Russia – Soviet: A very fine Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class, type 2, awarded to Guards Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Stepanovich Beglov, Chief of the Political Department, 3rd ‘Bakhmach-Kiev’ Red Banner, ‘Order of Kutuzov’ Light Artillery Brigade, 1st Guards ‘Glukhov’ Red Banner, Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Breakthrough Artillery Division of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command for his personal daring and calm during the fighting on the Oder and Bober Bridgeheads where during the fighting, his brigade destroyed 17 tanks and self-propelled guns, 11 armoured personnel carriers, 5 trucks with material, up to 70 machine guns, 8 artillery batteries, 5 mortar batteries, and more than 3000 enemy soldiers and officers were knocked out and destroyed, 100 men were also taken prisoner. During the fierce fighting where the Wehrmacht tried to force the Red Army from their bridgeheads on the western bank of the Oder River he was involved in repulsing 17 large scale enemy tank and infantry attacks. A highly decorated soldier, Beglov would also be in receipt of both Czech and Polish medals. During the course of the conflict he saw fighting on a number of fronts, including at Stalingrad, where he was wounded outside the city on 9th September 1942.
Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class, type 2, the reverse numbered 184290
Condition: A chip to the central red enamel, otherwise Good Very Fine
Pyotr Stepanovich Beglov was born in the village of Ryazanka in Kadomsky District, Ryazan Oblast in 1904. Having attained a Middle School education he would join the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in January 1928 and then the Red Army in 1932.
He would see frontline service from 6th December 1941 on the Volkhov Front, this was at the time of the great counteroffensives around Moscow which sought to drive the Germans away from the capital. From 30th June 1942 until 1st March 1943 he would fight with the Stalingrad Front being wounded outside the city on 9th September 1942 during the early stages of fighting for the city. He would then fight on the Southern Front from 1st March to 20th October 1943 receiving an Order of the Red Star by decree of the Supreme Soviet on 2nd August 1943. He would be wounded outside Melitopol on 20th October 1943 and would then receive a second Order of the Red Star by decree of the Commander of Artillery of the 4th Ukrainian Front on 29th November 1943.
Presumably due to the wound received near Melitopol he was away from the frontlines from 20th October 1943 until 1st June 1944 when he joined the 1st Ukrainian Front. He would receive an Order of the Red Banner on 6th September 1944 by decree of the 60th Army, this possibly award for action during the Lvov-Sandomierz operation which took the Red Army up to and across the River Vistula having cleared out Western Ukraine.
Beglov would next receive this Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class by decree of the 13th Army on 7th April 1945. At the time he would be serving as a Guards Lieutenant-Colonel and as the Chief of the Political Department, 3rd ‘Bakhmach-Kiev’ Red Banner Order of Kutuzov Light Artillery Brigade, 1st Guards ‘Glukhov’ Red Banner Order of Suvorov and Bogdan Khmelnitsky Breakthrough Artillery Division of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command. Initially a recommendation for an Order of Lenin, the citation reads:
‘Comrade Beglov, during the period of the most gruelling battles on the Oder and Bober bridgeheads, proved himself a true political worker, displaying exceptional care for the soldiers, personal daring and calm, stated always where the regiments were fighting the most contested struggles.
In the area of Wellerodorf, when the brigade’s regiments, acting as infantry on orders from the above, went on the attack. Comrade Beglov personally went with the regiments to the starting positions for the attack, inspiring and lifting the spirits of the brigade’s soldiers and officers to carry out their assigned combat mission. In these battles, the brigade’s personnel displayed the highest examples of courage and heroism. The mission assigned to the brigade was carried out brilliantly. The artillerymen showed that they could beat the enemy not only with their guns but with submachine guns and grenades.
During these battles, 17 tanks and self-propelled guns, 11 armoured personnel carriers, 5 trucks with material, up to 70 machine guns, 8 artillery batteries, 5 mortar batteries, and more than 3000 enemy soldiers and officers were knocked out and destroyed. More than 100 men were taken prisoner. 17 large scale enemy tank and infantry attacks were repulsed. The brigade’s Party administration is in excellent order. Party Political Enlightenment Work is on the required level. Dozens of the best soldiers and officers have been inducted into the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
Comrade Beglov deserves the high government award of the Order of Lenin’
He would go on to take part in the Capture of Berlin and the Liberation of Prague, and would receive three foreign awards, including an unknown Polish Medal on 26th October 1945 as well as the Czech Medal for Bravery and the Czech Cross 1939. His final award would be of an Order of the Red Star for 15 years service on 20th June 1949.
In September 1947, Beglov was still working as the Chief of the Political Department of the 3rd Guards Artillery Brigade and was living in the city of Kovel in Volynskaya Oblast, Ukraine.
