Even today the whole of Belarus remembers the feat of Nikolai Sirotinin. In this country the feat has not yet been forgotten Soviet people who saved the world from the fascist plague. And how offensive it must be to his family that in his homeland, Oryol, few people know about this feat.
In 1940, upon reaching 18 years of age, Nikolay Sirotinin was drafted into the Red Army. He ended up serving in the 6th Infantry Division, where by the summer of 1941 he held the position of gunner. On the first day of the Great Patriotic War During the air raid he received his first wound. Fortunately, it turned out to be easy, so the soldier remained in service.
At this time, the offensive of German troops across the territory of the USSR continued to develop. In particular, Guderian's 4th Panzer Division made its way to the city of Krichev, in Belarus. Units of our 13th Army were forced to retreat before the onslaught of a significantly superior enemy.
During the retreat, it was necessary to organize cover in one of the areas. To do this, it was necessary to create a “traffic jam” on the bridge over the Dobrost River. Two artillerymen were required - a gunner and a spotter. Nikolai Sirotinin volunteered.
Kolya set up his position not far from the bridge, right on the hill of the collective farm field. His gun was completely hidden in the tall rye, while he had a clear view of both the highway and the bridge.
Early in the morning of July 17, a column approached the bridge German tanks. When the lead vehicle drove onto the bridge, the first shot of our cannon rang out. It turned out to be very effective - the German tank stopped and started smoking. The next shot set the trailing armored personnel carrier on fire. Our artillery located across the river, whose fire was directed by a spotter, began to fire at the stopped column. He was subsequently wounded and retreated towards our positions. Sirotinin could have done the same, since the task assigned to him had already been completed. But he had as many as 60 shells. And he decided to stay!
And at this time, in order to clear the way, two tanks began to pull the lead tank off the bridge. Sirotinin could not allow this. With several well-aimed shots, he set them on fire, thereby sealing the traffic jam on the bridge. One of the armored vehicles tried to ford the river, but got stuck firmly in the swampy ground. Here she was found by another shell from our artilleryman.
Sirotinin kept shooting and shooting, knocking out tank after tank from the Germans. The column rested against him, as if in Brest Fortress. After some time, German losses already amounted to 11 tanks and 6 armored personnel carriers, more than half of which were accounted for by Sirotinin. For almost two hours of battle, the Germans could not figure out where such well-aimed fire was getting them from. When they figured this out and surrounded the hero’s position, he had only three shells left in stock. The offer to surrender was followed by fire from a carbine.
The last battle was short-lived. The body of Nikolai Sirotinin was buried there, on a hill...
It should be noted that even the enemy appreciated the heroism of our soldier. In the evening, the Germans gathered near the place where the Soviet cannon stood. They counted the shots and hits, not without admiration. Then local residents were forced to come there, and a German oberst (colonel) even spoke to them. He noted that this is how a soldier tasked with defending his homeland should fight.
Nikolai Sirotinin, a young sergeant from Orel, in one two-hour battle there were 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and armored cars, 57 German soldiers and officers. The best artilleryman of the Great Patriotic War. His feat was highly appreciated even by his enemies.
Childhood and the beginning of the war
There are few dry facts about Nikolai Sirotinin’s childhood. Born on March 7, 1921 in the city of Orel. Lived on Dobrolyubova Street, 32. Father - Vladimir Kuzmich Sirotinin, mother - Elena Korneevna. There are five children in the family, Nikolai is the second oldest. His father notes that as a child Nikolai met him at the semaphore - Vladimir Kuzmich worked as a driver. Mom noted his hard work, affectionate disposition and help in raising younger children. After graduating from school, Nikolai went to work at the Tokmash plant as a turner.
On October 5, 1940, Nikolai was drafted into the army. He was assigned to the 55th rifle regiment in the city of Polotsk, Belarusian SSR. Of the documents about Nikolai, only the conscript’s medical card and a letter home have been preserved. According to medical card, Sirotinin was of small build - 164 cm and weighed only 53 kg. The letter dates back to 1940, most likely written immediately after his arrival at the 55th Infantry Regiment.
