, Anatoly , Vitaly , Alexander

The consignment CPSU Education Order of the Red Banner of Labor OBVSh them. CEC of the BSSR ();
Order of Suvorov, 1st class Higher Military Academy. K. E. Voroshilova () Academic degree candidate of military sciences Activity military science Autograph Awards Military service Years of service - Affiliation USSR Type of army infantry (-), airborne Rank
commanded battles Campaign in Western Belarus,
Soviet-Finnish War,
The Great Patriotic War, Operation "Danube". Scientific activity Scientific sphere military science Known as author of the concept of using the Airborne Forces in strategic operations Media files at Wikimedia Commons

Vasily Filippovich Margelov(ukr. Vasil Pilipovich Margelov, Belarusian Vasil Pilipavich Margelav, December 14 (27), Yekaterinoslav, Russian Empire - March 4, Moscow, RSFSR, USSR) - Soviet military leader, commander of the Airborne Forces in - and -1979, army general (1967), Hero of the Soviet Union (), laureate USSR State Prize (), candidate of military sciences (1968).

Biography

Youth years

V. F. Markelov (later Margelov) was born on December 14 (27), 1908 in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnieper, Ukraine), into a family of immigrants from Belarus. Father - Philip Ivanovich Markelov, metallurgical worker (surname Mar To spruce from Vasily Filippovich was subsequently recorded as Mar G ate due to an error in the membership card).

In 1913, the Markelov family returned to the homeland of Philip Ivanovich - to the town of Kostyukovichi, Klimovichi district, Mogilev province. The mother of V. F. Margelov, Agafya Stepanovna, was from the neighboring Bobruisk district of the Minsk province. According to some reports, V. F. Margelov graduated from the parochial school in 1921. As a teenager, he worked as a loader and carpenter. In the same year, he entered a leather workshop as an apprentice, and soon became an assistant master. In 1923 he entered the local Hleboprodukt as a laborer. There is information that he graduated from the school of rural youth, and worked as a forwarder for the delivery of postal items on the Kostyukovichi-Khotimsk line.

Since 1924 he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M. I. Kalinin as a laborer, then as a horse-racer (driver of horses carrying trolleys).

In 1925 he was sent again to the BSSR, as a forester in the timber industry. He worked in Kostyukovichi, in 1927 he became chairman of the working committee of the timber industry, was elected to the local Council.

Service start

In the airborne troops

V. F. Margelov

After the war in command positions. Since 1948, after graduating from the Order of Suvorov, I degree of the Higher Military Academy named after K. E. Voroshilov, he was the commander of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division.

From 1954 to 1959 - Commander of the Airborne Forces. In March 1959, after an emergency in the artillery regiment of the 76th Airborne Division (gang rape of civilian women), he was demoted to the 1st Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces. From July 1961 to January 1979 - again commander of the Airborne Forces.

October 28, 1967 he was awarded military rank"army General ". He led the actions of the Airborne Forces during the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia (Operation Danube).

During his service in the Airborne Forces, he made more than sixty jumps. The last of them at the age of 65.

Died March 4, 1990. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Contribution to the formation and development of the Airborne Forces

In the history of the Airborne Forces, and in the Armed Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, his name will remain forever. He personified a whole era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces, their authority and popularity are associated with his name, not only in our country, but also abroad ...

…IN. F. Margelov realized that in modern operations, only highly mobile, capable of wide maneuver landing forces would be able to successfully operate deep behind enemy lines. He categorically rejected the installation of holding the area captured by the landing until the approach of the troops advancing from the front by the method of tough defense as disastrous, because in this case the landing would be quickly destroyed.

Under more than twenty years of Margelov's leadership, the landing troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces, prestigious service in them, especially revered by the people ... The photograph of Vasily Filippovich in the demobilization albums went from the soldiers at the highest price - for a set of badges. The competition for the Ryazan Airborne School blocked the figures of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who cut off the exams for two or three months, before snow and frost, lived in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the stress and it would be possible to take his place . The spirit of the troops soared so high that the rest of the Soviet army was included in the category of "tanning beds" and "screws".

N. F. Ivanov “Operation Storm to start earlier ...”

Theory of combat use

“In order to fulfill their role in modern operations, our formations and units must be highly maneuverable, covered with armor, have sufficient fire efficiency, be well controlled, be able to land at any time of the day and quickly switch to active combat operations after landing. This is, by and large, the ideal to which we should strive.

To achieve the goals set, under the leadership of Margelov, a concept was developed for the role and place of the Airborne Forces in modern strategic operations in various theaters of military operations. Margelov wrote a number of works on this topic, and on December 4, 1968, he successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis (awarded academic degree candidate of military sciences by the decision of the Council of the Military Order of Lenin of the Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Academy. M. V. Frunze). In practical terms, exercises and command meetings of the Airborne Forces were regularly held.

Armament

It was necessary to overcome the gap between the theory of the combat use of the Airborne Forces and the established organizational structure of the troops, as well as the capabilities of military transport aviation. Assuming the position of Commander, Margelov received troops consisting mainly of infantry with light weapons and military transport aviation (as an integral part of the Airborne Forces), which was equipped with Li-2, Il-14, Tu-2 and Tu- 4 with significantly limited landing capabilities. In fact, the Airborne Forces were not able to solve major tasks in military operations.

Margelov initiated the creation and mass production at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of landing equipment, heavy parachute platforms, parachute systems and containers for landing cargo, cargo and human parachutes, parachute devices. “You can’t order technology, so strive to create reliable parachutes in the design bureau, industry, during testing, trouble-free operation of heavy airborne equipment,” Margelov said when setting tasks for his subordinates.

Small arms modifications were created for the paratroopers, simplifying their parachute landing - lighter weight, folding stock.

Especially for the needs of the Airborne Forces in the post-war years, new military equipment was developed and modernized: airborne self-propelled artillery installation ASU-76 (1949), light ASU-57 (1951), floating ASU-57P (1954), self-propelled installation ASU-85, tracked fighting machine Airborne troops BMD-1 (1969). After the arrival of the first batches of BMD-1 to the troops, attempts to land the BMP-1 were stopped, which were unsuccessful. A family of weapons was also developed on its basis: Nona self-propelled artillery guns, artillery fire control vehicles, command and staff vehicles R-142, long-range radio stations R-141, anti-tank systems, reconnaissance vehicle. Anti-aircraft units and subunits were also equipped with armored personnel carriers, which housed crews with portable systems and ammunition.

By the end of the 1950s, new An-8 and An-12 aircraft were put into service and entered the army, which had a payload capacity of up to 10-12 tons and sufficient flight range, which made it possible to land large groups of personnel with standard military equipment and weapons. Later, through the efforts of Margelov, the Airborne Forces received new military transport aircraft - An-22 and Il-76.

At the end of the 1950s, parachute platforms PP-127 appeared in service with the troops, designed for parachute landing of artillery, vehicles, radio stations, engineering equipment and others. Parachute-jet means of landing were created, which, due to the jet thrust created by the engine, made it possible to bring the landing speed of the cargo closer to zero. Such systems made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of landing due to the rejection of a large number of domes of a large area.

External images
	BMD-1 with a reactive airborne complex "Reaktavr".

Family

• Father - Philip Ivanovich Margelov (Markelov) - a metallurgical worker, in the First World War he became a knight of two St. George's crosses.
• Mother - Agafya Stepanovna, was from the Bobruisk district.
• Two brothers - Ivan (older), Nikolai (younger) and sister Maria.

