A whole century separates us from the First World War. This war “opened” the 20th century with the thunder of artillery and millions of dead, heralding the end of the era of “old Europe” and changing the world beyond recognition. However, it remains little known to us. We remember the heroes who fought in the ranks of the Russian Imperial Army, the exploits of officers and soldiers, for whom faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland were a sufficient excuse to give their lives. We remember those who believed in the ideals of service and loyalty and were devoted to them to the end; those for whom the concept of honor was not an empty phrase.
Baluev Pyotr Semenovich () met the war as the head of the 17th division. In August, during the Battle of Galicia, he took the main blow of the enemy in the heroic Battle of Tomashevsky. He managed to defeat the Austrian division, almost surrounded, on three fronts. This victory was of great tactical importance for thwarting Austrian plans. In September 1915, at the head of the 5th Corps at the lake. Deliberately defeated the 75th German reserve division. He successfully acted in the spring of 1916 in the Naroch operation. He distinguished himself during the Brusilov breakthrough, taking in battles near the river. Lipa more privates and officers.
Dreyer Vladimir Nikolaevich () met the war as chief of staff of the 14th Cavalry Division. Participated in the heroic actions of Novikov's cavalry in Western Poland. He became one of the participants in the heroic battles at Mahartse on February 16, and until the very last he skillfully led the actions of the corps’ rearguard. When all the cartridges were wasted, he refused to surrender and hid in the winter forests for almost two weeks, after which he managed to reach his own people. General P.N. Wrangel wrote in his memoirs that he “knew General Dreyer for his outstanding courage and talent as an officer of the General Staff”
Nesterov Petr Nikolaevich one of the first Russian aviators. He met the First World War with the rank of staff captain at the head of an aviation detachment. He fought on the Southwestern Front and died on September 8 near Zhovkva during the world's first air ramming attack. In the “Report of the investigation into the circumstances of the heroic death of the head of the 11th corps aviation detachment, Staff Captain Nesterov,” it was written: “Staff Captain Nesterov has long expressed the opinion that it is possible to shoot down an enemy aircraft by hitting the wheels of your own aircraft from above on the supporting surfaces of the enemy aircraft, and allowed for the possibility of a successful outcome for the ramming pilot.”
Yakovlev Pyotr Petrovich, commander of the 17th Corps, began the war on the Southwestern Front. He distinguished himself during the Battle of Galicia, commanding the southern group of forces of the 5th Army, which made a significant contribution to its salvation from defeat. He acted no less successfully during the Warsaw-Ivangorod operation and during the Brusilovsky breakthrough, when he broke through the front at Sopanov, for which he received the Order of St. George, 4th class.
The feat of Private David Vyzhimok. One of the most honorable places is occupied by the valiant feat of a private of the Russian Imperial Army, David Vyzhimoka. He carried a wounded officer six miles under enemy fire, despite his wounds and the hurricane shelling of the Austro-Germans. This feat symbolized the unity of soldiers and officers of the Russian army.
Baltiysky (Andreev) Alexander Andreevich Born on June 18, 1870. Orthodox. He participated in the First World War, as chief of staff of the 72nd and later the 43rd infantry divisions. Commanded the 291st Trubchevsky Infantry Regiment. Chief of Staff of the 3rd Siberian Rifle Division. Awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, by the Highest Command of May 25, 1916.
Jankowski Georgy Viktorovich (Jerzy-Witold) (1888–1944) Graduated from the Warsaw Aviat Pilot School. From August 20, 1914, he fought as a hunter on his own S-12A aircraft. Yankovsky becomes the best intelligence officer. Until the end of 1915, he made 66 combat missions with a total duration of 90 hours. 25 min. On March 22, 1915, he shot down his first enemy aircraft. For this victory he was promoted to ensign. Awards: Crosses of St. George III and IV classes, Order of St. Stanislav III class, Order of St. Vladimir IV class, St. Anna IV class.
Egorov Melefan (could have been written as Mikhail) Ivanovich Cossack of the Martynovsky farm, Durnovskaya village, Khopersky district. A full Knight of St. George, an excellent fencer (he studied at a fencing school in St. Petersburg, he could fencing against a checker with a wooden stick, and during a training battle put a cross on the enemy’s body) and a fist fighter. He commanded a squadron in World War I.
Kurkin Paramon Samsonovich (years) Participant of the First World War, full Knight of St. George. During the Civil War, he organized a Red Partisan detachment, was the head of intelligence of the 38th Morozov-Donetsk Rifle Division of the 10th Army, and took part in the defense of Tsaritsyn. During the Great Patriotic War, Kurkin P.S. volunteered for the front, he was already 62 years old! Awards: Order of the Red Banner, Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, Order of the Red Star.
Melnikov Ilya Vasilyevich (1891 - 1918) During the First World War, a sub-horuner of the 4th hundred of the 12th Don Regiment, Melnikov became a full Knight of St. George. More than once he had the opportunity to walk himself and lead the Cossacks into an attack under fire and the roar of explosions... On the night of December 20-21, 1914, Sergeant Melnikov, being the senior man at the observation post, captured an Austrian patrol of 5 people. On January 19, 1915, at 5 o’clock in the morning, he volunteered to conduct reconnaissance of a height at which he discovered a camouflaged enemy machine gun crew...
Timofey Petrovich Mordvintsev was born around 1882 on the Budarinskaya farm, Anninskaya village, Anninsky yurt, Khopersky district, Don Army Region. Father - Cossack Mordvintsev Peter, in years - ataman of the Budarinsky Khutor of the Anninskaya village of the Anninsky yurt of the Khopersky district of the Don Army Region. “For military distinctions he was awarded the St. George Cross of all 4 degrees and promoted to sub-horseman.”
Mikhail Kazankov When the artist painted Mikhail Kazankov, he was 90 years old. Every wrinkle of his stern face glows with deep wisdom. He had the opportunity to participate in three wars: - Russian-Japanese (years), - First World War (years), - Great Patriotic War (years). And he always fought bravely: in the First World War he was awarded two Crosses of St. George, and for the fight against German fascism he received the Order of the Red Star.
Sergei Leonidovich Markov (gg.) Born into the family of a simple officer. During the First World War, Colonel Markov became Chief of Staff of the 4th Infantry "Iron" Division, commanded by General Denikin. Sergei Leonidovich commanded the regiment for 14 months and was promoted to the rank of general for military distinction.
Zeltins Ansis was born in 1863. In 1884 he entered the volunteer service in the Russian Army. Since 1914 in the Active Army. Battalion commander. He fought in Galicia and was wounded in the head. For courage and skillful command of the battalion he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree with swords and bow. In 1916 - commander of the 4th Vidzeme Rifle Battalion of the Latvian Rifles. For valor and bravery in battle, the soldiers of the regiment presented Colonel Zeltins with the Cross of St. George, 4th degree.
KAREL VASHATKO was born on July 13, 1882 in Litogrady. In August 1914 he joined the Czech Druzhina. He distinguished himself in reconnaissance in the Carpathians and Galicia. In the spring of 1915, he participated in propaganda work, which ended with the transfer of the Austrian 28th Infantry Regiment “Prague Children” to the Russians. For many exploits, Vashatko became a full Knight of St. George. Promoted to officer, he was appointed commander of Czechoslovak prisoners in the Darnitsa camp in Kyiv. For new exploits, the brave officer was awarded the Order of St. George 4th century, St. Stanislav 3rd Art. with swords and bow, French Military Cross with palm branch.
Dmitry Konstantinovich Abatsiev (Dzambolat Konstantinovich Abadziev) (December 3, 1857 June 4, 1936) Russian military leader - Ossetian by nationality, cavalry general, multiple Knight of St. George. Born in the village of Kadgaron in North Ossetia. Orthodox. Origin - from the Ossetians of the Terek Cossack army.
Knight of St. George Vladimir Vladimirov, 11 years old. Cossack. Volunteer. He went to war with his father, the cornet of a Cossack regiment. After the death of his father, he was taken into the reconnaissance team. Participant in many intelligence operations. During one of them, he was captured. He escaped from captivity, obtaining valuable information in the process.
Abubakar Dzhurgaev, a Chechen, at the age of 12 went to the front as a volunteer along with his father Yusup, leaving his studies at the Grozny real school. He was an active participant in all the famous battles of the "Wild Division" in the First World War. As part of the division, this desperate boy repeatedly showed courage and heroism. Having learned about him, the commander of the “Wild Division”, Prince Mikhail Romanov, presented the pride of every Caucasian - a dagger, at that time he was only 12 years old. At the age of 14, Abubakar received the honorary St. George Ribbon as a reward.