In June 1941, Nikolai became a senior sergeant. The approach of war was felt more and more clearly by both the people and the leaders, so in such conditions, an intelligent and hardworking young man quickly received the rank of sergeant, and then senior sergeant.
June–July 1941
At the beginning of July 1941, Hein Guderian's tanks broke through the weak defense line near Bykhov and began crossing the Dnieper. They easily continued to march east along the Sozh River, to Slavgorod, through Cherikov to the city of Krichev, to strike the Soviet troops near Smolensk. The Soviet army retreated before the enemy and took up defense near Sozh.
The left bank of the Sozh River is steep and with deep ravines. On the road from the city of Cherikov to Krichev there were several such ravines. A group of Soviet soldiers, on July 17, 1941, attacked a Wehrmacht tank division, fired at it and crossed the Sozh to inform the command about the approaching Krichev tank division Germans. Units of the 6th Infantry Division were located in Krichev, and after news of the tanks an order was received to cross the Sozh. But parts of the division could not do this quickly. The second order was short: to delay the tank division as long as possible. Under favorable circumstances, catch up with your unit. But senior sergeant Nikolai Sirotinin managed to carry out only the first part of the order.
No man is an island
Nikolai Sirotinin volunteered. Nikolai installed a 45 mm anti-tank gun on a low hillock, in a rye field near the Dobrost River. The cannon was completely hidden by the rye. The firing point of Sirotinin was located near the village of Sokolnichi, which is located four km from Krichev. The location was ideal for unnoticed shelling.
The road leading to Krichev was 200 meters away. The road was clearly visible from the hillock of Sirotinin, and there was a swampy area near the road, and this meant that the tanks would not be able to move either to the left or to the right if something happened. Sirotinin understood what he was doing, there was only one task - to hold out as long as possible in order to gain time for the division.
Sergeant Sirotinin was an experienced artilleryman. Nikolai chose the moment when he could strike the armored car going ahead of the column of tanks. When the armored car was not far from the bridge, Sirotinin fired and hit the armored vehicle. Then the sergeant hit a tank driving around an armored car to set both vehicles on fire. The next tank behind him got stuck in a barrel, driving around the armored car and the first knocked out tank.
The tanks began to turn towards the place of shelling, but the rye well hid Sirotinin’s point. The sergeant turned the gun to the left and began to aim at the tank bringing up the rear of the column - he knocked it out. He shot at a truck with infantry - and again at the target. The Germans tried to move out, but the tanks got stuck in the swampy area. Only on the seventh destroyed tank were the Germans able to understand where the shelling was coming from, but due to Sirotinin’s successful position, heavy fire did not kill him, but only wounded him in the left side and arm. One of the armored cars began to fire at the sergeant, then after three shells Sirotinin neutralized the enemy armored car.
There were fewer shells, and Sirotinin decided to shoot less often, but more accurately. One after another, he aimed at tanks and armored cars, hit, everything exploded, flew, there was black smoke in the air from the burning equipment. The angry Germans opened mortar fire on Sirotinin.
German losses were: 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and armored cars, 57 German soldiers and officers. The battle lasted 2 hours. There weren’t many shells left, about 15. Nikolai saw that the Germans were rolling out weapons into position and fired 4 times. Sirotinin destroyed the German cannon. The shell would only be enough for one time. He stood up to load the gun - and at that moment he was shot from behind by German motorcyclists. Nikolai Sirotinin died.
After battle
Sergeant Sirotinin completed his main task: the tank column was delayed, and the 6th Rifle Division was able to cross the Sozh River without losses.
The diary entries of Oberleutnant Friedrich Hoenfeld have been preserved:
“He stood alone at the gun, shot at a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was surprised at his courage... Oberst (Colonel) said before the grave that if all the Fuhrer’s soldiers fought like this Russian, they would conquer the whole world. They fired three times in volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?
