On August 20, 1941, the tank crew under the command of Senior Lieutenant Zinovy Kolobanov destroyed 22 enemy tanks.
Zinovy Kolobanov on the eve of the Winter War, in which he fought as a commander of a tank company of the 1st Light Tank Brigade with the rank of lieutenant.
On August 8, 1941, von Leeb's troops, having trampled along the Luga line for almost a month, resumed their attack on Leningrad. On August 9, 1941, the 1st Panzer Division was able to break through the Soviet defenses, and, having gone to the rear of the Soviet troops, connect with the 6th Panzer Division. On August 14, 1941, German troops cut the railway Krasnogvardeisk - Kingisepp, on August 16, 1941 they took the Volosovo station and rapidly advanced towards Krasnogvardeisk - the former and current Gatchina.
Our troops defending the line on the Luga River (70th, 111th, 177th, 235th rifle divisions, as well as the 1st and 3rd militia divisions) were cut off from the main forces and offered stubborn resistance while being surrounded. The reserves sent from the deep rear had not yet arrived, and the road to Leningrad was open for the Germans who had broken through.
The only formation capable of delaying the German offensive was Major General Baranov's 1st Panzer Division. On August 12, the division went on the defensive in the area of Vypolzovo, Kryakovo, Nerevitsy, and Lelino. At that moment, the division had 58 serviceable tanks, 4 of which were medium T-28 T-28 tanks, and 7 were heavy KV-1s. The 3rd tank company of the 1st tank battalion of the 1st tank regiment of this division included five KV tanks. It was this company that was commanded by Senior Lieutenant Zinovy Grigorievich Kolobanov.
The crew of Zinoviy Kolobanov. Kolobanov himself is in the center
On August 19, Kolobanov was called to the division commander. Having shown on the map three roads leading to Krasnogvardeysk from Luga, Volosovo and Kingisepp, the general ordered to block them.
Each tank was loaded with two rounds of armor-piercing shells. This time, the crews took the minimum amount of high-explosive fragmentation shells. The main thing was not to miss the German tanks.
On the same day, Kolobanov advanced his company towards the advancing enemy. He sent two tanks - Lieutenant Sergeev and Junior Lieutenant Evdokimenko to the Luga road.
Two more KVs under the command of Lieutenant Lastochkin and Second Lieutenant Degtyar went to defend the road leading to Volosovo. The tank of the company commander himself was to ambush the road connecting the Tallinn highway with the road to Marienburg, the northern outskirts of Krasnogvardeisk.
The crew, in addition to Kolobanov himself, included the commander of the gun, senior sergeant Andrey Mikhailovich Usov, senior driver, foreman Nikolai Ivanovich Nikiforov, loader, he is also junior mechanic, Red Army soldier Nikolai Feoktistovich Rodenkov, and gunner-radio operator, senior sergeant Pavel Ivanovich Kiselkov.
For his KV, Kolobanov determined the position in such a way that in the sector of fire there was the longest, well-opened section of the road. A little before reaching the Uchkhoz poultry farm, it turned almost 90 degrees and then went to Marienburg. Vast swamps stretched along the sides of the road.
By evening, they managed to hide the tank in a caponier dug up to the very turret. A spare position was also equipped. After that, not only the tank itself was carefully disguised, but even traces of its tracks.
Closer to the night approached military guards. The young lieutenant reported to Kolobanov. He ordered the infantrymen to be placed behind the tank, to the side, so that in which case they would not come under gunfire.
KV-1 with additional armor
Award list of Zinovy Kolobanov: fund 33, inventory 682524, storage unit 84. Pages 1 and 2. TsAMO, fund 217, inventory 347815, file No. 6 on sheets 102-104.
In the early morning of August 20, 1941, Kolobanov's crew was awakened by the roar of German Ju-88 bombers flying at high altitude towards Leningrad. At ten o'clock shots were heard from the left, from the side of the road leading to Volosovo. A message came on the radio that one of the crews had engaged in battle with German tanks. Kolobanov summoned the commander of the outpost and ordered him that his infantrymen open fire on the enemy only when the KV gun spoke. For themselves, Kolobanov and Usov outlined two landmarks: No. 1 - two birches at the end of the intersection and No. 2 - the intersection itself. Landmarks were chosen in such a way as to destroy the lead enemy tanks right at the crossroads, to prevent the rest of the vehicles from turning off the road leading to Marienburg.
