The Airborne Forces are absolutely deservedly considered the main brainchild of Vasily Margelov. However, the general also distinguished himself on the family front. Few people know, but Margelov was a father of many children: he raised five sons. All of them followed in the footsteps of their parents and dedicated their lives to the Russian army.
Gennady
As you know, at the end of the 1920s, Vasily Filippovich Margelov was drafted into the Red Army. The recruit was sent to study at the United Belarusian Military School. It was then that Margelov first acquired the status of a married man. In the early autumn of 1931, the young couple had a son. The boy was named Gennady. However, the happiness did not last long. Maria Margelova could not stand the nomadic life that her husband led due to his profession. The child remained in the care of his grandparents, Vasily Filippovich’s parents.
Nevertheless, the father apparently had a huge influence on his son, because, while still a 13-year-old teenager, Gennady Vasilyevich fled to the front. Margelov Sr. did not drive his son away: for some time Gennady fought in the division commanded by his parent. Later, according to Oleg Smyslov, author of the book “General Margelov,” Gennady Margelov graduated Suvorov School. He subsequently received the rank of major general. Last place His service was listed as the Leningrad Military Physical Education Institute named after Lesgaft.
Anatoly and Vitaly
Vasily Margelov met his second wife, Feodosia Efremovna Selitskaya, in Belarus. In this marriage, “paratrooper No. 1” had sons Anatoly and Vitaly. Despite the presence of children, this union did not turn out to be very durable. The divorce of their parents did not affect the professional orientation of Anatoly and Vitaly in any way: they both decided to follow in their father’s footsteps. Vitaly, according to Eric Ford, author of the publication “Behind the Scenes of the FSB,” rose to the rank of colonel general. Most He devoted his life to foreign intelligence and even served as deputy head of the SVR.
But Anatoly Margelov, as his brother Alexander Margelov writes in his book “Paratrooper No. 1. Army General Margelov,” graduated from a radio engineering university in Taganrog. Since 1959, Anatoly Margelov has been creating new types of weapons. He has more than 200 different inventions to his credit. Thanks to such efficiency and, of course, talent, Anatoly Vasilyevich became a doctor technical sciences at just over 30 years old. Almost until the end of his days he worked at the Taganrog Research Institute of Communications.
Vasily and Alexander
Vasily Margelov met his third wife at the end of 1941. At that time, the battles near Leningrad were just going on. Anna Aleksandrovna Kurakina also took part in the Great Patriotic War and at one time operated on a wounded military leader. Margelov and Kurakina became legal husband and wife only in 1947, and the twins Vasily and Alexander were born 2 years earlier. Margelov's younger sons were influenced not only by the general himself, but also by their older brothers. Vasily and Alexander developed excellent relationships with Gennady, Anatoly and Vitaly. Therefore, it is not surprising that their destinies were also connected with the army.
According to Oleg Krivopalov, author of the book “Notes of a Soviet Officer: at the Turn of Epochs,” Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov graduated from the rocket department of the capital’s aviation institute, and then from the airborne school and armored academy. He rose to the rank of colonel and even became a Hero Russian Federation. After his resignation, Alexander Margelov worked as an expert at Rosvooruzhenie. And Vasily Vasilyevich Margelov retired with the rank of major. But in last years During his life, he worked as deputy director of the Directorate of International Relations of the Voice of Russia broadcasting company.
Vasily Filippovich Margelov. Born on December 14 (27), 1908 in Ekaterinoslav (later Dnepropetrovsk, now Dnepr) - died on March 4, 1990 in Moscow. Soviet military leader, commander of the USSR Airborne Forces (1954-1959, 1961-1979), army general (1967), Hero Soviet Union(1944), laureate of the USSR State Prize (1975), candidate of military sciences (1968).
Vasily Margelov (nee Markelov) was born on December 14 (27), 1908 in Yekaterinoslav (later Dnepropetrovsk, now Dnepr).
Father - Philip Ivanovich Margelov ( real name- Markelov), originally from the Mogilev province, a metallurgist, during the First World War he became a holder of two St. George Crosses.
Mother - Agafya Stepanovna, originally from Bobruisk district of present-day Belarus.
Older brother - Ivan Filippovich Margelov.
Younger brother - Nikolai Filippovich Margelov.
Sister - Maria Filippovna.
The surname Margelov appeared on my father’s party card due to an error. Since my father did not dare change his party card, later all the documents were changed to the name Margelov, incl. and metrics of Vasily Filippovich.
Since 1913, the family lived in their father’s homeland in Kostyukovichi, Klimovichi district, Mogilev province. There, in 1921, Vasily graduated from the parochial school.
WITH early years started working, in particular, as a teenager he worked as a loader, then as a carpenter.
In 1921 he entered the leather workshop as an apprentice and soon became an assistant master. In 1923, he became a laborer at the local Khleboproduct. He graduated from the rural youth school and worked as a forwarder delivering mail on the Kostyukovichi-Khotimsk line.
Since 1924 he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M.I. Kalinin as a laborer, then a horse driver - a driver of horses hauling trolleys.
In 1925 he was sent to Belarus, where he worked as a forester in a timber industry enterprise. In Kostyukovichi in 1927 he became chairman of the working committee of the timber industry enterprise and was elected to the local Council.
In 1928, he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to study at the United Belarusian Military School (UBVSH) named after. Central Election Commission of the BSSR in Minsk, enrolled in a group of snipers. From the 2nd year - foreman of a machine gun company.
Member of the CPSU(b) since 1929.
In April 1931, he graduated with honors from the Order of the Red Banner of Labor from the United Belarusian Military School named after. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR. Appointed commander of a machine gun platoon of the regimental school of the 99th Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Belarusian Rifle Division in Mogilev.
Since 1933 - platoon commander in the Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the General Military School named after. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR (from 11/6/1933 - named after M.I. Kalinin, from 1937 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor Minsk Military Infantry School named after M.I. Kalinin). In February 1934 he was appointed assistant company commander, in May 1936 - commander of a machine gun company.
From October 25, 1938, he commanded the 2nd battalion of the 23rd rifle regiment of the 8th Minsk rifle division named after. Dzerzhinsky Belarusian Special Military District. He headed the reconnaissance of the 8th Infantry Division, being the head of the 2nd division of the division headquarters. In this position he participated in the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939.
Vasily Margelov during the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940) commanded the Separate reconnaissance ski battalion of the 596th Infantry Regiment of the 122nd Division. The division was initially stationed in Brest, and in November 1939 it was sent to Karelia.
During one of the operations he captured Swedish officers General Staff.
After the end of the Soviet-Finnish War, he was appointed to the position of assistant commander of the 596th regiment for combat units. Since October 1940 - commander of the 15th separate disciplinary battalion of the Leningrad Military District (15th detachment, Novgorod region).
Vasily Margelov during the Great Patriotic War:
At the beginning of July 1941, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st People's Militia Division of the Leningrad Front - the basis of the regiment was made up of fighters of the former 15th separate disciplinary battalion.
On November 21, 1941, he was appointed commander of the 1st Special Ski Regiment of Red Banner Baltic Fleet sailors. The Marines accepted the commander, which was especially emphasized by addressing him by the naval equivalent of the rank of “major” - “Comrade Captain 3rd Rank.” The prowess of the “brothers” sank into Margelov’s heart. Subsequently, having become the commander of the Airborne Forces, as a sign that the paratroopers had adopted the glorious traditions of their older brother - the Marine Corps and continued them with honor, Margelov ensured that the paratroopers received the right to wear vests, but - to emphasize their belonging to the sky - the paratroopers have them blue.
Since July 1942 - commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, chief of staff and deputy commander of the 3rd Guards Rifle Division.
