"Russian Planet" recalls a resident of Tomsk who bought a tank for the front and became the first woman as a tank driver
Danish director Gert Friborg visited Tomsk, where he shot some scenes for his short film "Fighting Friend" - a biographical film about the life of Maria Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya. Most of the material was prepared in the director's homeland, but it was decided to shoot some scenes in the city, which is closely intertwined with the fate of the main character. The story of an outstanding woman, awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, in the material of the "Russian Planet".
Daughter of exiles, Komsomol member and wife of the commissar
Maria Garagulya was born in the Tauride province (Crimea) on August 16, 1905 * in the village of Kiyat, now renamed the village of Blizhnee. She grew up in a family of peasants who, after dispossession in 1930, were exiled to the Urals. Primary education, six classes, Maria received in the city of Dzhankoy in the south of Crimea, where she moved in 1921. From there, four years later, she moved to Sevastopol. There she managed to work at a cannery, then she was a telephone operator at a local telephone exchange.
In Sevastopol, Maria met her future husband, cadet Ilya Ryadnenko, whom she married in 1925. During the wedding, she both changed their surnames, becoming October. After graduating from the school, Ilya Oktyabrsky was sent from one city to another, followed by Maria.
According to Galina Bitko, who heads the cultural and educational department of the Tomsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, few personal belongings that belonged to Maria Oktyabrskaya have survived to this day. Memories, notes and memoirs of fellow soldiers and contemporaries have been preserved. All of them speak with equal warmth about the pre-war life of Maria Vasilievna.
“Cheerful, cheerful, welcoming and beautifully dressed, she has always attracted people to her. Organized an embroidery circle for the wives of commanders. The needlewoman herself is real, - this is how the participant of the Great Patriotic War Irina Levchenko told about the woman. “Thanks to Maria Vasilievna's care, the soldiers' barracks took on a cozy, homely look. They have curtains on the windows and doors, embroidered with a cross and satin stitch, napkins on the bedside tables. And the flowers, even if not in vases - in jars, but still alive”.
To all the questions about how she manages everything, Maria proudly answered: "The Commissioner's wife should set an example in everything!" She was constantly elected to the women's councils of units and garrisons, to which Maria followed her husband. She was an active participant and organizer of defense and cultural events among the families of officers, as well as in amateur performances.
After completing medical service courses, she studied shooting and graduated from driver courses. It is also known that out of 50 shots from a rifle, she hit 48 targets, threw a grenade well, pushed a cannonball and threw a disc. Ilya Oktyabrsky was proud of his beloved wife.
In 1941, fate divorced them. A day after the start of the war, Maria, along with other members of the officers' families, was evacuated to Tomsk, where she was able to arrive only in August. In a new place, she immediately began working at a local construction site, and then at the Leningrad Technical School of Anti-Aircraft Artillery, also evacuated to Tomsk. At the end of the summer, she learned of her husband's death. Ilya Oktyabrsky died on August 9 near Kiev.
Buying a tank and a letter to the leader
Maria Oktyabrskaya went to Novosibirsk to meet with the wives of the officers who died in the war. After that, she decided to join the Red Army. By that time she was almost 40 years old, and therefore she received refusal letters asking to send her to the front.
The tuberculosis of the cervical vertebra, which Maria Vasilievna had once had a history of, also prevented her from standing up.
Then the widow of Commissar Oktyabrsky began to save money for a tank. To begin with, she, with the help of her sister, sold all the property that she had accumulated by that time. After that, she took up embroidery, since the necessary funds from the sale of belongings could not be obtained. When the entire amount - 50 thousand rubles - was in her hands, she took the money to the State Bank. And she wrote a telegram to Joseph Stalin, which was published in March 1943 by the Krasnoye Znamya newspaper. In an appeal to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Maria asked to build a tank on her personal savings, and send her with him to the front as a driver. The same newspaper published the answer of the Leader of the Nations:
“Thank you, Maria Vasilievna, for your concern for the armored forces of the Red Army. Your wish will be granted. Please accept my greetings, I. Stalin."
