Russia – Soviet: A good Liberation of Volkovysk Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class to Senior Lieutenant of the Medical Service Mitrofan Vasilyevich Voitenko, Commander of the Medical Company of the 518th Rifle Regiment, 129th Rifle Division at the time of his award for personally carrying wounded soldiers off of the battlefield and organising the medical facilities and transport. He had earlier seen service in the Defence of Moscow, the following counterattacks, then during Operation Kutozov after the defeat of the Kursk Offensive, before later seeing service in East Prussia and as part of the Reserve force of 1st Belarussian Front during the Battle of Berlin.
Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class, type 2, flatback reverse, numbered 235547
Condition: Two small chips to the central red enamel, otherwise Very fine
Senior Lieutenant of the Medical Service Mitrofan Vasilyevich Voitenko, was born in the village of Baranovo, Valki Raion, Kharkov in the Ukraine during 1922. He is noted in the Red Army since 19th June 1941, becoming a member of the Communist Party in 1942.
His papers show that he had served with the Southern Front between July 1941 and June 1942, but 129th Rifle Division was raised in front of Moscow in the autumn of 1941 as a Militia unit, it formally became a Division in February 1942 and was initially ordered to the Kalinin Front. It spent over a year fighting in the area around Demyansk where he was awarded the Medal for Courage on 10th January 1943. The Division then moved to the Bryansk Front at the end of April 1943 where he would have seen service in the counter-attack that took place after the Kursk Offensive. Voitenko won an Order of the Red Star by Order of the 129th Rifle Division on the 24th August 1943, for his part in Operation Kutozov that took place after Kursk.
Continuing to serve in his Division which was transferred to the 1st Belarussian Front in February 1944, he would have seen service in Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944, where the 129th Division was involved in the liberation of Bialystok in early August, which almost certainly relates to the period of time in which Voitenko won his Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class the citation for which is as follows:
‘During the fighting for the city of Volkovysk medical platoon leader Senior Lieutenant of the Medical Service Voitenko showed audacity and resourcefulness in organising the evacuation of wounded men from the battlefield. While leading the medical orderlies and stretcher-bearers, he personally carried wounded soldiers away and, after providing first aid to them on the spot, quickly evacuated them to the medical battalion.
During these periods of fighting Senior Lieutenant of the Medical Service Voitenko ensured that first aid could be provided without any interruptions and refused to tolerate any delays, wounded men not being given medical attention, or the absence of means of transport’
Signed by Regimental Commander Lieutenant Colonel Samoilenko on 5th September 1944.
Voitenko’s unit then moved to 2nd Belarussian Front as part of the 3rd Shock Army, where it served in the East Prussian Offensive, during which he was awarded a second Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class. After this, the unit served as part of the Front Reserve for 1st Belarussian Front in the Battle of Berlin. Continuing to serve after the war Voitenko was awarded a Medal for Combat Merit for 10 Years Long service in 1950 and an Order of the Red Star in 1955 for 15 Years Long Service. At the time of his final award, he was serving as a Medical Assistant at the Automotive and Artillery Engineering School, and was living in the Housing and Utilities Department of the Automotive School, house no.2. in the city of Chelyabinsk
