Marshal of the Soviet Union Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich: biography, awards

Leonid Govorov was one of the most outstanding commanders of the Great Patriotic War. He led battles with the Germans in various regions of the country, and in 1944 freed Karelia from the occupation of the Finns. For his numerous services Govorov was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

early years

Future Marshal of the Soviet Union Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich was born on February 22, 1897 in Vyatka province - a deaf bearish corner of the Russian Empire. Butyrki (his native village) was an ordinary provincial town. The life of the military is very similar to the life of his peers, whose youth and youth fell on the First World War, the Revolution and the Civil War.

Leonid Govorov's childhood was held in Yelabuga, where his father worked as a clerk. In 1916, the young man graduated from the real school and even entered the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. However, in the same December he was drafted into the army. There was the First World War, and the state drew from the rear of the last human resources. After the February Revolution, Leonid Govorov received a new title. The lieutenant in the Russian army met in October 1917. The Bolsheviks who came to power signed peace with Germany, and most of the military were demobilized. The lieutenant returned to Yelabuga to his parents.

Civil War

In the autumn of 1918, Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich joined the White Army. At that time, his native land was under the control of Kolchak's supporters. The officer took part in the Spring Offensive of the Whites. He fought under Ufa, Chelyabinsk and in Western Siberia. Soon Kolchak began to retreat to the east. In November 1919, Govorov deserted. In January, he joined the 51st RKKA Rifle Division.

There Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich met with another future marshal - Vasily Blucher. In 1919, he commanded that same 51st Infantry Division, and during the Stalinist repression was shot. Under Blucher's guidance, Govorov received an artillery battalion in his leadership. At the final stage of the Civil War, the future second lieutenant was in Ukraine, where the last major resistance group of whites remained. It was Wrangel's army. In those battles of 1920 Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich received two injuries - one under Kakhovka, another in the Antonovka area.

Peace period

After the Civil War, Leonid Govorov began to live and work in Ukraine. In 1923 he was appointed commander of artillery in the 51st Perekopskaya Infantry Division. His subsequent career growth in the army was due to the receipt of professional education. In 1933, Govorov graduated from the courses at the Frunze Military Academy. But that was not all. After learning German and passing the appropriate examinations, he became a military interpreter. In 1936, the military entered the newly opened Academy of the General Staff, and shortly before that he received the rank of brigade commander. After finishing his studies, he began teaching at the Artillery Academy named after Dzerzhinsky.

In 1940, the war with Finland began. Govorov was appointed head of the artillery staff in the 7th Army. She took part in the battles on the Karelian Isthmus. The brigade commander prepared the breakthrough of the Finnish defensive line of Mannerheim. After signing the peace, he is already a major general of artillery.

The Beginning of the Great Patriotic War

On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, Leonid Govorov was appointed head of the Artillery Academy named after Dzerzhinsky, which he himself had recently graduated. As soon as the German offensive began, he was sent to direct the artillery of the Western Front. Work was necessary in the conditions of disorganization of the army, lack of communication and blitzkrieg of the enemy. The artillery of the Western Front was no exception in this rule. The chaos of the first months of the war did not allow the Germans to stop in Belarus or Ukraine.

July 30 at the disposal of Govorov received the artillery of the Reserve Front. The Major-General began to organize defensive operations in the central direction of the Wehrmacht offensive. It was he who prepared the counterblow under Yelnya. On September 6, the city was liberated. Although this success was temporary, he allowed to stretch time. The Germans were bogged down in the Smolensk region for two months, because of which they found themselves on the outskirts of Moscow only in the winter.

Fights near Moscow

In early October, Govorov was on the Mozhaisk defense line, preparing its infrastructure. On the 15th day, because of Dmitry Lelyushenko's wound, he began to command the 5th All-Arms Army. The decisive role in the appointment was played by Georgy Zhukov, who personally signed the corresponding order. This formation led bloody defensive battles alongside Mozhaisk. On October 18, because of the enemy's breakthrough, Govorov persuaded GHQ that it was necessary to leave the city. Further delay could result in the encirclement of the whole army. Good was given. The troops retreated.

In early November, the 5th Army took defensive positions in the outskirts of Moscow. The fighting here went for every kilometer. Soviet troops were supported by artillery screens and anti-tank detachments. Stopping on the approaches to the capital, the Red Army began to prepare a counter-offensive near Moscow. On November 9, Leonid Govorov became a lieutenant-general.

The critical moment came on December 1, when the Germans managed to break through the front in the sector occupied by the Fifth Army. The artillery commander personally supervised the defense. The enemy was able to advance only 10 kilometers and was soon discarded. On December 5 a Soviet counteroffensive began near Moscow.

