Legendary political instructor Vasily Klochkov: feat at the Dubosekovo crossing

On the feat of twenty-eight Panfilovites, who stopped in 1941 the Nazi tanks near Moscow at the Dubosekovo crossing, many generations have grown up. Among the heroes - the company's commissar Vasily Klochkov, who went down in history thanks to the legendary words: "Russia is great, but there is nowhere to retreat. Behind - Moscow ". Some consider the events of November 16 a literary fiction, which increases the interest in the personality of each participant in that historical episode.

The defense of Moscow

The offensive operation of the fascist German troops that began on September 30, 1941, known as the Typhoon, brought them serious successes. Under Vyazma, parts of three fronts were broken, which allowed the enemy to reach the very approaches to the capital. 15.10.1941 GKO USSR announced the evacuation of the city, which caused a part of the population a real panic. But the Germans also needed a breather after the losses suffered, so by November 2 the situation in the Volokolamsk direction had stabilized somewhat. Defense was held here by four divisions of the 16th Army (the Western Front), including the 316th under the command of IV Panfilov.

Vasily Klochkov, whose photo is presented in the article, was the political instructor of the 4th company, located near the village of Nelidovo on the Volokolamsk highway. Formed in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the 316th division did not take part in the hostilities before the defense of Moscow. But the commander, who considers paramount the preservation of the life of fighters, conducted exercises, including imitating a tank attack, using tractors. To create confidence in the possibility of victory over the enemy, in October he organized raids in the enemy's rear, in which Vasily Klochkov, who was presented in both cases to the Order of the Red Banner of War, twice distinguished himself. On November 16, the 2nd Panzer Division of the German forces attacked Panfilov's positions with the aim of creating a positional advantage on the eve of the expected offensive on November 18.

The feat at the Dubosekovo crossing

The morning of the 16th on the Volokolamsk direction began with an air-raid undertaken by the enemy. Soldiers of the 4th company of the second battalion, which held the defenses at the Dubosekovo crossing, counted 35 aircraft. Following from the village of Krasikovo in the direction of Moscow, submachine gunners came out, whose attack by seven in the morning was completely repulsed. But then the tanks went into action. The surviving fighter IR Vasiliev recalled how the politruk Klochkov made his way into the trench. Learning about the number of tanks, he said: "Well, nothing terrible, one by one at the brother."

His main weapon was always the call-up word and a personal example. On the day of the holiday on November 7, he spoke at a rally of the regiment, preventing panic and encouraging soldiers. In his life, Vasily Klochkov only once visited Moscow, but considered it a matter of honor to defend it. The first tank attack was successfully repulsed. On the battlefield, pent-up German technology was smoking, and five cars retreated to Zhukovka. But after a while a new party went.

Then the political instructor and uttered his legendary words, rushing from the trench with a bunch of grenades under the armor of the enemy tank, capturing the fighters with his personal example. A few days later, in the "Red Star" was described the feat of twenty-eight heroes of the 4-th company, who died at the Dubosekovo crossing, but did not miss the Nazis to Moscow. 15 tanks (according to another version - 18) remained burning on the battlefield, symbolizing the strength of the spirit of the Soviet soldier.

Memories of the Politur

The feat of heroes will enter the memoirs of Marshal Zhukov, and all 28 participants of the battle on 21.07.1942 will be presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Only later it turns out that six of them survived: four were seriously wounded, and two were seriously captured and taken prisoner. After a while, IE Dobrobabin, who could not stand the deprivations and enter the service of the enemy, will also be imprisoned. It was after revealing his betrayal that the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office will conduct its own investigation, as a result of which in 1948 events near Moscow will be called a literary fiction, and the authorship of the famous phrase will be attributed to journalist and writer A. Krivitsky.

But eyewitnesses of events and, most importantly, letters from the front convince that it was Vasily Klochkov, whose feat is undeniable, uttered the legendary words. A company's favorite, he was known as a cheerful and positive person: he loved singing, playing the guitar, composing poetry. He was an excellent worker, his biographers found 30 articles written in various newspapers. Despite his thirty years of age, he showed paternal concern for personnel, knowing how to approach every soldier. He was proud of his division, which became the best in the unit. And he was also a fearless man, who hates cowardice and sloppiness in the army. A case is known when he personally shot a junior commander who did not carry out the order.

Biography of the hero

Vasily Klochkov went all his life to commissarism. Born 08.03.1911 in a poor peasant family living in the Saratov province, he learned all the hardships of the hungry 1920s in the Volga region. The family went for a better share in the Altai, where the father died on the way to Samara, Georgy Petrovich. To feed a large family, the mother went to the service to the kulak, and Vasily and his brother worked for whom. But the boy turned out to be intelligent, he gravitated towards knowledge, went through the school of peasant youth. In the Altai village of Lokot, he became a Komsomol leader. Returning to his native land at the age of 20, the young man graduated from a construction technical school and entered the correspondence institute of the Narkomtorg.

In 1939, Klochkov joined the party, and a year later, together with his wife Nina Georgievna and daughter Eli moved to Alma-Ata, where his wife lived. Energetic, active, he soon became the director of the gorpromtorg, but the war broke off the career that had begun. Day 22.06.1941, together with his wife, they spent in the mountains. Seeing the crowd in the evening at the loudspeaker, Klochkov, without hesitation, went to the military commissariat and returned with a summons in his hands. There was no other way for myself. In the photo with a little daughter, who was only three and a half years old, he left an inscription, the text of which is known today to the whole country.

Memory

Vasily Klochkov, whose biography ended so early, is an example of selfless service to people and his country. Historians can argue as much as they like about the number of fascist tanks and defenders of the Dubosekovo crossing, and nobody will be able to belittle the exploit of the defenders of Moscow.

Local residents of the village Nelidovo honor the memory of the heroes. After the battle they found the body of the legendary political instructor and reburied him on his territory. And on the site of the crossing in 1975 a memorial was built. On the hill there are six figures of soldiers, 15 meters high, reminding those passing along the road about the events of 1941.

Klochkov's name is immortalized in the names of the streets and the motor ship. At home, he installed a monument, and he himself was permanently enlisted in the military unit.