BELOV GRIGORIY ANDREYEVICH

BELOV GRIGORIY ANDREYEVICH

captain, a participant in Civilian and World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union (03.24.1945)

He was born on October 12, 1901 in the village of Sara (now Sursk district of Ulyanovsk region). Russian. He graduated from elementary school. He was orphaned early. From the age of 13 he worked as a sailor on barges sailing on the Volga River.
In the Red Army since April 1920. In August 1920, he graduated from the district party-political course of the Zavolzhsky military district in Samara and was appointed political instructor of the reserve guard regiment.
In 1925 he completed a retraining course for commissars and political officers in Moscow. In 1927 he went to the academy.
In 1930 he graduated from the Military Academy of the Red Army named after NG Tolmachev in Leningrad.
In January 1937, he went on a business trip to Mongolia, where he served as an instructor in the 7th Cavalry Division of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Army.
In October 1941, he became the commander of the 87th Reserve Cavalry Regiment (Kovrov) of the Moscow Military District.
In July 1942, colonel GA Belov was sent to the Bryansk Front as Deputy Commander of the Cavalry Division of the 8th Cavalry Corps of the 112th Volunteer Bashkir (February 14, 1943 – 16th Guards). Moving on the 3rd Army line, the division held the front on the Olim River during the difficult period of the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defense operation. The division was later transferred to General N. E. Chibisov’s task force and then to the 38th Army.
From October 1942, he served as Deputy Commander of the 8th Cavalry Corps, ensuring the march of the 600-kilometer cavalry corps from Bryansk to the South-Western Front, where the corps successfully participated in the Middle Don offensive operation as part of the 5th Tank Army, including fighting in long raids on the deep rear of the enemy.
During the difficult January-March 1943 operation in Voroshilovgrad, corps units launched a new long-range raid on the German rear, and in Operation Kharkov, they were suddenly left helpless hundreds of miles from the front line. On February 23, 1943, Major General MM Shaimuratov, Commander of the 16th Guards Cavalry Division, was killed in a retreat in the Voroshilovograd region, after which the division was headed by Colonel GA Belov. After coming out of the siege, he was appointed commander of this unit and commanded it until the end of the war.
In March-April, the division was part of the 3rd Guards Army and was later transferred to the High Command Reserve. When replenished in September, the division will be joined by the 7th Guards Cavalry Corps and the 61st Army of the Central Front.
In September 1943, in the battle for the Dnieper, the division commander, guards colonel G.A.Belov, fought valiantly. In the first phase of Operation Chernigov-Pripyat, the unit will cross the Desna and Snov rivers one after the other, then go on a new long-distance raid and cover a distance of more than 150 kilometers behind the German front in full autonomy.
The division of G.A.Belov, which encircled the city of Chernigov from the west, would help to liberate the city as soon as possible by the troops of the 13th and 61st armies. For this victory the division was awarded the honorary title of “Chernigov” (09.21.1943).
Continuing the attack, the cavalry crossed the Dnieper River, occupying a bridgehead on the west bank of the Dimarka Nedanchichi in the Bragin district of the Gomel region of the Byelorussian SSR. In this operation, by the beginning of October 1943, the division destroyed about 2,000 enemy soldiers and officers, 5 tanks, 18 artillery pieces, 22 mortars and many other weapons, captured 1,362 enemy soldiers, 7 capturing artillery and other military booty and liberating 47 settlements.
For his achievements, on October 29, 1943, G.A.Belov was awarded the military rank of “Major General” and was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 15, 1944, guard general-major Andreyevich Belov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union “For exemplary performance of the command’s combat missions and demonstrated courage and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders on the front”.
The division successfully participates in offensive operations in Gomel-Rechitsa, Kalinkovichi-Mozir, Belarus (including Minsk operations and Lublin-Brest operations), Wisla-Oder, East Pomerania and Berlin. Under his command, the division became one of the most rewarding units in the Red Army.
On June 24, 1945, during the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow, Major General G.A.Belov commanded a cavalry unit.
He lived in Moscow. He died on June 23, 1994. He was buried in Vostryakovsky Cemetery in Moscow.