PETROV IVAN EFIMOVICH

PETROV IVAN EFIMOVICH
Army General, participant in World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union (May 29, 1945)

   He was born on September 18 (30), 1896 in the city of Trubchevsk of Orlov province of Bryansk region, in a family of shoemakers. He was Russian. From 1913 to 1916, he studied at the Teachers’ Seminary in Karachev.
   After the end of the Civil War, he was the commander of a special cavalry squadron of the 11^th Cavalry Division of the First Cavalry Army. In the spring of 1922, he began his service in Turkestan, and his unit was abandoned to fight the Basmachis.
   In 1926 and 1931 he graduated from the tactical shooting training courses of the Red Army Command Headquarters (KUKS “Vistrel”).
   In 1929 he became the commander of the 2^nd Turkmen Cavalry Regiment of the Turkmen Brigade. That year, he took part in a Red Army military operation in Afghanistan. From 1931 to 1932, he was the commander of the 1^st Turkestan Mountain Rifle Division.
   From 1932 to 1940, he was the head and commissioner of the United Military School (it had been called as Tashkent Infantry Military School since 1937). On November 4, 1939, he was promoted to division commander. He was the commander of the 194^th Infantry Division from June 1940, and infantry inspector of the Central Asian Military District from October. On June 4, 1940, with the introduction of the rank of general in the Red Army, I.E.Petrov was awarded the rank of major general.
   In March 1941, Petrov was appointed the commander of the 27^th Mechanized Corps in Central Asia.
   With the outbreak of World War II, the corps was quickly formed and sent to the Bryansk region. On July 15, 1941, the management of the 27^th Mechanized Corps was disbanded. General I.E. Petrov was appointed the commander of the 1^st Cavalry Division.
   On August 20, 1941, Chapaev, who had taken part in the defense of Odessa, was appointed commander of the 25^th Infantry Division. On October 5, 1941, he took command of the Primorsky Army. He led the evacuation of Soviet troops from Odessa to the Crimean peninsula.
   From August 1942, he commanded the 44^th Army, and from October 1942, the Black Sea Army of the Transcaucasian Front. As a commander he was active in the battles for the defense of the Caucasus, which played an important role in the defense operation of Tuapsin. On October 14, 1942, I.E. Petrov was given the military rank of “Lieutenant General”.
   On August 27, 1943, he was promoted to the rank of colonel-general and on October 9, 1943, to the rank of army general.
   By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 29, 1945, “For skillful leadership, initiative and loyalty in the operations in Berlin and Prague”, Army General Petrov Ivan was awarded the title of “The Hero of the Soviet Union”
   He died on April 7, 1958. He was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.