firsov remained on the one and only tank Lavrinenko.
In the grove, near Vysokinichy, T-34 Lavrinenko ambushed. The road was well visible in both directions. A few minutes later a German column appeared on the highway. Motorcycles rattled ahead, then a command vehicle, three trucks with infantry and anti-tank guns went. The Germans were extremely self-confident and did not send intelligence ahead.
Having let the convoy go 150 meters, Lavrinenko shot the convoy point-blank. Two guns were immediately destroyed, the third German gunners tried to turn around, but Lavrinenko's tank jumped out onto the highway and crashed into trucks with infantry, and then crushed the gun. Soon an infantry unit approached and finished off the stunned and bewildered enemy.
The crew of Lavrinenko handed over to the commandant of Serpukhov 13 assault rifles, 6 mortars, 10 motorcycles with sidecars and an anti-tank gun with full ammunition. Firsov allowed the staff vehicle to be taken to the brigade. It was under its own power that the driver-mechanic Poor, who had moved from the thirty-four, drove it. The bus contained important documents and maps, which Katukov immediately sent to Moscow.