Patriotic War II,0704829,Artillerist,416th Rifle Division,Küstrin

[desantnik]

Award Sheet

1. Last name, name, and patrionymic: Gizatulin, Vladimir Nikolaevich
2. Rank: Guards Senior Lieutenant
3. Duty position: Gun Platoon Leader – 44 Guards Odessa Cannon Artillery Brigade

Recommendation for the Order of the Patriotic War I Class

4. Born: 1919
5. Nationality: Russian
6. Party membership: candidate member since 1944
7. Previous combat: since June 1941
8. Wounds or shell-shock: lightly wounded 1941
9. Time in Red Army: since September 1939
10. Inducted by: volunteer
11. Previous awards: Bravery Medal by this organization dated 29.8.44, Red Star by same organization 27.1.45
12. Home of record: Sverdlovsk, Krasnoznamennaya 12. Father – Nikolai Vasilevich Gizatulin

Short description of personal combat feat or accomplishment

While commanding his platoon firing on direct lay alongside the infantry in the city of Kuestrin, his platoon’s fire destroyed two machinegun positions, an observation post, two strong points, a factory that was a point of enemy resistance, and burned down a block of apartments south of the church that was being used as an enemy strong point.

On 9 March he blew up a tower in the fortress of Kuestrin.

On 10 March his platoon’s fire repelled an enemy counterattack.

For boldness and courage and for excellent accomplishment of the Command’s combat missions of destroying enemy strong points in the city of Kuestrin, he is deserving of the Order of the Patriotic War I Class.

Signed Guards Brigade Commander Sokolov on 11 March 1945
Endorsed Chief of Artillery, 416 Taganrog Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rifle Division Colonel Sokalov on 12 March 1945
Endorsed Commander, 416 Rifle Division, General-Major Selzanov on 19 March 1945
Endorsed Chief of Artillery, 32 Rifle Corps (illegible) on 28 May 1945
Endorsed Commander, 32 Order of Suvorov Rifle Corps, Guards General-Major (?) on 31 May 1945
Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II Class by Order 22/N of the 5 Shock Army dated 9 April 1945, signed Deputy Chief of Personnel of Artillery, 5 Shock Army, Guards Captain Barane(?)

[desantnik]

Anybody have anything on the tower in the Kuestrin fortress or possibly "the church" which I'm sure there was more than one of in town?

[ECD3]

Küstrin was till 1945 a city in the Mark Brandenburg (Neumark). Through the new borders after the second world war, it was splitted:

Kostrzyn (former Küstrin-Neustadt) in Poland
the former city of Küstrin (not rebuilt after the war).
Küstriner Vorland (includes Küstrin-Kietz) in Germany.


And attached is a picture of the castle there, a map of what the fortress looked like pre-war, and a current picture of where the church once stood, just outside of the fortress.

And more info: Zhukov and Konev reached the Oder River in February, but the fortress of Kuestrin held out until March 12. Danzig was taken on March 30, Königsberg (Kaliningrad) on April 9, and Vienna on April 13.

[ECD3]

I circled in this foto what I believe to be the Church and tower and the castle that is referenced. Could be wrong, but everything I looked up just now stated that these were the two buildings that were blown to bits. :D

[desantnik]

Neat, thank you very much.

[jefflgarrison]

Followup on the information above.

The German army in the city actually held out until March 30, 1945. Zhukov reported to Moscow that the city was taken, which sparked a big celebration. However, he was unwilling (with good reason) to correct his mistake.

The attached photo is a Google shot of what the remains of the city look like today. The fight for the city left it 95% destroyed. So much so that it was never built back and much of the brick went to Warsaw and other major cities.

Comparing the photo with the drawing you can see that the streets are still recognizable.

[desantnik]

Amazing photo - neat! It's like they just walked away from the levelled place and let nature take over.

[deValcourt]

Originally Posted by desantnik

Amazing photo - neat! It's like they just walked away from the levelled place and let nature take over.

After they got everything usable out of there, I think that is exactly what they did.;)

Phillip

[Pobeda45]

Very cool, Paul--I think the citations for the artillery and mortar men are my favorite. Thanks for sharing!

[CtahhR]

Here is the original citation.