Oleksi Semenovich Burdeinei

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: ''Олексій Семенович Бурдейний'', Russified, ''Алексей Семёнович Бурдейный'' ''Alexei Semionovich Burdeinei 18 October 1908 in Zhytomir,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– 21 April 1987 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) was a Soviet general.

Biography

Early life

Born to a workers' family, he graduated from a

Rabfak Rabfak (from russian: рабфак, a syllabic abbreviation of рабочий факультет, ''rabochiy fakultet'', "workers' faculty") was a type of educational institution in the Soviet UnionBerthold Unfried''"Ich bekenne": Katholische Beic ...

and worked in a factory at his native town. He joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

already in 1928. In June 1931, he was drafted into the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

, completing training in the

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

Armored Force School the following year. From March 1932 he commanded a platoon in a mechanized brigade stationed near Kalynivka. In September 1935 he was assigned to command a company in the

5th Tank Corps Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

. In September 1937 he entered the Academy of Mechanized and Motorized Services, graduating in May 1940 to become the deputy intelligence officer of the 53rd Tank Regiment. On October, he was made assistant to the operations department chief in the staff of the

4th Mechanized Corps The 4th Mechanized Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War. Operation Barbarossa Initially formed in January 1941, it was serving with the 6th Army, Kiev Special Military District under the command of General Ma ...

.Alexei Burdeinei on the Heroes of the USSR's site.
/ref>

World War II

Soon after the beginning of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, Burdeinei became a senior assistant to the Mechanized Forces' chief of operations in the 37th Army. In August 1941 he took over the 3rd Tank Brigade's 3rd Regiment. On January the next year he was posted as the 2nd Tank Brigade chief of staff. In April 1942, when the 24th Tank Corps was formed, Burdeinei joined it as chief of staff to General Badanov. The Corps was sent to engage the advancing German forces in the South, and was nearly wiped out in the fighting near the Don River, during July. By late October, the unit has recovered from its losses after several months in the reserve. It was assigned to the Southwestern Front and took part in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

. On December, the Corps destroyed the Tatsinskaya Airport and was renamed 2nd Tatsinskaya Guards Tank Corps in honor of this operation. After the Battle of Stalingrad the Corps was made part of the

Voronezh Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...

on March. On 26 June 1943, Colonel Burdeinei assumed command over the Corps, holding the post to the end of the war. As such, he participated in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...

, and was promoted to Major General on 31 August. On 3 July 1944, during

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

, his units were the first to enter Minsk and liberated the city. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General on the 2 November 1944. The Corps later took part in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

East Prussian East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871 ...

, Vistula-Oder and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

operations. For his leadership during the Minsk Offensive he was awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

(Medal no. 5026) on 19 April 1945.

Post-war years

In May 1946, Burdeinei was assigned as the 7th Mechanized Army's chief of staff. He studied at the

Voroshilov Academy The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (russian: Военная академия Генерального штаба Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации) is the s ...

from December 1947 to February 1950. In October 1950, he became the commander of the

8th Mechanized Army 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

, a position he held until June 1953. In April 1954, he was transferred to serve as the Belorussian Military District's deputy commander for tank troops. In January 1958, he was posted as deputy commander for training, and from May 1960 he served as the First Deputy Commander of the District. In August 1963, he was assigned as the Chief of the Central Armored Directorate in the Ministry of Defence. In August 1970 he was appointed representative of the Warsaw Pact Chief-of-Staff to the East German

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...

, and retired from the Armed Forces in January 1974. He lived in Moscow and died on 21 April 1987. Beside his military career, he was also an honorary citizen of Minsk since 1967 and a deputy in the 3rd Convocation of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

's Supreme Soviet. A street in Minsk was named after him.An article in 'Vecherny Minsk'.
/ref>

Honours and awards

(including Order of Lenin and Gold Star medal - No. 5026, 19 April 1945) - for skillful command of a tank corps in the Belorussian operation, exemplary fulfillment of the command in the battles against the Nazi invaders, and for his heroism and courage * Two Orders of Lenin *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

, four times *

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 1942 ...

, 2nd Class, twice *

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

, 2nd class *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

, 1st class *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

* Honorary citizen of the

hero city Hero City may refer to: * Hero City (Soviet Union), awarded 1965–1985 to cities now in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine * Hero City of Ukraine, awarded 2022 * Hero Cities of Yugoslavia, awarded 1970–1975 * Leningrad Hero City Obelisk, a monument ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

* Patriotic Order of Merit

References

External links

Alexei Burdeinei
on Generals.dk. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burdeinei, Alexei 1908 births 1987 deaths Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery Soviet colonel generals Soviet military personnel of World War II Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Virtuti Militari (1943–1989) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Military personnel from Zhytomyr Ukrainian people of World War II