V. F. Margelov was married three times:

• On February 21, 2010, a bust of Vasily Margelov was erected in Kherson. The bust of the general is located in the city center near the Youth Palace on Perekopskaya street.
• On June 5, 2010, a monument to the founder of the Airborne Forces (VDV) was unveiled in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. The monument was built at the expense of former paratroopers living in Moldova.
• On September 11, 2013, a reinforced concrete monument to the hero of the USSR was installed at school No. 6. The school bears the name of V. F. Margelov, and there is also a museum of the Airborne Forces.
• On November 4, 2013, a memorial monument to Margelov was unveiled in Victory Park in Nizhny Novgorod.
• Monument to Vasily Filippovich, a sketch of which was made from a well-known photograph from a divisional newspaper, in which he, being appointed commander of the 76th Guards. airborne division, preparing for the first jump, - installed in front of the headquarters of the 95th separate airmobile brigade (Ukraine).
• October 8, 2014 in Bendery (Transnistria) was opened memorial Complex, dedicated to the founder of the airborne troops of the USSR, the hero Soviet Union, General of the Army Vasily Margelov. The complex is located on the territory of the square near the city House of Culture.
• On May 7, 2014, a monument to Vasily Margelov was unveiled on the territory of the Memorial of Memory and Glory in Nazran (Ingushetia, Russia).
• On June 8, 2014, as part of the celebration of the 230th anniversary of the founding of Simferopol, the Alley of Glory and the bust of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General, Commander of the Airborne Forces Vasily Margelov were solemnly opened.
• On December 27, 2014, on the birthday of Vasily Fillipovich in Saratov, a memorial bust to Margelov V.F.
• April 25, 2015 in Taganrog in the city center, in the historical square "At the barrier", a bust of Vasily Margelov was solemnly unveiled.
• April 23, 2015 in Slavyansk-on-Kuban (Krasnodar Territory, Russia) a bust of the General of the Airborne Forces V. F. Margelov was unveiled.
• On June 12, 2015, a monument to General Vasily Margelov was unveiled in Yaroslavl at the headquarters of the Yaroslavl Regional Children's and Youth Military Patriotic public organization Paratrooper named after the Guards Sergeant of the Airborne Forces Leonid Palachev.
• On July 18, 2015, a bust to the commander who took part in the liberation of the city in the Second World War was unveiled in Donetsk.
• On August 1, 2015, a monument to General Vasily Margelov was unveiled in Yaroslavl on the eve of the 85th anniversary of the Airborne Forces.
• On September 12, 2015, a monument to Vasily Margelov was opened in the city of Krasnoperekopsk (Crimea).
• A monument to V. F. Margelov was erected in Bronnitsy.
• On August 2, 2016, a monument to V.F. Margelov was unveiled in the city of Stary Oskol, Belgorod Region, busts

Suvorov of the twentieth century

“Suvorov of the twentieth century” - this is how General of the Army Vasily Filippovich Margelov (1908 - 1990) began to be called during his lifetime by Western historians (for a long time it was forbidden to call this surname in the press for reasons of secrecy).

Having commanded the Airborne Forces for a total of almost a quarter of a century (1954 - 1959, 1961 - 1979), he turned this branch of the military into a formidable strike force that knew no equal.

But Vasily Filippovich was remembered not only as an outstanding organizer by his contemporaries. Love for the Motherland, remarkable military abilities, steadfastness and selfless courage were organically combined in him with the greatness of the soul, modesty and crystal honesty, kind-hearted, truly fatherly attitude towards the soldier.

Youth years

V. F. Markelov (later Margelov) was born on December 27, 1908 (January 9, 1909 according to the new style) in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk , Ukraine), in a family of immigrants from Belarus. By nationality - Belarusian. Father - Philip Ivanovich Markelov, a metallurgical worker. (The surname Markelov of Vasily Filippovich was subsequently recorded as Margelov due to an error in the party card.)

In 1913, the Margelov family returned to the homeland of Philip Ivanovich - to the town Kostyukovichi Klimovichi district (Mogilev province). The mother of V. F. Margelov, Agafya Stepanovna, was from the neighboring Bobruisk district. According to some reports, VF Margelov graduated from the parochial school (TsPSh) in 1921. As a teenager, he worked as a loader and carpenter. In the same year, he entered a leather workshop as an apprentice, and soon became an assistant master. In 1923 he entered the local Hleboprodukt as a laborer. There is information that he graduated from the school of rural youth, and worked as a forwarder for the delivery of postal items on the Kostyukovichi line - Khotimsk .

Since 1924 he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M. I. Kalinin as a laborer, then as a horse-racer.

In 1925 he was sent back to Belarus as a forester in the timber industry. Worked in Kostyukovichi, in 1927 he became chairman of the working committee of the timber industry, was elected to the local Council.

Service start

He was drafted into the Red Army in 1928. Sent to study at the United Belarusian military school(OBVSh) them. CEC of the BSSR Minsk, enlisted in the group of snipers. From the 2nd year - foreman of a machine-gun company. In April 1931 he graduated with honors from Minsk military school(former OBVSh).

After graduating from college, he was appointed commander of a machine-gun platoon of the regimental school of the 99th rifle regiment 33rd Territorial Rifle Division ( Mogilev, Belarus). Since 1933 - platoon commander at the Minsk Military Infantry School. M. I. Kalinina. In February 1934 he was appointed assistant company commander, in May 1936 - commander of a machine gun company. From October 25, 1938 he commanded the 2nd battalion of the 23rd rifle regiment of the 8th rifle division named after. Dzerzhinsky Belarusian Special Military District. He headed the reconnaissance of the 8th Infantry Division, being the chief of the 2nd division of the division headquarters.

How a paratrooper got a vest

In the Soviet-Finnish war of 1940, Major Margelov was the commander of the Separate reconnaissance ski battalion of the 596th rifle regiment of the 122nd division. His battalion made daring raids on enemy rear lines, set up ambushes, causing great damage to the enemy. In one of the raids, they even managed to capture a group of Swedish officers. General Staff, which gave grounds for the Soviet Government to make a diplomatic demarche regarding the actual participation of the allegedly neutral Scandinavian state in the hostilities on the side of the Finns. This step had a sobering effect on the Swedish king and his cabinet: Stockholm did not dare to send its soldiers into the snows of Karelia ...

The experience of ski raids on enemy rear lines was remembered in the late autumn of 1941 in besieged Leningrad. Major V. Margelov was assigned to lead the First Special Ski Regiment of sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet formed from volunteers.

The veteran of this part N. Shuvalov recalled:

As you know, sailors are a peculiar people. In love with the sea, they do not particularly favor their land brothers. When Margelov was appointed commander of a regiment of marines, some used to say that he would not take root there, his “brothers” would not accept him.

However, this prophecy did not come true. When the regiment of sailors was built to be presented to the new commander, Margelov, after the command "Attention!" seeing many gloomy faces looking at him not particularly friendly, instead of the words of greeting “Hello, comrades!”, which are customary in such cases, without hesitation, he shouted loudly:

Hey, buggers!

A moment - and in the ranks not a single gloomy face ...

Many glorious feats were accomplished by sailors-skiers under the command of Major Margelov. The tasks were set personally by the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Vice Admiral Tributs.

Vladimir Filippovich Tributs

Deep daring raids by skiers on the German rear in the winter of 1941-42 were an unceasing headache for the command of the Nazi Army Group North. What was even worth the landing on the coast of Ladoga in the direction of Lipka - Shlisselburg, which alarmed Field Marshal von Leeb so much that he began to remove troops from Pulkovo to eliminate him, tightening the noose of the blockade of Leningrad.

Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb

Two decades later, the commander of the Airborne Forces, General of the Army Margelov, ensured that the paratroopers received the right to wear vests.

The prowess of the "brothers" sunk into my heart! he explained. - I want the paratroopers to adopt the glorious traditions of their older brother - marines and continued with honor. For this, I introduced the paratroopers vests. Only stripes on them to match the color of the sky - blue ...

When, at a military council chaired by the Minister of Defense, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union S. G. Gorshkov, began to blame that, they say, paratroopers were stealing vests from sailors, Vasily Filippovich sharply objected to him:

I myself fought in the marines and I know what paratroopers deserve and what sailors deserve!

And Vasily Filippovich fought famously with his "marines". Here's another example. In May 1942, in the Vinyaglovo area near the Sinyavinsky Heights, about 200 enemy infantrymen broke through the defense sector of a neighboring regiment and entered the rear of the Margelovites. Vasily Filippovich quickly gave the necessary orders and himself lay down behind the Maxim machine gun. Then he personally destroyed 79 Nazis, the rest were finished off by reinforcements that came to the rescue.

By the way, during the defense of Leningrad, Margelov always had an easel machine gun at hand, from which in the mornings he made a kind of shooting exercise: he “trimmed” the tops of trees in bursts. Then he mounted a horse and practiced cutting with a sword.