The award sheet depicts the regiment’s battles on the banks of the Myshkova River: “The 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, under the skillful leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Margelov, held back the advance of large enemy forces who, with the support of 70 tanks, tried to break through the regiment’s defenses in the area of the village of Vasilievka and connect with the enemy group surrounded in the Stalingrad area. As a result of the battles, he captured 2 tanks, 12 guns, 2 anti-aircraft guns, 6 machine guns as trophies and destroyed more than 900 enemy soldiers and officers, 36 tanks and armored vehicles. In the battle, Comrade Margelov was seriously shell-shocked, but two days later he returned to duty. A strong-willed and fearless commander. The regiment owes its successes to his firm and skillful leadership. Worthy of being awarded the Order of the Red Banner.”
After division commander K. A. Tsalikov was wounded, command passed to Chief of Staff Vasily Margelov for the duration of his treatment. Under the leadership of Margelov, on July 17, 1943, soldiers of the 3rd Guards Division broke through 2 lines of Nazi defense on the Mius Front, captured the village of Stepanovka and provided a springboard for the assault on Saur-Mogila.
Since 1944 - commander of the 49th Guards Rifle Division of the 28th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. He led the division’s actions during the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kherson, for which in March 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
The 49th division received the honorary name “Kherson”. The soldiers of his formation brought freedom to the residents of Nikolaev and Odessa, distinguished themselves during the Iasi-Kishinev operation, entered Romania and Bulgaria on the shoulders of the enemy, successfully fought in Yugoslavia, took Budapest and Vienna.
During the war, commander Margelov was mentioned ten times in the gratitude orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
Orders (gratitude) of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in which V. F. Margelov was noted:
For crossing the Dnieper River in the lower reaches, and capturing the city of Kherson - a large junction of railway and water communications and an important stronghold of the German defense at the mouth of the Dnieper River. March 13, 1944. No. 83;
For taking by storm the large regional and industrial center of Ukraine, the city of Nikolaev - an important railway junction, one of the largest ports on the Black Sea and a strong stronghold of the German defense at the mouth of the Southern Bug. March 28, 1944. No. 96;
For the assault on the territory of Hungary on the city and large railway junction of Szolnok - an important stronghold of the enemy’s defense on the Tisza River. November 4, 1944. No. 209;
For breaking through the heavily fortified enemy defenses southwest of Budapest, the cities of Székesfehérvár and Biczke - large communications hubs and important strongholds of the enemy's defense - were captured by storm. December 24, 1944. No. 218;
For the complete capture of the capital of Hungary, the city of Budapest - a strategically important center of German defense on the routes to Vienna. February 13, 1945. No. 277;
For breaking through the heavily fortified German defenses in the Värteshegyszeg mountains, west of Budapest, the defeat of a group of German troops in the Esztergom region, as well as the capture of the cities of Esztergom, Nesmey, Felshe-Halla, Tata. March 25, 1945. No. 308;
For the capture of the city and the important road junction of Magyarovar and the city and railway station Kremnica is a strong stronghold of the German defense on the southern slopes of the Velkafatra ridge. April 3, 1945. No. 329;
For the capture of cities and important railway junctions Malacki and Brook, as well as the cities of Previdza and Banovce - strong strongholds of German defense in the Carpathian Strip. April 5, 1945. No. 331;
For the encirclement and defeat of a group of German troops trying to retreat from Vienna to the north, and at the same time capturing the cities of Korneyburg and Floridsdorf - powerful strongholds of German defense on the left bank of the Danube. April 15, 1945. No. 337;
For the capture of the cities of Jaroměřice and Znojmo in Czechoslovakia and the cities of Gollabrunn and Stockerau in Austria - important communications hubs and strong strongholds of German defense. May 8, 1945. No. 367.
The war was completed by the guard formation of Major General Vasily Margelov on May 12, 1945 with the brilliant bloodless capture of selected German SS divisions “Totenkopf”, “ Greater Germany", "1st SS Police Division", and even the remnants of the "Vlasovites" - in total more than 32 thousand people, with weapons and military equipment.
At the Victory Parade in Moscow, Guard Major General Margelov commanded a battalion in the combined regiment of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
After the war he held various command positions.
Vasily Margelov in the airborne troops
Since 1948, after graduating from the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree, from the Higher Military Academy named after K. E. Voroshilov, he was commander of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division.
After graduating from the Academy of the General Staff, Vasily Filippovich had a conversation with the then Minister of Defense Nikolai Bulganin. Nikolai Alexandrovich spoke about the airborne troops, their glorious military past, and the fact that a decision had been made to develop this relatively young branch of the military. “We believe in them and consider it necessary to strengthen them with military generals who distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War. What is your opinion, comrades?” said Bulganin. General Margelov, who had many wounds over three wars, including serious ones, and even in the legs, asked a single question in response: “When can I go to the troops?” “Today,” answered Bulganin and firmly shook his hand.
Later Vasily Margelov admitted: “Until the age of 40, I had a vague idea of what a parachute was; I never even dreamed of jumping. It happened on its own, or rather, as it should be in the army, by order. I am a military man, if necessary, I am ready to take the devil in my teeth. That’s how I had to, already being a general, make my first parachute jump. The impression, I tell you, is incomparable. A dome opens above you, you soar in the air like a bird - by God, you want to sing! I started singing. But you won’t get away with enthusiasm alone. I was in a hurry, didn’t pay attention to the ground, and ended up having to walk for two weeks with my leg bandaged. Learned a lesson. Parachute business is not only romance, but also enormous work and impeccable discipline... Someone who has never left an airplane in his life, from where cities and villages seem like toys, who has never experienced joy and fear free fall, a whistle in the ears, a stream of wind beating on the chest, he will never understand the honor and pride of the paratrooper".
During his service in the Airborne Forces, Vasily Filippovich made more than 60 parachute jumps (the last one at the age of 65).
In 1950-1954 - commander of the 37th Guards Airborne Svir Red Banner Corps (Far East).
From 1954 to 1959 - Commander of the Airborne Forces. In March 1959, after an emergency in the artillery regiment of the 76th Airborne Division (gang rape of civilian women), he was demoted to 1st Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces.
Vasily Margelov made an invaluable contribution to the formation and development of the Airborne Forces. And it is no coincidence that the Airborne Forces are often deciphered as “Uncle Vasya’s Troops” - in memory of the contribution of Vasily Margelov. He personified an entire era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces; their authority and popularity are associated with his name not only in our country, but also abroad.
To achieve the goals set for the airborne troops, under the leadership of Margelov, a concept of the role and place of the Airborne Forces in modern strategic operations in various theaters of military operations was developed. Margelov wrote a number of works on this topic, and also successfully defended it on December 4, 1968 PhD thesis(awarded the title of Candidate of Military Sciences by decision of the Council of the Military Order of Lenin, Red Banner Order of Suvorov Academy named after M.V. Frunze). In practical terms, Airborne Forces exercises and command meetings were regularly held. Margelov realized that in modern operations only highly mobile landing forces capable of wide maneuver could operate successfully deep behind enemy lines. He categorically rejected the idea of holding the area captured by the landing forces until the approach of troops advancing from the front using the method of rigid defense as disastrous, because in this case the landing force would be quickly destroyed.
“To fulfill our role in modern operations, it is necessary that our formations and units be highly maneuverable, covered with armor, have sufficient fire efficiency, be well controlled, capable of landing at any time of the day and quickly proceed to active combat operations after landing. This, by and large, is the ideal to which we should strive,” said Margelov.
He had to overcome the gap between the theory of the combat use of airborne forces and the prevailing organizational structure troops, as well as the capabilities of military transport aviation. Having assumed the post of Commander, Margelov received troops consisting mainly of infantry with light weapons and military transport aviation (as an integral part of the Airborne Forces), which was equipped with Li-2, Il-14, Tu-2 and Tu-2 aircraft. 4 with significantly limited landing capabilities. In fact, the Airborne Forces were not capable of solving major problems in military operations.
