Hero of the Great Patriotic War, Kyrgyzstani Grigory Melentyevich Shemyakin

Hero of the Soviet Union Shemyakin Grigory Melentyevich

Grigory Melentyevich Shemyakin - a rifleman of the 1075th rifle regiment of the 316th rifle division of the 16th army of the Western Front, Red Army soldier.

He was born on December 25, 1906, in the city of Karakol, now Przhevalsk, in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, into a peasant family. He was Russian. He graduated from 8 grades. He worked as a meliorator.

In the Red Army since July 1941. He has been at the front since that time.

Rifleman of the 1075th rifle regiment (316th rifle division, 16th army, Western Front) Red Army soldier Shemyakin G.M. participated in the battle near the Dubosekovo railway junction (Volokolamsk district of the Moscow region) on November 16, 1941, as part of a group of tank destroyers led by political instructor V.G. Klochkova, in repelling numerous enemy attacks. The group destroyed 18 enemy tanks. In this battle, G.M. Shemyakin was seriously wounded.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 21, 1942, for exemplary performance of combat missions from the command at the front in the fight against the German fascist invaders and for the courage and heroism displayed during this, Red Army soldier Shemyakin Grigory Melentyevich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the medal "Gold Star" (No. 1037). After recovery, he continued to serve in the 48th artillery regiment. On November 7, 1942, he was awarded the medal "Gold Star" and the Order of Lenin.

After the war, sergeant Shemyakin was demobilized. He lived in the city of Alma-Ata. He died on October 25, 1973. A museum dedicated to the Heroes of Panfilov was opened in the village of Nelidovo, Volokolamsk district of the Moscow region.

A memorial was erected at the site of the feat of the 28 Panfilov heroes.

From the essay by A. Krivitsky "About the 28 Fallen Heroes" (Newspaper "Red Star" dated January 22, 1942)

“It was November 16. The enemy's armored columns were at the Volokolamsk highway...

The Kaprov regiment was defending the line: height "251" - the village of Petelino - the Dubosekovo junction. On the left flank, occupying the railway, there was an infantry unit...

...Using hidden approaches on the left flank of the regiment's defense, a company of fascists rushed there. They did not expect to meet serious resistance. The fighters silently watched the approaching machine gunners. They precisely distributed targets. The Germans walked as if on a walk, fully exposed. Only 150 meters separated them from the trench. A strange, unnatural silence reigned around. The sergeant put two fingers in his mouth, and suddenly a Russian manly whistle sounded. It was so unexpected that for a moment the machine gunners stopped. The machine guns rattled and rifle volleys rang out. Accurate fire immediately decimated the ranks of the fascists.

The attack of the machine gunners was repelled. More than seventy enemy corpses lay near the trench. The faces of the tired fighters were blackened with gunpowder; they were happy to have measured their strength with the enemy, but they did not yet know their fate, they did not realize that the main thing was still ahead.

Tanks! Twenty armored monsters were moving towards the line defended by twenty-eight guardsmen.

The fighters exchanged glances. An unequal battle lay ahead...

...The battle lasted more than four hours, and the armored fist of the fascists could break through the line defended by the guardsmen. The brave men knocked out enemy vehicles with anti-tank rifles, ignited them with bottles of flammable liquid. Fourteen tanks had already frozen motionless on the battlefield. But the fighter Yemtsov was killed, Petrenko was bleeding, lying on the straw covering the bottom of the trench, and Konkin, Timofeev, and Trofimov were dead. At that moment, a second echelon of tanks appeared in the smoky twilight. Among them were several heavy ones. Thirty new machines were counted by Klochkova.

There was no doubt - they were heading for the railway junction, for the trench of the brave...

...With eyes inflamed from tension, Klochkova looked at his comrades.

— Thirty tanks, comrades, — he said to the fighters, — we will all probably have to die. Russia is great, and there is nowhere to retreat. Behind us is Moscow!

The tanks moved towards the trench. Wounded Bondarenko, crouching next to Klochkova, hugged him with his uninjured arm and said, “Let’s kiss...” And all of them, who were in the trench, kissed each other, raised their rifles, and prepared grenades. The tanks were getting closer and closer. They were already at the very trench. The fearless rose to meet them.

