Where was Margelov, the founder of the Airborne Forces, born? Vasily Margelov - biography, information, personal life. Education, work activity

Vasily Filippovich Margelov was drafted into the Red Army in 1928. Even before the start of World War II, he proved himself during the Polish Campaign and the Soviet-Finnish War. But, perhaps, it was during the Great Patriotic War that he revealed himself as an outstanding commander. What is the cost of one surrender without a fight to the “Soviet Skorzeny” (as the Germans called him) of the SS Panzer Corps divisions “Totenkopf” and “Great Germany” on May 12, 1945, which were ordered not to be allowed into the American zone of responsibility. An enemy driven into a corner is capable of much - there is nothing left to lose. For the SS men, retribution for the atrocities was inevitable, and new victims were inevitable. And the order was clear - capture or destroy.

Margelov took a decisive step. With a group of officers armed with machine guns and grenades, the division commander, accompanied by a battery of 57-mm cannons in his Jeep, arrived at the group’s headquarters. Having ordered the battalion commander to set up guns with direct fire at the enemy headquarters and shoot if he does not return in ten minutes.

Margelov presented an ultimatum to the Germans: Either they surrender and their lives are spared, or complete destruction using all fire weapons of the division: “by 4.00 am - front to the east. Light weapons: machine guns, machine guns, rifles - in stacks, ammunition - nearby. The second line - military equipment, guns and mortars - with their muzzles down. Soldiers and officers - formation to the west." Time to think is only a few minutes: “while his cigarette burns out.” The Germans' nerves were the first to crack. The picture of the SS surrender was stunning. An accurate count of trophies showed the following figures: 2 generals, 806 officers, 31,258 non-commissioned officers, 77 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5,847 trucks, 493 trucks, 46 mortars, 120 guns, 16 locomotives, 397 carriages. For this military feat, at the Victory Parade, Margelov was entrusted with commanding the combined regiment of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

Vasily Filippovich Margelov(Ukrainian Vasil Pilipovich Margelov, Belarusian Vasil Pilipovich Margelav, December 27, 1908 (January 9, 1909 according to the new style), Ekaterinoslav, Russian Empire - March 4, 1990, Moscow) - Soviet military leader, commander of the airborne troops in 1954-1 959 and 1961-1979, Hero of the Soviet Union (1944), laureate of the USSR State Prize.
Author and initiator of the creation of technical means of the Airborne Forces and methods of using units and formations of airborne troops, many of which personify the image of the Airborne Forces of the USSR Armed Forces and the Russian Armed Forces that currently exists. Among the people associated with these troops, he is considered Trooper No. 1.

Biography

The legendary commander of the Airborne Forces, “paratrooper number 1” was born on December 27 (January 9), 1908 in Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk). Father Philip Ivanovich Markelov is a metallurgist. He “received” the surname Margelov because of an error made by an official on his party card - his surname was written with a “g”. Mother Agafya Stepanovna.

In 1913, the Margelov family returned to the homeland of Philip Ivanovich - to the town of Kostyukovichi, Klimovichi district (Mogilev province). V.F. Margelov’s mother, Agafya Stepanovna, was from the neighboring Bobruisk district. According to some information, V.F. Margelov graduated from the parochial school (CPS) in 1921. As a teenager he worked as a loader and carpenter. In the same year, he entered the leather workshop as an apprentice and soon became an assistant master. In 1923, he became a laborer at the local Khleboproduct. There is information that he graduated from a rural youth school and worked as a forwarder delivering mail on the Kostyukovichi - Khotimsk line.

Since 1924 he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M.I. Kalinin as a laborer, then as a horse-driver.
In 1925 he was sent again to Belarus, as a forester at a timber industry enterprise. He worked in Kostyukovichi, in 1927 he became the chairman of the working committee of the timber industry enterprise, and was elected to the local Council.

Service

In September 1928, Margelov was drafted into the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and, on a Komsomol voucher, was sent to study as a red commander at the United Belarusian Military School (UBVSh) named after the Central Executive Committee of the BSSR in Minsk.
From the first months of his studies, cadet Margelov was among the excellent students in fire, tactical and physical training. He was assigned to a sniper group. He enjoyed well-deserved authority among his schoolmates and was distinguished by his zeal in his studies. From the second year he was appointed foreman of a machine gun company. After some time, his company became one of the foremost in both combat and physical training.

At the beginning of 1931, the school command supported the initiative of the country's military schools to organize a ski crossing from their places of deployment to Moscow. One of the best skiers, Sergeant Major Margelov, was tasked with forming a team. And the February transition from Minsk to Moscow took place. True, the skis turned into smooth boards, but the cadets, led by the course commander and sergeant major, survived. They arrived at their destination on time, without any sick or frostbitten people, about which the foreman reported to the People's Commissar of Defense and received from his hands a valuable gift - a “commander's” watch.

In April 1931, he graduated from the Minsk Military School (the former United Belarusian Military School (UBVSH) named after the Central Executive Committee of the BSSR) “first class” (“with honors”). Appointed commander of a machine gun platoon of the regimental school of the 99th Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Infantry Division (Mogilev). From the first days of commanding a platoon, he established himself as a competent, strong-willed and demanding commander. After some time, he became a platoon commander at a regimental school where junior commanders of the Red Army were trained.

In May 1936 - appointed commander of a machine gun company. Within the walls of the school he developed as a military teacher, teaching classes in fire, physical training and tactics.

From October 25, 1938 - Captain Margelov commanded the 2nd battalion of the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky of the Belarusian Special Military District. He headed the reconnaissance of the 8th Infantry Division, being the head of the 2nd division of the division headquarters.

From October 1939 - battalion commander.

During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1940, Major Margelov was the commander of the Separate Reconnaissance Ski Battalion of the 596th Infantry Regiment of the 122nd Division. His battalion made daring raids on enemy rear lines, set up ambushes, inflicting great damage on the enemy. In one of the raids, they even managed to capture a group of officers of the Swedish General Staff, which gave grounds for the Soviet Government to make a diplomatic demarche regarding the actual participation of the supposedly neutral Scandinavian state in hostilities on the side of the Finns. This step had a sobering effect on the Swedish king and his cabinet: Stockholm did not dare to send its soldiers into the snows of Karelia.

The experience of ski raids behind enemy lines was remembered in the late autumn of 1941 in besieged Leningrad. Major V. Margelov was assigned to lead the First Special Ski Regiment of sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, formed from volunteers.

1941st. Wehrmacht soldiers march through the cities and villages of the Soviet Union. The enemy is on the approaches to Moscow and Leningrad. Vasily Filippovich is fighting on the Volkhov front near the “northern capital”. Margelov was appointed to command a battalion of “penalties,” most of whom had a criminal past.

At the beginning they didn’t understand normally, but after cuffs and slaps they began to listen to the commander. And when they felt his care, saw how he sheds blood just like them, they respected him and loved him with all their hearts. It happened that during an artillery shelling several people covered their commander at once. God forbid you get caught by a piece of shrapnel!

Later, he received command of a regiment formed from sailors of the Baltic Fleet. The Marines received the news of the appointment of an “infantry” officer to the post of regimental commander with caution and surprise. Already in battles, joint work and sweat, they learned what kind of person he was. They recognized each other and were forever attached in their souls.

Seeing with what trepidation the sailors treated their traditions and uniform, Vasily Filippovich allowed his subordinates to keep their naval uniform. On the march, drill reviews, and preparing defensive positions, the Red Navy men wore field uniforms, but before the attack...

