Marshal L. A
artillery of the 51st Infantry Division;
artillery of the Reserve Front;
5th Army;
Leningrad front;
2nd Baltic Front;
Leningrad Military District;
Air Defense Forces of the USSR
Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov(February 10, Butyrki, Yaransky district, Vyatka province - March 19, 1955, Moscow) - Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (June 18, 1944), Hero of the Soviet Union (January 27, 1945).
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✪ Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich
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Biography
Childhood and youth
Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was born on February 10 (22), 1897 in the village of Butyrki, Yaransky district, Vyatka province (now the territory of the Sovetsky district of the Kirov region) into a peasant family. Russian . Father - Govorov Alexander Grigorievich (1869-1920) - worked as a barge hauler, a sailor in the shipping company of the Stakheev merchants and as a clerk at a real school in Yelabuga. Mother - Govorova (nee Panfilova) Maria Alexandrovna (1867-1919) - housewife. Leonid was the eldest of four sons.
After graduating from rural school, Leonid Govorov entered the Yelabuga Real School, graduating brilliantly in 1916, and entered the shipbuilding department.
In December 1916, he was mobilized into the army and was sent to study at the Konstantinovsky Artillery School, after which in June 1917, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was promoted to ensign and appointed junior officer of a mortar battery as part of one of the units of the Tomsk garrison.
Civil War
Interwar period
In May 1941, a month before the start of the war, he headed the Artillery Academy named after. Dzerzhinsky. Since the first day of the Great Patriotic War, he has been on the Western Front, where he serves as the chief of artillery in the Western strategic direction. Since July 30, he has headed the artillery of the Reserve Front, in this position he is actively involved in the creation of an anti-tank defense system and the preparation of the Elninsky offensive operation. In the period from October 5 to October 9, he carried out work on organizing the Mozhaisk defense line. By order of the Supreme Command Headquarters dated October 9, Govorov was assigned the duties of deputy commander of the troops of this formation. On October 12, in connection with the entry of the Mozhaisk defense line into the organizational structure of the Western Front, he was transferred to the post of chief of artillery of the Western Front.
However, a few days later, on October 15, in connection with the injury of D. D. Lelyushenko, Govorov, at the request of G. K. Zhukov, took command of the 5th Combined Arms Army (the order appointing Govorov was signed by Zhukov on October 18), which led heavy defensive battles on the approaches to Mozhaisk. On October 18, the defensive formations of the 32nd Rifle Division were broken through, and battles began to prevent an enemy tank breakthrough along the Mozhaisk Highway and the Minsk Motorway. In negotiations with the front command, Govorov manages to prove the inappropriateness of further struggle for Mozhaisk. On the same day, October 18, the troops of the 5th Army leave Mozhaisk. In the first half of November, taking advantage of a two-week pause in the battle, the troops of the 5th Army organized a deeply layered defense on the approaches to Moscow, supported by a powerful artillery barrier and maneuverable anti-tank detachments, and prepared forces and means for the subsequent counter-offensive. On November 9, Lieutenant General of Artillery,” and on November 10, he was awarded the Order of Lenin. In the subsequent offensive of the 4th Army on December 1, von Kluge managed to break through the defenses of the 5th Army at the junction with units of the 33rd Army and, having gone 10 kilometers into the defense of the Soviet troops, reached the area of the village of Akulovo. While in the battle area, Govorov personally leads the defensive actions, and by December 4, the breakthrough is eliminated. On December 6, the Klin-Solnechnogorsk operation of the troops of the right wing of the Western Front began, in which, from the second ten days of December, units of the right wing of the 5th Army actively took part. On December 11, army units launched a general offensive.
In April, Govorov was hospitalized with an acute attack of appendicitis, I. I. Fedyuninsky was appointed commander of the 5th Army.
At the end of October, Govorov begins developing a new operation. On November 25, front units began preparing for the upcoming hostilities. On December 2, the plan for the operation, called “Iskra,” was approved by the Supreme High Command headquarters. The goal of the operation was to use counter strikes from the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts to cut through the enemy grouping in the area of the Sinyavinsky salient, connect south of Lake Ladoga and break the blockade of Leningrad.
The operation was started by troops of the Leningrad Front (21st and 23rd armies - over 150,000 people), then (in July 1944) the Karelian Front (32nd and 7th armies) went on the offensive. In advance, Govorov carried out a major diversionary maneuver with a demonstration of the impending attack on Narva. Meanwhile, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet secretly transferred units of the 21st Army from the Oranienbaum area to the Karelian Isthmus. This created an effect of surprise for the enemy. The offensive was immediately preceded by air strikes and a 10-hour artillery preparation. 500 guns were used along 1 km of front. The Finns were taken by surprise. During ten days of fighting, the troops of the Leningrad Front broke through 3 defense lines (on June 11, 17 and 19, respectively) “restored” by the Finns in 1941-1944. "Mannerheim Lines". The rate of advance was very high and amounted to 10-12 km per day. In a directive dated June 11, 1944, the Supreme High Command Headquarters noted the successful progress of the offensive and ordered the troops of the Leningrad Front to capture Vyborg on June 18-20. For the successes achieved on June 18, L. A. Govorov was awarded the title “Marshal of the Soviet Union,” and on June 20, the 21st Army of the Leningrad Front, during stubborn battles, captured the southern suburbs and center of Vyborg. After occupying the city, Headquarters clarified the tasks of the troops of the Leningrad Front. The directive dated June 21 indicated that the front should clear the Karelian Isthmus northeast of the Vuoksa River and Lake Vuoksa from the enemy on June 26-28. Following these instructions, the front troops continued the offensive. The Finnish command, aware of the impending danger, urgently brought up reserves. Therefore, during the first ten days of July, the 21st Army was able to advance only 10-12 km. By that time, the 23rd Army had crossed the Vuoksa River and captured a small bridgehead on its northern bank. In the period from July 4 to July 6, in close cooperation with the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, Soviet troops captured the main islands of the Vyborg Bay and began preparing for a landing in the rear of the Finnish troops.
Meanwhile, enemy resistance on the Karelian Isthmus was increasingly intensifying. By mid-July, up to three quarters of the entire Finnish army (about 60,000 people) were operating here. Her troops occupied a line that 90 percent passed through water obstacles ranging in width from 300 m to 3 km. This allowed the enemy to create a strong defense. Further continuation of the offensive of Soviet troops on the Karelian Isthmus under these conditions could lead to unjustified losses. Therefore, Headquarters ordered the Leningrad Front to go on the defensive at the reached line from July 12, 1944. During the offensive, which lasted more than a month, the front forces forced the enemy to transfer significant forces from South Karelia to the Karelian Isthmus. This changed the balance of forces in favor of the troops of the Karelian Front and thereby created favorable conditions for the success of their strike. On August 9, the troops of the Karelian Front reached the line of Kudamguba, Kuolisma, Pitkyaranta, thereby completing the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk offensive operation. On September 4, the Finnish government reached an agreement with the Soviet government to end hostilities. In turn, from 8.00 on September 5, the Leningrad and Karelian fronts, by order of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, ceased military operations against Finnish troops.
Start
Since April 1953, he was appointed to the post of chief inspector of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In May 1954, he became the first Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Air Defense Forces and was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the country.
By that time, Govorov was seriously ill with hypertension, which was aggravated by frequent stress. In the summer he had his first stroke. He died on the night of March 19, 1955 in the Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow. After his death, he was cremated, and the urn with his ashes was buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.
Memoirs of contemporaries
"L.A. Govorov was demanding and persistent. Outwardly he seemed dry and even gloomy, but in fact he was the kindest person. He would never raise his voice at anyone, and if he was dissatisfied with something, he would either remain silent or mutter something to himself. One could envy Leonid Aleksandrovich’s organization. Not a single front department officer sat idle with him. He knew the work of the headquarters very well, but did not take on the functions that should have been performed by the chief of staff.”
Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky. Life's work. Second edition, expanded. - M.: Politizdat, 1975. P.596.
“I was very pleased to meet Leonid Aleksandrovich. I couldn’t help remembering the times when we commanded artillery regiments. We had to attend training camps and shooting sessions together more than once. L. A. Govorov was distinguished by his composure, quickly made decisions, and acted confidently. But not all of us liked the fact that in his leisure hours he avoided noisy companies, spoke little, rarely smiled... And now Leonid Aleksandrovich appeared before us, as always, calm, watching everything carefully, somewhat reserved, and taciturn. with me, quickly got to the point."
