Hero Of The Soviet Union,04832,Commander,350th Rifle Division,South-Eastern Poland

[Auke]

My new crown jewel, a Gold Star Medal to a WW2 general and divisional commander. :thumbsup

Record card

Order booklet nr. 178234

1. Last name: Vekhin
2. First name and patronymic: Grigory Ivanovich
3. Military rank: Guards Major General
4. Sex: Male
5. Year of birth: 1901
6. Place of birth: Village of Yerovo, Vyterga Raion, Vologda Oblast
7. Party membership (since which year): Member of the Communist Party since 1926
8. Education: Incomplete higher
9. Nationality: Russian
10. Since which year in the Red Army: Since 1919
11. Place of service (name of unit) and duty position at the time of the awarding: Commander of the 350th Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Bogdan Chmelnitsky Rifle Division
12. Current place of service and duty position: Commander of the 350th Zhitomir Red Banner Order of Bogdan Chmelnitsky Rifle Division
13. Home address of the awardee: 62 Bolshaya Sovietskaya Street, city of Ovrug
14: Record of all awards presented:

- Medal for 20 Years of Red Army, Decree of Feb 23, 1938
- Order of the Red Banner #10011, Decree of Feb 2, 1940
- Defense of Leningrad Medal, Decree of Dec 22, 1942
- Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class #8720, Order of the Southwestern Front nr. 0759 of May 28, 1943
- Order of the Red Banner #98247, Order of the 1st Ukrainian Front nr. 09 of Jan 3, 1944
- Order of the Red Banner #122437, Order of the 1st Ukrainian Front nr. 088/N of Jul 29, 1944
- Order of Lenin #13993, Decree of Sep 23, 1944
- Order of the Red Banner #157246, Decree of Nov 3, 1944
- Defense of the Polar Region Medal, Decree of Dec 5, 1944
- Order of Lenin #24224, Decree of Feb 21, 1945
- Order of Suvorov 2nd Class #1695, Decree of Apr 6, 1945
- Victory over Germany Medal, Decree of May 9, 1945
- Order of Lenin #24448, Decree of May 29, 1945
- Gold Star Medal #4832, Decree of May 29, 1945
- Capture of Berlin Medal, Decree of Jun 9, 1945

Signature of the awardee: [signature]

I confirm the correctness of the data and the signature of the awardee:

Commander of the 27th Rifle Corps
Guards Lieutenant General [signature] /Cherokmanov/

January 8, 1946

[Auke]

Award sheet

1. Last name, first name and patronymic: Vekhin, Grigory Ivanovich
2. Rank: Guards Major General
3. Duty position, unit: Commander of the 350th Zhitomir Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Rifle Division
Recommended for: Hero of the Soviet Union title
4. Year of birth: 1901
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party membership: Member of the Communist Party since 1926, party membership booklet nr. 2160352
7. Participation in the Civil War and the following combat actions for the defense of the USSR (where, when): In the Civil War from August 1919 to June 1921. In the Patriotic War since June 1941 with the Karelian, Southwestern, and 1st Ukrainian Front
8. Suffered wounds and contusions in the Patriotic War: Wounded in November 1919 and March 1920, contused in August 1941 and November 1941
9. Since when in the Red Army: 1919
10. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military commissariat of the Vyterga Raion
11. Which earlier awards (for which merits): Order of the Red Banner in 1940, Order of the Red Banner in 1943, Order of the Red Banner in 1944, Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class in 1943, Medal for 20 Years of Red Army in 1938
12. Permanent home address (of the recommendee or his family): _______

Short, concrete description of personal combat feat or merits:

On July 14, 1944, units of the 350th Rifle Division, commanded by Major General Vekhin, proceeded to the attack along an eight kilometer wide front from the entry bank at Stokhostavy and Kholotov.

Having broken through the enemy defense lines and having pursued the enemy to the Bug River, comrade Vekhin crossed the Bug in several battles and pressed a further advance on July 23, 1944, and threw the enemy across the San River hotfoot. In a battle, he took the city of Leżajsk fighting, which was a heavily fortified German defense point on the approaches to the Vistula River.

Having beaten down the fiercely resisting enemy, comrade Vekhin, on July 29, 1944, the first in the corps, crossed the Vistula River and expanded the bridgehead to a front line of 10 kilometers long and to a depth of 8 kilometers.

Repeated enemy attempts on July 27 and 28 to counterattack and retake the lost shores and throw the units of comrade Vekhin across the Vistula were repulsed, resulting in heavy enemy losses.

During the period of offensive combat since July 13, the units of comrade Vekhin captured 321 enemy soldiers and officers, 402 rifles and submachine guns, 20 machine guns, 5 mortars, 23 guns, 12 vehicles, 200,000 rounds, killed 3,002 soldiers and officers, destroyed 330 rifles and submachine guns, 18 machine guns, 18 guns, 17 vehicles, 17 armored personnel carriers, and 19 tanks.

In the same period, the division liberated an area of 2,600 square kilometers, 487 villages and 15 railway stations.

For his capable command of the division, the successful crossing of the Bug, San, and Vistula rivers, and his personal courage and bravery as a commander, he deserves the Hero of the Soviet Union title.

Commander of the 24th Rifle Corps
Guards Lieutenant General [signature] /Kiryukhin/

August 2, 1944



Deserves to be awarded the Order of Lenin.

Commander of the 13th Army
Lieutenant General [signature] /Pukhov/

Member of the military counsil of the army
Major General [signature] /Kozlov/

August 23, 1944



Awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title and given the Order of Lenin and Gold Star Medal by Decree of May 29, 1945.

[desantnik]

Great biography with lots of history!

[Bill Garvy]

Speechless. . . Congratulations!

[Pobeda45]

Great award, citation, the works! Congratulations!!

[Auke]

Thanks guys! I'm extremely happy with it. :thumbsup

Here's some more info on Vekhin from his service records.

Vekhin was born on Januari 5, 1901 in a family of peasants. He attended university bot dropped out and joined the army on September 10, 1919. He became a Private in an independent ski battalion of the 7th Army, fighting during the Russian Civil War against Nikolai Yudenich in Northern Russia. Two months later Vekhin headed a ski team and was wounded in his right leg. In March 1920 he became an assistant ski platoon commander and was wounded again. Later that year he became a rifle platoon commander.

During the interwar period he attended several officers courses and was promoted steadily. By 1938 he was a Major and chief of staff of the 90th Rifle Division in the Leningrad Military District. Later that year he was promoted to Colonel. With this division he fought during the Winter War, for which he was awarded his first Red Banner in January 1940.

In December 1941 he was made commander of the 177th Rifle Division and in January 1942 commander of the 152nd Rifle Division. In January 1943 he was promoted to Major General and between May and July 1943 commanded the 88th Guards Rifle Division. In September he was given the command of the 350th Rifle Division, which he would hold until May 1946.

Vekhin's division fought from central Ukraine to Southeastern Poland and then to Berlin. At the end of the war the 350th Rifle Division was located near Prague.

After the war Vekhin commanded the 280th Rifle Division for a short time and in 1948 attended the General Staff Academy. Vekhin left the army later that year and lived in Kherson. He died on December 30, 1989.

[CtahhR]

Here is the original citation. Also awarded an OPWI'85.