Throwing off their field uniforms onto the snow and remaining in only vests and naval trousers - bell-bottoms, dashingly twisting their caps, they silently advanced in deployed chains on the German firing positions. Having broken through the wall of fire, tearing his vest against the “thorn” of the barriers, shouting “Polundra!” They threw grenades at machine gun nests, with a bayonet and butt, with a knife and their hands they sowed death in fascist positions. “Black Death”, “sea devils”, whatever the Nazis called them.

And under the command of Margelov, the Marines inflicted twice as much damage on the invaders and had a strong moral and psychological impact on the personnel of the German units. Panic began when the Nazis learned that Margelov’s sailors had been transferred to their area. It is in memory of the unparalleled heroism and courage of his marines, in tribute to their respect for their military symbols, that Vasily Filippovich will later introduce a new element of uniform, the “vest,” for fighters of another fleet – the air force.

With great regret and displeasure, the Baltic people learned that their commander was being assigned to another regiment, a rifle regiment, near Stalingrad. But an order is an order. And after some time, Vasily Filippovich already commands a division, which with great success defeats the Nazi units.

Crossing a water barrier, especially such as the Dnieper River, is not an easy task. And if we add to this the strengthened defense of the enemy with a well-established fire system, then it is almost impossible. But we need to force it: an order. Vasily Filippovich could not thoughtlessly throw his subordinates forward to complete the task. He was not such a man; he did not command a fool. He always gave proper orders and kept people firmly in subjection. Success in military affairs depends on freedom; the mind only suggests the best path to success.

Only after the enemy’s fire system on the opposite bank was identified, transport means were prepared, combat missions were clarified and worked out with division commanders, and training was conducted with personnel, did Margelov give the order to his formation to force the crossing.

He himself, among the division's reconnaissance officers, was the first to cross the river, made clarifications on the newly discovered firing points and, together with the soldiers, held the captured bridgehead, covering the crossing of his units. Subsequently, building on the success, on the shoulders of the fascists, mad with fear, the Margelov division entered and liberated the city of Kherson, for which it received the name “Kherson” as a reward. For a successful operation, Vasily Filippovich is awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Fights in Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria. The Nazis have less and less territory under their control. Strength and resources are melting away. Berlin has fallen. The remnants of the defeated German army retreat to the west. In the offensive sector of Margelov’s formation, three selected SS divisions were withdrawing. The Americans were advancing from the west.

Vasily Filippovich receives an order to prevent the SS men from being captured by the Americans. It was May, Germany and its allies had capitulated, everyone had a joyful feeling of accomplishment, Victory and an imminent return home. He didn’t want to throw his subordinates into hell, but the SS men knew how to fight, so he decided on a risky act.

Having given the necessary orders, he drives a car to the location of the German units and straight to the headquarters. He entered the building, introduced himself, and through an interpreter, in the form of an ultimatum, offered the commanders of the SS divisions to surrender. The German officers looked with undisguised amazement at the desperate Russian general, but realizing that resistance would only lead to unnecessary casualties, they decided to surrender.

After the war in command positions. Since 1948, after graduating from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR named after K. E. Voroshilov, he was the commander of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division.

In 1950-1954 - commander of the 37th Guards Airborne Svir Red Banner Corps (Far East).

From 1954 to 1959 - Commander of the Airborne Forces. In 1959-1961 - appointed with demotion, First Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces. From 1961 to January 1979 - returned to the post of Commander of the Airborne Forces.
On October 28, 1967, he was awarded the military rank of Army General. He led the actions of the Airborne Forces during the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Since January 1979 - in the group of inspectors general of the USSR Ministry of Defense. He went on business trips to the Airborne Forces and was the chairman of the State Examination Commission at the Ryazan Airborne School.

During his service in the Airborne Forces he made more than 60 jumps. The last of them is at the age of 65.

“Anyone who has never in his life left an airplane, from where cities and villages seem like toys, who has never experienced the joy and fear of a free fall, a whistle in his ears, a stream of wind hitting his chest, will never understand the honor and pride of a paratrooper...”

Vasily Filippovich Margelov. Born on December 14 (27), 1908 in Ekaterinoslav (later Dnepropetrovsk, now Dnepr) - died on March 4, 1990 in Moscow. Soviet military leader, commander of the USSR Airborne Forces (1954-1959, 1961-1979), army general (1967), Hero of the Soviet Union (1944), laureate of the USSR State Prize (1975), candidate of military sciences (1968).

Vasily Margelov (nee Markelov) was born on December 14 (27), 1908 in Yekaterinoslav (later Dnepropetrovsk, now Dnepr).

Father - Philip Ivanovich Margelov (real name - Markelov), originally from the Mogilev province, a metallurgist, became a holder of two St. George's Crosses during the First World War.

Mother - Agafya Stepanovna, originally from Bobruisk district of present-day Belarus.

Older brother - Ivan Filippovich Margelov.

Younger brother - Nikolai Filippovich Margelov.

Sister - Maria Filippovna.

The surname Margelov appeared on my father’s party card due to an error. Since my father did not dare change his party card, later all the documents were changed to the name Margelov, incl. and metrics of Vasily Filippovich.

Since 1913, the family lived in their father’s homeland in Kostyukovichi, Klimovichi district, Mogilev province. There, in 1921, Vasily graduated from the parochial school.

He began working from an early age; in particular, as a teenager he worked as a loader, then as a carpenter.

In 1921 he entered the leather workshop as an apprentice and soon became an assistant master. In 1923, he became a laborer at the local Khleboproduct. He graduated from the rural youth school and worked as a forwarder delivering mail on the Kostyukovichi-Khotimsk line.

Since 1924 he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M.I. Kalinin as a laborer, then a horse driver - a driver of horses hauling trolleys.

In 1925 he was sent to Belarus, where he worked as a forester in a timber industry enterprise. In Kostyukovichi in 1927 he became chairman of the working committee of the timber industry enterprise and was elected to the local Council.

In 1928, he was drafted into the Red Army and sent to study at the United Belarusian Military School (UBVSH) named after. Central Election Commission of the BSSR in Minsk, enrolled in a group of snipers. From the 2nd year - foreman of a machine gun company.

Member of the CPSU(b) since 1929.

In April 1931, he graduated with honors from the Order of the Red Banner of Labor from the United Belarusian Military School named after. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR. Appointed commander of a machine gun platoon of the regimental school of the 99th Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Belarusian Rifle Division in Mogilev.

Since 1933 - platoon commander in the Order of the Red Banner of Labor of the General Military School named after. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR (from 11/6/1933 - named after M.I. Kalinin, from 1937 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor Minsk Military Infantry School named after M.I. Kalinin). In February 1934 he was appointed assistant company commander, in May 1936 - commander of a machine gun company.

From October 25, 1938, he commanded the 2nd battalion of the 23rd rifle regiment of the 8th Minsk rifle division named after. Dzerzhinsky Belarusian Special Military District. He headed the reconnaissance of the 8th Infantry Division, being the head of the 2nd division of the division headquarters. In this position he participated in the Polish campaign of the Red Army in 1939.

Vasily Margelov during the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940) commanded the Separate reconnaissance ski battalion of the 596th Infantry Regiment of the 122nd Division. The division was initially stationed in Brest, and in November 1939 it was sent to Karelia.