The battle lasted thirty minutes, and the brave men were already out of ammunition. One by one, they fell out of line. Moskalenko perished under the tracks of a tank, scratching its steel tracks with his bare hands. Kozhebergenov walked straight towards the muzzle of the enemy machine gun. About ten tanks were knocked out and burning. Klochkova, clutching the last bundle of grenades, ran towards the heavy machine that had just crushed Bezrodny. The political instructor managed to break the track of the monster and, pierced by bullets, fell to the ground...

...All this was told by Natarov, who was already lying on his deathbed. He was recently found in the hospital.”

From the award sheet of Private G.M. Shemyakin

“Comrade Shemyakin, as part of the 1075th now-Guards rifle regiment, participated more than once in fierce battles with the enemy. He burned with hatred for the enemy, who encroached on the happy free life of the Soviet people, and with love for our Motherland. He was always a brave, courageous, and disciplined soldier of the regiment.

The regiment, defending the approaches to the native capital, dealt severe blows to the enemy in open battle; despite this, the enemy, bleeding, rushed towards Moscow.

On November 16, 1941, the Germans again threw large forces into the attack, trying to break through to Moscow.

To the area at the Dubosekovo junction, which was defended by 28 heroes of the 4th company, the enemy, after the repulsed attack of the machine gunners, threw 50 tanks. A tense battle ensued. The 28 heroes, led by political instructor Klochkova, including comrade Shemyakin, did not flinch and accepted the battle. All heroically laid down their heads, but burned 18 tanks and did not let the enemy through.”

From the account of participant of the legendary battle of the 28 Guardsmen-Panfilovtsy G.M. Shemyakin (“Kazakhstan Truth” dated January 15, 1944)

The decisive moment had come. We, twenty-eight guardsmen, volunteered from different companies to form a group of tank destroyers, prepared our positions - dug trenches, camouflaged the surrounding area.

Suddenly, the general himself appeared.

— This is not the place — he said. And explained that enemy planes could definitely fly in here and, of course, bomb us. He ordered us to move forward about 200 meters and fortify there. This was not far from the Dubosekovo junction. Major General Panfilov lay on the ground, looked around, and said that this was the most suitable place.

...Finally, on the morning of November 16, 35 enemy planes appeared above us. They began to bomb exactly the place where we had initially prepared our defense... Soon machine gunners appeared. There were more than a hundred of them... The distance between us and the Germans was reduced to about 50 meters. The sergeant... gave a sharp whistle as a signal. The fascists stopped in shock, and we opened hurricane fire. The machine gunners fell to the ground like sheaves. About 80 German soldiers and officers lay on the glade. The rest ran back.

After the machine gunners, tanks moved towards us. We counted 20 vehicles.

— Comrades, — we heard the voice of political instructor Klochkova, — not many tanks. There’s not one tank for each brother...

A battle ensued. All combat means were put into action: machine guns, anti-tank rifles, rifles, grenades, and bottles with flammable mixtures. Our fighters fought like lions.

Of the twenty enemy tanks, only five remained, which turned back.

But again, 30 other tanks appeared. Someone noted that now there were more tanks than brothers.

— It’s okay, brothers, — encouraged the political instructor. - It’s not scary. There aren’t two tanks for each brother.

And then we heard the piercing, soul-stirring words of a Soviet patriot. Political instructor Klochkova said:
Russia is great, and there is nowhere to retreat. Behind us is Moscow!

The battle flared up more than before. Enemy tanks pressed on us. Despite heavy losses, the fascists climbed onto our defense, trying to break through. But a handful of Panfilov guardsmen fought heroically against the enemy. Not feeling the pain of shrapnel and bullet wounds, the Soviet brave men mercilessly destroyed the steel monsters.

Two enemy vehicles moved towards me at once. I threw a grenade under one and broke its track. The other was moving forward and was about to crush me under its tracks. I fell into the trench, and the tracks screeched above my head.

As soon as the tank crossed my trench, I threw a bottle of flammable liquid at it. The steel monster burst into flames, and there was an explosion of terrible force. I lost consciousness.

I woke up and couldn’t understand where I was and what had happened to me.

— Well, this one will live, — said the man in the white coat standing by my bed.

It turned out that I was in the hospital.

I had to undergo a long treatment: I was seriously wounded and severely shell-shocked. Only on March 26, 1942, did I insist on being sent to the front lines. This time I ended up on the Leningrad Front.