In offensive battles, the regiment commander more than once personally raised his battalions to attack, fought in the forefront of his fighters, dragging them to victory in hand-to-hand combat, where he had no equal. Because of such terrible fights, the Nazis nicknamed the marines "striped death."

Officer's ration - in a soldier's cauldron

Caring for a soldier has never been a secondary matter for Margelov, especially in a war. His former brother-soldier, Guard Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Shevchenko recalled that, having accepted the 13th Guards in 1942 rifle regiment, Vasily Filippovich began to increase his combat effectiveness by improving the organization of food for all personnel.

At that time, the officers in the regiment ate separately from the soldiers and sergeants. Officers were entitled to reinforced rations: in addition to the combined arms norm, they received animal butter, canned fish, biscuits or cookies, Golden Fleece or Kazbek tobacco (non-smokers were given chocolate). But, besides this, some battalion commanders and company commanders brought personal chefs with a common catering unit. It is not difficult to understand that some part of the soldier's cauldron went to the officer's desk. This was discovered by the regimental commander when bypassing the units. He always started it with an inspection of the battalion kitchens and a sample of soldiers' food.

On the second day of Lieutenant Colonel Margelov's stay in the unit, all of its officers had to eat from a common boiler along with the soldiers. The regiment commander ordered his additional ration to be transferred to a common boiler. Soon other officers began to do the same. “Batya set a good example for us!” - the veteran Shevchenko recalled. Surprisingly, Batey Vasily Filippovich was called in all the regiments and divisions that he happened to command ...

God forbid, if Margelov noticed that the fighter had leaky shoes or shabby clothes. Here the business executive received to the fullest. Once, noticing that the sergeant-machine-gunner at the forefront of the boot was “asking for porridge”, the regimental commander called the head of the clothing supply to him and ordered him to exchange shoes with this fighter. And he warned that if he saw this again, he would immediately transfer the officer to the front line.

Vasily Filippovich could not stand cowards, weak-willed, lazy people. Theft under him was simply impossible, because he punished him mercilessly ...

Hot Snow

Whoever read Yuri Bondarev's novel "Hot Snow" or saw the film of the same name based on this novel, let him know: the Margelovites were the prototype of the heroes that stood in the way of Manstein's tank armada, which was trying to break the encirclement around the 6th army of Paulus in Stalingrad. It was they who found themselves in the direction of the main attack of the fascist tank wedge and managed to prevent a breakthrough, holding out until reinforcements arrived.

In October 1942, Guards Lieutenant Colonel Margelov became the commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, which was part of the 2nd Guards Army, Lieutenant General R. Ya. Malinovsky, which was formed specifically to complete the defeat of the enemy, who had broken through into the Volga steppes. For two months, while the regiment was in reserve, Vasily Filippovich intensely prepared his fighters for fierce battles for the Volga stronghold.

Near Leningrad, he more than once had to engage in single combat with fascist tanks, he knew well their weak spots. And now he personally taught tank destroyers, showing armor-piercers how to dig a trench in full profile, where and from what distances to aim with an anti-tank rifle, how to throw grenades and Molotov cocktails.

When the Margelovites held the defense at the turn of the river. Myshkov, having taken the blow of the Goth tank group, which was advancing from the Kotelnikovsky area to join the Paulus breakthrough group, they were not afraid of the newest heavy Tiger tanks, they did not flinch in front of the many times superior enemy. They did the impossible: in five days of fighting (from December 19 to 24, 1942), without sleep or rest, suffering heavy losses, they burned and knocked out almost all enemy tanks in their direction. At the same time, the regiment retained combat readiness!

In these battles, Vasily Filippovich was severely shell-shocked, but did not leave the line. He met the New Year of 1943 with his fighters, with a Mauser in his hand, dragging the attacking chains to storm the Kotelnikovsky farm. This swift throw of units of the 2nd Guards Army in the Stalingrad epic was put to a bold end: the last hopes of the Paulus army for the deblockade melted away like smoke. Then there was the liberation of Donbass, the crossing of the Dnieper, fierce battles for Kherson and the "Iasi-Chisinau Cannes" ... Thirteen thanks from Supreme Commander deserved the 49th Guards Kherson Red Banner Order of the Suvorov Rifle Division - Margelov's division!

The final chord is the bloodless capture in May 1945 on the border of Austria and Czechoslovakia of the SS tank corps, which broke through to the West to surrender to the Americans. This included the elite armored forces of the Reich - the SS divisions "Grossdeutschland" and "Dead Head".

As the best of the best guards, Major General Hero of the Soviet Union V.F. Margelov (1944), the leadership of the 2nd Ukrainian Front entrusted the honor of commanding a front-line composite regiment at the Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945.

V.F. Margelov - right flank

After graduating from the Higher Military Academy in 1948 (since 1958 - Military Academy General Staff) Vasily Filippovich received the Pskov airborne division.

This appointment was preceded by a meeting between Major General V. Margelov and Minister of Defense of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Bulganin. There was another general in the office, also a Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Minister of Defense began the conversation with kind words about the Airborne Troops, their glorious combat past, and that a decision had been made to develop this relatively young branch of the military.

We believe in them and consider it necessary to strengthen them with combat generals who distinguished themselves during the years of the Great Patriotic War. What is your opinion, comrades?

He, the second general, began to complain about the wounds received at the front, said that the doctors did not recommend him to make parachute jumps. In general, he refused the proposal of the minister.

General Margelov, who had many wounds during three wars, including severe ones, and even in the legs, asked a single question in response:

When can I go to the troops?

Today, - answered the Minister of Defense and firmly shook his hand.

Margelov understood that he would have to start from scratch and how to comprehend the tricky landing science for a beginner. But he also knew something else: there is a special attraction in this kind of troops - audacity, a strong male adhesion.

Years later, he told the correspondent of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper:

Until the age of 40, I vaguely imagined what a parachute was, and I never dreamed of jumping in a dream. It turned out on its own, or rather, as it should be in the army, by order. I am a military man, if necessary, ready to go to hell. And so it was necessary, already being a general, to make the first parachute jump. The impression, I tell you, is incomparable. A dome opens above you, you soar in the air like a bird, - by God, I want to sing! I sang. But you won't go away on rapture alone. I was in a hurry, I didn’t follow the ground, as a result I had to walk for two weeks with a bandaged leg. Got a lesson. Parachuting is not only romantic, but also a lot of work and impeccable discipline...

Then there will be many jumps - with weapons, day and night, from high-speed military transport aircraft. During his service in the Airborne Forces, Vasily Filippovich made more than 60 of them. Extreme - at the age of 65.

Anyone who has never left an airplane in his life, from where cities and villages seem like toys, who has never experienced the joy and fear of a free fall, a whistle in his ears, a stream of wind beating in his chest, he will never understand the honor and pride of a paratrooper, - Margelov will say something.

"Uncle Vasya" before the jump

What did Vasily Filippovich see when he accepted the 76th Guards Airborne Division Chernigov? The material and technical base of combat training is at zero. The simplicity of the sports equipment was discouraging: two jumping boards, a cradle for a balloon suspended between two pillars, and the skeleton of an aircraft that vaguely resembled an airplane or glider. Injuries and even deaths are common. If Margelov was a novice in the landing business, then in the organization of combat training, as they say, he ate the dog.

In parallel with combat training, at least important work for the arrangement of personnel, families of officers. And here everyone was surprised by the persistence of Margelov.

A soldier must be well-fed, clean in body and strong in spirit, - Vasily Filippovich liked to repeat Suvorov's statement. It was necessary - and the general became a real foreman, as he called himself without any irony, and on his desktop, mixed with plans for combat training, exercises, landing, there were calculations, estimates, projects ...

Working in his usual mode - day and night - a day away, General Margelov quickly ensured that his unit became one of the best in the landing troops.

In 1950, he was appointed commander of the Airborne Corps for Far East, and in 1954, Lieutenant General V. Margelov headed the Airborne Forces.

