Russia – Soviet: A very good Order of the Patriotic War 2ndClass to Major Aleksandr Ivanovich Kutyrin, the Chief of the Personnel Section of the staff of the 12thAssault Sapper Brigade, 3rdUkrainian Front, who involved in the assaults on Budapest and Vienna, at one time organised the defence of a group of houses against a German attack resulting in 11 German Casualties. Kutyrin was also responsible for the organisation of recommendations for awards for his unit, and was therefore responsible for the decoration of all individuals involved in heroic acts during the advance.
Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class, type 2, flatback reverse, numbered 515281
Condition: Good very fine
Aleksandr Ivanovich Kutyrin, was born in the city of Gorky in 1912, joining the Red Army in August 1941, he saw frontline service from September 1943 on the Southern Front with the Staff of the 12th Melitopol Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov Assault Engineer and Sapper Brigade of the Reserve of the High Command. In 1944, Kutyrin became a member of the Communist Party.
As part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front and then later 4th Ukrainian Front Kutyrin would have seen action during the attacks across the southern Ukraine and the Crimea, and then into Romania during 1944, at some time being awarded the Order of the Red Star by Order of the 12th Assault Sapper Brigade, during 1945 he would have seen service in Hungary, Austria and then finally Czechoslovakia, ending the war by taking part in the Prague Offensive.
Kutyrin’s second and final award was this Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class, for which the citation was as follows:
‘During the period in which the brigade stormed the city of Budapest and took the Austrian capital of Vienna, the brigade staff’s Personnel Section, led by Major Kutyrin, performed effectively and efficiently despite the complicated military situation.
When the task of selecting and placing of men and officers called for exceptional resourcefulness and painstaking work, comrade Kutyrin personally identified possible personnel transfers, so that the strength of the assault battalions’ combat units perfectly suited the frontline demands. The personnel records are maintained in an efficient and accurate manner.
All staff documentation conformed to the superior staffs’ high demands and enabled brigade command to constantly possess complete data on the supply of reinforcements, weapons and material. Comrade Kutyrin achieved excellent results in the duties of his subordinate staffs, concerning both personnel records maintenance and the timely and accurate registration of heroic deeds performed in battle by enlisted men, non-commissioned officers, and officers, along with the filling out of award documents.
He periodically accompanied by the brigade’s officers on visits to the assault battalion’s frontline units, where he drew up documents and arranged for orders and medals to be issued to those who had distinguished themselves in battle.
On 12th February 1945, during an enemy breakthrough, comrade Kutyrin protected the brigade staff’s secret documents, maintaining a dignified composure an showing fortitude. He skilfully and efficiently organised the defence of three houses and steadfastly held them, along with a number of soldiers of the Headquarters Platoon, until noon on 12th February 1945. During this time comrade Kutyrin’s men killed as many as 11 German soldiers.
For his excellent efforts, which in large part enabled the entire brigade’s staff’s successful supervision of combat operations during the assaults on the cities of Budapest and Vienna and the bravery and personal audacity he displayed in the process, he deserves the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class.
Signed by the Brigade Chief of Staff Major Aleksandrov on 8th May 1945.
After the war Kutyrin was serving as the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Soviet of the Kuibyshev Region in the city of Gorky, where he was living at 17 Gogol Street, Apartment 4