Sister of Mercy Elena Mikhailovna Ogneva. Many women strove to go to the front to fight the enemy along with their fathers and brothers. Many during that war became sisters of mercy. During the First World War Ogneva E.M. was awarded the St. George Cross. Participated in the civil war and the Polish campaign of 1939. During the Great Patriotic War, medical service lieutenant, head of the disinfection detachment of the 5th Air Defense Corps Ogneva E.M. was awarded the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, the medal "For Military Merit", the medal "For the Defense of Moscow" and the medal "For Victory over Germany"..
The First World War became an example of how history is poorly and selectively remembered in Russia. The global historical and geopolitical cataclysm was overshadowed by the Revolution, the Civil War, the Bolshevik transformations and the Second World War. The names of the heroes of that war are unknown, city squares are not decorated with monuments, and films are made about the Great Patriotic War, although for the first time this name was given to the events of the years. Millions of its veterans never received anniversary medals or the simple attention of their descendants.
From the first days of the First World War (1914-1918), hundreds of them fled from cities and villages to the front to join the active army. What motivated them - the thirst for adventure and exploits, children's romanticism and poetry, the desire to be scouts, artillerymen, heroes?! Pupils of gymnasiums, seminaries, cadet corps and real schools often turned to their superiors with a request to let them go to war: “We are ready to help the Motherland,” the pupils of the Omsk Teachers’ Seminary wrote in their appeal. We have nothing with which we could help it except our own lives, and we are ready to sacrifice it."
And in the deep rear, children of all ages and classes helped sow grain and harvest crops, and provided all possible assistance to their older brothers and mothers in factories and factories. "Everything for the front, everything for victory over the enemy!" The children of the war saved on themselves, giving all their savings - “cherished pennies” - to the Altar of the Fatherland. They reverently collected donations into mugs - “for tobacco for a soldier” and warm clothes for refugees, soldier’s orphans and the wounded in hospitals and infirmaries.
Well, those who were older ran away to war.
Newspaper chronicles of those years testify to this:
- Pskov. In September 1914, station gendarmes removed more than 100 children from trains.
- Vilna. “On October 20, 1914, over 30 child volunteers were detained at the station.” In just the first six months of the war, about a hundred children fled from Vilna.
- Kyiv. “During January-February 1915, the railway police detained 214 young volunteers, among those detained were 11 girls” (“War Week”, 1915, no. 11 (supplement to the magazine “Motherland”), p. 4).
- Nikolaev, October 23, 1915. “Pupil of the 2nd Higher Primary School Ivan Kalchenko, 14 years old, fled to the theater of military operations; Ivan Gassen, 13 years old, and Viktor Golovchenko, an employee at the Naval plant, 16 years old, also fled there” (Nikolaevskaya Gazeta, 1915, October 23 ).
The military chronicles of those years are replete with messages and stories about young volunteers, their exploits on the battlefields, injuries and military awards. And in children's books and magazines of the First World War, boy heroes are surrounded by a special aura. During the war, they quickly became adults, steadfastly enduring the suffering and hardships of the trenches, hunger, cold and the death of their fighting friends. Showing miracles of self-sacrifice and heroism, at the age of 12-15 they became Knights of St. George. During the study of historical publications, many names of young heroes of the First World War and their exploits were identified. Some of them are worth mentioning separately.
Perhaps the first in this list of young warriors can be called the brothers of mercy, as the wounded called them - students of the Odessa gymnasium, twins Zhenya and Kolya, who worked in the interests of the front at the reception point for temporarily out of action soldiers. This was reported in the press as follows: “By bringing the wounded on her ambulance train, sister of mercy E.V. Bogatyreva entrusts the especially unfortunate and lonely ones to the brothers. They watch them, visit and try to satisfy their small needs, write letters, call on the phone, calling family and friends" But Zhenya and Kolya were just 2nd grade students.
15-year-old Cossack Ivan Kazakov. In a battle with the Germans, he independently recaptured a machine gun, later saved the life of his comrade, and repeatedly successfully took part in reconnaissance. In one of the forays I discovered an enemy battery, which was then captured by our detachment. The young hero's chest was decorated with three St. George's crosses and three St. George's medals, and his shoulders were decorated with non-commissioned officer's shoulder straps.
12-year-old Vasily Naumov. With great difficulty, through all kinds of trials and obstacles, I reached the front from the Siberian village of Karetnikovo. As a result, he became a scout and was awarded two soldiers' St. George's Crosses and the St. George's Medal. He was promoted to non-commissioned officer. Wounded twice.
15-year-old volunteer Jan Pszczulkowski was awarded two St. George's crosses and a medal for his exploits.
13-year-old Vasily Pravdin repeatedly distinguished himself in battles. He carried the wounded regiment commander out of the thick of the battle. Received three St. George's Crosses.
16-year-old mounted reconnaissance officer Vasily Ustinov was awarded the St. George Cross and medal for damaging enemy wire barriers and destroying a German detachment of 12 people with three comrades.
A 14-year-old volunteer from Moscow and a student of the Stroganov School, Vladimir Sokolov, wounded in the leg, was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and promoted to non-commissioned officer - “for capturing an enemy machine gun during an attack on the Austro-German front.”
In the photograph from combat positions there are two brave Cossacks with sabers and a carbine - 12-year-old Ivan Rypkevich and 14-year-old Roman Kochakovsky, the first of whom was awarded the St. George Cross and medal for brave reconnaissance.
16-year-old volunteer Alexey Belyakov, the last one left in an armored car, continued firing from a machine gun “until the very end of the battle, inflicting huge losses on the enemy at point-blank range.” For his feat he was awarded the 4th degree St. George Cross and promoted to corporal.
15-year-old Anton Kharashkevich. Before the war, Anton lived in Vilna and after the death of his father he begged with his blind mother. The teenager volunteered for the front. For his courage in battles, A. Kharashkevich was awarded George 4th degree and promoted to non-commissioned officer.
15-year-old Ilya Trofimov, who fought in Prussia, was awarded the soldier's St. George Cross of the 4th and 3rd degree.
Khariton Zhuk, a student at the Voronin private gymnasium (Smolensk), was killed on November 24, 1914 during reconnaissance in force near the village of Bogdanova. He was posthumously awarded the St. George Medal "For Bravery".
14-year-old volunteer artilleryman Anton Gulyuk, the son of a hero of the Russo-Japanese War, was near Koenigsberg and delivered shells, was shell-shocked and stunned near the city of Lyk on December 31, 1914.
Not only boys, but also girls fought at the front. Kira Bashkirova, a 6th grade student at the Mariinsky School, was awarded the St. George Cross for her military exploits. Under the guise of volunteer Nikolai Popov, she joined one of the regiments and within a week distinguished herself in night reconnaissance. After the secret was revealed, Kira was sent home, but soon the girl again found herself at the front in another unit.
Two Cossack high school students, Elena Kozlovskaya and Felitsata Kuldyayeva, took part in a number of cavalry battles.
Thirteen-year-old Vasily Pravdin repeatedly distinguished himself in battles. He carried the wounded regiment commander out of the thick of the battle. Received three St. George's Crosses.
Twelve-year-old Vasily Naumov. With great difficulty, through all kinds of trials and obstacles, I reached the front from the Siberian village of Karetnikovo. As a result, he became a scout and was awarded two soldiers' St. George's Crosses and the St. George's Medal. He was promoted to non-commissioned officer. Wounded twice.
A talented seventh-grader at the Vilna gymnasium, Mazur, improved the work of the spark telegraph at the headquarters of the first Russian army. The young inventor died while demining a water pump in the city of Instenburg (Chernyakhovsk).
The future Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky participated in battles as part of the Russian expeditionary force in France. At the age of sixteen he was already an experienced machine gunner.
Unfortunately, in addition to awards and titles, any war “gives” its participants severe mental trauma. All children and teenagers who went through the bloodbath of the First World War developed, to one degree or another, various disorders and mental disorders.
Prince Felix Yusupov wrote in his memoirs: “A fifteen-year-old boy was traveling with us. The boy was a boy, but it was clear that he had received a baptism of fire. Even a daredevil, judging by the St. George Cross on his torn tunic. He didn’t take up much space, but he couldn’t sit quietly. He then he jumped up onto the shelf like a monkey, then he climbed onto the roof through the window and from there began to shoot with a revolver. Then he went back the same way, and again he jumped and jumped. When he lay down and fell asleep, we were able to rest a little."
Abubakar Dzhurgaev is a Chechen, at the age of 12 he went to the front as a volunteer along with his father Yusup, leaving his studies at the Grozny real school. He was an active participant in all the famous battles of the "Wild Division" in the First World War. As part of the division, this desperate boy repeatedly showed courage and heroism. Having learned about him, the commander of the “Wild Division”, Prince Mikhail Romanov, presented the pride of every Caucasian - a dagger, at that time he was only 12 years old. At the age of 14, Abubakar received the honorary St. George's Ribbon, tied to him personally by Prince Romanov.