And soon he proved to everyone that he was not a rustic servant, as some perceived Margelov, but a man who saw the prospects of the Airborne Forces, who had a great desire to turn them into the elite of the Armed Forces. To do this, it was necessary to break stereotypes and inertia, win the trust of active, energetic people, and involve them in joint productive work. Over time, V. Margelov formed a circle of like-minded people carefully selected and nurtured by him. And the outstanding sense of the new, combat authority and the ability of the commander to work with people made it possible to achieve the set goals.

Year 1970, operational-strategic exercise "Dvina". Here is what the newspaper of the Belarusian Military District “For the Glory of the Motherland” wrote about them: “Belarus is a country of forests and lakes, and it is incredibly difficult to find a landing site. The weather wasn't good, but it didn't give us any reason to be discouraged either. Attack fighters ironed the ground, from the commentator's booth it sounded: "Attention!" - and the eyes of those present turned upward.

Here, large points separated from the first aircraft - these are Combat vehicles, artillery, cargo, and then, like peas, paratroopers rained down from the hatches of the An-12. But the crown of the throw was the appearance in the air of four "Anteys". A few minutes - and now there is a whole regiment on the ground!

AN-22 "Antey"

When the last paratrooper touched the ground, V.F. Margelov stopped the stopwatch on the commander's watch and showed it to the Minister of Defense. It took a little over 22 minutes for eight thousand paratroopers and 150 units of military equipment to be delivered to the rear of the "enemy".

Brilliant results were also achieved at the major exercises Dnepr, Berezina, Yug… It has become common practice to raise airborne troops, say, in Pskov, make a long flight and land near Ferghana, Kirovabad or in Mongolia. Commenting on one of the exercises, Margelov told the Krasnaya Zvezda correspondent:

The use of airborne assault has become practically unlimited. For example, we have this type of combat training: on the map of the country, a point is arbitrarily chosen where troops are dropped. Warrior parachutists jump into a completely unfamiliar area: into the taiga and deserts, lakes, swamps and mountains ...

It was after the Dvin exercises, declaring gratitude to the guardsmen for their courage and military prowess, that the commander casually asked:

Margelov could be understood: there was a need to reduce the time for preparing airborne units for combat after landing. The landing of military equipment from one aircraft, and the crews from another led to the fact that the spread sometimes amounted to five kilometers. While the crews were looking for equipment, it took a lot of time.

A little later, Margelov again returned to this idea:

I understand that it is difficult, but no one but us will do it.

Moreover, when - it was rather difficult to make a decision in principle to conduct the first such experiment - Vasily Filippovich proposed his candidacy to participate in the first test of this kind, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff were categorically against it.

However, even without this, there were legends about the courage of the commander. It manifested itself not only in a combat situation. At one of the festive receptions, where they could not help but invite the disgraced Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Vasily Filippovich, stretched out at attention, congratulated him on the holiday. Zhukov, being the Minister of Defense, repeatedly observed the actions of the paratroopers in the exercises and expressed satisfaction with their high skill, admired their courage and courage. General Margelov was proud of the respect of such military leaders for himself, and therefore did not change his attitude towards honored people in favor of temporary workers and high-ranking sycophants.

The troops of "Uncle Sam" and the troops of "Uncle Vasya"

At the end of the spring of 1991, an official visit to the United States was made by USSR Minister of Defense Marshal of the Soviet Union D.T. Yazov.

Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov

Returning to Moscow, the minister met with officers of the Information Department of the Ministry of Defense.

Subsequently, reflecting on this meeting that lasted more than two hours in the hall where meetings of the Collegium of the Ministry of Defense usually took place, I came to the conclusion that communication with us, ordinary employees of the department, was primarily aimed at conveying to the general public through officers who, on duty, maintain contacts with the press, his highly skeptical opinion of the merits military equipment of the richest power in the world and about the level of preparedness of the American "pros", who were then enthusiastically admired by the magazine "Ogonyok" and publications related to it in spirit.

During the visit military base in Fort Bragg, the Soviet Minister of Defense was invited to a demonstration exercise of one of the parachute battalions of the famous "regiment of devils" - the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States.

Fort Bragg

This division became famous for participating in almost all post-war conflicts in which the United States intervened (Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, etc.). She was the first to land in the Middle East before the start of the anti-Iraq Desert Storm in 1990. In all operations, the "devils" were at the forefront of the attack as the most dexterous, courageous, invincible.

And it was these “understudies of Satan” who were instructed to surprise the Soviet minister with their class of training and fearlessness. They were parachuted in. Part of the battalion landed in combat vehicles. But the effect of the “show-off” turned out to be the opposite of what was expected, because Dmitry Timofeevich could not talk about what he saw in North Carolina without a bitter smile.

What grade would I give you for such a landing? - Asked, slyly narrowing his eyes, the Minister of Defense of the then Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces for combat training, Lieutenant General E. N. Podkolzin, who was part of the Soviet military delegation.

You would tear off my head and I ..., Comrade Minister! - Evgeny Nikolaevich minted.

It turns out that almost all American paratroopers thrown out of aircraft in combat vehicles received serious injuries and injuries. There were also those who died. After landing, more than half of the cars did not budge...

This is hard to believe, but even in the early 90s, the vaunted American professionals did not have the same equipment as ours and did not know the secrets of the safe landing of "winged infantry" units on equipment that were mastered in the "uncle Vasya's troops" (as fighters of the Airborne Forces called themselves, hinting at a special warmth of feelings for the commander) back in the 70s.

And it all began with the courageous decision of Margelov to put the responsibility of a pioneer on his shoulders. Then, in 1972, in the USSR, tests of the newly created Centaur system were in full swing - for landing people inside an airborne combat vehicle on parachute platforms. The experiments were risky, so they started on animals. Far from everything went smoothly: either the parachute canopy was torn, or the active deceleration engines did not work. One of the jumps even ended in the death of the dog Buran.

Something similar happened with Western testers of identical systems. True, they experimented on people there. A man sentenced to death was placed in a combat vehicle that was dropped from an airplane. It crashed, and for a long time the West considered it inexpedient to continue development work in this direction.

Despite the risk, Margelov believed in the possibility of creating safe systems for landing people on equipment and insisted on complicating tests. Since further "dog" jumps were going well, he sought a transition to a new phase of R & D - with the participation of warriors. In early January 1973, he had a difficult conversation with the Minister of Defense of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. A. Grechko.

Anton Andreevich Grechko

Do you understand, Vasily Filippovich, what you are doing, what you are risking? - Andrey Antonovich urged Margelov to abandon his plan.

I understand perfectly, that's why I stand on my own, - answered the general. - And those who are ready for the experiment also understand everything perfectly.
On January 5, 1973, the historic leap took place. For the first time in the world, the crew was parachuted inside the BMD-1 on parachute-platform means. It included Major L. Zuev and Lieutenant A. Margelov - in the car next to an experienced officer was the youngest son of the commander, Alexander, at that time a young engineer of the scientific and technical committee of the Airborne Forces.

Only a very courageous person would dare to send his son to such a complex, unpredictable experiment. It was an act akin to the feat of Lieutenant General Nikolai Raevsky, when Kutuzov's favorite in 1812 near Saltanovka fearlessly led his young sons in front of the front of the battalions faltering from the French buckshot and with this amazing example breathed stamina into the discouraged grenadiers, held the position, deciding the outcome of the battle. Sacrificial heroism of this kind in the world military history is a unique phenomenon.

N. Raevsky with his sons

A combat vehicle was dropped from the AN-12, five domes were opened, - Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov, now an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, recalled the details of the unprecedented jump. - Of course, it is dangerous, but one thing reassured me: the system has been successfully used for more than one year. True, no people. Landed normally. In the summer of 1975, on the basis of the parachute regiment, then commanded by Major V. Achalov, Lieutenant Colonel L. Shcherbakov and I inside the BMD and four officers outside, in the joint landing cabin, jumped again ...

Vasily Filippovich was awarded the USSR State Prize for this bold innovation.

To replace the "Centaur" (not in last turn thanks to the commander of the Airborne Forces, who persistently argued in the highest party and government authorities of the country, the prospects for a new method of delivering fighters and equipment to the target, its early development to enhance the mobility of the "winged infantry") soon came a new, more advanced Reaktavr system. The rate of decline on it was four times higher than on the Centaur. In psychophysical terms, it is correspondingly more difficult for a paratrooper (a deafening roar and roar, a flame escaping from jet nozzles is very close). On the other hand, the vulnerability to enemy fire and the time from the moment of being thrown out of the aircraft to bringing the BMD into combat position were sharply reduced.

