Chief marshal of the armored troops Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

Pavel Alexeyevich Rotmistrov (; 6 July 1901 – 6 April 1982) was a

Soviet military The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of armoured troops in 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 and following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He fought from the first days and was present in every major Soviet battle including

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 ...

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, ...

and for leading the

5th Guards Tank Army The 5th Guards Tank Army (Russian: 5-я гварде́йская та́нковая а́рмия) was a Soviet Guards armored formation which fought in many notable actions during World War II. The army was formed in February 1943. Until the aft ...

at the

Battle of Prokhorovka The Battle of Prokhorovka was fought on 12 July 1943 near Prokhorovka, Belgorod Oblast, Prokhorovka, southeast of Kursk, in the Soviet Union, during the Second World War. Taking place on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front, the e ...

at 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 ...

. Rotmistrov became the first Marshal of the Soviet armoured troops.

Pre-War

Rotmistrov joined the Red Army in 1919, and served 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 which he was involved in the suppression of the

Kronstadt rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion () was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors, Marines, naval infantry, and civilians against the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik government in the Russian port city of Kronstadt. Located on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland, ...

and in the Polish Soviet War. He commanded a platoon and later rifle company in 31st Rifle Regiment of 11th Rifle Division. In 1928 he entered

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

. From 1937 to 1940 he was an instructor at the Moscow Higher Military Academy. In May 1941 he became Chief of Staff of the 3rd Mechanised Corps.

Second World War

Rotmistrov commanded his first tank battalion during the Soviet-Finish war. He started the war against Germany with the 3rd Mechanised Corps, which was destroyed during

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 ...

. He then commanded 8th tank brigade which was transferred to Kalinin front during the Battle of Moscow. After several successful battles in the summer of 1942 he was sent to Stalingrad to be part of the 1st Guards Army. He commanded

in the

during the

, and in

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

. The unit under his command, the 5th Guards Tank Army engaged in a brutal tank battle near Prokhorovka against the attacking Waffen SS divisions ''

Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH (), began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding the Führer's person, offices, and residences. Initially th ...

,'' '' Das Reich'' and ''

Totenkopf ''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human s ...

'' almost in a point-blank range of 100–200 meters. As the German advance was noticed, spearheaded by the three most elite Waffen SS divisions towards Prokhorovka advancing in force, Rotmistrov ordered direct counter-attack from the army that was prepared to go by radioing "Steel, Steel, Steel" against the Germans to get close to them as possible to make up for the better guns the German tanks had. In the ensuing battle, a close-quarter open field tank battle ensued so that most shots from both sides were a direct hit. The distance between the forces was such that tanks were shooting each other from left and right one after another and close enough to ram the German tanks to disable their relatively powerful guns from turning. 19440701 general rotmistrow beresina

As the battle ended, significant losses were reported from the 5th Guards Tank Army. He was removed from command following Bagration and became deputy head of armored troops at the General Staff. The manner in which he conducted the battle including the heavy losses the 5th Guards Tank Army took was not unnoticed by Joseph Stalin that he planned to have Rotimstrov court-martialed and sacked for the heavy losses. This did not occur since Aleksandr Vasilevsky interceded. It is possible that the high losses incurred by the 5th Guards Tank Army at the Battle of Minsk led to his removal from command. It is notable that he never held an active unit command again. He was promoted to colonel-general in October 1943 and became the first Marshal of Armoured Troops in February 1944.Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР «О присвоении генерал-полковнику бронетанковых войск Ротмистрову П. А. военного звания маршала бронетанковых войск» от 21 февраля 1944 года
// Ведомости Верховного Совета Союза Советских Социалистических Республик : газета. – 1944. – 29 февраля (№ 12 (272)). – С. 1

Post-War

Following the war he commanded the mechanized forces of the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation ...

, and he became an assistant

minister of defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

. He became the first Chief marshal of armoured troops on 28 April 1962.

Awards and decorations

;Soviet Union ;Foreign

References

External links

Biography on Generals.dk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotmistrov, Pavel 1901 births 1982 deaths Soviet Marshals of Tank Troops People from Selizharovsky District Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet military personnel of World War II 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 Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class Frunze Military Academy alumni Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class