Only in the second hour of the day did enemy vehicles appear on the road. The German motorcyclists turned left and rushed towards Marienburg, not noticing the camouflaged KV standing in ambush.
Behind the motorcyclists, the Pz.III Pz.III tanks of the 3rd tank company of the 1st tank regiment of the 1st tank division of Major General Walter Krueger appeared. Their hatches were open, and some of the tankers were sitting on the armor. As soon as the lead vehicle reached landmark No. 1, Kolobanov ordered Usov to open fire.
The lead tank caught fire from the first shot. It was destroyed before it even completely passed the intersection. The second shot, right at the crossroads, destroyed the second tank. A bottleneck has formed. The column shrunk like a spring, and now the intervals between the rest of the tanks have become completely minimal. Kolobanov ordered the fire to be transferred to the tail of the column in order to finally lock it on the road. The senior sergeant corrected the sight and fired four more shots, destroying the last two in the tank column. The enemy is trapped.
In the first seconds, the Germans could not determine where the shooting was coming from, and opened fire from their 50-mm KwK-38 cannons on haystacks, which immediately caught fire. But they soon came to their senses and were able to discover the ambush. A tank duel of one KV against eighteen German tanks began. A whole hail of armor-piercing shells fell on Kolobanov's car. One by one, they hammered at the 25 mm armor of the additional screens mounted on the KV turret. Tanks KV-1 with similar armor were produced only in July 1941 and fought only on the North-Western and Leningrad fronts.
The infantry units moving behind the column came to the aid of the German tankers. Under the cover of fire from tank guns, for more effective shooting at KV, the Germans rolled anti-tank guns onto the road.
Kolobanov noticed the preparations of the enemy and ordered Usov to hit the anti-tank guns with a high-explosive fragmentation projectile. The military outposts located behind the KV entered the battle with the German infantry.
Usov managed to destroy one anti-tank missile along with the calculation, but the second managed to fire several shots. One of them broke the panoramic periscope, from which Kolobanov was monitoring the battlefield, and the other, hitting the tower, jammed it. Usov managed to destroy this gun as well, but the KV lost the ability to maneuver fire. Large turnings of the gun to the right and left could now be done only by turning the entire hull of the tank.
Kolobanov ordered the senior driver, foreman Nikolai Nikiforov, to withdraw the tank from the caponier and take up a reserve firing position. In front of the eyes of the Germans, the tank reversed out of its hiding place, drove off to the side, stood in the bushes and again opened fire on the column. At this time, the gunner-radio operator Nikolai Kiselkov climbed onto the armor and installed a spare instead of a damaged periscope.
Finally, the last 22nd tank was destroyed.
During the battle, which lasted more than an hour, Senior Sergeant Usov fired 98 shells at enemy tanks and anti-tank guns, all of which were armor-piercing. By order of the battalion commander, Captain Joseph Shpiller, Kolobanov's tank withdrew from the position and, having put the surviving soldiers from the security platoon on the armor, withdrew to the location of the main forces of the division. At the same time, in the battle on the Luga road, the crew of Lieutenant Fedor Sergeev destroyed eight German tanks, the crew of Junior Lieutenant Maxim Evdokimenko - five. The junior lieutenant died in this battle, three members of his crew were wounded. Only the driver Sidikov survived. The fifth German tank, destroyed by the crew in this battle, was on the account of the driver: Sidikov rammed him. At the same time, the HF itself was disabled. The tanks of junior lieutenant Degtyar and lieutenant Lastochkin burned four enemy tanks each that day. In total, the 3rd tank company destroyed 43 enemy tanks that day.
For this battle, the commander of the 3rd tank company, Senior Lieutenant Zinoviy Grigorievich. Kolobanov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of War, and the gun commander of his tank, Senior Sergeant Andrei Mikhailovich Usov, was awarded the Order of Lenin.
The military battle seriously delayed the enemy's offensive near Leningrad and saved the city from lightning capture. By the way, one of the reasons why the Germans were so eager to capture Leningrad in the summer of 1941 was precisely the fact that the Kirov plant, which produced KV tanks, was located in the city.
