Dmitry Fyodorovich Lavrinenko (russian: Дмитрий Фёдорович Лавриненко, September 10, 1914 – December 18, 1941) was a

Soviet 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 ...

tank ace Panzer ace (tank ace) is a contemporary term used in English-speaking popular culture to describe highly decorated German tank (" panzer") commanders and crews during World War II. The '' Wehrmacht'' as well as British and American militaries d ...

and

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 ...

. With 58 tank kills, He was the highest scoring tank commander of the Allies during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Biography

A descendant of

Kuban Cossacks Kuban Cossacks (russian: кубанские казаки, ''kubanskiye kаzaki''; uk, кубанські козаки, ''kubanski kozaky''), or Kubanians (russian: кубанцы, ; uk, кубанці, ), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban r ...

, Lavrinenko finished his training at

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (bor ...

Tank Academy in May 1938. He took part in Soviet campaigns in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

in 1939 and

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of ...

in 1940. In 1941, he commanded the new

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. The Chri ...

/76 tank. With 58 tanks and

self-propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled m ...

s eliminated in 1941 during

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 afte ...

on the

Eastern Front of World War II The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...

, he is considered to be one of the top Soviet tank aces of the war of the war, despite his early death in 1941. He achieved such impressive results by taking advantage of the abilities of the T-34. The tank's armor and great mobility were clearly taken into consideration by Lavrinenko. On December 18, 1941, Lavrinenko was killed just after freeing the village of Goryuny and knocking out his 52nd tank. Immediately after the action the Germans began shelling the village intensively. Lavrinenko got out of his T-34 near the village and tried to reach the commander of the 17th Armoured Brigade, Lt Col N. Chernoyarov, in order to report his victory but he was killed by a German mortar shell fragment. Lavrinenko participated in 28 engagements in 2.5 months and has 52 confirmed kills. No Allied tank officer surpassed him during the whole war. For his heroism, he was awarded the Order of Lenin on December 22, 1941. After the war Marshal

Mikhail Katukov Marshal of Armoured Troops Mikhail Yefimovich Katukov (russian: Михаи́л Ефи́мович Катуко́в – 8 June 1976) served as a commander of armored troops in the Red Army during and following World War II. He is viewed as o ...

along with other high generals petitioned to give Lavrinenko Hero of the Soviet Union, yet he would not receive the highest award for another half a century. On May 5, 1990, Lavrinenko was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

References

WarHeroes.ru
1914 births 1941 deaths People from Krasnodar Krai People from Kuban Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet Army officers People of the Soviet invasion of Poland Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Tank commanders Russian people of Ukrainian descent Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin {{hero-USSR-stub

Biography

See also

References