Tank “Battle Friend. Fighting girlfriend
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“Russian Planet” remembers a resident of Tomsk who bought a tank for the front and became the first woman tank driver
Danish director Gert Friborg visited Tomsk, where he shot some scenes for his short film “Fighting Friend” - a biographical film about the life of Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya. Most of the material was prepared in the director’s homeland, but it was decided to film some scenes in a city that is closely intertwined with fate main character. The story of an extraordinary woman awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union, in the material “Russian Planet”.
Daughter of exiles, Komsomol member and wife of a commissar
Maria Garagulya was born in the Tauride province (Crimea) on August 16, 1905* in the village of Kiyat, now renamed the village of Blizhnoe. She grew up in a family of peasants who, after dispossession in 1930, were exiled to the Urals. Elementary education, six classes, Maria received in the city of Dzhankoy in the south of Crimea, where she moved in 1921. From there, four years later, she moved to Sevastopol. There she managed to work at a cannery, then was a telephone operator at a local telephone exchange.
In Sevastopol, Maria met her future husband, cadet Ilya Ryadnenko, whom she married in 1925. During the wedding, she both changed their last name, becoming Oktyabrsky. After graduating from college, Ilya Oktyabrsky was sent from one city to another, and Maria followed him.
According to Galina Bitko, who heads the cultural and educational department of the Tomsk regional local history museum, few personal items that belonged to Maria Oktyabrskaya have survived to this day. Memories, notes and memoirs of fellow soldiers and contemporaries have been preserved. They all speak with equal warmth about Maria Vasilievna’s pre-war life.
“Cheerful, cheerful, friendly and beautifully dressed, she always attracted people to her. Organized an embroidery class for the wives of commanders. She herself is a real needlewoman, - this is what a participant in the Great Patriotic War said about the woman. Patriotic War Irina Levchenko. - Thanks to the care of Maria Vasilievna, the soldiers’ barracks became cozy, home view. They featured curtains on the windows and doors, embroidered with crosses and satin stitch, and napkins on the bedside tables. And flowers, even if not in vases - in jars, but still alive.”
To all questions about how she manages everything, Maria proudly answered: “The commissioner’s wife should set an example in everything!” She was constantly elected to the women's councils of units and garrisons, to which Maria came after her husband. She was an active participant and organizer of defense and cultural events among families of officers, as well as in amateur performances.
After completing the medical service course, she studied marksmanship and completed a driver's course. It is also known that out of 50 shots from a rifle, she hit 48 targets, threw a grenade well, put a shot and threw a discus. Ilya Oktyabrsky was proud of his beloved wife.
In 1941, fate separated them. A day after the start of the war, Maria, along with other members of the officers’ families, was evacuated to Tomsk, where she was able to arrive only in August. In her new place, she immediately began working at a local construction site, and then at the Leningrad Technical School of Anti-Aircraft Artillery, which was also evacuated to Tomsk. At the end of the summer, she learned of her husband's death. Ilya Oktyabrsky died on August 9 near Kyiv.
Buying a tank and a letter to the leader
Maria Oktyabrskaya went to Novosibirsk to meet with the wives of officers who died in the war. After this, she decided to join the Red Army. By that time she was almost 40 years old, and therefore she received refusal letters asking her to send her to the front.
Tuberculosis also prevented me from getting back on track cervical vertebra, which Maria Vasilievna once suffered from.
Then the widow of Commissar Oktyabrsky began saving money for a tank. To begin with, with the help of her sister, she sold all the property that she had managed to accumulate by that time. After that, she took up embroidery, since she was unable to obtain the necessary funds from the sale of her belongings. When the entire amount - 50 thousand rubles - was in hand, she took the money to the State Bank. And she wrote a telegram to Joseph Stalin, which was published in March 1943 by the Red Banner newspaper. In her appeal to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Maria asked to build a tank with her personal savings, and to send her with him to the front as a driver. The same newspaper published the response of the Leader of the Nations:
“Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be fulfilled. Please accept my greetings, I. Stalin.”
As the mechanic Oktyabrskaya requested, the tank was named “Battle Girlfriend”. While it was being assembled, Maria was sent for training to Omsk, where she was supposed to learn driving. As Galina Bitko notes, she passed all exams with excellent marks. After that, I went to the Urals and received the car straight from the assembly line.
Tank T-34 “Fighting Girlfriend” at the moment of its transfer to the crew by the team of the Sverdlovsk bread and pasta plant, winter 1943. Photo: tankfront.ru
After this, Maria Oktyabrskaya was sent to the Western Front, near Smolensk. There she, along with the tank, joined the 26th Elninsky Guards Tank Brigade. In mid-September 1943, the “Battle Friend” tank arrived at the Tatsinsky Corps. The crew of the tank is also known: commander - junior lieutenant Pyotr Chebotko, gunner - Gennady Yasko, radio operator - Mikhail Galkin, driver - Maria Oktyabrskaya. Moreover, all crew members are front-line soldiers, awarded orders and medals. According to a museum employee, the crew of the tank called the mechanic only “Mama Vasilyevna,” to which she always answered them “sons.”
