Fedor Leontievich Trofimov
In February 1944, the Head of the American military mission in the Soviet Union, General John Dean, requested that the General Staff of the Red Army allow him to decorate outstanding Soviet officers and soldiers on behalf of the American Government.
William Harriman's letter to Vyacheslav Molotov of 14 March 1944, specifies that the American government would like to award Soviet officers and soldiers for participation in the following campaigns:
The following awards have been proposed for each campaign:
The Soviet command has given the list for awarding on 16 May 1944. For the offensive, as a result of which the railway communications of Warsaw-Odessa were cut and the offensive in the Umani region, five people were awarded with the Distinguished Service Cross. Among them was Private Fedor Trofimov.
"In street fighting, he captured 17 enemy soldiers and officers."
Fedor Leontievich Trofimov was born on 15 February 1919 in the Novoseregeevka village, Tomsk province. Since 1939 he studied at the Kemerovo Mining and Coal Technical School. Since 1942 - a fitter at the mine "Pioneer" (Kemerovo).
In October 1943 he was drafted into the Red Army, a scout of the 681st Infantry Regiment of the 133rd Infantry Division. He was awarded with many orders and medals.
From the award list for the Order of the Patriotic War (number of the order 83654):
"On 29 January 1944, he received a task to reconnoiter the enemy's defense system and acting with a group of scouts penetrated into the enemy's defense location, where they found an enemy fire point disguised in the haystack. In the battle five German soldiers were killed, and three were captured with a couple of horses and a harness and delivered to the command of the unit."
From the award list on the Order of the Red Star (number of the order 487122):
"On 14 February 1944, a group of scouts in the number of six people was to penetrate into the enemy's defense, scout it and capture prisoner for interrogation. Scouts penetrated into the enemy's defense, scouted its system, captured the ober-efreytor and delivered him to the command post. The ober-efreytor gave a very valuable testimony. "
He was especially distinguished in the offensive battles in March 1944. From 8 to 20 March he brought 25 prisoner for interrogation. On the night of 24 March 1944, the 681st Infantry Regiment began forcing the Dniester River. Trofimov and a group of scouts were the first to cross the river near the village of Lipchany (Vinnytsia region), and entered into a fight with the enemy that had a numerical advantage. In this battle Trofimov, using grenades, killed 20 German soldiers. On 28 March, in the battle for the village of Medvezha (Moldova), as part of a group of reconnaissance men, in 4 hours he repulsed 8 enemy counterattacks, then went into attack with several grenades and broke through from his surroundings, killing 80 German soldiers and officers. For these battles on 13 April he was awarded for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
He participated in the Iasi-Chisinau operation, liberated Romania. In May 1944, during the performance of combat missions near the Siret River (Romania), he was seriously wounded.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 13, 1944, Fedor Leontievich Trofimov was awarded with the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin (number 35028) and the Gold Star Medal (number 4780) for exemplary performance of the command tasks at the front of the fight against the Nazi invaders and for his courage and heroism.
In June 1944, he was awarded with Distinguished Service Cross.
He finished the war in Czechoslovakia, near the city of Brno. During the war he participated in the capture of 187 prisoners for interrogation and was wounded five times.
After war, he studied at the Tomsk Polytechnic Institute (1945-1946). Since 1949 he worked in Seversk.
Fedor Leontievich died on 5 November 1993. He was buried in Seversk, in the Alley of Glory.
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