Margelov initiated the creation and serial production at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of landing equipment, heavy parachute platforms, parachute systems and containers for landing cargo, cargo and human parachutes, parachute devices. “You cannot order equipment, so strive to create in the design bureau, industry, during testing, reliable parachutes, trouble-free operation of heavy airborne equipment,” Margelov said when setting tasks for his subordinates.
Modifications were created for paratroopers small arms, simplifying its landing by parachute - less weight, folding butt.
Especially for the needs of the Airborne Forces in post-war years a new one was developed and modernized Combat vehicles: airborne self-propelled artillery mount ASU-76 (1949), light ASU-57 (1951), amphibious ASU-57P (1954), self-propelled mount ASU-85, tracked combat vehicle of the Airborne Forces BMD-1 (1969).
After the first batches of BMD-1 arrived at the troops, attempts to land the BMP-1, which were unsuccessful, were stopped. A family of weapons was also developed on its basis: Nona self-propelled artillery guns, artillery fire control vehicles, R-142 command and staff vehicles, R-141 long-range radio stations, anti-tank systems, and a reconnaissance vehicle. Anti-aircraft units and subunits were also equipped with armored personnel carriers, which housed crews with portable systems and ammunition.
By the end of the 1950s, new An-8 and An-12 aircraft were adopted and entered service with the troops, which had a payload capacity of up to 10-12 tons and a sufficient flight range, which made it possible to land large groups of personnel with standard military equipment and weapons. Later, through the efforts of Margelov, the Airborne Forces received new military transport aircraft - An-22 and Il-76.
At the end of the 1950s, the PP-127 parachute platforms appeared in service with the troops, designed for parachute landing of artillery, vehicles, radio stations, engineering equipment and others. Parachute-jet landing equipment was created, which, due to the engine generated jet thrust made it possible to bring the cargo landing speed closer to zero. Such systems made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of landing by abandoning large quantity large area domes.
On October 28, 1967 he was awarded military rank army General. He led the actions of the Airborne Forces during the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia (Operation Danube).
On January 5, 1973, at the Slobodka airborne parachute track near Tula, for the first time in world practice in the USSR, a parachute-platform landing was carried out in the Centaur complex from an An-12B military transport aircraft of a BMD-1 tracked armored combat vehicle with two crew members on board. The crew commander was Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Gavrilovich Zuev, and the operator-gunner was Senior Lieutenant Margelov Alexander Vasilyevich.
On January 23, 1976, also for the first time in world practice, a BMD-1 was parachuted from the same type of aircraft and made a soft landing on a parachute-rocket system in the Reactavr complex, also with two crew members on board - Major Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov and Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Shcherbakov Ivanovich.
The landing was carried out at great risk to life, without personal means of rescue. It is known that Vasily Filippovich, during the landing of his son, was at the command post with a loaded pistol at the ready, so that in case of failure he would shoot himself. During this time he smoked more than one pack of cigarettes. Twenty years later, for the feat of the seventies, both were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
Under the leadership of Margelov for more than twenty years, the airborne troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces, prestigious for service in them, especially revered by the people. The competition for admission to the Ryazan Airborne School exceeded the numbers of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who missed out on exams lived for two or three months, before the snow and frost, in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the load and it would be possible to take his place .
Since January 1979 - in the group of inspectors general of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He went on business trips to the Airborne Forces and was the chairman of the State Examination Commission at the Ryazan Airborne School.
Lived and worked in Moscow.
By order of the USSR Minister of Defense dated April 20, 1985, V. F. Margelov was enrolled as an Honorary Soldier in the lists of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division.
By Order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 182 of May 6, 2005, the departmental medal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation “Army General Margelov” was established. In the same year, a memorial plaque was installed on a house in Moscow, in Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane, where Margelov lived for the last 20 years of his life.
In 2014, the office-museum of Vasily Margelov was opened in the main building of the headquarters of the Airborne Forces.
Every year on V.F.’s birthday. Margelov On December 27, in all cities of Russia, servicemen of the Airborne Forces pay tribute to the memory of Vasily Margelov.
The names of Vasily Margelov are: Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School; Department of Airborne Forces of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; Nizhny Novgorod cadet corps them. General of the Army Margelov (NKK); MBOU "Secondary School No. 27", Simferopol; MBOU "Secondary School No. 6" Krasnodar; MAOU "Secondary School No. 12" Kungur.
Streets in many cities in Russia and the CIS countries are named in his honor.
Vasily Margelov's height: 186 centimeters.
Personal life of Vasily Margelov:
Was married three times.
First wife- Maria.
The marriage produced a son, Gennady. The family broke up when the wife left for someone else, leaving her husband and son.
Son Gennady Vasilyevich Margelov (1931-2016) became a military man, major general.
Second wife- Feodosia Efremovna Selitskaya.
The marriage produced sons Anatoly and Vitaly.
Son Anatoly Vasilyevich Margelov (1938-2008) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, co-author of more than 100 inventions in the military-industrial complex.
Vitaly Vasilyevich Margelov (born 1941) - professional intelligence officer, employee of the KGB of the USSR and the SVR of Russia, later - a social and political figure; Colonel General, State Duma deputy.
Third wife- Anna Aleksandrovna Kurakina, doctor. He met Anna Alexandrovna during the Great Patriotic War.
During one of the attacks by the Marine Corps, Margelov was seriously wounded in the leg; he was taken by drag to a barge frozen into the lake not far from the shore. There he received medical assistance from military doctor Anna Kurakina. She managed to save the major's leg. They went through the entire war together from Leningrad to Vienna, and later they wandered a lot from one end of the Soviet Union to the other, until they settled in Moscow. Anna Alexandrovna ended the war with the rank of guard captain of the medical service, awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree - twice and the Red Star, as well as medals “For Military Merit”, “For the Defense of Leningrad”, “For the Defense of Stalingrad”, “For the Capture of Budapest”, “For the capture of Vienna” and many others. During the war years, she performed more than three thousand surgical operations. Twice during the war she operated on her husband, returning him to duty.
Anna Alexandrovna served as the prototype for the monument to a front-line nurse, installed in 2017 in the Pechatniki district (Moscow).
Anna Kurakina - wife of Vasily Margelov
In the third marriage, twins were born - sons Vasily and Alexander.
Vasily and Alexander - sons of Vasily Margelov
Son Vasily Vasilyevich Margelov (1945-2010) - retired major; First Deputy Director of the Directorate of International Relations of the Russian State Broadcasting Company "Voice of Russia" (RGRK "Voice of Russia").
A number of songs are dedicated to Vasily Margelov. Even during the Great Patriotic War, a song was composed in Margelov’s division (written by senior lieutenant Arkady Pitanov), which contains the lines:
The song praises the Falcon
Brave and bold...
Is it close, is it far
Margelov's regiments were marching.
WWII veteran N.F. Orlov wrote a song about Margelov:
Margelov's detachment rushed to the canals.
He conducts hand-to-hand combat...
The Blue Berets group recorded the songs “Forgive us, Vasily Filippovich!” and “And Uncle Vasya’s troops!”
The initiator and founder of the Airborne Forces, Vasily Margelov, personifies the image of the airborne troops of the USSR. Among the military personnel associated with these troops, he is paratrooper No. 1. He is a Hero of the USSR and a State Prize laureate.
Childhood and adolescence
Margelov Vasily Filippovich was born in the city of Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk) on December twenty-seventh, 1908 (January ninth according to the new style). His father, Philip Ivanovich, worked as a metallurgist, his mother, Agafya Stepanovna, took care of the house and garden.