From 1976 to 1991, the Reaktavr system was used about 100 times, and always successfully. Year by year, from exercise to exercise, the "blue berets" gained experience in its application, polished their own skills at various stages of landing.

For more information about the creation of the “Centaur” and “Reaktaur” systems, see the website: Spurs on OVS - Military equipment - Taming of the "Centaur".

Since 1979, Vasily Filippovich was no longer with them, having surrendered the post of commander of the Airborne Forces and transferred to the Group of General Inspectors of the Ministry of Defense. Eleven years later, on March 4, 1990, he passed away. But the memory of Paratrooper number one, his precepts to the blue berets are imperishable.

The name of Army General V.F. Margelov wear the Ryazan Higher command school Airborne Forces, streets, squares and squares of St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Omsk, Pskov, Tula ... Monuments were erected to him in St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Pskov, Omsk, Tula, the Ukrainian cities of Dnepropetrovsk and Lvov, the Belarusian Kostyukovichi.

Paratroopers, veterans of the Airborne Forces every year come to the monument of their commander at the Novodevichy cemetery to honor his memory.

But the main thing is that the spirit of Margelov is alive in the troops. The feat of the 6th Airborne Company of the 104th Guards Regiment of the 76th Pskov Division, in which Vasily Filippovich began his career in the Airborne Forces, is an eloquent confirmation of this. He is also in other accomplishments of the paratroopers recent decades, in which the "winged infantry" covered itself with unfading glory.

Family

• Father - Philip Ivanovich Markelov - a metallurgical worker, in the First World War he became a holder of two St. George's crosses.
• Mother - Agafya Stepanovna, was from Bobruisk county.
• Two brothers - Ivan (senior), Nikolai (younger) and sister Maria.

V. F. Margelov was married three times:

• The first wife, Maria, left her husband and son (Gennady).
• The second wife is Feodosia Efremovna Selitskaya (mother of Anatoly and Vitaly).
• The last wife is Anna Alexandrovna Kurakina, a doctor. He met Anna Alexandrovna during the Great Patriotic War.

Five sons:

• Gennady Vasilievich (born 1931) - Major General.
• Anatoly Vasilyevich (1938-2008) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, author of more than 100 patents and inventions in the military-industrial complex.
• Vitaly Vasilievich(born 1941) - a professional intelligence officer, an employee of the KGB of the USSR and the SVR of Russia, later - a public and political figure; colonel general, deputy of the State Duma.
• Vasily Vasilyevich (1943-2010) - reserve major; First Deputy Director of the Directorate of International Relations of the Russian State Broadcasting Company "Voice of Russia" (RGRK "Voice of Russia")
• Alexander Vasilievich(born 1943) - officer of the Airborne Forces. On August 29, 1996, "for the courage and heroism shown in testing, fine-tuning and mastering special equipment" (landing inside the BMD-1 on a parachute-rocket system in the Reaktavr complex, carried out for the first time in world practice in 1976) was awarded the title of Hero Russian Federation. After retiring, he worked in the structures of Rosoboronexport.

Vasily Vasilyevich and Alexander Vasilyevich are twin brothers. In 2003, they co-authored a book about their father - "Paratrooper No. 1 Army General Margelov."

Awards and titles

USSR awards

• Medal " Golden Star» No. 3414 Hero of the Soviet Union (03/19/1944)
• four Orders of Lenin (03/21/1944, 11/3/1953, 12/26/1968, 12/26/1978)
• order October revolution (4.05.1972)
• two Orders of the Red Banner (3.02.1943, 20.06.1949)
• Order of Suvorov, 2nd class (1944)
• two Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st class (01/25/1943, 03/11/1985)
• Order of the Red Star (3.11.1944)
• two Orders "For Service to the Motherland in Armed Forces ah USSR "2nd (12/14/1988) and 3rd degree (04/30/1975)
• medals

He was awarded twelve Gratitudes of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (03/13/1944, 03/28/1944, 04/10/1944, 11/4/1944, 12/24/1944, 02/13/1945, 03/25/1945, 04/3/1945, 04/05/1944 5, 04/13/1945, 04/13/1945, May 8, 1945).

Awards of foreign countries

• order " People's Republic Bulgaria" 2nd degree (20.09.1969)
• four commemorative medals of Bulgaria (1974, 1978, 1982, 1985)

Hungarian People's Republic:

• star and badge of the Order of the People's Republic of Hungary, 3rd class (04/04/1950)
• medal "Brotherhood in Arms" gold degree (09/29/1985)

• order "Star of Friendship of Peoples" in silver (23.02.1978)
• medal "Arthur Becker" in gold (23.05.1980)

• medal "Sino-Soviet friendship" (23.02.1955)

• two anniversary medals (1978, 1986)

Mongolian People's Republic:

• Order of the Battle Red Banner (06/07/1971)
• seven anniversary medals (1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982)

• medal "For Odra, Nisa and Baltic" (05/07/1985)
• medal "Brotherhood in Arms" (10/12/1988)
• Officer of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland (6.11.1973)

SR Romania:

• Order of Tudor Vladimirescu 2nd (10/1/1974) and 3rd (10/24/1969) degree
• two commemorative medals (1969, 1974)

• order "Legion of Honor" degree of commander (05/10/1945)
• medal "Bronze Star" (05/10/1945)

Czechoslovakia:

• Order of Klement Gottwald (1969)
• medal "For Strengthening Friendship in Arms" 1st class (1970)
• two anniversary medals

honorary titles

• Hero of the Soviet Union (1944)
• Laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1975)
• Honorary Citizen of Kherson
• Honorary soldier of the military unit of the Airborne Forces

Proceedings

• Margelov VF Airborne troops. - M .: Knowledge, 1977. - 64 p.
• Margelov VF Soviet Airborne. - 2nd ed. - M .: Military publishing house, 1986. - 64 p.

Memory

• By order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR of April 20, 1985, V.F. Margelov was enlisted as an Honorary Soldier in the lists of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division.
Ulyanovsk Western Face.

monument to V.F. Margelov in Dnepropetrovsk

memorial plaque in Moscow

medal of V.F. Margelov

Vasily Filippovich Margelov. Born on December 14 (27), 1908 in Yekaterinoslav (later Dnepropetrovsk, now Dnepr) - died on March 4, 1990 in Moscow. Soviet military commander, commander of the Airborne Forces of the USSR (1954-1959, 1961-1979), army general (1967), Hero of the Soviet Union (1944), laureate of the USSR State Prize (1975), candidate of military sciences (1968).

Vasily Margelov (nee Markelov) was born on December 14 (27), 1908 in Yekaterinoslav (later Dnepropetrovsk, now the Dnieper).

Father - Philip Ivanovich Margelov (real name - Markelov), originally from the Mogilev province, a metallurgical worker, during the First World War he became a knight of two St. George's crosses.

Mother - Agafya Stepanovna, originally from the Bobruisk district of present-day Belarus.

The elder brother is Ivan Filippovich Margelov.

The younger brother is Nikolai Filippovich Margelov.

Sister - Maria Filippovna.

The name Margelov appeared on his father's party card due to a mistake. Since the father did not dare to change the party card, later all the documents were redone with the name Margelov, incl. and Vasily Filippovich's metrics.

Since 1913, the family lived in the father's homeland in Kostyukovichi, Klimovichi district, Mogilev province. There, in 1921, Vasily graduated from the parochial school.

WITH early years began to work, in particular, as a teenager he worked as a loader, then as a carpenter.

Since 1921, he entered a leather workshop as an apprentice, and soon became an assistant to the master. In 1923 he entered the local Hleboprodukt as a laborer. He graduated from the school of rural youth, worked as a forwarder for the delivery of postal items on the Kostyukovichi-Khotimsk line.

Since 1924 he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M. I. Kalinin as a laborer, then a horse-racer - a driver of horses carrying trolleys.

In 1925 he was sent to Belarus, where he worked as a forester in a timber industry enterprise. In Kostyukovichi in 1927 he became chairman of the working committee of the timber industry, was elected to the local Council.