What happened to the other comrades from the group of 28, I did not know...”

From the award sheet of Private G.M. Shemyakin

“For displaying bravery, courage, and heroism, comrade Shemyakin deserves to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.”

The nomination for the award was dated April 25, 1942, and signed by the regiment commander Colonel Ilya Vasilyevich Kirov and battalion commissioner Akhmedzhan Mukhamedyarov. By this nomination, by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 21, 1942, G.M. Shemyakin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

After recovering from shell shock and wounds in the hospital, he was sent to the 48th artillery regiment. By special invitation, the glorious warrior visited his native division, and here, at a solemn meeting on November 7, 1942, he was awarded the "Gold Star" and the Order of Lenin. Receiving the honorary award from his homeland, Grigory Melentyevich emotionally said:

— I cannot find the words to express the joy I feel today, on the 25th anniversary of October, on the day when I, a simple Russian man, was honored to receive the high government award "Gold Star" and the Order of Lenin. I assure you, combat friends, that I will justify the award. Many human lives will pay for the torments and sufferings that Hitler and his gang of murderers and rapists have inflicted on our freedom-loving people. I will mercilessly take revenge on the fascist scoundrels for their atrocities and violence.

As it turned out later, not all 28 Panfilov heroes perished. Besides Shemyakin, despite severe wounds, Illyarion Romanovich Vasiliev, Ivan Demidovich Shadrin, and the fourth heroic participant of the battle at Dubosekovo, Dmitry Fomich Trofimov, who died after the war in Kislovodsk where he was undergoing treatment, survived as if resurrected from the dead.

At the end of 1942, Grigory Melentyevich, due to deteriorating health, was again forced to go to the hospital, then served in rear units. In 1943, he studied for some time at the Frunze Infantry School. Together with his fellow soldiers, he tirelessly reminded the living of the lessons of the past, honoring the memory of the fallen heroes, telling about the combat path of the Panfilov Guards Division, and spared no energy to inspire people with a desire for patriotic military fervor and productive labor. When in January 1943 he visited his native collective farm in the Pre-Issyk-Kul region, the newspaper "Soviet Kyrgyzstan" wrote:

“The collective farmers of the Voroshilov Artel of the Darkhansky Village Council announced Stakhanovite shifts named after guard Shemyakin. 70-year-old Murza Godzhiev, taking his shift, produced more than three norms. The old blacksmith Saikov exceeded the task five times. The collective farmers working on the cleaning of seed grain sharply increased labor productivity.”

Or here is a note from the same period about the speech of the Hero-Panfilovets at a citywide rally in Przhevalsk:

“A bright speech in Russian and Kyrgyz was delivered by Comrade Shemyakin. He spoke about the combat deeds of the 28 Panfilov heroes and Red Army fighters, calling on the working people of the city to selflessly work for the benefit of the Socialist Motherland.”

Grigory Melentyevich did not cease his military-patriotic work and did not lose touch with his renowned division even after being discharged from the army due to health reasons. Together with Illyarion Vasiliev, he was an honorary guest at the solemn anniversary of the Panfilov Division, and together with his battle comrade, he stood at the clock at the monument to Vasily Klochkova. The chronicler of the Panfilov Division, former military correspondent A. Krivitsky, recalling this celebration, wrote touching lines about the exciting ceremony of carrying out the banner of the legendary division, with which we would like to conclude our story.

“Darkened by gunpowder smoke, shot banner - the eternal soul of the guard unit. It symbolizes in our army the State flag of the Soviet Union.

In the huge hall filled with soldiers, officers, delegates from Moscow, which the division defended, Kazakhstan, where it was formed, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, where many of its veterans live, an exciting ceremony of carrying out the banner took place.

People froze when the first commissioner of the division, Sergey Alexandrovich Egorov, appeared in the wide-open doors, gripping the staff of the scarlet banner. Graying, in civilian clothes, but with a military posture, he walked firmly, accompanied by assistants and a guard.

The young Panfilovtsy and old veterans gazed intently at the battle banner...

These were moments of high military inspiration, and what only veterans did not remember during this time, and what reverence was in the eyes of the new generation of Panfilovtsy, frozen in silence before their banner, carried by the first commissioner of the division!..”

A. ZHIRKOV