It is noteworthy that among the young warriors there were representatives of different nationalities: Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Belarusians, Estonians. Unfortunately, the names and surnames of many remained unknown.
Messages and stories about young heroes, their exploits and military awards are restrained and laconic, they are more reminiscent of the texts of award sheets. And the fate of child volunteers - like that of adult soldiers - “wounded”, “shell-shocked”, “killed”, “died of wounds”, “returned to the front after the infirmary”... Even now, 100 years later, their bright and serious the faces in the photographs, yellowed by time, breathe courage and love for the Motherland, readiness for exploits and faith in Our Coming Victory.
Until there are no more heroes in Rus', our Motherland will continue to exist. Until then our country will exist...
All of us, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are heirs of participants and heroes of the First World War - soldiers and officers, home front workers and sisters of mercy, many of whom laid down their strength and lives on the Altar of the Fatherland. We are all indebted to their blessed Memory. Before every young hero
"God's Little Army"
“Take a hero as an example, catch up with him, overtake him. Glory to you, Russian warrior!” bequeathed the great Russian commander Alexander Suvorov to his little godson.
Who were they proud of in Russia during the Great War? Kozma Kryuchkov, Rimma Ivanova, Alexander Kazakov - 100 years ago almost the whole country knew them. Newspapers and magazines wrote about the exploits of these ordinary people in the Great War, children were told about them in schools and candles were lit for them in churches.
It cannot be said that their fame was completely without a propaganda component - in every war there is a place for heroic deeds, but most often most of them remain unknown. However, at that time it never occurred to anyone to invent anything, as the Soviet propaganda machine would actively begin to do just a few years later. The new government will need not so much heroes as myths, and the real heroes of the Great War will be unfairly consigned to oblivion for almost a century.
Dashing Cossack Kozma Kryuchkov
During the First World War, the name of the young Cossack Kozma Kryuchkov was known, without exaggeration, throughout Russia, including those who were illiterate and indifferent to what was happening in the world and the country. The portrait of a handsome young man with a dashing mustache and a cap at an angle appeared on posters and leaflets, popular prints, postcards and even cigarette packs and boxes of “Heroic” chocolates. Kryuchkov is occasionally present even in Sholokhov’s novel “Quiet Don”.
Such a loud glory of an ordinary warrior was a consequence not only of his valor, which, by the way, is not subject to any doubt. Kryuchkov, in modern language, was also “promoted” because he accomplished his first (but far from the only) feat in the first days of the war, when the whole country was filled with jingoistic enthusiasm and a feeling of imminent victory over the Teutonic hordes. And it was he who received the first St. George Cross in World War I.
By the beginning of the war, Kryuchkov, a native of the Ust-Khoperskaya village of the Don Army (now the territory of the Volgograd region), was 24 years old. He arrived at the front as an experienced fighter. The regiment in which Kozma served was stationed in the Lithuanian town of Kalvaria. The Germans were nearby, a big battle was brewing in East Prussia, and the opponents were watching each other.
On August 12, 1914, during a patrol raid, Kryuchkov and three of his fellow soldiers - Ivan Shchegolkov, Vasily Astakhov and Mikhail Ivankov - suddenly encountered a patrol of 27 German lancers. The Germans saw that there were only four Russians and rushed to attack. The Cossacks tried to scatter, but the enemy cavalrymen were faster and surrounded them. Kryuchkov tried to shoot back, but the cartridge jammed. Then, with one saber, he entered into battle with 11 enemies surrounding him.
After a minute of battle, Kozma, according to his own recollections, was already covered in blood, but fortunately the wounds turned out to be shallow - he managed to dodge while he himself fatally beat his enemies. He inflicted the last blows on the Germans with his own pike, snatched from one of the dead. And Kryuchkov’s comrades dealt with the rest of the Germans. By the end of the battle, 22 corpses lay on the ground, two more Germans were wounded and captured, and three fled away.
In the infirmary, 16 wounds were counted on Kryuchkov’s body. There he was visited by the army commander, General Pavel Rennenkampf, who thanked him for his valor and courage, and then took the St. George ribbon from his uniform and pinned it on the chest of the Cossack hero. Kozma was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and became the first Russian soldier to receive a military award in the outbreak of the World War. Three other Cossacks were awarded St. George medals.
Nicholas II was reported about the valiant Cossack, and then the story of his feat was presented on their pages by almost all the largest newspapers in Russia. Kryuchkov received the post of chief of the Cossack convoy at the division headquarters; by that time his popularity had reached its apogee. According to the stories of his colleagues, the entire convoy did not have time to read the letters that came to the hero from all over Russia, and could not eat all the parcels of sweets that his fans sent him. Petrograd residents sent the hero a saber in a gold frame, Muscovites - a silver weapon.
When the division where Kryuchkov served was withdrawn from the front for rest, in the rear cities it was greeted with an orchestra, thousands of curious onlookers came out to gaze at the national hero.
At the same time, Kozma did not “bronze” and withstood the test of copper pipes - he again asked for the most dangerous tasks, risked his life, and received new wounds. By the end of the war, he earned two more St. George Crosses, two St. George medals “For Bravery” and the rank of sergeant. But after the revolution, his fate was tragic.
At first he was elected chairman of the regimental committee; after the collapse of the front, he returned to the Don with the regiment. But another fratricidal war began there, in which Kozma fought for the whites. Fellow soldiers recall that he hated looting, and even the rare attempts of his subordinates to make money from “trophies from the Reds” or “gifts” from the local population were thwarted with a whip. He knew that his very name attracted new volunteers and did not want that name to be sullied.
The legendary Cossack fought for another year and a half and received his last, mortal wound in August 1919. Today, a lane in Rostov-on-Don is named after him, and a Cossack in the ensemble of the monument to the heroes of the First World War in Moscow is sculpted in his image.
Sister of Mercy Rimma Ivanova
Another name known 100 years ago throughout Russia and almost forgotten today is the heroine of the First World War, Rimma Ivanova, a sister of mercy and the only woman awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. She died when she was 21 years old.
The daughter of a Stavropol official chose the path of a people's teacher, but she only did this for a year. With the beginning of the war, Ivanova completed courses for nurses, worked in a Stavropol hospital, and in January 1915 she voluntarily went to the front in a regiment where her brother was already serving as a doctor. She received her first St. George medal for her courage in rescuing the wounded on the battlefield - she made bandages under machine-gun fire.
The parents were worried about the girl and asked her to return home. Rimma wrote in response: “Lord, how I wish you would calm down. It's about time. You should be glad, if you love me, that I managed to get a job and work where I wanted. After all, I didn’t do this as a joke and not for my own pleasure, but to help. Let me be a true sister of mercy. Let me do what is good and what needs to be done. Think as you want, but I give you my word of honor that I would give a lot, a lot in order to alleviate the suffering of those who shed blood.
But don't worry: our dressing station is not under fire. My dears, don’t worry for God’s sake. If you love me, then try to do what is best for me. This will then be true love for me. Life is generally short, and you need to live it as fully and as best as possible. Help, Lord! Pray for Russia and humanity."
During the battle near the village of Mokraya Dubrova (Brest region of today's Belarus) on September 9, 1915, both company officers were killed, and then Ivanova herself raised the company to attack and rushed to the enemy trenches. The position was taken, but the heroine was mortally wounded by an explosive bullet in the thigh.
Having learned about the feat of the sister of mercy, Nicholas II, as an exception, posthumously awarded her the officer's Order of St. George, 4th degree. Representatives of the authorities and hundreds of ordinary residents of Stavropol gathered at the heroine’s funeral; in his farewell speech, Archpriest Simeon Nikolsky called Rimma the “Maiden of Stavropol,” drawing a parallel with Joan of Arc. The coffin was lowered into the ground to the sound of a gun salute.
However, soon a “decisive protest” by the chairman of the Kaiser’s Red Cross, General Pfuel, was published in German newspapers. Referring to the Convention on the Neutrality of Medical Personnel, he emphatically stated that “it is not appropriate for sisters of mercy to perform feats on the battlefield.” This absurd note was even considered at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.
And in Russia, by order of the military department, the film “The Heroic Feat of Sister of Mercy Rimma Mikhailovna Ivanova” was shot. The film turned out to be a caricature: the nurse on the screen, waving a saber, trotted across the field in high-heeled shoes and at the same time tried not to dishevel her hair. The officers of the regiment in which Ivanova served, after watching the film, promised to “catch the entrepreneur and force him to eat the film.” Letters and telegrams of protest from indignant front-line soldiers poured into the capital. As a result, at the request of Rimma’s colleagues and parents, the film was withdrawn from distribution. Today, one of the streets of Stavropol is named after Rimma Ivanova.
The first Russian air ace
The first Russian air ace
The pilots of the First World War were a little luckier than others - 100 years later they remember both about Sikorsky’s Ilya Muromets aircraft, advanced for its time, and about the “Nesterov loop” and Pyotr Nesterov himself. This probably happened because Russian aviation always had something to brag about, and in the first Soviet decades there was a real cult of sky conquerors.