In 1928 he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to study at the United Belarusian Military School (OBVSh) named after. CEC of the BSSR in Minsk, enrolled in a group of snipers. From the 2nd year - foreman of a machine-gun company.

Member of the CPSU (b) since 1929.

In April 1931 he graduated with honors from the Order of the Red Banner of Labor from the United Belarusian Military School. CEC of the BSSR. He was appointed commander of a machine-gun platoon of the regimental school of the 99th rifle regiment of the 33rd Belarusian rifle division in Mogilev.

Since 1933 - platoon commander in the Order of the Red Banner of Labor OBVSh them. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR (since November 6, 1933 - named after M.I. Kalinin, since 1937 - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor Minsk Military Infantry School named after M.I. Kalinin). In February 1934 he was appointed assistant company commander, in May 1936 - commander of a machine gun company.

From October 25, 1938 he commanded the 2nd battalion of the 23rd rifle regiment of the 8th Minsk rifle division named after. Dzerzhinsky Belarusian Special Military District. He headed the reconnaissance of the 8th Infantry Division, being the chief of the 2nd division of the division headquarters. In this position, he participated in the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939.

Vasily Margelov in years Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940) commanded a separate reconnaissance ski battalion of the 596th rifle regiment of the 122nd division. Initially, the division was stationed in Brest, in November 1939 it was sent to Karelia.

During one of the operations he captured officers of the Swedish General Staff.

After the end of the Soviet-Finnish war, he was appointed assistant commander of the 596th regiment for combat units. Since October 1940 - commander of the 15th separate disciplinary battalion Leningrad Military District (15 ODISB, Novgorod Region).

Vasily Margelov during the Great Patriotic War:

In early July 1941, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the People's Militia of the Leningrad Front - the basis of the regiment was the fighters of the former 15th separate disciplinary battalion.

On November 21, 1941, he was appointed commander of the 1st Special Ski Regiment of Sailors of the KBF. The Marines accepted the commander, which was especially emphasized by the appeal to him by the naval equivalent of the rank of "major" - "Comrade captain of the 3rd rank." Margelov, however, sunk into the heart of the prowess of the "brothers". Subsequently, becoming the commander of the Airborne Forces, as a sign that the paratroopers adopted the glorious traditions of their older brother, the marines, and continued them with honor, Margelov ensured that the paratroopers got the right to wear vests, but - to emphasize belonging to the sky - they are blue in the paratroopers.

Since July 1942 - commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, chief of staff and deputy commander of the 3rd Guards Rifle Division.

The award sheet conveys the regiment’s battles on the banks of the Myshkova River: “The 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, under the skillful leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Margelov, held back the offensive of large enemy forces that, with the support of 70 tanks, tried to break through the regiment’s defenses in the area of ​​​​the village of Vasilyevka and reach the connection with the enemy group, surrounded near Stalingrad. As a result of the fighting, he captured 2 tanks, 12 guns, 2 anti-aircraft installations, 6 machine guns as trophies and destroyed more than 900 enemy soldiers and officers, 36 tanks and armored vehicles. In battle, Comrade Margelov was seriously shell-shocked, but returned to duty two days later. Strong-willed and fearless commander. The regiment owes its success to his firm and skillful leadership. Worthy of being awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

After the division commander K. A. Tsalikov was wounded, the command for the duration of his treatment passed to the chief of staff Vasily Margelov. Under the leadership of Margelov on July 17, 1943, the soldiers of the 3rd guards division broke through 2 lines of defense of the Nazis on the Mius Front, captured the village of Stepanovka and provided a springboard for the assault on the Saur-Mogila.

Since 1944 - commander of the 49th Guards Rifle Division of the 28th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Supervised the actions of the division during the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kherson, for which in March 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The 49th division received the honorary name "Kherson". The soldiers of his unit brought freedom to the inhabitants of Nikolaev, Odessa, distinguished themselves during the Iasi-Kishinev operation, entered Romania, Bulgaria on the shoulders of the enemy, successfully fought in Yugoslavia, took Budapest and Vienna.

During the war, Commander Margelov was mentioned ten times in the gratitude orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

Orders (thanks) of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in which V. F. Margelov was noted:

For crossing the Dnieper River in the lower reaches, and capturing the city of Kherson - a major junction of railway and water communications and an important stronghold of the German defense at the mouth of the Dnieper River. March 13, 1944. No. 83;

For mastering the assault on a large regional and industrial center Ukraine, the city of Nikolaev - an important railway junction, one of the largest ports on the Black Sea and a strong stronghold of the German defense at the mouth of the Southern Bug. March 28, 1944. No. 96;

For capturing by storm on the territory of Hungary the city and the large railway junction of Szolnok - an important stronghold of the enemy's defense on the Tisza River. November 4, 1944. No. 209;

For breaking through the heavily fortified defenses of the enemy southwest of Budapest, mastering by storm the cities of Szekesfehervar and Bichke, large communication centers and important strongholds of the enemy's defense, were seized. December 24, 1944. No. 218;

For the complete capture of the capital of Hungary, the city of Budapest - a strategically important center of German defense on the way to Vienna. February 13, 1945. No. 277;

For breaking through the heavily fortified defenses of the Germans in the mountains of Verteshhedsheg, west of Budapest, defeating a group of German troops in the Esztergom area, and also capturing the cities of Esztergom, Nesmey, Felshe-Galla, and Tata. March 25, 1945. No. 308;

For the capture of the city and an important road junction of Madyarovar and the city and railway station of Kremnica - a strong stronghold of the German defense on the southern slopes of the Velkafatra ridge. April 3, 1945. No. 329;

For the capture of the cities and important railway junctions of Malacky and Bruk, as well as the cities of Prewidza and Banovce - strong strongholds of the German defense in the Carpathian zone. April 5, 1945. No. 331;

For the encirclement and defeat of a group of German troops, who tried to retreat from Vienna to the north, and at the same time capturing the cities of Korneiburg and Floridsdorf - powerful strongholds of the German defense on the left bank of the Danube. April 15, 1945. No. 337;

For the capture of the cities of Jaromerice and Znojmo in Czechoslovakia and the cities of Hollabrunn and Stockerau in Austria - important communications centers and strong strongholds of the German defense. May 8, 1945. No. 367.

The unit of the Guards, Major General Vasily Margelov, ended the war on May 12, 1945 with the brilliant bloodless capture of the selected German SS divisions “Dead Head”, “Great Germany”, “1st SS Police Division”, and even the remnants of the “Vlasovites” - more than 32 thousand in total man, with weapons and military equipment.

At the Victory Parade in Moscow, Major General Margelov commanded a battalion in consolidated regiment 2nd Ukrainian Front.

After the war, he was in various command positions.

Vasily Margelov in the airborne troops

Since 1948, after graduating from the Order of Suvorov, I degree of the Higher Military Academy named after K. E. Voroshilov, he was the commander of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division.

After graduating from the Academy of the General Staff, Vasily Filippovich had a conversation with the then Minister of Defense Nikolai Bulganin. Nikolai Alexandrovich spoke about the airborne troops, their glorious military past, that a decision had been made to develop this relatively young branch of the military. “We believe in them and consider it necessary to strengthen them with combat generals who distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War. What is your opinion, comrades?” Bulganin said. General Margelov, who had many wounds in three wars, including severe ones, and even in his legs, asked the only question in response: "When can I go to the troops?" “Today,” answered Bulganin, and shook his hand warmly.

Later Vasily Margelov admitted: “Until the age of 40, I vaguely imagined what a parachute was, I never even dreamed of jumping. It turned out on its own, or rather, as it should be in the army, by order. I am a military man, if necessary, ready to go to hell. And so it was necessary, already being a general, to make the first parachute jump. The impression, I tell you, is incomparable. A dome opens above you, you soar in the air like a bird, - by God, I want to sing! I sang. But you won't go away on rapture alone. I was in a hurry, I didn’t follow the ground, as a result I had to walk for two weeks with a bandaged leg. Got a lesson. Parachuting is not only romance, but also a lot of work and impeccable discipline... Someone who has never left an airplane in his life, from where cities and villages seem like toys, who has never experienced the joy and fear of a free fall, a whistle in his ears, a stream of wind beating in the chest, he will never understand the honor and pride of a paratrooper ".