Marshal of the Soviet Union. Hero of the Soviet Union. Participant of the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars.
Family and childhood
Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was born on February 22, 1897 in the village of Butyrki (Vyatka province) into a simple peasant family. His father’s work history includes working as a sailor on a river steamer owned by a private company, and later, when he managed to independently study literacy, and the position of a clerk in the city at a real school.
When Leonid and his family ended up in Yelabuga, his education was limited to three classes at a rural school. However, this did not stop him from earning extra money as a tutor in parallel with his studies at a real school. In 1916, Leonid Govorov graduated from a real school and continued his studies at the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute as a student at the Faculty of Shipbuilding.
First World War
Due to the outbreak of World War I, Leonid did not study there for long. Already in December 1916, Govorov was mobilized and sent, together with his younger brother Nikolai, to study at the Konstantinovsky Artillery School. The February Revolution found him in...
In 1917, after the February events, the situation on the fronts sharply worsened. Therefore, already in June of this year, early graduation from the school was carried out in order to replenish the army. Junkers Leonid and Nikolai Govorov received the military rank of second lieutenant. Before graduation, Leonid was summoned by Colonel Ivanov, the head of the educational department of the school. Ivanov invited Govorov, whom he considered a promising officer, to join the Petrograd garrison. Leonid did not particularly want to go to the front; at the same time, he was disgusted with participating in operations to suppress the increasingly intensifying and frequent labor and student unrest. Therefore, the future officer nevertheless asked to be sent away from the capital, even if this meant being sent to the active front. But he never got to this war. Instead, Leonid, and with him his brother Nikolai, received an appointment as junior officers in a mortar battery in one of the garrison units of the city.
As a result of the October Revolution, the old imperial army finally collapsed. In March, the Govorovs were demobilized and headed to Yelabuga, despite proposals from colleagues to elect Leonid as battery commander. There they live with their family and work in a local consumer cooperative. But they did not have long to remain civilians.
On both sides of the Civil
The beginning of the Winter War with Finland revealed the Red Army’s unpreparedness to break through the defensive zone of the “Mannerheim Line”. Having failed in the first assault, the command began to prepare for a new offensive with the involvement of the best specialists. Leonid Govorov received an appointment: to command the artillery of the 7th Army, operating in the main direction.
After arriving at the front, Govorov carried out significant work to prepare plans for artillery support for the Red Army’s breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line. In order to successfully break through the enemy’s fortified zone, it was necessary to first destroy his long-term defensive positions and fortifications. Govorov carefully studied all available intelligence information on all Finnish pillboxes in the area of the proposed breakthrough. Repeatedly Leonid Aleksandrovich personally went to the area in order to study all the details in the enemy’s defense and check intelligence data.
In order to clear the way for upcoming infantry attacks, Govorov proposed an unconventional solution - the destruction of enemy reinforced concrete fortifications through the fire of large-caliber guns at extremely close ranges with direct fire. At his suggestion, a fire fist consisting of 11 artillery regiments and 2 separate high-power artillery divisions was concentrated in the breakthrough zone. To support the offensive in the main direction, groups of destructive artillery of 203, 234 and 280 mm calibers were formed. Leonid Aleksandrovich thoroughly thought through all the subtleties of the interaction of artillery, advancing tanks and infantry. Infantry attacks were supported by the so-called “barrage of fire.” Govorov ordered the installation of guns from support groups on aircraft skis to improve their movement in deep snow. All these measures gave an excellent result: the “Mannerheim Line” was successfully broken. Govorov received the rank of “divisional commander” ahead of schedule (later he was recertified as major general of artillery), as a reward - the Order of the Red Star, and worked for several months as deputy inspector general of the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army.
At Borodino against the French
In May 1941, just a month before the start of the war, Govorov headed the Artillery Academy named after. Dzerzhinsky. From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, he was on the Western Front, where he was the chief of artillery in the Western strategic direction. In July, he led the artillery of the Reserve Front: he was involved in the anti-tank defense system, and took part in the preparation of the Elninsky offensive operation. At the beginning of October, Govorov was responsible for organizing the Mozhaisk defense line. On the same days, by order of Headquarters, he became deputy commander of the troops of this line. But when the Mozhaisk defense line entered directly into the structure of the Western Front, Govorov became the chief of artillery of the Western Front.
In mid-October 1941, Govorov, whom he recommended, led the 5th Combined Arms Army: it fought a difficult defensive battle on the outskirts of. Govorov fought his first battles against the troops of German Field Marshal Kluge on the Borodino field. Moreover, in the ranks of Kluge’s troops, ironically, there were also French soldiers who voluntarily helped the Nazis. By October 18, the enemy had broken through the defense line of the 32nd Infantry Division, and this was the beginning of battles, the purpose of which was to prevent a German tank breakthrough along the Minsk Motorway and Mozhaisk Highway. Govorov managed to present to the front command evidence of the inexpediency of further fighting for Mozhaisk: the Soviet army was abandoning this city. In the first half of November, there was a two-week lull in the fighting, and the forces of the 5th Army organized a deeply layered defense on the approaches to: a significant artillery barrier and maneuverable anti-tank detachments. Govorov receives his first awards for this war: the rank of lieutenant general of artillery and the Order of Lenin. On December 1, von Kluge's 4th Army broke through the positions of the 5th Army and penetrated 10 km into the Soviet defenses. Govorov himself, being in the battle area, led the troops, and on December 4 he managed to eliminate the breakthrough. A counteroffensive began, called the Klin-Solnechnogorsk operation. It was conducted by troops of the Western Front, starting on December 6, and the 5th Army took an active part in it: on December 11, a general offensive began. Already in January 1942, Govorov received the 2nd Order of Lenin for successful offensive actions. It is curious that the orders that Govorov received bore numbers No. 7551 and No. 7552. It turns out that he alone collected the entire “harvest” of Lenin’s orders in almost two months!
Defending Leningrad
After the end of the Battle of Moscow and thanks to the recommendations of G.K. Zhukov, Govorov was sent to Leningrad in April 1942 as commander of a group of troops of the Leningrad Front. And in June of the same year, Headquarters entrusted him with command of the formations of the entire Leningrad Front. For 670 days, Govorov defended the city that found itself surrounded by the enemy.
In the shortest possible time, Govorov managed to build a deeply echeloned, long-term defense system, which the enemy was never able to overcome. Under his leadership, the defenders of Leningrad created 110 large defensive units, equipped in engineering terms many thousands of kilometers of trenches, communication passages and many other structures. This made it possible to secretly regroup troops, withdraw fighters from the front line, and bring reserves to the battlefield. Govorov personally checked the quality of defensive structures, and very unpleasant sensations after such checks were experienced by those division commanders in whose sectors it was not possible to walk through the trenches from the command post to the front line without bending over. As a result of the measures taken, it was possible to sharply reduce the number of defeats of Soviet troops by shell fragments and enemy snipers.
Govorov tried not only to hold Leningrad, but also to conduct an active defense, undertake reconnaissance raids, private offensive operations, and deliver strong fire strikes against enemy groups. As he later recalled, such attacks enjoyed significant success and gave the defenders such weapons as operational surprise.
For more than two years, overcoming the problems inevitable for the conditions of a besieged city, the front artillerymen carried out a counter-battery fight against the enemy’s siege artillery. To increase the firing range of the guns, Govorov took various measures: he pushed forward the positions of heavy guns, some of them were secretly transferred across the Gulf of Finland to the territory of the Oranienbaum bridgehead, which led to an increase in the firing range, including on the flanks and rear of enemy artillery groups. For these purposes, he also used the naval artillery of the Baltic Fleet.
He managed to reduce the damage caused to Leningrad, not only due to a decrease in the intensity of enemy shelling due to destroyed guns, but also due to the fact that the enemy was forced to spend most of the shells on countering Soviet artillery. By 1943, enemy shells fell on the city 7 times less often! Govorov managed to save many thousands of human lives, material and cultural values created over centuries, magnificent historical and architectural monuments.
