Front-line actors article in a magazine. Soviet Actors - participants of the Great Patriotic War

The actor at the front became a holder of the Order of Glory 2nd and 3rd degree, holder of the Order of the Red Star, was awarded the medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit".
On April 9, 1944, in the area of the village of Pilyava, after powerful artillery attacks, two enemy battalions, supported by 13 tanks, went on the attack. Tov. Smirnov with a platoon opened a powerful mortar fire on the German infantry. In this battle, platoon fire destroyed: 4 heavy and 2 light machine guns, 110 fascist soldiers and officers. The German counterattack was repulsed.
On July 20, 1944, in the area of \u200b\u200bheight 283.0, the enemy, with a force of up to 40 Nazis, attacked the battery. Smirnov, inspiring the fighters, rushed into battle with a personal weapon. The battery repelled the German attack with rifle and machine gun fire. 17 Nazis remained on the battlefield, Smirnov personally captured 7 Nazis.
On January 22, 1945, despite intense enemy fire, he ferried a mortar to the left bank of the Oder River with his crew. From where, with mortar fire, he destroyed 2 machine-gun points in the village of Eichenried and up to 20 Nazis. The 36th Artillery Regiment captured the village and the bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder River.

Boris Vladimirovich Ivanov

Boris Ivanov had a chance to serve as a scout. In one of the battles, he received terrible injuries: head, back, both legs and arms. He was found on the battlefield among the dead. The future actor survived clinical death and miraculously survived. Since then, Boris Vladimirovich has always believed that he has two birthdays.

Vladimir Pavlovich Basov

Captain, battery commander of the 424th motorized rifle regiment of the 14th anti-aircraft artillery division of the Riga SVGK Reserve. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star and the medal "For Military Merit".

He went to the front in 1942 and ended the war with the rank of captain and deputy chief of the operations department of the 28th separate artillery division for breaking through the reserve of the High Command. He had every chance to remain in military service and make a brilliant career. However, he chose to retire as a citizen.

Evgeny Yakovlevich Vesnik

Fought for three years. He was awarded two medals "For Courage", the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Order of the Red Star, the medal "For the Capture of Koenigsberg", two medals "For Courage", the medal "For the Victory over Germany".

He tells himself:

I went to the front in 1942, when I was nineteen. Passed the Karelian Front, all of East Prussia. In early September 1941, I, like most students of the Shchepkin Theater School, received a padded jacket, boots, a shovel and left in a freight car for the labor front near Smolensk. We dug anti-tank ditches and received marks for the depth of penetration into the ground. Fives were received by those who threw out seven cubic meters “uphill”.

In early October 1941, the Maly Theater, and with it the school, was evacuated. We set off on an exhausting month-long journey to Chelyabinsk. In 1942, as a second-year student, I was drafted from Chelyabinsk into the army. Only third and fourth year students were released from service, the rest had to fight. He went to war as a romantic youth, a dreamer. I even liked to fight ... when they advanced, and not very much when they retreated. For example, when they destroyed enemy communications or part of a resisting settlement with their weapons, and even received awards for this, then, of course, they felt like “eagles”. But, having returned from the war, I realized my involvement in homicide, the accident that I myself survived.

I am a holder of two medals "For Courage", Orders of the Red Star, Orders of the Patriotic War... I received my first medals for two "languages". I received my second medal in the following way: once the commander of the brigade, Colonel Sinitsyn, and I, using our inaccurate maps of the area, wandered almost into the location of the Germans. It so happened that I had a slight poisoning and I needed to get out of the car to relieve myself. He took cover in the bushes under a beam, and suddenly a German with a machine gun appears at the bottom of the beam. Behind him are several soldiers without weapons, without belts. I realized that they were leading the German guards. They pass along the bottom of the beam and disappear around the bend. Going last decided to linger. It got to the person. I didn't button my pants properly and whistled softly. The German turned to the whistle, and I showed him with a pistol to come towards me. The German raised his hands and approached. I brought it to the car, brought it to the headquarters, and it turned out to be a very useful "language" ...

When I remember the war, I remember kind, brave, spiritually beautiful people; I remember everything that is connected with humor, friendship, mutual assistance, kindness, love ... On Victory Day, we gather with friends, drink three hundred grams and cry from what we see around. We thought we were going to conquer paradise, and today there is a lot of vulgarity around.

Leonid Iovich Gaidai

In 1942, Leonid Gaidai was drafted into the army. Initially, his service took place in Mongolia, where he rode horses destined for the front. Tall and thin, Gaidai looked comical on squat Mongolian horses, but he successfully coped with his cowboy work. He, like his other peers, rushed to the front. They considered it shameful to be in peaceful Mongolia. In addition, recruits often forgot to feed and they were terribly hungry.

When the military commissar arrived to select replenishment in the army, Gaidai answered "I" to every question of the officer. "Who's in the artillery?" "I", "To the cavalry?" "I", "To the fleet?" "I", "In intelligence?" "I" - what caused dissatisfaction with the boss. "Yes, you wait, Gaidai," said the military commissar, "Let me announce the entire list." From this incident, many years later, an episode of the film "Operation Y" was born.

Gaidai was sent to the Kalinin Front.
Gaidai served in a foot reconnaissance platoon, repeatedly went to the enemy rear to take language, was awarded several medals.

In 1943, returning from a mission, Leonid Gaidai was blown up by an anti-personnel mine, having received a severe wound in his leg. He spent about a year in hospitals, underwent 5 operations. He was threatened with amputation, but he categorically refused it. "There are no one-legged actors," he said. The consequences of this injury haunted him all his life. From time to time, the wound opened, splinters came out, the bone became inflamed, and these torments lasted for years. He was disabled, although he never told anyone about it. Outsiders not only did not know about this, but did not even guess, because Leonid Iovich could not bear to show his illnesses or ailments. He had a real masculine character.

Nikolai Grigorievich Grinko

At the front, Nikolai served as a gunner-radio operator on long-range bombers and was a Komsomol organizer of the regiment. Guard foreman. He was awarded the medal "For Military Merit". He never talked about the war.

Vladimir Leonidovich Gulyaev

The only one of the front-line actors, twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner and twice - the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree.

On April 20, 1942, he was enrolled as a cadet in the Molotov (Perm) military aviation pilot school. He became the pilot of the Il-2 attack aircraft.

The youngest cadet of the Molotov school of attack pilots, Volodya Gulyaev, graduated with honors and, having received the rank of junior lieutenant, arrived with a new batch of replenishment in the 639th regiment, which was then based near the city of Velizh.

In November 1943, the formation of the 335th assault air division began, which included the Gulyaev regiment and the neighboring 826th from their 211th division. In winter, the pilots of the newly minted division rarely flew, mainly for reconnaissance. Gulyaev managed to make only one sortie.

In the spring of 1944, Gulyaev's division received an order to transfer the 639th regiment to the 2nd Ukrainian Front. This event should have pleased Volodya, because his father fought as the head of agitation and propaganda of the 53rd Army on the 2nd Ukrainian. But he acted like Gulyaevsky: he begged the division commander not to send him to Ukraine and transfer him to the neighboring, 826th, assault regiment of the 335th division. In the 1st squadron of this regiment, Vladimir Gulyaev will go through all his front-line universities until the very victorious day - May 9, 1945.

In May 1944, the 335th assault division, consisting of the 826th and 683rd assault aviation regiments, secretly relocated to the airfield near Gorodok in the Vitebsk region. Gulyaev's first flights were to attack the Lovsha, Obol, Goryany railway stations on the Vitebsk-Polotsk road. Especially got the Fritz from the blows of Vladimir in Obol. He flew to this station on May 20, June 6, 13 and 23. The regimental documents for June 13 say: "Flying to attack the Obol railway station in a group of six Il-2s, making 3 passes, despite strong enemy anti-aircraft fire, Comrade Gulyaev dropped bombs into the echelon, 3 explosions were observed with black with smoke, cannon and machine gun fire, he shot at the enemy’s manpower. The task was performed perfectly. The result of the attack is confirmed by a photograph and the testimony of cover fighters. " To this it should be added that the station itself was covered by four anti-aircraft batteries and two more on the way to it. This is a whole sea of anti-aircraft fire! Gulyaev, neglecting mortal danger, dived into this sea three times. And not only survived, but also damaged the German train. The army newspaper "Soviet Sokol" even wrote about this sniper attack of his. For a long time, Gulyaev proudly carried the clipping with the article in his flight tablet.

During Operation Bagration, the 826th Assault Regiment delivered strikes against enemy manpower and equipment moving along the Dobrino-Verbali-Shumilino-Beshenkovichi, Lovsha-Bogushevskoye-Senno and Lovsha-Klimovo roads. As part of the six attack aircraft, junior lieutenant Gulyaev and his air gunner, sergeant Vasily Vinichenko, took to the air as a follower of the commander of the 1st squadron, captain Popov. Their goal was a German column on the Lovsha-Polotsk road. But from the air, they suddenly saw that at the Obol station, as many as 5 echelons of the enemy were standing under steam! Only Popov and Gulyaev broke through the dense palisade of anti-aircraft fire. But Popov was still shot down, shot down over the station itself. Together with him, his shooter, foreman Bezzhivotny, also died. Only Gulyaev managed to drop bombs on the echelons and return to his airfield safe and sound. At the Obol station, a fire raged for two more days and ammunition exploded. True, the sniper strike of Vladimir Gulyaev did not receive a worthy assessment from the authorities. They simply didn't believe it. There were no living witnesses, and for Gulyaev it was only the eighth sortie. Of course, the fact that the division on this day for the first time suffered such heavy losses also affected: 7 aircraft and 4 crew. There was no time for victorious reports to the higher command.

