Vasily Kryuchenkin

Vasily Dmitriyevich Kryuchyonkin (Russian: Василий Дмитриевич Крючёнкин; 13 January 1894 – 10 June 1976) was a Soviet Lieutenant general during World War II who commanded several armies.

Biography Early life, World War I and Russian Civil War Vasily Dmitriyevich Kryuchyonkin was born on 13 January 1894 in the village of Karpovka, Buguruslansky Uyezd, Samara Governorate, in a peasants' family, and had seven siblings. Due to his family's extreme poverty, he was adopted by a wealthy villager, a relative of his father, at the age of two. However, his adoptive father saw him as free labour and from the age of seven Kryuchyonkin worked on the farm and then as a loader in the small store owned by his adoptive father. Kryuchyonkin only graduated from the three-year village primary school. Conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Kryuchyonkin was sent to the Western Front in September 1915, rising to junior unter-ofitser with the Alexandria 5th Hussar Regiment of the 5th Cavalry Division. After the October Revolution, he joined the 4th Moscow Red Guard Detachment, formed in Cherepovets. As a platoon commander and chairman of the detachment revolutionary committee he fought in the suppression of the Kerensky–Krasnov uprising at Gatchina. In February 1918 the detachment was sent to the Eastern Front, where it was reorganized into the 1st Orenburg Cavalry Regiment of the Red Army. With…Citește mai mult

Interwar period After the end of the war, Kryuchyonkin continued to serve with the 11th Cavalry Division. In October 1921, he was appointed acting commander of the 63rd Cavalry Regiment, leading it in the suppression of the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine, the forces of Talak and Savinkov and other opponents of the Soviets in Belorussia. In late November he was sent to study at the Kiev Combined Military School. After graduating in September 1923, Kryuchyonkin returned to the 11th Cavalry Division and served as an assistant squadron commander and acting assistant commander of the 64th Cavalry Regiment for personnel. From June 1924 he served as acting regimental commander, then as chief of the regimental school of the 62nd Cavalry Regiment. During this period he fought in battles against the Basmachi movement in the region of Samarkand, Dushanbe, and the Afghan border. From September 1925 to September 1926, Kryuchyonkin completed the Cavalry Officers Improvement Course at Novocherkassk, and on his return to the division was appointed to the 44th Cavalry Regiment as chief and politruk of the regimental school. He served as secretary of the regimental party bureau between September 1927 and August 1928. In December 1928, Kryuchyonkin was sent…Citește mai mult

World War II After the German invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June 1941, Kryuchyonkin led the division in the defense of Kremenets as part of the 5th Cavalry Corps of the 6th Army of the Southwestern Front. In July its units, half-encircled, covered the retreat of units of the 36th Rifle Corps, defending against German mechanized troops in the regions of Berdichev and Kazatin. For his performance in the breakout of the division from encirclement Kryuchyonkin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. From November, he commanded the 5th Cavalry Corps, which, as part of Fyodor Kostenko's operational group and then the 21st and 38th Armies of the Southwestern Front, took part in the Yelets offensive. For its performance, the corps was reorganized as the elite 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps in December. Subsequently, Kryuchyonkin led the corps in the successful Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive, the Second Battle of Kharkov, and the Voronezh–Voroshilovgrad defensive operation. In early July Major General Kryuchyonkin was appointed commander of the 28th Army, reorganized into the 4th Tank Army late that month. The army took part in the Battle of Stalingrad and as the 4th Tank Army counterattacked the German troops breaking through to…Citește mai mult

Postwar After the end of the war, Kryuchyonkin continued to serve as deputy commander of the 61st Army. In August 1945 the army headquarters was used to form that of the Don Military District, and he was appointed deputy commander of the district. In January 1946 he was placed at the disposal of the Main Personnel Directorate for health reasons, and retired in June. He lived in Kiev until his death on 10 June 1976.

Order of Kutuzov Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"

Medal "For the Defence of Kiev" Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"

Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Bibliography Tsapayev, D.A.; et al. (2011). Великая Отечественная: Комдивы. Военный биографический словарь [The Great Patriotic War: Division Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary] (in Russian). Vol. 1. Moscow: Kuchkovo Pole. ISBN 978-5-9950-0189-8.