During one of the operations he captured officers of the Swedish General Staff.

After the end of the Soviet-Finnish War, he was appointed to the position of assistant commander of the 596th regiment for combat units. Since October 1940 - commander of the 15th separate disciplinary battalion of the Leningrad Military District (15th detachment, Novgorod region).

Vasily Margelov during the Great Patriotic War:

At the beginning of July 1941, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st People's Militia Division of the Leningrad Front - the basis of the regiment was made up of fighters of the former 15th separate disciplinary battalion.

On November 21, 1941, he was appointed commander of the 1st Special Ski Regiment of Red Banner Baltic Fleet sailors. The Marines accepted the commander, which was especially emphasized by addressing him by the naval equivalent of the rank of “major” - “Comrade Captain 3rd Rank.” The prowess of the “brothers” sank into Margelov’s heart. Subsequently, having become the commander of the Airborne Forces, as a sign that the paratroopers had adopted the glorious traditions of their older brother - the Marine Corps and continued them with honor, Margelov ensured that the paratroopers received the right to wear vests, but - to emphasize their belonging to the sky - the paratroopers have them blue.

Since July 1942 - commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, chief of staff and deputy commander of the 3rd Guards Rifle Division.

The award sheet depicts the regiment’s battles on the banks of the Myshkova River: “The 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, under the skillful leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Margelov, held back the advance of large enemy forces who, with the support of 70 tanks, tried to break through the regiment’s defenses in the area of the village of Vasilievka and connect with the enemy group surrounded in the Stalingrad area. As a result of the battles, he captured 2 tanks, 12 guns, 2 anti-aircraft guns, 6 machine guns as trophies and destroyed more than 900 enemy soldiers and officers, 36 tanks and armored vehicles. In the battle, Comrade Margelov was seriously shell-shocked, but two days later he returned to duty. A strong-willed and fearless commander. The regiment owes its successes to his firm and skillful leadership. Worthy of being awarded the Order of the Red Banner.”

After division commander K. A. Tsalikov was wounded, command passed to Chief of Staff Vasily Margelov for the duration of his treatment. Under the leadership of Margelov, on July 17, 1943, soldiers of the 3rd Guards Division broke through 2 lines of Nazi defense on the Mius Front, captured the village of Stepanovka and provided a springboard for the assault on Saur-Mogila.

Since 1944 - commander of the 49th Guards Rifle Division of the 28th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. He led the division’s actions during the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kherson, for which in March 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The 49th division received the honorary name “Kherson”. The soldiers of his formation brought freedom to the residents of Nikolaev and Odessa, distinguished themselves during the Iasi-Kishinev operation, entered Romania and Bulgaria on the shoulders of the enemy, successfully fought in Yugoslavia, took Budapest and Vienna.

During the war, commander Margelov was mentioned ten times in the gratitude orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

Orders (gratitude) of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in which V. F. Margelov was noted:

For crossing the Dnieper River in the lower reaches, and capturing the city of Kherson - a large junction of railway and water communications and an important stronghold of the German defense at the mouth of the Dnieper River. March 13, 1944. No. 83;

For taking by storm the large regional and industrial center of Ukraine, the city of Nikolaev - an important railway junction, one of the largest ports on the Black Sea and a strong stronghold of the German defense at the mouth of the Southern Bug. March 28, 1944. No. 96;

For the assault on the territory of Hungary on the city and large railway junction of Szolnok - an important stronghold of the enemy’s defense on the Tisza River. November 4, 1944. No. 209;

For breaking through the heavily fortified enemy defenses southwest of Budapest, the cities of Székesfehérvár and Biczke - large communications hubs and important strongholds of the enemy's defense - were captured by storm. December 24, 1944. No. 218;

For the complete capture of the capital of Hungary, the city of Budapest - a strategically important center of German defense on the routes to Vienna. February 13, 1945. No. 277;

For breaking through the heavily fortified German defenses in the Värteshegyszeg mountains, west of Budapest, the defeat of a group of German troops in the Esztergom region, as well as the capture of the cities of Esztergom, Nesmey, Felshe-Halla, Tata. March 25, 1945. No. 308;

For the capture of the city and the important road junction of Magyarovar and the city and railway station of Kremnica - a strong stronghold of the German defense on the southern slopes of the Velkafatra ridge. April 3, 1945. No. 329;

For the capture of the cities and important railway junctions of Malacky and Bruk, as well as the cities of Previdza and Banovce - strong strongholds of German defense in the Carpathian belt. April 5, 1945. No. 331;

For the encirclement and defeat of a group of German troops trying to retreat from Vienna to the north, and at the same time capturing the cities of Korneyburg and Floridsdorf - powerful strongholds of German defense on the left bank of the Danube. April 15, 1945. No. 337;

For the capture of the cities of Jaroměřice and Znojmo in Czechoslovakia and the cities of Gollabrunn and Stockerau in Austria - important communications hubs and strong strongholds of German defense. May 8, 1945. No. 367.

The war was completed by the guard unit of Major General Vasily Margelov on May 12, 1945 with the brilliant bloodless capture of selected German SS divisions “Totenkopf”, “Great Germany”, “1st SS Police Division”, and even the remnants of the “Vlasovites” - in total more than 32 thousand man, with weapons and military equipment.

At the Victory Parade in Moscow, Guard Major General Margelov commanded a battalion in the combined regiment of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

After the war he held various command positions.

Vasily Margelov in the airborne troops

Since 1948, after graduating from the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree, from the Higher Military Academy named after K. E. Voroshilov, he was commander of the 76th Guards Chernigov Red Banner Airborne Division.

After graduating from the Academy of the General Staff, Vasily Filippovich had a conversation with the then Minister of Defense Nikolai Bulganin. Nikolai Alexandrovich spoke about the airborne troops, their glorious military past, and the fact that a decision had been made to develop this relatively young branch of the military. “We believe in them and consider it necessary to strengthen them with military generals who distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War. What is your opinion, comrades?” said Bulganin. General Margelov, who had many wounds over three wars, including serious ones, and even in the legs, asked a single question in response: “When can I go to the troops?” “Today,” answered Bulganin and firmly shook his hand.

Later Vasily Margelov admitted: “Until the age of 40, I had a vague idea of what a parachute was; I never even dreamed of jumping. It happened on its own, or rather, as it should be in the army, by order. I am a military man, if necessary, I am ready to take the devil in my teeth. That’s how I had to, already being a general, make my first parachute jump. The impression, I tell you, is incomparable. A dome opens above you, you soar in the air like a bird - by God, you want to sing! I started singing. But you won’t get away with enthusiasm alone. I was in a hurry, didn’t pay attention to the ground, and ended up having to walk for two weeks with my leg bandaged. Learned a lesson. Parachute business is not only romance, but also enormous work and impeccable discipline... Anyone who has never left an airplane in his life, from where cities and villages seem like toys, who has never experienced the joy and fear of a free fall, a whistle in his ears, a stream of wind hitting his chest, he will never understand the honor and pride of a paratrooper".

During his service in the Airborne Forces, Vasily Filippovich made more than 60 parachute jumps (the last one at the age of 65).

In 1950-1954 - commander of the 37th Guards Airborne Svir Red Banner Corps (Far East).

From 1954 to 1959 - Commander of the Airborne Forces. In March 1959, after an emergency in the artillery regiment of the 76th Airborne Division (gang rape of civilian women), he was demoted to 1st Deputy Commander of the Airborne Forces.

