Pyotr Andreevich
Gorchakov
1917-2002
Pyotr Andreevich Gorchakov was the Deputy commander of the 1033rd Rifle Regiment for the political party (280th Rifle Division, 60th Army, Central Front), a lieutenant colonel. He was born on November 10 (23), 1917 in the village of Borinskoye, the Stebaevsky parish, the Zadonsky District, the Voronezh Province (now it is in the Lipetsk district, the Lipetsk region). In 1933 he finished 7 grades at school in his native village. In 1933-1936 he worked as a contractor for the fleet of the Borinsk machine and tractor station, in February-May 1936 – as an inspector of the political light work of the Borinsky district Department of Public Education. In 1936-1938 he was a propagandist, the head of the Department of political education and secretary of the Borinsky district committee of the Komsomol. In 1937 he graduated from the Voronezh department of the Institute of Correspondence Education of the party asset. He was in the army since October 1938. He served as a Red Army soldier and executive secretary of the Komsomol bureau of a separate battalion of the VNOS (in the Trans-Baikal Military District). In 1939-1940 he was an assistant for Komsomol work of the head of the political department of the special units of the Chita garrison, in March-August 1940 – an instructor for Komsomol work of the political department of the headquarters of the Trans-Baikal Military District. Then he served as the executive secretary of the party bureau of a separate battalion of the VNOS (in the Trans-Baikal Military District). In May 1941 he was demobilized. In June 1941 he was the Head of the propaganda and agitation department of the Borinsky district Party Committee. He was in the army since June 1941 again. In January 1942 he completed the advanced training courses of the political staff at the Oryol Military District. He was a participant of the Great Patriotic War: in January-May 1942 – the Executive secretary of the Party Bureau of the 6th Guards Rifle Regiment, in May-July 1942 – the senior instructor for propaganda of the political department of the 6th Guards Rifle Division. He fought on the Bryansk Front. He participated in battles in the Bolkhovsky and Maloarkhangel directions. In March 1942 near the town of Bolkhov (the Oryol region) he was wounded. In July 1942 – October 1943 he was the Military Commissar and deputy commander of the 1033rd Rifle regiment on the political side. He fought on the Bryansk (October 1942 – March 1943), Central (March-October 1943) and Voronezh (October 1943) fronts. He participated in the Kharkov operation, the Battle of Kursk, the Orel and Chernihiv-Pripyat operations, the Battle of the Dnieper. In February and July 1943, he was wounded. He especially distinguished himself during the crossing of the Dnieper. On September 25-26, 1943, when crossing the river near the village of Okuninovo (Kozeletsky district of Chernihiv region, Ukraine), he was constantly in the battle formations of battalions and companies of the regiment, mobilizing soldiers to complete the task. The soldiers of the advanced battalion, led by him, broke into the enemy trench and in a fleeting battle captured a bridgehead, to which the companies and battalions of the regiment immediately began to cross. With a swift attack, they captured the second line of defence of the Nazis, from which the attack on Korosten and then on Kiev unfolded. On October 10, 1943, in the battles on the Teterev River, he was seriously wounded (for the fourth time during the war) and stayed in hospital until January 1944. For the courage and heroism shown in the battles with the Nazi invaders, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 17, 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Andreevich Gorchakov was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
Address: Moscow, Bolshoy Afanasyevsky lane, 25