During his service in the Airborne Forces, Vasily Filippovich made more than 60 parachute jumps (the last one at the age of 65).

In 1950-1954 - commander of the 37th Guards Airborne Svir Red Banner Corps (Far East).

From 1954 to 1959 - Commander of the Airborne Forces. In March 1959, after an emergency in the artillery regiment of the 76th Airborne Division (gang rape of civilian women), he was demoted to the 1st Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces.

Vasily Margelov made an invaluable contribution to the formation and development of the Airborne Forces. And it is no coincidence that the Airborne Forces are often deciphered as "Uncle Vasya's Troops" - in memory of the contribution of Vasily Margelov. He personified a whole era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces, their authority and popularity are associated with his name, not only in our country, but also abroad.

To achieve the goals set for the airborne troops, under the leadership of Margelov, a concept was developed for the role and place of the Airborne Forces in modern strategic operations in various theaters of military operations. Margelov wrote a number of works on this topic, and on December 4, 1968, he successfully defended his Ph. In practical terms, exercises and command meetings of the Airborne Forces were regularly held. Margelov realized that in modern operations, only highly mobile landing forces capable of wide maneuver would be able to successfully operate deep behind enemy lines. He categorically rejected the installation of holding the area captured by the landing until the approach of the troops advancing from the front by the method of tough defense as disastrous, because in this case the landing would be quickly destroyed.

“In order to fulfill their role in modern operations, our formations and units must be highly maneuverable, covered with armor, have sufficient fire efficiency, be well controlled, be able to land at any time of the day and quickly switch to active combat operations after landing. This, by and large, is the ideal we should strive for, ”said Margelov.

He had to overcome the gap between the theory of the combat use of the Airborne Forces and the prevailing organizational structure troops, as well as the capabilities of military transport aviation. Assuming the position of Commander, Margelov received troops consisting mainly of infantry with light weapons and military transport aviation (as an integral part of the Airborne Forces), which was equipped with Li-2, Il-14, Tu-2 and Tu- 4 with significantly limited landing capabilities. In fact, the Airborne Forces were not able to solve major tasks in military operations.

Margelov initiated the creation and mass production at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of landing equipment, heavy parachute platforms, parachute systems and containers for landing cargo, cargo and human parachutes, parachute devices. “You can’t command technology, so strive to create reliable parachutes in the design bureau, industry, during testing, trouble-free operation of heavy airborne equipment,” Margelov said when setting tasks for his subordinates.

For the paratroopers, modifications of small arms were created to simplify its landing by parachute - less weight, a folding butt.

Especially for the needs of the Airborne Forces in the post-war years, new military equipment was developed and modernized: airborne self-propelled artillery installation ASU-76 (1949), light ASU-57 (1951), floating ASU-57P (1954), self-propelled installation ASU-85, tracked combat vehicle Airborne troops BMD-1 (1969).

After the arrival of the first batches of BMD-1 to the troops, attempts to land the BMP-1 were stopped, which were unsuccessful. A family of weapons was also developed on its basis: Nona self-propelled artillery guns, artillery fire control vehicles, R-142 command and staff vehicles, R-141 long-range radio stations, anti-tank systems, reconnaissance vehicle. Anti-aircraft units and subunits were also equipped with armored personnel carriers, which housed crews with portable systems and ammunition.

By the end of the 1950s, new An-8 and An-12 aircraft were put into service and entered the army, which had a payload capacity of up to 10-12 tons and a sufficient flight range, which made it possible to land large groups of personnel with standard military equipment and weapons. Later, through the efforts of Margelov, the Airborne Forces received new military transport aircraft - An-22 and Il-76.

At the end of the 1950s, parachute platforms PP-127 appeared in service with the troops, designed for parachute landing of artillery, vehicles, radio stations, engineering equipment and others. Parachute-jet means of landing were created, which, due to the jet thrust created by the engine, made it possible to bring the landing speed of the cargo closer to zero. Such systems made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of landing due to the rejection of a large number of domes of a large area.

October 28, 1967 he was awarded the military rank of General of the Army. He supervised the actions of the Airborne Forces during the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia (Operation Danube).

On January 5, 1973, at the Slobodka airborne parachute track near Tula, for the first time in world practice in the USSR, landing was carried out on parachute-platform means in the Centaur complex from the An-12B military transport aircraft of the BMD-1 tracked armored combat vehicle with two crew members on board. The crew commander was Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Gavrilovich Zuev, and the operator-gunner was Senior Lieutenant Margelov Alexander Vasilyevich.

On January 23, 1976, also for the first time in world practice, landing from the same type of aircraft, BMD-1 made a soft landing on a parachute-rocket system in the Reaktavr complex, also with two crew members on board - Major Margelov Alexander Vasilyevich and Lieutenant Colonel Shcherbakov Leonid Ivanovich.

The landing was carried out at a huge risk to life, without personal means of salvation. It is known that Vasily Filippovich, during the landing of his son, was at the command post with a loaded pistol at the ready, so that in case of failure he would shoot himself. During this time he smoked more than one pack of cigarettes. Twenty years later, for the feat of the seventies, both were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Under the leadership of Margelov for more than twenty years, the landing troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces, prestigious service in them, especially revered by the people. The competition for the Ryazan Airborne School overlapped the numbers of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who failed their exams for two or three months, before snow and frost, lived in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the stress and it would be possible to take his place .

Since January 1979 - in the group of general inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He went on business trips to the Airborne Forces, was the chairman of the State Examination Commission at the Ryazan Airborne School.

Lived and worked in Moscow.

By order of the Minister of Defense of the USSR of April 20, 1985, V.F. Margelov was enlisted as an Honorary Soldier in the lists of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division.

By order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 182 dated May 6, 2005, the departmental medal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation "General of the Army Margelov" was established. In the same year, a memorial plaque was installed on a house in Moscow, in Sivtsev Vrazhek lane, where Margelov lived for the last 20 years of his life.

In 2014, Vasily Margelov's office-museum was opened in the main building of the headquarters of the Airborne Forces.

Every year on the birthday of V.F. Margelov On December 27, in all cities of Russia, servicemen of the Airborne Forces pay tribute to the memory of Vasily Margelov.

Vasily Margelov is named after: Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School; Department of the Airborne Forces of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; Nizhny Novgorod Cadet Corps. General of the Army Margelov (NKK); MBOU "Secondary School No. 27", Simferopol; MBOU "Secondary School No. 6", Krasnodar; MAOU "Secondary School No. 12", Kungur.

Streets in many cities of Russia and the CIS countries are named after him.

The growth of Vasily Margelov: 186 centimeters.

Personal life of Vasily Margelov:

Was married three times.

First wife- Maria.

In marriage, a son, Gennady, was born. The family broke up when the wife went to another, leaving her husband and son.

Son Gennady Vasilyevich Margelov (1931-2016) became a military man, major general.

Second wife- Feodosia Efremovna Selitskaya.

The marriage produced sons Anatoly and Vitaly.

Son Anatoly Vasilievich Margelov (1938-2008) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, co-author of more than 100 inventions in the field of the military-industrial complex.

Vitaly Vasilyevich Margelov (born 1941) - a professional intelligence officer, an employee of the KGB of the USSR and the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, later - a public and political figure; colonel general, deputy of the State Duma.

Third wife- Anna Alexandrovna Kurakina, doctor. He met Anna Alexandrovna during the Great Patriotic War.

During one of the attacks of the marines, Margelov was seriously wounded in the leg, he was dragged to a barge frozen into the lake not far from the shore. There, military doctor Anna Kurakina provided him with medical assistance. She managed to save the major's leg. Together they went through the entire war from Leningrad to Vienna, and later wandered a lot from one end of the Soviet Union to the other, until they settled in Moscow. Anna Alexandrovna ended the war with the rank of captain of the medical service, was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War II degree - twice and the Red Star, as well as the medals "For Military Merit", "For the Defense of Leningrad", "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Capture of Budapest", "For the capture of Vienna" and many others. During the war years, she performed more than three thousand surgical operations. Twice during the war years she operated on her husband, returning him to service.