This is the story of the unrecognized hero Zinovy Kolobanov. On August 20, 1941, on the outskirts of Leningrad near the Voiskovitsy state farm, his tank defeated a convoy of 22 German combat vehicles. This battle seriously delayed the Nazis near Leningrad and saved the city from lightning capture.
Zinoviy Grigoryevich Kolobanov managed to prove himself during the years of the Soviet-Finnish war. He was a member of the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line and received the Order of the Red Banner. From the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the tanker Kolobanov went to fight on the Northern Front, where he commanded a company of heavy KV tanks of the 1st Panzer Division.
In early August 1941, the German army launched an offensive against Leningrad. After heavy fighting near Pskov, Luga and Kingisepp, the Soviet forces holding the advance of the Nazis withdrew to Krasnogvardeysk, which was an important transport hub. The Soviet troops were waiting for reinforcements, but the reserve from the deep rear had not yet arrived. The Nazis advanced with formations of tanks, planning to take Krasnogvardeysk on the move, after which the path to Leningrad would be open for them.
The only force capable of holding the enemy was the 1st Panzer Division of Major General Viktor Ilyich Baranov. On August 19, 1941, the division commander gave Zinovy Kolobanov an order to block three roads leading to Krasnogvardeysk from Luga, Volosovo and Kingisepp with the forces of the company.
The third tank company of Kolobanov included 5 heavy tanks. Having loaded into the KV-1 two sets of armor-piercing ammunition and a set of high-explosive shells, the company advanced towards the approaching enemy. Two tanks went to defend the road leading to Volosovo, two more - the Luga road, and the tank of Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov went to the northern outskirts of Krasnogvardeisk, to the Voiskovitsy state farm.
The crew, in addition to Kolobanov himself, included the commander of the gun, senior sergeant Andrey Mikhailovich Usov, senior driver, foreman Nikolai Ivanovich Nikiforov, loader and junior driver, Red Army soldier Nikolai Feoktistovich Rodenkov, and gunner-radio operator, senior sergeant Pavel Ivanovich Kiselkov.
For his KV-1, the company commander chose a position in which the longest and most open section of the road was in the sector of fire of the tank. By evening, they managed to hide the tank in a caponier so that only the tower looked out. They disguised both the car and the tracks from the tracks. Combat guards, who reached the place at night, took cover behind the tank.
August 20, 1941. The monotonous rumble of an advancing tank column is heard. In the distance, shots rang out - it was the crew that joined the battle near the road to Volosovo. Several hours of tense waiting, and the enemy was in the field of view of the fighters.
22 light German tanks were approaching the ambush. It was decided to destroy the lead cars at the intersection in order to prevent the rest from turning off the road.
And so, as soon as the first Pz.35 (t) reached two birches near the road - a landmark chosen by Kolobanov, Usov fired. With the first blow, he destroyed it, preventing him from crossing the intersection. A moment and the next car is on fire. A traffic jam formed, the distance in the column was reduced. Then the KV fire fell on the last tank of the column. The burning car actually locked the enemy in a trap. Another one lit up.
When the Germans discovered the ambush, a skirmish began: one KV against 18 German Pz.35 (t).
A hail of armor-piercing shells fell on Kolobanov's tank. The Germans fired at the 25mm armor in an attempt to disable the extra screens on the turret. The German infantry also went into action. Two anti-tank weapons were rolled out onto the road, one of which smashed the panoramic periscope - the company commander was watching the battle from it. Another hit from an anti-tank rifle and the turret jammed. KV lost the ability to maneuver fire. For effective shooting, it was now necessary to deploy the tank itself.
The battle continued, under incessant fire, Nikolai Kiselkov climbed onto the armor. It replaced the periscope, and soon the last one, the 22nd Pz.35 (t), was destroyed.
By order of the battalion commander K. V. Zinoviy Kolobanov, he withdrew from the position. Having placed the wounded soldiers from the security platoon on the armor, he returned to the location of the division.
During the hour of this fierce battle, the tankers used 98 armor-piercing shells, having used up all their stock.
This battle seriously delayed the Nazi offensive and saved Leningrad from lightning capture.
