KOVESHNIKOV DMITRIY STEPANOVICH

KOVESHNIKOV DMITRI STEPANOVICH
Major, Participant of World War II, The Hero of the Soviet Union (November 17, 1943)

He was born in 1919. In 1921, he and his family moved to the Shymkent region of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In 1928, after a year of study at a village school, his brother took him to Kokand (Fergana region of Uzbek SSR), where he finished the 8^th grade and hydrometer courses.

In 1936 he was drafted into the Red Army. He participated in World War II. He served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Rifle Regiment in Kolomna (Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukrainian SSR).

In the autumn of 1941, fighting fiercely regiment surrounded. After coming out of the siege, he firstly served as a platoon commander and then as a deputy commander of a training battalion.

In 1942, he was appointed a Deputy Chief of Staff of the Mountain Rifle Regiment, and then until 1943, the Chief of Staff of the Mountain Rifle Division. He was seriously wounded in the summer of 1942. From 1943 to 1944 he was the first chief of staff and then the commander of the Mountain Rifle Division (Primorsky Army).

In September 1943 he took part in the battles for Novorossiysk. On the night of November 1, 1943, he took part in the Kerch-Eltigen landing operation together with the advanced units of the 1339^th Mountain Rifle Regiment. Occupying bridgehead, he repulsed 19 Nazi counterattacks backed by tanks. He replaced a regimental commander who was severely wounded in a fierce battle, assumed command of the regiment, and had little personal leadership in repelling enemy counterattacks.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 17, 1943, “For exemplary performance of combat duties, courage and heroism in the fight against Nazi invaders on the front”, Major Koveshnikov Dmitriy was awarded the title of “The Hero of the Soviet Union”.

He died on December 17, 1998 in Moscow. He was buried in Troyekurovsky Cemetery.