Soviet tank aces. Vladimir Bochkovsky is rightfully included in the cohort of Soviet tank aces who have achieved a large number of victories on the battlefield. On the account of the officer, who after the war continued to serve in the army and rose to the rank of lieutenant general of tank forces, there are 36 damaged enemy tanks. Having got to the front in 1942, the young officer went through the war, ending it at the Seelow Heights, where he was seriously wounded. In total, Vladimir Bochkovsky burned five times in a tank and was wounded six times, four times seriously, but each time he returned to service and continued to beat the enemy.
Biography of the hero before going to the front
Vladimir Alexandrovich Bochkovsky was born on June 28, 1923 in Tiraspol. The family of the future war hero had nothing to do with military service. The father of the future tank officer, who during the war years was destined to become a Hero of the Soviet Union, worked as a pastry chef, and his mother was a simple housewife. The younger brother of Vladimir Bochkovsky became an artilleryman during the war years, went through the entire war and continued military service, having retired with the rank of colonel. Like his older brother, he was awarded military orders and medals.
In Tiraspol, Vladimir Bochkovsky studied at school # 1, which today is a humanitarian and mathematical gymnasium. In 1937, Vladimir's family moved to the Crimea, to Alupka. Here the father of the future tanker got a job in one of the government sanatoriums. It was in the Crimea that Bochkovsky finished his studies at the secondary school No. 1 in the city of Alupka in June 1941, having received a 10-grade education. During these years, the future tanker, according to his son Alexander Bochkovsky, was seriously fond of football and even played for the youth team of the Crimea. The officer carried his love for football throughout his life. One of his friends was the famous Soviet football player and coach Konstantin Beskov.
On the second day after the start of the war, Vladimir Bochkovsky decided to tie fate with the armed forces and went to enter the Kharkov Tank School. In Kharkov, the tanker did not study for long, already at the beginning of autumn 1941 the school, along with cadets and teaching staff, was evacuated to the city of Chirik in Uzbekistan. Later, on the basis of the school evacuated from Kharkov, the Tashkent Higher Tank School named after Marshal of Armored Forces PS Rybalko will be created here. After graduating from a tank school in the summer of 1942, the newly made lieutenant Vladimir Bochkovsky went to the Bryansk front as part of the famous 1st Guards Tank Brigade Katukov, where he arrived in mid-July 1942.
First battles and first awards
As part of the replenishment, Bochkovsky immediately got from the ship to the ball. During these days, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade fought heavy battles with the advancing German units in the Voronezh area. The recruits entered the battle right at the railway station, the train was first bombed by German planes, and then attacked enemy tanks. According to Bochkovsky's recollections, in order to repel the enemy's attack, fire had to be opened directly from the platforms. The deployment of tanks in battle formation took place under enemy fire. The first few weeks of the war left an indelible impression on the officer's memory. According to his recollections, these days he literally lived in his tank and even took food inside a combat vehicle.
Already on August 12, 1942, Lieutenant Vladimir Bochkovsky, the commander of a tank platoon in the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, was seriously wounded in his left thigh. This happened during a battle near the village of Sklyaevo. The wounded officer, who could not get out of the battle on his own and could die from blood loss, was saved by tank sergeant Viktor Fedorov, who took Bochkovsky and his crew on a light T-60 tank. Later, for rescuing an officer in battle, Viktor Fedorov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Already during the war, he will learn to be an officer and will serve in the battalion, which will be headed by Vladimir Bochkovsky, who was saved by him.
After a long treatment in a rear hospital in Michurinsk, Bochkovsky returned to service, continuing his service in the 1st Guards Tank Brigade. As part of the brigade, he participated in the battles on the Kalinin Front, was a participant in Operation Mars, the main goal of which was to eliminate the Rzhev-Vyazemsky ledge, occupied by the German 9th Army. For participation in the December battles, Vladimir Bochkovsky was awarded one of the most revered military medals - the medal "For Courage".