In September 1941, an award sheet was printed on the presentation of all members of the crew of Zinovy Kolobanov to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the Military Battle. The division commander, Viktor Ilyich Baranov, also signed these submissions. However, at the headquarters of the Leningrad Front, Kolobanov's award was reduced by unknown people to the Order of the Red Banner, and the gun commander, Senior Sergeant Andrei Mikhailovich Usov, to the Order of Lenin. The Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense stores award lists crossed out in red pencil.
Until the end of the war, Zinovy Kolobanov proved himself more than once on the battlefield. His exemplary service was repeatedly awarded orders and medals, but the main award - the Hero of the Soviet Union, was never given to the commander of the 3rd tank company.
In Russia, September 11th was Tanker's Day. In this regard, the site decided to recall one of the greatest feats of Soviet tankers during the Great Patriotic War - the battle of Senior Lieutenant Zinoviy Kolobanov, the crew commander of the KV-1 tank, who destroyed 22 tanks during the Kingisepp-Luga defensive operation.
Order: stand to the death
August 1941. The third tank company of the first tank battalion under the command of senior lieutenant Kolobanov defends the approaches to Leningrad near Krasnogvardeysk. Unexpectedly, Kolobanov receives a personal order from the division commander. It is necessary to block three roads leading to Krasnogvardeysk from Luga, Volosovo and Kingisepp. The divisional commander concluded his speech with the words: "stand to the death"!
It is worth noting that Kolobanov's company was armed with five heavy KV-1 tanks. At that time, they managed to successfully resist the German Panzerwaffe. However, they had problems with maneuverability. In this connection, Lieutenant Kolobanov's KV-1 took a place in an ambush.
The crew took up a position at a height with clay soil, at a distance of about 150 meters from the intersection. Two sets of armor-piercing shells were loaded into each of the five tanks.
At noon, German soldiers made an attempt to break through the Luga highway. However, the crews of Evdokimenko and Degtyar (also from Kolobanov's company) stationed there were able to knock out five tanks, as well as three armored personnel carriers. The enemy realized his mistake and hastened to turn back.
30 minutes - 22 destroyed tanks
Waiting for the enemy by the crew of Kolobanov was long and painful. But hardly uninvited guests appeared at the fork, as the senior lieutenant ordered to open fire. The column consisted of 22 tanks. The first volleys seriously damaged the three lead vehicles of the Germans. Then it was the turn of the commanders of the vehicles at the tail of the column to suffer. The KV-1 guns fired at them. This led to the loss of the Germans' room for maneuver. In other words, they could no longer leave the shelling zone.
However, at the same time, the opponents found the KV-1 firing at them. The Germans returned fire. Shells even hit the turret of a heavy Soviet tank. The lives of Kolobanov and the crew hung in the balance. However, the hull and turret of the vehicle itself were so strong that they even withstood heavy enemy fire (more than 150 hits).
However, another hit put the tank's turret out of action. It seemed like that was it. But then the driver Nikolai Nikiforov decided to withdraw the tank from the trench. The car began to maneuver.
Nikiforov turned the tank towards the attacking enemy. The tank guns opened fire again. As a result, in 30 minutes of battle, the KV-1 crew under the command of Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov destroyed 22 tanks.
Later, this achievement was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.
In total, on August 20, 1941, tanks from Kolobanov's company knocked out 43 German vehicles. They also managed to destroy an artillery battery, a passenger car and up to two companies of Nazi infantry.
Not recognized as a hero
In September of the same year, all members of Kolobanov's crew were presented with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the high command refused to reward the tankers, not finding anything outstanding in this feat. Nevertheless, the awards still found their heroes. Zinovy Kolobanov and Nikolai Nikiforov were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner, Andrei Usov - the Order of Lenin, and Nikolai Rodnikov and Pavel Kiselkov - the Orders of the Red Star.
The won battle with the "column of 22" did not leave Kolobanov's company without work. She held back the onslaught of the German invaders for another three weeks near Voiskovitsy. After that, she covered the withdrawal of parts to Pushkin.
The war ended for Kolobanov after a German shell exploded next to him while refueling a tank in Pushkin in September 1941. This ended with a very serious injury for the senior lieutenant. His head and spine were injured.
Nevertheless, the doctors saved the famous military man, and in the summer of 1945 he returned to duty. He served in the army for another 13 years. Kolobanov entered the reserve already with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After that, he moved to live in Minsk.
