Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory Vasily Ivanovich Kurov
Vasily Ivanovich Kurov
Commander of a separate anti-aircraft machine gun platoon (47th Guards Rifle Division, 8th Guards Army, 1st Belorussian Front), Guards Senior Sergeant – at the time of his nomination for the Order of Glory 1st Class.
Born on November 16, 1915, in the city of Novo-Uzen, now in the Saratov region, in a peasant family. Russian.
Graduated from 7 grades. Worked in a collective farm. From 1936 to 1938, he served in the Red Army in the Far East.
After being discharged to the reserve, he went to friends and former comrades in Kyrgyzstan. Lived in the city of Uzgen in the Osh region. Worked as an instructor for Osoaviakhim, then led military training for the residents of the village of Mirza-Aki in the Uzgen district.
In October 1941, he was re-enlisted into the army by the Uzgen District Military Commissariat of the Osh region. He was at the front from February 1942. He fought in anti-aircraft units on the Southwestern, 3rd Ukrainian, and 1st Belorussian fronts. Member of the VKP(b)/CPSU since 1943.
From December 1942, he fought as part of the 47th Guards Rifle Division, first as a commander of an anti-aircraft machine gun crew in the 137th Guards Rifle Regiment, then in a separate anti-aircraft machine gun platoon.
His first award was the Medal "For Courage".
From the memoirs of V.I. Kurov: "Fighting was taking place on the Mius River. All around was open steppe. There was nowhere to hide. I had to recall hunting techniques for camouflage. We opened a machine gun position with my second, camouflaged it.
Nearby, a second machine gun was also dug into the ground. The Germans advanced on us with tank support. We let them get to three hundred meters, and then opened fire on them with all the machine guns at once. We cut off the infantry from the tanks and did not let them rise. The tanks retreated. Several times the fascists tried to attack our positions. But we held them."
During the advance of our troops in the summer of 1944, Guards Senior Sergeant Kurov and his crew were in the combat formations of the infantry, covering them from enemy air attacks. On June 21, in the area of the village of Savino (Vladimirets District, Rivne region), he shot down an enemy aircraft with his machine gun.
By the order of the commander of the 47th Guards Rifle Division No. 091/n dated August 21, 1944, Guards Senior Sergeant Kurov Vasily Ivanovich was awarded the Order of Glory 3rd Class.
On February 20, 1945, in battles near the city of Küstrin (now Kostshin, Poland), Guards Senior Sergeant Kurov destroyed over 10 enemy soldiers with machine gun fire and captured several. In the area of the settlement of Kitzeburgt (Germany), he repeatedly repelled enemy air raids. During one of them, he shot down a "Focke-Wulf 190".
By the order of the troops of the 8th Guards Army No. 530/n dated March 17, 1945, Guards Senior Sergeant Kurov Vasily Ivanovich was awarded the Order of Glory 2nd Class.
Fighting for Berlin continued unabated. Vasily Kurov, with his machine gun, was among the storming troops. Fire, smoke, and dust raised by falling walls obscured everything: the nearby intersections, houses, and squares. From this haze, they shot, threw grenades, and sent "Fausts". But the commanders called:
— Forward! To the Reichstag!
And the soldiers did not stop, they moved forward.
Vasily constantly changed the position of the machine gun. Sometimes he found himself ahead of everyone, sometimes he lingered to finish off the fascists. Finally, the last canal was overcome. Behind it was the Reichstag. Through the clouds of smoke, the dome was already visible, and suddenly – a mine exploded nearby. Vasily was thrown over the machine gun, hit the sidewalk, and everything plunged into silent darkness. He woke up in a medical battalion and first asked: — Did we take the Reichstag?
They answered him "we took it" and took him further to the hospital. There he spent about seven months, then was demobilized and learned at home that he had been awarded the third Order of Soldier's Glory.
In the last award sheet about him, it was written:
"Comrade Kurov V.I. in battles with the fascist invaders showed himself to be a fearless warrior and, not sparing his life, performed more than one feat in the Great Patriotic War, for which he was awarded four times.
In the last offensive from the Oder River to Berlin, Comrade Kurov, courageously repelling enemy air attacks on our front line in the area west of Zeelow, on April 17, 1945, shot down one enemy aircraft "Focke-Wulf 190", and on April 20, 1945, supporting the advance of our infantry in the area of Schlagentin with his heavy machine gun, destroyed 2 enemy machine gun positions with his fire.
During the crossing of the canal in Berlin, Comrade Kurov and his crew captured 11 Hitlerites in battle.
He deserves a government award – the Order of Glory 1st Class."
By the end of the war, anti-aircraft gunner Kurov had six enemy aircraft shot down, a thermite installation put out of action, over 300 fascists destroyed, and 20 enemy firing points.
An experienced machine gunner, Vasily Kurov fought as a soldier of the Soviet Army should: bravely and fearlessly.
In 1945, he was demobilized. He returned to his homeland in the city of Novo-Uzen. Worked in a construction organization.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated May 15, 1946, for exceptional courage, bravery, and fearlessness in battles with the Hitlerite invaders, Guards Senior Sergeant Kurov Vasily Ivanovich was awarded the Order of Glory 1st Class (No. 1609). He became a full cavalier of the Order of Glory.
He died on November 17, 1994.
Awarded the Orders of the Patriotic War 1st Class (03.11.1985), Red Star (03.25.1944), Glory of 3 degrees, medals, including the Medal "For Courage" (07.25.1943).
On February 8, 2018, a solemn rally was held near the main entrance of school No. 8 in the city of Novo-Uzen, dedicated to the opening of a memorial plaque in honor of the hero of the Great Patriotic War Vasily Ivanovich Kurov. In 2015, this school, located in Novo-Uzen on Kurov Street, was named after him. And now a commemorative plaque has been unveiled here, stating that it was in this school that the holder of three Orders of Glory studied.
Kyrgyzstanis – Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory
