For Bravery,0685927,T-34 Commander,22nd Guards Tank Division

[Tommy]

Please bear with me on this one, i have translated this all myself for once so there may be a few mistakes!

Award sheet

1. Last name, first name, and patronymic: Vavilov, Pavel Petrovich
2. Rank: Guards Sergeant
3. Position and unit: T-34 Turret Commander, 207 Tank Batallion, 22 Guards Tank Division
Nominated for: Medal “For Bravery”
4. Year of birth: 1922
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party affiliation: N/A
7. Participation in the Civil War and the subsequent combat actions to defend the motherland: Voronezh and 1st Ukrainian fronts
8. Wounds and contusions received: None
9. Since when in the Red Army: October 1941
10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Maikopskii Region Military Commissariat
11. Awards received previously: Order of the Red Star
12. Permanent home address of the prospective awardee and the address of his family: Krasnodar Krai, Maikop Distillery Number 6

Short, concrete description of his feat of arms or merits:

Acting as a commander of a tank crew, the turret commander comrade Vavilov showed courage and bravery in combat. On 05/11/43, in the mountains surrounding Kiev, thanks to excellent shooting the gun crew destroyed: 1 Ferdinand tank, 2 T-4’s, 3 PTO's, 5 machine guns and a company of infantry. Comrade Vavilov is brave and determined in battle.

For showing courage and bravery Comrade Vavilov is deserving of the governmental award the medal "For Bravery"


Commander of the 207 Tank Batallion

Guards Captain [signed] /Gutachenko/
5 December, 1943


Worthy of governmental award: Medal “For Bravery”

Commander of the 22nd Guards Tank Brigade

Guards Colonel [signed] /Koshelev
7 December, 1943

[Tommy]

Notice the damage to the medal and lack of ring.

There could be a sad story to this one...

[Tommy]

The record card tells us nothing new.

[Tommy]

Seems like there was a sad story after all.


Head of the department for the personal accounts for the loss of sergeants and soldiers of the Soviet Army.

Gr-H?? Vavilova, Pavla Yakovlevicha, who lives in Maikop, Distillery Plant 6, is looking for her son Paul Petrovich Vavilov, born 1922, a native of the mountains of Maikop, who joined the Soviet Army at the Maikop GVK in November 1941.

According to letters and inquiries relating to his government awards , Vavilov Pavel Petrovich recently served in / of the P / P 22194 with the military rank of guards sergeant and in February 1944 he was wounded and sent to hospital.

His fate is not known.

Please check your records, as there does not appear to be a Guards Sergeant Vavilov Paul Petrovich , born in 1922 among those killed or who died of wounds or are missing.???


Annex : There are 3 pages of documents and information about government award only, to the recipient.


Adygean Region Military Commissioner -

Colonel [signed] V Shevelev

04.09.1956

[CtahhR]

The MIA really adds to the story. Although I suppose if he wasn't found by 1956 he won't ever be.

I wonder if his Red Star survived at all. Where was the 22nd Tank in February 1944? Still within the borders of the Soviet Union.

Did he lose this Medal when the tank was hit? en route or at the hospital or otherwise? Plenty of questions arise.

[Tommy]

It's a really sad story and filled with questions.

It's awful that his mother was still wondering 12 years later, what could have happened to him.

Perhaps he was killed making his was back to the front line, perhaps we went AWOL?

I guess we'll never know.

[CtahhR]

If it was February 1944 when he was wounded in his tank (although he could have been wounded out of it), he won't have been wearing the Medal exposed to the elements. It may have been a trophy, stolen or ended up in the hands of kids.

He may have been ambushed on his way to the hospital (such as the combat medic in a group I posted). Not a good sign if not even a body could be found.

It is unfortunately too common a story. I had a cousin that was MIA in Johor in 1942. His family never really knew. His sister always had a trickle of hope he'd come back one day, even into the 21st century. An unfortunate situation without a finalisation. The reality of the "MIA" was a certain "KIA" but unable to retrieve the remains.

Vavilov's family will have been waiting for him every day for the rest of their lives too.

[ade stevenson]

Indeed a sad story of a brave man.

At least he is remembered here now.

Thanks for sharing his story.

Cheers, Ade.

[Auke]

Indeed a very sad story.

Gr-H??

Grazhdanin - citizen.

[Bill Garvy]

He will never be forgotten; he will live in his family's emotional memory for generations. His bravery shaped the outcome of a nation.