In the early 1980s, USSR Minister of Defense Dmitry Ustinov responded to Kolobanov's request to erect a monument at the site of the battle near Voiskovitsy. A tank was placed on a pedestal. True, it was not a KV-1, but an IS-2.
Zinovy Kolobanov himself died in 1994. The title of Hero of the USSR was never awarded to him.
The feat of a tanker Zinovia Kolobanova still not appreciated. In August 1941 Kolobanov was tasked to stand to death on the outskirts of Krasnogvardeysk. The night of August 20 passed in anxious anticipation. Finally, a German column of 22 tanks appeared. By car Kolobanova heavy fire fell, but in just 30 minutes the crew did the impossible: all 22 enemy tanks were destroyed. At the end of the war with a feat Kolobanova a strange incident occurred - they simply refused to believe in it, although the fact of the battle, and its results have been documented.
It all went like this:
In harsh silence
There is a heavy tank,
Disguised in the woods
Enemies are crowding
iron idols,
But takes the fight
Zinovy Kolobanov.
These verses are just a small excerpt from a poem that was written in September 1941 by the poet Alexander Gitovich in honor of the commander of the 3rd tank company of the 1st tank battalion of the 1st tank division, senior lieutenant Zinovia Kolobanov. A month before, on August 20, 1941, the crew of the tank, commanded by the 30-year-old Kolobanov,destroyed 22 German tanks in one battle. In addition, an artillery battery, a passenger car and up to two companies of the Nazi infantry were destroyed.
Kolobanov began his service in the infantry, but the Red Army needed tankmen. A capable young soldier was sent to Oryol, to the Frunze armored school.
In 1936 Zinovy Kolobanov He graduated from the armored school with honors and with the rank of lieutenant was sent to serve in the Leningrad Military District.
He received his baptism of fire in the Soviet-Finnish war, which he began as the commander of a tank company of the 1st Light Tank Brigade. During this short war, he burned three times in a tank, each time returning to duty, and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
At the beginning Great Patriotic War The Red Army was in dire need of such as Kolobanov- Competent commanders with combat experience. That is why he, who began his service on light tanks, urgently had to master Kolobanov KV-1, so that then not only beat the Nazis on it, but also train their subordinates in this.
The crew of the KV-1 tank, senior lieutenant Kolobanov, included gun commander senior sergeant Andrey Usov, senior driver and foreman Nikolai Nikiforov, junior Red Army soldier Nikolai Rodnikov, and gunner-radio operator senior sergeant Pavel Kiselkov.
Tanks "Kliment Voroshilov" KV-1 against the German Pz.Kpfw.35 (t)
KV - 1: heavy tank. Gun caliber and brand: 76 mm L-11, F-32, F-34, ZIS-5
Pz.Kpfw.35(t): Light tank. Gun caliber and make: 37 mm vz.34UV
Position of a heavy tank KV-1 Kolobanov was located at a height with clay soil, at a distance of about 150 m from the fork in the road, near which two birches grew, which received the name "Landmark No. 1", and about 300 m from the intersection marked "Landmark No. 2". The length of the viewed section of the road is about 1000 m, 22 tanks are easily placed on it with a marching distance between tanks of 40 m.
Shielded tank crew KV-1 receives a combat mission. Leningrad Front, August-September 1941
The choice of a place for firing in two opposite directions (such a position is called a caponier) is explained as follows. The enemy could take the road to Marienburg either along the road from Voiskovits or along the road from Syaskelevo. In the first case, you would have to shoot in the forehead. Therefore, the caponier was dug directly opposite the intersection in such a way that the heading angle was minimal. At the same time, I had to come to terms with the fact that the distance to the fork was reduced to a minimum.
Having received the order Kolobanov set a combat mission: to stop enemy tanks, so each of the company's five vehicles was loaded with two ammunition sets of armor-piercing shells.
Arriving on the same day at a place not far from the Voiskovitsy state farm, Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov distributed forces. Lieutenant's tanks Evdokimenko and junior lieutenant Degtyar took up defensive positions on the Luga Highway, junior lieutenant tanks Sergeeva and junior lieutenant Lastochkina covered the Kingisepp road. Himself Kolobanov got the seaside road located in the center of defense.
The night of August 20 passed in anxious anticipation. Around noon, the Germans tried to break through the Luga highway, but the crews Evdokimenko and Degtyar, knocking out five tanks and three armored personnel carriers, forced the enemy to turn back.