Vasily Margelov made an invaluable contribution to the formation and development of the Airborne Forces. And it is no coincidence that the Airborne Forces are often deciphered as “Uncle Vasya’s Troops” - in memory of the contribution of Vasily Margelov. He personified an entire era in the development and formation of the Airborne Forces; their authority and popularity are associated with his name not only in our country, but also abroad.

To achieve the goals set for the airborne troops, under the leadership of Margelov, a concept of the role and place of the Airborne Forces in modern strategic operations in various theaters of military operations was developed. Margelov wrote a number of works on this topic, and on December 4, 1968, he successfully defended his candidate’s dissertation (he was awarded the title of Candidate of Military Sciences by decision of the Council of the Military Order of Lenin, Red Banner Order of Suvorov Academy named after M.V. Frunze). In practical terms, Airborne Forces exercises and command meetings were regularly held. Margelov realized that in modern operations only highly mobile landing forces capable of wide maneuver could operate successfully deep behind enemy lines. He categorically rejected the idea of holding the area captured by the landing forces until the approach of troops advancing from the front using the method of rigid defense as disastrous, because in this case the landing force would be quickly destroyed.

“To fulfill our role in modern operations, it is necessary that our formations and units be highly maneuverable, covered with armor, have sufficient fire efficiency, be well controlled, capable of landing at any time of the day and quickly proceed to active combat operations after landing. This, by and large, is the ideal to which we should strive,” said Margelov.

He had to overcome the gap between the theory of the combat use of the Airborne Forces and the existing organizational structure of the troops, as well as the capabilities of military transport aviation. Having assumed the post of Commander, Margelov received troops consisting mainly of infantry with light weapons and military transport aviation (as an integral part of the Airborne Forces), which was equipped with Li-2, Il-14, Tu-2 and Tu-2 aircraft. 4 with significantly limited landing capabilities. In fact, the Airborne Forces were not capable of solving major problems in military operations.

Margelov initiated the creation and serial production at the enterprises of the military-industrial complex of landing equipment, heavy parachute platforms, parachute systems and containers for landing cargo, cargo and human parachutes, parachute devices. “You cannot order equipment, so strive to create in the design bureau, industry, during testing, reliable parachutes, trouble-free operation of heavy airborne equipment,” Margelov said when setting tasks for his subordinates.

Modifications of small arms were created for paratroopers to make them easier to parachute - lighter weight, folding stock.

Especially for the needs of the Airborne Forces in the post-war years, new military equipment was developed and modernized: airborne self-propelled artillery unit ASU-76 (1949), light ASU-57 (1951), amphibious ASU-57P (1954), self-propelled unit ASU-85, tracked combat vehicle Airborne troops BMD-1 (1969).

After the first batches of BMD-1 arrived at the troops, attempts to land the BMP-1, which were unsuccessful, were stopped. A family of weapons was also developed on its basis: Nona self-propelled artillery guns, artillery fire control vehicles, R-142 command and staff vehicles, R-141 long-range radio stations, anti-tank systems, and a reconnaissance vehicle. Anti-aircraft units and subunits were also equipped with armored personnel carriers, which housed crews with portable systems and ammunition.

By the end of the 1950s, new An-8 and An-12 aircraft were adopted and entered service with the troops, which had a payload capacity of up to 10-12 tons and a sufficient flight range, which made it possible to land large groups of personnel with standard military equipment and weapons. Later, through the efforts of Margelov, the Airborne Forces received new military transport aircraft - An-22 and Il-76.

At the end of the 1950s, the PP-127 parachute platforms appeared in service with the troops, designed for parachute landing of artillery, vehicles, radio stations, engineering equipment and others. Parachute-jet landing aids were created, which, due to the jet thrust created by the engine, made it possible to bring the cargo landing speed closer to zero. Such systems made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of landing by eliminating a large number of large-area domes.

On October 28, 1967, he was awarded the military rank of Army General. He led the actions of the Airborne Forces during the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia (Operation Danube).

On January 5, 1973, at the Slobodka airborne parachute track near Tula, for the first time in world practice in the USSR, a parachute-platform landing was carried out in the Centaur complex from an An-12B military transport aircraft of a BMD-1 tracked armored combat vehicle with two crew members on board. The crew commander was Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Gavrilovich Zuev, and the operator-gunner was Senior Lieutenant Margelov Alexander Vasilyevich.

On January 23, 1976, also for the first time in world practice, a BMD-1 was parachuted from the same type of aircraft and made a soft landing on a parachute-rocket system in the Reactavr complex, also with two crew members on board - Major Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov and Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Shcherbakov Ivanovich.

The landing was carried out at great risk to life, without personal means of rescue. It is known that Vasily Filippovich, during the landing of his son, was at the command post with a loaded pistol at the ready, so that in case of failure he would shoot himself. During this time he smoked more than one pack of cigarettes. Twenty years later, for the feat of the seventies, both were awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Under the leadership of Margelov for more than twenty years, the airborne troops became one of the most mobile in the combat structure of the Armed Forces, prestigious for service in them, especially revered by the people. The competition for admission to the Ryazan Airborne School exceeded the numbers of VGIK and GITIS, and applicants who missed out on exams lived for two or three months, before the snow and frost, in the forests near Ryazan in the hope that someone would not withstand the load and it would be possible to take his place .

Lived and worked in Moscow.

By order of the USSR Minister of Defense dated April 20, 1985, V. F. Margelov was enrolled as an Honorary Soldier in the lists of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division.

By Order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 182 of May 6, 2005, the departmental medal of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation “Army General Margelov” was established. In the same year, a memorial plaque was installed on a house in Moscow, in Sivtsev Vrazhek Lane, where Margelov lived for the last 20 years of his life.

In 2014, the office-museum of Vasily Margelov was opened in the main building of the headquarters of the Airborne Forces.

Every year on V.F.’s birthday. Margelov On December 27, in all cities of Russia, servicemen of the Airborne Forces pay tribute to the memory of Vasily Margelov.

The names of Vasily Margelov are: Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School; Department of Airborne Forces of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; Nizhny Novgorod Cadet Corps named after. General of the Army Margelov (NKK); MBOU "Secondary School No. 27", Simferopol; MBOU "Secondary School No. 6" Krasnodar; MAOU "Secondary School No. 12" Kungur.

Streets in many cities in Russia and the CIS countries are named in his honor.

Vasily Margelov's height: 186 centimeters.

Personal life of Vasily Margelov:

Was married three times.

First wife- Maria.

The marriage produced a son, Gennady. The family broke up when the wife left for someone else, leaving her husband and son.

Son Gennady Vasilyevich Margelov (1931-2016) became a military man, major general.

Second wife- Feodosia Efremovna Selitskaya.

The marriage produced sons Anatoly and Vitaly.

Son Anatoly Vasilyevich Margelov (1938-2008) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, co-author of more than 100 inventions in the military-industrial complex.

Vitaly Vasilyevich Margelov (born 1941) - professional intelligence officer, employee of the KGB of the USSR and the SVR of Russia, later - a social and political figure; Colonel General, State Duma deputy.

Third wife- Anna Aleksandrovna Kurakina, doctor. He met Anna Alexandrovna during the Great Patriotic War.