Death of the "Fighting Friend"
It is well known about the two battles of the crew members of the “Fighting Girlfriend” and Maria Oktyabrskaya. One of the combat missions in November 1943 was the need to cut the railway line near the settlement of Novoye Selo in the Sennensky district of the Vitebsk region of the Republic of Belarus. The task was complicated by the accumulation of enemy troops, whose detachments had to be defeated in order to complete the task. Oktyabrskaya, who at that time had already become a guard sergeant, together with her tank, was among the first to arrive at the German positions.
For three days, the seriously wounded Maria repaired her “Battle Friend,” which had been knocked out during the battle. Before breaking down, the tank managed to destroy more than 50 German soldiers and officers, as well as knock out an enemy cannon. After Oktyabrskaya was able to repair the tank, the crew in full force returned to the unit's location. For this battle, the woman received the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
The second famous battle in the biography of the war heroine took place near the Krynka station in the Vitebsk region. In mid-January 1944, a tank attack on the railway station began. Among the attackers was the “Fighting Friend,” which crushed several anti-tank guns located in the populated area with its tracks. During the battle, an enemy shell hit the “sloth” of the tank - one of the guide wheels of the combat vehicle. Due to the damage, the equipment stopped working, and Maria, despite the fierce shooting, went outside for repairs.
When almost everything was ready, a mine exploded not far from Maria Oktyabrskaya. Several shrapnel wounded her in the head. Nevertheless, she was able to get the tank moving this time too. After she returned to the unit, the first operation was performed at the field hospital, during which it became clear that more serious surgical intervention was necessary.
Death and memory
During Maria Oktyabrskaya's stay in the hospital, she was awarded an order for the battle near Novy Selo. During the presentation, the entire cast of “Fighting Girlfriend” was present. Then, on February 16, the driver was transported by plane to Smolensk. She spent almost a month in the hospital, but the doctors could not help her, and on March 15, 1944, Maria Oktyabrskaya died. In early August of the same year, by decree of Joseph Stalin, she was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
As a result, the tank crew replaced three vehicles that were damaged and burned during the war. On the fourth car they managed to end the war, reaching Konigsberg. As a sign of respect and memory of Maria Oktyabrskaya, on each new tank received to replace the burned one, the crew displayed the name of the very first tank - “Battle Friend”.
Tomsk residents honor the memory of the heroine. For example, on the wall of the building of the electric lamp plant there is a memorial plaque with the following text: “On this place stood the house in which Maria Oktyabrskaya, Hero of the Soviet Union, sergeant, mechanic-driver of the “Fighting Friend” tank, built with her personal savings, lived in 1941–1943. She died in battles for her homeland in 1944.” In addition, a monument was erected to her near gymnasium No. 24. Contrary to some opinions, Tomsk Oktyabrskaya Street has nothing to do with the heroine. But one of the streets of Smolensk is named in honor of Maria.
* Date of birth is indicated according to award documents. Some sources indicate the date of birth as July 21, 1902.
Hero of the Soviet Union Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya immortalized her name with several exploits during the Great Patriotic War. She became a mechanic-driver of a T-34 tank, built with her money and called “Fighting Friend.” The image of Maria Oktyabrskaya remains one of the most famous in a series of names of heroes and heroines from the war against the Nazis.
early years
Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna was born on August 16, 1905 in Crimea. Her parents were peasants. In the 30s they were dispossessed and sent to the Urals. Maria remained in Crimea. Lived and worked in Simferopol. She was a telephone operator at the city station.
In 1925, the girl married cavalry cadet Ilya Ryadnenko. At the registry office, the couple decided to take a new surname Oktyabrsky in honor Socialist Revolution. The husband was a military man, which meant that the family had to regularly change their residential address - along with the units where the service took place.
Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna tried to keep up with her husband. She was a member of women's councils of military units. In addition, the girl learned to provide medical assistance by taking appropriate courses. Maria also became a driver and machine gunner. In 1940, the Soviet Union annexed Bessarabia. After this, the Oktyabrsky family moved to Chisinau, where her husband’s regiment was stationed.
In evacuation
And the following summer the Great Patriotic War began. The Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union without warning, hoping to take the enemy by surprise and be in Moscow by the fall. The USSR began a hasty mobilization of everyone capable of holding a weapon.
Maria Oktyabrskaya's husband, as a career military man, found himself at the front in the very first days of the conflict. His wife and her sister were evacuated in Tomsk. In this Siberian city, Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya, out of old habit, worked as a telephone operator in an artillery school, which moved to the rear from Leningrad.
Death of her husband
Ilya Oktyabrsky died at the front on August 9, 1941. The wife received a funeral notice, in which it was reported that her husband had come under machine gun fire in a battle near Kyiv. The news was stunning, but not surprising. The Red Army carried the entire war huge losses, and in the first months of the German offensive these numbers were especially high.
Throughout 1941, the rear military registration and enlistment offices were full of people who wanted to go to the front. Maria Oktyabrskaya was among them. (the award was awarded to her posthumously) wanted to go into battle as quickly as possible. However, the military registration and enlistment office refused the woman. She was 35 years old and had previously suffered from tuberculosis. It seemed that it was no longer destined to end up on the Oktyabrskaya front. However, Maria decided to take the most amazing measures just to get into the army.
"Fighting Girlfriend"
Oktyabrskaya and her sister sold all their property. In addition, she worked additionally as a seamstress for several months. All this was necessary in order to collect enough money to assemble a new tank. With the outbreak of war in the Soviet Union, a defense fund was opened, which received public donations. Funds raised in this way went to new technology army.