Another interesting episode was connected with this period in Govorov’s life - his admission to the party. The first time he applied for admission was back in the thirties. And he was refused. He did not make repeated attempts for a long time and only in 1942 he turned to the party headquarters, which signed him up as a candidate. Govorov's candidacy lasted a uniquely short period for that time. Within two days he became a full member of the party thanks to a special decision of the party Central Committee and personally.
The troops of his front achieved great success during the operations to break the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra), and to completely lift this blockade (Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Operation). For both of these operations Govorov was awarded the Order of Suvorov, first degree. In November 1943, Leonid Alexandrovich received the rank of army general.
As commander of the Leningrad Front, Leonid Govorov wrote military-analytical articles: “Battles for Leningrad”, “One and a half years of fighting for Leningrad”, “In defense of the city of Lenin”, “The Great Battle of Leningrad”, etc.
Marshal
In June 1944, troops of the Leningrad Front began an operation to withdraw Finland from the war, in which the 21st and 23rd armies with a total strength of more than 150,000 people participated from the front. In July 1944 they were joined by troops of the Karelian Front. Govorov carried out a number of major diversionary maneuvers in advance, accompanied by a demonstration of an allegedly prepared attack on Narva. Meanwhile, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet secretly transferred part of the forces of the 21st Army from the territory of the Karelian Isthmus. Thus, it was possible to achieve the effect of surprise for the enemy. The offensive began with air strikes and a 10-hour artillery barrage. A density of up to 500 guns per kilometer of front was achieved. The offensive that began developed extremely successfully, at a speed of 10-12 km per day. Front troops broke through the restored “Mannerheim Line” and captured it on June 20. Govorov was awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. By July 12, the front troops were forced to go on the defensive, but they created favorable conditions for the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation of the Karelian Front, which led to Finland’s withdrawal from the war on September 4.
Between July 24 and November 24, 1944, units of the Leningrad Front under the command of Govorov carried out the Narva and Tallinn offensive and Moonsund landing operations. The result was the collapse of the German task force Narva, and enemy troops were driven out of Estonia. Since October 1, Govorov, executing the order of the Supreme Command Headquarters, simultaneously commands his front and coordinates the efforts of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts during the Riga operation. Riga was liberated, and the blockade of the encircled German troops in Courland by the forces of the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts began. On January 27, Govorov was awarded the order and title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Already at the very end of the war, Govorov had the opportunity to accept the surrender of enemy troops in the Courland Pocket and, after the official end of hostilities, to clear the cauldron of enemy units that refused to surrender. On May 31 he was awarded the Order of Victory.
In peacetime
In the post-war period, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was assigned to work in several high positions in the Armed Forces of the USSR. In July 1945, he led the troops in the Leningrad Military District, and from April 1946 he held the post of chief inspector of the Ground Forces, later chief inspector of the USSR Armed Forces, which made him deputy minister of the USSR Armed Forces. In 1948, Govorov was appointed commander of the country's air defense forces, retaining his previous position. In this post, he achieved significant success in reforming the air defense of the Soviet Union, improving its organization and equipment.
However, such active work led to great stress on the marshal’s nervous system, which negatively affected his health. His old hypertension flared up again. On March 19, 1955, just 10 years after the end of the war, Govorov passed away. He was buried on
Leonid Govorov was one of the most outstanding military leaders of the Great Patriotic War. He led battles with the Germans in different regions of the country, and in 1944 he liberated Karelia from Finnish occupation. For his many services, Govorov received the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Early years
The future Marshal of the Soviet Union Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was born on February 22, 1897 in the Vyatka province - a remote, bearish corner of the Russian Empire. Butyrki (his native village) was an ordinary provincial town. The life of a military man is very similar to the life of his peers, whose youth and youth fell on the First World War, revolutions and the Civil War.
Leonid Govorov spent his childhood in Yelabuga, where his father worked as a clerk. In 1916, the young man graduated from a real school and even entered the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. However, in the same December he was drafted into the army. The First World War was going on, and the state drew its last human resources from the rear. After the February Revolution, Leonid Govorov received a new title. A second lieutenant in the Russian army met October 1917. The Bolsheviks who came to power signed peace with Germany, and most of the military was demobilized. The second lieutenant returned to Yelabuga to his parents.
Civil war
In the fall of 1918, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov joined the White Army. At this time, his native land was under the control of Kolchak’s supporters. The officer took part in the White Spring Offensive. He fought near Ufa, Chelyabinsk and Western Siberia. Soon the Kolchakites began to retreat to the east. In November 1919, Govorov deserted. In January he joined the 51st Rifle Division of the Red Army.
There Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov met with another future marshal, Vasily Blucher. In 1919, he commanded the very 51st Infantry Division, and during this time he was shot. Under the leadership of Blucher, Govorov received his leadership. Finally, the future second lieutenant ended up in Ukraine, where the last large resisting group of whites remained. This was Wrangel's army. In those battles of 1920, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov received two wounds - one near Kakhovka, the other in the Antonovka area.
Peaceful period
After the end of the Civil War, Leonid Govorov began to live and work in Ukraine. In 1923, he was appointed artillery commander in the 51st Perekop Rifle Division. His subsequent career growth in the army was due to receiving vocational education. In 1933, Govorov completed courses at the Frunze Military Academy. But that was not all. Having learned German and passed the relevant exams, he became a military translator. In 1936, the military man entered the newly opened Academy of the General Staff, and shortly before that he received the rank of brigade commander. After completing his studies, he began teaching at the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy.
In 1940, war with Finland began. Govorov was appointed chief of artillery headquarters in the 7th Army. She took part in the battles on the Karelian Isthmus. The brigade commander was preparing a breakthrough in the Finnish defensive line. After the signing of peace, he was already a major general of artillery.
Beginning of the Great Patriotic War
The day before, Leonid Govorov was appointed head of the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy, which he himself recently graduated from. As soon as the German offensive began, he was sent to lead the artillery of the Western Front. I had to work in conditions of disorganization of the army, lack of communication and a blitzkrieg of the enemy. The artillery of the Western Front was no exception to this rule. The chaos of the first months of the war did not allow the Germans to be stopped in Belarus or Ukraine.
On July 30, Govorov received artillery from the Reserve Front. The major general began organizing defensive operations in the central direction of the Wehrmacht's offensive. It was he who prepared the counterattack near Yelnya. On September 6, the city was liberated. Although this success was temporary, it allowed time to pass. The Germans were stuck in the Smolensk area for two months, which is why they found themselves on the outskirts of Moscow only in winter.
Battles near Moscow
At the beginning of October, Govorov was on the Mozhaisk defense line, preparing its infrastructure. On the 15th, due to the injury of Dmitry Lelyushenko, he began to command the 5th Combined Arms Army. The decisive role in the appointment was played by who personally signed the corresponding order. This formation fought bloody defensive battles near Mozhaisk. On October 18, due to an enemy breakthrough, Govorov convinced Headquarters that it was necessary to leave the city. Further delay could result in the encirclement of the entire army. The go ahead was given. The troops retreated.
In early November, the 5th Army took up defensive positions on the outskirts of Moscow. There were battles here every kilometer. Soviet troops were supported by artillery barriers and anti-tank detachments. Stopping at the approaches to the capital, the Red Army began to prepare a counteroffensive near Moscow. On November 9, Leonid Govorov became lieutenant general.
The critical moment came on December 1, when the Germans managed to break through the front in the sector occupied by the 5th Army. The artillery commander personally led the defense. The enemy was able to advance only 10 kilometers and was soon driven back. On December 5, the Soviet counteroffensive began near Moscow.
New appointment
In April 1942, Leonid Govorov was briefly out of action due to an acute attack of appendicitis. Ivan Fedyuninsky stood at the head of his 5th Army. On April 25, Govorov, who had recovered, received a new appointment. He went to the Leningrad Front, where he began to command a large group of Soviet troops (it included the 55th, 42nd and 23rd armies). Finding himself in a new place, the lieutenant general began to fulfill his duties with particular zeal.
