Mikhail Stepanovich Shumilov (; November 17, 1895 – June 28, 1975) was a Soviet Colonel general and commander of the 64th Army during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

. There he defended the southern outskirts of the city and the bridgehead of Beketovka on the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

for more than six months.

Biography

Shumilov fought in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and commanded a regiment of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

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 ...

. In April 1938, he was appointed commander of the

11th Rifle Corps The 11th Rifle Corps () was a corps of the Soviet Red Army, Red Army, formed twice. The 11th was first formed in 1922 in the Petrograd area but soon moved to the Belorussian Military District. After fighting in the Soviet invasion of Poland, the c ...

, stationed in the

Belorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District (; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World War I as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District an ...

. He took part in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

and the

Soviet-Finnish War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

. In July 1940, the 11th Rifle Corps was incorporated into the

Baltic Special Military District 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 originatin ...

. After his corps was destroyed 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 ...

, Shumilov was relieved of command in August 1941 and put into the reserve. He was recalled in January 1942 and served as Deputy Commanding Officer of the 21st Army until August 1942, when he became commander of the 64th Army, at the start of the

. For about a month his army held back the

4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (), operating as Panzer Group 4 () from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, was a German panzer formation during World War II. As a key armoured component of the Wehrmacht, the army took part in the crucial ...

, under the command of

Hermann Hoth Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army commander, war criminal, and author. He served as a high-ranking panzer commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II, playing a prominent role in the Battle of France and on th ...

, on the southern approach to Stalingrad, so that industrial enterprises in the north of the city continued to operate. For six months Shumilov's army held the southern part of Stalingrad in fierce battles, playing an outstanding role in the heroic defense of the city along with the

62nd army The 62nd Army () was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War. History The Army was formed on 28 May 1942 as the 7th Reserve Army, a part of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. The formation wa ...

of General

Vasily Chuikov Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (, ; – 18 March 1982) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is best known for commanding the 62nd Army which saw heavy combat during the Battle of Stalingrad in the Second World War ...

.
On January 31, 1943, Mikhail Shumilov led the interrogation of Field Marshal

Friedrich Paulus Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) during World War II who is best known for his surrender of the German 6th Army (Wehrmacht), 6th Army during the Battle ...

, who was captured by the 64th Army near Stalingrad. He remained at the head of his army, which was renamed the

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 ...

in April 1943, until the end of the war.
He participated in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

, forcing the

Dnieper River 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 ...

, the Kirovograd Offensive, the

Uman–Botoșani Offensive The Uman–Botoșani offensiveTsouras, p. 244 or Uman–Botoshany offensive () was a part of the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive, carried out by the Red Army in the western Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic against the German 8th Army (Wehrma ...

, the

Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

, the

Battle of Debrecen The Battle of Debrecen, called by the Red Army the ''Debrecen Offensive Operation'', was a battle taking place from 6 to 29 October 1944 on the Eastern Front in Hungary during World War II. The offensive was conducted by the 2nd Ukrainia ...

, the Budapest Offensive, the Bratislava–Brno Offensive and the Prague Offensive.
General Shumilov also was involved in the creation of the new Romanian army. By decree of the Presidency of the

Supreme Council of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

of October 26, 1943 for the skilful leadership of military units during the forcing of Dnipro and the personal courage and heroism of the Guard, Colonel-General Mikhail Stepanovich Shumilov was named

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 ...

and awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

. In 1946, he became Commanding Officer of the

13th Army Thirteenth Army or 13th Army may refer to: * Thirteenth Army (Japan) * Japanese Thirteenth Area Army * 13th Army (Russian Empire), unit in World War I *13th Army (RSFSR), a unit in the Russian Civil War *13th Army (Soviet Union) The 13th Army (, ...

, in 1948 Commander in Chief of the

White Sea Military District White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wavelen ...

and in 1949 Commander in Chief of the Voronezh Military District, until 1956 when he retired.

Monuments

File:Г. Катайск - panoramio (8).jpg, Monument to 6 heroes in Kataysk, Kurgan File:Mikhail Shumilov, Mamayev Kurgan.jpg, Memorial plate in Mamayev, Kurgan File:Памятник Шумилову М.С..JPG, Monument in Kurgan File:Shumilov kharkov.JPG, Monument in Kharkiv

Sources

generals.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shumilov, Mikhail 1895 births 1975 deaths Russian people of World War II People of the Soviet invasion of Poland Heroes of the Soviet Union Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet colonel generals