So the fund ended up with 50 thousand rubles, which Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya contributed single-handedly. The biography of this woman is an example of many selfless acts for the sake of saving the Motherland.
However, contributing money to the defense fund was not enough to get into battle. Maria wrote a telegram to the Kremlin addressed to Stalin. In her message, the woman spoke about the death of her husband and her desire to take revenge on the Nazis. She asked the commander-in-chief to call the tank assembled with her money “Fighting Friend.” Oktyabrskaya also asked to be given the driver’s seat in this combat vehicle. Stalin responded to an amazing telegram from a woman rushing from the rear to the front and gave his consent.
At the front
In May 1943, new cadets entered the Omsk Tank School, who were destined to become part of tank crews. Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna was among them. Awards and the glory of the first female tanker (the case was truly unique) did not interest her. All the woman wanted was to help her native country in its fight against the German aggressors.
The training continued for several months. In October 1943, Maria finally got to the Western Front, where the fiercest fighting took place. She participated in several offensive operations Red Army. At this time, the Soviet Union had already seized the strategic initiative from the Wehrmacht. One by one, the cities occupied during the German blitzkrieg were liberated.
On November 18, the Red Army soldiers observed the truly heroic feat of M. V. Oktyabrskaya. She broke into the defensive ranks of German units in her tank. The enemy cannon and about 50 other soldiers of the Third Reich were destroyed by fire. "Battle Friend" was shot down. Oktyabrskaya was wounded, but remained in her car and repelled enemy attacks for two more days until her tank was evacuated.
Thanks to the feat of Oktyabrskaya and her crew, an entire German platoon was destroyed. This happened in a battle in the Vitebsk region of Belarus. The heroine went to the medical platoon for treatment, and her action was set as an example to all her fellow soldiers.
The last feat
Within a few weeks, Oktyabrskaya returned to duty. On January 18, 1944, she entered into her last Stand. The “battle friend” crushed three German machine gun emplacements. About twenty Wehrmacht soldiers died under the wheels of the tank. Intense fire was opened on the car. An enemy shell hit the tank and significantly damaged it.
Oktyabrskaya began to fix the damage. At this time, a mine exploded nearby, a fragment of which hit Maria in the eye. She was seriously wounded and evacuated from the battlefield. A complex operation was performed on the tanker. However, her condition remained serious. Then Oktyabrskaya was sent to Smolensk, where doctors planned to continue treatment. Meanwhile, on January 28, 1944, the woman received the second degree, and later the same award of the first degree.
Death and memory
The shrapnel hit the brain. Because of this serious injury, Oktyabrskaya could not recover even in the hospital. The doctors were powerless. On March 15, 1944, the famous tanker died in Smolensk. The woman was buried in the local Heroes' Memorial Square.
After his death, the authorities did everything to ensure that his compatriots did not forget about such an outstanding soldier as Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya. Hero of the Soviet Union - this is the title she received posthumously on August 2, 1944. Today, streets in many Russian cities are named after the tanker.
ABOUT Ktyabrskaya (nee Garagulya) Maria Vasilievna - mechanic-driver of the “Battle Girlfriend” tank of the 2nd tank battalion of the 26th Guards tank brigade 2nd Guards tank corps Western Front, Guard Sergeant.
She was born on August 3 (16), 1902 in the village of Kiyat, now the village of Blidneye, Krasnogvardeisky district of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukraine, in a peasant family. Ukrainian. She lived in the city of Dzhankoy, graduated from 6th grade. She worked at a cannery in Simferopol, then became a telephone operator at the city telephone exchange.
During the Great Patriotic War, she built the “Fighting Girlfriend” tank with her own savings. She graduated from the Omsk Tank School and from October 1943 fought on the Western Front with her tank.
On January 17, 1944, near the Krynki station in the Vitebsk region of Belarus, the “Fighting Girlfriend” tank had its caterpillar hit. The driver-mechanic M.V. Oktyabrskaya tried to repair the damage under enemy fire; a mine that exploded nearby dangerously wounded her in the left eye.
On March 15, 1944, Guard Sergeant M.V. Oktyabrskaya died in a front-line hospital in Smolensk. She was buried in the Park in Memory of Heroes near the Smolensk fortress wall.
For the courage and heroism shown in battles, guard sergeant Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on August 2, 1944.
She was awarded the Order of Lenin (08/02/1944; posthumously), the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (02/01/1944).
In Tomsk, gymnasium No. 24 bears her name and a bust of M.V. Oktyabrskaya is installed. In Smolensk a street is named after her.
Children's and teenage years Maria Oktyabrskaya passed among beautiful nature Crimea. In Simferopol, Maria Vasilievna met a cavalryman of the division G.I. Kotovsky Ilya Fedorovich Ryadenko. Tall, stately, she immediately liked him. In 1925, the young people got married and took a new surname - Oktyabrsky. Maria Vasilievna did not want to lag behind her husband in anything. She read a lot, studied, was an excellent shot with a machine gun and a revolver, and knew how to drive a car. Maria Vasilievna took an active part in Red Army amateur groups and enthusiastically sang Russian folk songs in front of the soldiers.
