Russia – Soviet: An interesting ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ recipients Kursk Medal for Bravery, Ptich River Crossing Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class and later Order of the October Revolution group of 3 awarded to Lieutenant Ivan Alexandrovich Parygin who served with a Sapper Battalion attached to the 81st Rifle Division and who was decorated for building a new command centre under fire during his units retreat near Ponryi during the Battle of Kursk, he would later go on to be decorated with the title ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ for his actions in ferrying numerous soldiers across the fire-swept Dnieper River and finally for his part in building a bridge under fire to facilitate his units crossing of the Ptich River in February 1944.
Order of the October Revolution, reverse numbered 40090
Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class, a displaced ring reverse piece by the Leningrad Mint, reverse numbered 118549
Medal for Bravery, reverse numbered 370020
Condition: enamel damage to the OPW2 central red enamel, also the red enamel lettering now absent form the Medal for Bravery as commonly seen on awards worn by the recipient, Fine
Ivan Parygin was born in the distant Transbaikalia in the far east in 1913, the area was known in Russia for over 100 years as a place of exile to hard labour. Here, deposits of non-ferrous metals were discovered and numerous mines and factories were organised where the exiles worked. Parygins’s grandfather was a member of the ‘Narodnaya Volya’ organisation and among others was exiled by the Tsarist regime to the Nerchinsk Region. He and his son worked in a tin mine near the village of Aleksandrovsky Zavod when Soviet power was finally established in 1922, the mines were taken over by the Bolsheviks. The 17 year old grandson of the people’s will, also came to work at the mine. They mined ore the old fashioned way with a a pick and then dragged it to the surface in wheelbarrows. For 5 years Parygin worked as a miner, until in 1935 he was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army.
Parygin served in the 37th Infantry Division in the North Caucasus. In view of his pre-war profession he became a sapper, and then a squad leader. He was mainly engaged in the construction of towns and digging trenches and fortifications in field camps. In addition, he underwent shooting and mine training. At the end of 1937, Parygin was demobilised and returned to his homeland. At this time, labour in the mines was already somewhat mechanised, trolleys appeared, and instead of picks, pneumatic jackhammers were used. Parygin, who received skills working with mine mechanics in the army, became a mechanic for the repair of the entire mechanical part of the mine. But in June 1941, the Great Patriotic war began…
The very next month Parygin was mobilised for the second time from the reserve, but did not immediately see frontline service. Rather he got sent to the Trans-Baikal Front, where he was sent to courses for Junior Lieutenants in Chita. After the defeat on the Khalkin-Gol river the Japanese militarists did not really have a desire to attack the USSR, and after the German defeat near Moscow it disappeared altogether. Therefore at this time, echelons with military units were sent from the Far East and Transbaikalia to the German front. In early January 1942, Parygin was sent to the Bryansk Front, where shortly after arrival, he was appointed commander of a sapper platoon as part of the 1285th Rifle Regiment of the 60th Rifle Division of the 3rd Army. it was former 1st Division of the People’s Militia of the Leninsky District in Moscow.
At this time, the echoes of the winter counteroffensive near Moscow still continued, and Parygin’s division set the task on the right flank of the 3rd Army to attack the city of Bolkhov, Oryol region. Parygin fought his first battle on February 9, 1942 for the village of Shashkino. But having hardly burst into the first enemy trench, the soldiers of the 1285th Rifle Regiment found themselves in a sack of fire – in front there was an artificial ice wall 2 metres high with carved windows for machine guns. Enemy planes raged overhead. He head to retreat to the start line with heavy losses. In the following days in February 1942, Parygin’s platoon as part of the regiment , stormed the village of Krivtsovo. As part of the battalion of Captain I.P. Bastrakov, sappers managed to force the Oka River and capture a bridgehead 1km wide and 500m deep, completely under fire by the enemy, Parygin had to spend a while month. His sappers dug shelters, communication trenches in the frozen ground and all of this under constant enemy fire. In addition Parygin’s platoon participated in repelling enemy attacks on the bridgehead. By the second half of March 1942 less than half of the personnel remained in the 60th Infantry Division and was replaced. But already at the beginning of April 1942, the 112th and 26th Infantry Divisions of the enemy went on the offensive with the aim of expanding the Orlov wedge and Parygin’s Division was thrown into battle. On April 5, 1942 in the battle of for the villages of Bedritsy and Kochetovskie Vyselki, east of Zheleznitsa station, junior Lieutenant Parygin was seriously wounded and evacuated to the front hospital.