He created the Leningrad Artillery Corps from scratch, designed for counter-battery combat. Thanks to the commander’s pressure, new planes and fresh crews arrived at the front. On the approaches to Leningrad, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov (1897-1955) created five new fortified field areas. They became part of a continuous trench system. They housed newly equipped machine gun and artillery battalions. For a more reliable defense of Leningrad, a front-line reserve was formed. Govorov was guided in his decisions by the rich experience accumulated during the battles near Moscow. He was especially attentive to the creation of barrage detachments, maneuver groups and other operational formations.
The Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army began supplying the city with large-caliber shells. Thanks to this, it was possible to begin the destruction of the enemy siege batteries, which caused the greatest damage to buildings and residents. Govorov had to simultaneously solve two complex problems. On the one hand, he had to organize the defense and think about breaking the blockade, and on the other, the military leader tried with all his might to help the starving Leningraders.
Attempts by the Red Army to drive the Germans out of the vicinity of Leningrad failed. Because of this, Mikhail Khozin (front commander) was deprived of his position. Leonid Govorov was appointed in his place. Throughout the summer of 1942, he prepared the Neva Operational Group and the 55th Army for the Sinyavsk offensive operation. However, already in the fall it became clear that the Soviet Army in this region simply did not have enough forces to clear the approaches to Leningrad (this was the main strategic goal of the event). On October 1, Govorov received an order to retreat to his original positions. The decision was made at Headquarters after long discussions. Nevertheless, “local battles” continued. This is how the reports referred to small-scale active actions. They did not change the position at the front, but noticeably exhausted the enemy, who found himself in trenches far from his homeland. Under Govorov, Leningrad was divided into sectors. Each of them had its own permanent garrison. Combat detachments formed at enterprises were united into battalions.
Attempts to break the blockade
An artilleryman by training, Govorov had an army at his disposal, which included troops of all possible types. But this did not stop him from quickly getting into the swing of things. He knew how to instantly assess the situation and knew by heart the location of Soviet and German units on any sector of the front. Leonid Govorov always listened carefully to his subordinates and did not interrupt them, although he did not like empty verbosity. He was a man of strict self-organization, who demanded the same from those around him. At the Leningrad headquarters, such a character evoked reverent respect. Party leaders (Zhdanov, Kuznetsov, Shtykov, etc.) treated him with reverence.
In January 1943, the Leningrad Front began to move again. On January 18, the blockade ring of the Northern capital was broken. This was done thanks to two counter strikes by the Volkhov Front (under the command of Kirill Meretskov) and the Leningrad Front (under the command of Leonid Govorov). The enemy group was cut up, and Soviet units met south of Lake Ladoga.
Even before the final breakthrough of the blockade, Govorov received the rank of colonel general. In the summer of 1943, the 67th Army, which he commanded, took part in the Mginsk operation. Its task was to establish control over the Kirov Railway south of Lake Ladoga. If communications were freed from the Germans, Leningrad would receive a reliable and convenient channel of communication with the rest of the country. These were tough battles. Due to a shortage of forces, Soviet troops were unable to complete all assigned tasks, and by the fall the Mginsky ledge remained virtually unchanged. Nevertheless, time was working for the Red Army, and the Wehrmacht was experiencing increasing difficulties.
Liberation of Leningrad
In the fall of 1943, preparations began at Headquarters for a new Leningrad-Novgorod operation. On November 17, Leonid Govorov became an army general. At the beginning of the new year 1944, troops under his leadership broke through the enemy defenses around Leningrad. On January 27, German units were already a hundred kilometers from the city. The blockade was finally lifted. On the same day, Govorov, on Stalin’s instructions, gave the order to hold a fireworks display in the liberated city.
However, there was little time for celebrations. Quickly returning to his duties, Leonid Govorov led the troops of the Leningrad Front towards Narva. In February, the Red Army crossed this river. By spring, the counteroffensive had advanced 250 kilometers. Almost the entire Leningrad region was liberated, as well as part of the neighboring Kalinin region.
Fights with the Finns
On June 10, front forces were sent north to conduct the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation. The main enemy in this direction was Finland. Headquarters sought to bring the Reich's ally out of the war. Govorov began the operation with a deceptive demonstration maneuver. On the eve of the offensive, Finnish intelligence tracked preparations for an attack in the Narva area. Meanwhile, the Soviet fleet had already transferred the 21st Army to the Karelian Isthmus. For the enemy, this blow was a complete surprise.
In addition, before the offensive, Govorov ordered artillery preparation and a series of air strikes. Over the next ten days, the forces of the Leningrad Front broke through three lines of defense on the site of the former Mannerheim Line, which was restored during the occupation. Leonid Govorov took part in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. He knew this region and the characteristics of the enemy army well.
The result of the rapid advance of the Red Army was the liberation of Vyborg on June 20, 1944. Two days earlier, Leonid Govorov became Marshal of the Soviet Union. The title became a reflection of the military’s merits. He took part in organizing many important operations: he repelled German attacks at the beginning of the war, defended Moscow, liberated Leningrad, and finally fought the Finns.
After the restoration of Soviet power in Vyborg, the fighting moved to the Karelian Isthmus. Almost the entire Finnish army (60 thousand people) operated here. The Soviet offensive was complicated by the difficult terrain of these places. Water obstacles, dense forests, lack of roads - all this slowed down the liberation of the isthmus. The losses of the Red Army increased sharply. In this regard, on July 12, Headquarters gave the order to go on the defensive. The further offensive continued with forces. In September, Finland left the war and joined the allied countries.
In the late summer and autumn of 1944, Marshal Govorov developed operations to liberate Estonia. In October, he also coordinated the actions of the armed forces in the liberation of Riga. After the capital of Latvia was cleared of the Germans, the remnants of the Wehrmacht forces in the Baltic states were blocked in Courland. The surrender of this group was accepted on May 8, 1945.
After the war
In peacetime, Leonid Govorov began to occupy senior military leadership positions. He was commander of the Leningrad Military District and air defense commander. Under his leadership, these troops underwent significant reorganization. In addition, new types of weapons began to be adopted (fighter jets, anti-aircraft missile systems, radar stations, etc.). The country was building a shield against suspected attacks by NATO and the United States in the nascent Cold War.
In 1952, at the last Stalinist 19th Congress of the CPSU, Leonid Govorov was elected as a candidate member of the Central Committee. In 1954, he began to combine the position of commander of air defense and deputy minister of defense of the Soviet Union. A busy work schedule and stress had a negative impact on the marshal’s health. Leonid Govorov died on March 19, 1955 from a stroke while on vacation in the Barvikha sanatorium.
Today, streets in the largest cities of the former USSR (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Odessa, Kirov, Donetsk, etc.) are named in honor of the marshal. The memory of him is especially carefully preserved in the former Leningrad, which was liberated thanks to an operation undertaken under the leadership of Govorov. There are memorial plaques on two buildings, and the park on the embankment of the Fontanka River bears his name. In 1999, a monument to L. A. Govorov was erected on Stachek Square.
Awards
Leonid Aleksandrovich's many-year military journey was accompanied by a variety of medals and honorary titles. In 1921, after two wounds, the future Marshal Govorov received the Order of the Red Banner. He was awarded this award for the bravery and courage shown during the Perekop-Chongar operation, when Wrangel’s army finally surrendered Crimea. After the end of the Soviet-Finnish war, Govorov received the Order of the Red Star.
In the most difficult days of the Great Patriotic War, when the Wehrmacht troops stood near Moscow, it was Leonid Alexandrovich who was one of the leaders of the defense of the capital. On November 10, 1941, on the eve of the counteroffensive, he received the Order of Lenin. The next reward awaited him after breaking the siege of Leningrad. Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov, whose biography is a biography of one of the outstanding military leaders of the Great Patriotic War, received a deserved 1st degree.
He managed to have a hand in many successes of the Red Army during the liberation of the territory of the USSR from occupation by Wehrmacht troops. Therefore, it is not surprising that on January 27, 1945, Marshal of the Soviet Union Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov also became a Hero of the Soviet Union. His awards also include numerous medals awarded for the liberation or defense of major cities.
On May 31, 1945, a few weeks after the surrender of Germany, Govorov was awarded the Order of Victory. During the entire existence of this badge, only 17 people were awarded such an honor, which, of course, emphasizes the importance of Leonid Alexandrovich’s contribution to the defeat of the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War. It is noteworthy that, in addition to Soviet ones, he also received foreign awards: the Order of the Legion of Honor (France), as well as the American Order of the Legion of Honor.
Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich born on February 22, 1897 in the village of Butyrki, Yaransky district, Vyatka province (now the territory of the Sovetsky district of the Kirov region). His father, Alexander Grigorievich Govorov, in order to feed his family, had to first become a peasant and then work as a sailor on the ships of a private shipping company. Later, having mastered reading and writing and naturally possessing excellent handwriting, Alexander Grigorievich got a job as a clerk at a real school in the city of Elabuga. This gave him the right to teach his children at this educational institution for free.
In the family, Leonid was the eldest of four sons. After graduating from a 4-year vocational school in Yaransk, Leonid Govorov entered the Yelabuga real school. During all seven years of his studies at the school, Leonid was the first student in his class (his brother Nikolai was second in academic performance). I studied purposefully and systematically, and read a lot. He was interested in mathematics and physics.
In December 1916, he was mobilized into the army and was sent to study at the Konstantinovsky Artillery School, after which in June 1917, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was promoted to second lieutenant and was appointed junior officer of a mortar battery as part of one of the units of the Tomsk garrison.
In March 1918, Leonid and his brother returned to their native Yelabuga, where they went to work as clerks in the local Consumer Cooperation, helping their parents and younger brothers with a small salary. Leonid did not even consider military service as a profession at that time. But life decreed otherwise.
In 1918, Civil War broke out in Russia. In October of the same year, the city of Elabuga was captured by the White Guards - troops of the army of Admiral A.V. Kolchak. Leonid Govorov and his brother Nikolai, as former tsarist officers, were forcibly mobilized into the artillery battery of the 8th division of the 2nd Ufa Corps, which had been part of the Western Army since March 1919. Second lieutenants Govorovs participate in the spring offensive of Kolchak’s troops, in the Chelyabinsk and Ufa operations, in the battles against the Red Army near Zlatoust and on Tobol.
In November 1919, Govorov, along with several soldiers from his battery, left the unit and headed to Tomsk, where, as part of a fighting squad, he took part in the uprising against the white authorities.
On December 22, 1919, Tomsk came under the control of the Red Army and in January 1920, Govorov joined the 51st Rifle Division under the command of V.K. Blucher as a volunteer, where he took the position of commander of an artillery division.
As part of the Perekop strike group of the 6th Army under the command of A.I. Kork, the division took part in the battles against the army of General Wrangel. In 1920, Govorov was wounded twice: in August, near the village of Serogozy, during defensive battles in the Kakhovka region, he received a shrapnel wound in the leg, and also in September, in a battle near Antonovka, he received a bullet wound in the arm.
For the great courage and bravery shown in the battles against the “Russian Army” during the Perekop-Chongar operation in 1921, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In October 1923, L. A. Govorov was appointed chief of artillery of the 51st (since September 14, 1921) Perekop Rifle Division. By the beginning of 1925, he held the post of commander of an artillery regiment. Subsequently, until 1936, he held the positions of chief of artillery of a fortified area, chief of artillery of the 14th and 15th rifle corps, and head of a department in the artillery department of the Kyiv Military District.
Leonid Govorov is actively involved in his education, and in 1926 he graduated from the Artillery Advanced Courses for Command Staff. In 1930 he took higher academic courses at the Military Academy named after. Frunze, and in 1933 he completed the full course of this academy in absentia and studied at its operational department. Having studied German on his own, he passed the exam to become a military translator. On February 5, 1936, L. A. Govorov was awarded the military rank of brigade commander. Also in 1936, he became part of the first intake of students at the Academy of the General Staff. In 1938, six months before graduation, he was appointed teacher of tactics at the Artillery Academy named after. Dzerzhinsky [source not specified 546 days]. In 1939 he completed his first scientific work on the topic “Attack and breakthrough of a fortified area.”
In 1940, he was appointed chief of staff of the artillery of the 7th Army, which participated in the war with Finland on the territory of the Karelian Isthmus. For his work in preparing and providing artillery support for the breakthrough of a section of the Mannerheim Line, L. A. Govorov was awarded the Order of the Red Star and was given the rank of division commander ahead of schedule. In the summer of the same year, during recertification, he was awarded the rank of major general of artillery (06/04/1940), he was appointed to the post of deputy inspector general of artillery of the GAU RKKA.
Great Patriotic War.
In May 1941 Govorov L.A. becomes head of the Artillery Academy of the Red Army named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky. But Govorov did not have to command the academy for long.
The Great Patriotic War began, and already at the end of July 1941 he was appointed to the post of chief of artillery in the Western direction, commanded by Army General G.K. Zhukov. Soon a Reserve Front was also created under the command of G.K. Zhukova, and L.A. Govorov is appointed chief of artillery there.
Leonid Aleksandrovich immediately got down to business. Under his leadership, an artillery anti-tank defense system is being quickly created. This soon led to a significant increase in losses among the Nazis rushing to Moscow. Such an episode is known. Once G.K. Zhukov interrogated a prisoner from the Deutschland regiment of the SS division. He said: “The Germans are afraid of artillery fire.” Georgy Konstantinovich turned to the chief of artillery: “Did you hear, Comrade Govorov? The Germans are afraid of our artillery. So work out your plans in every detail.”
L. A. Govorov thought out in every detail the artillery support of our troops, which made it possible to achieve success in one of the first offensive operations of the Red Army - the Elninsky operation of 1941. On his initiative, a strong artillery group was created, the number of guns was more than one and a half times superior to the German one. Artillery reconnaissance was established. The offensive of our troops began on August 30 at 8.00 am after a crushing artillery barrage. More than 800 guns, mortars and rocket launchers rained down on German positions. For the first time in the Great Patriotic War, Soviet artillery proved itself to be a powerful offensive force. As a result of fierce battles on September 6, 1941, our troops liberated Yelnya, and by the end of September 8, the Yelnya ledge was eliminated.
On April 21, due to the failure of the Lyuban operation, the Volkhov Front was disbanded. On its basis, the Volkhov Group of Forces of the Leningrad Front was formed. On April 25, L. A. Govorov took command of the Leningrad group of troops of this front (23rd, 42nd and 55th armies, Primorsky and Nevsky operational groups). Since taking office, he has been actively involved in increasing the effectiveness of counter-battery warfare: he creates the Leningrad Artillery Corps of Counter-Battery Warfare (including, among other things, the artillery of the Baltic Fleet), and seeks from the Supreme High Command Headquarters a decision to allocate two aviation correction squadrons to Leningrad. He is actively working on the task of strengthening the external defensive perimeter: he is creating five field fortified areas on the near approaches to the city and placing separate artillery and machine-gun battalions in them, introducing a system of continuous trenches. Creates a front reserve.
In May, without undergoing candidate experience, he was accepted as a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). On June 8, after the notorious defeat of the 2nd Shock Army, the Volkhov Front was recreated, M. S. Khozin was removed from his post as commander of the Leningrad Front, the leadership of which passed to L. A. Govorov. In June-August, he trains front forces (Neva Operational Group, 55th Army) to participate in the Sinyavin offensive operation. The purpose of the operation was to relieve the blockade of Leningrad from land and disrupt the Northern Lights (Nordlicht) operation being prepared by Army Group North. By the end of September, it became obvious that the front forces were unable to cope with the task of breaking the blockade. On October 1, the command of the Leningrad Front received an order from the Supreme Command Headquarters to retreat to their original positions (the Nevsky operational group retained the Nevsky patch).
At the end of October, Govorov begins developing a new operation. On November 25, front units began preparing for the upcoming hostilities. On December 2, the plan for the operation, called “Iskra,” was approved by the Supreme Command headquarters. The goal of the operation was to use counter strikes from the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts to cut through the enemy grouping in the area of the Sinyavinsky salient, unite south of Lake Ladoga and break the blockade of Leningrad.