During one of the attacks by the Marine Corps, Margelov was seriously wounded in the leg; he was taken by drag to a barge frozen into the lake not far from the shore. There he received medical assistance from military doctor Anna Kurakina. She managed to save the major's leg. They went through the entire war together from Leningrad to Vienna, and later they wandered a lot from one end of the Soviet Union to the other, until they settled in Moscow. Anna Alexandrovna ended the war with the rank of guard captain of the medical service, awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree - twice and the Red Star, as well as medals “For Military Merit”, “For the Defense of Leningrad”, “For the Defense of Stalingrad”, “For the Capture of Budapest”, “For the capture of Vienna” and many others. During the war years, she performed more than three thousand surgical operations. Twice during the war she operated on her husband, returning him to duty.

Anna Alexandrovna served as the prototype for the monument to a front-line nurse, installed in 2017 in the Pechatniki district (Moscow).

Anna Kurakina - wife of Vasily Margelov

In the third marriage, twins were born - sons Vasily and Alexander.

Vasily and Alexander - sons of Vasily Margelov

Son Vasily Vasilyevich Margelov (1945-2010) - retired major; First Deputy Director of the Directorate of International Relations of the Russian State Broadcasting Company "Voice of Russia" (RGRK "Voice of Russia").

A number of songs are dedicated to Vasily Margelov. Even during the Great Patriotic War, a song was composed in Margelov’s division (written by senior lieutenant Arkady Pitanov), which contains the lines:

The song praises the Falcon
Brave and bold...
Is it close, is it far
Margelov's regiments were marching.

WWII veteran N.F. Orlov wrote a song about Margelov:

Margelov's detachment rushed to the canals.
He conducts hand-to-hand combat...

The Blue Berets group recorded the songs “Forgive us, Vasily Filippovich!” and “And Uncle Vasya’s troops!”

Suvorov of the twentieth century

“Suvorov of the twentieth century” - this is how Western historians began to call Army General Vasily Filippovich Margelov (1908 - 1990) during his lifetime (Soviet historians for a long time were prohibited from calling this name in the press for reasons of secrecy).

Having commanded the Airborne Forces for a total of almost a quarter of a century (1954 - 1959, 1961 - 1979), he turned this branch of troops into a formidable striking force that had no equal.

But Vasily Filippovich was remembered by his contemporaries not only as an outstanding organizer. Love for the Motherland, remarkable leadership abilities, perseverance and selfless courage were organically combined in him with greatness of soul, modesty and crystal honesty, and a kind-hearted, truly fatherly attitude towards the soldier.

Youth years

V. F. Markelov (later Margelov) was born on December 27, 1908 (January 9, 1909 according to the new style) in the city of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk , Ukraine), in a family coming from Belarus. By nationality - Belarusian. Father - Philip Ivanovich Markelov, metallurgist. (Vasily Filippovich’s surname Markelov was subsequently written down as Margelov due to an error in the party card.)

In 1913, the Margelov family returned to the homeland of Philip Ivanovich - to the town Kostyukovichi Klimovichi district (Mogilev province). V.F. Margelov’s mother, Agafya Stepanovna, was from the neighboring Bobruisk district. According to some information, V.F. Margelov graduated from the parochial school (CPS) in 1921. As a teenager he worked as a loader and carpenter. In the same year, he entered the leather workshop as an apprentice and soon became an assistant master. In 1923, he became a laborer at the local Khleboproduct. There is information that he graduated from a rural youth school and worked as a forwarder delivering mail on the Kostyukovichi - Khotimsk .

Since 1924 he worked in Yekaterinoslav at the mine named after. M.I. Kalinin as a laborer, then as a horse-driver.

In 1925 he was sent again to Belarus, as a forester at a timber industry enterprise. Worked in Kostyukovichi, in 1927 he became chairman of the working committee of the timber industry enterprise and was elected to the local Council.

Start of service

Drafted into the Red Army in 1928. Sent to study at the United Belarusian Military School (UBVSH) named after. Central Executive Committee of the BSSR Minsk, enlisted in the sniper group. From the 2nd year - foreman of a machine gun company. In April 1931 he graduated with honors from the Minsk Military School (formerly OBVSh).

After graduating from college, he was appointed commander of a machine gun platoon of the regimental school of the 99th Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Territorial Rifle Division ( Mogilev, Belarus). Since 1933 - platoon commander at the Minsk Military Infantry School. M.I. Kalinina. In February 1934 he was appointed assistant company commander, in May 1936 - commander of a machine gun company. From October 25, 1938, he commanded the 2nd battalion of the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division. Dzerzhinsky Belarusian Special Military District. He headed the reconnaissance of the 8th Infantry Division, being the head of the 2nd division of the division headquarters.

How a paratrooper got a vest

A veteran of this unit, N. Shuvalov, recalled:

As you know, sailors are a peculiar people. In love with the sea element, they do not particularly favor their land-based counterparts. When Margelov was appointed commander of a marine regiment, some used to say that he would not fit in there, that his “brothers” would not accept him.

However, this prophecy did not come true. When the regiment of sailors was assembled to be presented to the new commander, Margelov, after the command “Attention!” seeing many gloomy faces looking at him not particularly friendly, instead of the usual words of greeting “Hello, comrades!” in such cases, without thinking, he shouted loudly:

Hello, claws!

A moment - and not a single gloomy face in the ranks...

Sailors-skiers under the command of Major Margelov performed many glorious feats. The tasks were personally assigned to them by the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Vice Admiral Tributs.

Vladimir Filippovich Tributs

The deep, daring raids of skiers along the German rear in the winter of 1941-42 were an ongoing headache for the command of Hitler's Army Group North. What was the cost of the landing on the coast of Ladoga in the direction of Lipka - Shlisselburg, which alarmed Field Marshal von Leeb so much that he began to withdraw troops from near Pulkovo, who were tightening the noose of the blockade of Leningrad, to eliminate it.

Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb

Two decades later, the commander of the Airborne Forces, Army General Margelov, ensured that paratroopers received the right to wear vests.

The daring of the “brothers” sank into my heart! - he explained. “I want the paratroopers to adopt the glorious traditions of their older brother, the Marine Corps, and continue them with honor. This is why I introduced vests to the paratroopers. Only the stripes on them match the color of the sky - blue...

When, at a military council chaired by the Minister of Defense, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union S.G. Gorshkov, began to blame that paratroopers were stealing vests from sailors, Vasily Filippovich sharply objected to him:

I myself fought in the Marine Corps and I know what paratroopers deserve and what sailors deserve!

And Vasily Filippovich fought with his “Marines” famously. Here's another example. In May 1942, in the Vinyaglovo area near the Sinyavinsky Heights, about 200 enemy infantry broke through the defense sector of a neighboring regiment and went to the rear of the Margelovites. Vasily Filippovich quickly gave the necessary orders and himself lay down behind the Maxim machine gun. Then he personally destroyed 79 fascists, the rest were finished off by reinforcements that arrived in time.

By the way, during the defense of Leningrad, Margelov always had a heavy machine gun at hand, from which in the morning he carried out a kind of shooting exercise: “trimming” the tops of trees with bursts. Then he sat on the horse and practiced chopping with a saber.

In offensive battles, the regiment commander more than once personally raised his battalions to attack, fought in the front ranks of his fighters, leading them to victory in hand-to-hand combat, where he had no equal. Because of such terrible battles, the Nazis nicknamed the Marines “striped death.”

