Nikolai Kabalin

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Nikolai Petrovich Kabalin
Native name
Николай Петрович Кабалин
Born24 February 1920
Novo-Alexandrovka, Insarsky Uyezd, Penza Governorate, Russian Empire
Died23 February 1991
Nizhny Novgorod
AllegianceFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Service/branch Red Army
Years of service1941–44
Rank Starshina
Unit 21st Guards Mechanized Brigade, 8th Guards Mechanized Corps
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Hero of the Soviet Union

Nikolai Petrovich Kabalin (Russian: Николай Петрович Кабалин; 24 February 1920 – 23 February 1991) was a Red Army starshina or sergeant major and Hero of the Soviet Union. Kabalin was awarded the title for his actions during the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive. Kabalin reportedly destroyed a German machine gun, enabling his battalion to establish a bridgehead. In early May 1944 he was seriously wounded when a bomb hit his dugout and was later discharged for medical reasons. Postwar, he worked at the Gorky automobile plant. [1]

Red Army 1917–1946 ground and air warfare branch of the Soviet Unions military

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, frequently shortened to Red Army was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution. The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Beginning in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in December 1991.

<i>Starshina</i> military rank

Starshina is a senior non-commissioned rank or designation in the military forces of some Slavic states. In army terminology, a Starshina is either an appointment roughly equivalent to "Company Sergeant Major" or a rank equal to a NATO OR-8. In naval terminology, Starshina is a general term for junior and middle-ranking non-commissioned officers, similar in usage to "Petty Officer".

Sergeant major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. In Commonwealth countries, the various degrees of sergeant major are appointments held by warrant officers. In the United States, there are also various grades of sergeant major, but they are all of the same pay grade of E-9. However, the Sergeant Major of the Army and the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, as their respective service's Senior Enlisted Advisor, receive a special rate of basic pay that is higher than all other sergeants major.

Contents

Early life

Kabalin was born on 24 February 1920 in the village of Novo-Alexandrovka in Penza Governorate to a peasant family. His family moved with him to Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) in 1930. After graduating from tenth grade, he worked as a quality controller and calibrator at the Gorky Automobile Plant. [2] In May 1941, Kabalin was drafted into the Red Army. [1]

Penza Governorate governorate of the Russian Empire

Penza Governorate was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, located in the Volga Region. It existed from 1796 to 1797 and again from 1801 to 1928; its seat was in the city of Penza.

World War II

Kabalin was sent to the 1st Airborne Corps. He spent 1942 in training in the Teykovo area. On 8 December, the corps became the 1st Guards Airborne Division and Kabalin became a squad leader in the new unit. In February 1943, he fought in the Battle of Demyansk. On 13 March, Kabalin and 12 other paratroopers were dropped behind German lines with the task of blowing up a bridge over the Lovat River. The men reached the bridge after moving 10 kilometers in two days. The men began the attack at night after Kabalin reportedly killed the German sentry and then along with seven others engaged in a diversionary raid on the barracks, while the remaining four laid explosives under the bridge. The four soldiers at the bridge were involved in a firefight but were able to blow it up. Of Kabalin's group, only three survived and Kabalin was wounded. The 1st Guards Airborne Division soon began its offensive to the Lovat and Redya Rivers and Kabalin and his group were able to link up with the division. He was immediately sent to a field hospital and awarded the Order of the Red Star on 10 April. [1]

The 1st Airborne Corps was an airborne corps of the Red Army during World War II. It fought in the Battle of Kiev, the Battle of Moscow and in the Battle of Demyansk.

Teykovo Town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia

Teykovo is a town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River 35 kilometers (22 mi) southwest of Ivanovo. Population: 34,976 (2010 Census); 36,686 (2002 Census); 38,126 (1989 Census); 42,800 (1975).

The 1st Guards Zvenigorod-Bucharest Red Banner Order of Suvorov Airborne Division was a division of the Soviet Airborne Troops. The division was first formed in December 1942 and fought in the Battle of the Dnieper, the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket, the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, the Battle of Debrecen, the Siege of Budapest and the Prague Offensive. In August 1945 it was sent east and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The division became the 124th Guards Rifle Division in November 1945 and disbanded in 1956.

