Red Star,0414750,Deputy,1440th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment,1st Ukrainian Front

[Bill Garvy]

[SIZE="3"]Record card

Order booklet nr. B-871816

1. Last name: Burmakin
2. First name and patronymic: Yevgeny Vladimirovich
3. Military rank: Reserve Major
4. Sex: Male
5. Year of birth: 1908
6. Place of birth: City of Yevpatoria, Crimea Oblast
7. Party membership (since which year): Not a member
8. Education: Secondary
9. Nationality: Russian
10. Since which year in the Red Army: From August 1941 through May 1946
11. Place of service (name of the unit) and position occupied at the time of the award: Senior Assistant Chief of Staff of the Artillery of the 7th Mechanized Corps of the Reserve of the High Command, 2nd Ukrainian Front
12. Current place of service and position: Researcher at the Arctic Scientific Research Institute
13. Home address of the awardee: 29 Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment, apartment 5, Vasilyevsky Island, city of Leningrad

14. Record of all awards received:

Name of the order or medal/Serial number/Number of the document/Ground of award

Order of the Red Star 414750 Temporary certificate nr. A-652375
Order of the 5th Guards Army nr. 0102/N of September 3, 1943

Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd Class 127387 Temporary certificate nr. G-513128 Order of the 2nd Ukrainian Front nr. 051/N of November 21, 1944

Medal for the Defense of Leningrad - Permanent certificate nr. Ts-30588 Decree of December 22, 1942

Medal for the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 - Permanent certificate nr. D-0004825 Decree of May 9, 1945

Medal for the Victory over Japan - Permanent certificate nr. D-396451 Decree of September 30, 1945

Signature of the awardee: [signed]

I confirm the correctness of the data and the signature of the awardee (position and signature):

Military commissar of the Sverdlov Raion
Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Okunyov/
January 17, 1947


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[Bill Garvy]

[SIZE="3"]Order

Secret
Copy nr. 2

[Stamp: 1st Ukrainian Front; December 16, 1943]

Order

Of the 5th Guards Army

– On personnel –

September 3, 1943 – Nr. 0102/N – Active Army

On behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, for the exemplary accomplishment of combat missions in the struggle with the German invaders and the valor and bravery displayed in the process, I award:

[…]

The Order of the Red Star to:

[…]

2. Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Vladimirovich Burmakin, Assistant Chief of Staff of the 1440th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment

[…]

Commander of the 5th Guards Army
Guards Lieutenant General [signed] /Zhadov/

Member of the Military Council of the 5th Guards Army
Guards Major General [signed] /A. Krivulin/

Chief of staff of the 5th Guards Army
Guards Major General [signed] /Lyamin/

Chief of the Personnel Section
Guards Lieutenant Colonel of the Quartermaster Service [signed] /Kaplenko/

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[Bill Garvy]

[SIZE="3"]Award sheet

For Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Vladimirovich Burmakin, Assistant Chief of Staff of the 1440th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
1. Year of birth: 1908
2. Nationality: Russian
3. Social situation: Serviceman
4. Party affiliation: Not a member
5. Participation in the Civil War, the subsequent combat actions to defend the USSR, and the Patriotic War: Has been participating in the Patriotic War: in 1941 on the Leningrad Front, in 1942 on the Volkhov Front, and in 1943 on the Voronezh Front
6. Wounds and contusions received during the Patriotic War: No
7. Awards received previously: None
8. Since when in the Red Army: Since 1941
9. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of the Sverdlov Raion, city of Leningrad
10. Permanent address: ______________

Short, concrete description of his combat feat or merits:

During the fighting on the Belgorod and Kharkov axes Senior Lieutenant Burmakin spent all of his time among the batteries’ combat formations, where he, through his personal presence, ensured that the commander’s will was carried out. He commanded the self-propelled guns, which contributed to the successful outcome of the operations conducted at the village of Cherkasskoye on July 5 and 6, at Krasnaya Dubrava on July 7, at Syrtsevo on July 20 and 21, at Bykovka and Rakovo on July 3 and 4, and at Klekovoye on August 18.

On July 7, when it was of vital importance to slow down the enemy offensive at Krasnaya Dubrava, he led the regiment into battle and personally led the operation to repel an attack by an enemy tank force with a numerical strength of up to 40 or 50 tanks, while he himself possessed only 10 self-propelled guns. As a result of the counterattack the enemy advance was temporarily halted, while 6 tanks were destroyed. During the battle he was located in one of the gun turrets, from where he commanded the guns and adjusted their fire.

Repeatedly spending time among the batteries’ combat formations, Senior Lieutenant Burmakin has proven to be bold and brave. For displayed valor he deserves the Order of the Red Star.

Commander of the 1440th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment
Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Shapshinsky/
August 23, 1943

He deserves the Order of the Red Star.

Commander of the Armored and Mechanized Forces of the 5th Guards Army
Guards Colonel [signed] /Chuprygin/
August 29, 1943


He is to be awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Commander of the 5th Guards Army
Guards Lieutenant General [signed] /Zhadov/

Member of the Military Council
Guards Major General [signed] /A. Krivulin/
August …, 1943

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[Bill Garvy]

[SIZE="3"]Senior Lieutenant Yevgeny Vladimirovich Burmakin's Order of the Red Star, #414750.