Maria Vasilyevna had an interesting, varied life, but everything was destroyed by the war. Her husband went to the front, Maria Vasilievna was evacuated from Chisinau to Tomsk. Ilya Fedorovich wrote in letters about himself and how the border regiment fought the enemy.
Believe, dear, believe, victory will definitely be ours,” wrote Ilya Fedorovich Oktyabrsky, “we will destroy the Nazis.”
But he didn’t have to see victory. Near the city of Kiev, regimental commissar Oktyabrsky, military commissar of the 206th Infantry Division, leading the soldiers into the attack, was hit by a machine-gun burst. But great grief did not break the strong-willed woman; she decided to go to the front.
Maria Vasilyevna decides to sell all her belongings and use the money to build a tank. But this money was not enough, then she took up embroidery and with her labor obtained the missing amount.
Stubborn and painstaking work lasted for two months, day after day. Finally, the money was collected and deposited in the state bank. Maria Vasilievna sent a telegram to the Kremlin with the following content:
Moscow, Kremlin, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin. Dear Joseph Vissarionovich! My husband, regimental commissar Ilya Fedotovich Oktyabrsky, died in the battles for his homeland. For his death, for the death of Soviet people tortured by fascist barbarians, I want to take revenge on the fascist dogs, for which I deposited all my personal savings - 50 thousand rubles - into the state bank to build a tank. I ask you to name the tank “Battle Friend” and send me to the front as the driver of this tank. I have a specialty as a driver, I have excellent command of a machine gun, and I am a Voroshilov marksman. Maria OktyabrskayaSoon the answer came:
Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be fulfilled, please accept my greetings. Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Joseph Stalin.Soon Maria Vasilyevna was sent to the Omsk Tank School and graduated successfully. Finally, the day came when Maria Vasilievna saw her “Fighting Friend”. The tank factory presented the tanks on time. Next to the combat friend on the right flank stood the tank commander, junior lieutenant Chebotko, next to him, in overalls and a tank helmet, mechanic M.V. Oktyabrskaya. To her left is machine gunner Yasko and radio operator Misha Galkin. With this crew, Maria Vasilievna will go against the enemy.
It was September 1943. In a small forest clearing, guardsmen gathered for a front-line meeting. Maria Vasilievna asked to speak and came forward. She never spoke with such passion as today:
“My dear friends! I am proud that I will fight the hated enemy as part of the illustrious guards formation. I know what a soldier of such a formation should be like. The German border is not yet so close, but we will get there. We will reach the lair of the beast and will forever stop wanting to fight against our country. I swear to you that the crew of the “Fighting Girlfriend” tank will not leave you behind. I will defeat the fascists as long as my heart beats.”In the very first battle, Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya was convinced of excellent qualities your car. The battalion commander thanked the crew of the "Combat Girlfriend" over the radio and congratulated them on the successful completion of the combat mission. Baptism of fire received. The front moved west. On November 14, the unit was transferred to a new direction, where enemy resistance was especially fierce. "Fighting Girlfriend" was in the first echelon of attackers. M.V. Oktyabrskaya saw how the Nazis, stumbling, fell under the fire of her car. The tank was rapidly rushing forward. Suddenly the "Fighting Friend" shuddered and began to turn to the side. The shell distorted part of the caterpillar. The crew of the tank on the battlefield decided to fix the vehicle, which was done. There is another battle ahead.
The battle at the Krynki state farm was especially memorable for its fury. The enemy brought up new forces. The lead tanks, including the "Battle Girlfriend", fiercely repelled enemy attacks, waiting for their infantry, which was cut off by strong machine-gun and artillery fire. In the evening, the voice of the battalion commander was heard in the headsets:
“Fight the way the tank crews of the Battle Girlfriend fight. Just today, the crew of the glorious vehicle destroyed a platoon of Nazi bandits.”The situation remained difficult. The dry rations were coming to an end, the ammunition ran out, and the offensive began. Together with everyone else, she rushed to the village behind the state farm “Krynki” and “Fighting Girlfriend”. But she was destined to reach only the first trench. From an ambush a German cannon struck point blank. The torn caterpillar of the tank lay lifelessly in the snow. The tankers jumped out of the car. Oktyabrskaya looked around. A few meters away, the Ferdinand was burning out. How to repair a tank under fire, and even the right track, open to the enemy? You need to have a lot of self-control and courage in order to correct the tank in such conditions, take it out of the fire and complete the combat mission.
Maria Vasilyevna removed the spare tracks from the wing and jumped to the ground. She didn’t hear the moaning howl of the mine, and maybe she did, but how could that stop her? There was an explosion. And immediately Maria Vasilievna felt pain in her left eye. Immediately the pain radiated into left hand, in the thigh. She fell, losing consciousness. She was carried from the battlefield on a stretcher. It was January 17, 1944. Maria Vasilievna was taken by plane to Smolensk. An elderly surgeon examined the wound. It's hard to do anything. The fragment pierced the eye and touched the cerebral hemisphere.
"Large loss of blood. General state weak,” noted on the card nurse. After the operation, Maria Vasilievna was transferred to the ward. On the same day, in the evening, Oktyabrskaya was visited by a member of the front’s military council, L.Z. Mehlis. He reassured her, saying that the crew was healthy. And he told the doctors that Maria Vasilievna should be prepared to be sent to Moscow. But her health was deteriorating, memory lapses were occurring more and more often, headache, fever, delirium. When Maria Vasilievna came to her senses, her first question was about her children. Major Topok, who came to present her with the order, brought great joy. The major brought gifts and letters from the guys.