Two hours later, past the position of the tank of the senior lieutenant Kolobanova passed by German motorcyclists scouts. Disguised KV-1 did not find himself.
Finally, the long-awaited "guests" appeared - a column of German light tanks, consisting of 22 vehicles.
Kolobanov commanded:
The first volleys stopped the three lead tanks, then the gun commander Usov shifted his fire to the tail of the column. As a result, the Germans lost their ability to maneuver and could not leave the firing zone.
At the same time, Kolobanov's tank was discovered by the enemy, who unleashed heavy fire on him.
Soon from disguise KV-1 there was nothing left, German shells hit the turret of the Soviet tank, but it was not possible to break through it.
At some point, another hit disabled the tank turret, and then, in order to continue the battle, the driver Nikolay Nikiforov led the tank out of the trench and began to maneuver, turning KV-1 so that the crew could continue to fire on the Nazis.
During the 30 minutes of the battle, the crew of the senior lieutenant Kolobanova destroyed all 22 tanks in the column.
When the fight is over Kolobanov with subordinates found traces on the armor from more than 150 hits of German shells. But reliable armor KV-1 endured everything.
Immediately after this tank battle, which ended in the complete victory of Soviet weapons, an article appeared in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper about the feat of the tankman Kolobanov.
And in the archives of the Ministry of Defense, a unique document has been preserved - the award list of Zinovy Kolobanov.
It confirms the information about the number of destroyed tanks, but, perhaps most importantly, - Zinovia Kolobanova and all members of his crew for the courage and heroism shown in the victorious battle were presented to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. But the high command did not consider that the feat of the tankers deserved such a high appraisal. Zinovia Kolobanova awarded Order of the Red Banner, Andrey Usov - Order of Lenin,Nikolai Nikiforov - Order of the Red Banner, a Nikolai Rodnikov and Pavel Kiselkov - Orders of the Red Star.
On September 13, 1941, Krasnogvardeysk was abandoned by the Red Army. Kolobanov's company was again left at the most important line at that moment - it covered the retreat of the last military column to the city of Pushkin. September 15, 1941 Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov was seriously wounded. At night at the cemetery of the city of Pushkin, where the tanks were refueled and ammunition, next to the KV Zinovia Kolobanova a German shell exploded. The tanker received a shrapnel wound to the head and spine, contusion of the brain and spinal cord.
He was sent for treatment to the Traumatological Institute of Leningrad, in the very city that the tanker so successfully defended. Before the blockade of the northern capital, the tank hero was evacuated and until March 15, 1945 he was treated in evacuation hospitals No. 3870 and 4007 in Sverdlovsk. But in the summer of 1945, having recovered from his wound, Zinovy Kolobanov returned to duty. For another thirteen years he served in the army, having retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel, then for many years he lived and worked at a factory in Minsk.
Why not a hero? To the question: “Why does the tank hero Kolobanov neither during the Great Patriotic War, nor after its end, was the title Hero of the Soviet Union awarded? there are two answers. And both of them lie in the biography of the tanker Zinovy Grigorievich Kolobanov.
The first reason - after the war, the journalist of the "Red Star" A. Pinchuk published information that allegedly for a breakthrough Mannerheim line Kolobanov Z.G.. became a Hero of the Soviet Union (at the beginning of March 1940 he received Gold Star and Order of Lenin) and he was awarded the extraordinary rank of captain. But for the fraternization of his subordinates with the Finnish military after the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty of March 12, 1940 Kolobov Z.G. was deprived of both the title and the award, documentary evidence confirming the receipt Kolobanov Z.G. the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for participation in the Finnish War, no.
The second reason - December 10, 1951 Kolobov was transferred to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSVG), where he served until 1955. On July 10, 1952, Z. G. Kolobanov was awarded the military rank of lieutenant colonel, and on April 30, 1954, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (for 20 years of service in the army).
At this time, a Soviet soldier deserted from a tank battalion to the British occupation zone. Saving the battalion commander from a military tribunal, the commander announced Kolobanov Z.G. on incomplete official compliance and transferred him to the Belarusian military district. In Soviet times, the presence in the biography of even one of the listed reasons was quite enough to refuse to award the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Zinovy Kolobanov passed away in 1994, but veteran organizations, social activists and historians are still trying to achieve assignment to him title of Hero of Russia.