But when they talk about the most famous Russian ace pilot of the Great War, they are not talking about Nesterov (he died a month after the start of the war), but about another forgotten hero - Alexander Kazakov.
Kazakov, like Nesterov, was young - in 1914 he was barely 25 years old. Six months before the start of the war, he began studying at the first officer flight school in Russia in Gatchina, and in September he already became a military pilot. On April 1, 1915, he repeated Nesterov’s last feat - he went to ram a German plane. But, in contrast, he shot down the enemy Albatross, and landed safely. For this feat, the pilot was awarded the St. George's Arms.
Kazakov, apparently, was then able to be the first to carry out the maneuver conceived by Nesterov, who, in fact, in his last battle did not at all intend to go to certain death. He expected to hit the plane of the enemy plane’s wing with the landing gear wheels, which he reported to his superiors in advance as a possible and safe method of attack. But Nesterov, according to the commission’s conclusion, failed to perform such a maneuver, and his plane simply collided with an enemy one.
Kazakov performed another outstanding aerial feat on December 21, 1916 near Lutsk - he single-handedly attacked two enemy Brandenburg T1 aircraft, shooting down one of the bombers. The Russian pilot received the Order of St. George, 4th class, for this victory. In just three years of war, Kazakov personally shot down 17, and in group battles, another 15 enemy aircraft and was recognized as the most successful Russian fighter pilot of the First World War.
In August 1915, Kazakov became a staff captain and head of a corps aviation detachment; by February 1917, he was already the commander of the 1st combat aviation group of the Southwestern Front. This group became the first special fighter formation in Russian aviation, but even after becoming a big boss, Kazakov continued to personally fly on combat missions; in June he was wounded in the arm by four bullets in an air battle, but again managed to land safely. In September 1917, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in December of the same year, at a general meeting of soldiers, he was elected commander of the 19th corps aviation detachment.
Kazakov never recognized the Bolshevik coup, for which he was soon removed from command. Not wanting to serve the Reds, in June 1918 he secretly left for the White Russian North, where he became the commander of the Slavic-British aviation detachment. The British awarded him the rank of British officer, which was also done only in exceptional cases - dozens of other Russian pilots were accepted into service with the rank of privates. By the spring of 1919, Kazakov was already a major in the British Air Force, and in battle he received another wound - in the chest, but again survived.
By the end of the summer of 1919, the position of the White Guard units in the Russian North became increasingly difficult, and the command of the British Expeditionary Force began to prepare for evacuation, agreeing to take Russian pilots with them. But Kazakov did not want to leave his homeland and, it is believed, committed suicide - on August 1, during his next flight, he sent his plane into a steep dive to his own airfield. A tombstone made of two crossed propellers was placed on his grave, and the inscription was written on a white board: “Pilot Kazakov. Shot down 17 German aircraft. Peace to your ashes, hero of Russia."
“...We honor your feat as a hero,
And we will honor him - for now,
There is an army of the Don in Rus', -
And the powerful spirit of the Cossack lives.”
St. George's Knights... These words evoke images of dashing daredevils, whose chests are decorated with gleaming silver and gold St. George's crosses. The beauty and pride of the Russian army. Initially, only generals and officers were awarded the Order of St. George, but the grandson of the founder of the award, Alexander I, issued a decree ordering that this high honor be extended to lower ranks. On February 13, 1807, a new “insignia of the order” appeared. For almost fifty years, the soldier's cross had only one degree, but since the Crimean War of 1856, four degrees were established - the same number as the officer order.
The cross is small, but the reward for the soldier is great - the honor of “joining the honorary order of the Holy Great Martyr, the Victorious George.” It could be earned only by performing an outstanding act: capturing an enemy general, being the first to break into an enemy fortress, capturing an enemy banner, saving one’s own banner or the life of a commander in battle. They were prouder of the Crosses of St. George than of any other awards. An ordinary warrior, who was barely remembered in his native village, having earned the St. George Cross, became a noticeable person, since rumor spread such fame much better than printed publications.
The Cossacks have always been a real headache for any opponents of Tsarist Russia. Their cavalry, being part of the Russian army, visited the fields of almost all of Europe and Asia. To attack an enemy outnumbered three times, to attack him from the rear, to cause panic, to disperse the convoy, to recapture the guns - this was an ordinary thing for them. One of the most famous Cossacks - holders of the St. George Cross - was Kuzma Firsovich Kryuchkov.
Information about his biography is very scarce. Kozma Firsovich was born in 1890 (and according to other sources in 1888) in the family of the Don Cossack Firs Larionovich. The Kryuchkovs had a strong patriarchal family of Old Believers with strict moral principles. The boy spent his childhood in his native village of Nizhne-Kalmykovsky, which belongs to the Ust-Khoperskaya village of the Ust-Medveditsky district of the Upper Don. In 1911, Kozma successfully graduated from the village school and was called up to serve in the third Don Cossack regiment. According to traditions that go back all the way to the Middle Ages and were lost by the beginning of the twentieth century in Russia (except for the Don regions and Siberia), at the age of thirteen, Kozma Firsovich was already married to a fifteen-year-old Cossack girl. Such marriages were explained both by the early maturation of people and by ordinary economic necessity - young workers were needed in the houses. Thus, by the time he left for military service, Kozma already had two children: a boy and a girl.
At the age of seventeen, a young Cossack on the Don received a saber and chose a foal for himself in the herd. From that moment on, their lives became inseparable. The Cossack was obliged to ride his horse independently and make it obey him without commands. At the age of nineteen, all young men swore an oath of allegiance and were included in the internal service. Their preparation took two years - the young guys learned formation, cold weapons, shooting, etc. At twenty-one years of age and for a period of fifteen years, all Cossacks were enrolled in the field category. For part of this period, the Cossacks served “urgently” - far from home in combat units without the right to leave for several years. Sometimes (depending on the situation on the borders) it turned out that the Cossack was recalled several times. Living in the village, the Cossacks could engage in fishing, arable farming, or any craft in general, but at the first call and at any time of the day they were unquestioningly obliged to leave all their activities, family and appear fully prepared for the campaign. Cossacks retired at the age of forty-one, but this did not mean they abandoned military affairs - they served in hospitals, military convoys, etc. It was also possible to continue serving in the field category. Cossacks retired “cleanly” only at the age of sixty-one. But many of them never parted with their cockades (badges of service), being part of the council of old men, which helps the ataman to lead the village, and also serves as the people's court, the conscience of the Cossacks.
By the time the First World War began in 1914, the clerk (corporal) of the sixth hundred of the Third Don Regiment, Kozma Firsovich, was already an experienced warrior, strong and dexterous, skillful and savvy. He, like every Cossack, was ready for war both morally and physically. He met her without fear, saw in her his main purpose, everything that was included in his definition of “life.” And according to one Cossack proverb: “Life is not a party, but also not a funeral.” According to the recollections of his comrades, Kryuchkov was distinguished by some shyness and modesty, was open, sincere and unusually courageous. The cowlick on his head, his strong physique, his agile, agile figure, everything revealed him as a true son of the Don.
The regiment in which the brave Cossack served was stationed in the Polish town of Kalwaria. The main event of Kozma Kryuchkov’s entire life occurred on July 30, 1914 (August 12, new style) in perhaps his first military encounter with the enemy. On this day, a guard patrol consisting of four Cossacks led by Kryuchkov, while climbing a hill, ran into a detachment of German cavalrymen numbering twenty-seven people (according to some sources, thirty). The meeting was unexpected for both groups. The Germans were confused, but, realizing that there were only four Cossacks, they rushed to attack them. Despite the almost seven-fold superiority, Kozma Firsovich and his comrades - Vasily Astakhov, Ivan Shchegolkov, Mikhail Ivankin - decided to take the fight. The opponents got closer and began to spin in a deadly battle, the Cossacks covered each other, cutting up the enemy according to their grandfather’s precepts. At the first moment of the battle, Kryukov threw the rifle off his shoulder, but jerked the bolt too sharply and the cartridge became jammed. Then he grabbed a saber, and at the end of the battle, when his strength began to leave him, he continued to fight with a pike torn from the hands of the uhlan. The results of the battle were amazing - according to subsequent award documents and official reports, twenty-two German horsemen were killed by the end of the battle, two more seriously wounded Germans were captured and only three opponents survived by fleeing. The Cossacks did not lose a single person, although everyone had injuries of varying degrees of severity. According to his comrades, Kryuchkov single-handedly defeated eleven enemies, while he himself received over a dozen puncture wounds, and his horse suffered no less.