Having flown to the Beshenkovichi airfield, the 826th regiment, after the destruction of the enemy in the Lepel-Chashniki region, took part in the Polotsk offensive operation. Vladimir Gulyaev and his comrades storm German columns and positions in the area of Glubokoye, Dunilovichi, Borovukha, Disna, Bigosovo. On July 3, he crushes the enemy on the northwestern outskirts of Polotsk, and on July 4, on the day of the liberation of the city, he takes part in the defeat of the German column on the Drissa (Verhnedvinsk) - Druya road. As a result of this crushing blow, the Germans lost 535 (!) Motor vehicles and a river barge. Despite the fact that the enemy suffered such monstrous losses and retreated, flights for our attack aircraft were by no means a hunting trip. The sky was literally torn to shreds by German anti-aircraft guns, and Fokkers and Messers were constantly scouring the clouds. And every time, one of the pilots of the division was not destined to return to their native airfield. The crews of Akimov - Kurkulev, Fedorov - Tsukanov, Osipov - Kananadze, Kuroyedov - Kudryavtsev, Mavrin - Vdovchenko, Matrosov - Katkov, Shkarpetov - Korgin were shot down ... The crew of Gulyaev - Vinichenko, thank God, was lucky.

But in the Rezekne region, luck turned away from Gulyaev. During the attack of artillery positions, his plane was seriously damaged, and the "Ilyukha" had to be landed with the engine stopped right on the forest. An old IL-2 with metal wings took a terrible blow against the trees on itself, softened it as best it could and, dying, nevertheless saved the crew from certain death. Vladimir Gulyaev, in an unconscious state, was urgently taken on a passing Li-2 to the Central Aviation Hospital in Moscow. He returned to his regiment only three and a half months later. The scars on the bridge of the nose and chin and the disappointing conclusion of the doctors, which made it possible to hope for flights only in light aircraft, reminded of a serious wound. And this, alas, is the Po-2 wooden and linen "maize". Such were in the 335th division only at the headquarters level of command. Here, reluctantly as a Po-2 pilot, he continued his service. So he would fly on this "sewing machine" until the very victory, but less than a month later, his assault soul longed for the Ilyukha's cockpit, which had become his own. He began to write report after report, and in the end he achieved a second medical examination, and in March 1945 he again raised his beloved Il-2 into the air. And in one of the first sorties he almost died. The archival document tells about this succinctly and dryly: "On 26.03.1945, he flew to attack enemy vehicles in the Balga area. Having made three approaches to the target, he destroyed three vehicles and created one fire. From a direct hit by an anti-aircraft shell, his aircraft was damaged, but thanks to excellent piloting technique, he brought the plane to his airfield and landed safely. Death, scorching him with its terrible hot breath, swept right beside him. But even after that, Gulyaev irresistibly rushes into battle, making 2-3 sorties a day.

On April 6, the goal of Gulyaev and his comrades was the fortress city of Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad). It was the pilots of their division who were entrusted with the high honor of throwing an ultimatum from the plane to the commandant of Koenigsberg, General Otto Lyash. Unable to withstand the might of the attacks of the attackers, the citadel of Prussian militarism fell just three days later - on April 9th. It was on this day that for courage, courage and 20 successful sorties in the sky of East Prussia, Vladimir Gulyaev was presented to the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

Vladimir Petrovich Zamansky

In the winter of 1942, Volodya became a cadet at the Tashkent Polytechnic of Communications, and in 1943 he was drafted into the Red Army. In the 3rd reserve communications regiment of the Central Asian Military District, he graduated from the courses of reconnaissance radio operators and was sent to the army.

In June 1944, as a radio operator of self-propelled regiment No. 1223, Zamansky participated in the breakthrough of the 2nd Belorussian Front near Orsha. As part of this regiment, with a short break due to injury, he served until the end of the war.

He was awarded the Order of Glory III degree and the medal "For Courage".

In 1950, for participating in the beating of a platoon commander under article 193 b, Vladimir Zamansky was sentenced by a military tribunal to 9 years in the camps.

Yuri Vasilievich Katin-Yartsev

Senior sergeant, assistant platoon commander of the 63rd railway bridge battalion. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Military Merit", "For the Victory over Germany".

The Great Patriotic War is a huge and important stage in the biography of Yuri Katin-Yartsev. He served in the railway troops, built bridges in the Far East, then ended up in the army on the Voronezh front. He was a participant in the battles on the Kursk Bulge, was on the 1st Ukrainian Front and the 4th Ukrainian. At the end of the war, Katin-Yartsev became a holder of the Order of the Red Star.

Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin

He served from 1939 in anti-aircraft artillery. Staff Sergeant. Member of the Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, defender of Leningrad. He was awarded the medals "For Courage", "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For the Victory over Germany".

Already from the first days of the war, Nikulin's battery opened fire on fascist planes that were breaking through to Leningrad, throwing deep mines into the Gulf of Finland. As part of an anti-aircraft battery, Nikulin fought until the spring of 1943, rising to the rank of senior sergeant. Then he visited the hospital twice - after pneumonia and after concussion. After recovery, he was sent to the 72nd separate anti-aircraft division near Kolpin.

Yuri Vladimirovich recalled the years of the war: “I can’t say that I am one of the brave people. No, I was scared. It's all about how that fear manifests itself. Some had tantrums - they cried, screamed, ran away. Others endured outwardly calmly ... But it is impossible to forget the first person killed in my presence. We sat in the firing position and ate out of cauldrons. Suddenly, a shell exploded near our gun, and the loader's head was torn off by shrapnel. A man is sitting with a spoon in his hands, steam is coming from the pot, and the upper part of the head is cut off, like a razor, clean ... "

Nikulin met the victory in the Baltics. However, he did not go home soon. The demobilization was carried out in several stages, and his turn came only a year after the end of the war. He retired from the army on May 18, 1946.

Stanislav Iosifovich Rostotsky

In February 1942 he was drafted into the army. I had to serve first in the 46th reserve rifle brigade, located near the Surok station in the Mari ASSR. In September 1943, S. Rostotsky "escaped" to the front. He had a chance to fight as a private guard in the 6th Guards Cavalry Corps. He participated in the battles, having traveled from Vyazma and Smolensk to Rovno, and the corps ended the war in Prague. Here are a few lines from the "Autobiography" written by Rostotsky in the same year:

"Rockets flared up again. Dubno was pulled out of the darkness. I saw the walls of the fortress, the church towering over the city, tanks, several soldiers, and suddenly next to me, despite the surrounding roar, I clearly heard: "Tank!" - and immediately after this the growing sound of the engine clearly stood out from the cannonade and the roar of the night tank battle. I wanted to jump up, but at that time something firmly grabbed my heel and dragged me back. Something huge, inexorable and hard fell on me, squeezed my chest, doused the heat and smell of gasoline and burnt metal, for a moment it became very scary, precisely because of the complete helplessness and inability to fight.

"The guy is ready. He fought back ..." - someone nearby said loudly and clearly. It was embarrassing and scary that they would leave. And I'm alive. Alive or not? Only it is very difficult to breathe, and the hand does not move, and the leg. But you have to get up. Stand up no matter what. I hardly broke away from the spring slush, stood, as it seemed to me, for a very long time and began to fall, but someone's hands caught me. I recognized the paramedic Aronov. “Hey, brother, once you get up, it means you will live,” he said to me. And then the voice of Major Simbukhovsky was heard: "Brichka! My britzka!"

So on February 11, 1944, near the city of Dubno, in Western Ukraine, Stanislav Rostotsky was seriously wounded. Then there were hospitals in Rovno and Moscow, operations, punctures, dressings. In August 1944, he turned from a private guard, holder of the Order of the Red Star, into a second-group disabled veteran of the war.

Vladislav Ignatievich Strzhelchik

Member of the Great Patriotic War, served in the infantry. Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.

Throughout the Patriotic War Strzhelchik Vladislav Strzhelchik was at the front, first - in the army, then - in the military ensemble. Often the actor recalled the hunger and cold of those days. Then he managed to bring his rations to his parents while they lived in the besieged city. He got to Leningrad for 30 kilometers - either by hitchhiking or on foot, often coming under fire. The actor could never forget this horror of hunger.

Vladimir Abramovich Etush

Senior lieutenant, assistant chief of staff of the regiment. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star, medals "For the Defense of the Caucasus", "For the Defense of Moscow", "For the Victory over Germany".