Olga Verzhbitskaya, a resident of the village of Sokolnichi, recalls: “In the afternoon, the Germans gathered at the place where Sirotinin’s cannon stood. They forced us, local residents, to come there too. As someone who knows German, the chief German, about fifty years old with decorations, tall, bald, and gray-haired, ordered me to translate his speech to the local people. He said that the Russian fought very well, that if the Germans had fought like that, they would have taken Moscow long ago, that this is how a soldier should defend his homeland - the Fatherland...”
Residents of the village of Sokolniki and the Germans held a solemn funeral for Nikolai Sirotinin. German soldiers given to the deceased sergeant military salute three shots.
Memory of Nikolai Sirotinin
First, Sergeant Sirotinin was buried at the battle site. Later he was reburied in a mass grave in the city of Krichev.
In Belarus they remember the feat of the Oryol artilleryman. In Krichev they named a street in his honor and erected a monument. After the war, the workers of the Soviet Army Archive did a great job to restore the chronicle of events. Sirotinin’s feat was recognized in 1960, but the title of Hero Soviet Union were not appropriated due to a bureaucratic inconsistency - Sirotinin’s family did not have photographs of their son. In 1961, an obelisk with the name of Sirotinin was erected at the site of the feat, and real weapons were installed. On the 20th anniversary of the Victory, Sergeant Sirotinin was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
IN hometown Orle also did not forget about Sirotinin’s feat. The Tekmash plant installed memorial plaque, dedicated to Nikolai Sirotinin. In 2015, school No. 7 in the city of Orel was named after Sergeant Sirotinin.
In the city of Krichev, Mogilev region, on Sirotinina Street next to the military registration and enlistment office there is a mass grave. 43 people are buried there. Among them is a soldier, after whom this street was later named.
In the summer of 1941, the 4th Panzer Division of Heinz Guderian, one of the most talented German tank generals, broke through to the Belarusian town of Krichev. Part 13 Soviet army retreated. Only gunner Kolya Sirotinin did not retreat - just a boy, short, quiet, puny. He had just turned 19 at the time.
“Two people with a cannon will remain here,” said the battery commander. Nikolai volunteered. The commander himself remained second. Kolya took up a position on a hill right on the collective farm field. The gun was buried in the tall rye, but he could clearly see the highway and the bridge over the Dobrost River. When the lead tank reached the bridge, Kolya knocked it out with his first shot. The second shell set fire to an armored personnel carrier that was bringing up the rear of the column, creating a traffic jam.
It is still not entirely clear why Kolya was left alone in the field. But there are versions. He, apparently, had precisely the task of creating a “traffic jam” on the bridge by knocking out the lead vehicle of the Nazis. The lieutenant was at the bridge and adjusted the fire, and then, apparently, called fire from our other artillery from German tanks into the jam. Because of the river. It is reliably known that the lieutenant was wounded and then he went towards our positions (presumably this is junior lieutenant V.V. Evdokimov, born in 1913, buried in the same mass grave as Nikolai). There is an assumption that Kolya should have retreated to his own people after completing the task. But... he had 60 shells. And he stayed!
Two tanks tried to pull the lead tank off the bridge, but were also hit. The armored vehicle tried to cross the Dobrost River without using a bridge. But she got stuck in the swampy bank, where another shell found her. Kolya shot and shot, knocking out tank after tank...
Guderian's tanks ran into Kolya Sirotinin as if they were facing the Brest Fortress. 11 tanks and 7 armored personnel carriers were already on fire! It is certain that more than half of them were burned by Sirotinin alone (some were also taken by artillery from across the river). For almost two hours of this strange battle, the Germans could not understand where the Russian battery was dug in. And when they reached Kolya’s position, they were very surprised that there was only one gun standing. Nikolai had only three shells left. They offered to surrender. Kolya responded by firing at them from a carbine.
After the battle, Chief Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Hensfald (who died later at Stalingrad) wrote in his diary:
“July 17, 1941. Sokolnichi, near Krichev. In the evening, an unknown Russian soldier was buried. He stood alone at the cannon, shot at a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was surprised at his courage... Oberst (Colonel) said before the grave that if all the Fuhrer’s soldiers fought like this Russian, they would conquer the whole world. They fired three times in volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?