On January 12, 1943, the offensive operation of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts began, and on January 18, Soviet units formed a connection, the blockade was broken. On January 15, L. A. Govorov was awarded the rank of “Colonel General”. On February 27, the offensive was stopped, and the front command began drawing up plans for a new offensive operation. For the operation to break the blockade of Leningrad on January 28, Govorov was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree. In July-August, the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front takes part in the Mginsk operation. The purpose of this operation was to disrupt the plans of the command of Army Group North to restore the blockade ring. In September, a plan for the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic operation, developed with the active participation of L. A. Govorov, was presented to the Supreme Command Headquarters. According to the plan of this operation, the troops of the Leningrad Front were supposed to completely lift the blockade and liberate the territory of the Leningrad region from enemy units. On November 17, in the midst of preparations for the operation, Govorov was awarded the rank of “army general.”
On January 14, 1944, the troops of the Leningrad Front began the Leningrad-Novgorod operation. During the offensive, the front broke through the enemy's deeply echeloned defenses, defeating the Peterhof-Strelny group. By January 27, enemy troops were driven back 65-100 km from the city. On January 27, a fireworks display took place in Leningrad to commemorate the final lifting of the blockade, and the order for the fireworks was given by Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov on behalf of Stalin.
Developing the offensive, the troops of the Leningrad Front under the command of Army General Govorov marched about 100-120 km, reaching the Narva River and seizing a bridgehead on the western bank of the river. For the success in carrying out the operation to lift the siege of Leningrad, Govorov was awarded the second Order of Suvorov, 1st degree, on February 21.
By March 1, the troops of the Leningrad Front during the offensive marched to the west about 220-280 km. During the offensive, three and 23 enemy divisions were destroyed and the Leningrad region and part of the Kalinin region were almost completely liberated.
On June 10, the Leningrad Front, along with the Karelian Front, the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga and Onega flotillas, began the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation with the goal of withdrawing Finland from the war.
The operation was started by troops of the Leningrad Front (21st and 23rd armies - over 150,000 people), then (in July 1944) the Karelian Front (32nd and 7th armies) went on the offensive. In advance, Govorov carried out a major diversionary maneuver with a demonstration of the impending attack on Narva. Meanwhile, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet secretly transferred units of the 21st Army from the Oranienbaum area to the Karelian Isthmus. This created an effect of surprise for the enemy. The offensive was immediately preceded by air strikes and a 10-hour artillery preparation. 500 guns were used along 1 km of front. The Finns were taken by surprise. During ten days of fighting, the troops of the Leningrad Front broke through 3 defense lines (on June 11, 17 and 19, respectively) “restored” by the Finns in 1941-1944. "Mannerheim Lines". The rate of advance was very high and amounted to 10-12 km per day. In a directive dated June 11, 1944, the Supreme High Command Headquarters noted the successful progress of the offensive and ordered the troops of the Leningrad Front to capture Vyborg on June 18-20. For his achievements on June 18, L. A. Govorov was awarded title of "Marshal of the Soviet Union", and on June 20, the 21st Army of the Leningrad Front, during stubborn battles, captured the southern suburb and center of Viipuri (Vyborg).
On September 4, the Finnish government reached an agreement with the Soviet government to end hostilities. In turn, from 8.00 on September 5, the Leningrad and Karelian fronts, by order of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, ceased military operations against Finnish troops.
From July 24 to November 24, units of the Leningrad Front, carrying out the Narva, Tallinn offensive and Moonsund landing operations developed under the leadership of Govorov, defeated the German task force Narva and drove the enemy out of Estonia. Starting from October 1, by order of the Supreme Command Headquarters, simultaneously with the command of its front, it carries out the task of coordinating the actions of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts in the Riga operation. After the liberation of Riga on October 16, the 3rd Baltic Front was disbanded, and the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts began blockading the group of German troops in Courland.
Post-war period
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 31, 1945, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was awarded the Order of Victory for the defeat of German troops near Leningrad and in the Baltic states.
On July 9, he was appointed commander of the troops of the Leningrad Military District, formed on the basis of the Leningrad Front. Since April 1946 - Chief Inspector of the Ground Forces. Since January 1947, he has held the post of chief inspector of the USSR Armed Forces, and since July 7, 1948, he has combined this position with the post of commander of the country's air defense. Under his leadership, a structural reorganization of the command and control of air defense forces is being carried out in the USSR; anti-aircraft missile systems, jet fighters, and the latest radar stations are being adopted in air defense units.
In January 1948, he headed the “court of honor”, which convicted four admirals - N. G. Kuznetsov, L. M. Galler, V. A. Alafuzov, G. A. Stepanov - all rehabilitated in 1953.
Since April 1953, he was appointed to the post of chief inspector of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In May 1954, he became the first Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Air Defense Forces and was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the country.
By that time, Govorov was seriously ill with hypertension, which was aggravated by frequent stress. In the summer he had his first stroke. He died on the night of March 19, 1955 in the Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow. After his death, he was cremated, and the urn with his ashes was buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.
Memory of Govorov
Streets and alleys in many cities of Russia and Ukraine are named in honor of Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov, including Moscow (Govorova Street), Kyiv, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Kirov, Elabuga, Donetsk, Kremenchug, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk and many others. Also, the name of Govorov was assigned to the Military Order of the October Revolution and the Patriotic War Engineering Radio Engineering Academy of Air Defense (formerly the Artillery Radio Engineering Academy of the Patriotic War Academy of the Soviet Army) - Kharkov.
A postage stamp was issued in 1977. USSR stamp from the issue “Soviet Military Figures” (1977, Fig., DFA No. 4679)
In St. Petersburg installed:
- Monument on Stachek Square (installed in 1999);
- Two memorial plaques (Kronverkskaya street, building No. 29; Marshal Govorova street, building No. 2);
Also, the square at the intersection of Moskovsky Prospekt and the embankment of the Fontanka River in St. Petersburg bears the name of Govorov. A memorial sign “Marshal L.A. Govorov’s Square” would be installed near the square.
In Yelabuga, a monument-bust was installed on Memory Square (opened in 2000) and a memorial plaque on the building of the former real school (Naberezhnaya St., building No. 19).
Plan:
- Introduction
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Childhood and youth
- 1.2 Civil war
- 1.3 Interwar period
- 1.4 1941
- 1.5 1942
- 1.6 1943
- 1.7 1944
- 1.8 Beginning 1945
- 1.9 Post-war period
- 1.10 Family
- 2 Military ranks
- 3 Awards
- 4 Memory of Govorov Notes
Literature
Introduction
Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov(February 10 (February 22), 1897, Butyrki, Yaransky district, Vyatka province, Russian Empire - March 19, 1955, Moscow, USSR) - Marshal of the Soviet Union (06/18/1944), Hero of the Soviet Union (January 27, 1945).
1. Biography
1.1. Childhood and youth
Leonid Govorov was born into a peasant family in the village of Butyrki, Yaransky district, Vyatka province (now the territory of the Sovetsky district of the Kirov region). Father - Alexander Grigorievich Govorov (1869-1918) worked as a barge hauler, a sailor in the shipping company of the Stakheev merchants, and as a clerk at a real school in Yelabuga. Mother - Maria Alexandrovna Govorova (Panfilova) (1867-1919) - housewife. Leonid was the eldest of four sons.
After graduating from a rural school, he entered the Yelabuga Real School. In 1916, having brilliantly completed his studies, he entered the shipbuilding department of the Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. However, in December 1916, Govorov was mobilized into the army and sent to study at the Konstantinovsky Artillery School. In June 1917, upon completion of his studies, he was promoted to second lieutenant and appointed junior officer of a mortar battery as part of one of the units of the Tomsk garrison. In March 1918, he was demobilized and returned to his parents in Yelabuga, where he got a job in a cooperative.
1.2. Civil war
In October 1918, after parts of the Russian Army of Admiral A.V. Kolchak entered Yelabuga, L.A. Govorov, with the rank of second lieutenant, was mobilized into the White Army and enlisted in the battery of the 8th Kama Rifle Division of the 2nd Ufa Army corps, which was part of the Western Army from March 1919. He took part in the spring offensive of the armies of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, the battles near Ufa, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk and Tobol.
A year later, in November 1919, on the wave of mass desertion in the Russian army, Admiral Kolchak, together with several soldiers from his battery, left the unit and, in hiding, fled to Tomsk, where, as part of a fighting squad, he took part in the uprising against the white authorities.
