Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich (born June 29, 1907 - death February 18, 1945) - Soviet commander, general of the army (1944) Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1943, 1944) In military service since 1924. Party member since 1928. He has held a number of command positions. During the Great Patriotic War (WWII) he commanded a tank and rifle divisions, a tank corps, and an army commander. Since 1944, commander of the Western and 3rd Belorussian Fronts. During the East Prussian operation, he was mortally wounded.
Origin. early years
Ivan Chernyakhovsky was born in the village of Oksanino (Umansky district, Kiev province), in the family of a railway worker. The Chernyakhovsky family had six children. Educated at a railway school, which he had to leave in 1915 due to the death of his parents (died of typhus). Ivan got a job as a worker on the railroad. 1922 - 16-year-old Ivan joined the Komsomol. After 2 years he went to study at the Kiev artillery school. Upon graduation, he was assigned to an artillery regiment as a platoon commander.
Military service
Then Ivan Danilovich was appointed battery commander. Continuing his military education, Chernyakhovsky entered the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army and successfully graduated in 1936. Prior to the beginning of the Second World War, he alternately held the posts of chief of staff, commander of a tank battalion, regiment and division. He met the war as the commander of the 28th Panzer Division, which in December 1941 was reorganized into the 241st Infantry Division. Summer 1942 - Commander of the 18th Panzer Corps. 1942, July - Ivan Danilovich was appointed commander of the 60th Army.
Promotional video:
The troops under his command distinguished themselves in the battle at Kursk, when crossing the Desna and Dnieper. 1944, April - Ivan Chernyakhovsky is appointed commander of the Western Front, which was later renamed the 3rd Belorussian Front. He becomes the youngest front commander, at the time he was only 37 years old.
He was destined to go through the entire war from its beginning to almost the very end. He commanded military units in battles near Siauliai and Novgorod, on the Western Dvina and near Soltsy. Then there were successful operations - Voronezh-Kastornenskaya, Kursk, Kiev, Zhitomir-Berdichev, Rovno-Lutskaya, Proskurov-Chernivtsi, Belorusskaya, Vilnius, Kaunas, Memel and others, in which the troops under the command of Ivan Chernyakhovsky took part.
Awards
His military activities were highly appreciated - for military merits Chernyakhovsky was twice awarded the title "Hero of the Soviet Union", awarded the Order of Lenin, four Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov I degree, Orders of Kutuzov I degree, Bogdan Khmelnitsky I degree.
Death of a general
1945, February 18 - commanding troops during the defeat of the East Prussian German group, Ivan Danilovich was mortally wounded in the area of the city of Melzak, currently located in Poland.
That afternoon, General of the Army Chernyakhovsky was driving in a car, accompanied by adjutants and guards, to Kovno (Kaunas). Suddenly a shell splinter pierced the seat behind the general, and literally pierced the commander through and through.
Mortally wounded, the general got out of the car, but immediately fell. He was taken to the medical unit. However, Ivan Danilovich was not destined to get to her. He died on the way. Arteries leading to the heart were severed by a shrapnel, so the commander had practically no chances.
Strange doom
And although the circumstances of Chernyakhovsky's death, at first glance, may seem obvious, they still raise many questions from researchers and historians. For example, another general Gorbatov in his book "Years and Wars", describing the death of an army general, indicated that the enemy had fired one single shot. At the same time, the shrapnel passed exactly between the adjutants, who were sitting in the back seat of the car, and mortally wounded only Chernyakhovsky, while the others did not touch at all.
Among the various versions of Chernyakhovsky's death, there is one that he died from a shell that was fired from the muzzle of a Soviet tank moving in a column along with the general's car. In addition, if the Germans actually fired, then for what reason did the splinter come from the rear?
After death
General Chernyakhovsky was buried in Vilnius. 1992 - by the authorities of Vilnius, the monument to the general was dismantled and transported to Voronezh, a city that was defended at the end of 1942, and in January 1943 was liberated by the 60th Army under his leadership.
In the same year, Chernyakhovsky's ashes were reburied in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Interesting Facts
• At the age of 18, adding a year, he volunteered for the Red Army;
• During World War II, every 11th salute in Moscow (34 out of 363) was in honor of military units commanded by Ivan Danilovich;
• Became the youngest army general and the youngest front commander in the History of the Soviet Armed Forces.
• On February 19, an order was to be issued to award Chernyakhovsky the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union, which Stalin recalled immediately after his death.