“Nerve of the Army”: The Ministry of Defense published documents about the exploits of signalmen in the Great Patriotic War
On the 105th anniversary of the formation of the Signal Corps, which is celebrated on October 20, the Russian Ministry of Defense is launching a multimedia section “Always Connected” on its website, dedicated to the exploits of military signalmen and their role in the Great Patriotic War. The section contains excerpts from official correspondence of communications units, unit forms and personal files, award certificates and other documents. According to historians, the course of hostilities during the Great Patriotic War largely depended on the effectiveness of the signal troops.
On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the creation of the Signal Corps, the Russian Ministry of Defense launched a multimedia historical and educational section “Always in touch” on its website. It contains excerpts from official correspondence of communications units, unit forms and personal files, award certificates and other archival documents.
Large-scale changes
Signal troops made a great contribution to the victory over Nazism. More than 1 million military signalmen took part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War, provided stable communications for command and control of troops and alerted them to the situation at the fronts, supplied headquarters with the necessary information, delivered operational information to combat units, and transmitted combat orders from the command to the field.
In a new section on the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the autobiography of the People's Commissar of Communications of the USSR, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR and Head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Red Army, Marshal of the Signal Corps Ivan Peresypkin, has been published.
“I was born on June 18, 1904 (new century) actually at the Mercury mine at the station. Nikitovka South and. in Donbass, now Gorlovka district” – this is how his autobiography begins.
The future outstanding statesman and military figure was born into the family of a driller. His father died when Ivan was only a year old. He was raised by his mother, who was a laborer in a mine. After graduating from a four-year public school, a 12-year-old boy went to work in a mine. In 1919, he volunteered to join the Red Army and took part in battles in the Donbass. After a serious illness, he was dismissed from service as a minor. Afterwards he served in the railway police.
The future marshal got a job as a laborer in a mine, but after reaching adulthood he was again drafted into the Red Army and entered the Military-Political School of the Ukrainian Military District. After graduation, he served in various units of the Red Army, including the communications squadron. This was how his future fate was determined.
From 1932 to 1937 (according to other sources, from 1933 to 1939) Peresypkin studied at the Military Electrotechnical Academy of the Red Army. After graduation, he was appointed military commissar of the Research Institute of Communications of the Red Army, and then military commissar of the communications department of the Red Army.
Marshal of Signal Corps Peresypkin Ivan Terentyevich Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
“On May 10, 1939, I was appointed People’s Commissar of Communications, and on June 22, 1941, concurrently Deputy People’s Commissar of Defense and Head of the Main Communications Directorate of the Red Army,” Peresypkin describes his future life path.
According to historians, the military communications system in the Red Army at that time was not yet properly adjusted, and the new commander had to make large-scale changes.
“The defeats of the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War were largely related to problems in the communication system. It was necessary to correct mistakes taking into account this bitter experience. Successes in this area of activity had a positive impact on the course of hostilities,” said Alexey Podberezkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at MGIMO, in a conversation with RT.
Autobiography of Marshal of Signal Corps Peresypkin Ivan Terentyevich Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Peresypkin was not afraid to report to the country's leadership about problems in the areas of work entrusted to him and about what needed to be done to overcome them.
“The army is experiencing an acute shortage of radio operators and listeners. The currently trained number of radio operators in established schools and reserve communications units does not meet the needs of combined arms headquarters, aviation and tank forces. To increase the number of radio specialists needed for the army, I ask for your permission to create a network of courses for training radio operators of at least 20 thousand people. To organize and manage a network of courses for radio operators, it is necessary to involve NKSvyaz, the Central Committee of the Komsomol, Osoaviakhim and the All-Union Radio Committee, putting Comrade at the head of this matter. Krenkel E.T., for which I ask the latter to be transferred from the Main Northern Sea Route to NKSvyaz (Comrade Papanin’s consent is available). The training period for radio operators is expected to be from one and a half to three months, and staffing must be done through the early conscription of male youth aged 18-19 years (15 thousand people) and through the Komsomol mobilization of girls and women (5 thousand people),” it says in Peresypkin’s report addressed to the Chairman of the State Defense Committee Joseph Stalin.
Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad strategic defensive operation. Signalmen of the Southwestern Front transmit a report to the regimental headquartersRIA Novosti Natalya Bode
In the post-war period, Marshal Peresypkin headed the signal troops of the Ground Forces of the USSR Armed Forces and the signal troops of the Soviet army, and then served as a military inspector-adviser in the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense and was engaged in public activities.
“Timely completion of a combat mission”
Other administrative documents in force in the Signal Corps are also posted on the website of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“Communication is the nerve of the army. Without communications there is and cannot be reliable command and control of troops in modern warfare. The uninterrupted communication and its accuracy largely determine the success of interaction between different types of troops, the speed of maneuver, and the timely completion of a combat mission. A timely and accurately transmitted order or report will help defeat the enemy. And vice versa, the slightest inaccuracy and sloppiness in work, a careless attitude towards communications, or the disclosure of military secrets can derail even a well-thought-out and prepared operation and cause enormous harm to the front,” emphasizes the declassified “Instructions for the Political Controller at Radio Hubs and Military Telegraph Stations,” prepared by the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army and approved by Army Commissar 1st Rank Lev Mehlis.
