Filipp Mikhailovich Cherokmanov (Russian: Филипп Михайлович Черокманов; 16 November 1899 – 8 June 1978) was a

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

and

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

. Cherokmanov joined the Red Army during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. During the interwar period, Cherokmanov became an officer and commanded the 148th Rifle Division from 1939. He led the division through the Battle of Smolensk and the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

. In February 1942 he became commander of the 6th Guards Rifle Division and was promoted to major general. During the summer of 1943, he became the commander of the 27th Rifle Corps. Cherokmanov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership during the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II. Being one of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost four million troops at one point and stretched over a front. Ov ...

. He led the corps through the rest of the war, including in the Berlin Offensive. Postwar, Cherokmanov commanded the 29th Guards Rifle Corps, 3rd Army and

7th Guards Army The 7th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II and of the Soviet Army during the Cold War. History The 7th Guards Army was formed from the 64th Army on April 16, 1943. 64th Army had originally been formed from 1s ...

. After becoming deputy commander of the Turkestan Military District, Cherokmanov retired in 1957.

Early life and Russian Civil War

Cherokmanov was born on 18 November 1899 in the village of Marovka in what is now the

Issinsky District Issinsky District () is an administrativeLaw #774-ZPO and municipalLaw #690-ZPO district (raion), one of the twenty-seven in Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located in the north of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrative center ...

Penza Oblast Penza Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Penza. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, its population was ...

to a peasant family. He worked as a laborer. Cherokmanov became a shepherd working for the Rozhnovsky landowning family in the village of Solovtsova. In May 1919, he was drafted into the Red Army and served in the Volsky Separate Battalion. In 1920, he graduated from the regimental school of the 22nd Rifle Regiment of the Volga Military District. In April, he became the assistant chief of the Penza Food Requisition Detachment. From January 1921, he was a platoon commander in the 1st Penza Rifle Regiment of the 1st Rifle Division. He fought in the suppression of the

Tambov Rebellion The Tambov Rebellion of 1920–1922 was one of the largest and best-organized peasant rebellions challenging the Bolshevik government during the Russian Civil War. The uprising took place in the territories of the modern Tambov Oblast and part ...

Interwar

In 1922, Cherokmanov graduated from the 112th Infantry and Command Training Course of the Volga Military District. He served as a squad leader and platoon leader in the 1st Rifle Regiment of the 1st Rifle Division. In October 1924, he was transferred to the 3rd Rifle Regiment and became a company and then a battalion commander. Cherokmanov joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

in 1926. In October 1933, he became a battalion commander in the 183rd Rifle Regiment of the 61st Rifle Division. He then became the chief of the division's junior commander school. Cherokmanov then was assistant chief of the 1st department of divisional staff. In 1936, he graduated from the Vystrel Commander's Courses. He became the 183rd Rifle Regiment's chief of staff. In April 1937, he became the assistant chief of the 2nd department of Volga Military District staff. Cherokmanov became the head of the district military council's monitoring group. In February 1938, Cherokmanov became the commander of the 157th Rifle Regiment of the 53rd Rifle Division. He studied at the Refresher Courses for Commanders (KUKSA) at the Military Academy of the General Staff from November 1938 to May 1939. In October, he became commander of the 148th Rifle Division.

World War II

On 22 June 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union in

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

. Cherokmanov led the 148th Rifle Division as part of the 21st Army at the end of June. On 1 July, the division was transferred to the 13th Army. The division fought in the Battle of Smolensk. In July, the division was fighting on the

Oster Oster (, ; ) is a city in Chernihiv Raion, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine. It is located where the Oster River flows into the Desna. Oster hosts the administration of Oster urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is Today O ...

near Shumyachi. The division suffered such heavy losses fighting German tanks that officers fought in the trenches. The division then retreated into the forest, where Cherokmanov attempted to capture a group of German soldiers. He was wounded but was able to crawl into a thicket. At night, he reached the Krasny Krym collective farm, where he was sheltered by an elderly farmer, Nikolai Filippovich Kozlov. For a month, Kozlov sheltered Cherokmanov. After recovering from his wounds in August, Cherokmanov crossed the front line. On 16 September, Cherokmanov again became commander of the 148th Rifle Division. The division fought in the