“Hello, our mother Maria Vasilyevna! We wish you a speedy recovery. We deeply believe that our “Fighting Friend” will reach Berlin. For your injury, we will mercilessly take revenge on the enemy. In an hour we are leaving for battle. We hug you all. Sending greetings to you our "Fighting Friend"."A tear rolled down Maria Vasilyevna’s cheek: “Tell them, Comrade Major, that I am very happy for them... and grateful.” The major presented Maria Vasilievna with the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, for her courage and heroism.
After his visit, no one visited Maria Vasilievna - the doctors forbade visits. By nightfall, my health condition had deteriorated sharply. She no longer came to her senses and at dawn, March 15, Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya died...
M.V. was buried. Oktyabrskaya in the Smolensk Kremlin, on the banks of the Dnieper, next to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812.
The "Battle Friend" tank remained in service until the Victory. The new crew replaced three burned-out cars and reached the fourth Baltic Sea near Koenigsberg. On each new vehicle, in memory of the fallen heroine, the tank crews clearly displayed the words “Fighting Friend.”
In memory of her, Tomsk School No. 24 is named after the Heroine; a monument was erected to her in the school yard, made by sculptor S.I. Danilin, and the school’s museum carefully preserves a few relics and materials about the brave woman.
2nd Guards Tank Corps
Biography
early years
Maria spent her childhood and teenage years in Sevastopol. In 1921, she moved first to Dzhankoy, where she completed 6 classes, and then to Simferopol.
She worked at a cannery in Simferopol, as a telephone operator at the city telephone exchange. In 1925, she married a cavalry school cadet, Ilya Fedotovich Ryadnenko, and the couple took the surname Oktyabrsky. Due to a change in my husband’s place of duty, I moved to different settlements Ukraine. Led active community work, was elected to women's councils of units, completed courses medical care, drivers, mastered machine gun shooting. Among the wives of command staff, she was famous for her exquisite taste in clothing, home decoration, and was a skilled needlewoman.
Beginning of the Great Patriotic War
The day after the start of the war, June 23, 1941, M. V. Oktyabrskaya, together with her sister and other members of the families of the Red commanders, was sent for evacuation and in August arrived in Tomsk, where she worked as a telephone operator in the artillery school evacuated from Leningrad.
Then she decided to go a different route. At that time, a collection was underway in the USSR folk remedies to the defense fund. Having sold all her things and valuables together with her sister and doing embroidery for several months, she contributed 50 thousand rubles for the construction of the T-34 tank. After which she sent the following telegram to the Kremlin:
Moscow, Kremlin To the Chairman State Committee defense Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Dear Joseph Vissarionovich!
My husband, regimental commissar Oktyabrsky Ilya Fedotovich, died in the battles for the Motherland. For his death, for the death of everyone Soviet people, tortured by fascist barbarians, I want to take revenge on the fascist dogs, for which I deposited all my personal savings - 50,000 rubles - into the state bank to build a tank. I ask you to name the tank “Battle Friend” and send me to the front as the driver of this tank. I have a specialty as a driver, I have excellent command of a machine gun, and I am a Voroshilov marksman.
I send you warm greetings and wish you long health, long years for the fear of enemies and for the glory of our Motherland.OKTYABRSKAYA Maria Vasilievna.
Tomsk, Belinskogo, 31
Last Stand
On August 2, 1944, M. V. Oktyabrskaya was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously). At the conclusion of the award sheet, signed by the commander of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade, Colonel S.K. Nesterov, it was noted: “During the period of combat operations and during the formation of the brigade, Comrade. Oktyabrskaya lovingly cared for the combat vehicle. Her tank had no forced stops or breakdowns. Comrade Oktyabrskaya, using the tank she purchased for cash, took revenge on the Nazis for the death of her husband. Comrade Oktyabrskaya is a brave, fearless warrior."
Family
Maria Oktyabrskaya's father and mother died early, her younger brother was dispossessed and exiled to the Urals in the 1930s, and lived in the village of Bayanovka, Sverdlovsk Region. Caring for the brothers and sisters fell on Maria. In total, the Ukrainian peasant family had 10 children and lived poorly. Younger brother- Garagulya Efrem Vasilievich (1912-1997), younger sister - Shchelkova Evdokia Yakovlevna [ significance?] .
Maria met her husband Ilya Fedorovich Ryadnenko (1900-1941) in Simferopol, they got married in 1925, taking the surname Oktyabrsky. I. F. Oktyabrsky - participant in the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940), the annexation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the USSR (1940) and the Great Patriotic War, regimental commissar, military commissar of the 206th Infantry Division. Killed in battle on August 9, 1941 near Kiev in the area of the Council of People's Commissars' dacha (near the Kyiv-Volynsky station).
Cousin grandson - Sergei Aleksandrovich Serov, author of the biography of M. V. Oktyabrskaya on the website “Heroes of the Country”.
