Sergey Antonovich Bobruk (; 15 February 1901 – 18 March 1962) was a

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) 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 ...

and a

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 ...

. After joining the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

during the final phases of the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, Bobruk became a junior commander in cavalry units, serving in the suppression of the

Basmachi movement The Basmachi movement (russian: Басмачество, ''Basmachestvo'', derived from Uzbek: "Basmachi" meaning "bandits") was an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. The movement's roots l ...

. During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, he went on to serve in staff positions, and by the beginning of

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 after ...

was head of a division operational department. After serving in 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 (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

, Bobruk became chief of staff of the 153rd Rifle Division in early 1942, serving the latter in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

, after which the division became the 57th Guards Rifle Division. Continuing in his position with the 57th Guards during the first months of 1943, he was transferred to become chief of staff of the

6th Guards Rifle Corps The 6th Danube Guards Rifle Corps was a Rifle Corps of the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II. During the war, it formed part of the 8th, 2nd Shock, 1st Guards, 46th, 37th, and 57th Armies. History The corps was part of the 'operation ...

, with which he served for most of the year. Bobruk commanded the

47th Guards Rifle Division 47th may refer to: Chicago Transit Authority stations * 47th station (CTA Green Line) 47th is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" system, located in the Grand Boulevard community area of Chicago, Illinois and serving the Green ...

during the Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive and was made a Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership in it. In the final year of the war he led the

31st Guards Rifle Corps 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. In mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits ...

in its westward advance, continuing his command into the early postwar period. After serving as commander of the 4th Army in the mid-1950s, Bobruk ended his career as an advisor to the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

, retiring due to illness in 1959.

Early life and Russian Civil War

Bobruk was born on 15 February 1901 in the village of Shubichi, Mikhailovsky volost, Pruzhansky Uyezd,

Grodno Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

in a peasant family of

ethnicity.Герои Страны
/ref> After completing primary school in 1914, he worked as a laborer in a shoe factory in Taldom, and from 1919 was a helper and assistant machinist in the machine-mechanical workshop. During the

, he joined the

on 28 June 1920 and was sent to cavalry courses at the 4th

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

Cavalry School. While at the school, he participated in the suppression of the

Kronstadt rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Locat ...

as part of a cadet unit.

Interwar period

Upon his graduation, Bobruk was appointed a platoon commander with the 18th Saratov Cavalry Courses on 1 August 1921, and in May 1922 he was transferred to

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

to hold the same position in the 15th Almaty Cavalry Courses of the

Turkestan Front The Turkestan Front () was a front of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, which was formed on the territory of Turkestan Military District by Order of the Republic of Turkestan on February 23, 1919. It was formed a second time by the directiv ...

. Between November 1922 and June 1923 he underwent retraining at the Turkestan Front cavalry refresher courses in Tashkent. Upon graduation, he was sent to the 2nd

Hisor , image_skyline = Hisor-Tajikistan1.jpg , image_caption = Old castle in Hisar , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Tajikistan , pushpin_label_position =bottom , pushpin_map_caption =Locatio ...

Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Separate Turkestan Brigade, serving as a platoon commander and assistant squadron commander, regimental reconnaissance officer, and squadron commander. With the regiment, he fought in battles against the Basmachi of

Ibrahim Bek Ibrahim Bek (1889 – 31 August 1931) was a leader of the Basmachi movement. He was a member of the Uzbek Lakai tribe in Eastern Bukhara and led an organized resistance against the Soviet military in the early 1920s. A religious conservative and ...

and Kara Murza in eastern

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

from July 1923 to April 1925. In May of the latter year, Bobruk was transferred to the

Ukrainian Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

to serve as a platoon commander in the 51st Cavalry Regiment of the 9th Cavalry Division. From April 1926, he served in the 50th Cavalry Regiment of the same division as an assistant squadron commander, commander of an economic and then cavalry platoons, acting squadron commander, and assistant regimental chief of staff. From March to June 1933 he studied at Red Army cavalry advanced training courses (KUKS) in

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk (russian: Новочерка́сск, lit. ''New Cherkassk'') is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as t ...

, then returned to his previous position. Transferred to the 28th Cavalry Division of the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

in July 1945, he served as assistant head of the 1st staff unit of the division. In April 1936 he became chief of staff of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the

23rd Cavalry Division Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * High ...

, and from January 1938 was acting head of the 1st staff unit of the division. In March of the latter year Bobruk was appointed assistant chief of staff of the 5th Cavalry Division, with which he fought in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subse ...

, advancing into western Ukraine. From February 1940, he served as chief of the 1st staff department of the 34th Cavalry Division of the Kiev Special Military District. in April, he was transferred to the Volga Military District as head of the operational department and deputy chief of staff of the 148th Rifle Division in

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

. During the same year, he graduated from the correspondence department of the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), 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 (rus ...

World War II

After the beginning of

in June 1941, Bobruk and the division as part of the 21st Army were sent from

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

and on 2 July the division entered the fighting at Chausy and

Krichev Krychaw or Krichev ( be, Кры́чаў, Łacinka: Kryčaŭ, ; russian: Кричев, , pl, Krzyczew) is a city in the eastern Belarusian Mogilev Region. Krychaw is the administrative center of Krychaw District. As of 2009, its population was 27, ...