In the award documents, it was noted that on December 21, 1942, Guard Lieutenant Bochkovsky (in January 1943, already the commander of a T-34 tank company of the 2nd tank battalion of the brigade), in conditions of loss of radio communication with the tanks operating in front, made his way to combat vehicles in the village of Vereista on foot. territory, which was under fire by the enemy, found out the situation on the spot and reported to the command post of the battalion. The next day, December 22, he urgently delivered ammunition and food to the brigade's tanks operating in the area of the Bolshoye and Maloye Boryatino settlements. The officer delivered everything he needed in a light tank T-70 and personally, under enemy fire, unloaded ammunition, distributing ammunition to tank crews. For the energy and courage shown in the performance of combat missions in December 1942, the command presented Lieutenant Vladimir Bochkovsky to the Guards for the medal "For Courage".
Battles on the Kursk Bulge and the first military orders
In July 1943, Guard Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Bochkovsky took an active part in the Battle of Kursk, having distinguished himself in the battle near the village of Yakovlevo on July 6, 1943. This settlement was in the very center of the offensive, in the direction of the main attack, which was inflicted by the 2nd SS Panzer Corps. The battle near this settlement was very fierce; dozens of tanks took part in the battles on both sides at the same time.
In this direction, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, which was part of the 3rd Mechanized Corps of the 1st Tank Army of Katukov, confronted the tankmen of the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibschand Adolf Hitler". In the afternoon of July 6, the Germans launched an attack in the area of the village of Yakovlevo, Belgorod Region, from 80 to 100 tanks, which covered dozens of aircraft from the air. The company of the guard of senior lieutenant Vladimir Bochkovsky also took part in this battle. For the battle near Yakovlevo on July 6, 1943, the tankman was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The award documents for this battle said that the company under the command of Vladimir Bochkovsky, holding back the advance of the Germans under heavy enemy artillery fire and air attacks, destroyed 16 enemy tanks, including three heavy Tiger tanks. At the same time, Bochkovsky personally, together with his crew, destroyed three enemy tanks. For these battles, the 2nd tank battalion of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade also paid a terrible price, many famous guardsmen died in the battles, including the commanders of the tank crews of Bochkovsky's company.
War correspondent Yuri Zhukov wrote that he met three damaged tanks of the Bochkovsky company on the front road, the tankers left the battle in the Yakovlevo area, taking out the bodies of nine dead guardsmen in their cars. Many of the victims were not just fellow soldiers, but Vladimir's friends from the tank school. The face of the young 20-year-old guard Senior Lieutenant Bochkovsky, covered with soot and dust, was boyish. Yuri Zhukov remembered then a thin neck and sharpened facial features. But at the same time, these tankers who left the battle were already real laborers of the great war, whose overalls smelled of gunpowder, sweat and the blood of battles.
The battles of 1944 and the nomination for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union
At the end of December 1943, Bochkovsky was again seriously wounded and returned to the front by the spring of 1944. In the area of the village of Lipki, Chernihiv region, on December 25, 1943, Bochkovsky's tankers captured a large enemy convoy, and the next day successfully repelled numerous enemy attacks. Wounded, Bochkovsky did not leave the battlefield and continued to command his unit, for which he was later awarded the Order of the Red Star.
In the spring of 1944 he took part in the Proskurov-Chernivtsi strategic operation. From April 1944 he was the deputy commander of a tank battalion, and from June 1944 until the end of the war he was the commander of a tank battalion in the 1st Guards Tank Brigade. He took part in numerous tank raids behind enemy lines, especially distinguished himself in the spring of 1944. Tankmen of the guard of Captain Bochkovsky managed to capture and hold the city of Chertkov until the main forces approached, inflicting serious losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment, as well as taking a large number of trophies and prisoners. For a series of very successful battles at the end of March 1944, Vladimir Bochkovsky was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the presentation of the Gold Star medal and the Order of Lenin.