Tomsk came under the control of the Red Army on December 22, 1919, and in January 1920, L. A. Govorov volunteered for the 51st Infantry Division of V. K. Blucher, where he took the position of commander of an artillery division. As part of the Perekop strike group of the 6th Army of A.I. Kork, this division took part in the battles against the Russian army of General P.N. Wrangel. In 1920, Govorov was wounded twice - in August, near the village of Seragozy, during defensive battles in the Kakhovka region, he received a shrapnel wound in the leg, and in September, in a battle near Antonovka, he received a bullet wound in the arm. For participation in the Perekop-Chongar operation in 1921 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
1.3. Interwar period
L. A. Govorov with his wife. 1923
In October 1923, L. A. Govorov was appointed chief of artillery of the 51st (since September 14, 1921) Perekop Rifle Division. By the beginning of 1925, he held the post of commander of an artillery regiment. Subsequently, until 1936, he held the positions of chief of artillery of a fortified area, chief of artillery of the 14th and 15th rifle corps, and head of a department in the artillery department of the Kyiv Military District.
She is actively involved in her education. In 1926 he graduated from the Artillery Advanced Courses for Command Staff. In 1930 he took higher academic courses at the Military Academy named after. Frunze, and in 1933 he completed the full course of this academy in absentia and studied at its operational department. Having studied German on his own, he passed the exam to become a military translator. On February 5, 1936, L. A. Govorov was awarded the military rank of brigade commander. Also in 1936, he became part of the first intake of students at the Academy of the General Staff. In 1938, six months before graduation, he was appointed teacher of tactics at the Artillery Academy named after. Dzerzhinsky. In 1939 he completed his first scientific work on the topic “Attack and breakthrough of a fortified area.”
In 1940, he was appointed chief of staff of the artillery of the 7th Army, which participated in the war with Finland on the territory of the Karelian Isthmus. For his work in preparing and providing artillery support for the breakthrough of a section of the Mannerheim Line, L. A. Govorov was awarded the Order of the Red Star and was given the rank of division commander ahead of schedule. In the summer of the same year, during recertification, he was awarded the rank of major general of artillery (06/04/1940), he was appointed to the post of deputy inspector general of artillery of the GAU RKKA.
1.4. 1941
In May 1941, a month before the start of the war, he headed the Artillery Academy. Dzerzhinsky.
Since the first day of the Great Patriotic War, he has been on the Western Front, where he serves as the chief of artillery in the Western strategic direction. Since July 30, he has headed the artillery of the Reserve Front, in this position he is actively involved in the creation of an anti-tank defense system and the preparation of the Elninsky offensive operation. In the period from October 5 to 9, he carried out work on organizing the Mozhaisk defense line. By order of the Supreme Command Headquarters dated October 9, Govorov was assigned the duties of deputy commander of the troops of this formation. On October 12, in connection with the entry of the Mozhaisk line of defense into the organizational structure of the Western Front, he was transferred to the post of chief of artillery of the Western Front. Lieutenant General of Artillery (11/09/1941).
However, a few days later, on October 18, in connection with the injury of D. D. Lelyushenko, Govorov, at the request of G. K. Zhukov, was appointed commander of the 5th combined arms army, which fought heavy defensive battles on the outskirts of Mozhaisk. On the same day, October 18, the defensive formations of the 32nd Infantry Division were broken through and German troops entered Mozhaisk, and battles began to prevent an enemy tank breakthrough along the Mozhaisk Highway and the Minsk Motorway. In negotiations with the front command, Govorov manages to prove the inappropriateness of further struggle for Mozhaisk. In the first half of November, taking advantage of a two-week pause in the battle, the troops of the 5th Army organized a deeply layered defense on the approaches to Moscow, supported by a powerful artillery barrier and maneuverable anti-tank detachments, and prepared forces and means for the subsequent counter-offensive. On November 9, L. A. Govorov was awarded the rank of “Lieutenant General of Artillery,” and on November 10 he was awarded the Order of Lenin. In the offensive of the 4th Army that followed on December 1, von Kluge managed to break through the defenses of the 5th Army at the junction with units of the 33rd Army and, delving 10 kilometers into the defense of the Soviet troops, reached the area of the village of Akulovo. While in the battle area, Govorov personally leads the defensive actions, and by December 4 the breakthrough is eliminated. On December 6, the Klin-Solnechnogorsk operation of the troops of the right wing of the Western Front began, in which, from the second ten days of December, units of the right wing of the 5th Army actively took part. On December 11, army units launched a general offensive.
1.5. 1942
On January 2, L. A. Govorov was awarded the second Order of Lenin for his contribution to the December counteroffensive near Moscow.
“Lieutenant General Comrade. Govorov has commanded the Fifth Army since October 18, 1941. Conducted successful defensive operations in Mozhaisk and Zvenigorod. Conducts offensive operations well to defeat the enemy's Mozhaisk-Gzhatsk group. Well prepared in operational and tactical terms. The main disadvantage of Comrade. Govorov is a certain dispersion along the entire front and a lack of skill in gathering a fist for a strike action... Comrade. Govorov is a strong-willed, demanding, energetic, brave and organized commander of the troops.”
Combat characteristics of the commander of the 5th Army, Lieutenant General of Artillery L. A. Govorov; signed by the commander of the Western Front, General of the Army G. K. Zhukov, and member of the Military Council of the Front, I. S. Khokhlov, January 28, 1942.
In April, Govorov was hospitalized with an acute attack of appendicitis, and I. I. Fedyuninsky was appointed commander of the 5th Army.
On April 21, due to the failure of the Lyuban operation, the Volkhov Front was disbanded. On its basis, the Volkhov Group of Forces of the Leningrad Front was formed. On April 25, L. A. Govorov took command of the Leningrad group of troops of this front (23rd, 42nd and 55th armies, Primorsky and Nevsky operational groups). Since taking office, he has been actively involved in increasing the effectiveness of counter-battery warfare: he creates the Leningrad Artillery Corps of Counter-Battery Warfare (including, among other things, the artillery of the Baltic Fleet), and seeks from the Supreme High Command Headquarters a decision to allocate two aviation correction squadrons to Leningrad. He is actively working on the task of strengthening the external defensive perimeter: he is creating five field fortified areas on the near approaches to the city and placing separate artillery and machine-gun battalions in them, introducing a system of continuous trenches. Forms a front reserve.
In May, without undergoing candidate experience, he was accepted as a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). On June 8, after the notorious defeat of the 2nd Shock Army, the Volkhov Front was recreated, M. S. Khozin was removed from his post as commander of the Leningrad Front, the leadership of which passed to L. A. Govorov. In June-August, he trains front forces (Neva Operational Group, 55th Army) to participate in the Sinyavin offensive operation. The purpose of the operation was to relieve the blockade of Leningrad from land and disrupt the Northern Lights (Nordlicht) operation being prepared by Army Group North. By the end of September, it became obvious that the front forces were unable to cope with the task of breaking the blockade. On October 1, the command of the Leningrad Front received an order from the Supreme High Command Headquarters to retreat to their original positions (the Nevsky operational group retained the Nevsky patch).
At the end of October, Govorov begins developing a new operation. On November 25, front units began preparing for the upcoming hostilities. On December 2, the plan for the operation, called “Iskra,” was approved by the Supreme Command headquarters. The goal of the operation was to use counter strikes from the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts to cut through the enemy grouping in the area of the Sinyavinsky salient, connect south of Lake Ladoga and break the blockade of Leningrad.
1.6. 1943
On January 12, the offensive operation of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts began, and on January 18, the Soviet units formed a connection, the blockade was broken. On January 15, L. A. Govorov was awarded the rank of “Colonel General”. On February 27, the offensive was stopped, and the front command began drawing up plans for a new offensive operation. For the operation to break the blockade of Leningrad on January 28, Govorov was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree. In July-August, the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front takes part in the Mginsk operation. The purpose of this operation was to disrupt the plans of the command of Army Group North to restore the blockade ring. In September, a plan for the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic operation, developed with the active participation of L. A. Govorov, was presented to the Supreme Command Headquarters. According to the plan of this operation, the troops of the Leningrad Front were supposed to completely lift the blockade and liberate the territory of the Leningrad region from enemy units. On November 17, in the midst of preparations for the operation, Govorov was awarded the rank of “army general.”