After being cured in hospital in July 1942, Junior Lieutenant Parygin was sent to the 48th Army of the Bryansk Front , where he was appointed commander of a sapper platoon in the 196th separate sapper battalion. Parygin’s unit at that time held the defensive position in the Novosilisky distict of the Oryol region and remaining in one place all the time, was subordinate to different ‘incoming’ divisions until October 1942 it finally became part of the 81st Rifle Division that was placed in this area. In south Hitler’s troops broke through to Voronezh, Stalingrad and the Caucasus, and to the northwest there was practically incessant battles in the area of the city of Sukhinichi and on the Zhizdra River. Parygin’s division held a solid defensive line for six months. But what is defence for a sapper. This is painstakingly endless work to improve all units and strongholds of defence, to lay minefields and build other obstacles, to make passages in enemy minefields for scouts, to build flakes positions for the zeal of enemy aircraft, and so on, Parygin’s battalion was divisional and worked for all regiments with in the division, it’s rear and auxiliary services also.
The advancement of the troops of the 48th Army during the winter offensive of 1943 was insignificant and therefore the 81st Infantry Division was transferred to the 13th Army, which advanced more successfully in the Little Arkhangelsk direction. On February 9, 1943 exactly one year after his first battle, Junior Lieutenant Parygin participated in the liberation of Ponryi station. As a result of these battles, the southern face of the Oryol ledge was formed here, and the entire configuration of the front began to be called the ‘Kursk Bulge’. In the spring of 1943, when Parygin’s sappers were engaged in an endless routine already at the new line of defence, the Central Front administration was formed on the Kursk Bulge, and the 13th Army became part of it. The direction to Ponryi became strategic, as it soon became clear… for 3 months (April, May and June) our troops, defending the Kursk ledge, several thousand kilometres of trenches, several tens of thousands of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines were laid, hundreds of kilometres of anti-personnel and anti-tank obstacles were built. In all of this grandiose construction, there was a small but very important contribution from Parygin’s platoon.
On the morning of 5th July 1943, the Oryol group of Germans, under the over of strong artillery fire and aviation support, began their offensive. The main blow was delivered in the direction of the village of Olkhovatka. At the turn of Semyonovka, Buzuluk, 1st Ponryi where the Nazis threw 500 tanks at once, our 2 divisions defended, the 15th and 81st. Never before or even afterwards, has Junior Lieutenant Parygin seen so many tanks and infantry advancing directly on his position. And the Soviet soldiers took a mortal battle, delaying the Hitler offensive for several hours with their lives and deaths. Of course, an avalanche of German tanks, suffering losses, managed in some places to bypass the positions of the 81st Infantry Division, and in some places they were simply crushed, but the Nazis paid dearly for this. From the second half of July 5, Parygin fought surrounded. The next day, the Soviet command organised a counterattack with tank formations, the enemy was driven back, and the remnants of Parygin’s division were released. But in the evening of the same day, and especially on the morning of July 7, 1943, 170 Nazi tanks and infantry of the 86th and 292nd Infantry Division again fell on the positions of the 81st Infantry Division. By this time only 2 sappers remained in the platoon of Junior Lieutenant Parygin. All other regiments of the division, which took the first powerful blow, also suffered heavy losses. Therefore, the surviving fighters had to retreat to the second line of defence, where the enemy, who had wedged only 10 kilometres towards Kursk, were stooped. On the evening of July 7th 1943, the 81st Infantry Division was withdrawn to the second echelon.
Parygin received his Medal for Bravery for actions during the early stages of the Battle of Kursk, the citation as follows:
‘In the difficult defensive battle during 5-8th July 1943, Junior Lieutenant Parygin constructed 3 command centres for the divisional commander. On 7th July 1943 after having walked a 25km march, he received the order to construct a command centre near the village of Bobrovka, Ponyri District, Kursk region. There was a lack of transport vehicles such that the lumber had to be brought in by hand. Inspired by Comrade Parygin, the soldiers carried the lumber on their shoulders over a 300-400m stretch, despite the physical exhaustion and giving out all their energy to the cause. By personal example and exercising his authority, comrade Parygin ensured the construction was completed 2 hours ahead of the schedule. For excellent execution of the assigned mission, for good and efficient work of the platoon, he deserves the state award of a Medal for Bravery’.