This is how Kozma Firsovich described that battle: “About ten o’clock in the morning we headed from Kalvaria to the Alexandrovo estate. There were four of us, going up the hill, we came across a patrol of twenty-seven people, including their officer and non-commissioned officer. The Germans attacked us, we met them steadfastly, and killed some of them. While dodging, we had to split up. Eleven people surrounded me. Not wanting to stay alive, I decided to sell my life at a higher price. My horse is obedient and agile. He used his rifle, but in a hurry the cartridge dropped, and at that time the German slashed his fingers. I threw down the rifle and took up the saber. Received a couple of minor wounds. I felt blood flowing, but realized that the wounds were not serious. For each I pay with a fatal blow, from which the German lies down forever. Having laid down several of them, I felt that it was becoming difficult to work with a saber, so I picked up their own pike and, one by one, put the rest down with it. During this time, my comrades defeated others. There were twenty-four corpses on the ground, and unwounded horses were running around in fear. My comrades received wounds, I received sixteen, but all of them were empty, injections in the arms, in the neck, in the back. My horse received eleven wounds, but I rode it back six miles. On the first of August, General Rennenkampf arrived in Belaya Olita, took off his St. George ribbon and pinned it on my chest.”
For his accomplished feat, Kozma Kryuchkov was the first soldier of the Russian Imperial Army to receive the St. George Cross of the fourth degree (the award number was 5501, order dated August 11 (or 24 in the new style) August 1914). The Cossack received “Soldier George” in the hospital from the hands of army commander Pavel Rennenkampf, who was an experienced cavalry commander who had proven himself well in Manchuria in 1900, and most likely understood a lot about cavalry combat. The remaining participants were awarded St. George medals.
In the First World War, the Don Cossacks fielded sixty cavalry regiments, thirty-three cavalry batteries, six Plastun battalions, five reserve regiments, three reserve batteries and more than eighty separate special hundreds. According to researchers, in less than four years of the war, thirty-six thousand Don Cossacks became owners of the Crosses of St. George, and about six hundred heroes had a “full bow.” Of course, the most famous Cossack from the Don at that time was the first St. George Knight of the entire Russian Army - Kozma Kryuchkov. Only the Russian Emperor appeared more often than him on posters dedicated to the war. And one more interesting fact: the first of all the officers of the imperial army was also awarded the “Officer George” to a Don Cossack - Sergei Vladimirovich Boldyrev, centurion of the first Don Regiment.
After lying in the infirmary for five days, Kryuchkov returned to his unit, but was soon sent on leave to his native village. By the time Kozma Firsovich returned, his feat had reached the ears of Emperor Nicholas II, and virtually all printed publications in Russia had also reported it. Overnight, the valiant Don Cossack became famous, turning into a living symbol of Russian military courage, a worthy heir to the epic heroes. Kryuchkov became a favorite target of photographers and even appeared in newsreels. In 1914, all the pages of newspapers and magazines were filled with his photographs. His face appeared on cigarette boxes and patriotic posters, popular prints and postage stamps. A ship and a film were named after him, Repin himself painted a portrait of the Cossack, and some particularly fanatical fans went to the front to meet him. Kryuchkov’s portrait was even on the wrappers of the “Heroic” sweets produced at Kolesnikov’s confectionery factory. The Moscow almanac “The Great War in Pictures and Images” reported: “The feat of the Cossack Kryuchkov, who became the first in a long series of cases of awarding the Order of St. George for outstanding feats of lower ranks, evokes general enthusiasm.”
In the active army, Kozma was given the “criminal” position of chief of a convoy at the division headquarters. His popularity reached its peak at this time. According to the stories of colleagues, the entire convoy took part in reading the letters that came to the hero, the division headquarters was overwhelmed with food parcels. If some of them were withdrawn from the front, then the head of the division informed the authorities of the city to which the troops were sent that Kozma Firsovich would be among them. Often after this, the warriors were greeted with music by a whole crowd of residents. Everyone wanted to see the famous hero with their own eyes. In Moscow, the Cossack received a saber in a silver frame, and in Petrograd, Kryuchkov was presented with a saber in a gold frame, the blade of which was covered with praise. However, Kozma soon got tired of acting as an exhibition piece at headquarters; he personally asked his superiors to transfer him back to the Third Don Regiment to fight the Germans.
His request was granted, and the brave Cossack found himself on the Romanian front. The fighting here was constant, his regiment fought well, and Kryuchkov himself, in a short time, managed to prove himself to be a prudent, cold-blooded and intelligent fighter. And he always had enough courage for three. For example, in 1915, he, together with ten volunteers, attacked an enemy detachment that was twice their size in a village. Some of the Germans were destroyed, many were captured alive, and among the abandoned things valuable papers about the location of the German troops were found. Kozma was promoted to sergeant, and “the arriving general shook his hand and said that he was proud to serve with him in the same unit.” Soon the Cossack was given command of a hundred. In subsequent years, Kozma Firsovich repeatedly took part in major battles, often came face to face with enemies, and was wounded more than once. So, in one of the battles in Poland, he received three wounds at once, one of which threatened his life. Kozma had to undergo treatment for several weeks in a hospital near Warsaw. At the end of 1916 and the beginning of 1917, he was again wounded and sent to a hospital in the city of Rostov. Here a very unpleasant thing happened to him: local swindlers stole the Order of St. George and a golden award weapon from the hero. The incident was covered in Rostov newspapers. This was one of the last mentions in the press about Kozma Firsovich.
What were the crosses of St. George? Their attractiveness and authority among the masses was, first of all, explained by the fact that they were an indisputable symbol of selfless service to the Fatherland, loyalty to military duty and oath. “Georgia” was awarded only for specific feats, and not “automatically”, as some “researchers” believe. Awards included:
Established by Catherine II “Imperial Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George” for officers;
The insignia of the Military Order, called the “St. George Cross”, also known as “Soldier George” (popularly sometimes called “Egory”);
St. George medal;
St. George's weapon;
Collective St. George's Awards;
Memorable awards with attributes of St. George (usually the St. George ribbon).
The first cavalier of the soldier's George was the non-commissioned officer of the Cavalry Regiment Yegor Ivanovich Mityukhin. He distinguished himself on June 2, 1807 in the battle with Napoleonic troops at Friedland (near Kaliningrad). Before the revolution, the insignia of the Military Order was worn with dignity by many brilliant military leaders and commanders of the Red Army. For example, Georgy Zhukov had two St. George Crosses, Konstantin Rokossovsky - two St. George medals and a St. George Cross, Rodion Malinovsky - two St. George Crosses. Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev was the owner of a “full bow” (four St. George Crosses), Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny also had all degrees, and he received the fourth twice; the court deprived him of the award for insulting the sergeant. I would especially like to mention the youngest Knights of St. George. Cossack Ilya Trofimov went to the front as a minor volunteer during World War I and was awarded the St. George Cross of the third and fourth degree for his military exploits. And the teenager Volodya Vladimirov went to fight with his cornet father. He served as a scout, was captured, managed to escape and deliver important information to the command. For this, the brave guy received the St. George Cross of the fourth degree.
At the end of the war, Kryuchkov was the owner of two St. George Crosses (the third - number 92481 and the fourth degree), two St. George medals "For Bravery" (also the third and fourth degree), and rose to the position of sub-soror - the first officer rank among the Cossacks. When the February Revolution broke out, the life of Kozma Firsovich, like many other Don Cossacks, changed dramatically. At this time, Kryuchkov had just recovered from his wounds and was discharged from the hospital. He was unanimously elected chairman of the regimental committee. But then a coup occurred, the army collapsed in a short period of time, and a split occurred among the Cossacks. Kuzma Kryuchkov, who was the most typical representative of the Cossacks from the Quiet Don, did not think for a minute about the question: “To accept or not to accept the revolution.” Loyal to the Fatherland, the Tsar, and his oath, Kozma sided with the whites and, after the collapse of the army, he and his regiment returned to his home in 1918.
However, the Cossacks did not have a peaceful life in their native land. The Bolshevik border divided and turned brothers and friends, fathers and children into enemies. For example, Kryuchkov’s closest friend and participant in the legendary battle, Mikhail Ivankov, decided to continue serving in the Red Army. And during the Civil War, Kozma Firsovich himself had to confront another illustrious fellow countryman - the future commander of the second Cavalry Army, Philip Mironov.