1.7. 1944
On January 14, the troops of the Leningrad Front began the Leningrad-Novgorod operation. On January 27, a fireworks display was fired in Leningrad to commemorate the final lifting of the blockade, and the order to the victorious troops was signed, contrary to the established order, not by Stalin, but by Govorov. None of the commanders of the Great Patriotic War received such a privilege. For the success in carrying out this operation on February 21, L. A. Govorov was awarded the second Order of Suvorov, 1st degree. By March 1, despite the fact that the operation did not completely achieve its goals, the troops of the Leningrad and 2nd Baltic Fronts, by order of the Supreme High Command Headquarters, went on the defensive.
Since June 10, the Leningrad Front, in cooperation with the Karelian Front, the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga and Onega flotillas, has been conducting the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk operation, the main task of which was the withdrawal of Finland from the war. When planning military operations in this sector, Govorov abandoned the use of traditional tactics of a layered attack. Instead of the second echelon, a powerful front reserve was created, which made it possible to quickly create a decisive superiority of forces in the direction of the main attack. On June 18, L. A. Govorov was awarded the title of “Marshal of the Soviet Union,” and on June 20, units of the Red Army entered Vyborg. On June 20, 1944, the Finnish army repelled attempts by the 21st and 23rd armies to cross water barriers north and northwest of Vyborg. From this day until September 6, 1944, Soviet troops were unable to develop an offensive, despite their superiority in manpower and equipment [ source not specified 77 days] .
From July 24 to November 24, units of the Leningrad Front, carrying out the Narva, Tallinn offensive and Moonsund landing operations developed under the leadership of Govorov, defeated the German task force Narva and drove the enemy out of Estonia. Starting from October 1, by order of the Supreme Command Headquarters, simultaneously with the command of its front, it carries out the task of coordinating the actions of the 2nd and 3rd Baltic fronts in the Riga operation. After the capture of Riga on October 16, the 3rd Baltic Front was disbanded, and the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts began blockading the group of German troops in Courland.
1.8. Beginning 1945
On January 27, 1945, Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. From the beginning of February, he was appointed, concurrently, commander of the forces of the 2nd Baltic Front. On April 1, the front was disbanded, and all its units became part of the Leningrad Front. Directing the actions of the Soviet fronts against the Courland group of German troops, Govorov deliberately abandoned active combat operations in favor of blockading the encircled enemy. On May 8, the command of Army Group Kurland accepted the terms of the Soviet ultimatum and capitulated.
1.9. Post-war period
On May 31, 1945, L. A. Govorov was awarded the Order of Victory for the liberation of the Baltic states. On July 9, he was appointed commander of the troops of the Leningrad Military District, formed on the basis of the Leningrad Front. Since April 1946 - Chief Inspector of the Ground Forces. Since January 1947, he has held the post of chief inspector of the USSR Armed Forces, and since July 7, 1948, he has combined this position with the post of commander of the country's air defense. Under his leadership, a structural reorganization of the command and control of air defense forces is being carried out in the USSR; anti-aircraft missile systems, jet fighters, and the latest radar stations are being adopted in air defense units. In January 1948, he headed the “court of honor” that convicted four admirals - N. G. Kuznetsov, L. M. Galler, V. A. Alafuzov, G. A. Stepanov. Since April 1953, he was appointed to the post of chief inspector of the USSR Ministry of Defense. In May 1954, he became the first Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Air Defense Forces and was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the country. By that time, Govorov was seriously ill with hypertension, which was aggravated by frequent stress. In the summer of 1954 he had his first stroke. He died on the night of March 19, 1955 in the Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow. After his death, he was cremated, and the urn with his ashes was buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.
1.10. Family
- Wife - Lidia Ivanovna.
- Children: Vladimir Leonidovich (1924-2006) - army general, hero of the Soviet Union, chairman of the Russian Committee of War and Military Service Veterans; Sergei Leonidovich (b. 1944) - retired colonel.
2. Military ranks
Brigade commander - awarded in 1936, major general of artillery - 06/04/1940, lieutenant general of artillery - 09/11/1941, colonel general - 01/15/1943, army general - 11/17/1943, Marshal of the Soviet Union - 11/18/1944.
3. Awards
- Hero of the Soviet Union (01/27/1945)
- Five Orders of Lenin (11/10/1941, 01/02/1942, 01/27/1945, 02/21/1945, 02/21/1947)
- Order "Victory" (05/31/1945)
- Three Orders of the Red Banner (1921, 11/03/1944, 11/15/1950)
- Two Orders of Suvorov, 1st degree (01/28/1943, 02/21/1944)
- Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree (07/29/1944)
- Order of the Red Star (01/15/1940)
- Order of the Republic (03/03/1942, Tuva)
- Order of the Legion of Honor (France)
- Order of the Legion of Honor in the degree of "Commander in Chief" (USA)
- Military Cross 1939-1945 (French) Croix de Guerre 1939-45) (France)
- Medal "XX Years of the Red Army"
- Medal "For the Defense of Leningrad"
- Medal "For the Defense of Moscow"
- Medal "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
- Medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow"
- Medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
4. Memory of Govorov
St. Petersburg, pl. Stachek, monument to L. A. Govorov
Memorial sign. “1943, January 14-19. Square named after Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal L. A. Govorov.”
Streets and alleys in many cities of Russia and Ukraine are named after Marshal Govorov, including Moscow (Govorova Street), Kyiv, St. Petersburg, Odessa, Kirov, Elabuga, Donetsk, Kremenchug, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, and many others. Govorov's name was assigned to the Military Order of the October Revolution and the Patriotic War Engineering Radio Engineering Academy of Air Defense (formerly the Artillery Radio Engineering Academy of the Patriotic War Academy of the Soviet Army) - Kharkov.
Saint Petersburg:
- Monument to L. A. Govorov on Stachek Square (installed in 1999);
- Memorial plaque at the place of residence in 1942-1946 (Kronverkskaya street, house No. 29);
- Memorial plaque (Marshal Govorova St., building No. 2);
- Square named after Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal L. A. Govorov (at the intersection of Moskovsky Ave. and Fontanka River embankment) and the Memorial sign “Marshal L. A. Govorov Square” (opened 05/04/2010). Sculptor Viktor Sivakov. (material: granite, height: 1.5 m. On the front surface of the pyramid there is an inscription: “1943, January 14-19. Square named after Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal L. A. Govorov.”) , .
Yelabuga:
- Monument-bust to L. A. Govorov on Memory Square (installed in 2000)
- Memorial plaque on the building of the former secondary school (Naberezhnaya St., building No. 19)
Postage stamp. USSR stamp from the issue “Soviet Military Figures” (1977, Fig., DFA No. 4679)
“USSR Post 1977, 4 parts, Marshal of the Soviet Union L. A. Govorov 1897-1955”
Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov 1897-1955 Outstanding commander of the Soviet Army, commander of the troops of the Leningrad Front during the Great Patriotic War
Governor of St. Petersburg V. A. Yakovlev
Notes
- now Orichevsky district of the Kirov region
- USA Awards - zasluga.ru/catalog.php?tovar_id=916&PHPSESSID=7f92082f2d620c310f038c24de7612ca
- Gorod 812 - www.online812.ru/2010/10/01/008/?firstpage=1
- Two monuments to Govorov and Kharitonov were opened in St. Petersburg - Karpovka - karpovka.net/2010/05/04/15382/
Literature
- V. L. Telitsyn Marshal Govorov: From Kolchak’s officer to Marshal of the Soviet Union. Military and historical memoirs, hardcover, circulation 3000. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008. 320 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-27205-1
- B.V. Bychevsky Marshal Govorov. Series: Soviet commanders and military leaders. Publisher: Voenizdat, circulation: 50,000 copies. 1970. 176 p.
- B.V. Bychevsky Front Commander (About Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. Govorov). Series: Heroes of the Soviet Motherland. Publisher: Publishing House of Political Literature. 1973, circulation: 200,000 copies, paperback, 112 pp.
- A. A. Kirnosov Not a day without a victory! (The Tale of Marshal of the Soviet Union L.A. Govorov.) Publisher: Children's Literature. Leningrad, 1985, hardcover, circulation: 150,000 copies, 160 pp.
This abstract is based on an article from Russian Wikipedia. Synchronization completed 07/09/11 13:57:22
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