Kazakov - Marshal of Artillery, an outstanding military leader of the Soviet era, a hero of the USSR. He was awarded numerous orders and medals. Streets in cities and towns are named after him.
Childhood and youth
Future Marshal Vasily Kazakov was born on the sixth of July (the eighteenth according to the old style) in a peasant family. Father - I. V. Kazakov - worked as a stoker, later as a janitor. Mother - E. A. Kazakova - was a simple peasant woman.
Vasily was the eighth child in the family. He graduated from the parochial school and went to study in Petrograd. From the summer of 1911, he worked as a "boy" in JSC "Siemens and Halske", that is, he was a peddler, messenger, helper. In September 1912, he entered the Otto Kirchner factory as an apprentice. In May 1913, he got a job as a worker at the Geisler plant.
Royal army
In May 1916 he went to serve in the army. At first he was in the 180th reserve infantry regiment, which was stationed in the city of Petrograd. After some time, he was included in the 433rd Novgorod Infantry Regiment and sent to the front. Fought on the Northern Front. He received a shell shock in battle near Riga.
In February 1917 he was transferred back to Petrograd. There he took an active part in the revolutionaryevents. Since December 1917, he worked as an employee of the department for supervising former private banks.
Red Army
After Vladimir Ilyich Lenin signed the decree on the creation of the Red Army, the future Marshal Kazakov, whose photo can be seen in this article, signed up as a volunteer there. He served in the first artillery battalion of Petrograd. In November 1918 he graduated from the Soviet artillery courses. Then he served in the sixth infantry division of the Moscow Military District.
Gradually climbed the career ladder. He started as an artillery platoon commander, then became an assistant battery commander. After a while he became the commander of the battery himself. After he was appointed head of the junior elementary school. As an intelligent commander, he was twice transferred to the most difficult areas of military operations. Kazakov fought on the Western and Northern fronts, took part in the Soviet-Polish campaign.
Peace period
After the end of the Civil War, he continued his service in the sixth rifle division. In 1925 he graduated from the Higher Artillery School in Leningrad. In the future, he always sought to improve his military education, completed three advanced training courses for command personnel. And in 1934 he graduated from the Military Academy. Frunze.
Since the summer of 1927 he served in the First Moscow Rifle Division of the Moscow Military District. He served as commander of an artillery battalion, later - chief of artillery of a division. In August 1939 he was appointed head of the artillery of the 57th Rifle Corps. From the summer of 1940 he commanded the seventhMVO mechanized corps.
War against fascism
The future Marshal Kazakov, whose biography is rich in military glory, entered the fighting in July 1941. He was appointed chief of artillery of the sixteenth army of the Western Front. Kazakov proved himself excellently in the most difficult battles of the initial period of the war. Participated in the battle for Moscow and in the battle of Smolensk.
His bright head came up with the idea of combined anti-tank strongholds. Anti-tank, heavy artillery and machine-gun fire complemented each other in them. After some time, the creation of these points became a prerequisite for defensive operations throughout the army.
Kazakov was a big opponent of the even distribution of artillery along the entire defensive front and strove for its massive use in the most vulnerable sectors of the front. He always demanded that artillery be maneuverable and able to quickly move to the desired positions.
In the training of personnel, he adhered to the principles of mutual substitution. In his opinion, each fighter of the artillery crew should have been able to replace a wounded comrade. Kazakov's demands were approved by the army commander Rokossovsky. They worked well together and served together until the end of the war.
Victory
In 1942 Kazakov took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. In February 1943, he was appointed commander of the artillery of the Central Army of the Front. On April 6, 1945, he received the title of Hero of the USSR, having distinguished himself in the VistulaOder operation. A month later, the Soviet Union won this bloody war.
Further service: Kazakov - Marshal
From July 1945 he commanded the artillery of a group of troops in Germany. In March 1950, he was appointed first deputy commander of the army's artillery. In January 1952, Kazakov himself began to command the artillery of the Soviet Army. Received the title of Marshal of Artillery on March 11, 1955
In October 1956, he became chief of the air defense of the Ground Forces. In April 1965 - inspector-advisor of the Group of General Inspectors of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. Kazakov is a marshal who ended his life on May 25, 1968. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Private life
Married twice. The first time he married during the Civil War. In 1944, his wife died at the front. She was a major in the medical service. At the front headquarters, he met his second wife, she was a signalman. Kazakov is a marshal and a happy father of two sons. His eldest son Victor followed in his father's footsteps and fought at the front. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general of artillery. Kazakov's grandson also served in the artillery troops.
Awards received by Kazakov
Marshal has earned many different awards. Here are just a few:
- order of Lenin (four);
- Order of the Red Banner (five);
- Order of the Red Star;
- Order of Suvorov first degree (three);
- Order of Suvorov second degree;
- Order of Kutuzov firstdegrees;
- order "For military valor" fourth class;
- Order of the "Cross of Grunwald" second class.
Streets in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and some other settlements were named after him.