The award documents say that on March 21 the detachment, which was headed by Bochkovsky, successfully crossed the Terebna River and continued the pursuit of the retreating units of the Nazis. In the battles with the Germans in the area of the settlement of Grabovets, Ternopil region, a group of Bochkovsky tanks destroyed 4 assault guns, 16 enemy guns and more than 200 trucks with various cargoes. The next day, continuing to pursue the retreating enemy, in the area of the town of Trembovlya, the tankers broke enemy fire resistance and captured the settlement. In battles in this area, tankers from Bochkovsky's detachment destroyed three enemy tanks, 5 mortars, up to 50 different vehicles and more than 50 enemy soldiers. At the same time, 4 guns were captured in good working order. On the same day, the tankers managed to intercept a large enemy convoy near the settlements of Sukhostav and Yablonev. As a result of the unexpected appearance of Soviet tanks, the enemy fled and was scattered, leaving 100 vehicles. About 30 killed Nazis remained on the battlefield, 22 soldiers were taken prisoner.
On March 23, 1944, a group of Bochkovsky tanks successfully completed their assigned combat mission, capturing the city of Chertkov. At the same time, the swift onslaught of Soviet soldiers made it possible to seize the bridge over the Seret River intact, which the Germans did not manage to blow up. The battle in the area of the city and in Chertkov itself continued for four hours, after which the enemy began to retreat indiscriminately, unable to withstand the onslaught of the guards. During the battle, Bochkovsky's detachment destroyed up to 150 enemy soldiers and officers, 7 tanks, 9 cannons, two armored personnel carriers, about 50 different vehicles. At the same time, in the city itself, the Germans left three warehouses with fuel and lubricants and two warehouses with food, which became trophies of the Soviet troops.
The last volleys of the Great Patriotic War
In the future, the famous Soviet tanker made many more successful raids on the rear of the enemy, inflicting great damage on the enemy in manpower and equipment. For the battles in July 1944 near the San River and during the capture of bridgeheads on the Vistula near Sandomierz, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. In January 1945, he distinguished himself especially during the Vistula-Oder offensive operation. Together with his tankers, he walked 200 kilometers along the rear of the German troops, on January 15, 1945, cutting the Warsaw-Radom highway, which was actively used by the Nazi troops for retreat. He distinguished himself personally during the battle near the village of Adaminov on January 15, 1945. In this area, Soviet tank crews met with units of the 19th German Panzer Division. In the battle on January 15, Bochkovsky's crew destroyed two Tigers and two enemy self-propelled guns. In total, by the end of the war, Bochkovsky's official account had 36 wounded and destroyed enemy tanks and self-propelled guns.
The brave tanker spent his last battle on April 16, 1945. Vladimir Bochkovsky was seriously wounded in the stomach in the battle for the Seelow Heights when breaking through the enemy's defenses. Later, for this battle, he will be awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, III degree. In total, during the war years, Vladimir Bochkovsky burned five times in a tank, was wounded six times, four of them - seriously, suffered 17 different operations. The last wound was very serious; the war hero spent several months in hospitals, being discharged only in the fall of 1945.
Doctors tried several times to commission the hero, but he refused and always returned to duty. So, one of the wounds in the thigh led to the fact that the tanker had one leg four centimeters shorter than the other and stopped bending at the knee. At the same time, attempts to commission an officer were made after the war. After the last wound, Bochkovsky was declared unfit for military service on all counts, but he still remained in the army. According to the memoirs of the hero's son, in order to stay in the service, the officer “lost” his medical books three times. Later, the tanker who finished the war of the guards as a captain made an excellent military career, the highest point of which was the conferment of the rank of lieutenant general of tank forces on October 27, 1977.
In 1980, General Vladimir Aleksandrovich Bochkovsky retired and finally returned home - to his native Tiraspol, where he lived the rest of his life. The illustrious veteran passed away in May 1999 at the age of 75 and was buried on the Walk of Fame in one of the city's local cemeteries.