My thanks to desantnik & Auke for their invaluable assistance.[/SIZE]

[Eryk]

Officer of Self Propelled Artillery at Kursk. And not just “at Kursk” as you'll see!

Before getting to that, the SPGs were specifically SU-76s, aka, the Suchka, according to Sharp's order of battle (“Red Hammers”, p. 66). Sharp gives his normal blurb on the unit, stating it was indeed at Kursk. The unit is also cited in Glantz's OB in “The Battle of Kursk”.

The only issue with the citation is that the 1440th was attached to the 6th Guards Army, not the 5th Guards Army. Looking at the original photo of the documents it is a “5”. As well the signatures are those of 5th Guards Army officers. But Sharp and Glantz both put it in 6th Guards. Glantz also puts the unit in context, listing the division is was attached to. As well, villages mentioned in the citation are shown on RKKA maps of the time in the 6th Gds Army front, indeed where the appropriate unit that Glantz shows it being attached to fought.

Here is my hypothesis: the 1440th began the battle in 6th Guards Army. A week later it fought with 5th Guards Army at Prokorovka. (That's right!) Maps show that 5th and 6th Guards were adjacent at times during the defensive battle as the 6th was pushed back over 30km. At the final battle that stopped the German advance it would not be out of the ordinary to see units – especially support units – shuffled where most needed. In this case units were so close that it would be a simple matter.

At any rate, attached are some maps showing the locations where the 1440th Self Propelled Artillery Regiment fought. The green circles highlight locations and unit names.

Glantz shows the 1440th attached directly to the 67th Guards Rifle Division, in 22nd Guards Rifle Corps, 6th Guards Army. (pp. 306-7) This corps is used as an example in the book in a section titled “Snapshots of the Soviet Defenses” (pp. 68-73) One battery of the 1440th was in the front line with the 67th GRD, the rest 8km behind the line with a separate tank regiment, AT regiment and AT brigade. The 67th GRD held the Butovo-Cherkasskoye road, and they faced the cream of the German Panzers: the Grossdeutchland and 11th Panzer Divisions. Describing the defense Glanzt states:

“In fact, such a defense was based on the premise that [the]... entire Guards Rifle Division would sacrifice itself by extracting maximum attrition on advancing German forces. Realistically, no one expected the guardsmen to prevail. By fighting and dying forward, however, they would erode German strength and condition subsequent Soviet victory deeper in the defense.”

When the battle erupted on 5-July the 1440th played a pivotal role:

“While the Fusilier Regiment was suffering its bloody rebuff, the Grenadier Regiment pushed northward along the Butovo-Cherkasskoye road, driving before it the remnants of the Soviet battalion that had been defending in Butovo. Despite ferocious resistance and near constant fire from the Soviet defensive positions to the front... the troops of 11th Panzer Division's lead regiment... smashed through the Soviet defenses and reached the outskirts of Cherkasskoye. Now the frustrated Fusilier Regiment and the critical armor of the Panther Brigade could extricate themselves from their marshy trap and match forward. This force swung to the east and followed the victorious Grenadiers into the heart of Soviet 67th Rifle Division's defenses....

Pressed by the relentless assaults... the forward elements of the 67th Guards finally gave way. The 196th Guards Rifle Regiment made it's last stand in the smoking ruins of Cherkasskoye village, and then after nightfall, the pitiful remnants of the regiment escaped northwestward. … Reinforced by new antitank guns of the 1837th AT Regiment and armor from the … 245th Tank and 1440th Self-propelled Artillery Regiments, the shaken riflemen regrouped on the northern outskirts of Cherkasskoye. There they stubbornly defended for hours, their depleted ranks exacting a murderous toll on the advancing Germans.” (pp. 97-8)

By 6-July the 67th GRD was facing the 3rd, 11th and Grossdeutchland Pz Divisions, “supported by 200 sorties of close air support” the division's remnants were authorized “...to withdraw to prearranged defensive positions in and behind the second defensive belt.” (p.105) All in all a bit more descriptive than just “contributed to the successful outcome of the operations conducted at the village of Cherkasskoye on July 5 and 6”. :)

The story goes on, with further references to the “remnants” of the 67th GRD being used along with other units to shore up the lines, ending up in the battle at Prokhorovka on 12-13 July. At Prokhorovka the “survivors of the 67th GRD” fought with “the shattered 3rd mechanized corps”, the “fresh” 309th Rifle Division and the “newly deployed” 5th Guards Tank Corps. There's every reason to believe that the 1440th was there as well. And by the final battle the 6th Guards Army was fighting next to none other than the 5th Guards Army. (**Deleted**) The dynamic nature of the battle explains, IMO, why the award was granted by 5th Guards when all other references say the 1440th was in the 6th Guards.

Anyway, great Kursk award. Hard to equal, IMO; from the initial German attack to Prokhorovka, armor, and a true combat award. Grats, and thanks for sharing it with us!

PS. Dang size limits. Maps of the battle full size here, here, here, here and here.

** Edited for accuracy; the 52nd GRD was actually in the 23rd GRC, adjacent to the 22nd GRC. **

[Auke]

Excellent research, Eryk!

[Bill Garvy]

Here is an SU-76, or Self-Propelled Artillery. . .