In the afternoon, the Germans gathered at the place where the cannon stood. They forced us, the local residents, to come there too,” recalls local teacher Olga Borisovna Vebrizhskaya. - As someone who knows German, the chief German with orders ordered me to translate.
He said that this is how a soldier should defend his homeland - the Fatherland. Then from the pocket of our dead soldier’s tunic they took out a medallion with a note about who and where. The main German told me: “Take it and write to your relatives. Let the mother know what a hero her son was and how he died.”
When reporters asked Nikolai’s sister why Kolya volunteered to cover the retreat of our army, Taisiya Vladimirovna replied: “My brother could not have done otherwise.”
The Nazis were missing 11 tanks and 7 armored vehicles, 57 soldiers and officers after the battle on the banks of the Dobrost River, where Russian soldier Nikolai Sirotinin stood as a barrier.
Now there is a monument in that place:
Nikolai Sirotinin was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, posthumously.
Eternal memory to the hero!
Soldiers of Victory: Nikolai Vladimirovich Sirotinin
The war with the German invaders claimed millions of lives of Soviet people, slaughtering a colossal number of men, women, children and old people. The horrors of the fascist attack on our vast homeland. An unexpected attack, the latest weapons, experienced soldiers - Germany had it all. Why did the brilliant Barbarossa plan fail? The enemy did not take into account one very important detail: he was advancing on the Soviet Union, whose inhabitants were ready to die for every piece of their native land.
Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians and other nationalities of the Soviet state fought together for and died for the free future of their descendants. One of these brave and valiant soldiers was Nikolay Sirotinin.
Young city resident Orla, worked at the local Tekmash industrial complex, and on the day of the attack he was wounded in a bombing. As a result of the first air raid, the young man was sent to the hospital. The wound was not serious, and the young body quickly recovered, and Sirotinin still had the desire to fight.
Little is known about the hero, even exact date his birth is lost. At the beginning of the century, it was not customary to solemnly celebrate every birthday, and some citizens simply did not know it, but only remembered the year. And Nikolai Vladimirovich was born in difficult times in 1921. It is also known from the testimony of contemporaries and comrades that he was modest, polite, short and thin.
Very few documents have been preserved about this great man, and the events at kilometer 476 of the Warsaw Highway became known, largely thanks to the diary of Friedrich Hoenfeld. It was the German chief lieutenant who wrote down in his notebook the history of the heroic feat of a Russian soldier.
Immediately after the hospital, Sirotinin ended up in the 55th Rifle Military Regiment, which was based near a small Soviet town Krichev. Here he was assigned as a gunner, which, judging by subsequent events, Sirotinin clearly succeeded in doing. On the river with an interesting name " Kindness“The regiment remained for about two weeks, but the decision to retreat was nevertheless made.
Nikolai Vladimirovich was remembered by local residents as a very polite and responsive person. According to Verzhbitskaya, he always helped the elderly carry water or scoop it up from the well. It’s unlikely that anyone could see in this young lieutenant a brave hero capable of stopping a tank division. However, he still became one.
To withdraw the troops, cover was needed, which is why he remained in position Sirotinin. According to one of the many versions, the lieutenant was supported by his commander and also stayed, but in the battle he was wounded and went back to the main squad. Sirotinin was supposed to create a traffic jam on the bridge and join his own, but this young man decided to stand to the end in order to give maximum time to his fellow soldiers to retreat. The young fighter’s goal was simple, he wanted to carry away as much as possible more lives enemy army and disable all equipment.
The location of the only gun from which fire was fired at the attackers was well thought out. The artilleryman was surrounded by a thick field of rye, and was not noticeable. Tanks and armored vehicles, accompanied by armed infantry, quickly advanced through the territory under the leadership of the talented Heinz Guderian.