Vladimir Etush sometimes said that he was the first Muscovite to witness the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, although he did not immediately understand this. On the night of June 21-22, he was walking from a protracted party. It was about 5 o'clock in the morning, the streets were deserted, there were almost no cars. And then a car of the German embassy flew past him at great speed. Later, he read somewhere that it was the car of the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Count von Schulenburg, who, an hour after the start of the invasion, handed Molotov a memorandum declaring war. Then Etush, although he paid attention to this car, did not have any bad premonition. He came home, went to bed, and at 12 o'clock his mother woke him up and said that the war had begun.

As a student at a theater school, Volodya Etush had a reservation. But during the play "Field Marshal Kutuzov", he saw that only 13 people were sitting in the hall, and realized that the country was not up to the theater. In the morning he went and asked to volunteer for the front.

Vladimir Etush was sent to the courses of military translators in Stavropol. But at the front, he ended up in a rifle regiment. Etush fought in the mountains of Kabarda and Ossetia, took part in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don, Ukraine. He fought heroically, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star and medals. Then he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In 1944, Etush was seriously wounded and after the hospital, having received a second disability group, he was demobilized.

Alexey Makarovich Smirnov

Scout, commander of a fire platoon of the 3rd artillery battery of the 169th Red Banner mortar regiment of the 3rd artillery Zhytomyr Red Banner Order of Lenin division of the RGK breakthrough. He was awarded the Orders of Glory II and III degree, the Order of the Red Star, the medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit".

He did not like to remember the war and never trumped his military merits. Only the closest people knew about his heroic military past.

From the personal file of Smirnov:

He commanded a fire platoon in the 169th mortar regiment, rose from private to lieutenant. Two Orders of Glory - 2nd and 3rd degree, Order of the Red Star, medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit".

In total, Alexei Makarovich Smirnov had 11 military awards!

Excerpts from award lists:

“April 9, 1944, in the area of the village of Pilyava, after powerful artillery attacks, two enemy battalions, supported by 13 tanks, went on the attack. Tov. Smirnov with a platoon opened a powerful mortar fire on the German infantry. In this battle, platoon fire destroyed: 4 heavy and 2 light machine guns, 110 fascist soldiers and officers. The German counterattack was repulsed

“To the order for the third artillery division of September 15, 1944:
On July 20, 1944, in the area of \u200b\u200bheight 293, the enemy, with a force of up to 40 Nazis, attacked the battery. Comrade Smirnov, inspiring the fighters, rushed into battle and repulsed the German attack. He personally captured 7 Nazis.
On July 27, near the village of Zhuravka, leaving the encirclement, he captured 5 Nazis.
Comrade Smirnov A.M. worthy of a government award - the Order of Glory 3rd degree. Commander of the 169th mortar regiment Saltsyn.

He received the Order of Glory for a battle near the village of Postaszewice.

Again there was a German attack, hand-to-hand combat and mean lines in the award list:
“Comrade Smirnov, with three fighters, rushed at the Germans and personally killed three Nazis from a machine gun and captured two. On January 22, 1945, despite intense rifle-machine-gun and artillery-mortar shelling, he transported a mortar on himself to the left bank of the Oder River. From where, with mortar fire, he destroyed 2 machine-gun points in the village of Eichenried and up to 20 Nazis. The 36th artillery regiment took possession of the village and the bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder River.

There was very little left to Berlin, but a severe shell shock interrupted A.M. Smirnova. After a long treatment in the hospital, he was commissioned from the active army.

Nikolai Konstantinovich Prokopovich

At the age of 17, after graduating from school, he went to the front. As part of the 4th Panzer Army, he went through the battle path from Voronezh to Poland and Germany from a soldier to a squad leader. In April 1945, he was wounded in Germany, finished the war in a hospital near Berlin with the rank of senior sergeant. He was awarded six medals and the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.

Innokenty Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky (Smoktunovich)

In January 1943, he was called to a military school, but he did not stay there.

For the fact that during training time he collected the potatoes remaining in the field, officer shoulder straps were torn off him and sent to the front - in the thick of it, on the Kursk Bulge.

Then he happened to participate in the crossing of the Dnieper, the liberation of Kyiv.

Remembering the war, Innokenty Mikhailovich always emphasized: “Do not believe that it is not scary in war, it is always scary. And courage consists in the fact that you are afraid, and you must overcome animal horror and go forward, and you do it.

In the same year, during the attack on Kyiv, the unit in which Smoktunovsky served (we will call him that, although he changed his last name Smoktunovich to Smoktunovsky only after the war), was surrounded.

On December 3, in one of the battles near Zhitomir, Smoktunovsky was captured. The conditions in the German POW camp were inhumane, and he knew perfectly well that an attempt to escape was to be executed immediately.

“There was another way out - those who wished were offered service in the ROA ... But he did not suit me,” admitted Innokenty Mikhailovich.

The chance to escape presented itself a month later, when the Germans drove their convoy to Germany.

Rimma Markova, Smoktunovsky's closest friend, says: “He miraculously escaped from captivity. When they were escorted, Kesha, sorry for the detail, became ill with his stomach. And when he was no longer able to endure, he and another prisoner were allowed to go out of order out of necessity. Until the end of his life, Smoktunovsky recalled with gratitude this soldier, who gestured for him to stay under the bridge, and he took it and rolled down on his back through the snow, smearing their tracks.

So no one noticed the absence of Smoktunovsky. And he spent almost a day sitting in a snowdrift, and then made his way to a nearby village.

In the meantime, a summons came home to Krasnoyarsk that his son was missing.

For several weeks, Smoktunovsky wandered through the forests, hiding from the Germans. Every now and then, falling into oblivion from hunger, he made his way through the thickets, until, finally, he got to the village of Dmitrovka. Here, dying of exhaustion, he was picked up by an old Ukrainian woman.

On her part, this was a rather risky act, because her whole family was threatened with execution for harboring a Soviet prisoner of war.

“How can I forget the Shevchuk family,” Innokenty Mikhailovich recalled, “who sheltered me after escaping from captivity? Baba Vasya died a long time ago, and her daughter Oniska still lives in Shepetovka, and these dear, sincere people, who literally saved me, visit us, and we always welcome them cordially.

Smoktunovsky lived with the Shevchuks for about a month, and in February 1944, an accident helped him get to the partisans. For several months he fought in the partisan detachment. Lenin Kamenetz-Podolsk connection.

In May 1944, a partisan detachment joined with regular units of the Red Army. In the rank of senior sergeant, commander of the submachine gunners of the 641st Guards Rifle Regiment of the 75th Guards Division, Smoktunovsky earned the medal "For Courage" - the second in his biography (the first, in 1943, he was awarded forty-nine years later, after the war, at the Moscow Art Theater performance "The Cabal of Saints" right in the theater).

Innokenty Mikhailovich ended the war in the German town of Grevesmühlen. Surprisingly, during the entire war, Smoktunovsky was never even wounded. Fate was clearly on his side.

Petr Efimovich Todorovsky

The youth of the future domestic titan of cinematography passed during the war years. In the midst of the war, in the summer of 1943, Pyotr Todorovsky, a cadet of the Saratov Military Infantry School, since 1944, a platoon commander in the 93rd Infantry Regiment of the 76th Infantry Division of the 47th Army of the First Belorussian Front, reached the Elbe by front roads . What he saw and experienced in those years was forever imprinted in the memory of the young lieutenant and then reflected more than once in his own films.

Pyotr Efimovich recalls: “The most terrible episode is the first night. I was thrown to the front line, to the unit that was advancing and was exhausted ... I was all such a novice, in a tunic, I came under shelling. It's just horror: everything exploded ...

And I was lying with my teeth pressed to the ground - I was just pounding with fear ... Then, when everything calmed down a little, one sergeant looked at me: “Come on, I'll find you an overcoat. I ran past here, I saw it.” I did not immediately understand what he meant.

I couldn’t free myself from this scene for a very long time, I knew: whoever dresses from the dead will surely die, in this case I was just lucky.

But he was wounded and then shell-shocked already in that brand new overcoat ... after being wounded, he ended up in the hospital - that was wonderful. After dirt, blood, lice, when you are not a person, but an animal - and you lie on a white sheet, you are washed ...

After all, I had a not very serious injury - after two and a half weeks I was already walking. And then the nurses, dancing in the evening ...

Pleasant is May 8, 1945 on the Elbe! It was an amazing feeling - there was just silence. With heavy fighting we went to the bridge, and on the other side the Americans were already standing, they had come earlier. And then there is silence, and the river, and the grass, and you can hear the birds singing...

We rolled in the grass along with the horses, throwing off smelly footcloths, and did not believe that we were still alive. Then this silence became my script for the film “Deafened by Silence”.

Pavel Borisovich Vinnik

At the age of 16, attributing to himself the missing years, he became a soldier in a rifle regiment. Came to Berlin. He was awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War I and II degrees, the Order of the Red Star, medals "For the capture of Budapest", "For the capture of Berlin", "For the victory over Germany".

During the Second World War, for the battles near Kyustren, the submachine gunner of the 416th Infantry Division, Junior Sergeant Vinnik was awarded the Order of the Red Star, for the fact that:

Georgy Alexandrovich Yumatov

Since 1942 - a cabin boy on the torpedo boat "Courageous", a year later - a helmsman. He served on the armored boats of the Azov and then the Danube flotillas.

