Immortal Regiment KRSU. Tank battle ace (Pavel Simakov)
The situation that developed on December 19, 1942 in the Kalmyk direction of the Stalingrad Front was reported by the operational report of the General Staff of the Red Army dated December 20, 1942 № 34: «28th Army, 34th Guards Rifle Division and 6th Guards Tank Brigade repelled an attack by an enemy motorized detachment from the direction of Chapchachi. After suffering heavy losses, the enemy withdrew towards Nyukyun».
According to a combat report from the command of the 28th Army, on this day units of the 34th Infantry Division, in cooperation with the tank battalion of the 6th Guards Tank Brigade, fought a two-hour battle against enemy tanks, artillery and infantry in the area of the village of Chapchachi. In a massive attack, the German command used tanks. As a result of the battle, three of them were shot down.
If on the scale of the 800-kilometer Stalingrad Front the destruction of three German tanks – is only a separate episode from the front report, of which there were many on December 19, then within the framework of human life this is a feat, one of those that made up the victory. It was carried out by the crew of the Soviet KV-1 tank, in which the gun commander was Guard Senior Sergeant Pavel Ivanovich Simakov. For this fight, the hero was awarded a medal «For Courage».
On October 21, 1943, the 6th Guards Tank Brigade stormed the village of Tashchenak, Melitopol district, Zaporozhye region. In this battle, the tank crew of P. Simakov, who adjusted the fire, destroyed 2 cannons, 3 heavy machine guns and 40 enemy infantrymen. During the battle, the tank was hit, the driver and radio operator were seriously wounded. Then Pavel Ivanovich sat down by the levers of the combat vehicle. He led the tank off the battlefield and delivered the wounded and the shell-shocked company commander to the dressing station. For the courage and resourcefulness of the guard shown in this battle, Senior Sergeant Pavel Simakov was awarded the Order of the Red Star. This was my father, whom I remember, love and am proud of.
Yuri Simakov,
head of the Department of Non-Traditional
and renewable energy sources, associate professor