From July 19, 1943, junior Lieutenant Parygin participated in the Orel operations. For the first few days, the 81st Rifle Division restored the position that was before the start of the Nazi offensive, and in August 1943 it advanced in the direction of the village of Kromy and in the direction of Bryansk. In September 1943, the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts began to swiftly roll over the Dnieper along the Left-Bank Ukraine. At this time, the 81st Infantry Division became part of the 61st Army and together with it made a march of many kilometres to the front-line, having received an offensive zone during the Chernigov-Pripyat operation. On September 20, 1943, divisions of the division started fighting for the city of Chernigov, and on September 29, the reached the banks of the Dnieper River north of the village of Lyubech. By this time, the first airborne group from the neighbouring one was already fighting for the Dnieper near the village of Glushets.
Preparatory work was immediately began on the shore, in which the role of the sappers of the 196th battalion was simply invaluable. A platoon of Junior Lieutenant Parygin immediately set about collecting boats from the surrounding villages and repairing them, 40 boats were collected, most of which were found in the village of Serpents. While this work was being carried out, the first landing group of the division made an attempt to cross over by improvised means. But the attempt to land near the village of Derazhichi north of the Glushetskaya Zatoka was not crowned with success – the whole group died heroically in the battle. Then it was decided to ferry the division to the bridgehead conquered by the 12th Guards Rifle Division. Her battalion mercilessly counterattacked the Nazis, the enemy managed to break through to the river in one place and threaten the crossing.
On the night of 1st October 1943, the platoon commander Parygin personally set off on the first voyage across the completely gunfire swept river. Together with him, the boats were driven by Corporal Marzurov, sergeant Tereschenko and other sappers of his platoon. The first group of fighters of the 467th Infantry Regiment was landed on the shore and began to straighten out the situation on the bridgehead. Meanwhile the sappers returned to their shore. Then came the second, third and other flights. For 4 days, Parygin’s platoon transported units of its division, accumulated on the coast near the village of Serpents and Mysy, and sent as many as 2 battalions to the bridgehead. The platoon commander personally made 8 deadly flights and transported 55 soldiers. On October 6, 1943, these battalions made a radical change in the battles on the bridgehead in the battles on the bridgehead, knocking out the Nazis from the village of Glushets, and then, together with the 29th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 12th Guards Rifle Division, throwing them back to Staraya and Novaya Lutava.
For the courage and heroism shown during the crossing of the Dnieper, three sappers of the platoon, including Junior Lieutenant Parygin were awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the troops of the 6th Army conquered the bridgehead near the village of Love in mid-October 1943 and connected it with the Glushetsky Bridgehead, the command of the Central (From October 20th – Belarussian) Front planned to strike in the northern direction towards Gomel, Rechitsa and Mozyr. The 81st Rifle Division was ordered to advance in the Mozyr direction , in this the riflemen were assisted by the tankmen of the 1st Guards Tank Corps. During the Kalinkovichi-Mozyr operation, the platoon of Junior Lieutenant Parygin ensured the movement of rifle regiments in the swampy terrain of Polesie, neutralised minefields on the approaches to important settlements. So in November the regional centres of Bragin and Kholniki were taken. On January 13, 1944 units of the 81st Infantry Division bypassing Kalinkovichi from the north, assisted the 9th Guards Rifle Corps in the capture of this city, for which the Division received the honorary name ‘Kalinkovichskaya’. In February, Parygin’s platoon as part of the division went to the lower reaches of the Ptich River on the outskirts of the railway station of the same name, after which the 81st Rifle Division was withdrawn to the reserve. It was for his involvement in the subsequent crossing of the Ptich river that Parygin received the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class as a result of the following recommendation:
‘Lieutenant Parygin distinguished himself during 1st-8th February 1944 by constructing a wooden bridge capable of 30 ton load over the river Ptich, 1km south of the village of Gorodische, Konkavicy district, Polesie region. Working continuously under the enemy rifle and machine gun fire, Lieutenant Parygin led his platoon and drove 34 piles by hands into the ground and laid a bridge over 7 spans. He personally explored the river bed and planned the bridge deployment. Only thanks to his personal leadership qualities, he ensured the construction in time despite the mortal danger. For excellent leadership during the assigned mission, for personal courage and bravery, comrade Parygin deserves the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class.;
The withdrawal to the reserve however was marked by an even greater strain of forces for the sappers. The order came from the command, the 81st Infantry Division to joint he 3rd Guards Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front and redeploy to Volyn. And this is several hundred kilometres along the Polessye bogs in March 1944! Before the start of the advancement, Parygin was awarded the rank of Lieutenant, and he was appointed commander of a sapper company in his battalion. Throughout the march, the sappers of Parygin restored the crossings destroyed by the enemy across the numerous tributaries of the Pripyat, laid wooden slopes through swampy areas, repeatedly pulled out of the mud bogged cars, and did many other things than cannot even be listed. In April, 1944, the division arrived in the indicated area and took over the defensive zone. And again the sappers began to arrange the life of the division in a new place. In addition Parygin’s company took part in the first battles west of the city of Lutsk.