He took part in the Malozemelsky, Evpatoria landings, in the assault on Izmail, in the capture of Bucharest, Budapest, and Vienna. During the assault on the latter, Georgy Yumatov participated in hand-to-hand combat for the famous Vienna Bridge.

About two thousand of our paratroopers died in that battle, but fate kept Yumatov (for this assault he will be awarded a very rare Ushakov sailor medal on chains).

It was after that terrible battle that he first really got drunk.

It is worth noting that during the war years Georgy Yumatov could have been killed at least a hundred times, but each time Providence averted trouble from him.

For example, in one of the battles, a ship mongrel, warmed by Yumatov, frightened by shelling, jumped overboard. Sailor Yumatov rushed after her. And at that moment an enemy shell hit the torpedo boat.
Almost the entire team died, but our hero (together with the mongrel) remained alive.

In total, during the three years of the war, Georgy Yumatov was wounded several times, shell-shocked, drowned twice, and had frostbite on his hands. The military merits of Georgy Alexandrovich were also awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, medals "For the Capture of Vienna", "For the Capture of Budapest", ZPNG, and other medals.

Zinovy Efimovich Gerdt
(Zalman Efraimovich Khrapinovich)

People's Artist of the USSR Zinovy Gerdt went to the front as a volunteer, refusing to enter the front-line theater, he became a sapper and ended the war as a sapper company commander with the rank of senior lieutenant. During the fighting, Gerdt was seriously wounded, after which he had to undergo eleven operations, as a result of which his leg became shorter by 8 centimeters, the lameness remained for life. Despite all this, overcoming pain and gaining iron patience, Gerdt was able to maintain optimism and a great will to live. Awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Mikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin

Scout, served in the 1147th Infantry Regiment. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree and the medal "For the Victory over Germany".

Immediately after the start of the war, Mikhail, along with his father and brothers, goes to the front. He got into the rifle regiment as a scout. He went through hell without a single scratch in the Smolensk region, but near Voroshilovgrad he was wounded in the leg. Gangrene set in and he was being prepared for amputation in the hospital. He managed to persuade the chief surgeon of the field hospital: “Doctor, I can’t be without a leg, I’m an artist!” The treatment lasted a long time, and one military hospital was replaced by another, a third, but the pain never left him. It takes more than a year for Pugovkin to fully recover.

Anatoly Dmitrievich Papanov

The first days of the war were difficult and tragic for our army. Young, unfired conscripts went to hell.

"Is it possible to forget how, after two and a half hours of fighting, out of forty-two people, thirteen remained?" Papanov later recalled.

About this time, in many, many years, he will play one of his most striking and significant roles - General Serpilin in the film adaptation of Simonov's novel The Living and the Dead.

Adolf Alekseevich Ilyin

During the Great Patriotic War, he was an orderly of 46 GSP 16 GOLSD.

In October 1942 he was awarded the medal "For Courage", for the fact that:
During his service as an orderly, Comrade Ilyin carried out the following number of fighters and commanders from the battlefield: under the village of Novye Niva 14 people, under the village of Verkhnie Sekachi 24 people, under the village of Cleaning 12 people, under the village of Kamenka 8 people, under the village .Polunino 24 people. In total, he carried out 82 wounded and with weapons. When taking out the wounded, Comrade Ilyin showed courage and courage, providing first aid to the wounded under enemy fire, in any combat conditions.

In the Patriotic War against the Nazi invaders, Comrade Ilyin showed himself to be a devoted and courageous soldier of the Red Army.

Interestingly, the award sheet originally featured a submission to the "Order of the Red Banner", but the inscription was crossed out and "For military merit" was inscribed on top with a pencil.

As a result, by order of the troops of the 30th Army, he was awarded the medal "For Courage"

Viktor Alexandrovich Kurochkin
"In war as in war"

Since June 23, 1942, a cadet of the Ulyanovsk Guards Tank School (March 1, 1943, a cadet of the 2nd Kyiv Artillery School (Saratov). On June 20, 1943, Lieutenant Kurochkin was appointed commander of the SU-85 in the 1893rd self-propelled artillery regiment of the 3rd Tank Army 1st Ukrainian Front.From August 5, 1944, as part of the 1st Guards Artillery Regiment of the 4th Tank Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front.Kursk salient, liberation of the Left-Bank Ukraine, crossing of the Dnieper, liberation of Kyiv, Lvov.Seriously wounded on January 31, 1945 years when crossing the Oder.

Alexey Mironov

At the age of 17, he volunteered for the army, attributing a year to himself. Commander of a fire platoon of the 1342nd anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the 23rd anti-aircraft artillery division. He fought on the North-Western, Voronezh and 1st Ukrainian fronts. Participated in the battle for Moscow, the battle of Kursk, the battle for the Dnieper, the liberation of the Right-Bank and Western Ukraine, the storming of Berlin.

He was awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War I and II degrees, medals "For Courage", "For the Capture of Berlin", "For the Victory over Germany".

Evgeny Matveev

Member of the Great Patriotic War. He did not stay long at the front. For his excellent knowledge of military affairs, he was appointed a teacher at the Tyumen Infantry School. He rushed back to the front, but his numerous petitions remained unanswered.

Nikolai Trofimov

During the Great Patriotic War he served in the ranks of the Navy. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Order of the Red Star, the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad", "For the Victory over Germany".

Elina Bystritskaya

During the war, she worked in a front-line mobile evacuation hospital as a nurse. She was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the medal "For the Victory over Germany".

Nikolai Boyarsky

Member of the Great Patriotic War, ended the war in Koenigsberg. He was awarded the Order of Glory II and III degree, the Order of the Red Star and other medals.

Pavel Luspekaev

During one of the reconnaissance raids, he lay in the snow for four hours, seriously frostbitten his legs. Subsequently, due to this injury, doctors were forced to amputate both of Luspekaev's feet.

Antonina Maksimova

Participant of the Great Patriotic War, radio operator.

Sergey Bondarchuk

Leonid Chubarov

Member of the Great Patriotic War. Artilleryman.

Evgenia Kozyreva

Participant of the Great Patriotic War, went to the front as a volunteer.

Petr Glebov

He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Order of the Red Star and the medal "For the Defense of Moscow".

Gulya Queen

Medical instructor, participant of the Great Patriotic War. She volunteered for the front in the medical battalion of the 280th Infantry Regiment.

She died on November 23, 1942 near the Panshino farm, near Stalingrad. During the battle for height 56.8, she carried 50 wounded soldiers from the battlefield, and when the commander was killed, she raised the soldiers to attack, the first broke into the enemy trench, destroyed 15 enemy soldiers and officers with several throws of grenades. She was mortally wounded, but continued to fight until reinforcements arrived. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner (posthumously).

Oleg Golubitsky

Member of the Great Patriotic War.

Valya Lithuanian

Pushkin in the film "The Youth of the Poet", died in the summer of 1941 near Minsk.

Nikolay Dupak

At the front from the first days of the war. Guard Lieutenant. He served in the infantry in the 6th Guards Corps. He was seriously wounded three times. In 1943 he was commissioned for disability. Cavalier of the Orders of the Red Banner, World War I and II degree.

Vladimir Ivanov

At the front since February 1942. He spent the entire war at the forefront in artillery reconnaissance. Was wounded three times.

Boris Bityukov

Member of the Great Patriotic War. In 1939-1945 he served in the Red Army. He fought from the first to the last day.

Grigory Pluzhnik

In the first days of the war, having abandoned the armor, he volunteered for the front. Participated in the Battle of Stalingrad and the liberation of Romania. Junior lieutenant, telegraph technician. Awarded with medals "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Victory over Germany".

Vladimir Samoilov

Member of the Great Patriotic War. Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.

Sergey Gurzo

At the age of 16, he volunteered for the front. In Poland in 1944 he was seriously wounded, after which he was treated in hospitals for a year.

Nikolai Eremenko Sr.

At the age of 15 he went to the front, was wounded, was surrounded, was captured, several times he tried to escape from the Nazi concentration camp. Then he fought as part of an underground resistance group.

Leonid Obolensky

In October 1941, together with other teachers of VGIK, he joined the Moscow People's Militia. In the Bryansk-Vyazemsk encirclement, a concentration camp in Bavaria was also captured. Escaped from captivity. Before the liberation of Moldova, he hid in a monastery near Bendery under the name of monk Lavrentiy. After the war he was arrested and convicted. In 2005 (posthumously) he was rehabilitated.

Volodya Konstantinov

Went to the front in 1941. He died in March 1944 near Tallinn. The first and last role is Petya-Gulliver in Alexander Ptushko's film "New Gulliver".

Boris Ivanov

Quartermaster Lieutenant. Fought on the North-Western Front. Chief of Staff of the Battalion in the 14th Guards Regiment of the 7th Guards Division of the 10th Guards Army. In April 1942, he was seriously wounded and until September lay in hospitals with the threat of amputation of his arm. He was awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War I and II degrees.

Mikhail Gluzsky

Since 1940 he served in the Red Army, a participant in the Great Patriotic War.