Anna Alexandrovna served as a prototype for the monument to a front-line nurse, installed in 2017 in the Pechatniki district (Moscow).

Anna Kurakina - wife of Vasily Margelov

In the third marriage, twins were born - sons Vasily and Alexander.

Vasily and Alexander - sons of Vasily Margelov

Son Vasily Vasilyevich Margelov (1945-2010) - retired major; First Deputy Director of the Directorate of International Relations of the Russian State Broadcasting Company "Voice of Russia" (RGRK "Voice of Russia").

A number of songs are dedicated to Vasily Margelov. Back in the years of World War II, a song was composed in Margelov's division (written by Senior Lieutenant Arkady Pitanov), which contains the lines:

The song praises the Falcon
Brave and daring...
Is it close, is it far
Margelov's regiments marched.

WWII veteran N.F. Orlov wrote a song about Margelov:

Margelov's detachment rushed to the canals.
He does hand to hand combat...

The group "Blue Berets" recorded the songs "Forgive us, Vasily Filippovich!" and “And Uncle Vasya’s troops!”

Heroes of the Great Patriotic War

Margelov Vasily Filippovich

Vasily Filippovich Markelov was born on December 27, 1908 in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine), into a family of immigrants from Belarus. Father - Philip Ivanovich Markelov, a metallurgical worker.

Vasily Filippovich's surname "Markelov" was subsequently recorded as "Margelov" due to an error in the party card.

In 1913, the Margelov family returned to the homeland of Philip Ivanovich - to the town of Kostyukovichi, Klimovichi district (Mogilev province). The mother of V. F. Margelov, Agafya Stepanovna, was from the neighboring Bobruisk district. According to some reports, VF Margelov graduated from the parochial school in 1921. As a teenager, he worked as a loader and carpenter. In the same year, he entered a leather workshop as an apprentice, and soon became an assistant master. In 1923 he entered the local Hleboprodukt as a laborer. There is information that he graduated from the school of rural youth, and worked as a forwarder for the delivery of postal items on the Kostyukovichi-Khotimsk line.

Since 1924, he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M. I. Kalinin as a laborer, then a horse-racer, a driver of horses carrying trolleys.

In 1925, Margelov was sent back to the BSSR as a forester in the timber industry. He worked in Kostyukovichi, in 1927 he became chairman of the working committee of the timber industry and was elected to the local Council.

In 1928 Margelov was drafted into the Red Army. Sent to study at the United Belarusian Military School (OBVSh) named after. CEC of the BSSR in Minsk, enrolled in a group of snipers. From the 2nd year - foreman of a machine-gun company.

In April 1931 he graduated with honors from the Order of the Red Banner of Labor from the United Belarusian Military School. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR, appointed commander of a machine gun platoon of the regimental school of the 99th rifle regiment of the 33rd territorial rifle division in the city of Mogilev, Belarus. Since 1933, he was a platoon commander in the Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the General Military School named after. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR (since November 6, 1933 - named after M.I. Kalinin, since 1937 - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor Minsk Military Infantry School named after M.I. Kalinin). In February 1934, Margelov was appointed assistant company commander, in May 1936 - commander of a machine gun company.

From October 25, 1938, he commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division. Dzerzhinsky Belarusian Special Military District. He headed the reconnaissance of the 8th Infantry Division, being the chief of the 2nd division of the division headquarters. In this position, he participated in the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939.

Vasily Filippovich Margelov with paratroopers

During the years of the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940), Margelov commanded the Separate reconnaissance ski battalion of the 596th rifle regiment of the 122nd division. During one of the operations he captured officers of the Swedish General Staff.

After the end of the Soviet-Finnish war, he was appointed to the post of assistant commander of the 596th regiment for combat. Since October 1940 - commander of the 15th separate disciplinary battalion of the Leningrad Military District.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, in July 1941, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Guards Rifle Regiment of the 1st Guards Division of the People's Militia of the Leningrad Front. Later - commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, chief of staff and deputy commander of the 3rd Guards Rifle Division. After the division commander P. G. Chanchibadze was wounded, the command for the duration of his treatment passed to the chief of staff Vasily Margelov. On July 17, 1943, under the leadership of Margelov, the soldiers of the 3rd Guards Division broke through 2 lines of defense of the Nazis on the Mius Front, captured the village of Stepanovka and provided a springboard for the assault on the Saur-Mogila.

Since 1944, Margelov commanded the 49th Guards Rifle Division of the 28th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. He led the division during the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kherson, for which in March 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Under his command, the 49th Guards Rifle Division participated in the liberation of the peoples of Southeastern Europe.

At the Victory Parade in Moscow, Major General Margelov commanded a combined regiment of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

In the Airborne Forces

After the war, he held command positions.

Since 1948, after graduating from the Order of Suvorov, I degree of the Higher Military Academy named after K. E. Voroshilov, he was the commander of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division.

In 1950-1954 - commander of the 37th Guards Airborne Svir Red Banner Corps in the Far East.

From 1954 to 1959 - Commander of the Airborne Forces. In 1959-1961 he was appointed (downgraded) first deputy commander of the Airborne Forces. From 1961 to January 1979 he was the commander of the Airborne Forces.

On October 28, 1967, he was awarded the military rank of General of the Army. He supervised the actions of the Airborne Forces during the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia (Operation Danube).

Since January 1979, he was in the group of general inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He went on business trips to the Airborne Forces, was the chairman of the State Examination Commission at the Ryazan Airborne School.

During his service in the Airborne Forces, he made more than 60 jumps. The last of them - at the age of 65.

Lived and worked in Moscow. Died March 4, 1990. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Vasily Filippovich Margelov

Contribution to the formation and development of the Airborne Forces

In the history of the Airborne Forces, and in the Armed Forces of Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, his name will remain forever. He personified a whole era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces, their authority and popularity are associated with his name not only in our country, but also abroad, General Pavel Fedoseevich Pavlenko recalls Vasily Filippovich.

Under the leadership of Margelov for more than twenty years, the landing troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces and prestigious in terms of service in them. “The photograph of Vasily Filippovich in demobilization albums went to the soldiers at the highest price - for a set of badges. The competition for the Ryazan Airborne School overlapped the numbers of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who failed their exams for two or three months, before snow and frost, lived in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the stress and it would be possible to take his place . The spirit of the troops soared so high that the rest Soviet army was enrolled in the category of "tanning beds" and "screws", - says Colonel Nikolai Fedorovich Ivanov.

Margelov's contribution to the formation of the Airborne Forces in their current form is reflected in the comic interpretation of the abbreviation of the Airborne Forces - "Uncle Vasya's Troops."

As you know, people make history. Not every one of us is given the opportunity to make any significant contribution to the development of science, technology, sports, culture and other areas of life. However, there are individuals life path which should be considered in detail. And one of these heroes of our time is Vasily Margelov.

The main milestones in the life of the commander

Personal life

The first wife of Margelov Vasily Filippovich is Maria. She became his legal wife in 1930. And a year later their son Gennady was born.

Not all the sons of Vasily Margelov, of whom there are five, followed in the footsteps of their father. But none of them dishonored him. In particular, the son of Vasily Filippovich Margelov, Alexander, was an officer in the Airborne Forces, and in 1996 he became a Hero of Russia. And in 2003, already retired, together with his brother Vitaly, he wrote a book about his dad.

Hero Rewards

General Margelov in his life was awarded a great many awards, which are extremely difficult to list. Among them are not only the regalia of the USSR, but foreign orders and medals. The highest title he was awarded is, of course, Hero of the Soviet Union.

In addition, monuments were erected to Vasily Filippovich in his native Dnepropetrovsk, as well as in Omsk, Tula, Ryazan, St. Petersburg, Ulyanovsk and other cities and villages.

To date, the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation has the medal "General of the Army Margelov".

In February 2010, a bust of the general was erected in Kherson as an eternal tribute to his memory. Also, a memorial plaque has been hung on the house in which he lived for twenty years in the capital of the Union.

The date of death of the famous military man is March 4, 1990. They interred him at the Novodevichy cemetery, which is located in Moscow.