In July 1944, the Lvov-Sandomierz operation began. In it, the troops of the 3rd Guards Army were advancing on the very right flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front, ensuring the advancement of the rifle units, Parygin’s sappers built bridges over the Western Bug River near the village of Ustilug, across Vepsh near the village of Schebrzeshin, and together with them reached the bank of the Vistula River near the village of Anopol. As on the Dnieper, Parygin’s sappers got boats and put together rafts, on which on the night of August 1, 1944, they began to transport assault groups across the river. But it was not possible to keep the bridgehead at Annopol. The enemy piled on with large forces of infantry and tanks, and the paratroopers had not yet had time to properly gain a foothold on the shore. After 2 days of unequal battles, they had to retreat beyond the Vistula. At the same time, to the south, the troops of the 13th Army conquered a bridgehead in the area of the city of Sandomierz, to which as many as 2 tank armies crossed. Partly in the conquest of the Sandomierz bridgehead, the left flank units of the 3rd Guards Tank Army also participated, so the 81st Rifle Division was transferred to the Sandomierz bridgehead. But from that time on, Lieutenant Parygin was no longer carried in a meeting with enemy bullets and shrapnel. In a defensive battle on August 1944, he was wounded and evacuated to a front-line hospital across the Vistula.
Parygin returned to his native division at the end of October 1944, and again an order was received from the command to transfer the Division to the 38th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front. By the New Year of 1945, Parygin’s company as part of the division, relocated to the Carpathians. They Yaslo-Gorlitzskaya operation was planned, in which the commander K.S. Moskalenko gathered all the main forces on the right flank, and stretched the 81st Rifle Division along the entire remaining front. On January 15, 1945, the troops of the strike group went onto the offensive. The 81st Rifle Division began pursuit of the retreating enemy and on January 19, 1945 began fighting for the Polish city of Nowy Sacz. After fighting for only 5 days, on January 20, 1945, on the streets of the city, Lieutenant Parygin was again wounded and again ended up in a hospital bed in a medical battalion.
Returning to his division in mid-March 1945, Lieutenant Parygin again took over his company. Soon the left-flank of 81st Infantry Division was transferred to the 1st Guards Army. By the beginning of April 1945, her troops were located northeast of the Slovak city of Zilina. In April, the company of Lieutenant Parygin took part in the Moravian-Ostrava operation. Sappers went into battle in the combat formations of rifle subunits. But on May 5, 1945, in the battle for the village of Roznov, on the outskirts of the Czech city of Prerov, Lieutenant Parygin again found himself on the receiving end of fragments of an enemy shell.
Parygin spent Victory Day in a hospital, where he was treated for another 3 months. Then he returned to his division and served for some time on the territory of Czechoslovakia. In 1946, the Division returned to its homeland with a place of deployment in the Voroshilovgrad region in the Donbass.
Here Ivan Alexandrovich Parygin remained for the rest of his life. After leaving the Red Army in 1948, he settled in the city of Chervonopartizansk and for the first time worked as a military commander in the city secondary school named after K.E. Voroshilov. In 1951 he was elected chairman of the city executive committee. But the military veteran did not like the administrative work, and he remembered his youth, his pre-war profession of a miner. In the city, and in the entire surrounding region there were many coal mines, in one of which I.A. Parygin worked as an engineer until his retirement.