However, during his lifetime, the feat of a tanker Z. G. Kolobanova did not receive recognition.
Journalist I. B. Lisochkin:
In any country in the world, for what Kolobanov did, a person should have been given all the highest orders, promotions, promotions. Why didn't they give him a Hero? I understand that he was obliged to give. The fact that he and his crew members were not awarded Gold Stars is, in my opinion, an incredible injustice. Why wasn't he awarded? When Baranov reported to the front commander and political workers who were there that Kolobanov deserves the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, he was told: “What are you? He just got out of prison. He discredited our army on the Finnish front."
Historian A. Smirnov, 2003:
Long time Kolobanov they refused to believe when he talked about the famous battle and the number of tanks destroyed by his crew. There were cases when from the hall, having heard about the number of destroyed tanks, ironic laughter was heard: “They say, lie to a veteran, but know when to stop!”
Many years after the end of the Great Patriotic War, a military-historical conference was held in the Minsk House of Officers. Speaking about the role of tank units in a defensive battle, the veteran tanker referred to his own example and spoke about the battle on August 19, 1941, when the KV-1 tank crew he commanded knocked out 22 German tanks near Leningrad.
One of the speakers, grinning, said that this was not and could not be! Then the veteran Zinoviy Grigoryevich Kolobanov handed over to the presidium a yellowed sheet of a front-line newspaper. The general who led the conference quickly skimmed through the text, called the skeptic to him and ordered: “Read aloud so that the whole hall can hear!”
“Only in the second hour of the day enemy vehicles appeared on the road.How can one explain such a fantastic success of the crew of Senior Lieutenant Kolobanov?Prepare for battle! - quietly commanded Kolobanov. Having slammed the hatches, the tankers instantly froze in their places. Immediately, the commander of the gun, senior sergeant Andrey Usov, reported that he saw three motorcycles with sidecars in the sight. The order of the commander immediately followed:
Do not open fire! Skip exploration!
The German motorcyclists turned left and rushed towards Marienburg, not noticing the camouflaged KV standing in ambush. Fulfilling the order of Kolobanov, the infantrymen from the outposts did not open fire on reconnaissance either.
Now all the attention of the crew was riveted on the tanks moving along the road ... They walked at short distances, substituting their left sides almost strictly at right angles to the KV gun, thereby representing ideal targets. The hatches were open, some of the Germans were sitting on the armor. The crew even distinguished their faces, since the distance between the KV and the enemy column was small - only about one hundred and fifty meters.
... The lead tank slowly drove into the crossroads and came close to two birches - landmark No. 1, marked by the tankers before the battle. Kolobanov was immediately informed about the number of tanks in the column. There were 22 of them. And when seconds of movement remained before the landmark, the commander realized that he could no longer delay, and ordered Usov to open fire ...
The lead tank caught fire from the first shot. It was destroyed before it even completely passed the intersection. The second shot, right at the crossroads, destroyed the second tank. A bottleneck has formed. The column shrunk like a spring, and now the intervals between the rest of the tanks have become completely minimal. Kolobanov ordered the fire to be transferred to the tail of the column in order to finally lock it on the road.
But this time, Usov failed to hit the trailing tank with the first shot - the projectile did not reach the target. The senior sergeant corrected the sight and fired four more shots, destroying the last two in the tank column. The enemy is trapped.
At first, the Germans could not determine where the shooting was coming from, and opened fire from their guns on the haystacks, which immediately caught fire. But they soon came to their senses and were able to discover the ambush. A tank duel of one KV against eighteen German tanks began. A whole hail of armor-piercing shells fell on Kolobanov's car. One by one, they hammered at the 25 mm armor of the additional screens mounted on the KV turret. There was no trace left of the disguise. The tankers suffocated from powder gases and became deaf from the numerous blows of the blanks on the tank's armor. Loader, he is also a junior driver, Red Army soldier Nikolai Rodenkov worked at a frantic pace, driving shell after shell into the breech of the gun. Usov, not looking up from the sight, continued to fire at the enemy column ...