Awards and titles
Memory
External images Tombstone near the fortress wall in the Square in Memory of Heroes in Smolensk. Memorial plaque on Maria Oktyabrskaya Street in Smolensk. Tomsk Gymnasium No. 24 (Belozerskaya Street, 12/1) bears the name of Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya. In front of the entrance to the gymnasium, a monument was built to her, made by sculptor Sergei Danilin, and the school museum contains a few relics and materials about the brave woman. The text on the memorial plaque reads: “In this place stood the house in which Maria Oktyabrskaya, Hero of the Soviet Union, sergeant, driver-mechanic of the Battle Friend tank, built with her personal savings, lived in 1941-1943. She died in battles for her homeland in 1944."
In March - the traditional “women's” month for Russia - the annual mini-exhibition “Women and Tanks” is held in the museum and memorial complex “History of the T-34 Tank”, part of the exhibition is dedicated to M. V. Oktyabrskaya. Ukrainian sculptor Oksana Suprun created a sculptural portrait of Oktyabrskaya. The name “Fighting Girlfriend” is borne by the female ensemble of veterans of the Great Patriotic War in the city of Smolensk.
Tank "Battle Friend"
External images TASS photojournalist E. A. Khaldei (center) at the Brandenburg Gate (Berlin). In the background is the IS-2 of the 7th Guards Tank Brigade - one of three (Nos. 414, 432, 434 “Battle Friend”) (undefined) . "Fighting Girlfriend" No. 434 (undefined) . "Fighting Girlfriend" No. 414 (undefined) . Transfer of the “Battle Friend” tank (2nd) to the tank crews of the 93rd Tank Brigade. Winter 1944 (undefined) . The “Battle Friend” tank with its brigade reached Königsberg. Tanks with this name were knocked out three times, but the tank crews assigned the name “Battle Friend” to the new tanks in memory of their “mother,” as they called Maria Oktyabrskaya. After the liberation of Minsk, the second tank was put in for repairs, and a new vehicle was received, which was also called “Fighting Girlfriend.” The third vehicle was lost near the Prussian city of Gumbinen. The fourth vehicle, “Battle Friend,” and its crew, led by P. I. Chebotko, completed their combat journey near Königsberg.
In addition, there were other tanks with the same name. So, women's team From the Sverdlovsk Bakery and Pasta Plant, he bought a T-34 tank with his savings, also calling it “Fighting Girlfriend”. The women handed their tank right in the factory yard to Lieutenant K.I. Baida (93rd Tank Brigade) with the words: “Beat the hated enemy.” The tank took part in many battles until it burned down in the fall of 1943 in the Battle of Kursk. However, the crew remained alive, and the plant workers again collected money and bought new tank. They again called him “Fighting Friend” and handed him over to crew commander K.I. Baida, who fought through the entire right-bank Ukraine. Thus, on July 20-21, 1944, in the battles for the city of Lvov, its crew destroyed 11 tanks and up to two battalions of enemy infantry. On July 30, 1944, the tank was hit near the village of Lyutovisko in the Carpathians, the tank commander K.I. Baida was killed. In the post-war years, the tradition of naming tanks after “Battle Girlfriend” continued in the 68th Guards Tank Regiment.
Other female tankers
Guard Sergeant M.V. Oktyabrskaya is not the only female tanker in Russia, a participant in the Great Patriotic War. For example, in Moscow there is a well-known front-line tanker, Colonel Lyudmila Ivanovna Kalinina; Samara also has its own female tanker - T-34 mechanic-driver Alexandra Mitrofanovna Rashchupkina. In total, there were less than 20 female tankers in the tank forces, participants in the Great Patriotic War. There were only three women who graduated from tank schools. Former medical instructor I. N. Levchenko graduated from an accelerated course at the Stalingrad Tank School in 1943 and served as a liaison officer for the 41st Guards Tank Brigade, commanding a group of T-60 light tanks. Junior technical lieutenant A.L. Boyko (Morisheva) - graduated from the Chelyabinsk Tank School in 1943 and fought in heavy tank IS-2. S. M. Kirov's daughter, Guard Captain E. S. Kostrikova, after graduating from the Kazan Tank School, commanded a tank platoon, and at the end of the war, a tank company.
See also: Women tankersNotes
- Nowadays Krasnogvardeisky district of Crimea.
- Information from the report on irretrievable losses in the electronic document bank of the OBD “Memorial” ..
- Pavlov M. Tank driver named Maria (undefined) . Newspaper “West-East” (May 7, 2007). Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna (undefined) . Heroes of the country. Retrieved January 24, 2011. Archived February 11, 2012.
- Bortakovsky T.V. Oktyabrskaya Maria Vasilievna (undefined) . Cultural heritage land of Smolensk (2005). Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- N. M. Dmitrienko (ed.). Tomsk from A to Z: short encyclopedia cities. - Tomsk: NTL Publishing House, 2004. - 440 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 5-89503-211-7.
- Award sheet in the electronic document bank “Feat of the People” (archival materials of TsAMO, f. 33, d. 3838, l. 52).
- Newspaper "Red Banner" dated March 5, 1943.
“My dear friends! I am proud that I will fight a hated enemy as part of a renowned military unit. I know what his soldier should be like. The German border is not that close yet, but we will get there. We will reach the lair of the beast and forever discourage the desire to fight against our country. I swear to you that the crew of the “Battle Friend” tank will not leave you behind. I will defeat the fascists as long as my heart beats” - with these words, upon arriving at the front, Maria Oktyabrskaya addressed her comrades - the only woman Hero of the Soviet Union, who fought in armored units.