Officer's rations - into the soldiers' cauldron

Caring for a soldier was never a secondary matter for Margelov, especially in war. His former fellow soldier, Guard Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Shevchenko, recalled that, having accepted the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment in 1942, Vasily Filippovich began to increase its combat effectiveness by improving the organization of nutrition for all personnel.

At that time, officers in the regiment ate separately from soldiers and sergeants. Officers were entitled to enhanced rations: in addition to the general military norm, they received animal oil, canned fish, biscuits or cookies, and “Golden Fleece” or “Kazbek” tobacco (non-smokers were given chocolate). But, in addition to this, some battalion commanders and company commanders also had personal cooks in the common catering unit. It is not difficult to understand that some part of the soldier’s pot went to the officer’s table. This is what the regiment commander discovered while touring the units. He always started it with an inspection of the battalion kitchens and sampling the soldiers' food.

On the second day of Lieutenant Colonel Margelov's stay in the unit, all its officers had to eat from a common boiler along with the soldiers. The regiment commander ordered his supplementary ration to be transferred to the general cauldron. Soon other officers began to do the same. “Dad set a good example for us!” - recalled veteran Shevchenko. Surprisingly, Vasily Filippovich’s name was Batya in all the regiments and divisions that he happened to command...

God forbid if Margelov noticed that a fighter had leaky shoes or shabby clothes. This is where the business executive got the full benefit. Once, noticing that the machine-gunner sergeant at the front line was “asking for porridge,” the regiment commander called the head of the clothing supply to him and ordered him to exchange shoes with this soldier. And he warned that if he sees something like this again, he will immediately transfer the officer to the front line.

Vasily Filippovich could not stand cowards, weak-willed people, and lazy people. Theft was simply impossible in his presence, because he punished it mercilessly...

Hot Snow

Anyone who has read Yuri Bondarev’s novel “Hot Snow” or seen the film of the same name based on this novel should know: the prototype of the heroes who stood in the way of Manstein’s tank armada, which was trying to break the encirclement ring around Paulus’s 6th Army in Stalingrad, were Margelov’s men. It was they who found themselves in the direction of the main attack of the fascist tank wedge and managed to prevent a breakthrough, holding out until reinforcements arrived.

In October 1942, Guard Lieutenant Colonel Margelov became the commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Regiment, which was part of the 2nd Guards Army of Lieutenant General R. Ya. Malinovsky, which was formed specifically to complete the defeat of the enemy who had broken through into the Volga steppes. For two months, while the regiment was in reserve, Vasily Filippovich intensely prepared his soldiers for fierce battles for the Volga stronghold.

Near Leningrad, he had to engage in single combat with fascist tanks more than once; he knew their vulnerabilities well. And now he personally taught tank destroyers, showing armor-piercing soldiers how to dig a trench in full profile, where and at what distances to aim with an anti-tank rifle, how to throw grenades and Molotov cocktails.

When the Margelovites held the defense at the turn of the river. Myshkov, having taken the blow of the Goth tank group, which was advancing from the Kotelnikovsky area to join the Paulus breakthrough group, they were not afraid of the newest heavy Tiger tanks, and did not flinch in front of the many times superior enemy. They did the impossible: in five days of fighting (from December 19 to 24, 1942), without sleep or rest, suffering heavy losses, they burned and knocked out almost all enemy tanks in their direction. At the same time, the regiment retained its combat effectiveness!

In these battles, Vasily Filippovich was severely shell-shocked, but did not leave the formation. He celebrated the New Year of 1943 with his soldiers, with a Mauser in his hand, leading the attacking chains to storm the Kotelnikovsky farm. This rapid rush of units of the 2nd Guards Army in the Stalingrad epic put an end to it: the last hopes of Paulus’s army for the relief of the blockade melted away like smoke. Then there was the liberation of Donbass, the crossing of the Dnieper, fierce battles for Kherson and “Iasi-Kishinev Cannes”... The 49th Guards Kherson Red Banner Order of Suvorov rifle division - Margelov's division - earned thirteen thanks from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief!

The final chord is the bloodless capture in May 1945 on the border of Austria and Czechoslovakia of the SS Panzer Corps, which was breaking through to the West to surrender to the Americans. This included the elite of the Reich's armored forces - the SS divisions "Greater Germany" and "Totenkopf".

As the best of the best guards, Major General Hero of the Soviet Union V. F. Margelov (1944), the leadership of the 2nd Ukrainian Front entrusted the honor of commanding a front-line combined regiment at the Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945.

V.F. Margelov - right flank

Upon graduating from the Higher Military Academy in 1948 (since 1958 - the Military Academy of the General Staff), Vasily Filippovich accepted the Pskov Airborne Division.

This appointment was preceded by a meeting between Major General V. Margelov and the USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union Nikolai Bulganin. There was another general in the office, also a Hero of the Soviet Union.

The Minister of Defense began the conversation with kind words about the Airborne Forces, their glorious combat past, and the fact that a decision had been made to develop this relatively young branch of the military.

We believe in them and consider it necessary to strengthen them with military generals who distinguished themselves during the Great Patriotic War. What is your opinion, comrades?

He, the second general, began to complain about the wounds received at the front and said that doctors did not recommend that he make parachute jumps. In general, I refused the minister’s proposal.

General Margelov, who had many wounds over three wars, including serious ones, and even in the legs, asked a single question in response:

When can I go to the troops?

“Today,” answered the Minister of Defense and firmly shook his hand.

Margelov understood that he would have to start from scratch and, as a beginner, comprehend the tricky science of landing. But he also knew something else: there is a special attraction in this type of troops - audacity, a strong masculine bond.

Years later, he told a correspondent of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper:

Until the age of 40, I had a vague idea of what a parachute was; I never even dreamed of jumping. It happened on its own, or rather, as it should be in the army, by order. I am a military man, if necessary, I am ready to take the devil in my teeth. That’s how I had to, already being a general, make my first parachute jump. The impression, I tell you, is incomparable. A dome opens above you, you soar in the air like a bird - by God, you want to sing! I started singing. But you won’t get away with enthusiasm alone. I was in a hurry, didn’t pay attention to the ground, and ended up having to walk for two weeks with my leg bandaged. Learned a lesson. Parachute business is not only romance, but also a lot of work and impeccable discipline...

Then there will be many jumps - with weapons, day and night, from high-speed military transport aircraft. During his service in the Airborne Forces, Vasily Filippovich committed more than 60 of them. The last one was at the age of 65.

Anyone who has never left an airplane in his life, from where cities and villages seem like toys, who has never experienced the joy and fear of a free fall, a whistle in his ears, a stream of wind hitting his chest, he will never understand the honor and pride of a paratrooper - Margelov will say one day.

“Uncle Vasya” before the jump

What did Vasily Filippovich see when he received the 76th Guards Airborne Chernigov Division? The material and technical base of combat training is at zero. The simplicity of the sports equipment was discouraging: two diving boards, a cradle for a balloon suspended between two posts, and the skeleton of an aircraft vaguely reminiscent of an airplane or glider. Injuries and even deaths are common. If Margelov was a novice in the airborne business, then in the organization of combat training, as they say, he ate the dog.

In parallel with combat training, no less important work was going on to equip the personnel and families of officers. And here everyone was surprised by Margelov’s persistence.

A soldier must be well-fed, clean in body and strong in spirit, - Vasily Filippovich liked to repeat Suvorov’s saying. It was necessary - and the general became a real foreman, as he called himself without any irony, and on his desktop, mixed with plans for combat training, exercises, landings, there were calculations, estimates, projects...