As the mechanic Oktyabrskaya requested, the tank was named "Fighting Girlfriend". While he was being collected, Maria was sent to study in Omsk, where she had to learn to drive. As Galina Bitko notes, she passed all exams with excellent marks. After that I went to the Urals and got the car straight off the assembly line.
Tank T-34 "Combat Girlfriend" at the time of its transfer to the crew by the staff of the Sverdlovsk bread and pasta plant, winter 1943. Photo: tankfront.ru
After that, Maria Oktyabrskaya was sent to the Western Front, near Smolensk. There she, along with a tank, joined the 26th Elninskaya Guards Tank Brigade. In mid-September 1943, the Fighting Girlfriend tank arrived at the Tatsinsky Corps. The crew of the tank is also known: the commander is junior lieutenant Pyotr Chebotko, the gunner is Gennady Yasko, the radio operator is Mikhail Galkin, the driver is Maria Oktyabrskaya. Moreover, all crew members are front-line soldiers, awarded orders and medals. According to an employee of the museum, the tank crew called the mechanic only "Mama Vasilievna", to which she always answered them - "sons".
The death of the "Battle Girlfriend"
It is well known about the two battles of the crew members of the "Fighting Girlfriend" and Maria Oktyabrskaya. One of the combat missions in November 1943 was the need to cut the railway line near the settlement of Novoye Selo in the Sennensky district of the Vitebsk region of the Republic of Belarus. The task was complicated by the accumulation of enemy troops, whose detachments had to be defeated in order to complete the assigned task. Oktyabrskaya, which at that time had already become a guard sergeant, along with her tank was among the first to be in the positions of the Germans.
For three days seriously wounded Maria was repairing her "Fighting Friend", which was knocked out during the battle. Before failing, the tank managed to destroy more than 50 German soldiers and officers, as well as knock out the enemy's cannon. After Oktyabrskaya was able to repair the tank, the entire crew returned to the unit's location. For this battle, the woman received the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree.
The second famous battle in the biography of the heroine of the war took place in the area of the Krynka station of the Vitebsk region. In mid-January 1944, a tank attack on the railway station began. Among the attackers was also the "Fighting Girlfriend", who crushed several anti-tank guns located in the village with her caterpillars. During the battle, an enemy shell hit the "sloth" of the tank - one of the steering wheels of the combat vehicle. Due to the damage, the equipment stopped, and Maria, despite the fierce shooting, went outside for repairs.
When almost everything was ready, a mine exploded not far from Maria Oktyabrskaya. Several shrapnel wounded her in the head. Nevertheless, she was able to put the tank on the move this time too. After she returned to the unit, the first operation was performed in the field hospital, during which it became clear that more serious surgical intervention was needed.
Death and memory
During the stay of Maria Oktyabrskaya in the hospital, she was awarded the order for the battle near Novy Selo. During the presentation, the entire staff of the "Fighting Girlfriend" was present. Then, on February 16, the driver was transported by plane to Smolensk. She spent almost a month in the hospital, but the doctors could not help her, and on March 15, 1944, Maria Oktyabrskaya died. In early August of the same year, by decree of Joseph Stalin, she was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
As a result, the tank's crew replaced three vehicles that were damaged and burned down during the war. In the fourth car, they managed to end the war, reaching Konigsberg. As a sign of respect and memory of Maria Oktyabrskaya, on each new tank received instead of the burnt one, the crew displayed the name of the very first tank - "Fighting Friend".
Tomsk residents honor the memory of the heroine. So, for example, a memorial plaque was installed on the wall of the building of the electric lamp factory, with the following text: “This place was the house where Maria Oktyabrskaya lived in 1941-1943 - Hero of the Soviet Union, sergeant, mechanic-driver of the Fighting Girlfriend tank, built on her personal savings. She died in the battles for the Motherland in 1944.” In addition, a monument has been erected to her near gymnasium No. 24. Contrary to some opinions, Tomsk Oktyabrskaya Street has nothing to do with the heroine. But in honor of Mary, one of the streets of Smolensk is named.
* Date of birth is indicated according to award documents. In some sources, the date of birth is indicated as July 21, 1902.