Nikolai Pastukhov

In 1942 he volunteered for the front. He fought in the Latvian division received the specialty of a signalman, served in a tank unit, was wounded.

He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star and the medal "For Military Merit", "For the Victory over Germany".

Fyodor Nikitin

In 1941-1943 he participated in the defense of besieged Leningrad. He was the commander of a platoon of the people's militia of the Leningrad Front.

Evgeny Burenkov

He went to the front from school, went through the whole war. He fought as part of the units of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Alexander Vokach

In 1944, he volunteered for the front, fought, served until 1947 in the flight troops.

Borya Ash

Borya Yasen - Mishka Kvakin in the film "Timur and his team" died at the beginning of the war.

Vasily Korzun

In 1941, he volunteered for the army and was sent to the front with the rank of second lieutenant. Participated in battles, was wounded. He ended the war in Estonia. Awarded with the Order of the Red Star.

Vladimir Kashpur

Member of the Great Patriotic War. Aviation navigator, took part in hostilities. He was awarded the medal "For the Victory over Germany".

Valentin Zubkov

Member of the Great Patriotic War. Fighter pilot.

Zoya Vasilkova

Participant of the Great Patriotic War. She volunteered for the war at the age of 17. In battles she was wounded, shell-shocked.

Alexey Vanin

Member of the Great Patriotic War. Attributing to himself a year, he volunteered for the front. He fought in the Stalinist Siberian division, was wounded. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star, the medal "For Courage".

Nikolai Zasukhin

Member of the Great Patriotic War. From 1940 he served in the army for six years.

Alyosha Lyarsky
Lesha Peshkov in the film "Gorky's Childhood"

Nikolai Fyodorovich Volkov

Tankman. He defended Moscow, fought near Rzhev, in the First Trans-Baikal Front in the 17th Army.

He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, medals "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Moscow", "For Courage", "For the Victory over Germany", "For the Victory over Japan"

For many actors, the first role was the role of a soldier, which they played not at all on the set. And many directors and cameramen looked at the battle scenes not at all through the lens of a movie camera ... future folk and honored artists, idols of millions of viewers, went through the Great Patriotic War with weapons in their hands and contributed to the Victory. Acting in films about the war, front-line actors felt their heroes like no one else ...

In the summer of 1941, eighteen-year-old Vladimir Basov came to VGIK to find out what documents were needed for admission and what exams to take ... But instead of exams, he went to the front that summer. The lieutenant of the quartermaster service was first involved in organizing amateur art activities, and later, with the rank of senior lieutenant, he commanded a mortar battery. In the winter of 1945, at the head of an assault group, he captured a stronghold of the German defense and was severely shell-shocked in battle.

I met Victory Day in the rank of captain and in the position of assistant chief of the operational department of the breakthrough artillery division. For military prowess he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the medals "For Military Merit" and "For the Victory over Germany ...".
He was predicted to have an excellent military career, but Captain Basov chose to quit, and in 1947 he entered the directing department of VGIK. Director Basov has also become a popular actor who has played more than 80 film roles.

Immediately after leaving school in 1939, Yuri Nikulin was drafted into the army, and a few days later the Soviet-Finnish war began. Nikulin served near Sestroretsk in an anti-aircraft battery that guarded the skies of Leningrad. The Great Patriotic War also found the future actor there, and already in the first days of the battles, Nikulin's battery opened fire on fascist planes that threw deep mines into the Gulf of Finland. After the shell shock, he was transferred to the anti-aircraft division near Kolpin, and met the victory as part of the Kurland group of troops. For participation in hostilities, Nikulin was awarded three medals "For Courage", "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For the Victory over Germany".

In May 1946 he was demobilized with the rank of senior sergeant. After the war, Yuri Nikulin went to enter the Moscow VGIK, but they did not accept him - they considered that he was not cinegenic enough. After a series of failures in theatrical universities, Nikulin entered the Clownery School-Studio. But the cinema was waiting for him, and at the age of 36, the actor first appeared on the screens in an episode of the film "Girl with a Guitar" - this was the beginning of Yuri Nikulin's film career as a diverse character actor.

Before the war, Alexei Smirnov managed to graduate from the theater studio at the Leningrad Musical Comedy Theater and even play one role in an operetta. In 1940, he was drafted into the army, and with the outbreak of World War II he was sent to the front. Smirnov was the commander of a fire platoon in a mortar regiment, he fought on the Western, Bryansk, 1st Ukrainian, 2nd Belorussian fronts. In 1944, together with his platoon, he recaptured the villages of Onatskivtsi, Zhuravka and Pilyava, as well as the city of Starokonstantinov, in one of the battles he personally captured 7 fascists. For the courage shown in these battles, Senior Sergeant Smirnov received the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Glory III degree and the medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit".

In 1945, during the crossing of the Oder River, Smirnov and his brother-soldiers transported a mortar and destroyed two enemy machine-gun points, expanding the bridgehead for Soviet troops. For this feat, he was awarded the Order of Glory II degree. Foreman Smirnov did not manage to reach Berlin - he received a shell shock and after the hospital he was discharged.

In 1946, Alexei Smirnov returned to the stage of his native theater of musical comedy, and soon moved to Lengosestrada. In the late 50s he began acting in films and soon became one of the most recognizable and beloved supporting actors.

Before the war, the actor of an amateur theater group Anatoly Papanov managed to act in episodes of six films. In 1940, he was drafted into the army, and a year later he was transferred from Orenburg to Kharkov. In the first battle, out of 42 people, only 14 survived ... In the rank of senior sergeant, Anatoly Papanov commanded an anti-aircraft artillery platoon. In 1942, near Kharkov, he was seriously wounded - a bomb hit the dugout, where he and his fellow soldiers went to warm up. Only Papanov was dug up alive - he was shell-shocked and two toes were torn off by an explosion. At 21, the actor became an invalid of the third group, was commissioned and walked with a cane for several years ...

Returning to Moscow, Anatoly Papanov entered the acting department of GITIS - there were not enough young men at the institute, most were at the front, so they did not pay attention to his lameness and cane. In the late 40s he was already an actor in the Theater of Satire, and in the 60s he was a famous film actor.

When the Great Patriotic War began, Zinovy Gerdt was 25 years old, and he had already worked in two theaters - the Puppet Theater and the Arbuzov Studio. He went to the front as a volunteer in 1941. He hid his profession - he did not want to be in front-line amateur performances. After passing special training at the Moscow Military Engineering School, he was sent to the Kalinin and then to the Voronezh Front. He served with the rank of senior lieutenant of the guard as head of the engineering service of the guards regiment.
In the winter of 1943, he was in a sapper company clearing the approaches to Kharkov, and was seriously wounded in the leg by a fragment of a tank shell ... Gerdt spent about a year in the hospital, suffering blood poisoning and 11 operations. After recovery, one leg became shorter than the other by 8 centimeters, and the lameness remained with Gerdt for life. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, and the Order of the Red Star.

He finished the war in the youth theater under the directorate of front-line theaters, after which for many years he was an actor in the puppet theater. Obraztsova. In the cinema for a long time he remained behind the scenes, as he worked as a dubbing actor. Zinovy Gerdt got his first big role in 1962.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the father of Innokenty Smoktunovsky went to the front, leaving his 16-year-old son for the eldest. In 1942, he worked in a hospital at a military unit stationed in Krasnoyarsk and at the same time was an extra in the local drama theater. At the beginning of 1943 he entered a military school in Achinsk, but was soon caught picking potatoes in a public field and sent as a private to the Kursk Bulge ...
Participated in the liberation of Kyiv, crossed the Dnieper under fire with combat reports to headquarters. During one of the battles near Zhytomyr, he was captured, but managed to escape on the way to the German camp. Through the snow-covered forest, the exhausted Smoktunovsky reached the village of Dmitrovka, where a family of local residents left him, with whom he later communicated until the end of his life ... Having gained strength, Smoktunovsky joined the partisan detachment, and when the detachment united with the rifle regiment, he became the commander of a company of submachine gunners.
In the rank of guard junior sergeant, he participated in the liberation of Warsaw, ended the war in German Grevesmühlen. For military exploits, Smoktunovsky received two medals "For Courage", a medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" and "For the Victory over Germany".

Demobilized in 1945, Innokenty Smoktunovsky returned to Krasnoyarsk and entered the studio at the Drama Theater. A short stay in captivity made Smoktunovsky "unreliable" - he received a ban on living in 39 major cities. The actor moved to Norilsk, then worked in Makhachkala ... 10 years after the war, he was able to come to Moscow, and soon the theater and cinema recognized the outstanding artist Innokenty Smoktunovsky ...

On June 22, 1941, the young drama theater actor Mikhail Pugovkin starred in an episode of the film “The Artamonov Case” - the episodic role of the merchant was his debut for him ... And two days later the actor went to the front as a volunteer. He served as a scout in a rifle regiment, went through heavy battles near Smolensk without a single scratch. Pugovkin was seriously wounded in 1942 near Voroshilovgrad - he was wounded in the leg, gangrene began and the question arose of amputation. He managed to persuade the surgeons of the field hospital to try to save his leg: “I'm an artist! How am I going to work! Amputation was avoided, but after the hospital, the actor was commissioned.
For courage in battle, he received the Order of the Patriotic War II degree. By the way, he became Pugovkin precisely in the hospital - the real name of the actor was Pugonkin, but a mistake crept into the hospital documents.