This was still the period when the Germans hoped to carry out a lightning-fast seizure of the country and defeat Soviet troops. Their hopes were dashed thanks to warriors like Nikolai Vladimirovich. Subsequently, the Nazis more than once encountered the desperate courage of Soviet soldiers, and each such feat had a serious demoralizing effect on the German troops. At the end of the war, the courage of our soldiers even there were legends in the enemy camp.
Sirotinin's task was to prevent the advance of the tank division to maximum term. The senior lieutenant's plan was to block the first and last links of the column and inflict as many losses as possible on the enemy. The calculation turned out to be correct. When the first one caught fire, the Germans tried to retreat from the line of fire. However, Sirotinin hit the trailing vehicle, and the column turned out to be an immobilized target.
The Nazis threw themselves to the ground in panic, not understanding where the shooting was coming from. Enemy intelligence provided information that there was not a single battery in this area, so the division advanced without special precautions. Fifty-seven shells were not wasted by the Soviet lieutenant. The tank division was destroyed by one Soviet man.
The armored vehicles tried to ford the river, but got stuck in the coastal mud. During the entire battle, the Germans did not even suspect that they were faced only with one defender of the USSR. Sirotinin’s position, located near the collective farm cowshed, was taken only after only 3 shells left. However, even deprived of ammunition for the gun and the ability to continue firing, Nikolai Vladimirovich shot the enemy with a carbine. Only after his death Sirotinin gave up his position.
Eternal glory to the Heroes!
Additional materials about that War
The Barbarossa plan, developed by the strategists of the Third Reich, envisaged a lightning-fast capture of the European part of the Soviet Union; the Germans planned to be in Moscow already in August 1941.
One of the transport arteries that the Nazis used to advance to Moscow was the Warsaw Highway, built in the second half of the 19th century. The highway was of strategic importance, which was noted by Russian autocrats. Now columns of German tanks and armored vehicles were marching along it towards the capital of our Motherland.
To delay the enemy troops and support the retreating Soviet units, the commander of the artillery battery (his last name could not be determined) decided to install one gun on the 476th kilometer of the highway near the bridge over the Dobrost River, which due to an oversight was not blown up.
The calculation included the battalion commander himself and senior sergeant Nikolai Vladimirovich Sirotinin, gunner of the 55th Infantry Regiment. Sirotinin was a native of the city of Orel, he was drafted into the army in the fall of 1940, and served in Polotsk.
Sirotinin volunteered to cover the withdrawal of Soviet units. Near the village of Sokolnichi, in the thick rye, they well camouflaged an anti-tank gun. German intelligence did not notice her and reported to the command that the passage was clear.
Near the bridge Combat vehicles The 4th Panzer Division, under the command of Willibald von Langerman, showed up at dawn on July 17th. First shot anti-tank gun knocked out the lead tank of the column, the second shot hit the armored personnel carrier trailing the column. A traffic jam was created, and the Germans did not manage to eliminate it immediately. Sirotinin, and he remained alone at the gun after the battalion commander’s withdrawal, with a targeted hit he destroyed the vehicles that were trying to clear the jam.
For a long time the Germans could not determine the source of the fire; they were sure that an entire battery was hitting them.
For two and a half hours, until the last shell, senior sergeant Sirotinin fought with the invader; he destroyed 11 tanks, 7 armored personnel carriers, 57 soldiers and officers. When the Germans approached his position, he continued to fire back with his carbine.
This feat became known thanks to an investigation conducted by a library worker in the village of Sokolnichi, Mikhail Melnikov, who collected testimony from village residents who were eyewitnesses of that battle.
One of them, Ekaterina Puzyrevskaya, who owned German language, recalls the words of a German officer who said that every soldier should defend his homeland - the Fatherland.
The memory of this selfless battle was preserved by an entry in the diary of Chief Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Friedrich Hönfeld; he reports that the Germans were delighted with the Russian’s act and buried him with honor.
Senior Sergeant Nikolai Sirotinin was twenty-one years old. His feat is comparable to the legendary exploits of Alexander Matrosov, Nikolai Gastello and the feat of 28 Panfilov men.