Working in his usual mode - day and night - a day away, General Margelov quickly ensured that his formation became one of the best in the airborne forces.

In 1950, he was appointed commander of the airborne corps in the Far East, and in 1954, Lieutenant General V. Margelov headed the Airborne Forces.

And he soon proved to everyone that he was not a simple-minded campaigner, as some perceived Margelov, but a man who saw the prospects of the Airborne Forces and had a great desire to turn them into the elite of the Armed Forces. To do this, it was necessary to break stereotypes and inertia, win the trust of active, energetic people, and involve them in joint productive work. Over time, V. Margelov formed a carefully selected and nurtured circle of like-minded people. And the commander’s outstanding sense of the new, combat authority and ability to work with people allowed him to achieve his goals.

The year is 1970, the operational-strategic exercise “Dvina”. Here is what the newspaper of the Belarusian Military District “For the Glory of the Motherland” wrote about them: “Belarus is a country of forests and lakes, and it is incredibly difficult to find a landing site. The weather was not pleasant, but did not give reason for despondency. Fighter-attack aircraft ironed the ground, and from the commentary booth the following sounded: “Attention!” - and the eyes of those present turned upward.

Large dots separated from the first planes - these were military equipment, artillery, cargo, and then paratroopers fell like peas from the hatches of the An-12. But the crowning achievement of the drop was the appearance of four Anteys in the air. A few minutes - and now there’s a whole regiment on the ground!

AN-22 “Antey”

When the last paratrooper touched the ground, V.F. Margelov stopped the stopwatch on the commander's watch and showed it to the Minister of Defense. It took just over 22 minutes for eight thousand paratroopers and 150 units of military equipment to be delivered to the rear of the “enemy.”

Brilliant results at major exercises “Dnepr”, “Berezina”, “South”... It has become common practice: to launch an airborne assault, say, in Pskov, make a long flight and land near Fergana, Kirovabad or in Mongolia. Commenting on one of the exercises, Margelov told a Krasnaya Zvezda correspondent:

The use of airborne assault has become virtually unlimited. For example, we have this type of combat training: a point is randomly selected on the map of the country where troops are dropped. Warrior-paratroopers jump into completely unfamiliar terrain: into the taiga and deserts, onto lakes, swamps and mountains...

It was after the Dvina exercises, declaring gratitude to the guards for their courage and military skill, that the commander casually asked:

Margelov could understand: there was a need to reduce the time required to prepare airborne units for battle after landing. Landing of military equipment from one aircraft and crews from another led to the fact that the dispersion was sometimes up to five kilometers. While the crews were looking for equipment, it took a lot of time.

A little later, Margelov returned to this thought again:

I understand that this is difficult, but no one but us will do this.

Moreover, when the fundamental decision to conduct the first such experiment was made rather difficultly, Vasily Filippovich proposed his candidacy to participate in the first test of this kind, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff were categorically against it.

However, even without this, legends circulated about the military leader’s courage. It manifested itself not only in a combat situation. At one of the festive receptions, where they could not help but invite the disgraced Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Vasily Filippovich, standing at attention, congratulated him on the holiday. Zhukov, as Minister of Defense, repeatedly observed the actions of paratroopers during exercises and expressed satisfaction with their high training, admired their courage and bravery. General Margelov was proud of the respect such military leaders had for him, and therefore did not change his attitude towards honored people to please temporary workers and high-ranking sycophants.

The troops of “Uncle Sam” and the troops of “Uncle Vasya”

At the end of the spring of 1991, the USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union, D.T. Yazov, made an official visit to the United States.

Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov

Returning to Moscow, the minister met with officers from the Information Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.

Subsequently, reflecting on this meeting that lasted more than two hours in the hall where meetings of the Board of the Ministry of Defense usually took place, I came to the conclusion that communication with us, ordinary employees of the department, was primarily aimed at conveying to the general public through officers who, on duty, maintain contacts with the press, his very skeptical opinion about the merits of military equipment of the richest power in the world and about the level of preparedness of the American “pros”, who were then enthusiastically admired by the Ogonyok magazine and publications related to it in spirit.

While visiting the military base at Fort Bragg, the Soviet Minister of Defense was invited to a demonstration exercise of one of the parachute battalions of the famous “Devil Regiment” - the US 82nd Airborne Division.

Fort Bragge

This division became famous for participating in almost all post-war conflicts in which the United States intervened (Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, etc.). She was the first to land in the Middle East before the start of the anti-Iraq Desert Storm in 1990. In all operations, the “devils” were at the forefront of the attack as the most dexterous, courageous, and invincible.

And it was these “understudies of Satan” who were tasked with surprising the Soviet minister with their class of training and fearlessness. They were parachuted in. Part of the battalion landed in combat vehicles. But the effect of the “show off” turned out to be the opposite of what was expected, because Dmitry Timofeevich could not talk about what he saw in North Carolina without a bitter smile.

What grade would I give you for such a landing? - the Minister of Defense asked, with a sly squint, the then deputy commander of the Airborne Forces for combat training, Lieutenant General E. N. Podkolzin, who was part of the Soviet military delegation.

You would have torn my head off and I..., Comrade Minister! - Evgeniy Nikolaevich minted.

It turns out that almost all of the American paratroopers thrown out of planes in combat vehicles received serious injuries and mutilations. There were also deaths. Having landed, more than half of the cars never moved...

It’s hard to believe, but even in the early 90s, the vaunted American professionals did not have the same equipment as ours and did not know the secrets of safely landing “winged infantry” units using equipment that was mastered in “Uncle Vasya’s troops” (as fighters of the Airborne Forces called themselves, hinting at a special warmth of feelings for the commander) back in the 70s.

And it all began with Margelov’s courageous decision to place the responsibility of a pioneer on his shoulders. Then, in 1972, testing of the newly created Centaur system was in full swing in the USSR - for landing people inside an airborne combat vehicle on parachute platforms. The experiments were risky, so they started on animals. Not everything went smoothly: either the parachute canopy was torn, or the active braking engines did not work. One of the jumps even ended in the death of the dog Buran.

Something similar happened among Western testers of identical systems. True, they experimented on people there. A person sentenced to death was placed in a combat vehicle that was dropped from an airplane. It crashed, and for a long time the West considered it inappropriate to continue development work in this direction.

Despite the risk, Margelov believed in the possibility of creating safe systems for landing people on equipment and insisted on complicating the tests. Since dog jumping went well in the future, he sought a transition to a new phase of R&D - with the participation of warriors. At the beginning of January 1973, he had a difficult conversation with the USSR Minister of Defense, Marshal of the Soviet Union A. A. Grechko.

Anton Andreevich Grechko

Do you understand, Vasily Filippovich, what you are doing, what you are risking? - Andrei Antonovich convinced Margelov to abandon his plan.

I understand perfectly well, that’s why I stand my ground,” answered the general. “And those who are ready for the experiment also understand everything perfectly well.”
On January 5, 1973, the historic jump took place. For the first time in the world, a crew was parachuted inside the BMD-1 using parachute-platform means. It included Major L. Zuev and Lieutenant A. Margelov - in the car next to the experienced officer was the youngest son of the commander, Alexander, at that time a young engineer of the Scientific and Technical Committee of the Airborne Forces.