Correspondence on personnel and staff of the Main Directorate of the Red Army of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
As noted in the materials of the Russian Ministry of Defense, in the first nine months of the war, signal troops built more communication lines than in the previous five years. The army commissioned 70 thousand km of long-distance communication lines, and for uninterrupted communication between fronts stretching over thousands of kilometers, signal units laid 120 thousand km of copper cable.
A new section on the website of the RF Ministry of Defense contains materials from the historical records of several communications units.
“After the Soviet troops occupied Rzhev, an order was received to give the city communications. The new route approached Rzhev from the north-west, i.e. through the sites of major battles, and was completely mined. The scouts had to move very carefully – and exclusively on foot. After reconnaissance, temporary communication was provided for two days, then work on the construction and major restoration of the highway continued at the same pace. During the period of provision of temporary communications to Rzhev, a mined field about 4 km wide was encountered at one of the construction sites. It was impossible to bypass this area. Military engineer Bazhanov, who led the work, decided to start construction through a minefield. It took a lot of courage and endurance to clear the passage without special equipment,” says materials from the form of the 7th Separate Order of the Red Star of the Signal Battalion.
Form of the 57th OLBS of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The work of signalmen was associated not only with danger to life, but also with constant exhausting work.
“The battalion, consisting of two linear companies and one mechanized one, began work during the spring thaw. The roads were flooded with water. Before the companies arrived at their sites, units of the Red Army with their huge equipment passed along these roads to their initial positions, and the roads became completely unusable. This was further aggravated by the fact that on most construction sites the soil was swampy. It was impossible to use mechanisms for digging holes. The poles were placed manually from rafts while rocking. It was physically hard work, greatly exhausting the personnel… In these difficult conditions, 153 km of line were built, 3060 poles were installed, 306 wire-kilometers of non-ferrous and 50 wire-kilometers of steel wires were suspended,” notes the form of the 2nd separate repair and restoration communications battalion.
Excerpts from the historical record of the 2nd repair and restoration communications battalion with photographs of the Russian Ministry of Defense
Providing fierce resistance to the Nazis and liberating the territory of the USSR from the Nazi occupiers, signalmen soldiers accomplished many feats. 304 servicemen of the signal forces were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 133 became full holders of the Order of Glory, hundreds of thousands of signalmen and 645 signal units were awarded military orders and medals, 172 signal units were named after the cities they liberated.
“Under enemy fire, not having the right to turn back, they pulled wires, ensuring that the orders of the command were carried out. The signalmen made a significant contribution to the victory,” military historian Sergei Perelygin emphasized in a conversation with RT.
Award list of Ovsyannikov Mikhail Semenovich of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation contains award documents for military personnel of the signal forces who performed feats during the Great Patriotic War.
“On December 1, 1941, in the area of Naro-Fominsk, the enemy opened strong artillery fire and pushed back our units. Comrade Novikov, being a line supervisor, served the line from the division commander's command post to Major Bezzubov's unit; a large group of machine gunners who had infiltrated kept the line under fire. Despite heavy enemy fire, Comrade. Novikov crawled from one impulse to another and corrected them while lying down. At that moment, when the last impulse was coming together, he was seriously wounded by fascist machine gunners. Bleeding, comrade. Novikov, remembering his duty as a telephone operator, clamped the broken wires in his teeth, thereby restoring the connection. This was the end of Comrade's life. Novikov with wires clamped in his mouth. He is worthy of an award – the title of Hero of the Soviet Union,” says the award sheet for the signalman of the 28th separate guards communications battalion of the 16th Army Nikolai Novikov.
Award sheet of Luzan Fedor Afanasyevich of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Soldiers of the Signal Corps performed outstanding feats not only during the performance of their immediate official duties.
“July 5, 1943 comrade. Yatsenevich was appointed head of the responsible communications department in the defense sector of the 190th separate penal company. When German troops launched an offensive on the village of Semidvoriki, Pokrovsky district, Oryol region, comrade. Yatsenevich, servicing the telephone at the forward observation post, until the last moment transmitted information about the enemy’s advance, was surrounded and captured by them. After the German troops were driven out of the village of Semidvoriki by our fighters, Yatsenevich’s mutilated body was found, hanging from a telephone wire in a dugout by a beam. As it was established, the German monsters subjected Yatsenevich to brutal torture: they stabbed his arms, legs, body, tore off his (left) hand and stabbed his entire right hand. They cut open the stomach, cut out the genitals and cut off the legs. The Nazi bandits carried out all these atrocities at the stake. Comrade Yatsenevich, despite the torture, remained faithful to the military oath and fulfilled his duty to the Motherland: Hitler’s bandits did not obtain any information and did not use the telephone, which was in good working order, and the line was turned on and working,” notes the award sheet for conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union telephone operator of the communications company of the 156th Infantry Regiment of the 16th Lithuanian Infantry Division, Viktor Yatsenevich.
Award list of Tokmakov Innokenty Trifonovich of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
As noted in the materials of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the exploits of the Red Army soldiers today inspire Russian military personnel performing their military duty during a special military operation.
“At all times, military signalmen have been distinguished by professionalism, dedication and loyalty to duty. And today, solving complex and important tasks in the zone of a special military operation, they invariably demonstrate high combat skills, show courage and heroism, maintain stable communications on the line of combat contact and at headquarters, and make a significant contribution to achieving our victory,” the Minister of Defense emphasized. Russian Federation Andrey Belousov.