In 1943, Mikhail Pugovkin was admitted to the Studio School at the Moscow Art Theater, but due to failure in the exams, he was temporarily expelled and called up to serve in the Second Gorky Tank School. Because of the injury, he could not take part in the battles, so he became responsible for amateur performances. At the Moscow Art Theater, this was credited for exams, and a year later he continued his studies. Pugovkin also acted in films during the war, but fame came to him already in the 50s.

The actor said that he had witnessed the beginning of the war, only then he did not understand this ... On the night of June 21-22, he was returning from a party and saw how the car of the German embassy literally flew past him. Then he read that it was the car of the German ambassador, who handed Molotov a memorandum declaring war.
He was a student at the Shchukin school and could use the reservation, but when he saw that only 13 people were sitting in the hall at the performance, he realized that he was more needed at the front now ... The next day, Etush signed up as a volunteer. At school, he studied German, so he was trained as a scout, but sent to the battlefield. As part of a rifle regiment, he fought in Ingushetia, in the mountains of Kabarda and Ossetia, and took part in the liberation of Rostov-on-Don. With the rank of lieutenant, he commanded a regiment in offensive battles, organized the evacuation of the wounded, delivered ammunition to the units.

In 1943 he was wounded and later retired from the second group of disability. For "exemplary performance of combat missions of command on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the valor and courage shown at the same time," the actor received the Order of the Red Star.

In 1944, Vladimir Etush returned to the fourth year of the Shchukin School, and a year later he became an actor in the Theater. Vakhtangov. In the 50s he began acting in films and soon became a recognized master of character and comedic roles.

All his childhood he dreamed of becoming a sailor, and in 1941 his dream came true - he got into a naval school, from where he went to the front at the age of seventeen. He was a cabin boy in the torpedo fleet, served as a signalman on the armored boats of the Azov and Danube fleets. He took part in the assault on Izmail, in the capture of Bucharest, Budapest and Vienna. During the battle for the Vienna Bridge, he participated in hand-to-hand combat. It was one of the most difficult battles - about two thousand paratroopers died in the battle, but Yumatov survived and emerged victorious from it. For this assault, he was awarded the unique Ushakov sailor's medal. In one of the battles, he managed to avoid death thanks to the ship's dog - frightened by shelling, she jumped overboard of the boat, and the sailor Yumatov rushed into the water after her. At that moment, a shell hit the boat with direct fire ...

May 9, 2013, 18:08

We know and love them from films, but they also protected us during the Great Patriotic War.

Alexey Smirnov.

On April 9, 1944, in the area of the village of Pilyava, after powerful artillery attacks, two enemy battalions, supported by 13 tanks, went on the attack. Tov. Smirnov with a platoon opened a powerful mortar fire on the German infantry. In this battle, platoon fire destroyed: 4 heavy and 2 light machine guns, 110 fascist soldiers and officers. The German counterattack was repulsed.

On July 20, 1944, in the area of \u200b\u200bheight 283.0, the enemy, with a force of up to 40 Nazis, attacked the battery. Smirnov, inspiring the fighters, rushed into battle with a personal weapon. The battery repelled the German attack with rifle and machine gun fire. 17 Nazis remained on the battlefield, Smirnov personally captured 7 Nazis.

On January 22, 1945, despite intense enemy fire, he ferried a mortar to the left bank of the Oder River with his crew. From where, with mortar fire, he destroyed 2 machine-gun points in the village of Eichenried and up to 20 Nazis. The 36th Artillery Regiment captured the village and the bridgehead on the left bank of the Oder River.

However, Smirnov did not succeed in ending the war in Berlin: during one of the battles, he was badly shell-shocked by a shell explosion and, after treatment in the hospital, he was commissioned ...

Vladimir Basov.

Captain, battery commander of the 424th motorized rifle regiment of the 14th Riga anti-aircraft artillery division of the Reserve of the SVGK Main Command, deputy head of the operational department of the 28th separate artillery division of the breakthrough of the reserve of the High Command.

He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star and the medal "For Military Merit".

In the rank of lieutenant of the commissary service, for exemplary performance of the post of head of the brigade club, he was awarded the medal "For Military Merit" in 1943. The amateur art ensemble organized by him gave more than 150 concerts for the fighters. In the rank of senior lieutenant, he was the commander of the battery of the 424th motorized rifle regiment of the 14th anti-aircraft artillery division of the Reserve of the Civil Code of the SVGK. On February 23, 1945, at the head of an assault group, he ensured the capture of a German defense stronghold, was seriously shell-shocked in battle, and was awarded the Order of the Red Star for his feat. He was deputy head of the operational department of the 28th separate artillery division of the breakthrough of the SVGK Reserve (military rank: captain)

Elina Bystritskaya.

During the war, she worked in a front-line mobile evacuation hospital as a nurse. She was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the medal "For the Victory over Germany".

Anatoly Papanov.

From the first days of the war - at the front. He was a senior sergeant, commanded a platoon of anti-aircraft artillery. In 1942, he was seriously wounded in the leg near Kharkov and at the age of 21 he became an invalid of the third group. He returned to Moscow and entered the acting department of GITIS in the workshop of the artists of the Moscow Art Theater Maria Nikolaevna Orlova and Vasily Aleksandrovich Orlov. He successfully passed the state exams on November 11, 1946, playing the young Konstantin in the play "Children of Vanyushin" and a very old man in the comedy by Tirso de Molina "Don Gil - Green Pants".

By the way, they played a wedding with their only wife Nadezhda for life in Moscow on May 20, 1945 ...

Vladimir Etush.

During the Great Patriotic War, Vladimir Etush graduated from the military translation department of the Second Moscow Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages and fought at the front as an officer. He fought near the city of Military Glory Malgobek of the Republic of Ingushetia.

His last position was assistant chief of staff of the regiment. In 1943, near Tokmak (the village of Zhovtneve) in the Zaporozhye region, he was seriously wounded. After the hospital, he received the 2nd group of disability and was commissioned. Member of the CPSU (b) since 1946. In 1945, Vladimir Etush graduated from the Shchukin Theater School and began working at the Moscow Vakhtangov Theater, where he soon became one of the leading actors.

Yury Nikulin.

Staff Sergeant. Member of the Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars, defender of Leningrad. He was awarded the medals "For Courage", "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For the Victory over Germany".

Stanislav Rostotsky.

The director of the beloved "The Dawns Here Are Quiet..." lost his leg during the war.

Innokenty Smoktunovsky.

Member of the Battle of Kursk, forcing the Dnieper, the liberation of Kyiv.
Came to Berlin. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, two medals "For Courage", a medal "For the Victory over Germany".

Zinovy Gerdt.

Senior lieutenant of the sapper company. He went to the front as a volunteer. In February 1943, near Belgorod, he was seriously wounded in the leg, underwent 11 operations, as a result of which the leg became shorter by 8 centimeters, the lameness remained for life. Awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Leonid Gaidai.

In 1942, Leonid Gaidai was drafted into the army. Initially, his service took place in Mongolia, where he rode horses intended for the front ... rushed to the front.

When the military commissar arrived to select reinforcements for the active army, Gaidai answered “I” to every question of the officer. "Who's in the artillery?" “I”, “To the cavalry?” “I”, “To the fleet?” “I”, “Intelligence?” "I" - what caused the chief's displeasure. “Yes, you wait, Gaidai,” said the military commissar, “Let me announce the entire list.” From this incident, many years later, an episode of the film "Operation Y" was born.

Gaidai was sent to the Kalinin Front. “When I heard about the Kalinin Front, I thought that they would definitely take us through Moscow. I thought that only beautiful people live in Moscow, and I really wanted to see her. We were really taken through Moscow, but they crossed it underground at night, in the subway. The train with the soldiers went on without stopping at any station, and I never saw Moscow.

Gaidai served in a foot reconnaissance platoon, repeatedly went to the enemy rear to take language, was awarded several medals.

In 1943, returning from a mission, Leonid Gaidai was blown up by an anti-personnel mine, having received a severe wound in his leg. He spent about a year in hospitals, underwent 5 operations. He was threatened with amputation, but he categorically refused it. “There are no one-legged actors,” he said. The consequences of this injury haunted him all his life. From time to time, the wound opened, splinters came out, the bone became inflamed, and these torments lasted for years. He was disabled, although he never told anyone about it. Outsiders not only did not know about this, but did not even guess, because Leonid Iovich could not bear to show his illnesses or ailments. He had a real masculine character.

Georgy Yumatov.

In 1941-1942 he studied at the Naval School.

Member of the Great Patriotic War, in 1942 he was enlisted as a cabin boy on the torpedo boat "Courageous", and a year later he became a helmsman.