The family of the future general comes from Belarus. In 1913 they returned to their homeland (Mogilev province). According to some information, Vasily graduated from church school in 1921. He started working as a loader, then tried his hand at carpentry. That same year I went to study leather craft in a workshop. In the twenty-third year, the future general got a job as an auxiliary worker at the Khlebproduct enterprise. At the same time, he studied at a school for rural youth. Then he worked as a freight forwarder, delivering mail and various cargoes along the Kostyukovichi - Khotimsk line.
In 1924, he got a job as a laborer, then as a horse driver in Yekaterinoslav at the Kalinin mine. Since 1927 - Chairman of the Timber Industry Committee and member of the local Kostyukovich Council. In 1925 he was sent to Belarus, to the timber industry enterprise.
Beginning of military service
Vasily Margelov, whose biography is presented in this article, was drafted into the army in 1928. There he was sent to study at the OBVSh (United Belarusian Military School), which was located in Minsk. He was assigned to a sniper group. In his second year he became the foreman of a machine gun company.
In the spring of 1931 he graduated from the General Military School with honors and the leadership appointed him commander of the machine gun crew of the 99th regiment of the 33rd Infantry Division. In 1933 he became a platoon commander, and the following year he was appointed assistant company commander. In 1936, the future general was already heading a machine gun company. Since the fall of 1938, he commanded the second battalion of the 23rd regiment of the eighth rifle division. He headed intelligence, being the head of the second section of the division headquarters. While in this position, he took part in the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939.
Margelov's feat
Vasily Margelov became a real legend during his lifetime. During the war with the Finns, he commanded a reconnaissance ski battalion (122nd Division), making several raids behind enemy lines. During one of them, the future general was able to capture several officers of the German General Staff, who were officially (at that time) allies of the Soviet Union.
In 1941, he was made commander of a marine regiment in the Baltic Fleet. There were opinions that the “land officer” would not be able to take root in the fleet. Margelov's regiment was considered the "guard of Admiral Tributs", he sent it to besieged Leningrad even to those places where it was difficult to send a penal battalion.
For example, when the Nazis stormed the Pulkovo Heights, Margelov’s regiment landed behind the Germans on the coast of Lake Ladoga. The Marines showed heroism and forced the Germans to stop the assault on Pulkovo in order to resist the Russian landing. Major Margelov was seriously wounded, but survived.
Further exploits
In 1943, Vasily Filippovich Margelov was already a division commander, stormed Saur-Mogila, and took part in the liberation of Kherson. In 1945, the Nazis gave him the nickname “Soviet Skorzeny.” This happened after the famous German tank divisions“Greater Germany” and “Totenkopf” surrendered to him without a fight.
At the beginning of May 1945, the command set a task for Margelov: to destroy or capture the remnants of the famous SS units that wanted to break through to the Americans. Vasily Margelov dared to take a dangerous step. He, with a small group of officers armed with machine guns and grenades, with a battery of cannons, approached the enemy headquarters and ordered to open fire if he did not return in 10 minutes.
The brave man went to the German headquarters and presented an ultimatum: surrender and save your life or be destroyed. He gave me little time to think - until the lit cigarette ran out. The Nazis surrendered.
In the Airborne Forces
At the victory parade in Moscow, the founder of the Airborne Forces Vasily Margelov commanded a regiment of the Second Ukrainian Front. After the victory over the Nazis, Vasily Margelov, whose biography is outlined in this article, continued to serve.
From 1950 to 1954 was the commander of the 37th Svir Airborne Corps. From 1954 to 1959 commanded the airborne troops of the Soviet Union. In 1964, impressed by the film “Such is the Sporting Life,” he introduced rugby to the paratrooper training program.
On October 28, 1967, he received the rank of Army General. He commanded paratroopers during the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia. During his entire service, he made more than sixty parachute jumps, the last when he was sixty-five years old. Thus, he set a personal example for his subordinates.
Contribution to the development of the Airborne Forces
The name of Margelov will forever remain in the history of the Airborne Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Union. His person personifies the era of development and formation of the Airborne Forces. Their popularity and authority both in our country and abroad are forever associated with his name.
General Vasily Margelov realized that military operations behind enemy lines could be carried out by mobile and maneuverable paratroopers. He always rejected plans to hold areas captured by landing forces until the troops advancing from the front arrived. In this case, the paratroopers could be quickly destroyed.
Vasily Margelov led the USSR Airborne Forces for more than 20 years, and thanks to his merits, they became one of the most mobile troops in the structure of the country's Armed Forces. The general’s contribution to the formation of the Airborne Forces was reflected in the humorous decoding of this abbreviation - “Uncle Vasya’s Troops.”
The concept of the role of the Airborne Forces
In military theory, it was believed that in order to use nuclear strikes and maintain a high tempo during the offensive, the mandatory use of landing troops was necessary. In such conditions, airborne troops must correspond to the strategic goals of military conflicts and meet the political goals of the country.
Margelov believed that in order to fulfill their role in operations, it was necessary for Soviet formations to be maneuverable, protected by armor, excellently controllable, have fire efficiency, and be able to land behind enemy lines at any time of the day and begin combat operations immediately. One must strive for such an ideal, as the famous general believed.
Under his leadership, the concept of the place and role of the Airborne Forces in military operations was developed. He wrote many works on this topic and defended his dissertation.
Armament of the airborne troops
As time passed, the need increasingly arose to bridge the gap between the theory of using airborne troops and the layered structure of troops and the capabilities of military transport aviation. Having become commander, Vasily Margelov (Airborne Forces) received at his disposal troops that consisted of lightly armed infantry and aviation equipped with Il-14, Li-2, Tu-4 aircraft. Capabilities were seriously limited and military personnel were unable to solve serious problems.
The general began by initiating mass production of landing equipment, parachute systems and platforms, as well as cargo containers. For the Airborne Forces, modifications of weapons were developed that were easy to parachute - a folding stock, light weight.
Also, military equipment was modernized specifically for the Airborne Forces: amphibious self-propelled guns ASU-76, ASU-57, ASU-57P, ASU-85, tracked vehicle BMD-1 and others. Radio stations, anti-tank systems, and reconnaissance vehicles were also developed. Anti-aircraft systems were equipped with armored personnel carriers, and crews with ammunition and portable systems were placed on them.
Closer to the 60s, the AN-8 and An-12 aircraft, with a carrying capacity of up to twelve tons, entered service with the landing force and could fly long distances. A little later, the airborne troops received AN-22 and IL-76 aircraft.
Everlasting memory
After his retirement, Vasily Margelov lived in Moscow. “Uncle Vasya” passed away on March 4, 1990. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. A monument to Vasily Margelov was erected in Tyumen. There are also monuments in his honor in Krivoy Rog, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Chisinau, Ryazan, Kostyukovichi, Omsk, Ulyanovsk, Tula, St. Petersburg.
In Taganrog there is a memorial plaque dedicated to the general. Officers and soldiers of the airborne troops annually visit the monument to “Uncle Vasya” at the Novodevichy cemetery and pay tribute to his memory.
August 2, 1930 became the birthday of the country's Airborne Forces. Then, for the first time in world history, parachute landings were used in exercises of the Moscow Military District, which were attended by diplomats from Western countries.
72 years have passed since then. During this time, the “winged infantry” covered itself with unfading glory on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War, showed excellent training and courage in a number of large-scale exercises, local conflicts, in the mountains of Afghanistan, during the first and second campaigns in Chechnya, in Yugoslavia... In the ranks of the airborne forces troops, a whole galaxy of wonderful military leaders grew up. Among them, the first of the first to be named is the name of the legendary commander of the Airborne Forces, Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General Vasily Filippovich Margelov, who created the modern Airborne Forces.
