Город-герой Тула в фотографиях / Hero-city Tula in photographs 1941
Город-герой Тула в фотографиях 1941 года.
Hero-city Tula in photographs 1941
Музыка:
Доблестная Тула - Музыка: Анатолий Новиков Слова: Михаил Вершинин 1960г. Исполняет: Александр Поляков
Music:
Valient Tula - Music: Anatoly Novikov Lyrics: Mikhail Vershinin 1960г. Performed by: Alexander Polyakov
Here I present a series of photographs of the city of Tula from 1941 during the Great Patriotic War.
By October 1941, the Nazi war machine had advanced deep into European Russia. General Guderian, who led the Panzer Units was able to take the city of Orel before advancing on Tula, some 172 km north on the road to Moscow. The Nazis caught Tula by surprise. The city had no military units except one regiment of the NKVD, who were guarding the city's defence factories, and the 732rd Air Defence artillery regiment, covering the city from air attacks and the fighter battalions consisting of workers and employees.
The Russian High Command (Stavka) transferred the fifth airborne corps and the 34th Border Regiment to Tula, which was guarding the rear of the Bryansk Front. ASlmost immediately fierce fighting and battles took place. With the capture of Orel, Tula was was put under martial law. Workers' fighting squads were created, commanded by the miner G.A. Ageev and Captain A.P.Gorshkov. (Both were later made heroes of the city).
Residents of the city encircled Tula with a series of trenches, dug out anti-tank ditches inside the city, established hedgehogdefensive positions, built barricades and strong points. At the same time, active work was carried out to evacuate the factories....
Tula Defensive Operation of 1941
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Tula Defensive Operation of 1941
combat operations by troops of the Briansk Front (after November 11, the left wing of the Western Front) from October 24 to December 5 in defense of Tula during the battle of Moscow (1941–42).
During the fascist German offensive against Moscow in October and November 1941, the German Second Panzer Army, commanded by Colonel General H. Guderian, struck at the Tula-Kashira-Kolomna axis in an attempt to encircle Moscow from the south. On October 24 the enemy began its offensive along the Orel-Tula highway; by October 29, forward units were approaching Tula. Between October 30 and November 1, two enemy panzer divisions and one infantry brigade attempted to capture the city by frontal assault. The enemy attacks were repelled by troops of the left wing of the Western Front, commanded by General of the Army G. K. Zhukov, the Fiftieth Army, commanded by Major General A. N. Ermakov (after November 22, by Lieutenant General I. V. Boldin), the Tula Workers’ Regiment, the 156th Rifle Regiment of the NKVD, and the 732nd Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment. Active support was given by the residents of Tula, headed by the city defense committee under chairman V. G. Zhavoronkov, secretary of the oblast party committee.
On November 7 troops of the Third Army, commanded by Major General la. G. Kreizer, and the Fiftieth Army mounted a counterattack that stopped the enemy offensive. From November 10 to 17 the Germans attempted to break through and cut off the Fiftieth Army south of Aleksin, but they were beaten back by the Forty-ninth Army, commanded by Major General I. G. Za-kharkin, and the Fiftieth Army.
After unsuccessful attempts to capture Tula from the south and northeast, the enemy struck at the eastern approaches to the city, eventually overrunning one of the suburbs. Towards the end of November, the Soviets launched a counter attack and the Nazis were driven south. On December 2 the enemy again tried to capture Tula, striking two concentric blows north of the city. The Germans succeeded in cutting through the railroad and the Tula-Serpukhov highway but could not completely encircle the city. By their stubborn defence and counterattacks the forces of the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth armies thwarted the enemy’s plan and forced the Nazi troops to go on the defensive on December 5.
During the Tula Defensive Operation of 1941, Soviet troops were aided considerably by the 31 partisan detachments and 73 diversionary groups that attacked the enemy’s rear in Tula Oblast throughout October. The Tula Defensive Operation of 1941 eliminated the threat of Moscow’s encirclement from the south, inflicted serious losses on the enemy, and enabled Soviet troops to mount a counteroffensive.