Kabalin left the hospital in May and until July fought in the defense of the Redya near Onufriyevo and Zhukovo. In August the division fought in the fighting for Staraya Russa. During 18–19 August, Kabalin's squad fought in the breakthrough of German defenses 4 kilometers south of Staraya Russa, the cutting the Staraya Russa-Kholm highway and the advance to the Porus River. Kabalin was promoted to Senior sergeant around this time. On 29 August the division began transfer to Kharkov, arriving on 7 September at the Dergachi railway station. On 13 September Kabalin and his squad ran into a group of German soldiers numbering up to 20 in the woods south of Dergachi. He was wounded in the ensuing firefight and the group of German soldiers was killed by arriving units of the 1st Tank Army. After recovering from his wounds, Kabalin stayed with the tankists and became a squad leader in motor rifle battalion of the 8th Guards Mechanized Corps's 21st Guards Mechanized Brigade. [1]

Staraya Russa Town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia

Staraya Russa is a town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist River, 99 kilometers (62 mi) south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased over the past years, going from 41,538 recorded in the 1989 Census to 35,511 in the 2002 Census to 31,809 in the 2010 Census.

Kharkiv City of regional significance in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine

Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest city in Ukraine. In the northeast of the country, it is the largest city of the Slobozhanshchyna historical region. Kharkiv is the administrative centre of Kharkiv Oblast and of the surrounding Kharkiv Raion, though administratively it is incorporated as a city of oblast significance and does not belong to the raion. Population: 1,439,036 (2017 est.)

Derhachi Place in Ukraine

Derhachi is a city in Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Derhachi Raion (district), and is located 12 km (7 mi) northwest of the oblast capital, Kharkiv. Population: 18,075 (2017 est.)

The 1st Tank Army did not fight in the Battle of the Dnieper, and Kabalin and his unit crossed the Dnieper without fighting. At the start of the Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive, his battalion broke through German defenses south of Brusilov on 24 December. The battalion advanced to the village of Popelnya and the Kazatin station. On 29 December Kabalin was slightly wounded in the thigh during the battle for the station but was not sent to the hospital. From 6 March, he fought in the Proskurov-Chernivtsi Offensive. On 24 March, the brigade reached the village of Ustechko near the Dniester, where they met heavy German fire. While the tanks of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade engaged German motorized infantry, the Soviet motorized infantry began to cross the Dniester. Kabalin was reportedly one of the first to reach the other bank of the river. When there were four Soviet soldiers on the other bank, Kabalin reportedly attacked and killed the crew of a German machine gun. Grenades and machine gun fire of the other troops killed German soldiers in the trenches. This resulted in the capture of a 300-meter bridgehead on the other bank. For his actions, Kabalin received the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin on 26 April. [1] [3] [2]

Battle of the Dnieper battle

The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II. It was one of the largest operations in World War II, involving almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) long front. During its four-month duration, the eastern bank of the Dnieper was recovered from German forces by five of the Red Army's fronts, which conducted several assault river crossings to establish several lodgements on the western bank. Subsequently, Kiev was liberated in the Battle of Kiev.

Dnieper longest river of Ukraine and Belarus

The Dnieperother names is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe. The total length is approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) with a drainage basin of 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi). Historically, the river was an important barrier, dividing Ukraine into right and left banks. Nowadays, the river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations. The Dnieper is an important navigable waterway for the economy of Ukraine and is connected via the Dnieper–Bug Canal to other waterways in Europe.

Zhitomir–Berdichev Offensive

The Zhytomyr–Berdychiv Offensive operation was a part of the strategic offensive of the Red Army in the right-bank (western) Ukrainian SSR, the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive. The offensive operation was conducted by the forces of the 1st Ukrainian Front commanded by General of Army Nikolai Vatutin during World War II, from 24 December through to 14 January 1944.

In mid-April, Kabalin and a group of airborne veterans in the 1st Tank Army conducted an operation to blow up a German ammunition warehouse in the Bilyi Cheremosh valley. For this operation, Kabalin was awarded a second Order of the Red Star on 20 April. In early May, he was seriously wounded and shell-shocked after a bomb hit a dugout. He spent months in the hospital and in December 1944 was discharged. Kabalin returned to Gorky. [1]

Postwar

Between 1945 and 1950, Kabalin was director of the Avtozavodskaya printing house. [4] In 1950 he became foreman of the equipment workshop and in 1968 retired. [2] On 6 April 1985 he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class on the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II. [5] Kabalin died on 23 February 1991 and was buried in the city's Staro-Avtozavodskoye Cemetery. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Nikolai Kabalin". warheroes.ru (in Russian).
  2. 1 2 3 Tyulnikov, L.K.; Basovich, Y.I. (1981). Герои Советского Союза – горьковчане[Heroes of the Soviet Union – Gorky] (in Russian). Gorky. p. 109.
  3. ↑ Hero of the Soviet Union citation, available online at pamyatnaroda.mil.ru
  4. ↑ "О типографии" [About printing house]. pechat-nn.ru (in Russian). Pechat NN Printing house. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  5. ↑ TsAMO Anniversary card file, available online at pamyatnaroda.mil.ru
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