New appointment

In April 1942, Leonid Govorov briefly fell out of action because of an acute attack of appendicitis. At the head of his 5th army stood Ivan Fedyuninsky. On April 25 the recovered Govorov received a new appointment. He went to the Leningrad front, where he began to command a vast group of Soviet troops (it included the 55th, 42nd and 23rd armies). Once in a new place, Lieutenant-General began to fulfill his duties with special zeal.

He from scratch created the Leningrad artillery corps, intended for counter-battery fighting. Thanks to the pressure of the commander, new planes and fresh crews arrived at the front. On the approaches to Leningrad, Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich (1897-1955) created five new fortified field regions. They became part of the system of continuous trenches. In them were just deployed machine guns and artillery battalions. For a more reliable defense of Leningrad, a front-line reserve was formed. Govorov in his decisions was guided by the rich experience accumulated during the fighting near Moscow. He was particularly attentive to the creation of detachments of the barrier, maneuvering groups and other operational formations.

The main artillery department of the Red Army began supplying the city with large-caliber projectiles. Thanks to this, it was possible to start destroying enemy siege batteries, which caused the greatest damage to buildings and residents. Govorov had to simultaneously solve two of the most difficult tasks. On the one hand, he had to organize defense and think about the breakthrough of the blockade, and on the other hand the military commander did his best to help the starving Leningraders.

Attempts by the Red Army to dislodge the Germans from the vicinity of Leningrad failed. Because of this, Mikhail Khozin (commander of the front) was deprived of his post. In his place was appointed Leonid Govorov. All summer of 1942 he prepared the Nevsky operational group and the 55th Army for the Sinyav offensive operation. However, in the autumn it became clear that the Soviet Army in this region simply did not have enough strength to clear the approaches to Leningrad (this was the main strategic goal of the event). On October 1, Govorov was ordered to retreat to his original positions. The decision was made at the Headquarters after long discussions. Nevertheless, "local fights" continued. So in the summits were called small scale active activities. They did not change the situation at the front, but considerably exhausted the enemy, who found himself in trenches far from his homeland. Under Govorov, Leningrad was divided into sectors. Each of them had its own permanent garrison. The fighting detachments, formed at the enterprises, were united in battalions.

Attempts to break through the blockade

An artilleryman by education, Govorov received at the disposal of the army, which included troops of all possible types. But this did not stop him quickly get on the course. He knew how to instantly assess the situation and knew by heart the location of the Soviet and German units in any sector of the front. Leonid Govorov always listened attentively to his subordinates, did not interrupt them, although he did not like empty verbosity. He was a man of strict self-organization, demanding the same and from others. In the Leningrad headquarters of such a character aroused awe. Party leaders (Zhdanov, Kuznetsov, Shtykov, etc.) treated him with piety.

In January 1943, the Leningrad Front again began to move. On January 18, the blockade of the Northern capital was broken. This was done thanks to two counter-strikes Volhovsky (under the command of Kirill Meretskov) and the Leningrad fronts (under the command of Leonid Govorov). The grouping of the enemy was cut, and the Soviet units met south of Ladoga Lake.

Even before the final breakthrough of the blockade, Govorov received the rank of colonel-general. In the summer of 1943 the 67th Army, to which he commanded, took part in the Mgin operation. Its task was to establish control over the Kirov Railway to the south of Lake Ladoga. If communications were freed from the Germans, Leningrad would receive a reliable and convenient channel of communication with the rest of the country. These were heavy fights. The Soviet troops, because of the shortage of forces, could not fulfill all the tasks set, and by the autumn the Mghinsky rally remained virtually unchanged. Nevertheless, time worked for the Red Army, and the Wehrmacht was experiencing increasing difficulties.

Liberation of Leningrad

In the autumn of 1943, preparations began for the new Leningrad-Novgorod operation in GHQ. On November 17, Leonid Govorov became an army general. At the beginning of the new 1944, troops under his leadership broke through the enemy defenses around Leningrad. January 27, the German units were already a hundred kilometers from the city. The blockade was finally withdrawn. On the same day, Govorov, on Stalin's instructions, issued an order to hold a festive salute in the liberated city.

However, there was not much time for the celebrations. Quickly returning to his duties, Leonid Govorov led the troops of the Leningrad Front towards Narva. In February, the Red Army forced this river. By spring, the counteroffensive had advanced 250 kilometers. Almost the entire Leningrad region, as well as part of neighboring Kalinin, was liberated.