He took part in the liberation of the cities of Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna from the Nazis. During the assault on the latter, he participated in hand-to-hand combat for the famous Vienna Bridge. About two thousand of our paratroopers died in that battle, but Yumatov was saved by fate. For this assault, he will be awarded the unique Ushakov sailor medal on chains. He also has other combat awards. During the war he was wounded several times.

In 1945, in Moscow, he accidentally met Grigory Alexandrov, who, after a five-minute conversation, invited him to shoot in a cameo role in the film Spring.

Evgeny Matveev.

Nikolay Trofimov.

Pavel Luspekaev.

He volunteered for the front at the age of 15. Member of the partisan reconnaissance group ("operational group 00134"). He received a severe wound in the arm with an explosive bullet, miraculously avoided amputation.
During one of the reconnaissance raids, he lay in the snow for four hours, seriously frostbitten his legs. Subsequently, due to this injury, doctors were forced to amputate both of Luspekaev's feet.

Nikolai Grinko.

Guards foreman, gunner-radio operator on long-range bombers, Komsomol organizer of the regiment. He was awarded the medal "For Military Merit" ..

Mikhail Pugovkin.

In 1940, the famous film director Grigory Lvovich Roshal noticed the seventeen-year-old Pugovkin and invited him to star in the film The Artamonov Case. It was Pugovkin's film debut: he got the tiny role of the merchant Stepasha Barsky, who is trying to dance the protagonist at a wedding.

Filming for this episode ended on June 22, 1941, the first day of the war. And two days later, Mikhail Pugovkin volunteered for the front. He served in the 1147th Infantry Regiment as a scout. In October 1942 he was seriously wounded in the leg near Voroshilovgrad. The wound turned out to be serious, gangrene began, but the leg was saved. After the hospital, Pugovkin was retired from military service. He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.

In 1943 he worked at the Russian Drama Theatre, where N. M. Gorchakov, People's Artist of the RSFSR, was the chief director. There Pugovkin played the first major role in his life - Pyotr Ogonkov in the play "Moskvichka".

On September 24, 1943, Mikhail Pugovkin went to take competitive tests at the Studio School at the Moscow Art Theater.

Peter Glebov.

He went to the front as a volunteer. He served in the anti-aircraft artillery regiment, which guarded the western sector of the Moscow region from Nazi aircraft: Ochakovo, Peredelkino, Vnukovo airport.
He was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, the Order of the Red Star and the medal "For the Defense of Moscow".

Peter Todorovsky.

In the summer of 1943, when the war was in full swing, Pyotr Todorovsky became a cadet at the Saratov Military Infantry School. In 1944, he was sent to the front as a platoon commander and, as part of the 93rd Infantry Regiment of the 76th Infantry Division of the 47th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, reached the Elbe by front roads.

... he got to the front for a long time - the echelon stood idle for days on sidings, the dry ration was eaten, and he had to sell his overcoat, spare linen ... And when he finally got to the front line, he, a young officer who had not yet been fired upon, was immediately given the task: together with a signalman to find the headquarters (by the end of the day the offensive bogged down, communication with the companies was broken), restore communication, collect all those who survived, and begin to dig the line of defense.

Fulfilling this assignment, Todorovsky first came under heavy artillery fire. By the end of the day in the trench, he began to shake - the impressions accumulated during the day made themselves felt, and it was cold in one tunic (the overcoat had been sold).

“You, lieutenant, won’t fall asleep like that,” said a signal sergeant who happened to be nearby. - Went!" And they crawled into another trench. “A mustachioed man stood in the trench,” recalls Pyotr Efimovich, “his head bowed to folded fists. He was dead... So for the first time I was next to the dead. We pulled him out with difficulty - it turned out to be a two-meter tall man. They barely pulled off his overcoat - it was completely new, English. The sergeant shook it, scraped off the blood that had dried on his back with a knife, and, holding it out to me, said: “Wear it to your health!” I put on my overcoat. Floors - almost to the ground, long sleeves. But this inconvenience was removed with the help of a sergeant's knife. In this overcoat, I reached the Vistula, until one day the regiment commander saw me: “What kind of stuffed animal is this?!” And they gave me a new, Russian overcoat. Although there was such a belief that if you wear things from the murdered, you will definitely die, in this case I was just lucky. And he was wounded and then shell-shocked already in that brand new overcoat ... "

At the front, Todorovsky was captivated by the work of military operators, and he wished that if he survived, he would definitely master this profession.

Vladimir Gulyaev.

On Militer there is a book by a certain Vladimir Gulyaev “In the air“ silt ”. The annotation sparingly says that "In the documentary story, a former attack pilot, a participant in the Victory Parade, talks about the military affairs of his front-line friends."

And on Wikipedia there is an article about the actor Gulyaev, where it is also sparingly written - "Honored Artist of the RSFSR, participant in the Great Patriotic War."

It turned out that this is one and the same person: the charming lieutenant Volodya from the "Diamond Hand" is the same taxi driver who at the beginning hands Nikulin a gun, and at the end pursues the smugglers in a helicopter - an attack pilot who made 60 sorties. This is despite the fact that, on average, an Il-2 pilot managed to make 8-11 sorties before his death, and for 60 they were already presented to the title of Hero.

Vladimir Gulyaev was the youngest of the attack pilots who fought, not only in his 3rd Air Army, but in the entire Soviet attack aviation during the war years. More than once he was wounded and shell-shocked, twice made forced landings on a broken attack aircraft. In addition, he was the only one of the front-line actors who was twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner and twice - the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree. And he was one of the Soviet actors who participated in the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945.

Eugene Vesnik.

In 1941-1945, Evgeny Vesnik participated in the Great Patriotic War as a volunteer, commander of a fire platoon of the 1st Guards Corps Artillery Brigade, junior lieutenant of the guard. He was awarded two medals "For Courage", Orders of the Red Star and the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, medals "For the Victory over Germany" and subsequent commemorative medals.

In 1948 he graduated from the Higher Theater School named after M. S. Shchepkin and was admitted to the Drama Theater. K. S. Stanislavsky.

Sergey Bondarchuk.

Member of the Great Patriotic War. Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.

Gulya Queen.

Medical instructor, participant of the Great Patriotic War. She volunteered for the front in the medical battalion of the 280th Infantry Regiment.
She died on November 23, 1942 near the Panshino farm, near Stalingrad. During the battle for height 56.8, she carried 50 wounded soldiers from the battlefield, and when the commander was killed, she raised the soldiers to attack, the first broke into the enemy trench, destroyed 15 enemy soldiers and officers with several throws of grenades. She was mortally wounded, but continued to fight until reinforcements arrived. Awarded the Order of the Red Banner (posthumously).

Valya Lithuanian.

Pushkin in the film "The Youth of the Poet", died in the summer of 1941 near Minsk.

Vladislav Strzhelchik.

Member of the Great Patriotic War, served in the infantry. Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree.

Mikhail Gluzsky.

Borya Ash.

Mishka Kvakin in the film "Timur and his team" died at the beginning of the war.

Yuri Katin-Yartsev

Senior sergeant, assistant platoon commander of the 63rd railway bridge battalion. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Military Merit", "For the Victory over Germany".

And this is not all the heroes of the war.

The eyes of a person, if you look closely, you can see the whole soul in them, joy or pain, fear or courage. It is very difficult to play the role of a Soviet soldier, and if the body, facial expressions can still somehow get used to the role, but the eyes are that pain that is barely perceptible, the horror that a real Soviet soldier went through - it is almost impossible to play the truth of the war in the eyes .

Today I want to dedicate an article to Soviet actors - front-line soldiers, whom we loved so much in the cinema, whose faces are so loved and familiar. Just think, but these are the faces of real heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

1 Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin

Member of the Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars. Patriarch of Soviet humor and drama.

In 1925 (Yuri was then 4 years old) the family moved to Moscow. Here Nikulin entered high school, and after graduating from it in 1939, he immediately went to the front: there was a Soviet-Finnish war. Nikulin was sent to serve in an anti-aircraft battery that guarded the approaches to Leningrad. The Great Patriotic War also found Yuri Nikulin there: he fought near Leningrad until 1943, was wounded, hospitalized, suffered a concussion, but returned to the front in the anti-aircraft division, in which he served until the end of the war. Nikulin was awarded three medals "For Courage", "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For the Victory over Germany".

After the war, Yuri Nikulin came to Moscow to enter VGIK, but the commission rejected the clumsy guy because of his appearance: they considered that Nikulin, tall and thin, was not handsome enough. A fiasco awaited him in other theatrical institutions. As the artist himself recalled, he began to try to enter all theater schools and universities in a row, but everywhere he was refused, claiming that they did not see his acting talent.

2 Vladimir Pavlovich Basov

In the summer of 1941, Basov came to VGIK to find out the rules for admission to this educational institution. He was explained what documents are required for this, what exams he has to overcome. Basov left confident that he would definitely do it. But the war interfered with his plans.

Vladimir Basov went to the front in July 1941. At first, lieutenant of the quartermaster service Basov served as the head of the club of the 4th separate rifle brigade, for the excellent organization of amateur art in combat conditions he was awarded the medal "For Military Merit". And then his military fate takes a sharp turn and Vladimir Basov becomes a mortar man. The mortar battery of senior lieutenant Basov accomplished many feats, he himself was wounded on February 23, 1945, returned to duty after being wounded. He ended the war with the rank of captain and deputy chief of the operations department of the 28th Separate Artillery Division of the breakthrough reserve of the High Command. He had every chance to remain in military service and make a brilliant career, but he preferred to retire as a civilian.