Only a very courageous person would dare to send his son to such a complex, unpredictable experiment. This was an act akin to the feat of Lieutenant General Nikolai Raevsky, when Kutuzov’s favorite in 1812, near Saltanovka, fearlessly led his young sons in front of the front of the battalions that flinched from the French grapeshot and with this stunning example inspired steadfastness in the discouraged grenadiers, held his position, deciding the outcome of the battle. Sacrificial heroism of this kind is a unique phenomenon in world military history.

N. Raevsky with his sons

A combat vehicle was dropped from the AN-12, five domes were opened, recalled the details of the unprecedented jump, Alexander Vasilyevich Margelov, now an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations. - Of course, it’s dangerous, but one thing was reassuring: the system was successfully used for more than one year. True, without people. We landed normally then. In the summer of 1975, at the base of the parachute regiment, which was then commanded by Major V. Achalov, Lieutenant Colonel L. Shcherbakov and I inside the BMD and four officers outside, in the joint landing cabin, jumped again...

Vasily Filippovich was awarded the USSR State Prize for this bold innovation.

The “Centaur” (not least thanks to the commander of the Airborne Forces, who persistently proved to the highest party and government authorities of the country the promise of a new method of delivering fighters and equipment to the target, its speedy development to enhance the mobility of the “winged infantry”) was soon replaced by a new, more perfect system "Reactavr". The rate of descent on it was four times higher than on the Centaur. Psychophysically, it is correspondingly more difficult for the paratrooper (deafening roar and roar, very close flames escaping from the jet nozzles). But the vulnerability from enemy fire and the time from the moment of ejection from the aircraft to bringing the BMD into combat position have sharply decreased.

From 1976 to 1991, the Reactavr system was used about 100 times, and always successfully. Year after year, from exercise to exercise, the “blue berets” gained experience in its use and polished the skills of their own actions at various stages of landing.

For more information about the creation of the “Centaur” and “Reactaur” systems, see the website: Spurs on OVS - Military equipment - Taming the "Centaur".

Since 1979, Vasily Filippovich was no longer with them, having handed over the post of commander of the Airborne Forces and transferred to the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense. 11 years later, on March 4, 1990, he passed away. But the memory of Paratrooper number one, his testaments to the blue berets are imperishable.

Name of Army General V.F. Margelov is worn by the Ryazan Higher Command School of the Airborne Forces, the streets, squares and gardens of St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Omsk, Pskov, Tula... Monuments have been erected to him in St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Pskov, Omsk, Tula, the Ukrainian cities of Dnepropetrovsk and Lvov, and the Belarusian Kostyukovichi.

Airborne soldiers and veterans of the Airborne Forces come every year to the monument of their commander at the Novodevichy cemetery to honor his memory.

But the main thing is that Margelov’s spirit is alive in the troops. The feat of the 6th parachute company of the 104th Guards Regiment of the 76th Pskov Division, in which Vasily Filippovich began his career in the Airborne Forces, is eloquent confirmation of this. He is also in other accomplishments of the paratroopers of recent decades, in which the “winged infantry” covered itself with unfading glory.

Family

Father - Philip Ivanovich Markelov - a metallurgist, became a holder of two St. George's Crosses in the First World War.
Mother - Agafya Stepanovna, was from Bobruisk county
Two brothers - Ivan (eldest), Nikolai (younger) and sister Maria.

V. F. Margelov was married three times:

The first wife, Maria, left her husband and son (Gennady).
The second wife is Feodosia Efremovna Selitskaya (mother of Anatoly and Vitaly).
The last wife is Anna Aleksandrovna Kurakina, a doctor. I met Anna Alexandrovna during the Great Patriotic War.

Five sons:

Gennady Vasilyevich (born 1931) - Major General.
Anatoly Vasilyevich (1938-2008) - Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, author of more than 100 patents and inventions in the military-industrial complex.
Vitaly Vasilievich(born 1941) - professional intelligence officer, employee of the KGB of the USSR and the SVR of Russia, later - social and political figure; Colonel General, Deputy of the State Duma.
Vasily Vasilyevich (1943-2010) - reserve major; First Deputy Director of the Directorate of International Relations of the Russian State Broadcasting Company "Voice of Russia" (RGRK "Voice of Russia")
Alexander Vasilievich(born 1943) - Airborne Forces officer. On August 29, 1996, “for the courage and heroism shown during testing, fine-tuning and development of special equipment” (landing inside the BMD-1 using a parachute-rocket system in the Reactavr complex, carried out for the first time in world practice in 1976) he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. After retiring, he worked in the structures of Rosoboronexport.

Vasily Vasilyevich and Alexander Vasilyevich are twin brothers. In 2003, they co-authored a book about their father, “Paratrooper No. 1, Army General Margelov.”

Awards and titles

USSR awards

Medal "Gold Star" No. 3414 Hero of the Soviet Union (03/19/1944)
four Orders of Lenin (03/21/1944, 11/3/1953, 12/26/1968, 12/26/1978)
Order of the October Revolution (4.05.1972)
two Orders of the Red Banner (02/3/1943, 06/20/1949)
Order of Suvorov, 2nd degree (1944)
two Orders of the Patriotic War, 1st degree (01/25/1943, 03/11/1985)
Order of the Red Star (3.11.1944)
two Orders “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces of the USSR” 2nd (12/14/1988) and 3rd degree (04/30/1975)
medals

Awarded twelve Commendations from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (03/13/1944, 03/28/1944, 04/10/1944, 11/4/1944, 12/24/1944, 02/13/1945, 03/25/1945, 04/3/1945, 04/5/1945, 04/13/1945, 04/13/1945, 05/08/1945).

Awards from foreign countries

Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, 2nd degree (20.09.1969)
four Bulgarian anniversary medals (1974, 1978, 1982, 1985)

Hungarian People's Republic:

star and badge of the Order of the Hungarian People's Republic, 3rd degree (04/04/1950)
medal "Brotherhood in Arms" gold degree (09/29/1985)

Order "Star of Friendship of Peoples" in silver (02/23/1978)
Arthur Becker medal in gold (05/23/1980)

medal "Sino-Soviet Friendship" (02/23/1955)

two anniversary medals (1978, 1986)

Mongolian People's Republic:

Order of the Red Banner of Battle (06/07/1971)
seven anniversary medals (1968, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982)

medal “For the Odra, Nisa and the Baltic” (05/07/1985)
medal "Brotherhood in Arms" (10/12/1988)
Officer of the Order of the Renaissance of Poland (11/6/1973)

SR Romania:

Order of Tudor Vladimirescu 2nd (10/1/1974) and 3rd (10/24/1969) degrees
two anniversary medals (1969, 1974)

Order of the Legion of Honor, commander degree (05/10/1945)
medal "Bronze Star" (05/10/1945)

Czechoslovakia:

Order of Klement Gottwald (1969)
Medal "For Strengthening Friendship in Arms" 1st class (1970)
two anniversary medals

Honorary titles

Hero of the Soviet Union (1944)
Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1975)
Honorary citizen of the city Kherson
Honorary Soldier of the Airborne Forces Military Unit

Proceedings

Margelov V.F. Airborne troops. - M.: Knowledge, 1977. - 64 p.
Margelov V.F. Soviet Airborne Forces. — 2nd ed. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1986. - 64 p.

Memory

By order of the USSR Minister of Defense dated April 20, 1985, V. F. Margelov was enrolled as an Honorary Soldier in the lists of the 76th Pskov Airborne Division.