Red Star,0126477,Head Of Signals,220th Guards Mortar Battalion,Kalinin Front

[Bill Garvy]

Record card

Order booklet nr. B-160111

1. Last name: Prigornitsky
2. First name and patronymic: Yevgeny Mefodyevich
3. Military rank: Junior Lieutenant
4. Sex: Male
5. Year of birth: 1918
6. Place of birth: City of Kiev
7. Party membership (since which year): Member of the Communist Party since 1943
8. Education: 7 classes
9. Nationality: Ukrainian
10. Since which year in the Red Army: From 1938 through 1946
11. Place of service (name of the unit) and position at the time of the award: Battalion chief of signals, 17th Guards Mortar Regiment, 4th Shock Army
12. Current place of service and position: Temporarily unemployed
13. Home address of the awardee: 41 Kirov Street, city of Fastov

14. Record of all awards received:

Name of the order or medal Its number Number of its document Ground of award

Order of the Red Star 126477 Temporary certificate nr. 449827 Order of the 4th Shock Army nr. 0125 of March 22, 1943

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 Fastov Raion
Captain [signed] /Mamayev/
January 17, 1947

[Bill Garvy]

Order

[Pencil: Kalinin Front; April 23, 1943]

Secret
Copy nr. 2

Order

Of the 4th Shock Army, Kalinin Front

March 22, 1943 – Nr. 0125 – 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:

[…]

8. Guards Junior Lieutenant Yevgeny Mefodyevich Prigornitsky, chief of signals of the 220th Guards Mortar Battalion, Guards Mortar Regiment

[…]

Commander of the 4th Shock Army
Lieutenant General [signed] /Kurasov/

Member of the Military Council of the 4th Shock Army
Major General [signed] /Tevchenkov/

Army chief of staff
Major General [signed] /Glinsky/


Chief of the Personnel Section of the 4th Shock Army
Lieutenant Colonel [signed] /Moiseyenko/

[Bill Garvy]

Award sheet

Last name, first name and patronymic: Prigornitsky, Yevgeny Mefodyevich
Military rank: Guards Junior Lieutenant
Position and unit: Chief of signals of the 220th Guards Mortar Battalion, Guards Mortar Regiment
Nominated for: Order of the Red Star
1. Year of birth: 1918
2. Nationality: Ukrainian
3. Since when in the Red Army: Since 1938
4. Party affiliation: Candidate member of the Komsomol since 1942
5. Participation in combat (where and when): Participated in the fighting with the Fins since January 15, 1940. On the Kalinin Front with the 17th Guards Mortar Regiment since March 17, 1942
6. Wounds and contusions received: No
7. Awards received previously (for which merits): None
8. Drafted by which military commissariat: Military Commissariat of the Stalin Raion, city of Kiev
9. Permanent home address: ______________

Short, concrete description of his combat feat or merits:

While carrying out a combat mission on January 21, 1943, comrade Prigornitsky displayed bravery and courage. Having concentrated a large number of troops for a counterattack, the enemy brought down hammering machine-gun and mortar fire on our defenses in the area where the battalion commander’s observation post was located. The telephone line connecting the commander’s observation post with the firing positions was subsequently broken in several places by shrapnel. Delays in the communications were out of the question. In spite of the lethal danger, comrade Prigornitsky on his own initiative set out to repair the telephone line with another signaller under a hail of bullets and shrapnel. After five minutes the communications were restored, and thanks to this the battalion was able to fire a salvo in a timely manner, killing up to 70 enemy infantrymen.

During a combat mission on January 17, 1943, the communications worked smoothly, in spite of the continuous enemy fire, which caused numerous breaks in the telephone line.

Through his fearless and selfless duties he aided in accomplishing the assigned combat mission.

He deserves the Order of the Red Star.

Commander of the 17th Guards Mortar Regiment
Guards Major [signed] /Belichenko/
February 17, 1943


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

Commander of the Artillery of the 4th Shock Army
Major General of the Artillery [signed] /Mikhelson/
March 15, 1943

[Bill Garvy]

Guards Junior Lieutenant Yevgeny Mefodyevich Prigornitsky's Order of the Red Star, #126477.

My thanks to Auke!

[PaulR]

WOW!! That is a stellar citation! Rare battle front and extreme heroism! It still makes me sad to see the same award given to a rear echelon person for long service.

[CtahhR]

"Behind every great leader there was an even greater logistician." Michael Fox.

The Logistical service personnel may "sit about" for 15 years to be awarded a Red Star without ever having "their day" but without them nor would anyone else.

[Bill Garvy]

It is all of a piece; remove one piece, and the whole is diminished.