"Commander of large caliber"
On its pages on September 28, 1967, Izvestia reported: “It must be said that the paratroopers are warriors of boundless courage and courage. They never get lost, they always find a way out of a critical situation. The paratroopers are fluent in various modern weapons, wielding them with artistic skill; every fighter of the “winged infantry” knows how to fight one against a hundred.
During the days spent at the exercise (we are talking about the large autumn exercise of the Soviet Armed Forces “Dnepr” in 1968. Then the landing of an airborne force of many thousands took only a few minutes. - Author), we had to see many skillful actions not only of individual soldiers and officers, but also formations, units and their headquarters. But, perhaps, the strongest impression remained from the Airborne Forces, led by Colonel General V. Margelov (after the completion of successful exercises, he was awarded the rank of Army General. - Author), and the pilots of the Military Transport Aviation, Air Marshal N. Skripko . Their soldiers showed exquisite landing techniques, high training and such courage and initiative that one can say about them: they worthily continue and increase the military glory of their fathers and older brothers - the paratroopers of the Great Patriotic War. The relay of courage and valor is in good hands.”
...Recently in one of the magazines I read that scientists studying man studied the biographies of about 500 graduates of one of the Russian military institutes and established a direct dependence of the choice of military specialty on the date of birth. Based on it, pundits are ready to predict whether this person military or civilian. In a word, human destiny is predetermined from the day of birth. I don't know if I can believe this?
In any case, the future successor to the glorious dynasty of defenders of the Fatherland Margelovs, Vasily Filippovich, was born at the beginning of the last century, on December 27, 1908 (old style), in the city of Yekaterinoslavl (now Dnepropetrovsk). Everything took after his father, Philip Ivanovich, who was distinguished by enviable strength and stature, a participant in the German war of 1914, Knight of St. George. Margelov Sr. fought skillfully and bravely. In one of the bayonet battles, for example, he personally destroyed up to a dozen enemy soldiers. After the end of the first imperialist war, he served first in the Red Guard, then in the Red Army.
- Why not in your place?!
- Well, well... How are you?
Patriarch of the Elite Troops
And Vasily was, like his father, tall and strong beyond his years. Before the army, he worked in a leather workshop, as a miner, and as a forester. In 1928, on a Komsomol ticket, he was sent to the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. So he became a cadet at the United Belarusian Military School in Minsk. Just one stroke. At the beginning of 1931, the school’s command supported the initiative of the country’s military schools to organize a ski crossing from their places of deployment to Moscow. One of the best skiers, Sergeant Major Margelov, was tasked with forming a team. And the February transition from Minsk to Moscow took place. True, the skis turned into smooth boards, but the cadets, led by the course commander and sergeant major, survived. We arrived at our destination on time, without any sick or frostbitten people, about which the foreman reported to the People's Commissar of Defense and received from his hands a valuable gift - a “commander's” watch.
How useful later a thorough sports training was to Captain Margelov, the commander of a separate reconnaissance ski battalion of a rifle regiment, who took part in the winter war with the Finns! His scouts, together with the battalion commander, made daring raids on enemy rear lines, set up ambushes, inflicting significant damage on the enemy.
He met the Great Patriotic War with the rank of major. At first I had the opportunity to lead a separate disciplinary battalion. The penalty soldiers doted on their commander. They loved him for his courage and justice. During the bombings they covered him with their bodies.
On the approaches to Leningrad, Vasily Margelov commanded the 1st special ski regiment of sailors of the Baltic Fleet, then the 218th regiment of the 80th rifle division...
Having become a commander, in all subsequent years and decades, Vasily Filippovich never changed his rule - always and in everything to be an example for his subordinates. Somehow, at the end of the front-line spring of 1942, about two hundred experienced enemy warriors, having infiltrated through the defense sector of a neighboring regiment, went to the rear of the Margelovites. The regiment commander quickly gave the necessary orders to block and liquidate the fascists who had broken through. Without waiting for the reserves to arrive, he himself lay down behind the heavy machine gun, which he wielded masterfully. He mowed down about 80 people with well-aimed bursts. The rest were destroyed and captured by a company of machine gunners, a reconnaissance platoon and a commandant platoon that arrived in time.
It was not for nothing that in the mornings, when his unit was on the defensive, Vasily Filippovich, after physical exercises, invariably fired from a machine gun, could trim the tops of trees, and stamp his name on the target. After this - the foot in the stirrup and exercises in the wheelhouse. Tireless strength played in his iron muscles. In offensive battles, he personally raised battalions to attack more than once. He loved hand-to-hand combat to the point of self-forgetfulness and, if necessary, without knowing the feeling of fear, he desperately fought with the adversary in the front ranks of his fighters, like his father in the first German war. Margelov did not like it if one of his subordinates, when asked about a particular soldier, took up the list of personnel. He said:
- Comrade commander! Alexander Suvorov knew all the soldiers of his regiment not only by last name, but also by first name. After many years, he recognized and named the names of the soldiers who served with him. With paper knowledge of subordinates, it is impossible to predict how they will behave during battle!
In those years the commander wore a mustache and a small beard. At the age of less than 33 they called him Batya.
“Our Dad is a commander of large caliber,” the soldiers said about him with respect and love.
And then there was Stalingrad. Here Vasily Filippovich commanded the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment. When, during brutal, bloody battles in the regiment, the battalions became companies, and the companies became incomplete platoons, the regiment was withdrawn for replenishment to the Ryazan region. Regimental commander Margelov and his officers thoroughly took up the combat training of the unit's personnel. We prepared conscientiously for the upcoming battles.
And not without reason. “Myshkova, a river in the Volgograd region, the left tributary of the Don, at the turn of which during the Battle of Stalingrad from December 19 to 24, during the Kotelnikov operation of 1942, troops of the 51st and 2nd Guards armies repelled the blow of a strong group Nazi troops and thwarted the plans of the fascist German command to relieve the blockade of enemy troops surrounded at Stalingrad.” This is from "Military" encyclopedic dictionary» 1983 edition. “It would not be an exaggeration to say that the battle on the banks of this unknown river (Myshkova) led to the crisis of the Third Reich, put an end to Hitler’s hopes of creating an empire and was a decisive link in the chain of events that predetermined the defeat of Germany.” And this quote is from the book of the German military historian General F. Mellenthin “Tank battles of 1939-1945”.
Do you remember the book by front-line writer Yuri Bondarev “Hot Snow”? Front-line soldiers, participants in those battles, believe that the author truthfully reflected the heroic and at the same time dramatic picture of those brutal battles on a tributary of the Don.
So, Margelov’s regiment was part of the 3rd Guards Rifle Division under Major General K. Tsalikov, the 13th Guards Rifle Corps under Major General P. Chanchibadze,
2nd Guards Army, Lieutenant General R. Malinovsky. And as you know, the guard may die, but never surrender to the enemy!
Before the battle of the guard, Lieutenant Colonel Margelov told his subordinates:
— Manstein has a lot of tanks. His calculation for the force of a tank strike. The main thing is to knock out the tanks. Each of us must knock out one tank. Cut off the infantry, force them to the ground and destroy them.
...And it began. Predatory arrows on German headquarters maps materialized into endless waves of enemy armor and fire, methodically rolling into the positions of our troops, shell explosions, the whistle of thousands of fragments looking for their prey. Armadas of German bombers fell howling from the soot-black sky, striving with exemplary German pedantry and precision to deliver a multi-ton deadly cargo to the guards' location. The Germans understood that if their monstrous armored fist got stuck in defense, the consequences would be irreversible. More and more forces were thrown into battle. They tried to take our defending units and formations into a tank pincer.
Margelov was there where a threatening situation was created, where his battalion commanders could not hold back the enemy’s onslaught on their own.
Guard Major General Chanchibadze:
— Margelov, how long do we need to look for you? Where are you sitting now?
- I am not sitting. I command from the command post of battalion commander-2!