She is one of those fighters who led, inspired with her exploits, who gave everything she had for the good of the Motherland. Among her awards are the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (1944), the medal " Golden Star» Hero of the Soviet Union (August 2, 1944, posthumously), Order of Lenin (August 2, 1944, posthumously).
Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya(nee Garagulya) was born on August 16, 1902 in the village of Kiyat, near the Dzhankoy station in the Crimean region into a large peasant family.
The family had so much trouble that they did not manage to send Maria to school on time. To give his daughter at least some education, the father took Maria to Dzhankoy to visit relatives. Due to the fact that the school was reluctant to accept children who entered first grade later than the required age, Maria’s age was “reduced” by three years - therefore, some documents indicate a different date of her birth - 1905.
In 1919, Maria's mother died and she, having completed only six classes, had to return home to help her father run the household. Two years later, Maria went to Simferopol to work at a cannery, where she completed courses for telephone operators and went to work at the Simferopol telephone exchange.
Soon the girl met Ilya Fedotovich Ryadnenko, a participant Civil War, a cadet at a cavalry school. On December 22, 1925, they got married and took the surname Oktyabrsky.
Maria took the role of the Red commander’s wife very responsibly and formulated a credo:
“You married a warrior and you serve in the army; The commander’s wife is a proud and binding title.”
So that her husband could be proud of her, the woman learned to drive a car, shoot a rifle, a machine gun, throw grenades, and completed nursing courses.
Maria devoted herself not only to “soldier’s” men’s affairs - she also sang beautifully, performed for soldiers in Red Army amateur groups, and was a jack of all trades. She was especially good at artistic embroidery. Subsequently, it was this talent that played a fateful role in Oktyabrskaya’s life. With her wonderful napkins, Maria Vasilievna decorated the austere soldiers’ barracks. The needlewoman was especially fond of flowers - she not only embroidered them everywhere, but also brought bouquets of wild flowers from the forest. Her embroidery with Crimean roses on cream silk is kept in the Museum of the Armed Forces.
In the 1930s, Maria and her husband traveled all over the country - from one military garrison to another, where their difficult military fate threw them. Ilya Oktyabrsky, commissar of the 134th howitzer artillery regiment, had a chance to take part in the war with the Finns.
When the Great Patriotic War began, the couple were in Chisinau. Maria, along with other members of the commander's families, was evacuated to Tomsk, where she immediately went to work at a construction site, but was soon forced to choose a more gentle occupation (she became a telephone operator at a military school) due to a chronic illness - tuberculosis of the cervical vertebra.
“Believe, dear, believe, victory will definitely be ours. We will destroy the fascists,” I. Oktyabrsky wrote to his wife in his first and only letter from the front. Soon Maria's husband was killed. The funeral service stated that “Regimental Commissar Ilya Fedotovich Oktyabrsky died a heroic death on August 9, 1941 in one of the battles in Ukraine.”
Hardly experiencing the loss, Maria Vasilyevna went to a congress of women in Novosibirsk, where the mothers and wives of soldiers who died at the front shared their experiences, told how they cope with their grief, how they give all their strength, mastering difficult tasks. male professions. There, Maria made a decision - to go to the front and avenge the death of her husband. She applied to the military registration and enlistment office three times with a request to send her to the army, but each time she was refused - due to her state of health and age (she was already about 40 years old).
But Maria Oktyabrskaya did not give up on achieving her goal. She decided to buy for Soviet army tank (since the fall of 1942, the country had been raising funds for army weapons) and take it into battle. Together with their sister, they sold all the property that they managed to evacuate at the market. But even after adding the proceeds to the savings of her late husband, M. Oktyabrskaya realized that there were not enough funds to purchase a tank. And then she took up embroidery: day and night for many months, Maria embroidered and sold napkins, scarves, tablecloths, pillowcases. Her skillful products were in demand even during the war.
It is believed that she still managed to collect the necessary 50 thousand rubles, a huge amount at that time (the salary of a worker at the factory was about 200 rubles a month). Maria Vasilievna transferred the money to the account of the State Defense Committee and sent a telegram to the Kremlin to I.V. Stalin:
“Dear Joseph Vissarionovich! My husband, regimental commissar Oktyabrsky Ilya Fedotovich, died in the battles for the Motherland. For his death, for the death of all Soviet people tortured by fascist barbarians, I want to take revenge on the fascist dogs, for which I deposited all my personal savings - 50,000 rubles - into the state bank to build a tank. I ask you to name the tank “Battle Friend” and send me to the front as the driver of this tank. I have a specialty as a driver, I have excellent command of a machine gun, and I am a Voroshilov marksman. I send you warm greetings and wish you good health for many, many years to come, to the fear of our enemies and to the glory of our Motherland.”
The answer did not take long to arrive. Stalin responded like this:
“Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be fulfilled. Please accept my regards. I. Stalin."
In the spring of 1943, Maria Oktyabrskaya was drafted into the Red Army and sent to Omsk for a five-month course as tank driver mechanics. It was not easy for the selfless woman, because driving a tank is physically difficult work. But perseverance gave her strength: Maria passed all the exams with excellent marks, received a driver’s certificate and the rank of sergeant.
Transfer of the “Battle Friend” tank to the Red Army.