In 1947 he entered the directing department (workshop of S.I. Yutkevich and M.I. Romm). Since 1952 - director of the film studio "Mosfilm". One of the best directorial works of Vladimir Basov was the film "Shield and Sword" (1968).

Vladimir Pavlovich Basov's "non-standard appearance" did not prevent him from becoming the favorite of millions. Colossal charisma allowed him to play the wolf in the fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood without any costume or makeup. And in total in the filmography of the actor there are more than 80 roles.

3 Zinovy Efimovich Gerdt

He volunteered for the front. The senior lieutenant of the sapper company Gerdt did not remember that he was an artist, and did not even participate in amateur performances.

In February 1943, near Belgorod, he was seriously wounded in the leg. A nurse carried him from the battlefield, and he spent more than a year in the hospital. He underwent ten unsuccessful operations, and the doctors of the Botkin hospital, which was a hospital during the war, decided to amputate his leg, but the leading surgeon and wife of the designer Sergei Korolev, Ksenia Vincentini, taking Zinovy to the operating room, whispered: “I’ll try along” - and during The operation attempted to save her leg again. This eleventh operation was successful, and the bones began to grow together. As a result, after treatment, one of Zinovy's legs became 8 centimeters shorter than the other. Zinovy Efimovich limped all his life, and later Valentin Gaft dedicated an epigram to him:

Oh, extraordinary Gerdt,
He kept from the time of the war
One of the best features
His knee is unbending.

In the cinema, Gerdt acted mainly as a comedic, sharp-witted actor. In his filmography, there are about 80 film roles. People's Artist of the USSR Zinovy Gerdt died on November 18, 1996 in Moscow. A monument to Panikovsky was erected in Kyiv, in which the features of the legendary artist are easily guessed.

4 Alexey Makarovich Smirnov

Everyone knows this actor! And who knows this war hero? Here are his well-deserved awards: the Order of Glory 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree, the Order of the Red Star, the Medal "For Courage", the Medal "For Military Merit".

One of the most popular comedians of the Soviet Union, who played mostly negative comic characters, had a rich heroic front-line biography, which he did not like to remember at all: “Well, he served, well, there are some awards - after all, everyone excelled during the war. I didn't do anything special."

5 Innokenty Mikhailovich Smoktunovsky

Entered the military school. And for the fact that during training time he collected the potatoes remaining in the field, he was torn off his cadet shoulder straps and sent to the front - into hell, to the Kursk Bulge (1943).

“I have never been hurt. Honestly, it’s strange to myself - two years of a real terrible front-line life: I stood under the muzzles of German machine guns, fought surrounded, escaped from captivity ... But he was not wounded. True, during the bombing, I was somehow covered with earth - so much so that only boots with windings stuck out of the peat. I was lucky to escape when we were driven to the camp. I, an eighteen-year-old, exhausted boy, was driven by the instinct of self-preservation.

I found out from the peasants where there were more forests and swamps, where there were fewer highways, and I went there. The Nazis had nothing to do there, unlike the partisans. So I made my way to the village of Dmitrovka ... I knocked on the nearest door, and they opened it for me. I took a step, tried to say something and fell into a half-consciousness. I was lifted up, carried to the bed, fed, washed in the bath. I was washed by several girls - and how they laughed! And I am a living skeleton, with a belly dried up to the spine, protruding ribs. He lived in this village for about a month, then the case helped him get to the partisans, fought in a detachment, ended the war southwest of Berlin.

"I'm a happy person! Well, who else had a chance to play such roles as me - Prince Myshkin, Hamlet, Ivanov, Tchaikovsky ... Yes, the same Detochkin! Fate kept me, probably so that I could play all this. I. Smoktunovsky.

6 Mikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin

From the age of 16, Mikhail Pugovkin worked as an artist at the Sretenka Theater. The young man was invited to play the role in the film "The Artamonov Case", the shooting of the episode with the participation of Pugovkin took place on June 21, 1941. And already on the 24th, the artist volunteered for the military registration and enlistment office, although he was not yet 18.

At the front he got into reconnaissance, in heavy battles near Smolensk he remained safe and sound. Front-line luck turned away from the scout after a little over a year - in August 1942, near Lugansk, Pugovkin was seriously wounded in the leg, gangrene began. The hospital was already preparing for amputation, but Mikhail managed to persuade the surgeons to save the limb: “I’m an artist, how will I work!”

After the operation, Pugovkin was discharged, and he returned to Moscow theatrical life - he managed to play a front-line soldier even before the Victory, in the legendary romantic comedy of 1944 "At 6 pm after the war."

7 Anatoly Dmitrievich Papanov

Anatoly Papanov was drafted into the army in 1940 - before that he worked at a factory in Moscow, and was also fond of amateur performances, attended a theater studio. In June 41, his regiment was transferred from Orenburg to the Kharkov direction.

“By the look of those who had already fought, it was clear that it was hot here. Almost our entire division was killed, six or eight of our platoon remained alive. I remember my first battle, in which 14 of us, 42 people, survived. I clearly see how my friend Alik Rafaevich fell, killed on the spot. He studied at VGIK, wanted to become a cameraman, but did not ... I saw people returning from battle completely unrecognizable. I saw how they sat down in one night. I used to think that this was just a literary device, it turned out - no. This is the method of war…”

Before one of the attacks, Anatoly and his comrades went into the dugout to warm themselves - there were severe frosts. We didn’t have time to settle down, there was an explosion - a direct hit. Everyone was covered with earth, only Papanov was dug up alive, who was sent to the hospital with three wounds and a shell shock. After several operations, they were given disability, they were discharged from the army.

An attempt to enter the theater institute was a hopeless, desperate step - who will take a disabled person as an artist? But misfortune helped: they took it only because there were not enough guys among the applicants, everyone was at the front: “After being wounded, I could not return to the front. I was commissioned cleanly, none of my requests and protests helped - the commission recognized me as unfit for military service. And I decided to enter the theater institute. This was a kind of challenge to the enemy: an invalid, suitable only for the work of a janitor (I really visited such a job), will be an artist. And here the war again terribly reminded of itself - guys were needed, but they weren’t there ... So those tears in the film “Belarusian Station”, in the apartment of a former nurse, are not cinematic at all.

8 Georgy Alexandrovich Yumatov

While still a teenager, the future star of Soviet cinema was carried away by the dream of the sea and decided to enter the nautical school at all costs. However, in order for this dream to come true, Yumatov had to make every effort. He seriously took up his studies, became an excellent student. He became interested in sports: boxing, athletics, even horseback riding.

In 1941, Georgy Yumatov's dream finally came true - he ended up in a naval school. And soon the war began, which confused all the plans of our hero - he began to rush to the front. A year later he succeeded, and he ended up as a cabin boy in the torpedo fleet. He was a helmsman-signalman on the armored boats of the Azov, and then the Danube flotillas. He took part in the Malozemelsky, Evpatoria landings, in the assault on Izmail, in the capture of Bucharest, Budapest, and Vienna.

During the assault on the latter, Georgy Alexandrovich participated in hand-to-hand combat for the famous Vienna Bridge. About two thousand of our paratroopers died in that battle, but fate kept Yumatov (for this assault he was awarded the unique Ushakov sailor medal on chains). It was after that terrible battle that our hero got really drunk for the first time.

It is worth noting that during the years of the war, George could have been killed at least a hundred times, but each time Providence averted trouble from him. For example, in one of the battles, a ship mongrel, warmed by Yumatov, frightened by shelling, jumped overboard. Sailor Yumatov rushed after her. And at that moment, an enemy shell hit the torpedo boat with direct fire. Almost the entire team died, but our hero (together with the mongrel) remained alive.

In total, during the three years of the war, George was wounded several times, shell-shocked, drowned twice, and had frostbite on his hands.

The military merits of Georgy Alexandrovich were awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, medals "For the Capture of Vienna", "For the Capture of Budapest", ZPNG, and other medals.

9 Vladimir Abramovich Etush

P.S. : It would be unfair not to mention other great actors and directors who defended their native land from fascism: Nikolai Konstantinovich Prokopovich, Pyotr Efimovich Todorovsky, Pavel Borisovich Vinnik, Adolf Alekseevich Ilyin, Viktor Aleksandrovich Kurochkin, Vladislav Ignatievich Strzhelchik, Stanislav Iosifovich Rostotsky, Yuri Vasilyevich Katin -Yartsev, Vladimir Petrovich Zamansky, Vladimir Leonidovich Gulyaev, Nikolai Grigorievich Grinko, Leonid Iovich Gaidai, Evgeny Yakovlevich Vesnik ...

Some of them dreamed of becoming an actor since childhood, but the war forced them to postpone these plans. Someone went to college immediately after the victory. Someone else before the war was famous. Most of them have already left, but they all remained in films, in their roles, in people's memory ...

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