. During the Yelets Offensive, the division captured

Yelets Yelets or Elets () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Bystraya Sosna River, which is a tributary of the Don River, Russia, Don. Population: History Yelets is the oldest center of the ...

on 9 December. On 25 December, it captured

Livny Livny (, ) is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia. As of 2018, it had a population of 47,221. :ru:Ливны#cite note-2018AA-3 History The town is believed to have originated in 1586 as Ust-Livny, a wooden fort on the bank of the Livenka River, ...

. On 10 February 1942, Cherokmanov was transferred to command the 6th Guards Rifle Division. He was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

on 18 February. On 3 May, he was promoted to Major General. In May 1943, the division was transferred to Ponyri, at the northern end of the Kursk bulge. Just before the beginning of Operation Zitadelle on 5 July, Cherokmanov was promoted to command the 27th Rifle Corps on 27 June. Cherokmanov commanded the corps during its defense of the Ponyri area. He then led the corps during the Chernigov-Pripyat Offensive. During the offensive, the corps crossed the

Desna River The Desna ( Russian and ) is a river in Russia and Ukraine, a major left-tributary of the Dnieper. Its name in means "right hand". It has a length of , and its drainage basin covers .Snov River and

Sozh River The Sozh (, ; ; ) is a river flowing in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is a left bank tributary of the Dnieper. The Sozh passes through Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus. The river is crossed by the Sozh Floating Bridge at Karma, Kar ...

with minimal losses. On 16 September, he was awarded the Order of Suvorov 2nd class. The corps reached and quickly crossed the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

between 15 and 16 October in the area of

Loyew Loyew or Loyev (, ; , ; ) is an urban-type settlement in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Loyew District. In 2018, its population was 6,698.

. On 30 October, Cherokmanov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin for his leadership during the offensive. Cherokmanov then led the corps during the Proskurov-Chernivtsi Offensive in March 1944. The division captured Berestechko on 2 April and

Radekhiv Radekhiv (, ; , ) is a city in Sheptytskyi Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Radekhiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: Ed Stelmach, the premier of the Canadian province of Alberta ...

during the offensive. In July and August, the corps fought in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive. It captured

Jarosław Jarosław (; , ; ; ) is a town in southeastern Poland, situated on the San (river), San River. The town had 35,475 inhabitants in 2023. It is the capital of Jarosław County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. History Jarosław is located in the ...

and helped gain and hold the Sandomierz bridgehead during the offensive. He was awarded the Order of Suvorov 2nd class a second time on 25 August. On 3 November, he was awarded his second Order of the Red Banner. In January 1945, the corps helped launch the Vistula–Oder Offensive from the bridgehead. On 21 February, he was awarded his second Order of Lenin. He was awarded the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov ( ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established during World War II t ...

2nd class on 6 April. The corps then fought in the Berlin Offensive and ended the war on the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

. Cherokmanov was awarded the

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 Union, Soviet award established on ...

1st class on 29 May for his leadership during the offensive.Order of Suvorov 1st class citation, available online a
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Postwar

Cherokmanov continued to command the 27th Rifle Corps until March 1947. In March 1948, he graduated from higher academic courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff. He then became commander of the 29th Guards Rifle Corps. On 15 November 1950, he was awarded a third Order of the Red Banner. In February 1951, Cherokmanov became commander of the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army () was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and ar ...

. In November, he became commander of the

in the

Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of First Republic of Armenia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan, and Democratic Republic ...

. In July 1955, Cherokmanov became deputy commander of the Transcaucasian Military District. He retired in August 1957 and lived in

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

. In 1972, he became an honorary citizen of Yelets. He died on 8 June 1978 and was buried at the city's Kominternovskoye Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherokmanov, Filipp 1899 births 1978 deaths People from Penza Oblast People from Mokshansky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet lieutenant generals Soviet military personnel of World War II Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War