Many heroes can be remembered when talking about the Great Patriotic War. One of these people is Alexander Marchenko, whose biography is extremely entertaining. He was during the battles among the sixty-third tank brigade, which advanced to the front from Chelyabinsk.
Biography
Alexander Porfiryevich was born in the family of an ordinary bricklayer in a small town called Glukhov. He graduated from seven classes of school, and then became a student at the Cherkasy College of Road Construction. Then he worked in his speci alty, the army, from where he was transferred to the reserve and again carried out work for the good of the country. When war was declared, Alexander Marchenko was in Lvov and was taking inventory of the local railroad tracks.
Immediately, when the realization came that the homeland was in danger, Alexander expressed a desire to fight, but the draft board rejected the application. The reason was simple: specialists of his profile were needed to work in the rear. Marchenko was evacuated to the territory of the Southern Urals, to a city called Magnitogorsk, where he was supposed to design strategically important railway lines.highways for the export of equipment and specialists from the most important enterprises from Central Russia deep into the country. It was during this period that Alexander Marchenko accomplished his first feat: together with a friend, he saved a small child who fell through the ice.
Military career
All this time, Alexander Porfirievich did not leave the thought that he must be on the battlefield at that time, and not sit quietly in his office and work with drawings. Just in one thousand nine hundred and forty-three, the thirtieth Volunteer Corps, consisting of Chelyabinsk workers, began its existence. In order to get into its ranks, Marchenko specially studied the speci alty of a radiotelegraph operator-machine gunner. And this time, the military enlistment office simply could not refuse, and the front needed fighters. Alexander Marchenko is assigned to the 63rd tank brigade.
In it, there was an interesting tradition among the fighters: to give cars patriotic names. For example, the tanks were called "Avenger", "Volunteer", "For the Motherland" and so on. Marchenko happened to serve as part of the crew of a tank called "Merciless". For the first time, he fought on it in a terrible battle near the Kursk Bulge, and then he defended the lines near the Dnieper, Zhytomyr, Kamenetz-Podolsky. The tank with the sonorous name "Merciless" won many victories.
About exploits
Once one of Marchenko's comrades named Mordvintsev, who served as a sergeant, was wounded in battle and, accordingly, dismissed from service. Having recovered a little, Mordvintsev entered the university in Kyiv. The city had already been liberated at that time,but life was still very hard, the war did not subside. We must pay tribute to the sergeant, he never complained about his tenure in messages to his comrades in the service. But, all the same, realizing how hard it was for him, Marchenko persuaded his colleagues to collect a feasible amount and send it to Mordvintsev. He was extremely grateful, and after the war he successfully graduated from the university and even received a degree.
All the memories of Alexander Porfiryevich that have survived from wartime are entirely positive. Even the command was amazed at how authoritative, loved by colleagues, Alexander Marchenko - a tanker by vocation. His appearance was courageous, he always managed to keep a calm expression on his face, even in a very difficult time.
There was another interesting case in the biography of this man. Near Lvov, he was able to penetrate directly into a burning Soviet tank, cope with the fire, take the car out of the shelling, save the crew, and then literally drag several people on his shoulders from the battlefield to the medical unit. It is not at all surprising that this man had many awards, for example, the medal "For Courage", and Marchenko is also a holder of the Order of the Red Star.
The capture of Lvov
The most difficult operation in the life of Alexander Marchenko was the capture of Lvov. The difficulty was that there simply could not be air support, the command strictly forbade destroying and spoiling the old unique architecture of the city. Yes, and the most experienced tankers were needed,who know the city. Alexander Marchenko (photo - below) was suitable in all respects, moreover, at that time he already wore an officer's rank and established himself among his colleagues as a very responsible person.
Last fight
The crew of the tank "Guards", which included Alexander Marchenko, was given the task to get to the city center, and it was Marchenko who was supposed to hoist the red Soviet banner over the town hall of Lvov.
The task was clearly formulated, but it seemed impossible to achieve it. Several tanks in front have already failed, and the crews of these vehicles were delivered to the headquarters with severe injuries.
For two whole days, the "Guard" was getting close to the town hall, being in a shootout with German vehicles. Exhausted, realizing that they are constantly in danger, Marchenko and his colleagues reached their goal. Further, two versions of what happened are known.
According to the first assumption, Marchenko was mortally wounded when he hoisted a red flag over the square. The second version is spelled out directly in the hero's award sheet and says that Alexander Marchenko took command of the tank after the death of the commander, entering into an unequal battle with the enemy. And when absolutely all of his comrades were killed next to him, he continued the fight alone. It is hard to believe, but more than fifty people of experienced German soldiers were destroyed by him, who had instructions to take him alive. But still, when Marchenko tried to cross the open space of the square and get to help, hewas shot down by machine gun fire, Alexander died on the spot from his wounds.
Regalia
Aleksandr Marchenko was never introduced to the number of Heroes of the Soviet Union, for lack of good reason, because there was no exact confirmation of what exactly this person did. But the descendants remember the exploits of this man, the people of Chelyabinsk are proud of his name. There is Marchenko street in the city. And in Ukraine, every schoolchild knows who Alexander Porfiryevich Marchenko is, since this worthy person is included in the list of honorary citizens of the city of Lvov.