A fellow soldier of Maria Oktyabrskaya recalled:
“When this tank arrived at our unit, the news about its owner spread instantly. After all, this T-34 came not just from the rear, but from human heart. His armor was tempered by grief and suffering, it contained the living breath of love, and this increased our strength tenfold.”
In the early autumn of 1943, the tank crew was formed: the commander was junior lieutenant Pyotr Chebotko, who had military experience, the turret gunner was Sergeant Gennady Yasko, and the gunner-radio operator was Mikhail Galkin. The driver is Guard Sergeant Maria Oktyabrskaya. At the initiative of the crew, an inscription was made on the tank turret:
"Fighting friend." Maria attached a photograph of her husband next to the driver's seat.
The tankers ended up in the 2nd battalion of the 26th Guards “Yelninskaya” tank brigade of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps of the Western Front. Behind short term The “Battle Friend” tank covered a distance of thousands of kilometers and reached the steppe, where Commissar Oktyabrsky died in battle.
On October 21, 1943, the first battle of M. V. Oktyabrskaya took place. The tank crews were faced with the task of breaking through the powerful defenses of the Nazis and occupying the stronghold of the New Village of the Sennensky district of the Vitebsk region. Maria Vasilievna showed qualities worthy of a real warrior; she skillfully controlled a formidable machine and bravely led it into battle. The following entry was made in the combat log:
“Parts of the brigade destroyed up to 100 enemy soldiers and officers, up to 2 batteries of 71-mm guns, 15 machine guns and one Ferdinand tank.” The battalion lost 2 tanks, “Battle Friend” was shot down.”
On October 23, 1943, the tank was repaired and took part in the liberation of Novy Selo. For this battle, the crew of the “Fighting Girlfriend” was presented with government awards. In a letter to her sister M. Oktyabrskaya reported:
“You can be happy for me - I received a baptism of fire. I beat the bastards. Sometimes I can’t see the light out of anger.”
In January 1944, “Battle Friend”, as part of a unit of the 26th Guards Tank Brigade, took part in battles near the railway station and the Krynki state farm near Vitebsk. It became increasingly difficult to repel the attacks of the fascists, the forces of the fighters were running out, ammunition and the remaining provisions were running out. When the offensive resumed, “Battle Friend” rushed into battle, the last battle of Maria Oktyabrskaya. There are only a few lines left about him in the combat log:
“01/17/1944 in the area of the Krynki state farm, comrade. Oktyabrskaya took part in the attack... crushed two guns with servants with the tracks of her tank, and in the battle the “Battle Friend” tank was disabled by enemy fire. Comrade Oktyabrskaya, showing heroism, restored the tank under heavy enemy artillery fire, but was seriously wounded.”
Maria Vasilyevna was taken by plane to a field hospital in Smolensk, where she underwent surgery.
“Large loss of blood. The general condition is weak,” was written on the tanker’s card.
Doctors said there was almost no chance of survival. A mine fragment pierced the eye and touched the brain. Despite the severe wound, Maria Vasilyevna regained consciousness and immediately asked if her guys were alive (that’s what she called her combat crew). The guys wrote to her from the front:
“Hello, our mother Maria Vasilievna! We wish you a speedy recovery. We deeply believe that our “Fighting Girlfriend” will reach Berlin. For your injury, we will mercilessly take revenge on the enemy. In an hour we leave for battle. Hugs to you all. Our “Fighting Friend” sends greetings to you.”
On February 16, 1944, M. Oktyabrskaya was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War in the hospital 1st degree for the battle near Novy Selo. The head of the political department of the guard brigade, Colonel Nikolai Getman, came to present the order, and the entire crew of the “Fighting Girlfriend” arrived with him to visit Maria Vasilievna. A few days later, Maria was visited by a member of the front’s Military Council, Lev Mehlis, who announced that she had been nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Mehlis instructed the doctors to prepare Oktyabrskaya for departure to Moscow. But Maria Vasilyevna did not have a chance to see the capital: her health condition deteriorated sharply, severe headaches began, the temperature rose, and memory loss became more frequent. At dawn on March 15, 1944 Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya passed away.
The heroine was buried in the Smolensk Kremlin at the Kutuzovsky cemetery, next to the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 2, 1944, Guard Sergeant Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. She was forever included in the lists of the military unit.
And “Fighting Girlfriend” continued her glorious path. True, it was no longer the same tank that Maria Vasilievna had bought with such difficulty - her car was damaged. The tanks died, but the crew members remained alive, as if Maria Vasilievna was invisibly protecting her guys from heaven. They assigned the name “Fighting Friend” to their new cars - in memory of Maria Oktyabrskaya. Victory found “Fighting Girlfriend” - already the fourth - in Koenigsberg.
Tomsk school No. 24 bears the name of Maria Vasilievna Oktyabrskaya. In front of its entrance there is a monument made by sculptor Sergei Danilin, and the school museum contains a few exhibits and materials about the heroine tanker. Students take part in the city program “Memory”; children also took a trip to the burial place of the heroine - in Smolensk. Tomsk school head teacher Natalya Prokhorova admitted:
“People there knew little about Oktyabrskaya. And everything that our children told them caused them sincere surprise and admiration. At our school for your first Classroom hour first-graders come to the museum, where they are told why the gymnasium in which they study is named after this great woman.”
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