- Why not in your place?!
- My place is here now, comrade first!
- I ask again, where is your place?!
- I command the regiment. My place is where my regiment needs me!
- Well, well... How are you?
— The regiment stands on its lines. He is not going to give them up.
Embittered by the failures, enraged by the tenacity, skill and courage of the Soviet soldiers, the enemy furiously dug the ground with steel tracks, breaking through. But all the efforts of the combined army group “Goth” were in vain; it was defeated and was forced to retreat.
The further military path of Vasily Filippovich Margelov and his units ran to the west. In the direction of Rostov-on-Don, the breakthrough of the impregnable “Mius Front”, the liberation of Donbass, the crossing of the Dnieper, for which the division commander, Colonel Vasily Margelov, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Having pushed off the Stalingrad soil with their feet, the Margelov fighters, as Vladimir Vysotsky sang, “moved the earth’s axis... without a lever, changing the direction of the blow!”
The soldiers of his 49th division brought freedom to the residents of Nikolaev and Odessa, distinguished themselves during the Iasi-Kishinev operation, entered Romania and Bulgaria on the shoulders of the enemy, successfully fought in Yugoslavia, took Budapest and Vienna. The war was completed by the guard unit of Major General Vasily Margelov on May 12, 1945 with the brilliant bloodless capture of selected German SS divisions “Totenkopf”, “Great Germany”, “1st SS Police Division”. Why not a plot for a full-length feature film?
During the Victory Parade on Red Square in Moscow on June 24, 1945, the combat general led one of the battalions of the combined regiment of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.
Patriarch of the Elite Troops
During the Great Patriotic War, the Airborne Forces fought heroically at all stages. True, the war found the Airborne Forces at the stage of reorganizing brigades into corps. The formations and units of the winged infantry were equipped with personnel, but did not have time to fully receive military equipment. From the very first days of the war, paratroopers bravely fought at the front along with soldiers of other branches of the military and offered heroic resistance to Hitler’s well-oiled machine. In the initial period, they showed examples of courage and perseverance in the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine, near Moscow. Soviet paratroopers took part in fierce battles for the Caucasus, in Battle of Stalingrad(remember the House of the paratrooper Sergeant Pavlov), smashed the enemy on the Kursk Bulge... They were a formidable force at the final stage of the war.
Where to use perfectly trained, united and fearless commanders and fighters of airborne formations and units during the war was decided at the very top, at the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. Sometimes they were the lifesaver of the high command that saved the situation at the most decisive or tragic moment. The paratroopers, not accustomed to waiting for weather by the sea, always showed initiative, ingenuity, and pressure.
Therefore, taking into account the rich front-line experience and prospects for the development of this type of troops, the Airborne Forces in 1946 were withdrawn from the Air Force. They began to report directly to the Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the post of commander of the Airborne Forces was reintroduced. In April of the same year, Colonel General V. Glagolev was appointed to him. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, General Margelov was sent to study. For two intense years, under the guidance of experienced teachers, he studied the intricacies of operational art at the Academy of the General Staff (in those years - the Higher military Academy named after K.E. Voroshilov). After graduation, I received an unexpected offer from the Minister of the USSR Armed Forces and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers N. Bulganin - to take command of the Pskov Airborne Division. They claim that this could not have happened without the recommendation of Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky, at that time the commander-in-chief of the Far East troops, commander of the Far East troops. He knew Margelov well from his front-line affairs. And at that time, the Airborne Forces needed young generals with combat experience. Vasily Filippovich always made decisions promptly. And this time I didn’t force myself to persuade myself. A military man to the core, he understood the importance of the mobile Airborne Forces in the future. And the fearless officers and parachutist soldiers - he admitted this to his loved ones more than once - reminded him of the front-line years when he commanded a naval regiment in the Baltic Fleet. It was not for nothing that later, when General Margelov became commander of the Airborne Forces, he introduced uniform blue berets and vests with stripes the color of the sky and tireless sea waves.
Working in his usual mode - day and night - a day away, General Margelov quickly ensured that his formation became one of the best in the airborne forces. In 1950 he was appointed commander of the airborne corps at Far East, and in 1954 Lieutenant General Vasily Filippovich Margelov became commander of the Airborne Forces.
From Margelov’s brochure “Airborne Troops,” published by the publishing house of the “Znanie” society a quarter of a century ago: “...I have more than once had to accompany the paratroopers on their first flight, and receive their reports after landing. And I still never cease to be amazed at how a warrior transforms after the first jump. And he walks along the ground proudly, and his shoulders are wide open, and there is something extraordinary in his eyes... Of course: he made a parachute jump!
To understand this feeling, you must stand by the open hatch of an airplane over a hundred-meter abyss, feel the chill under your heart in front of this incomprehensible height and decisively step into the abyss as soon as the command is heard: “Go!”
Then there will be many more difficult jumps - with weapons, day and night, from high-speed military transport aircraft. But the first jump will never be forgotten. A paratrooper, a strong-willed and courageous person, begins with him.”
When Vasily Filippovich retrained from an infantry division commander to an airborne division commander, he was not even forty. Where did Margelov start? From skydiving. He was not advised to jump, after all, he had nine wounds, his age... During his service in the Airborne Forces, he made more than 60 jumps. The last of them is at the age of 65. In the year of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Army General Margelov, “Red Star” in the article “The Legend and Glory of the Landing” wrote about him: “Being the eighth commander of the Airborne Forces, he nevertheless earned himself a respectful reputation among these troops as the patriarch of the airborne business. During his command of the Airborne Forces, the country changed five defense ministers, and Margelov remained irreplaceable and irreplaceable. Almost all of his predecessors have been forgotten, but Margelov’s name is still on everyone’s lips today.
“Oh, how difficult it is to cross the Rubicon so that a first name becomes a last name,” the poet remarked. Margelov has crossed such a Rubicon. (He made his branch of the military elite.) Having quickly and energetically studied airborne warfare, military air technology and military transport aviation, demonstrating extraordinary organizational skills, he became an outstanding military leader who did an extraordinary amount for the development and improvement of the Airborne Forces, for their growth prestige and popularity in the country, to instill love for this elite branch of the military among conscript youth. Despite the enormous physical and psychological stress of the airborne service, young guys dream of the Airborne Forces, as they say, they sleep and see themselves as paratroopers. And in the country’s only forge of officer landing personnel - the Ryazan High Command School named after Army General V.F. Margelov, recently transformed into the Airborne Forces Institute, the competition is 14 people per place. How many military and civilian universities may envy such popularity! And all this was laid down under Margelov ... "
Hero of Russia, reserve lieutenant general Leonid Shcherbakov recalls:
— In the seventies of the last century, Army General Vasily Filippovich Margelov set himself a difficult task - to create highly mobile, modern Airborne Forces in the country's Armed Forces. Rapid re-equipment began in the Airborne Forces, airborne combat vehicles (BMDs) were received, based on them, reconnaissance, communications and control equipment, self-propelled artillery, anti-tank systems, engineering equipment... Margelov and his deputies, heads of services and departments were frequent guests at factories, training grounds, V training centers. Paratroopers daily “disturbed” the Ministry of Defense and the defense industry. Ultimately, this culminated in the creation of the world's best airborne means.
After graduating from the Academy of Armored Forces in 1968, I was assigned to test work at the Research Institute of Armored Vehicles in Kubinka. I had a chance to test many samples at the testing grounds in Transbaikalia, Central Asia, Belarus and in the middle of nowhere. Once we were assigned to test new airborne equipment. Worked with colleagues day and night, in various modes, sometimes beyond the limits of technology and people.
The final stage is military testing in the Baltic states. And here the division commander, perceiving my white envy of the paratroopers, offered to jump with a parachute after the combat vehicle.