Kozma Kryuchkov’s feat was not at all accidental. The Cossacks were professional warriors who had no equal in either horse or foot combat. In that battle, they chopped up the sleek Europeans just like their grandfathers and great-grandfathers a hundred, two hundred, three hundred years ago, because they were tougher, braver, better trained. Behind the Cossacks stood a fighting spirit, military culture, and traditions. Back in the sixteenth century, the ability of the Cossacks to win in a minority was considered an indisputable fact. And this property of theirs was not lost even in the First World War, with all the zeppelins, machine guns, gases, and howitzers. History knows many glorious examples of Cossack courage and daring. For example, the Azov sitting, when a handful of Cossacks withstood a huge Turkish army with numerous artillery and a cloud of foreign mercenaries. She survived, repelling twenty-four bloody attacks. Or during the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, a combined detachment under the command of the famous General Pavel Ivanovich Mishchenko swept through the Japanese rear like a tornado, covering almost one and a half hundred kilometers in three days, leaving behind only the glow of fires. And here is another example of the First World War. In Galicia in August 1914, Andrei Shkuro, an officer of the third Khopersky regiment, together with seventeen soldiers, Kuban Cossacks and hussars, fought with a squadron of Guards Hussars. The Shkurovites managed to defeat the German guards, captured two machine guns and almost fifty hussars (including two officers) captured. Andrei Grigorievich himself wrote in his memoirs: “For this they gave me the treasured “cranberry” (St. Anne of the fourth degree), and a saber with a scarlet lanyard.”
At the beginning of 1918, the Red Army came to the Don, retreating from Ukraine and being pressed by the Kaiser’s troops. Each passing detachment imposed various kinds of “indemnities” on the villages, requisitioning food, horses, and household items. At the same time, groundless executions took place. Hastily created committees of the rural poor also acted without permission and robbed the people. In such conditions, the number of supporters of the new government decreased sharply, but the disarmed and demoralized Cossacks hesitated, as if expecting some kind of miracle. At that moment they had not yet been driven to extreme despair. In this regard, for the first six months, only partisan detachments fought against the Bolsheviks advancing on Novocherkassk, Taganrog and Rostov. At the end of April 1918, Kryuchkov, together with his comrade Alekseev, created a detachment of seventy people armed with sabers and two dozen rifles. With such pitiful forces, Kozma Firsovich repeatedly tried to recapture the village of Ust-Medveditskaya, which housed well-armed Red Army units constantly reinforced by passing detachments under the command of Mironov, a former military foreman (later executed by the Bolsheviks).
By the beginning of May 1918, the atrocities of the Reds multiplied, and then the Cossacks in combat poured into the steppe. The Veshensky uprising grew, allowing Kryuchkov and Alekseev to launch a new attack on the district village. On May 10, at four o’clock in the morning, a detachment of Ust-Khoperites under the command of Kryuchkov raided the Red pickets. The main mass under the command of Alekseev attacked the village from the front. The battle was bloody, the village changed hands a couple of times, but the Whites eventually won. “Don Wave” wrote: “... during the capture of Ust-Medveditskaya, Kozma Kryuchkov distinguished himself, a Cossack of the village of Ust-Khoperskaya and a hero of the last war with the Germans, who removed the Red picket of six people.” For the successful attack, Kryuchkov was promoted to cornet. From this moment on, he becomes not just an active participant in the uprising, but one of the respected leaders. Ordinary Cossacks completely trusted him - the cornet of the thirteenth Ust-Khopersky cavalry regiment of the Ust-Medveditsk division. In addition, the presence of a famous hero in the ranks of the Whites was the best propaganda for recruiting volunteers in the villages. Kozma Firsovich himself continued to fight skillfully; in addition to heroism and courage, according to the recollections of his commanders, he was distinguished by high moral qualities. The Cossack did not tolerate looting, and he stopped the rare attempts of his subordinates to make money from “trophies” from the local population or “gifts from the Reds” with a whip.
After the Cossack's feat in August 1914, he was honored as a national hero. However, Kozma Firsovich himself always remembered that he could not have accomplished the feat without the help of his faithful horse. In that battle, the hero’s four-legged friend received eleven, and according to some reports, even twelve wounds. A brown stallion named “Bone” was the favorite of the entire Kryuchkov family. Together with him, back in 1910, Kryuchkov entered the service, and for all four years he was inseparable from his horse. More than once Kostya and Kozma won first prizes at the races; it was largely thanks to his stallion that the Cossack owed his reputation as a first-class rider. After the legendary fight, Kozma recovered from his wounds quite quickly, which could not be said about the stallion. His four-legged friend's injuries were incurable. When Kryuchkov found out this, he decided to thank the faithful animal in a rather original way. A letter was sent to the History Museum located in Novocherkassk with a request to add Kostyak to the local exhibition. In a message written, obviously, not without the help of regimental scholars, Kozma Firsovich said: “Mr. Chief, I would like the horse to remain as a souvenir for me and all the Cossacks. I ask you to place his stuffed animal or skeleton in a museum... Let me know how best to deliver it to Novocherkassk.” Kryuchkov's idea was treated as an extravagant trick of a hero - if it is perpetuated, then only for human glory.
No matter how bravely the Cossacks fought, no military skill, no heroism could overcome the force rolling onto the Don. At the end of the summer of 1919, the retreat of the whites in this territory began. Advancing and retreating, the Ust-Medveditsk cavalry division fought fierce battles; experienced warriors who had gone through the fire of the World War fought on both sides. Either launching counterattacks or defending themselves, suffering losses and capturing prisoners, the division covered the withdrawal of the Don Army. Kryuchkov led one of the rearguard units, holding back the Reds near the village of Lopukhovka, Ostrovskaya village. By this time he had already received the rank of centurion. Several Cossacks, including Kozma Firsovich, were located near the bridge over the Medveditsa River. The bridge itself was considered “no man's land,” but it was an excellent place to hold off the advancing Bolsheviks. By the time Kryuchkov’s detachment arrived in time, the Red vanguard had already moved to the other side. Under the cover of two machine guns, the soldiers dug in. Perhaps Kryuchkov decided to use this moment to rectify the situation. There was no time to explain what he had planned, he took out his saber and ran to the bridge, throwing over his shoulder to the others: “Follow me, brothers. Recapture the bridge." And about forty people were moving towards them across the bridge. The Cossacks slowed down, the Reds also stood up, watching as only one person ran towards them. According to the stories, Kozma Kryuchkov safely reached the first machine gun nest and cut down the entire crew, after which he was shot from the second machine gun. The battle nevertheless began; in the confusion, the comrades managed to pull out the hero. Bullets riddled the Cossack. Three hits hit him in the stomach, so Kozma Firsovich suffered greatly and could not move. The wounds were so terrible that it became clear to everyone that the brave man’s death was inevitable. When the doctor tried to bandage him, Kozma courageously replied: “Don’t spoil the bandages, doctor..., there aren’t enough of them anyway... and I’ve already fought back.” He remained in the village to die. And here’s what his colleagues wrote while in exile: “In the fall of 1919, Kryuchkov, leading the Cossack guard, without orders, arbitrarily tried to knock out the Reds from the opposite bank near the village of Ostrovskaya. Having let them get closer, the Reds shot them with a machine gun.” Kozma Kryuchkov died of wounds on August 18, 1919. According to other - undocumented sources - he was shot wounded by the Reds. And one completely implausible story tells that Budyonny dealt with him personally. The body of Kozma Firsovich was buried in the cemetery of his native village.
In Volgograd, on the upper terrace of the Central Embankment in 2010, on National Unity Day, a monument dedicated to the Cossacks of Russia was unveiled. The composition, which represents a Cossack leaving for service and a Cossack woman holding in her hand an icon of the Mother of God and blessing a warrior with the sign of the cross, was created by sculptor Vladimir Seryakov. The height of the new monument is almost four meters, it stands in the park near the Church of John the Baptist. And it’s not just that, it is in this place that the Gospel and the cross are kept, which the Don Army carried through the First and Second World Wars, given to the Cossacks by the German side. Vladimir Seryakov said that the prototypes for the characters in the sculptural composition were real people: the hero of the Russian-German war Kuzma Kryuchkov and his wife.
For most residents of Russia, the name Kuzma Kryuchkov means nothing. This is understandable; after the revolutions of 1917, all information about the heroes of imperialist times was consistently destroyed. Not a single Cossack was so quickly elevated to the pedestal of national glory... And not a single Cossack was so slandered under Soviet rule. His name was made a laughing stock, his actions were declared a propaganda lie, an invention... The Cossacks as a whole were perceived by the Soviet authorities only as “stranglers of the revolution” and “the main support of tsarism.” The new ruling elite did not stop at exterminating the Cossacks as a unique military class; they tried to erase all memory of them.
Such a revaluation of values by new generations is not at all an invention of the last century. History has always been rewritten and old idols have been debunked when the ruling elite has changed, and not only on Russian soil. In particular, under the tsar, the Cossacks also (and not without success) erased the memory that they were an independent people. Court chroniclers began to distort the ancient history of the Cossacks after the end of the Patriotic War of 1812. This was done as an attempt to combat their increased separatism and authority.
