Memorial plaque in memory of the location of the headquarters of the formation of the Guards mortar units “Katyusha”
There is a memorial plaque in memory of the location of the headquarters of the formation of the Guards mortar units “Katyusha”. It was located during the Great Patriotic War in the school building No. 443. In 1940 state tests of the MU-2 were conducted in the Soviet Union and it was adopted under the designation “BM-13 rocket mortar”. In the evening of June 21, 1941, the USSR government decided to mass-produce BM-13 combat complexes, ammunition for them and the formation of special units for their use. Accordingly, the first Guards mortar regiment began to be formed on July 4, 1941 on the initiative of the People’s Commissar of General Engineering Pyotr Parshin. The Guards mortar units became a unique type of armed forces in the Red Army which had its own ministry. The main advantage of rocket launchers was the large number of shells that they fired in one salvo. If several RSZO worked on the same area at once, then the destructive effect was increased due to the interference of shock waves. Katyusha mortars played an important role in the Great Patriotic War: they became one of the world’s first modern multiple launch rocket systems and were intended to destroy enemy manpower and equipment accumulations in a large area with massive volleys. Due to the high efficiency of use and ease of production, Katyusha was widely used at the front, the systems had a significant impact on the course of hostilities.
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