The Germans, realizing that they had fallen into a trap, tried to maneuver, but the KV shells hit the tanks one by one. But numerous direct hits by enemy shells did not cause much harm to the Soviet car. The clear superiority of the KV over the German tanks in terms of firepower and armor thickness affected ... The infantry units moving behind the column came to the aid of the German tankers. Under the cover of fire from tank guns, the Germans rolled out anti-tank guns onto the road for more effective shooting at the KV.
Kolobanov noticed the preparations of the enemy and ordered Usov to hit the anti-tank guns with a high-explosive fragmentation projectile. The military outposts located behind the KV entered the battle with the German infantry. Usov managed to destroy one anti-tank missile along with the calculation, but the second managed to fire several shots. One of them broke the panoramic periscope, from which Kolobanov was monitoring the battlefield, and the other, hitting the tower, jammed it. Usov managed to destroy this gun as well, but the KV lost the ability to maneuver fire. Large turnings of the gun to the right and left could now be done only by turning the entire hull of the tank. In essence, the KV has become a self-propelled artillery mount. Nikolai Kiselkov climbed onto the armor and installed a spare instead of a damaged periscope. Kolobanov ordered the senior driver, foreman Nikolai Nikiforov, to withdraw the tank from the caponier and take up a reserve firing position. In front of the eyes of the Germans, the tank reversed out of its hiding place, drove off to the side, stood in the bushes and again opened fire on the column. Now the driver had to work hard. Fulfilling Usov's orders, he turned the KV in the right direction. Finally, the last 22nd tank was destroyed. During the battle, which lasted more than an hour, Senior Sergeant A. Usov fired 98 shells at enemy tanks and anti-tank guns. ( "The Hero Who Didn't Become a Hero" Alexander Smirnov).
First of all - the combat experience of the commander. As part of the 20th heavy tank brigade as a company commander, he happened to participate in the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. The brigade, armed mainly with T-28 tanks (three turrets, one with a 76 mm cannon and two machine guns), was the first to reach the Mannerheim Line. It was then that Kolobanov burned for the first time in a tank. In the battle near Lake Vuoksa, we again had to escape from a burning car. The third time it burned during the attack on Vyborg.
But the question arises - why was such an experienced tanker in August 1941 just a senior lieutenant?
On March 13, 1940, when the peace treaty between the USSR and Finland came into force, the soldiers of the two previously opposing armies on a number of sectors of the front began to “informally communicate” with each other. Vodka and alcohol appeared ...
Kolobanov's company also took part in this, which either did not consider it necessary to stop this, or could not do it. He was discharged from the army to the reserve.
With the outbreak of World War II, Kolobanov was drafted into the 1st Panzer Division, which was created on the basis of the 20th Heavy Tank Brigade, in which he fought during the war with the Finns, was given the rank of senior lieutenant and was appointed commander of a company of heavy KV tanks.
The gunner Senior Sergeant Usov was not a novice in combat either. Drafted into the Red Army in 1938, he participated in a campaign in Western Belarus as an assistant platoon commander of one of the artillery regiments, fought on the Karelian Isthmus during the Soviet-Finnish War. After graduating from a special school for commanders of heavy tank guns, he became a tanker ... An experienced artilleryman who retrained as a gunner of a tank gun is not a boy after training, and Usov shot accordingly.
The KV-1 tank, with all the shortcomings of its undercarriage, the thickness of the armor and the power of the gun, really surpassed all the tanks that the Germans had in 1941. In addition, an additional armor screen was also installed on Kolobanov's car. It was very difficult for the Germans to hit him, at a position previously chosen by an experienced commander with a dug caponier. After the first and last cars were hit, they were trapped - there was a wetland around the road. We must pay tribute to their stamina and professionalism - they still managed to achieve many hits in such a difficult situation, the tower was jammed.
And, of course, the absence of German aviation in this battle was very important. How many times did the Germans destroy the most successful ambushes by calling in Ju-87 dive bombers capable of bombing with very high accuracy.
The feat of Kolobanov's crew was recorded in the press immediately, in 1941. Now specialists in the history of tanks recognize the phenomenal effectiveness of this battle.
For this unique battle, the commander of the 3rd tank company, senior lieutenant Kolobanov, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle, and the commander of his tank’s gun, senior sergeant Usov, was awarded the Order of Lenin.
The question why this feat was not awarded with the Golden Stars of Heroes remains open until now ...