Fights with the Finns

On June 10, the front forces were sent north to conduct the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation. Finland was the main enemy in this direction. At the Headquarters sought to withdraw from the war the ally of the Reich. Govorov began the operation with a deceptive demonstrative maneuver. On the eve of the offensive, Finnish intelligence tracked the preparation of the strike in the region of Narva. Meanwhile, the Soviet fleet has already transferred the 21st Army to the Karelian Isthmus. For the opponent, this blow was a complete surprise.

In addition, before the offensive Govorov ordered to conduct artillery training and a series of air strikes. Over the next ten days the forces of the Leningrad Front broke through three lines of defense in place of the former Mannerheim Line, which was restored during the occupation. Leonid Govorov participated in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. He was well aware of this region and the characteristics of the enemy's army.

The result of the swift advance of the Red Army was the liberation of Vyborg on June 20, 1944. Two days before that, Leonid Govorov had become the Marshal of the Soviet Union. The title was a reflection of the military's merits. He took part in the organization of many important operations: he repulsed the attacks of the Germans at the beginning of the war, defended Moscow, liberated Leningrad, and finally fought with the Finns.

After the restoration of Soviet power in Vyborg, the battles were transferred to the Karelian Isthmus. Here, almost the entire Finnish army (60 thousand people) operated. The Soviet offensive was complicated by the inaccessibility of these places. Water obstacles, dense forests, lack of roads - all this slowed the liberation of the isthmus. Sharply increased losses of the Red Army. In this connection, on July 12, the Stavka issued an order to proceed to defense. The further offensive continued with the forces of the Karelian Front. In September, Finland withdrew from the war and joined the allies.

In the late summer and autumn of 1944, Marshal Govorov developed operations for the liberation of Estonia. In October, he also coordinated the actions of the armed forces in liberating Riga. After the capital of Latvia was cleared of Germans, the remnants of Wehrmacht forces in the Baltic countries were blocked in Courland. The capitulation of this group was adopted on May 8, 1945.

After the war

In peacetime, Leonid Govorov began to occupy the highest leading military posts. He was commander of the Leningrad Military District and Air Defense Commander. Under his leadership, these troops experienced significant reorganization. In addition, new types of weapons (jet fighters, anti-aircraft missile systems, radar stations, etc.) began to be adopted. The country was creating a shield against alleged attacks by NATO and the United States in the emerging Cold War.

In 1952, at the last Stalinist XIX Congress of the CPSU, Leonid Govorov was elected a candidate for membership in the Central Committee. In 1954 he began to combine the post of Air Defense Commander and Deputy Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union. Dense work schedule and stresses adversely affected the health of the marshal. Leonid Govorov died on March 19, 1955 from a stroke while on vacation in the sanatorium of Barvikha.

Today in honor of the marshal streets in the largest cities of the former USSR (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Kirov, Donetsk, etc.) are named. Particular care is taken of the memory of him in the former Leningrad, liberated thanks to an operation undertaken under the guidance of Govorov. On two buildings there are memorial plaques, and the square on the embankment of the Fontanka River bears his name. In 1999, a monument to LA Govorov was erected on the Stacek square.

Awards

Leonid Alexandrovich's many years of military service was accompanied by a variety of medals and honorary titles. In 1921, after two wounds, the future Marshal Govorov received the Order of the Red Banner. He was awarded this award for the courage and courage shown during the Perekop-Chongar operation, when the Wrangel army finally surrendered to the Crimea. After the end of the Soviet-Finnish war, Govorov received the Order of the Red Star.

In the most difficult days of the Great Patriotic War, when the Wehrmacht troops were stationed near Moscow, it was Leonid Alexandrovich who was one of the leaders of the defense of the capital. On November 10, 1941, on the eve of the counteroffensive, he received the Order of Lenin. The next reward was waiting for him after the breakthrough of the siege of Leningrad. Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich, whose biography is a life story of one of the outstanding commanders of the Great Patriotic War, received the deserved order of Suvorov I degree.

He managed to lay hands on many of the successes of the Red Army during the liberation of the territory of the USSR from the occupation by the Wehrmacht troops. Therefore, it is not surprising that on January 27, 1945, Marshal of the Soviet Union Leonid Govorov became also a Hero of the Soviet Union. Among his awards are also numerous medals, which were awarded for the liberation or protection of large cities.

May 31, 1945, a few weeks after the surrender of Germany, Govorov was awarded the Order of Victory. For all the time of existence of this sign of this honor, only 17 people were awarded, which, of course, underscores the importance of Leonid Alexandrovich's contribution to the defeat of the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War. It is noteworthy that, in addition to Soviet, he received foreign awards: the Order of the Legion of Honor (France), as well as the American Order of the Legion of Honor.