Completed pre-jump training. Early in the morning - take off. Climb. Everything went fine: the BMD came out of the plane and fell into the abyss. The crew followed her. Suddenly a strong wind blew us onto the boulders. The joyful feeling of flying under the canopy ended with pain in my left leg - a fracture in two places.
Plaster, paratroopers' autographs on it, crutches. In this form he appeared before the commander of the Airborne Forces.
- Well, did you jump? - Margelov asked me.
“I got it, comrade commander.”
- I’m taking you to the landing party. “I need these,” Vasily Filippovich decided.
At that time, there was an urgent issue about reducing the time required to bring airborne units into combat readiness after landing. The old method of landing - military equipment was thrown from one plane, crews from another - is pretty outdated.
After all, the spread on the landing area was large, sometimes reaching five kilometers. While the crews were looking for their equipment, time passed like water into sand.
Therefore, the commander of the Airborne Forces decided that the crew needed to be parachuted along with the combat vehicle. This has never happened in any army in the world! But this was not an argument for Vasily Filippovich, who believed that there were no impossible tasks for the landing force.
In August 1975, after the landing of equipment with dummies, I, as a driver, together with the son of the commander, Alexander Margelov, was entrusted with testing the joint landing complex. They called him "Centaur". The combat vehicle was installed on a platform, and an open vehicle for crew members with their own parachutes was attached behind it. Without means of rescue, testers were seated inside the BMD on special, simplified space chairs for cosmonauts. We completed the task. And this was a major step towards a more complex experiment. Together with the commander’s son, Alexander Margelov, we tested a parachute-rocket system, which was already called “Reactavr”. The system was placed on the stern of the BMD and went out to the take-off airfield along with it. It had only one dome instead of five. At the same time, the height and speed of landing decreased, but the accuracy of landing increased. There are many advantages, but the main disadvantage is the huge overloads.
In January 1976, near Pskov, for the first time in world and domestic practice, this “reactive” landing was carried out at a huge risk to life, without individual means of rescue.
“And what happened then?” - the meticulous reader will ask. And then in each airborne regiment, in winter and summer, crews landed inside combat vehicles using parachute and parachute-jet systems, which became perfect and reliable. In 1998, again near Pskov, a crew of seven people in standard seats descended from the skies inside the then-new BMD-3.
For the feat of the seventies, twenty years later Alexander Margelov and I were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
I will add that it was under Army General Margelov that it became common practice: to launch an airborne assault, say, in Pskov, make a long flight and land near Fergana, Kirovabad or in Mongolia. It is not without reason that one of the most popular decodings of the abbreviation Airborne Forces is “Uncle Vasya’s Troops.”
Sons and grandsons in service
Retired Major General Gennady Margelov recalls:
— During the war, until 1944, I lived with my grandparents, the parents of my father Vasily Filippovich Margelov. During the evacuation, a junior sergeant came to us one day. I still remember the last name - Ivanov. Well, he won me over with his stories about his service in his father’s division. I wasn’t even thirteen then. He was about to return to his unit. He left the house in the morning, and I was with him, as if going to school. He himself went in the other direction... and to the station. We boarded the train and went. So, at the age of 12, he ran away from fifth grade to the front. We arrived at the division. My father didn't know that I had arrived. We met nose to nose and did not recognize each other. It’s not surprising, since we had seen each other before the Finnish War, when he wore one “sleeper” in his buttonhole. From the first days of the Great Patriotic War he was at the front. There was no time for vacation.
And so I ended up in my father’s division near Kherson in the Kopanei region. It was then the end of February, and there was still snow in some places. Dirt. I ran away from home wearing felt boots with holes. So I caught a cold, my whole face was covered in boils, I couldn’t even see well. I ended up in the medical battalion and received treatment.
And then the dad calls: “Well, did you rest in the medical battalion?” Me: “That’s right!” - “Then go study in the training battalion.”
I arrived as expected and reported to the battalion commander. The battalion had three companies: two rifle companies and a heavy weapons company. So they sent me to a platoon of anti-tank rifles.
Well, PTR is PTR. We had guns of two systems: Degtyarev and Simonov. I got Simonov's. I wasn’t as afraid of the Germans as I was of the gun: the soldiers were healthy, and I was very small, I thought that the recoil after the shot would throw me somewhere. Later, when they had already put me in combat formation and the foreman first gave me a rifle, it turned out that she was longer than me. Replaced with a short cavalry carbine.
During the fighting in Odessa, two comrades and I (one was a year older, the other a year younger, the sons of the division chief of staff, Colonel V.F. Shubin) left with battalion scouts to beat the Germans on the streets of the city. What is a fight in the city? Sometimes you don’t understand where your friends are and where your enemies are. In general, I found myself alone... In one of the houses I came across a wine cellar. And suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge German with a machine gun! Of course, he would have “cut me down” with a burst at the moment, yes, apparently, the Fritz had filled up on wine from the barrels, and that’s why he hesitated. I shot him with my carbine. But for my sortie I received from my father three days in the guardhouse, because it was forbidden for me to go to the front line without permission. True, he only served a day. The Shubin brothers each received a combat medal. In our family, there has always been strict demand from the Margelovs.
When the division was already behind the old Romanian border, in the town of Ciobruci, the commander called me and showed me the magazine “Red Armyman” (which later became “ Soviet warrior"). And there, on the cover, is a photo of Suvorov soldiers from the Novocherkassk SVU on the stairs at the front entrance. So beautiful!..
- Well, are you going to study? - asked the battalion commander.
“I’ll go,” I answered, fascinated by the photo, not knowing that the battalion commander was carrying out the order of the division commander.
This is how the Great Patriotic War ended for me, Guard Private Gennady Margelov, and so did the service in the training battalion of the 144th Guards Rifle Regiment of Colonel A.G. Lubenchenko, a service that was considered the most honorable even for adult soldiers, since the training battalion trained sergeants and was the last reserve of the division commander. Where it was difficult, the training battalion entered into battle.
I celebrated Victory Day already in the Tambov SVU. Being a Suvorov veteran, he made several parachute jumps in Pskov in the 76th Airborne Division, commanded by his father, Guard Major General V.F. Margelov. Moreover, the first two jumps were done without the knowledge of the father. The third was performed in the presence of his father and the deputy corps commander for airborne training. After landing, I reported to the deputy corps commander: “Suvorov soldier Margelov made another, third jump. The equipment worked perfectly, I feel good!” My father, who was preparing to present me with the badge of a first-class parachutist, was extremely surprised and even said a couple of “warm” words. However, he soon came to terms with this “misdemeanor” and proudly said that his son was growing up to be a real paratrooper.
After graduating from SVU in 1950, I became a cadet at the Ryazan Infantry School, upon graduation from which I was sent to the Airborne Forces of the Far Eastern District.
In the airborne forces he rose from platoon commander to chief of staff of the 44th training airborne division. I jumped with a parachute, as I reported at the interview when entering the Academy of the General Staff, “from Berlin to Sakhalin.” There were no more questions.
After graduating from the academy, he was appointed commander of the 26th motorized rifle division, which was located in the city of Gusev. Since 1976, he served in Transbaikalia as first deputy commander of the 29th Combined Arms Army. Celebrated his fiftieth birthday as head of the Twice Red Banner Military Institute physical culture in Leningrad. He completed his service as a senior lecturer in the department of operational art at the Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR.
Vasily Filippovich's second son, Anatoly, also devoted his entire life to defending the Motherland. A graduate of the Taganrog Radio Engineering Institute, he worked in the defense industry for decades. A doctor of technical sciences in his early thirties did a lot to develop new types of weapons. The scientist has more than two hundred inventions to his name. When meeting people, he likes to emphasize:
- Reserve private, Professor Margelov.
Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Colonel General Vitaly Margelov, recalls:
— After the evacuation, together with my mother and brother Anatoly, we lived in Taganrog. I still remember well how in 1945 Tolik and I went to the Oktyabr cinema, which was next to our house. And there in the documentary chronicle they show the Victory Parade. For us boys, the spectacle is exciting. On white horses are Marshals Zhukov and Rokossovsky. Stalin himself is on the podium of the Lenin Mausoleum. Front-line generals, officers, soldiers walk in parade stride, their uniforms sparkling military orders and medals... You can’t take your eyes off. And suddenly I see my father in the front columns. With delight I will scream to the whole hall:
- Dad, dad...
The hushed spectators perked up. Everyone began to look with great curiosity to see who was making the noise. Since then, ticket collectors began to let my brother and I into the cinema for free.
For the first time in a general's uniform, my father saw me at his birthday. Of course, I was happy about my career growth, but I tried not to show it. When we were left alone, he asked me about the service and gave me a number of “diplomatic” pieces of advice from his extensive practice.
There is a tradition in our Margelov family, inherited from our father: not to spoil our sons, not to patronize them and to respect their life choices.
...The younger Margelov twin brothers, Alexander and Vasily, were born on October 21 in the victorious year of 1945. Our newspaper has written many times about Hero of Russia, reserve colonel Alexander Margelov, who served in the airborne forces. About his courage and fearlessness shown during the test of the Reactaurus. After completing his service, he remained faithful to the Airborne Forces and the memory of his legendary father. In his apartment with his brother Vasily, he opened the home office-museum of Army General Vasily Filippovich Margelov.
“I would like to note that the gift of the current owner of the Arbat apartment (Alexander Vasilyevich lives in his father’s apartment with his family) is not only military-technical, but also artistic. It’s not for nothing that the house is full of books on various fields of knowledge. He called the first descent system inside the BMD on a multi-dome parachute “Centaur” - because he noticed that when the car moves in a traveling manner, the driver is visible from the waist up, reminiscent mythical creature, only in a modern version,” wrote Pyotr Palamarchuk in his article “Military Home Museum,” published in 1995 in the magazine “Rodina.” Since then, over a thousand people have visited the museum, among whom were prominent statesmen, politicians of our country, near and far abroad. Admired by the exhibits they saw, they left their entries in the visitors' book.
During his life, Alexander Margelov committed many acts worthy of respect. Among them is the creation of the documentary book “Army General Margelov,” which was published in Moscow in 1998. He prepared the next edition of the book, which should be published this fall, in collaboration with his brother Vasily, a major in the reserve, an international journalist, who now works as the first deputy director of the Directorate of International Relations of the Voice of Russia RGC. By the way, Vasily’s son, reserve junior sergeant Vasily Margelov, named after his grandfather, served his military service in the Airborne Forces.
It should be noted that all the sons of Vasily Filippovich jumped with a parachute and proudly wear airborne vests.
Army General Margelov has many grandchildren, and there are already great-grandchildren who continue and are preparing to continue the traditions of the family - to serve the Motherland with dignity. The eldest of them, Mikhail, is the son of Colonel General Vitaly Vasilyevich Margelov, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, deputy head of the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Mikhail graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of the Institute of Asian and African Countries at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. Fluent in English and Arabic languages, was the head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Public Relations.
His uncle, Vasily Vasilyevich, also successfully graduated from the same faculty in 1970.
Mikhail's brother, Vladimir, served in the border troops...
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For almost a quarter of a century, Vasily Filippovich Margelov commanded the Airborne Forces. Many generations of winged guards grew up following his example of selfless service to the Fatherland. The Ryazan Institute of Airborne Forces, the streets of Omsk, Pskov and Tula bear his name. Monuments were erected to him in Ryazan, Omsk, Dnepropetrovsk, and Tula. Officers and paratroopers, Airborne veterans every year they come to the monument to their commander at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow to pay tribute to his memory.
During the Great Patriotic War, a song was composed in the division of General Margelov. Here is one of her verses:
The song praises the Falcon
Brave and courageous...
Is it close, is it far
Margelov's regiments were marching.
They are still going through life, his regiments, in the ranks of which are his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons and tens, hundreds of thousands of people who cherish in their hearts the memory of him - the creator of the modern Airborne Forces.
Colonel General Vitaly Margelov spoke about unknown details of the biography of his father - the creator of the Airborne Forces, Army General Vasily Margelov, who turned 110 years old on December 27. Much is known about the frontline path, post-war achievements and the difficult but brilliant career of paratrooper No. 1, but very little is said about his personal life.
The character of the Airborne Forces commander, according to the recollections of his son, is evidenced first of all by the fact that in the corridors of the Ministry of Defense he was called “our Chapaev” for his directness, honesty and integrity. He was just as uncompromising in his personal life: he married three times and raised five sons.
From his first marriage he had a son, Gennady. After the divorce, he lived with the parents of the future paratrooper in the village of Kostyukovichi. In 1944, when Gene was 12 years old, he ran away to his father at the front. He managed to get to his division, and after the war he graduated from the Tambov Suvorov School and the Ryazan Airborne School. He made more than 300 parachute jumps, became a major general, and served in various capacities in the Airborne Forces. Passed away in 2016.
After breaking up with his first wife, Vasily Margelov met Feodosia Selitskaya.
Mom graduated from a university in Minsk, studied in graduate school, and at that time her father noticed her. For her then he was just Vaska the platoon leader. He courted her for a whole year. My father knew how to do this. And in 1934 they got married. My brother Anatoly was born, and then I was born,” Vitaly Vasilyevich told the Army Standard publication.
However, during the war the family fell apart. In 1941, Feodosia Efremovna, being pregnant and with her first child in her arms, had to be evacuated to Perm by random transport along with the families of other officers. Having become division commander, Vasily Margelov, according to his son’s recollections, called his wife to the front, but she could not leave the children.
If she had come to him as a Decembrist, maybe everything would have been different,” recalls Vitaly Markelov, and says that his older brother Anatoly became a Doctor of Science, and has more than 300 inventions to his name.
Vasily Margelov met his third wife at the front. Doctor Anna Kurakina operated on him twice and saved his leg. In October 1945, their twins Alexander and Vasily were born. Alexander Vasilievich - Colonel of the Airborne Forces, Hero of Russia and tester of amphibious equipment. Vasily Vasilyevich - GRU major, served in the Middle East for quite a long time, Arabist. They passed away in 2016 and 2010.
According to the memoirs of Vitaly Vasilyevich Margelov, opposite their house in Taganrog there was a cinema "Rot Front". Usually, before the start of the film, they showed a newsreel or showed the news of the day, and once they showed the Victory Parade, the announcer commented: “The combined regiment of the 2nd Ukrainian Front is marching, the battalion of the regiment is commanded by Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Margelov.”
I screamed: “Dad!” The lights turned on and everyone was looking at me. The director of the cinema comes up and asks: “Boy, is this really your dad?” I say: yes, this is my father! And they allowed me to come and watch movies for free. “I also took the yard boys with me to the sessions,” he said.
By the way
There are many legends about paratrooper No. 1, but he real life turned out to be brighter. It turned out that commanding the 15th disciplinary battalion in 1941, Vasily Margelov was sent to the Leningrad Front not for offenses, but as the most experienced and trained commander. After all, during the Finnish War he commanded a reconnaissance ski battalion.
“He accepted the disbat in a very unique way. In the dugout intended for command, the criminals settled down, who established their own rules. They sat, drank moonshine, and greeted the new commander with abuse. Father immediately hit the thieve who was sitting at the head of the table in the ear. it’s clear,” recalls Vitaly Vasilyevich.
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Vitaly Margelov - born December 1, 1941 in Perm. Professional intelligence officer, employee of the KGB of the USSR and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Colonel General.