. On 7 July it transferred to the 13th Army and fought with it in the Battle of Smolensk. In early August, elements of the 148th fought in battles on the Sozh River, retreating to the east in stubborn defensive fighting. Between 25 August and 9 September it transferred to the 3rd Army of the Bryansk Front, then returned to the 13th Army of the same front and in participated in heavy fighting with elements of the German

2nd Panzer Group The 2nd Panzer Army (german: 2. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian (german: Panzergruppe Guderian) was formed on 5 June 1940 ...

. At the beginning of October it fought in the Oryol–Bryansk Defensive operation. Having suffered heavy losses, on 7 October it was withdrawn to the front reserve for rebuilding, and on 12 October began preparing the defense of Yelets. On 29 November, the division returned to the 13th Army and fought in the Yelets defensive operation. In the fighting for Yelets between 3 and 8 December, Kazaki on 11 December, and

Livny Livny (russian: Ливны, p=ˈlʲivnɨ) 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 th ...

between 14 and 25 December, Bobruk was reported to have shown "courage and dedication". In March 1942, he was sent to the Volga Military District to serve as the chief of staff of the 153rd Rifle Division, forming at Chapayevsk. On 12 July, the division as part of the 63rd Army arrived on the Stalingrad Front, taking up defensive positions along the left bank of the Don River in the area of the Kazanskaya and

Vyoshenskaya VyoshenskayaAlso tranliterated Veshenskaya. ( rus, Вёшенская, p=ˈvʲɵʂɨnskəjə), colloquially known as Vyoshki (russian: Вёшки, is a rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') and the administrative center of Sholokhovsky District of R ...

'' stanitsa''s, fighting in the

. Until mid-November, the division units firmly held their positions, and in early December it became part of the newly formed 1st Guards Army of the Southwestern Front, participating in Operation Little Saturn. For its "courage and heroism", the 153rd was converted into the 57th Guards Rifle Division on 31 December. Between 4 and 16 January it fought to recapture Chertkovo and from 25 January to 21 February the division was part of Group Popov, fighting with the latter in Voroshilovgrad Offensive, during which it crossed the Seversky Donets and recaptured Slavyansk on 17 February. From April 1943, Bobruk, now a colonel, served as chief of staff of the

. As part of the Southwestern (from 20 October the 3rd Ukrainian) Front, the corps fought in the Izyum-Barvenkovo Offensive and the Donbass Strategic Offensive. On 30 December he became commander of the

, which as part of the

8th Guards Army The 8th Guards Order of Lenin Combined Arms Army (abbreviated 8th CAA) is an army of the Russian Ground Forces, headquartered in Novocherkassk, Rostov Oblast, within Russia′s Southern Military District, that was reinstated in 2017 as a success ...

fought in the Nikopol–Krivoi Rog Offensive. For his "skilled organization of the actions of the division" in the operation, Bobruk was made a

and awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

on 19 March; he received a simultaneous promotion to major general. From 27 March he became commander of the

29th Rifle Corps The 29th Rifle Corps ( lt, 29-asis teritorinis šaulių korpusas) was formed several times in Soviet Red Army, each formation primarily seeing combat on the Eastern Front during World War II. The first formation of the 29th Rifle Corps was known ...

, leading it in the

Odessa Offensive Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern sho ...

. After the end of the latter, Bobruk temporarily served as chief of staff of the 8th Guards Army, and on 29 May took command of the

, which he led for the rest of the war. Bobruk's corps served with the 3rd Ukrainian Front with the 46th and then 4th Guards Armies. It fought in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, the Battle of Debrecen, the Budapest Offensive, the

Balaton Defensive Operation Operation Spring Awakening (german: Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton defensive operati ...

, and the Vienna Offensive. It helped capture

Cahul Cahul (; also known by other alternative names) is a city and municipality in southern Moldova. The city is the administrative center of Cahul District; it also administers one village, Cotihana. As of 2014 census, the city has had a populatio ...

Galați Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...

, Brailov,

Ruschuk Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; bg, Русе ) is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of ...

, Paks,

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Kaposvár Kaposvár (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in the southwestern part of Hungary, south of Lake Balaton. It is one of the leading cities of Transdanubia, the capital of Somogy County, and the seat of the Kaposvá ...

, Sopron, and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. For its "exemplary performance of command tasks" during the Vienna Offensive, the corps received 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 award established on July 29, 1942 ...

, 2nd class.

Postwar

After the end of the war, Bobruk continued in command of the 31st Guards, which became part of the Central Group of Forces. Entering the Higher Academic Courses at the Voroshilov Higher Military Academy in March 1946, he became commander of the Central Group of Forces' 13th Guards Mechanized Division upon graduation a year later. Transferred to command the

27th Guards Rifle Corps 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

of the

in October 1953, he became commander of the 4th Army 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 Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...

in June 1955, before being promoted to

on 8 August of that year. Sent to China in December 1957, Bobruk served as senior military adviser to the commander of the Jinan Military Region of the

. He became a military specialist in the district, serving with the group of senior specialists in PLA military districts. Retired due to illness on 28 December 1959, he moved to

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. A ...

, where he died on 18 March 1962.

Awards and honors

Bobruk received the following awards and decorations: *

(2) *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

(3) *

, 1st and 2nd classes *

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...

, 2nd class *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

, 1st class A street in Pruzhany is named for him, and a memorial plaque is located there.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bobruk, Sergey 1901 births 1962 deaths People from Pruzhany District People from Pruzhansky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Soviet lieutenant generals Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War People of the Soviet invasion of Poland Soviet military personnel of World War II Belarusian people 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 Frunze Military Academy alumni