The Cossacks have a wonderful saying: “Neither lies nor rust takes true glory.” Glory is imperishable, and we are constantly convinced of this. Unfortunately, today on Kozma Kryuchkov’s once rather large (four kilometers long) native farm there is not a single house left standing. The cemetery is abandoned and overgrown with grass, where there is the grave of the legendary Cossack, a hero of the First World War, lost among the weeds. There is also no memorial cross on it. Nowadays no one comes here, and the descendants of those who found rest in this place do not come, but there are thousands of graves there—thousands of broken threads of memory.
Sources of information:
http://shkolazhizni.ru/archive/0/n-12708/
http://don-tavrida.blogspot.ru/2013/08/blog-post.html
http://kazak-center.ru/publ/1/1/62-1-0-57
http://www.firstwar.info/articles/index.shtml?11
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Who were they proud of in Russia during the Great War? Kozma Kryuchkov, Rimma Ivanova, Alexander Kazakov - 100 years ago almost the whole country knew them. Newspapers and magazines wrote about the exploits of these ordinary people in the Great War, children were told about them in schools and candles were lit for them in churches.
It cannot be said that their fame was completely without a propaganda component - in every war there is a place for heroic deeds, but most often most of them remain unknown. However, at that time it never occurred to anyone to invent anything, as the Soviet propaganda machine would actively begin to do just a few years later. The new government will need not so much heroes as myths, and the real heroes of the Great War will be unfairly consigned to oblivion for almost a century.
Dashing Cossack Kozma Kryuchkov
During the First World War, the name of a young Cossack Kozma Kryuchkova it was known, without exaggeration, to all of Russia, including those who were illiterate and indifferent to what was happening in the world and the country. The portrait of a handsome young man with a dashing mustache and a cap at an angle appeared on posters and leaflets, popular prints, postcards and even cigarette packs and boxes of “Heroic” chocolates. Kryuchkov is occasionally present even in Sholokhov’s novel “Quiet Don”.
Such a loud glory of an ordinary warrior was a consequence not only of his valor, which, by the way, is not subject to any doubt. Kryuchkov, in modern language, was also “promoted” because he accomplished his first (but far from the only) feat in the first days of the war, when the whole country was filled with jingoistic enthusiasm and a feeling of imminent victory over the Teutonic hordes. And it was he who received the first St. George Cross in World War I.
Kozma Kryuchkov
By the beginning of the war, Kryuchkov, a native of the Ust-Khoperskaya village of the Don Army (now the territory of the Volgograd region), was 24 years old. He arrived at the front as an experienced fighter. The regiment in which Kozma served was stationed in the Lithuanian town of Kalvaria. The Germans were nearby, a big battle was brewing in East Prussia, and the opponents were watching each other.
On August 12, 1914, during a patrol raid, Kryuchkov and three of his fellow soldiers - Ivan Shchegolkov, Vasily Astakhov and Mikhail Ivankov - suddenly encountered a patrol of 27 German lancers. The Germans saw that there were only four Russians and rushed to attack. The Cossacks tried to scatter, but the enemy cavalrymen were faster and surrounded them. Kryuchkov tried to shoot back, but the cartridge jammed. Then, with one saber, he entered into battle with 11 enemies surrounding him.
After a minute of battle, Kozma, according to his own recollections, was already covered in blood, but fortunately the wounds turned out to be shallow - he managed to dodge while he himself fatally beat his enemies. He inflicted the last blows on the Germans with his own pike, snatched from one of the dead. And Kryuchkov’s comrades dealt with the rest of the Germans. By the end of the battle, 22 corpses lay on the ground, two more Germans were wounded and captured, and three fled away.
In the infirmary, 16 wounds were counted on Kryuchkov’s body. There he was visited by the army commander, General Pavel Rennenkampf, who thanked him for his valor and courage, and then took the St. George ribbon from his uniform and pinned it on the chest of the Cossack hero. Kozma was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and became the first Russian soldier to receive a military award in the outbreak of the World War. Three other Cossacks were awarded St. George medals.
Nicholas II was reported about the valiant Cossack, and then the story of his feat was presented on their pages by almost all the largest newspapers in Russia. Kryuchkov received the post of chief of the Cossack convoy at the division headquarters; by that time his popularity had reached its apogee. According to the stories of his colleagues, the entire convoy did not have time to read the letters that came to the hero from all over Russia, and could not eat all the parcels of sweets that his fans sent him. Petrograd residents sent the hero a saber in a gold frame, Muscovites - a silver weapon.
When the division where Kryuchkov served was withdrawn from the front for rest, in the rear cities it was greeted with an orchestra, thousands of curious onlookers came out to gaze at the national hero.
At the same time, Kozma did not “bronze” and withstood the test of copper pipes - he again asked for the most dangerous tasks, risked his life, and received new wounds. By the end of the war, he earned two more St. George Crosses, two St. George medals “For Bravery” and the rank of sergeant. But after the revolution, his fate was tragic.
At first he was elected chairman of the regimental committee; after the collapse of the front, he returned to the Don with the regiment. But another fratricidal war began there, in which Kozma fought for the whites. Fellow soldiers recall that he hated looting, and even the rare attempts of his subordinates to make money from “trophies from the Reds” or “gifts” from the local population were thwarted with a whip. He knew that his very name attracted new volunteers and did not want that name to be sullied.
The legendary Cossack fought for another year and a half and received his last, mortal wound in August 1919. Today, a lane in Rostov-on-Don is named after him, and a Cossack in the ensemble of the monument to the heroes of the First World War in Moscow is sculpted in his image.
Sister of Mercy Rimma Ivanova
Another name known 100 years ago throughout Russia and almost forgotten today is the heroine of the First World War Rimma Ivanova, sister of mercy and the only woman awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. She died when she was 21 years old.
The daughter of a Stavropol official chose the path of a people's teacher, but she only did this for a year. With the beginning of the war, Ivanova completed courses for nurses, worked in a Stavropol hospital, and in January 1915 she voluntarily went to the front in a regiment where her brother was already serving as a doctor. She received her first St. George medal for her courage in rescuing the wounded on the battlefield - she made bandages under machine-gun fire.
Rimma Ivanova
The parents were worried about the girl and asked her to return home. Rimma wrote in response: “ God, how I wish you would calm down. It's about time. You should be glad, if you love me, that I managed to get a job and work where I wanted. After all, I didn’t do this as a joke and not for my own pleasure, but to help. Let me be a true sister of mercy. Let me do what is good and what needs to be done. Think as you want, but I give you my word of honor that I would give a lot, a lot in order to alleviate the suffering of those who shed blood.
But don't worry: our dressing station is not under fire. My dears, don’t worry for God’s sake. If you love me, then try to do what is best for me. This will then be true love for me. Life is generally short, and you need to live it as fully and as best as possible. Help, Lord! Pray for Russia and humanity».
During the battle near the village of Mokraya Dubrova (Brest region of today's Belarus) on September 9, 1915, both company officers were killed, and then Ivanova herself raised the company to the attack and rushed to the enemy trenches. The position was taken, but the heroine was mortally wounded by an explosive bullet in the thigh.
Having learned about the feat of the sister of mercy, Nicholas II, as an exception, posthumously awarded her the officer's Order of St. George, 4th degree. Representatives of the authorities and hundreds of ordinary residents of Stavropol gathered at the heroine’s funeral; in his farewell speech, Archpriest Simeon Nikolsky called Rimma the “Maiden of Stavropol,” drawing a parallel with Joan of Arc. The coffin was lowered into the ground to the sound of a gun salute.
However, soon a “decisive protest” by the chairman of the Kaiser’s Red Cross, General Pfuel, was published in German newspapers. Referring to the Convention on the Neutrality of Medical Personnel, he emphatically stated that “it is not appropriate for sisters of mercy to perform feats on the battlefield.” This absurd note was even considered at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.
And in Russia, by order of the military department, the film “The Heroic Feat of Sister of Mercy Rimma Mikhailovna Ivanova” was shot. The film turned out to be a caricature: the nurse on the screen, waving a saber, trotted across the field in high-heeled shoes and at the same time tried not to dishevel her hair. The officers of the regiment in which Ivanova served, after watching the film, promised to “catch the entrepreneur and force him to eat the film.” Letters and telegrams of protest from indignant front-line soldiers poured into the capital. As a result, at the request of Rimma’s colleagues and parents, the film was withdrawn from distribution. Today, one of the streets of Stavropol is named after Rimma Ivanova.
The first Russian air ace
The pilots of the First World War were a little luckier than others - 100 years later they remember both about Sikorsky’s Ilya Muromets aircraft, advanced for its time, and about the “Nesterov loop” and Pyotr Nesterov himself. This probably happened because Russian aviation always had something to brag about, and in the first Soviet decades there was a real cult of sky conquerors.
But when they talk about the most famous Russian ace pilot of the Great War, they are not talking about Nesterov (he died a month after the start of the war), but about another forgotten hero - Alexandra Kazakov.
Kazakov, like Nesterov, was young - in 1914 he was barely 25 years old. Six months before the start of the war, he began studying at the first officer flight school in Russia in Gatchina, and in September he already became a military pilot. On April 1, 1915, he repeated Nesterov’s last feat - he went to ram a German plane. But, in contrast, he shot down the enemy Albatross, and landed safely. For this feat, the pilot was awarded the St. George's Arms.
Alexander Kazakov
Kazakov, apparently, was then able to be the first to carry out the maneuver conceived by Nesterov, who, in fact, in his last battle did not at all intend to go to certain death. He expected to hit the plane of the enemy plane’s wing with the landing gear wheels, which he reported to his superiors in advance as a possible and safe method of attack. But Nesterov, according to the commission’s conclusion, failed to perform such a maneuver, and his plane simply collided with an enemy one.
Kazakov performed another outstanding aerial feat on December 21, 1916 near Lutsk - he single-handedly attacked two enemy Brandenburg T1 aircraft, shooting down one of the bombers. The Russian pilot received the Order of St. George, 4th class, for this victory. In just three years of war, Kazakov personally shot down 17, and in group battles, another 15 enemy aircraft and was recognized as the most successful Russian fighter pilot of the First World War.
In August 1915, Kazakov became a staff captain and head of a corps aviation detachment; by February 1917, he was already the commander of the 1st combat aviation group of the Southwestern Front. This group became the first special fighter formation in Russian aviation, but even after becoming a big boss, Kazakov continued to personally fly on combat missions; in June he was wounded in the arm by four bullets in an air battle, but again managed to land safely. In September 1917, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in December of the same year, at a general meeting of soldiers, he was elected commander of the 19th corps aviation detachment.
Kazakov never recognized the Bolshevik coup, for which he was soon removed from command. Not wanting to serve the Reds, in June 1918 he secretly left for the White Russian North, where he became the commander of the Slavic-British aviation detachment. The British awarded him the rank of British officer, which was also done only in exceptional cases - dozens of other Russian pilots were accepted into service with the rank of privates. By the spring of 1919, Kazakov was already a major in the British Air Force, and in battle he received another wound - in the chest, but again survived.
By the end of the summer of 1919, the position of the White Guard units in the Russian North became increasingly difficult, and the command of the British Expeditionary Force began to prepare for evacuation, agreeing to take Russian pilots with them. But Kazakov did not want to leave his homeland and, it is believed, committed suicide - on August 1, during his next flight, he sent his plane into a steep dive to his own airfield. A tombstone made of two crossed propellers was placed on his grave, and the inscription was written on a white board: “ Pilot Kazakov. Shot down 17 German aircraft. Peace to your ashes, hero of Russia».
School of Marshals and Atamans
These are just three fates of forgotten Russian heroes of the First World War. But some participants in the crazy massacre were luckier - they lived long lives, and the war became only the first step in their career. Many future famous Soviet military leaders accomplished their first exploits on the “imperialist” fronts. Moreover, the feats were real - after all, the future marshals were still in low ranks.
Line in biography Budyonny seeds: « Member of the First World War. He was distinguished by great personal courage, became a holder of four St. George Crosses, senior non-commissioned officer" In biography Georgy Zhukov it read: " During the First World War, he was drafted into the army, went to the front in the cavalry, and rose to the rank of non-commissioned officer. He fought bravely and was awarded two St. George's Crosses».
Semyon Budyonny. 1912
At the very beginning of the war, having added two years to himself, a 17-year-old boy asked to serve in the Russian army. Konstantin Rokossovsky. Within a few days, the future marshal distinguished himself - having changed into civilian clothes, he went to the village where the Germans had entered and conducted reconnaissance of their numbers and weapons. When the Germans moved forward, the prepared Russians met them with fire, put them to flight and defeated them, and Rokossovsky was awarded George IV degree.
In Lithuania, when the German cavalry with an infantry regiment captured the Troshkunai station in a raid, Rokossovsky and four fellow soldiers destroyed all the German fire spotters. The brave men sat in the enemy trench all day, firing back at the dead Germans, and only under the cover of darkness withdrew to their own without any losses. For this feat, Rokossovsky was awarded the second St. George Medal, IV degree, and these are not all the “St. George” awards of the future marshal.
But the feat of the future White Guard chieftain, and in November 1914 - Cornet Grigory Semenov. In November 1914, a German cavalry brigade unexpectedly attacked the unguarded convoys of a Cossack brigade, captured prisoners and a lot of trophies, including the banner of the 1st Nerchinsky Regiment. But at this time the cornet Semenov was returning from reconnaissance with 10 Cossacks. Having learned what had happened, the future chieftain with his small detachment quickly attacked the German rearguard, cut down and put to flight the enemy outpost.
The Germans were so shocked that, without understanding the strength of the Russians, they rushed to flee, infecting their comrades with panic, and soon the entire regiment, abandoning their prey, rushed away. As a result, the banner, 150 wagons, and an artillery park were recaptured, and 400 prisoners were freed. Semenov was awarded the Order of St. George, IV degree, and all his Cossacks were awarded the Cross of St. George.
Later, Semenov distinguished himself in another similar situation. Again with a patrol of 10 Cossacks, he was sent towards enemy positions on the highway towards the city of Mlawa. Noticing that the German infantry outpost had lost its vigilance at night and was warming itself by the fires, the Cossacks opened fire on it from several sides. Having dispersed and destroyed the outpost, the Cossacks began to demonstratively dismantle the wire fences. And again a “chain panic” occurred - the Germans mistook the raid for a major offensive, the fleeing infantrymen frightened the company, and the retreating company frightened the city garrison of Mlawa.
Semenov secretly advanced behind him, periodically sending Cossacks with reports to the command, and entered the city itself with only one fighter. Using the only rifle they had, they knocked out and captured two vehicles and wounded several Germans. Reinforcements arrived and found the two heroes who had taken the city having dinner at a restaurant on the main street. Semenov was awarded the St. George's Arms for this feat.
Marcel Beach. Photo: Ogonyok magazine, October 23, 1916
One of the few, if not the only black holder of the St. George Crosses of the III and IV degrees was Marseille Beach, Polynesian by origin. He came to Russia at the age of 17, at the beginning of the war he volunteered for the front and at first was a driver, and then ended up on the crew of one of the Ilya Muromets bombers, where he served as a mechanic and machine gunner.
In April 1916, he took part in an air raid on the Daudzevas station fortified with anti-aircraft guns. The Germans fired at and shot down the Russian plane, but Marcel managed to climb onto the wing and remained there for a long time, repairing damaged engines.
Thanks to a dark-skinned Russian soldier, the plane, which received about 70 holes, managed to land. All crew members for this battle were awarded military decorations and promoted in rank, and Marcel Plea was awarded the rank of senior non-commissioned officer; the press of those years actively wrote about him.
Marcel Plea also took part in the modification of the Ilya Muromets aircraft, offering its creator, aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky, a number of improvements. In particular, he noted that on board the bomber “it’s good in the air, although it’s very windy,” but “it shakes unbearably during takeoff and landing, and therefore you have to get up,” and the seat gets in the way when shooting and should be foldable. All these comments were subsequently taken into account by Sikorsky.
Not pioneers, but heroes
A special story - the fate of young war heroes, not yet pioneers, although their exploits were also used by propaganda to raise morale. True, it must be admitted that both the authorities and the press treated such stories with caution - as with any war, during the First World War, boys (and sometimes even girls) ran away from home en masse. This became a real problem for parents and station gendarmes. In September 1914 alone, and in Pskov alone, gendarmes removed more than 100 children from trains going to the front. But some managed to get there and, in one way or another, actually got into the units.
12-year-old Knight of St. George Vladimir Vladimirov, for example, he went to the front with his father, the cornet of a Cossack regiment. After the death of his father, he was taken into the reconnaissance team. During one of the campaigns behind enemy lines, he was captured, but managed to escape, obtaining valuable information.
13-year-old Vasily Pravdin He repeatedly distinguished himself in battles and carried a wounded regiment commander out of battle. In total, during the war the boy was awarded three St. George's crosses.
12-year-old son of a peasant Vasily Naumov fled to the front from a distant village, was “adopted” by the regiment, became a scout, and was awarded two soldiers’ crosses of St. George and a medal of St. George.
14-year-old volunteer from Moscow, student of the Stroganov School Vladimir Sokolov was wounded twice, rose to the rank of non-commissioned officer and was awarded the St. George Cross, 4th degree, “for capturing an enemy machine gun during an attack on the Austro-German front.”
And in conclusion - about a girl, a 6th grade student at the Mariinsky School Kira Bashkirova. Posing herself as “volunteer Nikolai Popov,” she also managed to join the fighting regiment and within a week she distinguished herself in night reconnaissance and was awarded the St. George Cross. After her fellow soldiers revealed the secret of “Nicholas,” Kira was sent home, but soon the restless girl again found herself at the front in another unit.